130 Years Ago
September 9, 1893
Considerable anxiety is being occasioned by the condition of the water works tank. A year or so ago it began to settle, presumably from the excavations made in working out the coal but nothing was done to straighten it and now it resembles the Leaning Tower of Pisa.
Last Wednesday evening at the home of the bride's mother, Mrs. Catherine Nimmo, occurred the marriage of her daughter, Jeannie, to J. Albert Carter, of Pleasant Ridge.
Dr. Lewis reports twin girls born to Mr. and Mrs. James Guthrie, Sunday, September 3.
Miss Lutie Mitten entertained fifteen of her little friends in celebration of her birthday.
110 Years Ago
September 12, 1913
C. J. Claudon sold and delivered seven new autos in the past ten days, which he sold himself, without any assistance.
Frank Vickery left for Nova Scotia last Saturday to visit relatives.
E. Scott Crouch, who is a pharmacist in a south side drug store in Chicago, is spending a three weeks' vacation at his home here.
At the baby show which was held at the Streator Fair this week, Helen Louise Schnetzler and Charles Otis Decker won the prizes for babies between the ages of one and two years.
Night Clerk Perry, of the Illinois Hotel, and Miss Mary Grebbin, were married Tuesday in Tuscola.
M. M. Jacobs is shipping in ice to supply his customers and it is hard to get.
100 Years Ago
September 7, 1923
Some party or parties have stooped so low as to deface monuments and do other deviltry in the Catholic cemetery. In one instance oil was smeared over the beautiful and costly monument at the grave of Patrick Rowan. No punishment is too severe for people who do work of this kind.
A number of years ago this city had a light on top of the water tower. That was in the time of arc lights and the cost and trouble of going up every day to fix it caused the city fathers to take it down. The light could be seen for miles in every direction and was missed when taken down. This week the Fairbury Association of Commerce had another big light placed on the tower and its guiding powers after night to the people coming to Fairbury will no doubt be appreciated.
Deputy Sheriff J. R. Ives Wednesday arrested Mrs. Rose Tracy, residing near Chenoa. She is charged with neglect and refusal to destroy Canada thistles. Her case has been set for hearing on Friday afternoon before Justice W. E. Baker.
A partial eclipse of the sun such as will not be seen again until 1945 will be visible here on September 10. The eclipse will be seven-twelfths of the sun's surface, beginning at 2:21 p.m. and ending at 4:30 p.m., with its maximum at 3:22 p.m.
90 Years Ago
September 8, 1933
Early last Friday morning some heartless person tied a can to a dog's tail and started him down our main thoroughfare. The dog, yelping with pain and fright stopped in front of one of our business houses. A "knight of the road," who had bunked all night in the city jail, came out as the dog went by. After some persuasion finally convinced the animal that he was trying to befriend it, and taking out his knife separated the can from the dog's tail. It was an hour or so later that people traveling over Route 8, a mile or two east of town, saw the wanderer trudging along the road, and with him was his newly found "pal," the dog, which apparently was enjoying the company of his new master.
Wednesday was a big day for Mrs. William T. Jones, of Cherry Street, when five generations of her immediate family had their dinner together at her home and also posed for a family group picture. Mrs. Jones, her daughter, Mrs. Lee Bentley, of Pontiac, her daughter, Mrs. Elsie Golmar, of Apple River, Wis., and the latter's daughter, Mrs. Frances Golah, and little son, of Freeport, made the five generations.
Mr. and Mrs. Frank Duell have installed in their home an elevator known as the Shepherd home lift. The elevator is very complete, simple in operation, designed to carry up to 350 pounds, and is fully guarded by safety devices. The elevator was installed by Herbert Engel, who has the agency for this territory.
80 Years Ago
September 10, 1943
City Marshal George Walker is in the Fairbury Hospital suffering from a broken right leg received in a scuffle with John Kohler at the Kohler home on South Fifth Street, last Friday evening, where the officer had gone to serve a warrant on Mr. Kohler, who, it is said had been creating a disturbance there. The warrant charged him with being drunk and disorderly. It is said Kohler had struck his step-daughter, Bonnie Stiver, who signed the warrant.
This morning some 20 or 25 blood donors are leaving for Chicago as prospective contributors to the blood plasma bank there.
The local football lid will be kicked off this afternoon at 2:30 at Lewis Field when Coach Luke Gleason will send his local high school pigskin toters against the Forrest Township High School eleven, coached by E. R. Metzger. Many Fairbury business houses have agreed to close during the home games.
