Looking Back 6-26-25

130 Years Ago

June 22, 1895

C. C. McDonald has sold his electric light plant at Chatsworth to F. C. Stanford. It is a good plant and in first-class condition.

Cropsey — We had a fast race on the track here on Tuesday with five starters. Ray Hayward, of Tremont, came in ahead. Byron Brown is painting the church; he gets Frank Convis to paint the steeple.

Weston — Mrs. A. L. Ziller has bought the residence property of William Van Wormer, $500. George Scurlock has retired from the section and E. Everetts, of Eureka, has taken his place.

Pontiac — The well at the waterworks is down 2,200 feet, and the contract has been let to sink it another thousand feet. It should be pushed as fast as possible, and the river is drying up rapidly. The streets around the court house are to be paved at the cost of $10,000, nearly half of which will be assessed to the county, about one-fifth (the corners) will be paid by the city, and the remainder will be assessed to the property frontage.

120 Years Ago

June 23, 1905

The Monarch Carnival Co., which has been holding forth on the west end circus lot is attracting large crowds of people every evening. Messrs. Sanger & Mitchell have got together a good aggregation of shows and the people who are attending are well pleased. The grounds are filled with a happy rollicking crowd of fun seekers from sundown until eleven o'clock and they surely have a good time. The shows are well above the average for street fairs and much better than the last one held in Fairbury.

One of the saddest deaths which has occurred in this community for a long time was that of Drell Cox, oldest son of J.T. Cox, of Belle Prairie Township. As noted in last week's paper the young man was stricken with appendicitis. His condition grew rapidly worse until Sunday specialists were summoned and an operation performed in hopes of giving relief. It proved unavailing, however, and Wednesday, June 21, 1905, he passed to his rest, aged 21 years, 6 months and 15 days. He leaves his father, two brothers and one sister to mourn his departure.

Richard Zeno, manager of the "Train Robbers" at the carnival, and Miss Edna Thornburg, of Watseka, were married in Watseka Wednesday. They came to Fairbury, Thursday evening and were met at the train by the entire company in uniform and escorted to the grounds, the band leading the procession.

110 Years Ago

June 25, 1915

The furniture for the I.O.O.F. lodge rooms of this city arrived the first of the week, and has been put in place. The furniture is of solid oak and leather finish.

The 300-mile relay motorcycle race at Boston, Mass., last Saturday was won by the Carl Goudy-Bob Perry Excelsior team. In the motorcycle hill climbing contest, which was held at Uniontown, Pa., yesterday, Carl Goudy took third and Perry fifth.

Potter & Armbruster moved this week from their old location on Locust and First streets, into the Blevins building, just east of Bock's Ten Cent store.

Forrest — D. O. Morris has installed a large bread mixer in his bakery. J. W. Jones, who has taught the seventh and eighth grades in the Forrest schools, has accepted the position of principal of the Strawn schools.

100 Years Ago

June 26, 1925

Wallace Ramseyer, rural mail carrier out of this city, had his Ford touring car stolen last Saturday evening a little after 9 o'clock, and up to the present time no trace of it has been found. Mr. Ramseyer had driven the car down town and had parked it south of the T. P. & W. tracks on Third Street near Walnut Street. Later, when Mrs. Ramseyer and her father, Salem Ricketts, went down to where the car was parked they saw someone back the car out and drive away just before they got there. Mr. Ramseyer, who had left Mrs. Ramseyer and Mr. Ricketts to go back to the store after something, had his key to the car in his pocket, so the thief evidently furnished his own key.

As far as horses are concerned, the fairgrounds in this city have assumed a regular fair week aspect. In addition to the horses handled by the local trainers, including Merrill, Hemphill, Martin, Walker and others, more horses are arriving almost daily. In addition to the harness horses from Peoria, Springfield, Kankakee, El Paso, Normal, Bloomington, Streator, Indianapolis, Ind., Winfield, Iowa and Memphis, Tenn., some good running horses are expected. Supt. of Speed J. C. Hagen states that 40 head of horses have been entered for the stake races to be held at the fair on Labor Day.

