Looking Back 7-17-25

130 Years Ago

July 20, 1895

The ball game and balloon ascension at the fair grounds last Saturday afternoon attracted a big crowd including a large contingent from Lexington and Chenoa. The Lexington nine was a strong one, but Fairbury finally won, 11 to 4. The balloon ascension went off promptly and was a success, but in making the drop with the parachute, "Prof." Bill Cumpston came down too hard and dislocated an ankle besides shaking himself up generally. Considerable money changed hands on the ball game.

The members of the Christian Church have mounted a fine new bell upon their church building which will be used to call the worshipers together tomorrow for the first time. The name of the pastor, Rev. J. W. Porter, is cast in relief on the outside, and also the names of the building committee, C. Amsler, J. W. Compton and T. N. Smith.

Wing — Work on the new school house (or jail as some people say it looks like) is progressing nicely.  The show at the town hall last Saturday night was a fizzle, owing to the proprietor being drunk.

120 Years Ago

July 14, 1905

The Black Diamond Mines, located west of this city on the T. P. & W. railway, will be sold at receiver's sale on Thursday, August 10, at 10:00 o'clock a.m. in front of the city hall in this city. The mine and machinery may be said to be practically new, having been operated but a few months. There is a six foot vein of splendid coal and an almost unlimited body of coal to work upon. The mine was sunk by a number of practical miners, but starting with very little capital, their means were exhausted before they reached coal and the debts of the company accumulated rapidly.

Married at Pontiac, Wednesday, July 12, 1905, Miss Mary Haab to Mr. Jacob Ebach, J. C. Graff, Esq., performing the ceremony. Both the bride and groom are well known in Fairbury and vicinity. The bride is a daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Haab and a young lady of many excellent qualities. The groom is an enterprising young farmer with plenty of ability to make a success of life.

The Fairbury Fair Association have closed a contract with Fred Burch and the celebrated Burch Band will furnish the music for the fair this season. The band is now filling a season's contract at Long Branch, N. J., on the Atlantic coast, and will close there just in time to get here for the fair. The band is composed of some of the best musicians in the country and undoubtedly the music at the fair this year will be better than ever heard on the Fairbury Fair grounds before.

110 Years Ago

July 16, 1915

Matt Rapp, who works on the Jas. Glennon farm near Wing, had a narrow escape from being killed by lightning Wednesday. He was working in the corn field when the storm came up. A bolt of lightning killed one of the horses Mr. Rapp was driving, the other one was knocked down and Mr. Rapp was rendered unconscious for a time.

A number from this city, including Mrs. E. P. Compton, Mrs. John Dietiker, Perry Keck, Mrs. James Conners and daughter Kathryn, and Miss Esther Williams were in Watseka yesterday attending a celebration in connection with the installation of their cluster lights.

The warm weather the past week, together with the heavy rains, has made the corn grow by leaps and bounds, and the prospects for a big crop are good. The farmers have started to cut their oats and they will all be in the shock by next week if the weather man will shut off the rains.

Cropsey — Rev. A. A. Waters and some of the Boy Scouts are camping this week on the banks of the Vermilion near McDowell. Mel Cook is building a pantry and enclosed porch on his residence.

100 Years Ago

July 17, 1925

John Fendrick, who recently closed out his stock of goods in the Claudon building, just north of the Claudon Bank, is again entering business, and this time will conduct a confectionery store. Mr. Fendrick will occupy the west part of the Louis Sorg building. He expects to open for business on Wednesday of next week.

Viktor, son of Mr. and Mrs. John R. Kaisner, residing southwest of town, had his left leg broken last Friday. He, with some other boys, was hauling water out to the fields when he fell from the buggy and was caught in the wheels. Victor is having more than his share of bad luck. It will be remembered that a few months ago while riding a pony to school he and the pony were struck by an automobile and his pony killed. He lit on the automobile but rolled off without being hurt.

