Looking Back 3-26-25

130 Years Ago

March 23, 1895

The board of trustees at its meeting Wednesday evening, divided the city into three wards. The first ward includes all that part of the city east of Fifth Street. The second ward includes all that part of the city that lies west of Fifth Street and south of the T. P. & W. Railroad tracks. The third ward includes all that part of the city that lies west of Fifth Street and north of the T. P. & W. Railroad tracks.

Conrad Munz has opened a sand bank west of the sorghum factory.

Adam Hoker was thirty-three years old last Thursday. About thirty of his friends gave him a surprise in the evening.

The colors of the graduating class created quite a sensation Monday as members of the class came marching in. The colors are pink, lavender and white.

120 Years Ago

March 24, 1905

G. E. Wild, the former Danforth banker, made a pleasant call at the Star office Friday. He will engage in the banking business at Weston, the first station west of Fairbury. He has been living at Pekin since he left Danforth. Mr. Wild will start in the banking business at Weston about April 1. He has the capital, experience and business ability to meet all the requirements of Weston and its neighborhood.

Alderman Thos. G. Henderson this week purchased the grocery business of Westervelt & Co., and has taken possession. The store has been closed part of the week on account of invoicing, but is now open. Mr. Henderson needs no introduction to the people of this city and vicinity, as he has been engaged in business here almost since Fairbury was a trading point and is known to almost everyone who trades here. Mr. Westervelt, who has been in business here since boyhood, will rest up for the present and, as he has a great eye for chickens, he may try cultivating some fancy breeds.

The track team are hard at work and are rapidly getting into good shape. In the field events we have J. Walker, Bedell, P. Walker, Powell, Keck and Carrithers, and on the track are Westervelt, Barnes, McLean, Stevens and Watts. There is a great interest shown this year and we will probably have the best team the school ever had.

110 Years Ago

March 26, 1915

Marion Fugate, of this city, will shortly embark in the manufacture of ice cream and butter in Fairbury, and a new building for that purpose will be erected for him on the Claudon lots on East Locust Street.

J. P. Cook, the undertaker, has purchased a 40-horsepower funeral car. This is the only motor funeral car in this section of the state, the nearest one being in Bloomington.

Mr. and Mrs. Will Hibsch, who have spent the past two years on a farm near Redwood Falls, Minn., arrived in Fairbury last week and will make this city their home.

Bud Codlin, mail carrier on route No. 2, made a record run Saturday in covering his territory, just to settle a dispute among his friends as to how quickly the trip could be made. He left the post office at 10:15 and was back at 11:50. The trip was made in Francis McDowell's Case car, with Wesley Hanson driving.

100 Years Ago

March 27, 1925

Aldean Dart, a pupil at the township high school, had one arm badly injured and was otherwise injured on Wednesday after school. Miss Dart and Irene Hanna, who live northeast of town, keep their horse and buggy, the buggy being a Klondyke, at the Will Masters place. They had hitched the horse up, but in so doing had only fastened one line, and when they started out the horse cramped the buggy, turning it over. In the accident Miss Dart was thrown partly under the heavy Klondyke, and received injuries as stated above. Miss Hanna was not injured.

Last night was a big one for the local Camp No. 6, M. W. A., a hundred and twenty-five members taking part in the evening's festivities. The evening's program started with a parade, headed by the Pontiac band and drill team. There were over a hundred in the parade, whose line of march was lighted with red fire. In the parade were a number of grotesque figures, including His Satanic Majesty, the devil, and a mule that did a few stunts the were somewhat out of the ordinary for an animal of that kind. The Woodman goat was not in the parade, those in charge preferring to save its strength to initiate the nine candidates. Following the parade the initiation took place in the M. W. A. hall, with the Pontiac drill team doing the work in a manner that pleased all concerned, even the candidates. A feed and smoker concluded a most enjoyable evening.

Ruben Fuller last Saturday purchased the S. E. Ellis property on W. Maple Street, and will occupy the home as soon as the present occupants, Mr. and Mrs. Jefferson Harman, vacate it.

