130 Years Ago
July 14, 1894
A prohibition club has been organized in Fairbury with 28 members. C. H. Sutton is president, H. F. Beers secretary, and James Kirby treasurer. The executive committee is composed of C. A. Windle, G. P. Westervelt and Jonas Lough.
Sun Bros. great show will exhibit here today. Admission: Adults, 25c; children, 10c.
The great railroad strike merged into serious bloodshed and slaughter last Saturday at Hammond, Ind. Sunday was comparatively quiet in Chicago, but the situation did not improve. By an agreement between the governors of Illinois and Indiana, the militia of either state was allowed to pass into the other state when it was necessary to keep the peace. Locally, the trains began to run on the Streator branch of the Wabash. Engineer Burch and his old fireman took one of the engines, and William Kirk, president of the A. R. U. at Forrest, took the other. There was a perceptible break on the Wabash and many of the strikers at Forrest applied for their old positions.
120 Years Ago
July 15, 1904
The Fairbury band has been engaged by the business men of Fairbury to give a series of band concerts in this city each Friday evening commencing Friday evening, July 22. There will be 16 pieces in the band and people who come to Fairbury may rest assured that they will be treated to some excellent music.
Kemp's Wild West and a band of Indians have been secured by the Fairbury Fair Association for the fair September 5-9. Kemp's Wild West is undoubtedly the greatest attraction that could be procured by the association. The Kemp shows are well known to the people of this vicinity, but in the past two years they have added many attractions, among them a band of Indians who travel with them by special permission of the government and will be seen in their native dances. Kemp knows by experience just how to amuse a crowd, and there is always something doing when he is on the fair grounds. This special attraction has been secured by the fair association at a great expense and will exhibit on the grounds each day of the fair and should be seen by everybody.
The Forrest News has suspended operations. Fred Thompson, the owner and publisher, has transferred his plant and interests to Saunemin, Ill., where he will publish a paper for that town. The many friends of Mr. Thompson are sorry that he finds this change necessary and earnestly wish him abundant success in his new field.
110 Years Ago
July 17, 1914
Phil Wade, who has managed the Fairbury Opera House since it was built in 1904, and who for the past two years has conducted a picture show in it, on Wednesday leased the same to C. E. Ward, proprietor of the electric theatre.
The contract for the building of the new township high school was let on Tuesday to H. B. Krauell, of Danville, at his bid of $49,000. The plumbing and heating were let to A. W. Murry, of Hoopeston, his bid being $13,000. It is expected that work on the new building will commence some time next week.
A young man by the name of Huston, residing south of town, was saved from drowning in the Munz sandpit Wednesday evening by Will H. Demler, who went to his assistance after Huston had gone down, and pulled him out.
A letter has been received here from the Merrill & Munson Construction Company stating that the plans for the new mausoleum to be erected in the Fairbury Cemetery had been completed.
100 Years Ago
July 11, 1924
About 500 wild cheering boxing fans witnessed the four boxing bouts which were held at the fair grounds the Fourth of July, and not one of these regretted that he had spent his money to see them. The large open-air arena was filled to its utmost with an enthusiastic crowd of spectators long before the first gong sounded. The timer sounded the first gong at 9:30, and after all four bouts were over, it was about 12 o'clock. All of the bouts, except the last one, went the scheduled number of rounds, and during the bouts only one man took the full count of ten. It was Eddie Gilmore, of Piper City, who took a vicious uppercut to the jaw from Earl Caldwell of Chicago, in the first round of a ten-round bout.
Louie Brown received a letter from his parents in California that did some pretty fast traveling. It was postmarked at San Francisco on Tuesday morning at five o'clock and was delivered to Mr. Brown on the two o'clock delivery Wednesday afternoon. The letter had come by airplane from San Francisco to Chicago and by the railway mail service to this city. On the envelope was stamped: "On first trip through schedule, including night flying on transcontinental air mail." It required 16 cents postage.
The Daily Vacation Bible School closed its three weeks of work with a demonstration of its everyday routine Wednesday evening, to which the parents and friends were invited. Following the processional, the children sang a group of hymns, recited psalms, the ten commandments, the beatitudes, apostle's creed and other passages of Scripture which were a part of their memory drill. They completed the program with a dramatization of the story of Joseph which was cleverly depicted.
