130 Years Ago
December 16, 1893
S. J. Perlee was in Chicago last week completing arrangements for the opening of a branch commission house in Chicago for Perlee Bros., of this city. Charles Maunder will be the accountant of the new business.
The ice harvest has commenced and the ice is of good quality.
The region around Kempton, formerly known as the swamps, has an average crop of corn this season. The Purdum property was sold last Saturday at administrator's sale. The property was purchased by F. Ford of Rugby, who with his family, will move to Fairbury.
Notice has been given the section men on the T. P. & W. that their pay has been cut from $1.25 a day to $1.10 a day.
120 Years Ago
December 18, 1903
Cards are out for the wedding of Miss Mary L. Fitzgerald, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. E. Fitzgerald, of Belle Prairie, and Mr. Robert N. Saunders. Also for the wedding of Miss Alice L. Lehman to Joseph Farney.
We have been experiencing some cold weather during the past week. On Sunday morning the thermometer registered 12 degrees below zero.
St. Paul Commandery, No. 34, K. T., conferred the Order of the Red Cross upon four postulates Monday evening. They were Henry Weber and Oliver Payne, of this city, and Fred Schneider and Fred S. Kolgore, of Chicago.
Miss Myra Henion entertained the Lozang Club Thursday evening in a delightful manner. The young ladies played games, Misses Edythe Barnes and Edna Thomas winning the prizes.
110 Years Ago
December 19, 1913
Mr. and Mrs. Ben King are again residents of Fairbury, having moved in from the country to the Nancy Darnall property the latter part of last week. In the spring they will remodel their residence property on E. Oak Street and occupy it.
Bert Slaughter left Thursday for Wolcott, Ind., where he will paper and paint the house recently erected on the C. W. Keck farm near there.
The matter of erecting a township high school in this city will probably assume some definite proportions in the near future. The school law, declared unconstitutional by the lower courts, has been reversed by the supreme court. The school board has been waiting the outcome of this law before taking any definite action.
Attorney Cyril A. Burns, son of Mr. and Mrs. T. W. Burns, of this city, on Wednesday opened up offices in the Sterry block, Pontiac, and will engage in the practice of law before the courts of this county.
100 Years Ago
December 14, 1923
Phillip Troehler, a veteran of the Civil war and one of this city's respected citizens, passed away at his home in this city Wednesday morning, December 12, at the age of 82 years, 8 months and 24 days. Mr. Troehler was born March 18, 1841, in Alsace-Lorraine, France, and when three years of age came with his parents to America, settling near Chilicothe, Ohio. He grew to young manhood there and when the Civil war broke out he joined the Union forces and served for three years in Company E, 37th Ohio Volunteer Infantry. It was 47 years ago that Mr. Troehler and family moved to Illinois, locating on a farm between here and Weston. There they resided until 1906, when they moved to this city, where they have since lived.
A district meeting of the Modern Woodmen of Livingston, Ford, McLean and Logan Counties was held at Bloomington Monday evening. There were around 2,000 members of this organization present at the meeting, and among them were the following from this city: C. M. Harper, Roscoe Combes, R. J. Hammond, Joe Denarske, Harvey Watkins, R. L. McElfresh, Peter Folkerts, Ruben Bradley, Frank Wessels, H. H. Hays, H. T. Jefferson, and Ira French. The meeting was held at the Illinois Theatre.
Forty boy and girl friends of Charles Otis Decker were entertained last evening at his home in celebration of his thirteenth birthday. Contests, stunts and a radio program, concluding with a two-course luncheon, furnished lively entertainment. The rooms were prettily decorated in red and green.
90 Years Ago
December 15, 1933
Ernest Hofmann, who for the last three years has operated a cheese factory here, is making up his last batch of cheese here tomorrow. He will move the machinery to Carmi, in the southern part of the state, where he will start a factory. The moving of the factory away from Fairbury is due to the fact that not enough milk was obtainable here to make it a paying proposition. The people of Fairbury are sorry to lose the industry and also the family.