J. P. Cook has purchased a new seven-passenger automobile. It is a special built model, so constructed that it can be converted into an ambulance whenever occasion requires, and will be used in that capacity when necessary, having ample room for the patient, doctor, nurse and driver. Mr. Cook will receive his new car some time after the first of August.

90 Years Ago

July 12, 1935

The B-M Store is moving this week into their new quarters in the Dwyer building, formerly occupied by P. M. Hotaling's grocery. The room has been redecorated and put in first-class condition. Business at the old store will close tomorrow with a big rummage sale and by Tuesday the B-M shop will open for business at 122 West Locust Street.

The Central Theatre picture show was one of the free entertainments that was liberally patronized July 4^th. It was full to overflowing from the time it opened at two o'clock in the afternoon until midnight. It is estimated that 3,900 people attended the show during the afternoon and evening.

The Veterans of Foreign Wars of Fairbury have applied for their charter to national headquarters. This was decided upon at a recent meeting of the newly formed organization. The VFW was founded in 1898 and is no longer an experiment. It is non-partisan, non-sectarian and takes no part in labor disputes. It is the only veterans' organization maintaining a home for widows and orphans. It does not discriminate, but glories in being distinctive and it has never tolerated abuse by politically ambitious individuals.

80 Years Ago

July 13, 1945

Mr. and Mrs. N. F. Woodall, the new owners of the Ben Franklin Store, came the first of the week to take charge of the store. Mr. and Mrs. Woodall come from Three Oaks, Mich., where they had operated a similar store. The Woodalls' four children will join them here as soon as the housing problem is solved.

Pfc. L. D. Mehrkens received the Purple Heart for injury received during the Iser River crossing. He was awarded the Combat Expert Infantry Badge for bravery under fire. A recent letter stated Pfc. Mehrkens had left Germany and was in France on his way to England with others of the 13^th Armored Division to board the Queen Mary luxury liner to return home on furlough before redeployment.

The W. S. C. S. fellowship meeting was held Tuesday afternoon. A patriotic program was given under the direction of Miss Fern Carter. Miss Mae Bennett read that well remembered poem, "Liberty Bell." Mrs. Ira Kilgus read an interesting story of the original July 4^th and events leading to the signing of the Declaration of Independence. Mrs. Curtis Weeks played a medley of patriotic songs and Mrs. L. S. Henderson led group singing. Coffee and cakes were served from an attractive table with red, white and blue decorations. Mrs. Charles Harper poured. Fifty members and three guests were present.

70 Years Ago

July 14, 1955

John Mehrkens, Jr., was taken to the Fairbury Hospital Monday where he was treated for a broken leg following an accident on the Bill Rapp farm. It is the third time John has broken the same leg.

A gold wedding ring lost in 1895, has been found by Donald Tucker, who farms the Guy Slater farm eight miles south of Fairbury. It had been lost by Slater's father 60 years ago.

Sunday evening about 7 o'clock Mrs. Clift Veatch, who lives on the South Seventh Street road, noticed a small fire and smoke in the grass near the red corn crib belonging to David Munz. She notified the Munzes who put out the fire with a small wet rug. The crib is full of corn and it would have been an appreciable loss.

Ralph Broquard, who received his discharge from the Paratroopers July 2, has joined the Hunter-Broquard Insurance Agency, of Peoria.

April business volume in Fairbury increased 9.6 percent over April, 1954, figures released by the state department of revenue this week, indicated.

60 Years Ago

July 15, 1965

Two Fairbury businesses received face lifting this week when each was sand-blasted and then given new coats of paint. The two were the downtown building on Locust Street housing the tire retreading plant of Steidinger, Inc., and the one at Seventh and Locust housing K. and S. Auto Sales, Inc. Both were painted by Dan Fugate and his crew of Ray Thorne and Ron Hanley.

Seven boys won awards when Scouts of Troop 70 from Fairbury attended Camp Heffernan on Lake Bloomington recently, according to Scoutmaster Kenny Brandt. Winning yeoman badges in archery were Gerry Brandt, John Frank and Mike Peters. On the rifle range, Richard Moscicki, Eric Kammerman and Mike Kendall all won pro-marksman badges. On the compass course, Dave Roberts had the high score for the entire camp during the week with a 288 out of a possible 300.