The members of the Men's Bible class of the First Baptist Church were delightfully entertained by the members of the Loyal Daughters and Amoma classes Tuesday evening in the church parlors. A scrap supper was served, after which the International Kilties Band was introduced and gave a program of music and readings.

90 Years Ago

June 21, 1935

John Joda Post of the American Legion, which is sponsoring the big Fourth of July program to be held in Fairbury this year, have their plans all complete. These plans call for a full day and evening entertainment and they will be carried out to the letter. The entertainment is all free, including the picture show at the Central Theatre, which starts at two o'clock in the afternoon and runs until midnight.

Sheriff Edward Kammermann, of Pontiac, was called to Wing Wednesday morning to investigate the theft of a quantity of gasoline at the Hasenwinkle-Scholer Grain Company. The manager of the elevator, Homer Gibb, operates a gasoline service pump as a separate business. When opening up on Wednesday morning he found that the padlock on the gasoline pump had been broken and between 20 and 25 gallons of gasoline taken from the storage tank. Tracks in the rain soaked earth indicated that a light weight car had been used in the robbery.

Chatsworth — Mrs. George Strobel has effected a quick sale of the meat market operated for many years by her late husband. A deal was made last Saturday in which the equipment and good will was purchased by C. M. Richmond. The market, which was closed when Mr. Strobel became ill, will be re-opened on Saturday morning with Raymond Gerbract as manager. Mr. Richmond recently sold his market at Forrest and is now managing his farm in Indiana.

80 Years Ago

June 22, 1945

A fine crowd was present at the opening band concert in Central Park Tuesday evening given by the Fairbury Municipal Band. The program, rendered under the direction of Joe Reis, was a varied one, well played and thoroughly enjoyed. A special number on the program was a solo by John Loughran, of Pontiac.

Miss Vera Friant is in training at Camp Lejeune, N. C., for Marine Corps. For the past two and a half years, Miss Friant had been an operator for Illinois Commercial Telephone Company, Fairbury exchange, and had made her home with her brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. R. S. Bradley.

 Sgt. James Tipton arrived home on Monday from the South Pacific where he had been with the armed forces for the past three years. After a 45-day furlough he will be returned to that area.

The W.S.C.S.  will hold a potluck luncheon at the Methodist Church at 12:30 Tuesday, June 26. Mrs. Ann Lord, of Dwight, will be the guest speaker. Mrs. Lord is on the parole board of the woman's prison, Dwight, and was former probation officer of Livingston County. Hostesses will be Mrs. John Wagenseller, Mrs. George Walker, Mrs. Clyde Sutter and Mrs. Blanche Melvin.

70 Years Ago

June 23, 1955

Jeanette and Richard Kilgus are announcing this week that they will assume ownership of Carlo's Market effective Monday, and will operate the store under the name of Kilgus Food Mart.

Twelve Forrest employees of the Swing Transfer Co. were on strike two days this week. The strikers, members of the Forrest local 179 of the Teamsters' Union, settled the issue Tuesday noon.

Jane Roth, daughter of the Ben Roths, is one of a group of fortunate young people chosen from this area to visit the United Nations this summer, sponsored by the World Youth Committee of the IOOF.

Two milk bars, where chocolate and white milk will be given from noon to 10 p.m. Saturday, will be featured in Fairbury's Dairy Day observance Saturday.

60 Years Ago

June 24, 1965

A reward of $25 was offered today by the Fairbury Association of Commerce for information regarding vandals who Saturday night cut a hose and flooded the control pit of the new Central Park fountain. A hose used to water the grass had been turned off by Bob McGillen at about 11 p.m. Sometime after that, the vandals moved a steel plate covering the pit, severed the hose, turned on the hydrant and flooded the electrical contacts on the fountain pumping unit.

The bell of Walton School, which is estimated to weigh a ton or more, and which has called decades of Fairbury grade schoolers, will toll no more. School Board members Monday night ordered Business Manager Ken Holt to have the bell removed and to offer it for sale. The bell is being removed from the 70-year-old structure as a safety measure. Board members surmise that the bell has value for reasons other than as scrap.

