Looking Back: 4-23-25

130 Years Ago

April 20, 1895

Fairbury went "dry" Tuesday by the skin of her new city teeth. The first men to fill the offices of Fairbury as a city are: mayor, L. B. Dominy; clerk, Z. T. Hanna; treasurer, T. S. O. McDowell; city attorney, C. F. H. Carrithers; aldermen, first ward, W. L. Chesebro, Henry Weber; second ward, O. S. Westervelt, T. O. Cook; third ward, W. S. Catton, Isaac Walton.

Perry Potter is erecting a commodious residence on his lots one block south of the south side school.

Dr. Rayburn was in Chicago the first of the week and purchased a new dental chair of the latest improved pattern.

Mr. and Mrs. J. W. Powley have moved from Lexington to this place.

120 Years Ago

April 21, 1905

Thursday evening, April 20, Miss Viola Payne and George E. Milne were united in marriage, Rev. Victor Crumbaker, of Northwestern University, performing the ceremony.

The street sprinkler appeared on the street on Wednesday with H. R. Allen at the helm.

Taylor's addition was admitted to the city of Fairbury at Tuesday's election by a vote of 255 for and 86 against.

Adolph Puhl, of Chicago, a pharmacist, has accepted a position in Milne's Corner Drug Store.

110 Years Ago

April 23, 1915

A number of young people held an informal dance at Woodman Hall last Friday evening. The party was disturbed at one time by someone getting out on the railroad tracks and throwing eggs into the hall through the open windows, barely missing several of the dancers.

E. H. Bastion has been appointed to take care of the new township high school building.

Miss Mardelle Thompson, daughter of Jack Thompson, had quite an experience with an automobile one day last week. She was just learning to drive and was using the auto of her grandfather, Phil Fisher, to practice on. She had driven into the yard but when she attempted to stop the auto hit a three-legged windmill, knocking one of its supports out from under it, and the windmill came to the ground. In its fall the windmill did not hit the car, which was very fortunate.

100 Years Ago

April 24, 1925

The Forrest band is getting all set for the coming season, and there is no question but that they will have a successful one. Forrest has one of the best bands in the state and are always generous in their playing, these two essentials making a combination that never fails to please.

John Morris, formerly of this city, but who several months ago was appointed chief of police of Springfield has been pretty active in routing out bootleggers, we are told, and is now going after baseball pools in that city. He is also meeting with some opposition on the part of some of the factions in Springfield.

Hugh Wallace, of Forrest, has accepted a position as foreman at the Claudon Motor Mart. Mr. Wallace is an experienced man, having been in charge of the Ford Company's garage at Forrest since its establishment at that place.

Frank Merrill, who has been critically ill with double pneumonia, is improving.

90 Years Ago

April 19, 1935

An air-cooled system for the Central Theatre is contemplated. At the present time Ira French is drilling a well on the south side of the theatre and if a sufficient quantity of water is found a larger well will be drilled and the water used in the proposed cooling system. Mr. French also has the contract for sinking wells for other theatres that Mr. McCollum owns and which he will air-condition.

Walter Nussbaum, who recently purchased what is known as the Lutie McDowell farm just east of town, will next week, open up a gravel pit on the same. It will be located east of the bridge and not far from Rt. 24. A recent test showed there was a vein of good gravel there some 16 to 20 feet deep. The gravel is said to be especially adapted for use in building roads.

We had a couple of days of spring-like weather last Saturday and Sunday, but Monday Old Man Winter shoved Miss Spring out of the way and took possession with a northwest wind, a temperature around the freezing point and snow flurries.

80 Years Ago

April 20, 1945

Sometime during last weekend some five or more rural school houses were broken into, and clocks, hot-plates, radios and other articles taken. At the Potter School, taught by Mrs. Mabyl Mehrkens, a hole was cut in the door large enough to reach in and force the lock. At the Frye School, entrance was made by breaking a window.

A small cyclone visited a section of the country about seven miles south of Fairbury Monday morning about 10:30 o'clock, doing considerable damage. At the Will Irwin place six individual hog houses were picked up, dashed to the ground and demolished. One was blown into the O. D. Hanna oats field to the north. One building formerly used as a chicken house, was blown several rods, overturned several times and came to a stop bottom side up. At the O. D. Hanna home the roofing was blown from the east side of the barn, and at the Omer Meyer place several small buildings were damaged.

