Looking Back: 12-17-25

130 Years Ago

December 14, 1895

Numbers of skatorial artists disport themselves on the ice of Indian Creek these evenings.

Nimmo Bros., west of town, have husked over 13,000 bushels of corn and have 38 acres still out that will make 75 bushels to the acre.

The extensive clothing establishment of S. H. Herzberg this week changed hands, Thomas Payne, of Fairbury, and Arthur Amsler, Yates Township, being the purchasers.

S. R. Cornish will return to Fairbury with his family soon, and will occupy the Wilson property, corner of Third and Maple streets.

Married at the residence of the bride Wednesday evening, Miss Linda Smith to William Price, Rev. W. L. Riley performing the ceremony.

120 Years Ago

December 15, 1905

The tank at the waterworks station sprung a bad leak the first of the week and now there are two bit icicles extending from the bottom of the tank the full length of the tower to the ground. The "Fire and Water" committee are taking steps to make repairs and it is possible that the leak can be stopped temporarily at least. The tank has given trouble ever since it was put up, by leaking. Investigation shows that the timbers are in a fairly good condition, but it seems the tank was not built right. The present leak is a big one and the only thing that keeps all the water from running out are the icicles.

On Wednesday evening, Mr. and Mrs. A. E. Swap entertained a few of their friends in honor of their thirty-ninth wedding anniversary. An elegant four-course dinner was served, the table being beautifully decorated with carnations and foliage. The evening was spent in a most enjoyable manner with vocal and instrumental music and social chat relative to customs in vogue forty years ago. The company broke up after wishing Mr. and Mrs. Swap many more years of successful married life and all promising to return for their golden wedding anniversary. Those present were: Mr. and Mrs. C. W. Keck, Mr. and Mrs. Cliff, Mr. and Mrs. A. Adams and Prof. and Mrs. E. C. Green.

Miss Grace M. Westervelt, daughter of Mr. Ernest Westervelt, of this city, and Mr. Harry T. Wagoner, son of Mr. and Mrs. E. A. Wagoner, of McDowell, were married at the home of the groom's parents Thursday morning, Dec. 14 at 11:00 o'clock, Rev. Meecham performing the ceremony in the presence of the relatives and friends of the contracting parties. The bride and groom are an excellent young couple and have the best wishes of a host of friends for a long and happy married life.

110 Years Ago

December 15, 1915

Jesse W. Arthur is minus the services of his automobile since last Friday evening. He was on his way home from Fairbury when his car stopped. He was only a short distance from home and went after his lantern. The lantern went out after he got back to the car and Mr. Arthur went back of his car to light it. He struck a match and before he hardly knew it the auto was a mass of flames. All that was left of the car was the parts that would not burn.

The buggy in which George Heater and Roy Collins were riding was hit by the Wabash passenger train last Saturday morning at the Bach Lumber Yard crossing. Although they were over against John Hibsch's cement building when they stopped, the young men were not hurt much. They held onto the horse. The buggy was badly wrecked.

Backed with the support of an enthusiastic audience, the Fairbury Township High School basketball team dedicated the new high school gymnasium on last Friday evening by trouncing Chenoa, 35 to 9. The Fairbury team was composed of Dillon, H. Foster, Somers and Mundell, forwards; Dixon, Israel, center; G. Foster, Jenkins, guards.

Sam Fendrick has a couple of broken ribs. He was helping to unload some large tile last Friday when one of the tile slipped and struck an iron bar that was being used. The bar was thrown against Mr. Fendrick's side, breaking his ribs.

100 Years Ago

December 18, 1925

Ben Peter had his collar bone broken, received a bad cut on his lower lip and hand and was otherwise cut and bruised Wednesday evening when the right spindle arm on the Chalmers touring car he was driving, broke. The car left the hard road, went down into a ditch, over a hedge fence and turned over. The accident happened four miles west of town, on Wednesday evening at about 5:30 o'clock. Mr. Peter was thrown out just before the car reached the fence. He was found there in an unconscious condition by another autoist, H. M. Tholen, who resides near the scene of the accident. Mr. Peter remained in an unconscious condition for some little time, but is getting along nicely now. The car was badly wrecked.

Frank Ford's sale of Belgian and Percheron horses, held at the fair grounds Monday was well attended and good prices prevailed, the high price being $500. Buyers from a distance were present, some of the horses being purchased by parties in the state of Oregon, and some going to Canada.