George Lehmann of Forrest, has a registered Brown Swiss cow that has reached a lifetime production of over 100,000 pounds of milk and over 4,000 pounds of butterfat on official test. This is enough milk to nearly fill three two-ton milk tank trucks. To put it another way, if each person drank the recommended three glasses of milk a day, this would be enough milk to supply the needs of the entire population of a town of 1,500 for over six weeks.

50 Years Ago

July 17, 1975

"Go West, Young Man . . ." Following the ancient advice of New York journalist Horace Greeley, 31 cyclists from Anderson, Ind. rolled through Fairbury Wednesday morning, headed for Olympia, Washington on a 30-day jaunt. Calling themselves the Spokin' Promises, they were on their third day out of Anderson. Later, after they toughen up, they'll have legs as long as 150 to 170 miles per day. The group of boys and girls ranged in age from 14 to 22. They were accompanied by a van driver and a cook, and hope to arrive in Olympia Aug. 16.

Dave and Linda Wessels, of Strawn, returned home Thursday, July 10, having spent the past 45 days on a Study-Travel trip to Europe. They were part of a 37-member group affiliated with Eastern Illinois University, Charleston, where both are students. Primary subjects of study were French History & Arts. In addition to touring in France, visits were made to Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium, Luxemberg and Ireland.

For the first time, all 12 children of Mrs. Alberta Runyon Martin of Dwight, formerly of Fairbury, and the late Jack Runyon, were together at the Runyon family reunion held June 28 at the Firemen's Beach Club, in South Wilmington. Seventy-eight relatives said they really enjoyed the outing together. There are two reasons why the Runyon children were not able to all be together at the same time. First, because the age span between the offspring was 28 years. Eileen, 58, the oldest, was born in 1917, when her mother was 17, while her youngest brother, Roger, 30, was born in 1945. Also, all ten of Mrs. Martin's sons served in the Armed Forces and were away from home or overseas at various times.

40 Years Ago

July 11, 1985

Souvenirs of war, mementos brought back to the United States from World War I in Europe, were recently discovered in Fairbury during preparations for Marjorie Fulton's estate sale. The aerial bombs, hand grenades and shells were probably acquired by her father, Newt Fulton, longtime editor and publisher of The Blade during the early part of this century. Fairbury Police turned the ammunition – some of it apparently still very much "live" – over to the United States Army Explosive Ordnance Unit in Granite City.

Thirty-two Fairbury and Forrest Girl Scouts attended day camp at the Fairbury Fairgrounds June 17-21. All girls received the Centrillo Girl Scout Council Day Camp patch for completing basic camping skills in housekeeping, fire building, cooking, nature, hiking, knots, outdoor games and songs, ceremonies and first aid. Co-directors were LaDell Cress and Carol Ely.

This year's Livingston County 4-H king and queen candidates were chosen Tuesday night by a panel of three judges who looked at poise, personality, general appearance and 4-H and community involvement. The eight chosen are Brenitta Brady, Dwight; Mona Ahrends, Graymont; Janet Hoffman, Fairbury; Libby Brewer, Pontiac; Pat Carroll, Graymont; Scott Zehr, Flanagan; Mark Immke, Saunemin; and Brian Girard, Manville.

30 Years Ago

July 12, 1995

Pittsburgh Tube Company has begun a 50,000 square foot expansion of its Fairbury facility, which Richard Samsa said should be ready for use in 18 months. Samsa, vice president and general manager of the Fairbury division, said the expansion will contain a new electric weld mill for mechanical steel tubing. The project is part of a five-year program of modernization for the company at a cost of $16 million.