In a spirited election Tuesday Roy Taylor, candidate for mayor on the Independent ticket, was elected mayor over Shelby Wharton, Citizen's ticket candidate, by the comfortable margin of 216 votes. Taylor carried every ward to roll up this majority, his majorities being 40 in the first, 94 in the second and 82 in the third. A total of 1,150 votes were cast.

70 Years Ago

April 21, 1955

It was summer here for three days this week, as the temperature soared to 78 degrees on Saturday, 80 degrees on Sunday and 85 degrees on Monday.

Richard Kilgus has purchased Carlo's Market from Joe Giancarli; he will take over the operation July 1.

Everett Sutter Monday was elected president of the Chamber of Commerce as a meeting of the board of directors held at the Honegger House.

The cat was away yesterday at the high school, but the mice didn't get to play very much, after all, as regular instructors took the day off from their normal classroom teaching as members of the senior class moved around behind the desks during the annual Student/Government day.

60 Years Ago

April 22, 1965

A Colfax resident, Mrs. Olive Getty, is listed in "fair" condition today at Fairbury Hospital with severe bruises and recovering from shock after a freak accident Monday afternoon sent the top off an ammonia nitrate fertilizer tank sailing a reported 300 feet into the air. Measuring 12 feet in diameter, the steel lid was reported by witnesses to have "circled over the town" and sliced through the roof of Mrs. Olive Getty's home. The steel crashed through the attic and into the living room, pinning Mrs. Getty to the davenport on which she had been reclining. She was buried by the ceiling rafters and other debris.

A decision to sell Edison School, now unoccupied, was approved by the Fairbury-Cropsey School Board Monday night when they met at Lincoln School. The actual sale will be handled by the county board of school trustees, acting upon instructions from the local board. Steps were instituted some time ago to sell the unused "old" school at Cropsey, and the board mentioned that possibly both could now be sold at the same auction.

Fairbury's newest business venture, to be known as Linda's Pizza Pan, will open for business next Wednesday evening. To be operated by Kenny and Linda Fehr, their location is at the corner of Fifth and Locust. The Fehrs are far from being strangers to the tasty Italian food which they will manufacture, for her brother-in-law and sister, Jim and Carol Rutherford, operate a similar firm in Pontiac. Linda's Pizza Pan will feature home-made Pizza, with a wide variety of toppings.

50 Years Ago

April 24, 1975

Circuit Court Judge William Caisley has ruled in favor of former Fairbury-Cropsey High School principal Charles Lane in his suit against the Unit 3 Board of Education. In a verdict entered Tuesday, Caisley awarded Lane a judgment of $7,529 in damages, plus costs of suit in deciding that Lane had been denied due process by the board at the time the board members decided not to renew Lane's principal's contract for the 1973-74 school year, but, instead, to offer him a teaching position.

There were two principal topics of conversation in Cropsey during the past week. One was the new 16-bin addition to the grain elevator, and the other was the fact that three members of the cement-pouring crew were girls, three co-eds from the University of Illinois, who it turned out, took a back seat to nobody when it came to work.

Bravery in the face of deadly antiaircraft fire has earned 14 of this nation's high-ranking combat awards plus the Vietnam Gallantry Cross with Bronze Star Device, for Air Force Captain Carlos D. Goembel, son of Mr. and Mrs. Carl N. Goembel of Fairbury. Captain Goembel was decorated during recent ceremonies at Eglin AFB, Fla., where he is maintenance control officer for the 3205th Maintenance Group, a unit of the Air Force Systems Command. A 1959 graduate of Fairbury High School, he earned a B.S. degree in business administration from Northeast Missouri State University in 1963. He was commissioned in 1967 after completing Officer Training School at Lackland AFB, Tex.

40 Years Ago

April 18, 1985

Seniors Lloyd Stork and Shelley Weber took home the top student-athlete awards Tuesday night, and Marshall Fitzgerald was inducted into the Fairbury-Cropsey Hall of Fame at the annual athletic banquet. Stork, an all-conference performer in football and baseball, was named the Outstanding Senior Athlete by coaches. Shelley received the Scholar-Athlete award based on her overall grade point of 3.7 on a 4.0 scale and her performance in both volleyball and basketball. Fitzgerald was hailed for his exploits as a six-letter winner for Fairbury Township High School prior to his graduation in 1920. His most famous accomplishment was a 36-point explosion against Dwight in a 1919 football game. That record was never equaled in the long history of the school.