90 Years Ago
July 13, 1934
John Rusterholz, residing on East Oak Street, fell down the cellar steps Monday afternoon. No bones were broken, but he was pretty badly bruised up and confined to his bed for several days. Mr. Rusterholz is 86 years old.
Dr. Franklin W. Palmer, prominent Chatsworth physician, was drowned last Friday afternoon in the Kankakee River, about six miles from Wilmington, when the boat he was in overturned. With Dr. Palmer at the time was his son-in-law, Harry Miller, of Chicago, and John Lannon, of Saunemin, both of whom also narrowly escaped drowning.
The interior of the Presbyterian Church is being completely refinished. The walls and ceiling painted and the woodwork done over. The woman's auxiliary is supplying the funds to take care of the expenses and the work will be done while Dr. Davies is following out the usual summer schedule of preaching at the Methodist Church at the morning service during Rev. M. B. Van Leer's vacation.
Seymour S. Kelley, the last surviving veteran of the Civil War residing in the vicinity of Saunemin, passed away at his home in Saunemin at 6:15 o'clock Wednesday evening. Death was due to a heart attack and followed an illness of about two years.
80 Years Ago
July 14, 1944
Mrs. Joseph Paternoster, of this city, was one of those working in the building at the Elwood Ordnance Plant when the explosion occurred Tuesday afternoon, killing three people and injuring two others. Mr. Paternoster yesterday, speaking of the accident, said that when someone shouted "fire" Mrs. Paternoster ran from the building and was a half block away when the explosion occurred.
A T. P. & W. westbound train was wrecked Sunday afternoon west of the west city limits of Fairbury. The wreck occurred shortly after three o'clock and it was eight o'clock Monday morning before traffic was resumed. Nine cars were derailed and the track was torn up for a distance of 1,200 feet. All of the derailed cars remained upright. The train of 112 cars was headed for Peoria and was being pulled by two engines. The first car to leave the tracks was about 20 cars back of the engine. The cause of the wreck was the lack of ballast between the ties. The roadbed was being improved by the taking out of the cinder ballast and the putting in of gravel. At the point where the wreck occurred the cinders had been taken out and the gravel had not been put in.
Early in the war, in response to the navy's request for binoculars, Mrs. Herbert Powell sent her binoculars to Washington, to the Navy Department. They have just been released by the Navy and returned to her with a note of appreciation from headquarters. In World War I a pair of field glasses were loaned to the War Department by Mr. Powell. They also were returned.
70 Years Ago
July 15, 1954
A man, his wife and son escaped injury Saturday afternoon at Forrest when they fled their burning car minutes before the gas tank exploded. The car, being driven by Harold Jones, and occupied by his wife and son, Jimmy, of Chicago, caught fire from a broken brake shoe, which ignited a rear tire before spreading to the rest of the car. Jones, warned by a following motorist, managed to get his family to safety before the gas tank exploded. Damage to the car was estimated at $1,600. Jones, a carpenter, also lost his tools that he was carrying in the trunk of the car.
Stifling heat returned to the Midwest and the Fairbury area this week, with temperatures Monday and Tuesday hitting 101 and 102 degrees. Most residents got little or no relief during the nights, as the temperature both nights stayed in the mid 70's with little breeze. There was no rainfall over the week. Corn borer infestations in fields of the vicinity continued heavy this week, but showed no apparent increase from that of a week ago.
The Fairbury Fair Association has announced the signing of one of the newest thrill sports of the west coast for an appearance here on Tuesday, July 27. Called Moto Polo, the sport is entirely new to this section of the country. Moto Polo is played with six stripped-down, specially reconstructed 'roll over" cars, three to each side or team. In addition to roll bars, each car is equipped with circular bumpers so that the cars flip in any direction when crashes occur. Scores are made by advancing a gigantic seven-foot rubber ball through goals at either end of the field. Head-on crashes, cars flying into the air, rolling over and over and at times climbing over the ball, are all said to be incidents in this new rough and tumble game. The game combines aspects of football, soccer, polo and plenty of crazy driving.
60 Years Ago
July 16, 1964
A 35-day duty station ended Monday for state trooper Charles McCarthy. His job for the past month has taken him to the New York World's Fair to guard the Illinois Pavilion building. In addition to this, he and other Illinois troopers acted as security to the original Gettysburg Address, and escorted prominent people through the pavilion. McCarthy arrived at Chicago O'Hare airport at 3:46 p.m. Monday and was driven home by district six commander Capt. Francis Mowery, Virgil Munz, Lt. Dean McNamara and chief clerk John Morgan. He left Fairbury June 8 by squad car and motored to the nation's largest city.
