130 Years Ago
November 3, 1894
A roller skating club has been organized in town with about twenty members. They will use Mapel's Hall.
The Odd Fellows have about completed the tearing away of the livery stable on their lot and propose to begin the erection of a new building at once.
Mr. Hieronymus has a quilting machine on exhibition at Thompson's. It is a real marvel of ingenuity and convenience.
Married at the residence of the bride's parents, Mr. and Mrs. S. E. Slaughter in Fairbury, on Wednesday evening, at 7 o'clock, Miss Ethelyn Slaughter to Arthur Farr, of Weston. Rev. W. L. Riley was the officiating minister. They will reside at Weston, where the groom has recently purchased a store.
120 Years Ago
November 4, 1904
George P. Westervelt, who has served as agent for the T. P. & W. in this city for the past six years and previous to that was employed as operator for about twelve years, resigned his position this week. Mr. Westervelt has ably filled the duties of agent and his many friends will miss his face at the ticket window. The frame will, however, be filled by the genial features of W. W. Compton who has presided at the telegraph key in the Fairbury office for a number of years. Mr. Westervelt has not decided yet what he will do, but as he has large interests in Oklahoma he may go there.
The Edison Famous Life Motion Picture Exhibition to be given at the Methodist Church Thursday evening under the auspices of the ladies of the church should prove a great attraction. Fierce conflicts of soldiers, firing guns, bursting shells, charging of cavalry, fire brigades, flying of trains, so real as to make some people feel nervous who sit on front seats to witness the fine program. Admission, 15c and 25c.
Wing — John Campbell, the adopted son of Wm. Funk, who has been suffering with a dislocated knee, caused by a horse kick, is able to be up, and with the assistance of a pair of crutches, can walk. We are having fine weather for husking corn, and the majority of the farmers are taking advantage of it. The steam dredging machine that has slowly been dredging the Vermilion River from the swamps westward is about eight miles from Wing. It consumes fifteen tons of coal a day.
110 Years Ago
November 6, 1914
Miss Clara Bartram entertained about twenty-two members of the senior class of the high school at a Halloween party last Friday evening. Everyone had a fine time in spite of the fact that some witches (?) carried away most of the luncheon that Miss Bartram had prepared for her guests.
Dr. H. A. Presler returned last evening from a trip to the farm of Walter Gilman, who lives several miles north of Weston. He reports that all of Mr. Gilman's 92 head of cattle have the foot and mouth disease and will likely have to be killed.
The Fairbury Township High School football team was defeated Saturday afternoon by the Normal High School team be the score of 44 to 0.
Miss Clella Carter and Harold Hall were married Saturday afternoon at Pontiac by Justice Louderback. The bride is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Adam Carter, and the groom is a son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank Hall.
100 Years Ago
November 7, 1924
Tuesday was the sixty-third birthday anniversary of Sebo Mehrings. Mr. Mehrings would have let the occasion go unnoticed, but just as he was getting ready to go up town to get the news that Coolidge and Small had been elected, several automobile loads of friends came in. An enjoyable social evening followed.
Manager Melvin and the other employees of the Claudon Motor Mart held a get-together meeting Monday evening at the office of the Fairbury Association of Commerce. It was an evening devoted to "shop talk" and subjects pertaining to the relation of the front office to the mechanical department were discussed as well as other things in which all had a common interest. Smokes were enjoyed as the men talked over their everyday problems. It is planned to make these meetings a monthly affair.
Pat Hobbie and another gentleman, who work for Harry West shucking corn, were run into by an auto last Saturday evening driven by a man who had been working on the hard roads out of Weston. Hobbie was quite badly hurt and was confined to the hospital for several days. Outside of a few bruises the other gentleman escaped injury. The two men were walking to town on the hard road when the fellow from Weston (we were unable to learn his name) came along. The driver of the car says he dimmed his lights when he passed another car, and did not see Hobbie and his companion. John Abts came along soon after the accident happened and brought the injured men to the hospital.
90 Years Ago
November 2, 1934
A hitch-hiker who says his name is Clarence Johnson, and that his home is at Tovey, Ill., came to Fairbury yesterday afternoon and reported that he had been held up and robbed on Route 24 three miles east of this city, about 2 o'clock. He was walking about a mile east of this city when a blue Buick car in which two young men were riding halted and the men asked him to ride. When they arrived at the Patterson corner three miles east of here one of the men drew a gun and demanded that Johnson turn over his valuables. The only cash he had was 25 cents, which they took. They also took his pocket knife, put him out of the car and then drove on.
