Looking Back 8-20-25

130 Years Ago

August 17, 1895

The next local event of general importance to which the people of this part of Illinois are looking forward is the big Fairbury Fair, which is to take place September 16 to 20, inclusive.

There is a pretty sure prospect of several blocks of cement walk this summer to be built in the residence part of the city, half of the cost to be paid for by the city and half by the property owners.

Paul Conerus lost the point of the forefinger of his right hand while cleaning a bicycle the other day. His finger caught between the chain and the sprocket wheel.

A C. and A. train recently deposited 68 tramps in Chenoa.

120 Years Ago

August 18, 1905

Walter Kessler this week sold his 160-acre farm near Strawn to John and Bartel Steidinger, of near Forrest, for $110 per acre. The transaction was made through Sutton & Co.

S. J. Morrison is hauling lumber for a new residence which he will build on his farm north of town.

The new red trains which will be put in operation on the Alton next week are the finest in the world.

Elmer Travis returned Wednesday and Carlos Cook yesterday from Orchard Beach, N. J., where they had been filling an engagement with Burch's Band and Orchestra. The remainder of the band will be home in about a week.

Mr. Carmon of Pontiac, has sold the Phoenix Hotel to Mrs. Hanes of Pontiac, and has bought the Forrest House of T. D. Torrance.

110 Years Ago

August 20, 1915

The John Sorg building, occupied by the Roanoke Bakery, and the Five and Ten Cent Store of Hirstein & Son have new awnings built on the front of them.

Fairbury will have a wireless receiving station within a short time. At the meeting of the city council on Wednesday evening, A. H. Mundt asked permission to erect a 25-foot pole on top of the city hall on which will be erected a part of the apparatus. The other pole will be on top of the Central Ppera House. Will C. Mundt has the undertaking in charge. The time of day will be received here by Mr. Mundt from Arlington, Va., over the wireless route. This will be only a receiving station and not a sending station.

Watch for the bread wagon: Bread, rolls, pies, delivered to your door. —Fairbury Bakery

100 Years Ago

August 21, 1925

President Jack Thompson, of the Fairbury Fair, Supt. of Speed James Hagen and Wallace Hemphill are pretty busy these days visiting the various fairs in Illinois and lining up race horses for the local fair. From all indications, the largest number of race horses in the history of the fair will compete here this year.

The little 19 months old son of Mr. and Mrs. E. Manthy, who reside in the telephone building, got hold of a bottle of iodine last Sunday morning, drinking a quantity of it. A prompt antidote saved him from any ill effects.

Last year the Beehive School was closed, as there were only five pupils in the district. This year there will be nine children of school age and the school will reopen with Miss Elsie Neth as teacher.

Returning from a ride in the country Sunday, Mrs. Salem Ricketts was agreeably surprised to find her children and grandchildren had taken possession of the house and spread a repast in honor of her birthday, with a birthday cake with the correct number of candles for a centerpiece.

90 Years Ago

August 16, 1935

Ralph Moore, member of the faculty of Fairbury Township High School, and ten of his boy friends, are leaving this morning for a ten-day trip through the Great Lakes region. Mr. Moore and the boys have arranged with Edward Steinberg for the use of a motor truck, and they have also secured tents and other camping equipment and are all set for a real vacation trip. They plan to journey northward along the eastern coast of Lake Michigan, stopping at the principal points of interest.

Mr. and Mrs. David Schieman entertained 20 friends at their lovely country home southwest of Chenoa Saturday night. Those present at the party were Mr. and Mrs. David Durham and children, Richard and Betty, Mr. and Mrs. Dan Holzhauer and family, and Miss Goldie Wilkens, all of Pontiac; Martin Shoope, Marvin Gebhardt and Donald Foster, Chenoa. The evening was spent in various games and ice cream and cake were served.

