130 Years Ago
August 25, 1894
C. C. McDonald, the machinist, is constructing an apparatus whereby the new Christian Church will be lighted by a single arc light of two thousand candlepower, making the interior almost as light as day. The lamp is one of Mr. McDonald's own inventions.
Thomas Chapman, Charles Crowe and Frank Ford returned on Monday from their trip to England.
Charles Purdum has arranged to attend Bryant & Stratton's Business College at Chicago commencing on September 1.
James Small is building a seven room house in the southeast part of town for Hugh Salmon.
120 Years Ago
August 26, 1904
Emil Keller has secured the services of Daniel Bittner, who severed his connection with one of the largest grocery firms in Peoria, to come here and manage the Model Grocery.
Scott McDowell and Lloyd Borngasser made a business trip to Pontiac Tuesday. They are going to sell candy at the fair grounds fair week and purchased a large supply of the Allen Candy Company.
The following Fairbury people left on Wednesday for Mountain Valley, Ark., where they will take the cure at the hot springs of that place: F. M. Vail, Frank Corkhill, Miss Corkhill, Daniel Harrington, C. Schenck.
The commissioners of Indian Grove Township have started into the good road problems with their sleeves rolled up. One-half mile of the Kring Road, from the Avoca tTownship line to the corporation line of the City of Fairbury will be macadamized according to the latest methods approved by the government. The Indian crushed rock will be used.
110 Years Ago
August 28, 1914
George S. Seiler, an old employee of the T. P. & W. Railroad, was killed Tuesday morning at Forrest, being struck by a Wabash switch engine.
There was a special meeting of the members of the fire department Monday evening, and after the business part of the session was over, William Hallock, a newly elected member of the fire department, presented each member with a gold-filled badge, bearing the name of the fire department and the number of each individual member.
C. J. Claudon, who several weeks ago disposed of the Claudon Elevator to William Moss, of Morocco, Ind., is again the owner of the elevator, having repurchased it Wednesday.
Miss Mae Horine was hostess to about fifteen of her friends last Thursday, Miss Anna Householder being the guest of honor. Miss Householder left on Monday for Peoria where she will study to become a trained nurse.
100 Years Ago
August 22, 1924
Mr. and Mrs. F. A. Smith and three children, of Fithian, are camping this week at the Tourist Park. The family has just returned from Colorado where they had spent a month looking for a location. They were not especially pleased with Colorado as a place to live and returned a little over a week ago, making camp here over night, on their way to Indiana, where they found things not at all to their liking. Remembering the prosperous appearance of the country in this vicinity, they returned to Fairbury, where they would like to locate if Mr. Smith can find employment at his trade, painting and decorating and repairing ranges. Mr. and Mrs. Smith had nothing but praise for our tourists' park. In all their travels they have found none with better conveniences.
H. L. Howling and Charles Fayson, who make their home in the basement under the G. Y. McDowell building, got into a fight Wednesday evening a little before 7 o'clock, and by the time they got through going round and round, several windows were broken and the rooms otherwise mussed up. During the melee Fayson drew a knife, but Howling manage to get a hold of his opponent and held him in such a manner that Fayson could not use it for whittling purposes. Howling still had hold of his man when Deputy Sheriff Codlin arrived and arrested them. The fight started over one of the men alleging that the other one owed him $5.00. Either one could have saved $1.40 by giving the other one five dollars, for when they were taken before Justice Bennett yesterday morning they were taxed $6.40 each, which covered the fine and costs.
90 Years Ago
August 24, 1934
A riot at the prison at Pontiac last Saturday resulted in the destruction of property valued at approximately from $55,000 to $64,000; the death of one inmate and the wounding of 23 others. Four guards were also injured. The damage to the prison property resulted from a fire which burned the print shop of the prison and from damage done to the buildings and stocks by the 500 or more rioting inmates. Six of these riot leaders have been put in solitary confinement. The rioting started when two inmates got into a fight. It is now believed that this fight was faked. With the starting of this fight it spread, and soon the riot was in full sway.