A merry Halloween party was held at the Metz School Tuesday night. Each guest was greeted by two ghosts (Lorene Maurer and Ruth Bean) and escorted to the Witch's Den, where the witch (Charles Bingham) assisted by the devil (LaVerne Martin) demanded the "black cat" or the forfeit. The fortune of each guest was bound to "a straw" drawn from the Witch's cauldron. Honors for the cleverest costume went by popular vote to Harold Bingham. Games and stunts under the direction of the teacher, Miss Josephine Keeley, were enjoyed and lunch was served.
Wednesday, October 31, was the 40th anniversary of Benjamin Epstein's entry into the advertising distribution game. And Mr. Eppstein has decided that this is enough, and has quit. During the forty years Mr. Epstein has served most of the business houses on Main Street, and also many business firms which are long since gone, and to attempt to compute the miles he has walked causes one to stagger.
80 Years Ago
November 3, 1944
The new Rauch Bakery is to have its formal opening tomorrow, but the appetizing odors that leaked out tempted people to see if they might just get a few cookies or rolls in advance of the opening and Mr. Rauch found his stock sold out on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and again yesterday.
A large hole was burned in the roof of the Clifford Barnes barn Thursday last week, set by a corn husk that the wind carried up from a nearby bonfire. Otis Munz and Will Waters formed a bucket brigade and soon had it subdued. It looked quite serious for a time for the 3,000 bushels of corn stored in a nearby crib. As a precaution the Fairbury Fire company was called.
The corn drier at the Honegger Feed mills which has been under construction for the past several months, was put in operation last week, and has been going ever since. It turns out an average of about 200 bushels of corn an hour. As much as eight percent moisture has been taken from the corn at one operation. The shelled corn as it starts on its way through the drier is taken to the top of the drier house where it is released into metal baskets. These baskets are rocked back and forth mechanically, the corn dropping from one to the next one beneath it, just a few kernels at a time. A blower forces hot air up through the baskets and the temperature is kept at from 170 to 180 degrees. As the corn finds its way to the bottom it goes through a cleaner before being sent by an auger conveyor under the railroad tracks across to the mill where it is ground into feed.
70 Years Ago
November 11, 1954
Over 200 persons were served Saturday during the second annual Legion pancake day held at the Legion rooms. Commander Mehrkens reported 150 pounds of sausage and 36 pounds of pancake flour used.
Marsh Park has been a popular place for family reunions and picnics during the past summer, according to some figures kept by the park custodian William Crews. Mr. Crews took over his duties May 8th. The last picnic was held there September 21st. Mr. Crews kept a pretty accurate account of people visiting the park between those two dates in picnic groups and the like, and found it totaled 2,648.
A steer on Route 47, also had its troubles last Thursday evening about 8:30. Two cars were also damaged, and the steer, which belonged to Kenneth Bohannon, of Forrest, was killed. The accident occurred two miles north of Forrest. Harry Hoke was driving south on Rt. 47, when the steer loomed up in his path and he hit it. In another car behind Mr. Hoke was R. W. Schrock, of Decatur. He swerved to miss Mr. Hoke and the cow and went into the ditch, where he turned over. He was not injured. The estimated damage to the Shrock car was placed at $350, and to the Hoke car, $150.
60 Years Ago
November 5, 1964
Fairbury's new fire siren has been installed on the water tower, Mayor Roy Taylor reported this week. He said the alarm would be wired sometime this week by Hartzell Rigsby, and then would be tested prior to being put into regular alarm service. Equipment for the new fire call system being installed by General Telephone is also on hand, Taylor said, and that he had been advised by Virgil Brown, manager of this district, that it would be installed within the week. The system will provide for the automatic ringing of from 14 to 16 phones in the homes of firemen whenever an alarm is received.
Purchase of six acres of ground near Normal was announced today by Alden Nussbaum, head of Nussbaum Trucking of Fairbury. He said he expects to move some of his terminal facilities there, but not his office. Such a move would result in a saving of approximately 100,000 miles of travel annually for the approximately 20 semi-trucks his firm operates. Nussbaum said he would soon have all his terminal facilities in seven cities connected by direct wires, as they now have to Peoria. Other cities in the system include Chicago, Kankakee, Danville, Champaign, Decatur, Springfield and Bloomington, as well as the Fairbury headquarters.