The fifth annual Townsend Homecoming and Founders' Day is being held in Central Park in this city on Sunday. Dr. Francis Townsend, the founder of the Townsend Plan, who was born on a farm northeast of this city, but who for many years has resided in California, will arrive here Sunday morning at the Hotel Fairbury. Dr. Townsend and party will then go to the farm where he was born, to visit childhood scenes. Dinner will be served at Decker's Cafe where reservations have been made for quite a number.
70 Years Ago
September 10, 1953
When the city council met last Wednesday evening one of the first things that came before them was a written complaint signed by some 15 people residing in the vicinity of where the Thuro-Bilt Products is located, on East Walnut Street. The complaint stated that the racing of truck engines, the noise of hammering, the unloading of lumber and often profane language disturbed the neighborhood and kept the people of that neighborhood from getting any rest during the night.
Larry, seven-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Earl Rich, suffered a concussion Wednesday evening as a result of falling from his bicycle and striking his head on concrete. He was a patient at St. James' Hospital, Pontiac, being released Thursday evening, and confined to his home for several days. Larry expects to return to school the later part of this week.
Delbert "Sam" Runyon, a comparative newcomer to the local golfing scene, was wearing the crown of city champion this week following his 1-up, 19-hole victory over Frank Phelps in the finals Monday afternoon. Going into the 14th hole, Phelps held a 4-up lead, but Runyon made a sensational recovery with some excellent tee shots to take the 5th, 6th, 8th and 9th to tie the match, and then snared the championship when he parred the 19th hole while Phelps took a bogey four.
60 Years Ago
September 12, 1963
Two developers for Northview Addition, Harvey Traub and Carl Borngasser, met with City Council members Wednesday night and requested approval for street work in their new subdivision. Mayor Roy Taylor told the pair that city funds for such work were depleted, but Traub commented that the Northview Corporation would loan sufficient money to the city at no interest for the project. As is customary, work of this type is done from motor fuel taxes, however city reserves were used up this past summer when several intersections were widened.
After 18 months of construction and training, Fairbury Industries, Inc., this week is moving into a new phase of its local existence, as six of the firm's projected production lines have now been installed, and contractors are bringing the $2 million structure to completion. Latest to go into operation is the giant No. 10 mill, nearly the length of a football field.
Miss Evette Ziegenhorn left for Illinois State Normal University Sunday, where she is enrolled as a junior in special education. During this past summer, she worked at a resort hotel on Mackinac Island, Mich. Her parents, Mr. and Mrs. Cliff Ziegenhorn, motored to the upper peninsula of Michigan to pick her up and return her to Fairbury. In the three-day journey, the Ziegenhorns traveled about 1,100 miles, following the Lake Michigan shoreline to the straits and then driving the super highway home.
50 Years Ago
September 13, 1973
Purchase by the Fairbury Hospital of the Claudon residence at the southeast corner of Fifth and Chestnut streets from the estate of the late Mrs. Laura Claudon, was announced Tuesday afternoon by Roy E. Taylor, president of the board. Acquisition of this property now gives Fairbury Hospital ownership of the entire city block bounded on the east by Sixth street, on the south by Pine, on the west by Fifth and on the north by Chestnut Street. Immediate plans call for two bays of the four-car garage on the Claudon property, which was once a stable, to be used to house the two SELCAS ambulances based in Fairbury.
The First Baptist Church will hold their annual all church picnic Sunday, Sept. 16, in the recreation area adjacent to the Fairbury swimming pool. This year something new will be featured. At 6 p.m., Bob Anderson will sky dive into the picnic area. The community is invited to view this feat. The picnic will close with a program of magic by Bob Mishler.
A garden wedding at the home of the bride's parents, at 2:30 p.m. Saturday, Sept. 8, united in matrimony Miss Kathleen Rieger of Forrest and Dennis Davis of rural Strawn. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Rieger of Forrest and the bridegroom is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Wayne Davis of rural Strawn. A wedding reception was also held at the bride's parent's home.
40 Years Ago
September 8, 1983
Avoca Township, which has been without a railroad since they tore out the Streator branch of the Norfolk and Western, which ran from Fairbury through Pontiac to Streator, got a new trackage system last week. In fact, it begins and ends on the John Goold farm, just northeast of Fairbury. Also in fact, it has only one car, a caboose. The new rail system is the project of Goold's son, Jay, a Fairbury attorney who has a tree farm on the family acreage. He bought one of a half-dozen surplus cabooses recently offered for sale by the TP&W Railroad and two sections of abandoned rail, tie plates, spikes and ties, and a couple of truck loads of limestone for ballast, and built his roadbed. The caboose was placed on the tracks and Avoca Township had a new railroad!
