Looking Back 4-2-25

130 Years Ago

March 30, 1895

C. W. Keck is having a barn built on his place. James Small is doing the work.

Cyril Burns, son of Thomas Burns, engineer at the water works, is very sick with pneumonia.

The present March weather is said to be unprecedented in this climate. The past winter has seen very little rain, with no rain in March to speak of. The result is that the ground is unusually dry and mellow. For several days high wind prevailed. The air was full of flying dust and in the fields that have been worked this spring, the dry powdered soil rose in dense clouds. 

The Cinch Club met with Mr. J. V. McDowell Friday evening. Dr. Rayburn won the gentleman's prize and Miss Mayme Braun the ladies'.

120 Years Ago

March 31, 1905

"Uncle" John Bodley has purchased a residence property in the northeast part of this city and will move to Fairbury. He has lived in Avoca Township for almost forty years and has been more or less engaged in farming most of that time. He owns 400 acres of fine land and thinks he can afford to spend the remainder of his days in comfort.

George Westervelt was taken suddenly ill the first of the week and for a time was in a very critical condition. He is improving at present and it is safe to say that he will recover.

This season of the year when the township officers make their reports, if you want the people to see and read your report, publish it in the Blade, which has a larger circulation in Fairbury and vicinity than any other paper in the world.

A number of farmers in this locality started to sow oats the first of the week but the rain Thursday stopped them.

110 Years Ago

April 2, 1915

Louie Brown, who has been in the employ of Central Illinois Utilities Company in this city for several years past, has been appointed manager of this company's office in Piper City and left Thursday to take up his new duties. E. B. Pearson, who has had charge of the company's office in this city, has resigned and left Saturday for his home in Gibson City. His place will be filled by J. C. Becker of Piper City.

Wednesday of this week L. N. Simmons of Pontiac, purchased the Fosdick Barber Shop which is located under the Fairbury Bank.

Mr. and Mrs. James Kirby returned on Tuesday evening from Pensacola, Fla., where they had spent the winter.

Thursday morning while passing the residence of Mrs. Glenn Moore, Imon Patton discovered a blaze on the roof. W. W. Compton, who lives nearby, and Mr. Patton, soon extinguished the blaze. A small blaze was also discovered on the roof of the Daniel Gregory home, at First and Chestnut streets, Monday morning, which was extinguished.

100 Years Ago

April 3, 1925

Mr. Braun and Mr. Huntoon, proprietors of the Bon Ton, will shortly install an iceless refrigerator in their place of business. This apparatus is one of the latest and most up-to-date pieces of equipment for ice cream parlors. It eliminates the process of packing ice cream with ice and also keeps the ice cream at the same temperature at all times. It will also enable the proprietors of the Bon Ton to handle more varieties of ice cream as well as sherbets, etc. The required low temperature for the iceless refrigerators is acquired by a solution of salt brine being driven through a series of pipes. The machinery is driven by an electric motor, which operates automatically.

The Phil Fisher residence, at the corner of Fifth and Elm Streets, will soon be moved away and in its stead Mr. Fisher will build a brick veneer bungalow, which will be occupied by himself and his daughter and son-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Jack Thompson.

Ernest Mueller, of San Pierre, Ind., is here taking treatment of a local physician. About a year ago Mr. Mueller injured his ankle. It seemingly got well but some six or eight weeks ago it started to swell and pain him. He spent a couple of weeks in a hospital in Indiana and then came to Fairbury. His ankle has improved since coming here.

90 Years Ago

March 29, 1935

Earl Robinson is the new manager of the local bowling alleys, taking the place of James Packard, who has gone to Charleston. Mr. Robinson, who is thoroughly familiar with the wants of the bowling public, is considering the forming of a woman's league and also a city league.

Evelyn, seven-year-old daughter of Mr. and Mrs. F. H. Clark, a pupil of the Edison school, had both bones of her left leg broken between the knee and ankle on Wednesday just after school was out. The accident happened on the sidewalk at the alley between the school grounds and the E. H. Odell residence, when a boy on a bicycle came off the pavement onto the walk and ran into the child. Mr. Clark is telegraph operator at the depot.

A car of corn that passed through here last Saturday night must have been pretty short in weight by the time it reached its destination, judging from the amount of corn that was strung along the tracks in this city. A faulty grain door had broken and a regular stream of corn was pouring out of the car. It is said one man here gathered up about ten bushels of the corn where the car had been stopped for a few minutes. the corn was strung from northwest of this city, all the way to Forrest and we don't know how much farther.

80 Years Ago

March 30, 1945

We don't know what the remainder of the spring of 1945 holds in store for us in the way of weather, but it will make "the oldest inhabitant" scratch his head more than once to recall a March like the one just drawing to a close. A number of days the past two weeks the temperature has been up in the upper 70's, and on Tuesday of this week it was 82 in the shade, setting a new high record for March. Bright, sunshiny days have been the order most of the month. The temperature has also stayed up well at nights, many of the evening being warm and balmy.