The fire department was called out Saturday evening about 6 o'clock to extinguish a blaze at the coal chute of the Walker Coal Company, located at the intersection of the T. P. & W. Railroad Company's tracks and Webster Street in the west part of the city. The fire originated near the top of the hoisting tower. The damage to the building will amount to about $100, while it will take about $50 to cover the depreciation on the contents. It is believed that defective wiring is the cause of the blaze.

80 Years Ago

August 17, 1945

The people of Fairbury gave vent to their pent-up feelings on Tuesday evening when it was learned that the Japs had surrendered unconditionally and that the war which had started on December 7, 1941, when these same Japanese stabbed us in the back at Pearl Harbor, was over. The news was flashed over the radio at six o'clock in the evening and about ten seconds later the celebration started and lasted until after midnight. Bert Monroe is said to have started the noise-making when he stepped out of the door of his barber shop the second the news came over the radio, with a cowbell and gave it a vigorous striking. From then on the volume of the noise increased, with auto horns, sirens, church bells and the fire bell adding to the din.

First it was our city clock that refused to run and now it is our traffic signal that is out of commission. The latter was added to the casualty list last Saturday night about 11:45 when a truck owned by Myricks Hatchery, of Morris, and driven by William F. Fancher, bumped into it. The traffic lights were knocked off the top, but the base remains intact. The accident happened during the rain of Saturday night, and the windshield wipers on the truck were not in operating condition.

The local chapter of the Townsend Club is rapidly completing arrangements for the annual Townsend Homecoming Sunday, August 26. Dr. and Mrs. Francis E. Townsend will be among the early arrivals as will the national council of twelve members. A nationally known speaker will be secured.

70 Years Ago

August 18, 1955

Dutch Elm Disease, which killed thousands of trees in surrounding areas, is beginning to kill trees in Fairbury. Many farmers both north and south of Fairbury report as many as five trees in their yards, with the fungus disease, for which scientists say there is no cure or prevention.

Danny Hetherington, two-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Thomas Hetherington, was injured slightly Thursday morning when he was struck by a car while playing near his home on East Locust Street.

Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Aberle were married August 7 at the Chatsworth Methodist Church. Mrs. Aberle is the former Carol Martin.

T. J. Patterson left last week to attend the funeral of his son-in-law, Clyde Hankins, 47, a former Fairburian who died at Gordon, Nebr.

60 Years Ago

August 19 1965

Fairbury's new American Field Service exchange student arrived here Tuesday to reside with the Walter "Bud" Paternoster family for one year. Abel Ribeiro de Jesus, 18, Salvador, Brazil, will be a senior at Fairbury-Cropsey High School. Coming from south of the equator, he has already interrupted his last year of schooling. His school year runs from March through November. Abel's "summer" vacation is during December, January and February.

Nearly 50 years ago, Guy Farquhar was a local celebrity when as a student pilot at Chanute Field in 1918, he and five companions landed three flimsy aircraft at Fairbury. Sunday, he was back in town for a festive meal with relatives at the annual James reunion. Farquhar, who now lives in Litchfield, recalled Sunday that in the spring of 1918, he was in primary training at Chanute, which was then under construction and named for the aviation pioneer who surveyed Fairbury. After two years service in the Air Force during World War I, he was in the reserve for 20 years.

Terry Folwell, 14, received the first in a series of anti-rabies shots on Tuesday, due to the fact that he was bitten on the arm by a rabid cat Sunday. The cat died within three hours after biting Terry. Terry was then taken immediately to the Forrest Clinic for physical examination by Dr. Robert Bort. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Jim Folwell. The cat was sent immediately to the University of Illinois Diagnostic Laboratory at Champaign. Tuesday the lab reported that the cat was rabid.

50 Years Ago

August 21, 1975

Construction is underway on a Dairy Queen franchise in Fairbury, on two lots at the southeast corner of Oak and Clay Streets, formerly known as the Mattioli property. The house, long abandoned, and several trees and scrub underbrush, were bulldozed last week. The franchise for the Fairbury installation, which reportedly will seat about 60 people, is held by Don Geiselman, who also holds the El Paso franchise of the chain. General contractor for the project is Melvin Zimmerman of Fairbury, and the structural iron work reportedly will be done by Klitzing Welding, also of Fairbury.