T. D. Karnes, of this city, will be a candidate for Congress from this district at the Democratic primaries next April. This piece of news may come as a surprise to his many friends here, but nevertheless it will come as a pleasant surprise for he has a host of acquaintances both among Republicans and Democrats who will welcome the opportunity to give him their support. Mr. Karnes is one of this city's finest citizens and has held numerous positions of public trust and was never found wanting.
Because of the increasing number of pieces of mail which are insufficiently, incorrectly and illegibly addressed, this notice is posted as a caution to mailers to exercise greater care in this particular. During the year 1932 there were 170,000,000 pieces of such mail deposited in the post offices of the country, of which over 17,000,000 pieces reached the Division of Dead Letters and Dead Parcel Post, and in this dead-letter mail was found more than $90,000 in cash.
80 Years Ago
December 17, 1943
The five thousand hens out at the Honegger egg factory south of Forrest reached a new high in the season's rising production one day last week – 3,700 eggs in one day. The hens begin their rising scale of production in October, reach their high in January, then taper off until the low ebb of the molting season in the summer. At the rate these egg machines are going it looks like the goal of a million eggs for this fiscal year is in the bag. It would be rather interesting to follow up these eggs to their final consumption including army camps in all parts of the globe.
The sale of Henry Winterland, held Monday, was largely attended. That Mr. Winterland had what the buyers wanted and that they were willing to pay for what they got is evidenced by the fact that the sale totaled around $17,000. In addition to what was sold at public sale, Mr. Winterland sold about $3,000 worth of articles at private sale. In addition to a large amount of farm machinery, 114 head of livestock was sold.
Joe Reis, Jr., local boy who has been a member of Uncle Sam's Navy for a number of years, and who is now spending a 30-day furlough here with his parents, Mr. and Mrs. Joe Reis, was a guest of the Rotary Club Tuesday evening, and talked briefly of his experiences on the high seas. His story of the Japanese raid on his fleet while in the southern Pacific area was especially interesting.
70 Years Ago
December 17, 1953
Santa Claus came to town Saturday, and so did 750 youngsters. About 500 of them stood in line in front of Santa's temporary home in Central Park, waiting to be interviewed by the sprightly old gent in the red suit. With no snow on the ground, Santa made his arrival perched on the back seat of a convertible. Children strode up to the mike held by Santa in an almost endless line. The amplifier picked up the tiny voices and boomed them out for all to hear.
The house displays of Dr. and Mrs. James Langstaff and Mr. and Mrs. J. A. Pittman yesterday were awarded first places in the third annual Christmas Home Decoration contest sponsored by the Chamber of Commerce and the Rotary Club. The Pittman display received first place in the Religious theme group. The Langstaff decoration was voted best in the displays-other-than-religious group, and was also awarded the grand prize, the Yuletide trophy.
Route 66, from Towanda to Pontiac, was strewn with empty horseradish bottles early Sunday morning, 31,000 cartons in all. A road maintainer was used to sweep the broken bottles off the highway. The shower of bottles was caused when the door of a truck, driven by a man from St. Louis, came open at Towanda and the driver did not notice until he got to Pontiac. He notified the state police there.
60 Years Ago
December 19, 1963
A record high price for Livingston County land, of $706 per acre, was paid Saturday at an auction in the court house in Pontiac. The bid was for an 80-acre tract of Nebraska Township land, willed to St. James Hospital in Pontiac by the late Frank Heibult. Harry Hakes of Dana was the successful bidder in the large crowd which turned out for the sale, cried by Carl Ronnow. The sale total was $56,480. Ronnow said later that the previous high price for land in this county was $704 per acre.
A telephone call from Aberdeen, Md., received by Mr. and Mrs. Marshall Fitzgerald Monday evening, brought the news that their son, Maj. E. Ray Fitzgerald is back in the U. S. after 10 months duty in Saigon, Vietnam. Maj. Fitzgerald and his family will visit in Fairbury sometime in January en route to Omaha, Neb., where they will reside for the next seven months.