Mr. and Mrs. Ray Meenen of Forrest announce the engagement of their daughter, Sherri, to Joe Maurer, son of Mr. and Mrs. Willis Maurer of Forrest. A Nov. 5 wedding is planned.
When the drought which had plagued Fairbury the past eight weeks finally broke last week, it left an interesting statistic. While it was too late to save the corn crop and probably too late to help some of the soybeans, it still left a lot of water. Fairbury's official measurement was slightly over five inches in three storms during a 36-hour period Friday and Saturday. Since a 2" rain over a square mile is equal to 34 million gallons, that means that for every square mile in the area where five inches was measured, you could count on 85 million gallons of water!
30 Years Ago
September 9, 1993
In celebration of the birthday of 100-year-old Gay Thomas, a special birthday party will be held Sept. 14 at 2 p.m. in the activity room at Fairview Haven. She was born in 1893 to John and Madeline Drennen in rural Colfax. She was the fourth child in a family of five children and is the last of her family to survive. She married Paul R. Thomas in Fairbury, and they had two sons and one daughter.
The volunteer of the Year Award will be presented to two Fairbury Hospital Auxiliary members at the 1993 volunteer awards luncheon of the East Central Illinois Area Agency on Aging at the Chancellor Hotel in Champaign on Sept. 15. Elsie Bachtold and Rosella Mowery were chosen from nominations for the Jane Lohmann Volunteer of the Year Award to receive this certificate of recognition for their volunteer activities in many community organizations.
Duane and Connie Dassow of Chatsworth were honored as Illinois Wildlife Landowners of the Year on Aug. 17 at the Illinois State Fair. The Dassows are the first landowners to receive the wildlife award, which they earned "for their significant contributions to the improvement of wildlife and wildlife habitat on nearly 300 acres of property," according to a news release.
20 Years Ago
September 10, 2003
Mark Hartman of Fairbury has opened All American Wash along Route 24 East in Fairbury. The car wash has two self-serve bays and one touchless automatic bay, as well as vacuums. Bud Kelson of Fairbury is the daytime attendant for the business. Hartman said the new business is a family project for he and his wife, and three young sons, who will be able to help at the business in the future.
Addie Lynn Ahlemeyer and Anthony Michael Ince, both of Normal, were united in marriage on Aug. 2, 2003 at St. John's Lutheran Church in Bloomington. Parents of the couple are Dave and Diane Ahlemeyer of Fairbury, and Lyle and Mary Ince of Kewanee. A reception was held at the Holiday Inn in Normal, immediately following the ceremony. Following a wedding trip to Jamaica, the couple will reside in Normal. The bride is a graduate of Prairie Central High School and Illinois College. She is employed as an English teacher and coach at Normal Community High School. The bridegroom is a graduate of Kewanee Wethersfield High School and Mount Mercy College. He is assistant vice-president at Elan Financial Services.
10 Years Ago
September 11, 2013
Homemade items crafted by women living far away in Haiti have made their way to America for a special event at the Walton Centre, Fairbury. Items such as doll clothes, aprons, bags, totes, purses, kitchen towels, pot holders, novelty items, hats, scarves, sweaters, children's items and more will be featured. For many Haitian women, this is the only income to provide for the needs of their families as the unemployment rate is greater than 75 percent. The open house is being sponsored by the Apostolic Christian churches of Forrest and Fairbury.
Nicole Trainor of Goreville and Jake Thomas of Ranger, Ga., are announcing their engagement and approaching marriage. The bride-to-be is the daughter of Mike and Teresa Trainor of Chatsworth. She has a B.S. In Marketing and an M.B.A. from Southern Illinois University. She is employed at Purina as an Animal Nutrition Sales Specialist. The future bridegroom is the son of Melissa and David Thomas. He is a graduate of Rend Lake College and is employed as a Diesel Technician at McBride Mack Truck Sales, Inc. The couple is planning an Oct. 26, 2013 wedding at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Anna.
Many teenagers spend their spring break vacationing or sleeping in, but not Austin Rhoda. The Prairie Central student spent his break restoring a 1951 John Deere Model A tractor which was on display at the Farm Progress Show in Decatur. Rhoda, his parents and members of the Prairie Central FFA chapter were selling tractor raffle tickets near the John Deere display area to benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. Rhoda, a former St. Jude patient himself, got the idea to start restoring tractors for a good cause from friends. Last fall, the teen gave more than $13,000 to St. Jude, proceeds from raffling off an antique John Dinner tractor. The winning ticket was held by Trevor Sancken.
(Looking Back from Kari Kamrath is sponsored each Wednesday by Duffy-Pils Memorial Homes)
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