The former Standard Oil Station, closed for more than a year since the advent of the oil crisis, has been sold by Mr. and Mrs. J.T. Mapel to Randall Kiper and Maurice Steidinger, in partnership. It is reported that Kiper is to ask the Fairbury City Council for the transfer of the liquor license presently held by Roy Boles, and if granted, he will purchase the latter's stock presently located in the 200 block of West Locust and move it to the station and establish a package goods store. Concurrently, Steidinger is reportedly preparing to open a car wash in the station's service bays.

Escaping without injuries were the two occupants of a Piper Tri-Pacer which ground-looped last Wednesday evening while attempting a landing on the air-strip at the Harry Pick farm, west of Fairbury. The craft was piloted by Mike Ziller, 19, of rural Fairbury and riding with him was instructor Dave Bachtold of Pontiac. They reportedly had too much speed left when they reached the end of the runway, and rather than shoot across the roadway with a pair of ditches, elected to veer left into the cornfield farmed by Bill Dawson which borders the landing strip. About 15 feet into the field, the nose wheel collapsed and the craft nosed over.

40 Years Ago

August 15, 1985

State Rep. Gordon Ropp, R., 88^th District, of Normal, next week will be making his 40^th appearance at the Fairbury Fair with his family's show string of Jersey cattle. "It was in 1945," he recalled Monday night, that as a youthful 4-H exhibitor he came with his father, Clarence, a widely known figure in the dairy field. "I might have missed one year on account of the military later," he reminisced," but I'm not real sure. After all, 40 years covers a lot of county fairs." Ropp has often expressed his fondness for showing in Fairbury, and his recollections include years when, after severe rains turned the grounds into a quagmire, the cattle shows were held on the blacktop streets adjoining the fairground.

Scott Hable of Fairbury will be among 22 St. Olaf College students who will depart for a five-month study program in the Far East enrolled in the college's Far East semester. He is the son of Dr. and Mrs. Orville Hable. Major emphasis of the program will be the study of religious traditions in the Chinese and Thai cultures, according to Dr. Barbara Reed, professor of religion and Asian Studies at St. Olaf and field supervisor for the program.

Stalker's not just his name, but it's what he's up to lately. Prairie Central Band director Michael Stalker is "instrumental" in the search for a school song. Although known primarily as hunters rather than songbirds, the hawks will be completely tuneless until the student body votes for a fight song during the first week of school. In the meantime, Stalker is organizing a search party, and he encourages the public to join. "We'll try to listen to some different college fight songs, play through some published works and listen to any other songs that anyone else is so inclined to write," Stalker explains. "We'll narrow the choices down to three or four through a paper secret ballot vote," he continues.

30 Years Ago

August 16, 1995

Change is the word at Forrest. The biggest change under way, presently, is the impressive $2 million-plus church project on Forrest's north side. In progress is the Apostolic Church's new building and parking areas, the huge project sprawling over a 10-acre expanse. According to the AC Building Committee spokesman, Ivan Steidinger, the new facility encompasses some 26,400 sq. ft. and will be ready for occupancy in the spring of 1996. Until then, the 290 AC members and about 400 other affiliates, will continue to meet and worship in the present church in Forrest, which was built in 1949.

The Darryl and Lorri Tinges family has expanded from four to five in their Fairbury household. Sisters Carra, 10, and Jess, 8, have an older brother to look up to. And look up is right, in the neighborhood of 6' 7" stands Bruno Vanwelsenaers, 18, from Antwerp, Belgium. For the next 12 months, Bruno will be a part of the Tinges family and attend Prairie Central High School's senior class. He arrived Wednesday after a 10-hour flight, that had a five-hour delay in Detroit for engine and fuel problems. Basketball is Bruno's favorite sport, but he will try football with the Hawks.