Notice of the third annual English picnic to be held at Marsh Park Sunday, September 2, is being broadcast over WLS, Chicago. English people from Chicago and other places have notified the committee of their intention of attending and a large crowd is expected. There will be a basket dinner at noon and a program at 1:30 with violin numbers, request songs, recitations, addresses by Walter Teesdale, Frank Ashton and the principal address by the Rev. Evan Roberts. Red ribbon favors will designate the native born English and blue the descendants.
N. W. Hanson, Eli Schlipf, Ralph Zimmerman and C. J. Claudon motored to Chicago Wednesday morning, Mr. Claudon to visit with friends and the others to attend the Chevrolet jubilee. This jubilee is the result of a contest among Chevrolet dealers, and the dinner which was served was called a Steak and Sardine dinner, the winners in the contest, of which the Fairbury Auto Co. was one, to eat steak, the losers to get what satisfaction they might out of the sardines. These was also a big program of merry-making throughout the day.
80 Years Ago
August 25, 1944
Harold, son of Mr. and Mrs. Harvey Gaither, residing at Sixth and Maple Streets, a boy about eight or nine years old, was burned quite badly last Saturday evening by gas from a stove. His parents had gone to the picture show and Betty Sears had come to take care of the Gaither children. Betty stepped out of the house momentarily and while she was out, Harold went to the gas-operated stove and the supposition is that he lit a match. There was an explosion and Harold's clothing took fire, and one of his arms, face and neck being burned. Betty succeeded in putting out the fire and Mrs. Jack Sparks, who lives across the street, was called and administered first aid. Mr. and Mrs. Oscar Noe, who also live nearby, took the boy to the hospital.
Aaron Steidinger Tuesday purchased what is known as the Babcock building on the south side of Locust Street in the 100 block west. The consideration was $1,800. Mr. Steidinger said yesterday he had no definite plans as yet as to what use the building would be put.
Mrs. Edna Steidinger Mitchell has enlisted in the WAVES and will begin training at Hunter College, New York, in September. Her husband Pfc. Wayne Mitchell, was killed in action in France July 12.
70 Years Ago
August 26, 1954
The First Presbyterian Church has within the past week acquired a 30-foot vacant lot that adjoins the church property on the east. The property was purchased of Robert Walter, who just recently bought it of his father, Dan Walter, who also owns the residence property just east of the vacant 30-foot lot. Robert Walter intended to build a bungalow on his newly acquired lot and had started excavating for it, when the Presbyterian Church officials and members became of the opinion that the lot might be a good piece of property for them to own.
Can farms of North Central Illinois average 100 bushels of corn per acre? A panel of top-flight soil scientists will answer that and other questions at a highly unusual and interesting farm meeting in the Grade School gymnasium at Pontiac at 8 a.m., Wednesday, Sept. 1. The panel of scientists are expected to give their thoughts on practical ways in which farmers can get the maximum yield possible from their land. After the panel discussion, there will be a question and answer period, during which the audience will an opportunity to question the speakers on specific problems and conditions.
A short in the switch of an electric pump channeled current through the pump spout and into a cattle watering tank, electrocuting an 800-pound white-faced heifer and a 500-pound steer Sunday on the farm operated by Harold, Lloyd and Edward Metz two miles west and three miles north of Fairbury. Investigation disclosed that the metal case of the switch had broken, shorting the wiring and sending current back down a metal conduit, through the pump and into the water. The wiring, in use for some time, was replaced, and the entire pump grounded.
60 Years Ago
August 27, 1964
Room assignments for all pupils in the Fairbury-Cropsey schools are published in today's Blade, and Supt. Lester Miller stressed that classes will be held as scheduled in the new Westview School when the first half-day session is held Monday morning. However, Miller said that the Westview kitchen is not finished, and starting Tuesday, Sept. 1, when classes will meet all day, Westview pupils are asked to bring sack lunches until further notice. Milk will be available for them, Miller said.