Miss Mary Addis, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Charles Addis of Fairbury, has completed training at the Trans World Airlines' Flight Hostess School in Kansas City, Missouri and is assigned to Skyliner flights from Kennedy International Airport. Miss Addis was employed as a Nurse's Aid in Fairbury prior to joining the airline. She is a graduate of Fairbury High School and attended the University of Illinois and Merch School of Nursing.
Six girls from Fairbury, and a boy and girl from Forrest, are on the list of 56 students from Livingston County who have been awarded Teacher Education scholarships. Mrs. Lucille Goodrich, county superintendent of schools, in making the announcement, said that another Fairbury girl, Rebecca Paternoster, a sophomore at the University of Illinois, will receive a special education scholarship. The six teacher scholarships in Fairbury go to Gloria Bachtold, Judy Eaton, Gloria Kaeb, Mary Runyon, Kathy Wessel and Patricia Gouge. In Forrest, Marlene Plattner and Dick King have won them.
50 Years Ago
July 18, 1974
Steve Weeks, son of Mr. and Mrs. Stanley Weeks of rural Fairbury, began work Monday as a member of the McLean County Regional Planning Commission staff. He is a June graduate of the University of Illinois with a degree in urban and regional planning. Steve has been assigned as the liaison man between the planning commission and the Bloomington Urban Renewal program. He is the grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Curtis Weeks of Fairbury, and his wife is the former Beth Huisman of Forrest.
Workmen from the Standard Steel Industries Company were in Fairbury last week erecting new bleachers on the high school football field. The bleachers, which cost $22,905 and will seat just over 1,000 persons, were erected in two days by a Standard Steel crew from the Rockford area.
A 1974 Fairbury-Cropsey High School graduate is doing a man's job for Natural Gas Pipeline Company of America this summer. The first female to be employed locally under the company's new equal opportunity program, Bonnie Brown, 18, Fairbury, is a member of the pipeline's maintenance crew and her immediate supervisor is Bert Dyer. She goes to the various job sites with the Fairbury NGP maintenance crew, of which Delno Pettyjohn is foreman.
40 Years Ago
July 12, 1984
Re-elected to three-year terms as directors of Prairie Lands Foundation were John Traub and Dr. Calvin Jackson. The foundation held its fourth annual meeting following dinner Monday night at Westgate Supper Club in Fairbury. President John Gerber Jr. divided the governing members into four rotating discussion groups to study projects, funding, bequests and membership.
The "Bill Bartlett Bridge" east of Fairbury is nearly complete and open to through traffic. It will be two years, however, before the ramps to the structure are paved due to settling which will occur in the fill.
Jake Ulfers, a resident of Fairview Haven Nursing Home, observed his 105th birthday Wednesday with friends and relatives in attendance for homemade ice cream and cake. Jake's daughter Voda Kilgus and son Warren were in attendance with their spouses, Al and Mary Ann. Jake's granddaughter Becky Ulfers Litteneker of Oakland, Calif., was unable to attend but sent a birthday banner made by her and husband Randy. Jake was born July 11, 1879 in Avoca Township, the son of Rudolph and Sophia Ulfers. He married Pearl Fetzer in 1908. She died in 1969. The Ulfers farmed northwest of Fairbury for a number of years. The farm celebrated its centennial in 1979 and is now owned by Jake's son, Warren. An avid Cubs fan, Jake still enjoys watching the games on the television in his room.
30 Years Ago
July 13, 1994
The art club at Fairbury celebrated its 90th year with a "gala affair" last Friday at the home of Betty Nussbaum. Dressed in old-fashioned high style were Fern Wharton, Marj Weeks, Emily Gibb, a 50-year member of the club, Margo Phelps, Sarah Hostetter, Jan Mann, Shirley Mitchell, Betty Nussbaum, Betty Ficklin, Marcia Swinford, Mary Ann Ulfers, Ann Kennedy, Eileen Paternoster, Kathy Johnson, Dianne Gibb and Anita Gibb. Unable to attend were Helen Gerber, Mary Langstaff and Grace Masterson, who is a 65-year member.