Early this spring Greg Baker and his father, Tom Baker, opened RD's Restaurant to the public. This father-son team are the new managers of the family run restaurant located at 210 W. Oak. RD's held a carhop last weekend with outdoor waitressing service. G. Baker said his father has been a food salesman for the Illinois Food and Produce distributors in Streator for about 18 years. This is the first restaurant the father-son team has managed.

More than 150 descendants of two families who were among the early settlers in the area, gathered for a family reunion at the Chatsworth Park pavilion on Sunday, July 2. The Murphy/Monahan reunion was attended by members from California, Arizona, Texas, Colorado, Washington and Illinois. The reunion was organized by Denise Murphy Steinberg of Highland Park. Her brother, Michael Murphy of Chatsworth also assisted in planning the reunion.

20 Years Ago

July 13, 2005

Two American Red Cross of the Heartland volunteers are driving the chapter's Emergency Response Vehicle (ERV) to a staging area in Little Rock, Ark. for Hurricane Dennis relief. Janice Miller of Clinton and Carolyn Stephens of Forrest left early Monday (July 11) morning to join a force of more than 110 ERVs and hundreds of Red Cross volunteers. They will be deployed from Little Rock to help supply food and drink to emergency shelters and people stranded by the storm.

John and Dawn Bradley of Forrest will mark their 25^th wedding anniversary on July 19. They are planning a trip to the Smoky Mountains to celebrate the occasion. Bradley and the former Dawn Haab were married July 19, 1980, at the church of God in Forrest. Rev. Harry Fry officiated. Their attendants were Robert and Patti Walsh. The couple has four children and five grandchildren. He is custodian at Meadowbrook School in Forrest, and she is a teacher's aide at Meadowbrook School.

Nicole Trainor, daughter of Mike and Teresa Trainor of Forrest, has earned a position on the Illinois High School Rodeo Team and will be traveling with fellow teammates to Gillette, Wyoming from July 18 through July 24 to compete at the 57^th annual National High School Rodeo Finals. She will be participating in the breakaway roping competition. Trainor has participated in high school rodeo for the past two years. Her fourth place over-all ranking for the Illinois High School Rodeo Team earned her a trip to the national competition.

10 Years Ago

July 15, 2015

The Prairie Central 12U baseball team won the Morton Classic Tournament on June 28. Twelve teams entered this division. Team members include Cooper Palmore, Nathan Reed, Connor Schneeman, Parker Mashburn, Lyndon Whitfill, Chase Todd, Rylie Vaughan, Lito Macias, Trey Bazzell, Patrick McGreal, Jacob Davis and Christian Taylor.

The 64^th Annual Simpson Reunion was held on Sunday, June 28 at the Youth Center of Fairbury Baptist Church with 35 in attendance. Paulette Simpson Bazzell of Fairbury was the “most mature” in attendance at 99 years young. Youngest in attendance was Lane Thorsen, 2½, of Waterford, Wis., son of Teri Hicks and Ray Thorsen, grandson of Chuck and Dee Hicks of Graymont and great-grandson of the late Lucille (Simpson) and Chuck Hicks, formerly of Pontiac.

Irish's Gymnastics athletes recently traveled to Rapid City, S. D. for the United States Tumbling & Trampoline Association (USTA) National Championship meet. All of the athletes who competed at Nationals had to first qualify in their State Championship meet this past April. Irish's Gymnastics athletes were led by Danny and Dawn Irish. They brought home 67 individual top 10 finishes and also earned seven team event trophies.

Sixty descendants of the late Ernest and Esther Sutter Hofmann met on June 27 at North Park in Fairbury for their annual Hofmann family reunion, lovingly known as DEWEJID. Those are the initials of Ernest and Esther's children in order of birth: Delores Headley, Fairbury; Ernest Hofmann, Fairbury; Wilbur (Jeanne) Hofmann, Towanda; Erna Lou Kelly, Inverness, Fla.; Janet (Richard) Steidinger, Fairbury; Ida (Wayne) Ziller, Fairbury; and Dallas (Patricia) Hofmann, Downs. All were present except for Erna Lou, who is recovering from knee surgery.

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