Aberdeen-Angus cows formed part of the audience Saturday morning when an old barn and its contents burned on the farm of Mrs. Anna Alpers, southwest of Fairbury. The farm is operated by her son, Wally, who had been hauling manure that morning. The tractor he was using caught on fire in the barn, and he was unable to extinguish it. Fairbury and Octavia firemen were on the scene but were unable to save the building, which was constructed from oak cut in a nearby grove.

Mrs. Donald Geiser hosted recitals for her piano students Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Each student performed three solos, and several duets were played. Those who participated were Teresa Bazzell, Lorelei Broquard, Sally Broquard, Heather Dameron Jennifer Drury, Kim Fehr, Alison Gibb, Kris Huddleston, Brian Klitzing, Jennifer Klitzing, Heather Mann, Jessica Rich, Bryan Stoller and Jill Stoller.

30 Years Ago

April 19, 1995

Prairie Central High School senior Kelli Gillett, has signed a National Letter of Intent to play fast-pitch softball at Wabash Valley College, a Division I school in the National Junior College Athletic Association. Wabash Valley is located in Mt. Carmel. Kelli has been playing ball since she was six and participated in T-ball and Little League. She began pitching in fifth grade. She is a daughter of Warren and Melanie Gillett of Forrest.

Dave's Super Market Third Street Deli is a popular gathering place for shoppers and for those who just want to get together over a cup of coffee or an ice cream cone and chat. Mark Steffen said that remodeling took a little longer than anticipated. The Deli, which was designed by David Moser of Fairbury, opened to the public March 22, and has the seating capacity for 62.

Linda Runyon, Book Repair Person at R.R. Donnelley and Sons Company, Midwest Manufacturing Division, recently celebrated 25 years with the company. Linda began her Donnelley career on Sept. 8, 1969, in the Dwight Division as a Feeder in the Bindery. She was promoted to Examiner in March of 1974, to Checker in January of 1976, and to her current position of Book Repair in September of 1978. Linda and her husband, Lloyd, have two children, Brian and Shannon, and reside in rural Forrest.

20 Years Ago

April 20, 2005

The Prairie Central Chapter of the FCCLA (Family, Career, Community Leaders of America) attended the state convention at Springfield April 15-16, and as the result of winning a gold medal, the group advanced to competition at the national convention in San Diego, Calif., July 1-6. A scrapbook, showcasing the chapter's events during the past year, was prepared and its contents presented in three, 15-minute oral speeches, by Kristin Diller, Megan Shier and Crystal Roberts. The trio will represent the PC FCCLA Chapter at the national convention.

Michael and Toni Hoffman of Ballwin, Mo., are parents of twin daughters born April 6, 2005 at St. Anthony's Medical Center in St. Louis. Anna Julia, born at 4:07 p.m., weighed 6 pounds, 4 ounces and was 19½ inches long at birth. Kate Marie, born at 4:09 p.m. weighed 5 pounds, 4 ounces and was 18 inches long at birth. Grandparents are Paul and Carol Hoffman of Fairbury; and Fritz and Margot Lang of Pacific, Mo.

Seventh graders receiving basketball awards at the end of the season were Dane Frickey, most improved; Eli Walter, defensive award; Josh Fields, most valuable player; and Jordan Pilgrim, Hawk award. Eighth graders receiving basketball awards were Philip Johnson, most valuable player and Hawk award; Austin Rieger, most improved; and Jeremiah Goad, best defense award.

10 Years Ago

April 22, 2015

For the 14th year, Forrest has been named a 2014 Tree City USA by the Arbor Day Foundation in honor of its commitment to effective urban forest management. Forrest is one of 3,400 Tree City USAs, with a combined population of 140 million. This program is sponsored in partnership with the U. S. Forest Service and the National Association of State Foresters.

Wrestling awards for the 2014-15 season were recently presented to Sam Schuler, Hawk Award; Drew Hoselton, Most Valuable; and Tyler Bergstralh, Most Pins.

Members of the GFWC Ill. Fairbury Women's Club attended the 17th District Spring Convention on April 9 in Cullom. The club received the following awards for all the work they do in their community, district and state: first place in Art, Education, Home Life, Public Issues, Leadership, Membership Communications and Public Relations, WHRC and A Safe Place for Every Child; second place in Conservation, International Outreach, Fundraising, Legislation and Public Policy and Domestic Violence Awareness and Prevention. These awards were for clubs with 13 members or less. The club won the overall award for Education and Communications and Public Relations which was best overall of all 17 clubs in the 17th District.

(Looking Back from Kari Kamrath is sponsored each week by Duffy-Pils Memorial Home)