90 Years Ago

March 22, 1935

It didn't just rain but it poured Wednesday afternoon and evening, coming down so fast that all the low grounds were small ponds for a few hours. There was a high wind, and following in the wake of the rain, a dust storm blew in from Kansas and Nebraska, coating everything with a thick layer of dust. Last Saturday afternoon the dust was mixed with the rainfall and later in the evening with snow, which left a grimy red substance on every object it fell upon.

A T. P. & W. train went through here Monday night that took three engines to haul it. Not only was the train a long one, but the contents of the cars were exceptionally heavy, some of the cars being loaded with steel for the bridge that is being built between Oakland and San Francisco, Calif. Some of these pieces of steel were so long that it required the combined length of three flat cars to hold them.

Miss Mildred Mitchell entertained at bunco and luncheon Tuesday evening, with guests for three tables. As the guests arrived they were given a good old Irish name and the members of a family were seated at the same table. The luncheon table covers were green and the table decorations gumdrop trees laden with green fruit. In the serving the note of green was in the shamrock ice cream.

80 Years Ago

March 23, 1945

Although the local golfers haven't really started swinging their clubs on the golf course as yet, the weather of the past ten days has been giving them some golfing notions. Accordingly, a dinner meeting of the members and guests will be held at Decker's Cafe next Monday evening at 6:30 o'clock. Everyone interested in the success of the Indian Creek course is asked to be present.

Among the large number of Livingston County men who have received orders to report for pre-induction physical examination, 27 are from Fairbury. Those as announced yesterday by Walter Roeder, clerk of draft board No. 2, are: Howard H. Leasch, Raymond J. Bender, Eugene R. Schaffer, Wayne E. Bittner, Howard W. Freed, Harold E. Bingham, Elven C. Craig, Maurice P. Sutter, Allen E. Ellis, Herman J. Steffen, Raymond L. Baer, John H. Payne, Lee W. Attig, Donald H. Zimmerman, John D. Hoffman, Albert Wenger, Stuart M. Fry, George S. Myers, Harvey H. Hartman, Robert W. Decker, Wesley E. Bender, Raymond J. Rathbun, Richard J. Walters, Jesse R. Huber, Richard W. Schaffer, Merle W. Bittner, Elias E. Aupperle.

Tuesday morning about eight o'clock as Don Clark, who with his wife, occupies apartments above the Clark Cafe, was starting downstairs, his right leg buckled on him and he fell down the entire flight of stairs. This leg had caused him a lot of trouble while he was in the Marine Corps, had hospitalized him and caused his final medical discharge. His mother, Mrs. F. H. Clark, and T. E. Holland, whose place of business is just east of the cafe, assisted Don upstairs and into bed. An X-ray was taken later to determine the extent of the injury.

70 Years Ago

March 31, 1955

The Fairbury Jaycee bowling team, competing in the largest Jaycee State Bowling contest in history, came through with a 10th place finish Sunday at Streator. Team members were Warren Beckley, Dave Parmele, Gene Vaughan, Ross Hildreth and Willie Schwarzwalder.

En route home from the funeral of Frank Pratt's father, Mr. and Mrs. Pratt and children, Frank Jr. and Worth, hit a steer on Route 150 seven miles west of Champaign. Mrs. Pratt, who was sitting in the front seat, received three broken ribs; the rest of the family was shaken up.

Fairbury Girl Scout Troop No. 6, led by Mrs. Robert Nussbaum and Mrs. William Piercy, Monday night presented a one-act play, "Stone Soup," at Dominy Library. The girls are working on their Magic Carpet badges.

One or more burglars escaped with "about $15" in change taken from a cash register after a break-in at the Walton Store here early Monday morning or late Sunday night.