Approximately 225 people attended a Hawaiian luau at the Methodist Fellowship Hall last Thursday evening. Hospital staff members, board members, doctors, and guests attended the annual Christmas party. The Hospital Auxiliary served. Mrs. Mary Eaton and Mrs. Sue Tinges were members of the decorating committee. The entire theme of the evening from menu to entertainment, surrounded the Hawaiian theme.
50 Years Ago
December 20, 1973
The light snow and freezing rain which fell in Illinois over the weekend was only a teaser. Tuesday evening the white, fluffy snow began to fall locally and as the night wore on, the intensity of the storm picked up, and by Wednesday morning, a total of 11½ inches of snow, the most recorded since 1967, had bogged down all state and local highways, streets, stranded some motorists and people en route to work. The weatherman predicted another four inches of wet stuff by nightfall Wednesday, and a press time (4 p.m.), it was still falling. Added to the snowfall were high winds which were now moving the mounds of snow across the highways and streets.
Brownie Troop 108 sang Christmas carols in Central Park Monday after school. Giving an enthusiastic rendition of "Frosty The Snowman" were Debbie Bachtold, Lisa Luttrell, Holly Goslin, Tammy Johnson, Lisa Hines, Jane Gray, Debbie Bromberek, Linda Voigt, Debbie Stoller, Amy Schmidt, Jill Schmitz and Dena Van Note. Their leaders are Mrs. Michael Hines and Mrs. Ed Bromberek.
A guitarist and singer from Chenoa, Terry Petersen, 21, will be cutting his first record this week for Illini Record Corporation. Terry will be singing a song he wrote "You Get Your Kicks Out of Losing Me." The new record is expected to be aired nationally within the next six to eight weeks. Accompanying the young vocalist will be the Rich Mounce Band from Peoria. Petersen is an independent trucker and is married to the former Debbie Weber. His parents are Mr. and Mrs. Ed Petersen of rural Fairbury.
40 Years Ago
December 15, 1983
Fairburian Ed Adams says there is no secret to living a long life, you just have to be lucky. And he should know because he just observed his 98th birthday Dec. 14. Ed was born in Strawn in 1885. He was the oldest of four children born to Katharine and John Adams. He attended grade school and a business school for two years and then farmed. Ed, who never married, farmed until retirement in 1957. Ed is in pretty good health except that he requires two hearing aids and his vocal chords are failing. He spends most of his time at home in his apartment, watching television and reading.
The amount of snowfall that Fairbury has received probably doesn't seem like much to the Ivan Stoller family. The Stollers recently returned from vacation in Colorado where they were snowbound in about 25 inches of snow and had to stay in a church for two days and two nights before they could make the trip back to Illinois. For Christmas the Stollers are planning a trip to Florida where the weather should be plenty warm and sunny.
John and Betty Friedman of rural Chatsworth have been recognized as having one of the 100 best-managed farms in the United States by Farm Futures Magazine of Milwaukee. David Pelzer, managing editor of Farm Future, said that the Friedmans were nominated and awarded a plaque for their success as farm managers. Pelzer said that the award was different from just recognizing production. Farming is dependent upon good business practices, an area he feels has been neglected in discussing what makes good farming.
30 Years Ago
December 15, 1993
High-speed train traffic may be traveling through Chenoa, then east along the Toledo, Peoria & Western Railway Co. (T. P. & W.) tracks on the route to Chicago, it was reported by state transportation officials. The route would bypass Pontiac and Dwight. This is one of three options that would join two current Amtrak routes to Chicago east of the Dan Ryan Expressway. The second option is turning east at Dwight on the Consolidated Rail Corp. (CONTRAIL). A third involves constructing a new track from Wilmington east between the Chicago-St. Louis Amtrak route, parallel to Interstate 55 and Chicago-Memphis Amtrak at Interstate 57. The alternate routes would bypass Joliet.