Shipwreck Kelly, famed flagpole sitter and stuntman of the '30s, was in Fairbury Wednesday afternoon where he painted the flagpole at the high school. Principal Jim Peerman recalled that Kelly once sat atop the pole on the Morrison Hotel, which was the world's tallest hotel, for more than a month.
50 Years Ago
November 7, 1974
Fairbury firemen doused a blaze which severely damaged a combine picking corn at the Curt Weeks farm north of Fairbury Saturday afternoon. The fuel tank exploded just before firemen arrived and the flash of fire caused some persons to think it was a plane crash, since the scene was just north of the runway on Bob Ficklin's Avoca Airport. Ficklin, John Goold and Alvin Friedman rushed to the scene with two plows and a disc in case a fire line was needed to save the cornfield. Weeks' son, Stan, driving the combine, was slightly burned.
Cropsey — Mr. and Mrs. Harold Hall of Cropsey, who observed their 60th wedding anniversary October 30, 1974, formally celebrated the occasion at an open house held November 3 at Cropsey Sportsman's club. Attending the jubilee were all eight of their children, who had not been together for 21 years, and 200 friends and relatives. The Halls are the oldest married couple in Cropsey. Harold is 79 and his wife, Clella, is 77. The former Clella Carter and Harold Hall of Fairbury were married Oct. 20, 1914 in Pontiac.
Second Lieutenant Michael F. Kaiser, son of Mr. and Mrs. Frank W. Kaiser of Chatsworth, recently helped launch a U.S. Air Force Minuteman II intercontinental ballistic missile from Vandenberg AFB, Calif. Lieutenant Kaiser, a missile launch officer with the 351st Strategic Missile Wing from Whiteman AFB, Mo., was the deputy commander of the combat crew which fired the missile. The launch was one in a series of operational testing launches conducted by the Strategic Air Command (SAC). The lieutenant, a 1969 graduate of St. Bede Academy, Peru, received his B.A. degree in government and economics in 1973 from the University of Notre Dame and was commissioned there through the Reserve Officers Training Corps program.
40 Years Ago
November 1, 1984
Close only counts in horseshoes and hand grenades, according to legend, but a Hartsburg trucker added a new dimension Tuesday night when he lost the nose of his truck, but not his life, to a southbound high-speed Amtrak passenger train a mile south of Ocoya on the ICG tracks. Edward Wagoner, 24, was in fair condition Wednesday morning at St. James Hospital in Pontiac, but his truck lost its front wheels and engine while suffering an estimated $20,000 damage. State Police Sgt. Harold Donovan said there are no lights at the crossing, only a white crossbuck.
When voters in the southeast portion of Livingston County go to the polls next Tuesday, the primary issue on their minds quite likely will not be presidential politics. The issue is school consolidation. Boards of education from the Chatsworth, Forrest-Strawn-Wing and Fairbury-Cropsey districts have put the question before voters in their school systems. If passed, the new school district would begin operations July 1, 1985. The new high school would open its doors to more than 500 students in the present FCHS building. The current FSW High School building would become the junior high school. Each district would keep its current grade school.
It was a clean sweep of top marching honors in both parade and field show last Saturday for the FCHS Marching Tartars at the University of Illinois band festival. David Swaar's band took first place in its class in both competitions, adding first place parade honors for the flag corps and first place field show citations for the percussion line. The Tartar drum majors placed second in the parade.
30 Years Ago
November 2, 1994
Autumn may still be in its spring-chicken stage, but it was nipped Monday night by northeast winds with gusts to 40 miles an hour, a low of 44 degrees and day-long rains that turned to huge flakes of blowing snow by 6:30 Halloween night. Weather channels had predicted the high winds and heavy rains, but there hadn't been a whisper about snow, or that wind-chill brought the temperatures to near 10 above for the little trick-or-treaters.
Seven marked police cars converged on the rural Fairbury residence of Ken Broquard last Tuesday as a search was conducted for a man suspected in the knifing and shooting of a Logan County Sheriff's deputy on Oct. 21. A citizen's call reported having seen a man fitting the description along U.S. Route 24 near the residence. Investigation by Captain Bob Gayon of the Livingston County Sheriff's Police discovered an opened door. Gayon then called for back-up before proceeding with a search. Units from the county and state police responded to the scene, but found no sign of the man.