After a gloomy start Tuesday as overcast conditions prevailed following a predawn shower, the 89th Fairbury Fair gathered momentum and ended only 200 or so spectators below last year's record opening crowd. Hopes were high among fair officials that, along with record entries in most departments, and a better than ever collection of famous drivers on hand for the three nights of auto races, plus a star-studded variety program Thursday night, the attendance records would swell.
Two Fairbury families flew their planes to Miami Beach last week to attend the International Flying Farmers Convention. Making the trip in nine hours were Mr. and Mrs. Robert Ficklin and their sons. Also flying their own plane to Miami were Joe and John Kuenzi, Fairbury's "popcorn kings." Nelson Weber, Jr., 17-year-old son of the Pontiac flying instructor, won the prize as the youngest pilot flying to the event. En route home, the Ficklins enjoyed a stop-over in Atlanta, Ga., with Mr. and Mrs. John Ulfers.
50 Years Ago
August 29, 1974
The 98th Fairbury Fair was rocketing along toward a contemporary attendance record – not the best in history, but certainly the best since the immediate post WWII days, until Sunday evening, when in the parlance of show business, "it laid an egg!" Up until 5 p.m. Sunday, it was running some 2,500 ahead of last year as far as paid attendance on single admissions was concerned, and needed only about 1,500 that evening to match last year's final evening and hold that gain. But the Sunday evening attraction, a concert by a popular rock band booked as a youth-oriented attraction, failed to draw. Only 738 (590 adults and 148 children) paid to get on the grounds after 5 p.m., and the grandstand admissions totaled only 411 for the evening show.
Mr. Peace, a four-year-old bay gelding, who won a heat and was third on another mile trip around the Fairbury Fair oval Saturday, died in his stall at the fairgrounds later that night from an attack of the colic. The horse, who was receiving medical attention prior to his death, was owned by Gary Garrels of Harvard. Sunday morning, fair officials were unable to locate any rendering works which would come after the carcass, so they buried him in a distant corner of the fairgrounds.
Art Walter, Fairbury electrician, was injured on a job site in Peoria Tuesday, when a plank he was standing on broke and he fell four feet and hit a cement slab. he was taken to St. Francis Hospital, Peoria. Mrs. Walter said Wednesday morning he had a slight concussion and was being held for observation.
40 Years Ago
August 23, 1984
A lottery in Springfield on Wednesday, Aug. 15, helped determine the winners of nearly 3,800 of the new vanity license plates to be issued to small truck and van owners in Illinois. Secretary of State Jim Edgar who kicked off the lottery Wednesday at the Illinois State Fair, said that 5,211 drawings were held, determining the winners of plates for which there were more than one request. An additional 3,224 vanity plates for which there was a single request were awarded automatically. Among the winners of the truck vanity plates from this area are John Haas Sr. and John Haas Jr. of rural Fairbury, and Hap DeFries of Fairbury. The Haases requested the plates "John Jr.," "John Sr." and "Haas." Hap DeFries will receive his two requests for "HAP" and "Hap D."
Joan Carol Waldbeser, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. John Waldbeser of Cissna Park, and Quinn D. Zehr, son of Mr. and Mrs. Warren Zehr of Fairbury, were united in marriage Sunday, Aug. 12 at 12:30 p.m. at the Cissna Park Apostolic Christian Church. A buffet reception was held at the Apostolic Christian Fellowship Hall. Joan is employed by State Farm in Bloomington, and Quinn is a senior in animal science at the University of Illinois. After a honeymoon through the northeastern states the couple will be living in the Spence house, RR1, Fairbury.
Fairbury native Michael Anderson has received a graduate teaching assistantship in the School of Music at the University of Nebraska. Anderson is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Richard Anderson of Fairbury.
30 Years Ago
August 24, 1994
An attempt by the Citizens For a Healthy Community (CFAHC) to gather enough valid signatures by this past Monday to put the issue of whether to allow a solid waste incinerator on the November ballot has been successful. The petition asks that the following question be placed on the November 8 ballot: "Shall the Municipal Solid Waste Incinerator intended to serve the waste disposal needs of the entire State of Illinois be located in Pleasant Ridge Township, Forrest Township or the City of Forrest." Livingston County Clerk Arnold Natzke said that the result of the vote on the incinerator question is only "advisory" to those making the final decision, the Forrest Village Board.