Work has been steadily progressing on the new Hicksatomic Station, route 24 east. John Johansen dug a huge hole to house 10,000 and 6,000 gallon gasoline tanks. The new station will sit just southwest of McDonald's new restaurant. Limestone Transit has been hauling the dirt away. About 195 yards of earth came out of the hole.

50 Years Ago

June 26, 1975

Bicentennial Freedom Train, the Spirit of '76, bearing all the nation's documentary treasures, including the originals of the Declaration of Independence, the Constitution and the Bill of Rights, will roll through Chatsworth, Forrest, Fairbury, Gridley and other towns along the T. P. & W. right of way on Thursday noon, July 17, behind a steam locomotive. The train, on a year-long journey which will encircle the contiguous 48 states of the U. S. will be en route from Kankakee to a four day stand in Peoria where visitors may board the train for a first-hand view of the historic and priceless documents it will carry in specially designed cases for display and protection.

Jim Roberts, president of Conbelt Press Inc., of Fairbury, will join the faculty of Eastern Illinois University at Charleston for the 1975-76 school year. Roberts is publisher of six eastern Illinois newspapers, including The Fairbury Blade. At the invitation of Dr. Gilbert C. Fite, president of Eastern, Roberts will become a visiting Lecturer in Journalism. His classes in reporting, photography and feature writing will meet on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Roberts is an alumnus of Eastern, class of '46, where he edited the prize-winning student newspaper, The Eastern News.

A Fairbury woman, who has been working in the sales field for 40 years, in the same building on Locust Street, has decided to retire from the business world. Mrs. Kenneth (Thelma) Krepps, a native of Cropsey, resigned her position with Mowry's Variety Store effective last Friday, June 20. Dick Mowry and his wife hosted a surprise farewell open house at the store for Thelma Friday morning. Friends, relatives and many Fairbury business men and women took time off from their work to wish her "best of everything" and a happy retirement. The guest of honor served a 40th anniversary cake and tea.

40 Years Ago

June 20, 1985

You had to figure that the final sports contest EVER between Fairbury-Cropsey and Forrest-Strawn-Wing high schools would be worth catching. All that history and rivalry wrapped up into seven innings of baseball before the two schools join with another rival, Chatsworth, to form Prairie Central on July 1. What you could not have counted on, however, was that this last game ever would turn into the wildest baseball game since the Phillies and Cubs staged their 23-22 shootout a few summers ago. This is not a misprint. FCHS beat FSW 28-21! It sounds like a football score. But it was a baseball game. 28-21. You had to be there. And many of the people who were there left early because hunger got the best of them as the teams battled it out for more than three hours as afternoon turned into evening.

Fairbury city patrolman Martin Travis, 44, last week completed the police basic training course, a 10-week, 400-hour session held at the Department of Law Enforcement Academy in Springfield. Travis ranked sixth out of 45 patrolmen in his class with an academic average of 94.089 as compared to the class average of 90.366. Travis was appointed to the Fairbury force on Dec. 13, 1984.

More than 100 golfers, ranging in age from small fry to tournament-experienced, took part Sunday in the annual Parent-Child tournament at Indian Creek Country Club in Fairbury. Duffy-Pils Memorial Home of Fairbury sponsored the trophies for the event which grows in size each summer. Prizes were awarded for the top three places in low actual strokes and Peoria handicap for each division. In the junior division, the teams played just nine holes. Everyone else played 18.

30 Years Ago

June 21, 1995

Chatsworth children are enjoying the new playground equipment out at CAPS. The equipment was installed around the first part of May and was provided through donations from Chatsworth clubs and businesses as well as through the Chatsworth Park District.

A fire of unknown origin brought Fairbury fire fighters to the mobile home of Gene and Dorothy Mason last Thursday around 2:25 p.m. Nobody was home at the time of the fire, except DeeDee, the family dog, who was rescued by firemen. The home was a total loss, according to Fairbury Police Chief Sam Hedrick, who continues to investigate the cause of the fire. Samantha Gahm, 13, spotted the fire, and her mother called the fire department.

Iva Meyer (Mrs. Sam Meyer) celebrated her 106th birthday in Cedarwood Nursing Home, Colorado Springs, CO recently. She is the mother of Richard Meyer, Colorado Springs, CO, and is formerly from here. His mother can no longer see, or sit up alone, but she is able to hear. She would welcome hearing from some of her friends in the area.

