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Kari Kamrath

Looking Back: 7-31-24





130 Years Ago

July 28, 1894

Rev. Dr. Dillon arrived in Fairbury this week and will take charge of the St. John's Church of this place and the Strawn church also.

The trustees of Livingston Lodge No. 290, I. O. O. F., closed a deal on Wednesday by which they come into possession of the Duell Livery Barn and an unoccupied strip of ground between that and Mapel Bros. building. Possession will be given in October and although nothing definite has been arranged as yet, it is under contemplation to erect a two-story building, 50x120 feet, covering the entire space between the Henderson & Eddy building and Mapel Bros. The price paid Mr. Duell was $4,200.

Tuesday the neighboring city of Chenoa was the scene of one of the most destructive fires in its history. Thirty-two business houses were destroyed, the loss being estimated at $300,000.

The Fairbury baseball nine crossed bats with Piper City Tuesday; score, 16 to 11 in favor of Fairbury.

 

120 Years Ago

July 29, 1904

Keep your hair light by exposing it to the sun as many hours each week as you possibly can. Soda or borax will keep it light, but they are not the best shampoos, as they make the hair brittle. A good tonic is made of one pint bay rum, one ounce castor oil, one drachm tincture cantharides, one drachm carbonate ammonia. Use three times a week at first, gradually lessening. Try egg shampoos.

Chatsworth for many years has celebrated the last Thursday in August to commemorate the deeds of the early pioneers of this section of the country. So far nothing has been heard of any preparation whatever for that event.

The merchants of Forrest have raised a large amount of money for their Forrest Day celebration this year. A number of the best vaudeville teams will give free performances on the street. There will be all sorts of races for good prizes, and a balloon ascension by Prof. Tomilson. Two games of ball will be played – Forrest vs. Gridley in the morning and Forrest vs. Union Giants of Chicago in the afternoon. Burch's band will provide the music.

On Sunday, July 31st and August 7th the Wabash will run a special train to Pontiac Chautauqua, leaving Fairbury at 8:40 a.m. and returning, leave Pontiac at 10:00 p.m. Fare, 35 cents.

 

110 Years Ago

July 31, 1914

Frank Ford arrived in Fairbury on Wednesday evening from his trip to Belgium and France. While there he purchased 20 head of horses which were shipped to Parker, S. D.

Joe Kelso, Clark Hanks and Clayton Ward left last Friday for Redwood Falls, Minn., where they will assist in harvesting the big crops in that vicinity.

The barn on the Benjamin Cumpston farm, near the Cumpston sandpit, burned down Monday evening. The barn was used by Edward Cumpston.

F. E. Milligan this week leased the J. W. Woods building and will take possession tomorrow. Mr. Milligan will move his stock of furniture from his present location in the Babcock building to his newly acquired location.

 

100 Years Ago

July 25, 1924

Miss Jessie Brady, who is enjoying her annual vacation, was hostess on Wednesday evening at her home west of Fairbury, to the Soap Bubble Club, of Rathbun's Inc., of Pontiac. About eighteen members of the club motored to her home, which was beautifully decorated with flowers of the season and Japanese lanterns inside of the house and on the lawn. An elaborate course dinner was served, after which the evening was spent with music, games and cards.

Harry Foster, proprietor of the Men's Shop, is closing out his business and early in August will go to Chicago, where he has accepted a position in the clothing department of John T. Shayne company. Mr. Foster is one of Fairbury's most progressive young business men and has built up a fine business with his Men's Shop.

Pontiac Leader — A post-nuptial dinner tendered to Mr. and Mrs. Junior Meeks resulted disastrously late last evening when the Ford coupe in which they were returning from Fairbury turned over in the ditch along the public highway near the Eggenberger farm south of this city, severely injuring Mrs. Meeks. Just as they passed the Eggenberger farm the lights on the Meeks car went out, causing Mr. Meeks to miss the jog in the road. As a result the car went into the ditch and turned turtle, the weight of the car resting on the top. Mrs. Meeks was cut about the head and her body was bruised. Both wheels on the right side of the coupe were crushed.