Fairbury Fair Board President Bill Fugate reports 15,732 people crossed through the gates of the 118th annual fair last week, which is 1,759 over the past five year average, he says. This does not include the season passes, workers and exhibitors. The grandstand show drew 8,172 viewers, which is 1,898 over the prior five-year average. Premiums paid out totaled $54,251, said Fugate, which does not include ribbons and trophies.
Kirk Douglas Steidinger was born July 28, 1994 at 4:38 a.m. at St. James Hospital, Pontiac, to Martin and Trish Steidinger of Fairbury. He weighed 8 pounds 20 inches and has been middle-named for an uncle, Doug Steidinger of Fairbury. He has five brothers and sisters, Alex, 9½; Wesley, 8; Kent, 6½; Leann, 5½; and Karla, 2½ years. Maternal grandparents are Earl and Esther Gerber of Forrest. Paternal grandparents are Maurice and Alma Steidinger of Fairbury.
20 Years Ago
August 25, 2004
Workers from Renaissance Roofing, Ottawa, are nearing completion on the installation of a new roof for Dominy Memorial Library in Fairbury. The new roof was funded with proceeds from a $95,000 gift from the estate of the late Betty Nussbaum.
Phillip Poppe of Chenoa, showed the Supreme Dairy Champion Female Aged cow, a Holstein, at the Fairbury Fair last week. Poppe, who will be a junior at Prairie Central High School, is the son of Gerald and Ruth Poppe of rural Chenoa.
Wallace and Dorothy Alpers of Fairbury will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary on Sept. 4. Alpers and the former Dorothy Bayles were married on Sept. 4, 1954 at St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church in Chenoa. They are parents of one son, Sam Alpers of Loathe, Kan.; and one grandson, Jordan Alpers of Cole Camp,. Mo. The couple has lived in rural Fairbury for most of their married life. Alpers was a dairy farmer and also employed at Pittsburgh Tube Co., and Mrs. Alpers was a secretary, receptionist and bookkeeper. They both retired in 1997. The couple is active in the Fairbury VFW and both serve as election judges.
10 Years Ago
August 27, 2014
At Wednesday's meeting of the Fairbury City Council, Police Chief Mike Frickey informed council members of a string of car burglaries in July which were quickly resolved. Frickey said this explains recent department overtime, which was the result of the ongoing investigation. The council also approved new police department uniform patches. The total for the artwork and patches should be close to $500. In another police matter, the group promoted Officer Mark Travis to Sergeant following a brief executive session. The recommendation was initially made by the police committee and unanimously approved by the council.
Forrest St. Paul's Lutheran has announced that the Forrest Growing Project, as part of the Foods Resource Bank, has raised $38,287. This money was raised by local farmers/landowners donating crop and by individual and corporate donations. This year, 31 acres of crop were donated by 29 farmers. In addition to the $38,287 raised for the FRB program, $7,805 was donated to local charities, including the Midwest Food Bank ($250), CROP ($375), Habitat ($500) and Forrest Food Pantry ($6,125). This money came from several of the farmers donating their “input checks” – money to help cover expenses – to the local charity of their choice.
Gene Miller has seen quite a few changes while working for Prairie Central Cooperative during the past 25 years. First of all, farmers owned very few semis back in the day. Soybean yields have also come a long way during that time. “Prairie Central Cooperative bought Pontiac in '91. That was a big change and that was a good deal,” recalled Miller. Miller currently serves as location manager for the Fairbury grain elevator. He previously worked at the Ocoya facility, which was a smaller elevator at the time. Ocoya has since been upgraded. Miller was honored during a recent open house hosted by Prairie Central Cooperative at Fairbury's North Park. Fellow employees, elevator board members and area farmers helped Miller celebrate 25 years of service with a pork chop meal and cake.
(Kari Kamrath's Looking Back is sponsored each week by Duffy-Pils Memorial Homes)
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