60 Years Ago

March 25, 1965

Drilling operations on a wildcat well near Cornell began Saturday noon. Hopes are high for Gerald Weeks, rural route Fairbury, and Ned Zimmerman, Bloomington, partners in the promoting venture. Many readers will recall that it was Eugene Lyons who attempted to drill for water this past fall and could hit nothing but oil. He tried two different spots, one at 117 feet and one at 147 feet, but both times missed water. The predicament caused Lyons several headaches. First of all, he needed water for his hogs, and secondly, about 200 oil promoters barged in on his farming operation to see if he would extend a lease on the land. Weeks, who is a 1951 Fairbury-Cropsey graduate, managed to obtain the lease.

Robert Anderson, son of the Keith Andersons of Fairbury, scored valuable points for Illinois Wesleyan University by placing fourth in the diving event at the College Conference of Illinois swimming meet finals Saturday. Bob helped the Titans pile up 43 points, good for fourth place and one of the swim team's best showings in recent years. Bob graduated from Fairbury-Cropsey High school in 1964 and is now a freshman at Wesleyan, where he is majoring in business administration.

50 Years Ago

March 27, 1975

Dorothy Steffen has received a charter of incorporation from the Illinois Secretary of State's office, establishing the Steffen Garment Company, which will begin operations immediately in Fairbury. The new business will be housed at 403 S. Webster in the former site of Hummel's Grocery. Miss Steffen is buying the building from the Dominick Giancarlis. Miss Steffen has been associated with Casual Classics, and later, Fairbury Manufacturing, as an employee, for the past 30 years. The operation of the latter enterprise ended last fall when fire razed the factory and the old opera house on Locust Street.

Greg BesGrove, a senior at Fairbury-Cropsey High School and a member of the Fairbury-Cropsey FFA Chapter, was named District winner in agriculture mechanics at the District contest held recently on the campus of Joliet Junior College. Greg will represent District II at the State contest to be held on the campus of the University of Illinois in Champaign on April 5. He will be competing against other District winners from all over the state.

Workmen were here Friday to again work on the Seventh Street Bridge. The old bridge was torn out early last summer and construction halted with bad weather. In the meantime, access to Indian Creek Country Club, Timber Ridge and the Fairbury-Cropsey blacktop continues to be a nuisance, as drivers must skirt around Fairbury to gain access to either the clubhouse, the subdivision or the blacktop.

40 Years Ago

March 21, 1985

An admitted "small-town boy" who has long aspired to be a "small-town doctor," will join Dr. Nik Kothari at Fairbury Medical Associated Ltd., this summer. He is Dr. Ted Rogers, who is presently completing his residency in Family Practice in Saginaw, Mich. A native of Illinois, Dr. Rogers, 27, was raised on a farm just outside of St. Elmo in Fayette County, east of Vandalia.

Westview first grade teacher Marlene Rittenhouse was recently chosen for the Honors Program for Outstanding Teachers of Science in Illinois. The prestigious program is administered through Illinois State University in cooperation with the National Science Foundation. Marlene was one of 30 chosen out of 276 who made application to the project. As an Outstanding Science teacher in Illinois, Marlene will receive a monetary award and a tuition waiver at Illinois State University for 15 semester hours.

About 30 employees from Dave's Supermarket were on hand bright and early Sunday morning to assist in entering products into the store's new computer that will utilize a laser-scanning system at the check-out counter. Every product that bore a UPC symbol had to be removed from shelves, scanned, have its price checked, and then returned to the shelves. It was decided that Sunday, the only day that Dave's is closed, would be the best day to perform such an immense task because all eight check-out lanes would be open and employees would be better able to keep track of what had and had not been checked.

30 Years Ago

March 22, 1995

Maxwell Kicmal, son of Debbie and Andrew Kicmal of Fairbury, is a hero. Max, who is eight years old and a second grader at Westview Elementary, responded with a level head, when his mother fell the morning of Monday, Dec. 19. Max took his brother, Kyle, who is just three years old, and went over to the next door neighbors, Carol and Niki Bryant. They called the hospital and soon there was an ambulance there taking care of everything. For his heroic effort, the VFW Ladies Auxiliary 9789 awarded Max with a Citation of Merit.

