Many Fairbury residents remember the Fairbury medical doctors in the 1960s, including Dr. Sauer, Dr. Marshall, Dr. Novak, Dr. Ervin, and Doctor Hudgens. Doctor Don Ervin published a book in 2012 describing his time as a Fairbury doctor from 1960 until he moved to Colorado in 1970. He recounted many humorous stories about his time as a Fairbury doctor in the book. Don Ervin was born in Effingham in 1930. His parents were Mark and Sylvia Pearl Bolin Ervin. Don graduated from V

Compass Insurance has been recognized as a Sapphire Agency by Auto-Owners Insurance. This award honors the top three agencies for property and casualty new business growth, and Compass Insurance finished first in its region. A news release from Compass says the award speaks to the strength of the relationships they have built and the consistent service their team provides across the communities they serve. It also reflects continued commitment to helping clients find the righ

The purchase of a new police vehicle was tabled by members of the Fairbury City Council Wednesday night. Police Chief Chris Edwards said he has called several dealers about a vehicle. He noted some of the equipment in the current pickup truck used by the department could be moved over to a Tahoe or Explorer. The chief seemed to favor an SUV over a pickup like they use now. “I think we ought to get another truck,” said Alderman Bruce Weber, who told the group a pickup truck is

130 Years Ago May 2, 1896 The work of buying goods to start up the big Walton Bros establishment following the fire, was done in Chicago last week. Isaac Walton was at the head of the force of buyers and he was assisted by Walter Grether, Charles Neitz, Harry Amsbary and Misses Maggie Moore and Mary Young. The force made its headquarters at the Great Northern. Mrs. George Decker and daughter departed Tuesday for Chicago, where they will stay while the Chicago club plays there

Ashton Sheldrake, Ty Harms, Rita Strong, Rayana Ibragim, Kyla Rassi, Kinley Elliott, Maggie Fehr shown at Tuesday's meeting of the Fairbury Rotary Club at Dominy Library. Students of the Month at Prairie Central High School this school year were recognized by the Fairbury Rotary Club this week. All were honored for their efforts each month during the year by a nominating teacher. Kinley Elliott, nominated by the PE Department at PCHS, was described as a leader in what she doe

Wayde Fehr, left, and Landon Cottrell shown helping at FFA Day last week at Dominy Library in Fairbury. Two Prairie Central students with a passion for fishing are finding success competing on the PCHS Bass Fishing team. Wayde Fehr and Landon Cottrell started competing as sophomores and qualified for state their first year. “It is an incredible sport to get into,” said Fehr. The pair fish in a youth series that puts on high school tournaments and they have the IHSA regional c

Many readers of these Fairbury history stories have asked if more articles can be written about women who lived in the Fairbury area. Unfortunately, older newspaper accounts and historical records often focused primarily on the activities of men. As a result, it can sometimes be difficult to locate detailed information about women in early local history. However, when we look carefully through various records, we can still find many fascinating stories about women connected

Kids pet calves during the annual Prairie Central "FFA Day" with Dominy Library and Dave's Supermarket. Prairie Central FFA members taught the community about tractor safety and livestock during the annual FFA Day held on the lawn of Dominy Library Friday. Students and other local children enjoyed the petting zoo and various agriculture education stations. The school decided to move its petting zoo to this event a few years ago. “We also combined it with drive your tractor to

130 Years Ago April 25, 1896 Walton Bros., whose store was burned last week, will have new goods in a few days and will be running as usual. The grocery department will be Thompson's old stand and the other departments will be where the implement store has been. Adam Hoker, who has been city marshal for the past year, resigned the next day after the election. Fred Baird has been appointed in his place. A year ago Conrad Munz, south of Fairbury, discovered a 2-acre tract of ex

Get ready for a day full of animals, games, and tractors at the Prairie Central High School on FFA Day this Friday, May 1st, from 8:30 to 2:30. Families can enjoy a petting zoo featuring both large and small animals, kids can participate in hands-on stations, and agriculture education games—all taking place on the lawn of Dominy Memorial Library. Meanwhile, the Tractor Show at the south parking lot of Dave’s Supermarket will showcase tractors in all shapes and sizes. Free fre