 

90 Years Ago

July 27, 1934

The old swimming hole at the Munz sandpit, came near being the scene of another tragedy on Tuesday evening. Van Popejoy and his three-year-old son Jerry, who reside at Cropsey, had come to the pit to enjoy a swim in the "cooling" water. Mr. Popejoy was swimming around with his son sitting upon his back when the child moved too far forward and made it impossible for Mr. Popejoy to keep his head above water. He was at first noticed to be struggling and then both he and the child sank beneath the surface. M. W. Kruger, of Forrest, succeeded in rescuing the child, while Harry Bach, with the assistance of Mrs. Bach, dragged Mr. Popejoy to shore. Both Mr. Popejoy and the boy were filled with water and unconscious when pulled out and it took several minutes of resuscitation work before they began to show signs of life.

Walter Hetherington suffered an injury to his right knee in an accident in the Co-operative Coal Company's mine yesterday morning. He was engaged in hauling coal from the place it is mined to the base of the shaft, and in the dim light, he thought the car track was clear, but learned a bit late that there were other cars on the rails and in the collision which resulted, the knee received a bump which causes him to limp considerably. The pony which he was driving was also slightly injured.

Gibson Courier — Francis Ashley, of Gibson City, Virgil Munz and Raymond Weaver, of Fairbury, flew to Racine, Wis., in Ashley's airplane Saturday morning, where Pilot Ashley participated in the air classic. He took first prize in the bomb dropping contest, fourth in the spot landing contest, and carried quite a number of passengers. The trio returned to Chicago Monday morning, where they stayed and visited friends until Tuesday evening. The trip home was made in 45 minutes.

 

80 Years Ago

July 28, 1944

Miss Frieda Freese, who has been superintendent of nurses at the Fairbury Hospital the past nine months, has tendered her resignation to the hospital board. Miss Freese has been very much interested in the hospital work and has given it her best efforts. She is undecided as to her plans for the future, but is returning tomorrow to her home near Roanoke. A number of social affairs have been given for her the past week.

Gene Spence, son of Mr. and Mrs. G. B. Spence, fell out of a tree at the Fred Haase home last Saturday morning and broke his left arm just above the wrist. To make things a little more complicated for Gene, he is left-handed.

A fire Monday night, about 10:30 o'clock, badly damaged the front room of John Joda Post, American Legion, and the contents of that part of their quarters were burned almost completely. The Fairbury Fair Association was using the Legion rooms as the secretary's office for two weeks preceding the fair and some of the filled-out entry blanks were destroyed. However, Secretary George Decker says they can be replaced. The fire in the Legion room was discovered by Mrs. E. H. Klitzing, who was in an automobile parked across the street west of the Legion building. This is the second bad fire members of John Joda Post have had since they have been in their present quarters. On the morning of February 24, 1929, a fire, starting in the kitchen in the rear part of the building, did damage of three or four thousand dollars.

 

70 Years Ago

July 29, 1954

To those who are hunting a place to live in the Fairbury-Forrest vicinity, it may seem that there are no houses in either town. There are houses, old, new and in-between. There are houses built for owner occupancy and, hard to believe though it may be, some are being built for rental purposes. Houses to rent are as scarce as the proverbial hen's teeth. Don't misunderstand, there are good houses being rented, but they are always rented, never 'for rent.' Those who are building good 2 and 3 bedroom houses for rental purposes are certainly deserving of community wide approval.

Moto Polo proved as thrilling as it had been claimed Tuesday night. Those present for the novel event found plenty of thrills as the highly mobile cars pushed the giant ball back and forth along the track, and sometimes ended up turning over. The showing was the first for Central Illinois. The attraction was originated in California. Scores were made by advancing the gigantic 7-foot rubber ball through the goals. Head-on crashes, cars flying into the air, rolling over and at times crawling up over the ball, result from the spirited action.

Joseph Gaug has rented an office in The Blade building for his tailor shop. Mr. Gaug, who has been conducting his tailoring business in his home on W. Elm Street, plans to move Aug. 15 into the office formerly occupied by Dr. D. H. Johnston. Blade building offices are now filled by Roy E. Taylor, Dr. H. N. Leonard, Mr. Gaug and D. Marvin Huette.