Everything that would tend to make a show complete and cause it to be appreciated by those who witness it, was found in "Char-Ming," the Chinese-American musical mystery, presented at the Central Theatre on Monday and Tuesday evenings by a local cast under the auspices of John Joda Post, American Legion. A capacity house greeted the performance each evening. As a special between acts, Clay Carr, a well known saxophonist, favored the audience with several brilliant selections.

90 Years Ago

December 13, 1935

The Kaisner boys, who exhibited several calves at the livestock show in Chicago last week, sold the animals at a nice profit. Amos Kaisner exhibited two calves, one of which placed 14^th in competition with 50 other white-faced calves. This calf cost 3½ cents a pound and brought 14¾ cents. It weighed 1,060 pounds. Another calf, an Angus that weighed 900 pounds, brought 15½ cents per pound. It cost 4 cents. One calf exhibited by Victor Kaisner, that weighed 1,160 pounds, brought 14¾ cents per pound, and another one that Irvin Kaisner sold also brought 14¾ cents.

Maribeth Cox, 13-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Cox, of south of Fairbury, and a pupil in the 8^th grade of the Cropsey School, won third place in the McLean County spelling contest in Bloomington last Saturday. Maxine Miller, aged 12, of Carlock, took first place, and Patty Parret, of Normal Central School, placed second. Besides placing in the spelling contest, Maribeth Cox and Patty Parret placed in the dictionary usage contest. There were 62 pupils entered in the contest. Maribeth's teacher is Hugh Cooper.

Mr. McNear, who in 1933 sold the passenger depot here to the members of the Christian Apostolic Church who used the materials to build a place of worship, has sold the old Fairbury freight depot that stands near the Fourth Street crossing to parties at El Paso, and it is said it will also be used in building a church there.

80 Years Ago

December 14, 1945

Hardly a day passes but one or more returned service men stop in at the office to say "Thank you for sending me The Blade. You won't need to send it any more. I have had my discharge." Our list of around 500 men and women in the service to who we were mailing The Blade has dwindled to about 125. The Blade is just as happy as the men are to have them return home and get back to peacetime pursuits.

Miss Joyce Callaby, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alfred Callaby, became the bride of Ph. M 2/C Ivan Everett Crews, son of Mr. and Mrs. Newman Crews at 2 o'clock p.m. Sunday, December 9^th, at the First Baptist Church in Fairbury. The Rev. Njus performed the ceremony. The bride is a graduate of the Cropsey Community High School and has been employed at the State Farm Mutual in Bloomington. The bridegroom is a graduate of Cropsey Community High School and has just returned from eighteen months service in the Pacific.

Mrs. Elizabeth Herzog fell early Wednesday morning at the Harry Frye home, where she makes her home, and fractured a wrist. After the fracture was reduced at Fairbury Hospital she was taken to the home of her son-in-law and daughter, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Broquard.

70 Years Ago

December 15, 1955

Fairbury Hospital was notified that it had been included in the approximately 3,500 privately supported hospitals across the country which will receive a cash appropriation from the Ford Foundation in New York City. The local hospital will receive $26,400.

Army Pvt. Ronald D. Brady, 18, son of Joseph Brady, Forrest, is training with the 1^st Infantry Division at Ft. Riley, Kan.

Sharon Moser, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Moser of Fairbury, and Bernard Kelson Jr., son of Mr. and Mrs. Bernard Kelson Sr., of Fairbury, were united in marriage Dec. 11.

Equipping the new fire department tank wagon, an explanation of the city's needs in regard to a sewer system, parking and the city dump were the items which consumed most of the time during a two-hour session of the city council meeting.

Golf club members have completely refinished the interior of the golf club in knotty pine.

60 Years Ago

December 16, 1965

At the Midstate College of Commerce's annual Christmas dance, Miss Barbara Addis of Fairbury was selected by popular vote by the entire student body as queen for 1965-66. Miss Addis chose a beautiful rose-colored satin gown for the coronation, and was presented a silver crown and one dozen long-stemmed American Beauty red roses. Barbara is pursuing the executive secretarial course at Midstate College, and is a 1965 graduate of Fairbury-Cropsey High School. Her parents are Mr. and Mrs. Chuck Addis.