20 Years Ago

June 22, 2005

Frances "Red Eye" Haberkorn was presented with the Noble Pearson award during the Chatsworth Heritage Days celebration last weekend. Haberkorn, who has farmed in the Chatsworth area his entire life, was mayor of Chatsworth for eight years, and a town board trustee for four years prior to being elected mayor. He is currently serving as a trustee on the town board, was a member of the Chatsworth Fire Department and currently is a trustee. He is also a member of Knights of Columbus and a board member of Forrest Farmers Mutual. He was a member of the Chatsworth Board of Education for 14 years,  serving as president and was instrumental in the Prairie Central consolidation.

The 10-year-old Hawk Travel Baseball Team was crowned champions of the 2005 Michael's Graphics Baseball Fest in El Paso, improving their record to 19-4. After winning two games in pool play against teams from Pekin and Metamora, and losing by one run to Mahomet, the Hawks defeated the Bloomington Renegades 14-3 in the semifinals and defeated the Mahomet Diamond Dogs 10-4 in the championship game. Team members are Evan Golliday, Joshua McWilliams, Evan Bahler, Dan Schlatter, Addison Bounds, Tyler Rinkenberger, Stewart Schopp, Zach Fienhold, Brad Hoselton, Cameron Maxson, Jordan Dunahee, Lane Maurer and Kyle Moody. The team is coached by Alan Dunahee, Dave McWilliams and Kevin Rinkenberger. Payton Dunahee is the team mascot.

The 53rd annual Harms reunion was held at Marsh Park in Fairbury on Sunday, June 12 with 36 in attendance. Co-presidents Bob and Janice White of Palos Heights, conducted the meeting and read the family history of the past year. Francis Harms, 91, of Bloomington, was the oldest member present, and six-month-old Caitlyn Nowell was the youngest. Olive "Sis" Stephens celebrated her 90th birthday on Sunday as well. Bob and Janice White traveled the farthest distance. Paul Harms of Forrest was elected president for next year's reunion on June 11 at Marsh Park.

10 Years Ago

June 24, 2015

After 44 years in the car business, 34 of which were at Petersen's in Fairbury, Terry Nussbaum is retiring. Nussbaum spent the first 10 years of his career at Nussbaum Chevrolet in Chatsworth with his dad and brother, Jay, and has been at Petersen's for the last 34 years. During his career Nussbaum sold over 8,700 vehicles that ranged in price from $25 to $93,500. Nussbaum said, “It's always fun to sell that rare corvette,” one of which he owns. In retirement, he plans to help his brother with his farming operation, work some with his son in his woodworking business (The Wood Shop) and help deliver cupcakes (Bojeannies) for his daughter. He said though, that he will not be helping with horse chores for his other daughter!

Principal Club winners at Chenoa Elementary School are Mason Brewer, Vinnie Sprague, Jayla Hall, Sydney Horton, Timmy Wilson, Zak Erickson, Abram Cutrell, Lauren Hoselton, Benny Carrano, Haylee Kendall, Hallie Stevens, Andrew Rieck and Lily Raby. May Citizens of the Month were Prestin Gero, Gage Gibson, Ashton Sheldrake, Natalie Alverson, Kami Jones, Julianne Woodrey, Kolton Wright, Madyson Davis and Meghan Gentry. Jurnee Burgess won both the Gretchen Jacobs Spirit Award and the Tom Krones Award. The Bert Phillips Award winners were Parker Harms and Natalie Bailey.

Executives from the Chipotle Restaurant chain learned, explored and ate at Spence Farm near Fairbury recently. The visit included the company's operational leaders and executive team director. The Chipotle marketing department has a longstanding partnership with the farm as this was the fifth time senior marketing strategist Maria Tremont visited. Chipotle marketing strategist Matt Baer believes Spence Farm's attention to sustainability and the world of food makes it stand out. Chipotle is headquartered in Denver, CO but the central region team makes up a large portion of the company since so many restaurants are located across the Midwest.

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