 

60 Years Ago

July 30, 1964

With the corn as tall as it is, a dangerous rural hazard presents itself. So many country intersections are hazardous because of the corn obstructing their view. Extra caution can be stressed, but if farmers would top off about 12 to 15 rows of corn in a triangle, it would give much better visibility and safety. One local accident has already occurred from lack of visibility at a corner. This could be just the first of many. Most farmers are concerned with safety but don't want to go so far as cutting the corn off the corners. At this late date, no harm would be done to the corn as long as it is cut just above the ears.

Final approval was given plans for the new Helen Lewis Smith Memorial Pavilion for Fairbury Hospital when board members met Tuesday afternoon with architect John Geiger. The $400,000 wing will add 23 beds capacity to the hospital, and is designed as a convalescent wing for elderly patients. Money for the project was a bequest of the late Helen Lewis Smith, former Fairbury resident, who died two years ago in California.

A huge chunk of a corn crib at the George Broquard farm was chewed up by the propellor of an aircraft at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Pilot Merle Wieland attempted to land at Broquard field, but overshot the strip. As he pulled the craft back into the air, the ship stalled into the corn crib. No serious injuries resulted, although the $14,000 plane is a total loss.

 

50 Years Ago

August 1, 1974

The crop picture for many Livingston County farmers is about to reach the critical stage. Two weeks ago, extension adviser William McNamara said two inches of rain and ideal growing temperatures were needed to salvage this year's crops. A check on Monday revealed no change in the situation "We got some rain just after we talked earlier," McNamara recalled, "but it wasn't enough. We still could use another couple inches of gentle rain, followed by some good growing weather." Basically, it's the same situation as described by McNamara two weeks ago: the farmer must sit back and wait for rain.

Octavia firemen responded to a crib fire of undetermined origin late Monday afternoon at the Virgil Elliott farmstead near Cropsey. Elliott came within hours of losing close to 4,000 bushels of corn to the blaze, but had shelled just that morning, leaving the crib empty.

Mr. and Mrs. Donald D. Harms Sr. of rural Forrest, at a dinner held July 27 in their home, announced the engagements of their daughters, Lucinda Kay and Bonnie Jean. Lucinda Kay is the fiancee of Robert E. Gregait, son of Mr. and Mrs. Edward C. Gregait of Riverdale. No wedding dated has been set. Bonnie Jean is engaged to Pv.2 Steven Weger, son of Mrs. Clifford Baird of St. Clair, Mich. and Robert Weger of Watseka. The couple is planning a June wedding.

 

40 years Ago

July 26, 1984

The covered bridge, a not atypical scene in those golden days of yesteryear when the horse and buggy was the primary means of local travel. Fairbury had one, a few weeks ago briefly. Shall we explain? When William Fehr of rural Fairbury decided he needed a corn crib at one of his farms southwest of town he contacted Howard Arnold who wanted to get rid of one he had east of town. With the help of Genzel and Garrelts House Moving Service of Buckley they moved it, and as it crossed a bridge a few hundred yards south of the Fehr farmstead, Blade photographer Paul Kyburz stepped into Indian Creek to snap a picture of the crib on the bridge.

No one believes a horseshoe brings good luck more than Doug Tollensdorf of Fairbury. On the same day (July 7) he found a horseshoe in one of his fields, he won $1,415 in the state's lottery. After Doug found the horseshoe, he didn't think too much about it and threw it in a tool box. On Sunday morning Doug checked the lottery numbers in the newspaper as he always does and discovered five of his six numbers matched those listed.

Flanked by his friends and a local supporter, Gary Aramini of New Hampshire took time out from his cross-country run across the states to raise money for cancer research, to pose for a picture outside Fairbury on Route 24 last Thursday. Gary, 20, decided to make the run after losing his friend Billy Clayin to bone cancer. He says he wanted to be able to understand the pain his friend went through and to simulate it by running. Running anywhere from 30 to 40 miles a day, Gary has already completed over 2,000 miles since he started May 3.