Final concrete for the railings on the new South First Street bridge over Indian Creek were poured Tuesday and the contractors hope to have the structure open to traffic next Wednesday, Dec. 22. Work on the bridge, which workmen informally are now calling "the monument," was hampered throughout the summer by extreme rainfall and by quicksand.

Merwyn C. Davis of Cascade, Iowa, will be with Rieger Coils as general manager and co-owner starting January 1, 1966. Until the first of the year, Davis will assume management on a part-time basis, being at the plant in Forrest a day or two each week. Davis has broad working experience as well as family background in the electronic industry.

50 Years Ago

December 18, 1975

Fairbury-Cropsey Superintendent Lester Miller has resigned his position, effective June 30, 1976. Miller, who came to Unit 3 during the 1963-64 school year, submitted his letter of resignation to the board of education Monday night. The board, following executive session with Miller to discuss the situation, voted 6-0 to accept Miller's resignation. Miller is currently completing his 38^th year in public education.

Donald Fortna, branch manager of Forrest Savings and Loan, and Steve Eggenberger, executive officer of the Pontiac Savings and Loan Association, were on hand over the weekend to greet visitors at the open house for the new Forrest business, which is a division of the Pontiac operation. More than 900 persons inspected the new Forrest facilities during the two-day open house celebration.

Santa Claus is coming to town . . . on the Illinois Central-Gulf railroad on Saturday. The "special" train will be in Cabery at 12:50 p.m., Cullom 2:25 p.m., Charlotte 3:30 p.m., Cropsey 5:15 p.m., Anchor 6 p.m. and Colfax 6:45 p.m. Each village has donated candy for the train crew and Santa to distribute as the assembled children tour the caboose and locomotive at each location.

40 Years Ago

December 12, 1985

One of Fairbury's oldest family owned and operated businesses, Herzog Distributing Company, will close its doors for good the end of this week. For 52 years, the firm has been a wholesale distributor for Pabst beer and has also handled produce. But this week, Maurice Herzog said that "In this day and age, I'm too small; a beer distributor has to have five or six brands to survive." Herzog took over the firm after the death of his father, Carl, in 1944. "My dad had a load of beer in here the day after prohibition ended. That was in November, 1933."

Edward Adam will be 100 years old on Saturday, Dec. 14. Born in 1885, Adam has farmed all his life. The oldest and only surviving member of a family of four, he lived in various places until 1911 when he settled to farm in Strawn. He moved to Fairbury in 1974, where he presently resides.

Pastor Geraldine Lewis officiated at the wedding ceremony of her grandson, Steven Wade McBride when he and Kay Ellen Schladenhauffen were married in a double ring ceremony at Indian Creek Country Club, Fairbury, on Nov. 16. The couple's parents are Eugene and Velma Schladenhauffen and David and Mary McBride, all of rural Forrest. The bride was given in marriage by her father in the presence of 175 guests. The bride is a 1984 graduate of Forrest-Strawn-Wing High School and is employed by NuForm Counter Top Co. of Fairbury. The bridegroom is a 1985 graduate of Forrest-Strawn-Wing High School and is employed at Fosdick Poultry.

30 Years Ago

December 13, 1995

Chatsworth Elementary sixth grade student Tyler Steimle, 12, is very thankful that Kay Shols, a teacher's aide at the school, has quick feet. It was her quick action, and ability to "fly" over a group of chairs to Tyler's aid recently, that rescued him from choking on a peanut butter sandwich during lunch recently. She performed the Heimlich maneuver two or three times until he responded with "I got it." Kay, who was assigned lunchroom duty that day, said she didn't think about her actions until it was all over, then they both shook.

Stacie Lynn Hoselton of Chenoa and Bill Alan Casner of Chenoa, exchanged wedding vows in an 8 p.m. ceremony on Oct. 21, 1995. Rev. Ray Morris officiated the ceremony at Sugarland Wedding Chapel at Gatlinburg, TN, in the presence of 22 guests. She is the daughter of Ray and Sharon Hoselton of Chenoa, and he is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Paul Smith of Plano, and Mr. and Mrs. Bill Casner of Saunemin. A reception was held Nov. 18 at 6 p.m. at the Knights of Columbus, Pontiac. The bride is a daycare provider and a student at Illinois State University. She is a 1984 graduate of Chenoa High School. The bridegroom is a carpenter, employed with Ralph Brown Construction Company of Chenoa. He is a 1983 graduate of Plano High School.