Wendy Slagel and Alan Edelman, both of Fairbury announce their engagement and upcoming marriage. Wendy is the daughter of Raymond and Gladys Slagel of Fairbury. She is a 1994 graduate of Prairie Central High School and is employed at Fairbury Auto Parts/Radio Shack. Alan is the son of Fred and JoAnn Edelman of Sabetha, KS. He is a 1993 graduate of Sabetha High School and is employed at Caterpillar in Pontiac. A Jan. 8, 1995 wedding is planned.
20 Years Ago
November 3, 2004
This year's Daughters of the American Revolution and Sons of the American Revolution good citizenship award winners at Prairie Central High School are Sarah Pica and Paul Schmitt. Pica is the daughter of Sam and Ann Pica and Schmitt is the son of Dan and Julie Schmitt. The students were chosen by faculty at PCHS.
Trevor Hartman used his imagination and artistic talents in creating a "Dairy Queen Value Meal Deal" for the annual pumpkin show at Westview Elementary in Fairbury last week. The "value meal" was complete with sesame seed (pumpkin seeds) bun and french fires carved from a pumpkin. The ice cream dessert looked so real, it was difficult not to take a bite. Hartman's entry was picked grand champion/best of show. Other winning entries included Cassie Rinkenberger, Jacob Perry, Ben Traub, Brandon Stoller, Thadd Waldbeser, Luke Schaffer, Chance Edelman, Addison Bounds, Michael Layne, Austin Brucker, Leah McWhorter, Elizabeth Stewart, Molly O'Donnell, Anna Ricketts, Ian Briscoe, Jenna Hale and Austin Goad.
Michael and Nicole Shifflet of Cabery are parents of a baby girl born at 2:09 p.m. on Monday, Oct. 25, 2004, at St. Mary's Hospital, Kankakee. Kamryn Nicole weighed 9 pounds 5 ounces and was 20½ inches long at birth. She has an older sister, Haley, at home. Grandparents are Rachel Bishop of Herscher, Louis Bishop of Cabery and Sharon Shifflet of Fairbury. Great-grandparents are Ruth Heller of Spirit Lake, Iowa, and Evelyn Drendel of Kempton.
10 Years Ago
November 5, 2014
Joseph and Joanna Delaney Sr., of Forrest, will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary with an open house at the Forrest Public Library from 1 to 4 p.m. on Nov. 15. Delaney and the former Joanna Lawhorn were married Nov. 15, 1954 in Norfolk, Va. They are the parents of Joseph (Donna) Delaney Jr., Fairbury; Debra (David) Artman, Hamilton; and Teresa (Mark) Bertram, Urbana. They also have seven grandchildren and eight great-grandchildren. He retired from Prairie Central Unit #8 and St. Paul School, Odell. She retired from Prairie Central Unit #8.
The Prairie Central cross country team competed in the Bishop McNamara regional on Oct. 25. Both the boys' and girls' squads ran away with second place out of the eight teams competing in the regional. Finishers for the girls on the three-mile course included Linnea Johnson (35th) in 23:26, Abbie Bazzell (33rd) in 23:22, Daphne Matson (30th) in 23:07, Emma Fogarty (19th) in 22:00, Janessa Knapp (17th) in 21:41, Megan Ifft (13th) in 21:18 and Caitlyn Ifft (5th) in 20:06. Caitlyn's place was good enough for a top five medal. Finishers for the boys were Carter Evans (41st) in 18:54, Dolan Barnes (39th) in 18:51, Paul Garcia (37th) in 18:44, Dawson Toller ( 26th) in 18;17, Nathan Somers (18th) in 17:41, Kyler Knapp ((7th) in 17:13 and Avery Walter (4th) in 16:40. Avery earned a medal in the meet of 88 total finishers.
Lorene Boner will celebrate her 90th birthday on Nov. 9 with family and friends. Mrs. Boner was born Nov. 9, 1924 in Francesville, Ind. Her husband, David Boner, whom she married on Oct. 20, 1979 at Forrest, died July 29, 1998.
(Looking Back from Kari Kamrath is sponsored each week by Duffy-Pils Memorial Homes with locations in Fairbury, Chenoa and Colfax)
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