A group of nine businessmen has approached the Forrest Village Board with a proposal for annexation of 80 acres, on which plans call for building a solid waste reduction plant. That plant would also have the capability of attracting an ethanol manufacturing operation to the Forrest area. Ron "Bump" Steidinger, president of the Forrest Village Development Corporation, said the corporation has an option on an 80-acre tract of land in Pleasant Ridge Township, near Wing. The new "resource recovery facility" will convert shredded trash, mainly from the metropolitan Chicago area, into re-useable material, and in the process, create enough steam-producing electricity to sell to Commonwealth Edison.
Members of the Prairie Central School Board met with members of the Forrest Apostolic Church building committee last week to consider purchasing the church building for use as a school building for 5th and 6th grades. Copes told the church committee members, "We're really pressed for space right now." But he said that whether a decision is made to purchase and remodel the church or to build something new, nothing could be ready for occupation before 1996.
20 Years Ago
July 14, 2004
Wednesday, July 7, 2004 marked the final day of existence for the little house next to Dominy Memorial Library in Fairbury that for many years was the home of Echoes Museum. A demolition crew started demolishing the structure about 7 a.m. and by 9:30 a.m. all that remained was a pile of rubble. The former museum site was on property owned by Dominy Memorial Library. The area will eventually be developed by the library.
A ribbon cutting was held Friday morning for Fairbury's newest business, Curves, which is now open in the former Fairbury Hospital building on South Fifth Street. The new business is owned by Laurie and Jeff Sturm.
Mr. and Mrs. Mark Henrichs of Pontiac will mark their 25th wedding anniversary on July 21 with a family dinner. Henrichs and the former Kelli Steidinger were married on July 21, 1979 at Saint Paul's Lutheran Church in Chatsworth. They are the parents of two sons, Ben Henrichs of Cullom and Luke Henrichs at home. The Henrichses own Henrichs Insurance of Chatsworth and Saunemin. They are also engaged in farming, and Mrs. Henrichs is a beautician.
10 Years Ago
July 16, 2014
A popular Fairbury restaurant was severely damaged by a fire early Wednesday morning forcing it to close indefinitely, but its owners are determined to have the business open again as soon as possible, according to Ron and Sue McDonald's, owners of McDonald's Family Restaurant. Six fire departments, Fairbury, Forrest-Strawn-Wing, Cullom, Pontiac, Chenoa and Saunemin, responded to the call that came in around 2:15 a.m. Wednesday. The fire started in the kitchen area, which was completely burned out. Other areas of the structure received extensive water and smoke damage, including the basement. The family business, that has been in the Fairbury area since 1956, was originally owned and operated by Ron McDonald's parents, Earl and Dorothy McDonald, until 1971. Ron and Sue McDonald took over the business when the elder McDonald's retired and have continued to serve breakfast, lunch and dinner severn days a week ever since.
Erin Marie Petersen of Cropsey and Joshua Alan Ifft of Fairbury, are announcing their engagement and approaching marriage. The bride-to-be is the daughter of Mike and Kimberly Petersen of Cropsey. She has a BS in Agriculture Education from the University of Illinois and is the business manager at Petersen Chevrolet Buick. The future bridegroom is the son of Jim and Julie Ifft of Fairbury. He has a BS in Animal Science from the University of Illinois. He is a grain farmer and raises show pigs. The couple is planning an Oct. 25, 2014 wedding at Immanuel Lutheran Church in Colfax.
Fifteen 4-H youth participated in the Livingston County 4-H Public Presentations and Food Demonstrations contest on Monday, June 30. Presentations included formal speeches as well as oral interpretations and original works. Ainsley and Ashlyn Kratochvil won the Junior Division plaque and will be state fair delegates with their original works. Payton Dunahee and Adam Metcalf won the Senior Division plaque and will be state fair delegates with their oral interpretation of “Who's on First.” Also receiving a blue ribbon and selected as a state fair delegate was Jordan Johns with her formal speech. Bryce Brannock received the Junior Division plaque in the Food Demonstrations with Jacob Larkin receiving the Senior Division plaque. Other participants receiving blue ribbons included Grace Edwards, Jack Erwin, Clara Haas, Rhiley Hetherington, Libby Larkin, Anna Stevenson, Ashton Stipp and Bailey Stipp.
(Looking Back from Kari Kamrath is sponsored each week by Duffy-Pils Memorial Homes)
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