Justin Cottrell was named Chenoa High School's honoree in "The Prudential Spirit of Community" award. The award is presented for outstanding, self-initiated community service. Cottrell will now be eligible for the state competition. Two state honorees will each receive a $1,000 award, a silver medallion and an all-expense-paid trip to a national recognition event in Washington, D. C. next spring. Ten national honorees named during the D. C. event will each receive an additional $5,000 award, a gold medallion and a trophy. Cottrell is the son of Larry and Doris Cottrell.

20 Years Ago

December 14, 2005

Fairbury VFW Post #9789 and Auxiliary and Chenoa VFW Post #8350 and Auxiliary recently sponsored the Voice of Democracy contest. Kayla Pollman received first place and $100, and will advance to the state level. Ashley Lawless was second and received $75. Erin Clark received third place. All three of these students were sponsored by the Fairbury VFW Post. Sponsored by the Chenoa VFW, Jaleese Sipe received first place and Stephanie Zimmerman second. Sipe will also advance to the state level competition.

Martin and Trish Steidinger of Fairbury are parents of a baby boy born at 12:01 p.m. on Nov. 10, 2005 at OSF St. Joseph's Medical Center, Bloomington. Jared Wayne weighed 8 pounds, 11 ounces and was 21 inches long at birth. Maternal grandparents are Earl and Esther Gerber, Forrest. Paternal grandfather is Maurice Steidinger of Fairbury. The new arrival's brothers and sisters are Alex, 20; Wes, 19; Kent, 18; Leann, 17; Karla, 14; Kirk, 11; Rose, 9; Toby, 7; Jamie, 5; Tyler, 2½; and Levi, 1½.

The PC girl's basketball team fought back a comeback attempt by Coal City and managed to pull ahead at the end to defeat the Coalers by a score of 40-31 at the state tournament on Saturday, Dec. 10, at Clinton Junior High School. PC was up by as many as 10 points, but Coal City pulled back to within 2 points before the Hawks put them away in the last minute of the game. PC advances to the quarter finals on Monday night and will play Canton Ingersoll with the winner advancing to the trophy round Tuesday evening.

10 Years Ago

December 16, 2015

The libraries in Forrest and Chatsworth are the recipients of some generous donations. A group of around 40 local landowners, knows at the Forrest-Chatsworth Wind Study Group, donated over $1,500 to the Forrest Public Library and the Chatsworth Township Library during a ceremony in Forrest Tuesday morning. The group formed in 2005 and opened up a joint account to fund research, meeting space and other expenses. “We always said that when we finished that work, if we had money left, we were going to donate it to the library so that's what we're here to do today,” explained member Julie Fosdick. The Forrest-Chatsworth Wind Study Group will divide a total donation of $1,565.50 left over from the joint fund to both libraries. Invenergy LLC, the Chicago-based developer which proposed the Pleasant Ridge Wind Energy Project, has agreed to contribute $1,000 to each – making the combined donation to each library $1,782.75.

Ben and Valeda White of Port Orange, Fla., formerly of Fairbury, will celebrate their 60^th wedding anniversary by enjoying the Florida sunshine. White and the former Valeda Savage were married Dec. 23, 1955 in Fairfield, Ill. the Rev. Wesley Reed officiated. Their attendants were Estell and Shirley Stewart. They are the parents of Rhonda (Jim) Hodges, Pontiac; Mike (Connie) White, Fairbury; Randy (Tina) White, Bluegrass, Iowa; and Greg (Tiffany) White, Durant, Iowa. They also have 15 grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren. He is a retired Industrial Arts teacher at Fairbury-Cropsey High School and also retired from White Lumber. She was employed as an office manager at Walton's Department Store.

Prairie Central went 5-0 in its North-South Duels meet Saturday, Dec. 5. Among the wins for the Hawks were decisions over state powers Wilmington and Monticello. PC opened with Monticello and it came down to Austin Moreland in the final bout at 138 pounds. PC led 33-32 going into the bout that Moreland won by fall at 2:29 for the 39-32 win. The Hawks also defeated Wilmington 40-30, beat Grant Park 59-12, won the battle with Riverton 55-15 and triumphed over the Dwight Trojans 60-21 after opening with four pins.

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