Livingston County Sheriff Marvin Rutledge reported Tuesday morning of the arrest of 10 persons during a two-weekend period beginning March 10. A special detail was set up in Indian Grove and Belle Prairie Townships following reports over a two to three week period of yard lights being shot out. The special detail, which involved seven officers working 53 hours in the four-day time period resulted in the arrest of Shane Davis, 21, of Bloomington, for unlawful use of a weapon, and a warrant out of McLean County. A 22-caliber Taurus semi-automatic was confiscated from Davis, Rutledge said.

Prairie Central High School senior Tanya Lassiter is among 167 semi-finalists in the 29th annual Illinois Editors' Traffic Safety Seminar essay contest, which is open to all Illinois high school seniors. This year's topic was "Should your driver's license be harder to get . . . and keep?" Five women and five men will be chosen from among the 167 qualifiers to receive a total of $7,000 in scholarship checks from the AAA-Chicago Motor Club. Tanya is the daughter of Nina and Dean Lassiter of Fairbury.

20 Years Ago

March 23, 2005

The Prairie Central Sixth Grade Mathematics Team placed first overall at the math competition on March 14 at St. Stephens in Streator. In addition to the team, AK Somers was first overall individual; and Brandon Beyers took second overall. Mrs. Ann Hoke is the team coach. Team members are Tyler Rhoda, Rollin Wenger, AK Somers, Faith Steidinger, Brandon Beyers, and Ethan McPherson.

Ernest Hofmann and Kenneth Headley, both of Fairbury, were presented their 50-year membership pins for the Tarbolton Masonic Lodge #351 of Fairbury, on March 10, at Heritage Manor in Colfax. Sonny Friant and Doyle Hurd made the presentations with 34 Masons, friends and family present. Hofmann and Headley, who are brothers-in-law, joined the Masons in 1955.

High School Girls Track Coach Joe Oprondek appeared before the Prairie Central School Board of Education on Monday night to request adding a pole vault program to the current track program. Oprondek said he had talked to the Athletic Boosters Club and has been promised $10,000 to help with the program. He said that a complete pole vault program would cost about $8,000, without the poles. The poles cost about $200 a piece. He also said that Prairie Central is the only school in the Corn Belt Conference that cannot hold any pole events. The board approved his request for a pole vault program.

10 Years Ago

March 25, 2015

Local residents learned about the four candidates running for the Prairie Central Board of Education during a forum hosted by the Prairie Central Education Association on Tuesday night. Ann Steidinger, Tim McGreal, Corey Steffen and Randy Holland are seeking three board seats at the April 7 election. Steidinger 47, is from Chenoa and employed by State Farm Insurance Companies. McGreal, 43, is a precision agriculture dealer and self-employed farmer. Steffen, 44, is co-owner of SourceGear/Zumero. Holland, 42, works for IBEW as a journeyman electrician. Each candidate has a child or children enrolled in the district.

Members of the Prairie Central chapter are celebrating FCCLA Week March 23-27. The week of celebration includes a member luncheon, activities throughout the week and comes to a close with the school-wide blood drive on Friday and a fun event on Saturday. FCCLA at Prairie Central organized in the fall of 2004. Since that time, the group has averaged 80 members each year. Members participate in annual community service projects including a clothing drive, food drive, Toys for Tots, Salvation Army bell ringing and safe driving programming. The chapter has had five state officers, 44 section officers and 130 state and 87 national competitors.

Dustin and Kari Slagel of Fairbury are the parents of a baby boy born at 8:24 a.m. Wednesday, March 11, 2015 at Gibson Area Hospital. Gideon Wayne weighed 6 pounds 11 ounces and was 20 inches long at birth. Paternal grandparents are Dennis and Lorene Slagel of Fairbury. Maternal grandmother is Charlotte Zurbrugg of Silverton, Ore.

(Looking Back from Kari Kamrath is sponsored each week on Fairbury News by Duffy-Pils Memorial Homes with locations in Fairbury, Chenoa and Colfax)