A boost in the farm work and his spirits came to Virgil Mundell when Omer Meyer and an organized group of farmers with tractors, discs and seeders took over the Mundell oats field and in about two hours had finished a job of seeding 30 acres of oats. These good neighbors were Omer Meyer, Horace Goembel, Paul Goembel, Jay Booker, Dale Irwin, Alfred Callaby, Bruce Barnes, Art Kretzer, Everett Barnes, Donald Cope and Fred Elliott. There were nine tractors, seven discs and two seeders. For good measure, some other farm work was taken care of in addition to the oats seeding.

Miss Catherine Wink, sixth grade teacher for the past two years, has resigned, the same to take effect at the end of the present school year. Miss Wink has not decided definitely what she will do the coming year, but probably will attend school.

70 Years Ago

April 7, 1955

April 12 may be a great day in history. That's the day upon which final approval – or disapproval – will be given to the Salk Polio Vaccine, the vaccine which medical science hopes will end the most feared disease of the age – polio.

City workmen Tuesday tore away the sidewalk of the east side of the building occupied by the Fultz Studio. The opening under the walk, which extended to a depth of some eight feet, was filled and a new walk will be laid. The old walk was put in many, many years ago, when the entire Main Street level was lifted.

It has been announced that Mr. and Mrs. P. E. Tetley will discontinue operation of the Honegger House Cafe effective April 30. Officials of the Honegger Company say that the restaurant will continue to care for company employees and tour visitors to the Honegger installations with limited service to the public.

60 Years Ago

April 1, 1965

The soft shoulders of U.S. 24 between Fairbury and Forrest are proving to be like old-fashioned fly-paper to unwary motorists, as the result of major reconstruction last fall and an extremely moist winter. Latest victim was a semi-truck load of boats, westbound, which left the road Tuesday afternoon and slid to a sticky stop a half mile west of the Forrest curve. The truck remained upright but was hopelessly bogged down, until wreckers could remove it to dryer ground. At least one accident has occurred on the stretch, one truck has tipped over, and three other large trucks have left the road but managed to remain upright after getting one or more wheels off the pavement and then being dragged off by the clinging quagmire.

Jo Ellen Maurer of Fairbury has just been elected and installed as the president of Delta Delta Delta National Sorority for the 1965-66 school term at Knox College, Galesburg. Jo Ellen pledged Tri-Delta in 1962 and was elected president of her pledge class. She won the outstanding pledge award of a diamond pin at the end of her pledgeship. She then served as sorority recommendations chairman, rush chairman and recently she won the outstanding Junior Girl award for campus and sorority leadership.

Traffic was restored Thursday evening to the Norfolk and Western Railroad's main line, a mile north of Forrest, following a derailment that morning which tore out 150 yards of trackage and also blocked a passing track. All service was halted, and passenger trains were rerouted via the Illinois Central to Gibson City. The wreck site was just south of the switch where the passing track rejoins the main line. Trainmen said a journal failed on a boxcar. It put 10 cars "on the ground," some of them tipped at perilous angles, as they gouged out rails, ties and roadbed.

50 Years Ago

April 3, 1975

Growly March goes out like a lion . . . CIPS lineman Art Smith and his crew worked through Thursday until 7 p.m. Friday evening before getting any rest as they traveled the streets and roads of Fairbury and the surrounding countryside to try and keep power flowing to residences and farms following an ice and wind storm that left power lines and branches down throughout the city. Fairbury street department workers had managed to make most of the streets in town traversable before Friday morning, and make later rounds to finish clearing off the streets.

Jim Meints and Harold Martin landed a monster catfish, the biggest reported of the season to date, last week. The fish broke the scales at 5½ pounds and stretched 25 inches in length. The cat was landed from Indian Creek according to the two anglers.

Members of the First United Methodist Senior High Youth Group apparently took a fellow church member seriously when he offered that church class $50 or 1c per can for all beer and pop cans they picked up during the Easter school vacation. George Weber made the offer and furnished large plastic containers. Bob Perkins thought it was a good project and donated $10, while Charles Schahrer volunteered to pay another 1c per can. The students went to work and picked up approximately 5,900 metal cans in a 10 mile radius of Fairbury. The $110 earned will be used to help defray costs for their "Go and Serve" trip to the Methodist Indian School at McCurdy, near Albuquerque, N.M.

40 Years Ago

March 28, 1985

Incumbent James Steidinger and former police chief Maurice Cox are vying to see which one will emerge as Fairbury's mayor from the general election next Tuesday, April 2. The Steidinger-Cox contest tops the ballot within the City, but it is not the only office up for grabs. Acting City Clerk Patty Tetley, appointed when Naomi Barnes was forced by illness to step down, faces a challenge from Audrey Kidd for the city clerk's position.

Major award winners last Thursday as the FCHS basketball team staged its post-season ceremony were Mark Bachtold, Most Valuable Player and most rebounds; Chip Stoller, Most Improved Player; and Lloyd Stork, highest free throw percentage. Stoller and Stork are seniors. Bachtold will play next winter for the Prairie Central Hawks.