Three Central Illinois library systems will share $50,000 in federal grants, state Librarian George Ryan announced Thursday. Libraries in Chatsworth, and Forrest are among the libraries that will use $18,000 to build their children's nonfiction collections through a cooperative program. The new materials will include print and non-print materials. Other libraries include Carlock, Danvers and Minonk.

20 Years Ago

Aug. 17, 2005

Normalynne Bashford of Fairbury is the new museum coordinator at Fairbury Echoes Museum, replacing Andy Hand who has resigned to continue his college education. The mini exhibit in Room 5 at the museum has changed to "Dr. Francis Townsend and a few other Fairburians." The exhibit includes a collection of news clippings, donated by Jeremy Walter, about Townsend's push toward enacting an Old Age Pension, and other items of interest regarding the Father of Social Security who was born in Fairbury. Another interesting Fairburian was Dr. G. C. Lewis whose daybook was donated to the museum by the heirs of Alma Lewis James via Olive James Davis. In his notebook, Dr. Lewis recorded each of the 600-plus babies he delivered from 1883 to 1910.

The Livingston County Express 12 and under softball team recently concluded a successful season by winning the ASA "B" state tournament at Springfield. Coach Barry Corban said, "We won the tournament by playing aggressively on both offense and defense." Members of the team are Kathryn Bahler, Stephanie Wessels, Lindsey Krippel, Brittany Tjarks, Paige Heiser, Liz Shafer, A. K. Somers, Kaley Corban and Abby Popejoy.

The Board of Directors of the Chatsworth Township Library has announced the appointment of Rita G. Rich as Director, effective Sept. 1, 2005. Rich resides in Chatsworth along with her husband and four of their six children. She has been a long-time supporter of the library and is very excited about adding new and exciting programs to the existing library schedule.

10 Years Ago

August 19, 2015

Livingston County's Tom Schahrer will be honored as an Illinoisan of the Day at this year's Illinois State Fair in Springfield. Schahrer became involved with the Fairbury Fair while growing up, sweeping the floors and cleaning up the grounds. He later served as president of the Livingston County 4-H Fair in Pontiac for about 20 years and is currently an Illinois Association of Agricultural Fairs Board member, serving as banquet chair for the state convention in January. A nomination letter from Bill Fugate stated, “Tom Schahrer is one of the most dedicated and hardworking volunteers in Illinois. Tom has been and still is a workhorse for Illinois county fairs.”

The families of the Tobe and Paulette Bazzell met at North Park in Fairbury on Sunday, Aug. 2 for the annual Bazzell Reunion. There were 108 relatives in attendance from Florida, Kentucky, Iowa, Hawaii, Indiana, and the Illinois cities of Bloomington, Fairbury, Champaign, Pontiac, Glen Ellyn, Paxton, Arrowsmith, Fisher, Canton, Cissna Park, Rantoul, Rushville, Dewey, Sycamore and Mazon. The most mature in attendance was Paulette Bazzell of Fairbury at the age of 99. The youngest attending was Ava Rose Lester, eight weeks, the granddaughter of Tom and Ruth Lester and James and Kae Bazzell Lester; great-granddaughter of Kenneth Bazzell and great-great-granddaughter of Paulette Bazzell. Ava is Paulette's 34^th great-great-grandchild.

In 1888, the Chapman Brothers in Chicago published a book titled Portrait and Biographical Album of Livingston County, Illinois.This is a massive book with about 1,200 pages. This 1888 book contains the biographies of 116 citizens of the Fairbury area. Dale C. Maley, local Fairbury historian, extracted the biographies of these Fairbury citizens and made it into a new book titled, “Fairbury, Illinois in 1888.” In addition to the Fairbury biographies, Maley also extracted the portraits and farm illustrations associated with these pioneering citizens. This new book makes a relatively concise 154-page short story focusing only on Fairbury area citizens.

"Looking Back" from Kari Kamrath is sponsored by Duffy-Pils Memorial Homes.