 

30 Years Ago

July 27, 1994

The requested annexation by the Forrest Village Development Corporation will not be addressed by the Forrest Village Board, until both proponents and opponents of a proposed waste incinerator plant have had a chance to tour the model plant at Rochester, Mass. Mayor Richard Sanders confirmed that the annexation decision will not be made at the August 4 meeting. He said it will be up to the board to decide when that decision will be made.

Thomas Wurmnest, of Myers Crop Service of Cropsey, has successfully completed the requirements to be named a Certified Crop Adviser (CCA) in Illinois. He recently passed both a state and national exam and has completed the requirements to receive CCA certification, which includes four years of post high school crop advising experience, or an advanced degree plus advising experience.

Barring a torrential rain that creates mud havoc at Fairbury's horse track located on the fairgrounds, the first miniature horse harness race in Illinois will take place during the 118th annual Fairbury Fair next month. It was deep mud that prevented the Kankakee Fair from boasting of the distinction last summer, so if the weatherman can't give us rain for the crops when needed, let's hope he holds off for this historic racing event.

 

20 Years Ago

July 28, 2004

Norman Rittenhouse presented plans for the new Walton Centre for Fairbury to the Fairbury City Council Wednesday night. When he was at an earlier council meeting, he requested that the city buy the Walton building to become a community center. The city voted against it mostly because of the lack of money. Rittenhouse said since that meeting, he has obtained eight investors and formed a corporation for the new center. They have begun working on the hardwood floors upstairs following removal of the carpet. The building will feature a banquet center in the upper level and the lower level will feature retail stores.

Due to the unusually extreme blood shortage, the Red Cross has scheduled weekly drives in the Fairbury area during the coming weeks, beginning today, Wednesday, July 28. This will give more donors an opportunity to donate at their convenience. The Fairbury area has a reputation for generously responding to the need for blood. For the fiscal year ending in June, Fairbury met 103 percent of its goal by donating nearly 1,000 units of blood. That represented an increase of 10 percent over the prior year.

Danniell "Donni" Rice, 15, of Fairbury, has triple jumped her way into the AAV National Junior Olympics to be held at Drake University in Des Moines, Iowa July 30 through Aug. 6. With a jump of 32'10¼" at the AAV Region VI track meet held in Lima, Ohio July 9-11, Danniell earned the right to compete at the National Track & Field event. Danniell is currently competing with the Heroh Sports University Track Club coached by Roland Brent in Bloomington/Normal. She competes in the Girls Intermediate Division (ages 15-16). Danniell just completed her freshman year at Prairie Central High School where she competed in varsity track and freshman volleyball.

 

10 Years Ago

July 30, 2014

It has been a whirlwind season for Vanderbilt junior Jared Miller, son of Randy (F-C class of 1982) and Diane Miller and grandson of John and Karen Hildreth of Fairbury. Jared, a 6'7” left-handed pitcher, went 7-2 on the mound as the Vanderbilt Commodores won the College World Series in June. Then the junior was drafted by the Arizona Diamondbacks in the 11th round of the Major League draft. Last week, Miller decided to forego his senior season and sign with the D'backs. He reported for assignment this weekend in Oregon where he expects to play for a few weeks before moving up to the Arizona affiliate in South Bend, Ind. to finish the season.

Cassandra Heider of Elgin and Austin Stephens of Fairbury are announcing their engagement and approaching marriage. The bride-to-be is the daughter of Wayne and Tammy Heider of Elgin. She is a 2014 graduate of Illinois State University. The future bridegroom is the son of Sam and Patsy Stephens of Fairbury and the grandson of Marjorie Stephens of Fairbury, the late Donald Stephens and Kern and Mary Ella Doerner of Norris City. He attends Greenville Christian College in Greenville, Ill. The couple is planning an Aug. 10, 2014 wedding at Bartlett, Ill.

Parkland College has announced that nearly 600 students earned an associate's degree or a certificate. The graduates included the following area students: Connor Groskreutz and Eric Rebholz of Chatsworth, Naomi Knapp and Allyn Krenz of Chenoa, Courtney Edelman and Shanna Slagel of Fairbury and Jeana Steidinger of Forrest.


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

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