The 1985 golfing season has gotten off to a glorious start at Fairbury's Indian Creek Country Club with a pair of hole-in-ones recorded last week. Chuckie Vaughan got the first one on March 18 when he took a three-wood and drilled the ball into the cup on the 190-yard fifth hole. Vaughan's ace was witnessed by Brian Rinkenberger and Steve Meister. Then on March 23, Kevin Friedman used his five-iron to deposit the ball into the cup on the second hole. Friedman's shot was witnessed by Scott Rolf and Denny Vaughan.

30 Years Ago

March 29, 1995

After 44 years, Gene Beal retires . . . sort of. Gene Beal will be 65 years old April 2, an age at which most people begin to think seriously about retirement. And, Beal, having compiled 44 years of manual labor with several lumber  dealerships, has decided to do just that, retire. Except for a couple of days a week when you'll still be able to find him working at White Do-It Center in Fairbury. Beal began working in the lumber business in 1951 with N.N. Bach & Sons of Forrest. He stayed 22 years. A family illness cause Bachs to close so Beal went to work for Fred Wing of Mr. Timber in Fairbury, where he stayed 16 years. A fire destroyed Mr. Timber and after a couple months, Beal was hired by Mike White of White's Lumber in Forrest.

Prairie Central Junior High School's Scholastic Bowl team won the WGCY 2nd Annual Academic Challenge, Saturday, March 18. The Hawks won with a perfect record, defeating opponents from Gibson City-Melvin-Sibley, Paxton-Buckley-Loda and Ridgeview Junior High Schools. The team is coached by Dennis Oakland and Don Wills. The students who participated were Missy Oakland, Kelli Perkins, Lisa Blunier, Jennifer Nussbaum, Erika Schlatter, Jon Huston, Steven Kinate, Jeff Kerber, Nathan Myers, Brent Young, Robert Monroe, Justin Ziller, Brian Helmers, Brad Lehmann and David Oprondek.

Ron McCoy was named Employee of the Month for February at Fairbury Hospital recently, said Jason McKeon, resident social assistant of the hospital. McCoy works as an environmental technician, doing a variety of jobs ranging from answering maintenance calls to painting rooms. He has been with Fairbury Hospital for about nine years. His wife is Sharon, and they have two boys, Toni and Bob.

20 Years Ago

March 30, 2005

Mary Lou Streitmatter of Forrest gave her 21st gallon of blood Wednesday at the monthly bloodmobile visit to Fairbury.

Todd and Betsy Zimmerman of Bloomington are fist-time parents of a girl. Haylee Jo arrived at 2:25 p.m. Wednesday, March 16, 2005, weighing 6 pounds, 13 ounces, and measuring 20 inches long. She is the granddaughter of Ray and Gladys Slagel, Chenoa; and Wayne and Nancy Zimmerman, Forrest. Maternal great-grandmother is Martha Fehr, Fairbury. Paternal great-grandparents are Perry and Dorothy Zimmerman, Forrest, and Donald and Ione Broquard, Fairbury.

Kay Dickey of Fairbury will observe her 90th birthday on Tuesday, April 5. Mrs. Dickey remains very active and still gives weekly piano lessons to approximately 16 students, in addition to volunteering with the Red Cross and serving on various committees and boards for foundations and organizations.

10 Years Ago

April 1, 2015

The Prairie Central Junior High CARES Clowns performed at all five PC Elementary buildings on March 25 and also enjoyed pizza for lunch. The group's messages focus on how to stand up to a bully when you are the bystander, how to say no to drugs and alcohol, how to be a good friend and why it's important to do all of those things and stay in school too. Each of the performances was 35 minutes long and included skits and songs. Those participating in the performances were Rickki Ledford, Zoe Adams, Karli Musser, Katie Elbert, Ashley Hamilton, Andrea Edelman, Halen Eshleman, Sydney Wenger, Vivian Walter, Madison McBride, Kourtney Saltzman, McKenzie Prisock, Paige Glowacki, Alycia Lewis-Deaton, Sammie Lipe, Alyssa Schaffer, Natalie Summers, Taylar Beal, Amber Graf, Aaron Herr, Collier Palmore, Ryan Rhoda and Amy Butler.

Karl and Mary Herder of Fairbury will celebrate their 25th wedding anniversary on April 7, 2015. The couple was married April 7, 1990 at the Bane Chapel of the United Methodist Church in Hillsboro. Their attendants were Cheryl Dodds and Edward Avery. They are the parents of one son, Michael, and one daughter, Amber. He is employed at PTC Alliance in Fairbury and she is employed at Doc's Drugs in Fairbury.

February Citizens of the Month at Chenoa Elementary School were Maggie Davis, Carson Embry, Eric Williams, Aiden Steinsultz, Brayden Hornickel, Natalie Bailey, Jurnee Burgess, Austin Schwarz, Kimberleigh Howard, Caitlyn Abens, Emily Moss, Autumn Willoby, Caiden Schulz, Everett Strait and Mason Brewer. “Spread the Word to End the Word” winner was Carson Embry.

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