When the going gets tough, the tough get going, is a motto much practiced by Anna Zbinden, a gal of not only fresh beauty but strong will, who has volunteered this basketball season to report for The Blade – gratis – on boys' sophomore and varsity basketball. Zbinden, 17, is a senior at Prairie Central High School where she has kept basketball team statistics for the Hawks during her entire high school career. In addition to keeping stats, she is a member of the band and tutors history and economics after school. She has had parts in three musicals and ran cross country her sophomore, junior and senior years. This year, she was mascot, Huey Hawk, for the football season.
Two members of the Fairbury Prairie Farmers 4-H Club, Jessica Rich and Brent Scherr received the coveted Key Award at a recent Achievement Night program honoring Livingston County 4-H'ers. Rich, daughter of John and Connie Rich, is a four-year member of the club, and Scherr, son of Roger and Marcia Scherr, has participated for seven years. To receive the Key Award, a 4-H member must be at least 16 years old and meet the nine Standards of Excellence for two consecutive years.
20 Years Ago
December 17, 2003
The Prairie Central eighth grade girls basketball team advanced to the Final Four of the IESA Class AA State Tournament Monday night at Chatham, by defeating Canton 26-23. The team defeated PBL in the Iroquois West Sectional on Dec. 10 to earn a trip to the state tournament. In first round action on Saturday, PC defeated Cahokia-Wirth 47-38. Whatever the outcome of Tuesday's game, the Hawks are assured of bringing home some hardware, either first, second, third or fourth.
Students at Prairie Central High School have just completed a food collection to benefit the local food pantries, including Fairbury, Forrest and Chatsworth. The project was sponsored by the INTERACT Club, under the direction of PC faculty member Andy Shelby and INTERACT director Jeff Schweizer. Food collected covered the floor of a 10x10 foot room.
The Fairbury Community Fund total for the 2003 campaign is at $31,675, and $3,325 is still needed to make the goal of $35,000. For the first time volunteers did not go door to door soliciting contributions. Residential contributions are down from last year. "Our businesses have contributed as much or more than in the past. We are missing those $5 and $10 donations we often get when canvassing the town," according to Terri Wells, president of Fairbury Community Fund.
10 Years Ago
December 18, 2013
The Prairie Central High School girls varsity basketball team held a “Shoot for the Cure” game Thursday, Dec. 5. They raised $1,273.70 with donations, a raffle and by selling pink t-shirts. The money raised went to Heather's Heroes which is given to MD Anderson, a cancer facility located in Houston, Texas. One hundred percent of the proceeds to this facility are applied to inflammatory breast cancer research. This is in honor of Heather Meister, who is fighting breast cancer for the third time. She is married to PCHS teacher, Paul Meister. In addition to individuals, businesses that supported the event were Varsitee Screen Printing, Doc's Drugs, Petersen's, Monical's and Lost in Time.
During this season of giving, a number of area residents donated much needed platelets at the Fairbury platelet drive held Dec. 6 and 7 at the American Legion Home at the corner of Fourth and Pine Streets in Fairbury. Volunteers, who staff the kitchen and coordinate alternates, included Darlene Helmers, Lolita Dunahee, Mary Lou King, Jan Bachtold, Jan Lancaster, Linda Zick, Shirley Meenan, Joan Slagel, Mary Beth Steidinger and Karen Harms.
The manager of this month's Greater Peoria Farm Show says the 2013 event was a great one with a decent crowd during the three-day run. According to Ronald Bormaster, it sounds like the farmers are in tune with what they are wanting to look at and buy. This year's show featured the largest number of vendors ever and the final show day on Thursday saw more people than usual. The event is the main indoor show of the fall and winter seasons, featuring the newest and latest in agriculture.
("Looking Back" from Kari Kamrath each week on Fairbury News is sponsored by Duffy-Pils Memorial Homes with locations in Fairbury, Chenoa and Colfax)