The Fairbury Fair has been an important part of community life in Fairbury for nearly 150 years. Over that long period, the fair has changed in many ways. While the early fairs focused mainly on agriculture and livestock, later fairs added entertainment acts, auto racing, carnivals, and many other attractions. Despite these changes, the fair has always remained a gathering place for families and friends from Fairbury and surrounding communities. The first Fairbury Fair was h

130 Years Ago April 18, 1896 Walton Bros. store was burned on Tuesday afternoon, the fire starting about one o'clock. Ten minutes after the fire had been discovered by Sidney Swarm, who had gone down into the basement, the store was a mass of flames. The fire spread with such rapidity that only a few armfuls of goods were carried out, and the lady clerks did not have time to save their hats and coats. The local fire company was assisted in the fighting of the flames by the Ch

(Photo courtesy of Christy Decker for Fairbury News) Third graders at Prairie Central Elementary in Fairbury took part in an exciting hands-on STEAM challenge this week, led by race car drivers and pit crew members. This unique event combines science, technology, engineering, art, and math to give students a real-world learning experience inspired by the world of racing. In the morning, student teams gathered in the PCE gym to begin building “muscle karts” with the help of vo

The early 1900s saw Fairbury transition from a horse-based system of personal transportation to the automobile. Henry Ford's low-cost 1908 Model T made owning a car possible for ordinary Fairbury citizens, not just the wealthy few. Sensing a huge new demand, many local entrepreneurs quickly established automobile dealerships and related businesses in Fairbury. William Jennings Bethard was the first Livingston County resident known to own an automobile, although the exact yea

An educational spotlight was provided for Prairie Central Junior High School during Thursday’s regular meeting of the PC Board of Education in Fairbury. Principal Amy Bachtold was joined by staff members Jenny Deschepper, Baylee Ritter and Angie Kratochvil. Junior High staff provided updates to the board on their school improvement goals for the current year. Deschepper discussed a number of interventions the building is conducting to assist students considered to be chronica

Current and previous Prairie Central graduates who will be attending or who currently attend University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign have a scholarship opportunity. The Donald and Millie Joda Scholarship is open to any PC senior or graduate which meets these qualifications. There have been very few applicants for the award over the past couple of years. The scholarship committee would like to see more interest which is why they are reaching out to the entire Prairie Central c

130 Years Ago April 11, 1896 At the town meeting on election day Supervisor Brownson reported the payment of the last of the old Paducah Railroad bonds and the receipt of the bond from Springfield duly cancelled. He was authorized to burn the same. One of the finest displays of buggies in Livingston County is being exhibited by A. E. Chapman in the Fawkner building. Charles Sutton is in charge of the department. Conrad Munz, living a half mile south of Fairbury, was over to F

The intersection of Ash and Sixth streets is shown Wednesday evening in Fairbury looking west. Safety concerns were brought before the Fairbury City Council Wednesday night over the intersection of Ash and Sixth streets which has no stop signs. Local resident Patrick Chambers suggested putting a stop sign on Ash which travels east and west. “It’s just a high traffic area for the most part when school is getting out,” he explained. Chambers said they have three young children

Most area people know that the village of Cropsey and Cropsey Township are named after A. J. Cropsey. What is not widely known is the colorful, sometimes turbulent life he led after leaving the Fairbury area. Cropsey played an important role in the early development of Fairbury. In the late 1850s, he arrived among the early settlers as the town was beginning to take shape on the prairie. At that time, the town site belonged largely to Caleb Patton, the man who had laid out t

130 Years Ago April 4, 1896 Rev. Charles S. Davies, of McCormick Theological Seminary, who received a call from the Presbyterian Church of this place, has notified the session that he will accept the same. The Presbyterians are well pleased and there is every indication that Rev. Davies will make a successful and popular pastor. He will occupy the pulpit next Sabbath morning and evening. "The Order of the Resurrection" will be the theme of the morning sermon. Col. A. J. Crops