130 Years Ago
September 23, 1893
The highway commissioners have let the contract for a new bridge over Indian Creek to take the place of what is known as the Cook bridge.
C. A. Seelman this week moved his barber shop from the Straight building to the more commodious quarters of the basement under the Claudon Bank.
The following from this city were among those attending the World's Fair in Chicago this week: Willis W. Compton, Joe Fitzgerald, L. J. Pfaat and family, Dr. J. R. Rayburn, Mr. and Mrs. John Marsh, Mrs. C. B. Fleming, Will Finnegan.
S. J. Perlee has sold his interests in the firm of Perlee & Kelley to P. F. Somers.
120 Years Ago
September 25, 1903
The stockholders of the new Central Opera House held a meeting at the city hall Monday evening. The capital stock committee reported that the entire amount of stock, $15,000 had been subscribed. The contract for building the opera house was to have been let some time ago but owing to the fact that the bids were all several thousand dollars higher than the capital stock of the company they were all rejected.
Two women, of Fairbury, Miss Barbara Yackle and Miss Christina Weiser, appeared at the office of the county clerk one day last week and took out naturalization papers. They are the first women to take out such papers in this county. Both renounced all allegiance to the Emperor of Germany, declaring their intentions of becoming citizens of the United States.
Six hundred pounds of honey, which bees had stored there during the past six years, was taken out from behind the weather boarding of the Vogelsinger home between Forrest and Wing.
110 Years Ago
September 26, 1913
Mrs. Marion Kyser, of Forrest, entertained a party of twenty-four young ladies at her home in that place at which the announcement of the engagement of her daughter, Miss Belle Kyser, to Richard Oliver Scatterday, of Pontiac, was made. The wedding will occur in November.
Eddie Strasma, the eight-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. Henry Strasma, and a pupil of the north side school, suffered a broken leg on Wednesday while at play.
Fred Camp is again a citizen of Fairbury, having accepted a position in Jay Tyler's barber shop.
"Doc" Sam Wade departed Sunday for Chicago, where he will take a course in the Northwestern School of Pharmacy.
100 Years Ago
September 21, 1923
Hanson's Chevrolet racer had a bit of bad luck in the 20-mile event at Hawthorne Track Sunday, when a magneto point went bad and the car had to be taken out of the race at the end of the fifteenth mile after a sensational climb from a ninth place start to third place. Hanson will enter his car at the races at Hammond, Ind., Saturday and at Charleston Sunday. Wesley Hanson, Lish Bennett and Wayne Stafford attended the Hawthorne meet.
The township high school board has secured Kenneth Parke, of Kirkland, as head of the science department to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of W. B. Mattingly. Mr. Parke is a graduate of the Normal School at DeKalb and of Chicago University and has had two years of teaching experience at Malta. He comes very highly recommended.
Miss Mabel Smith has purchased the Mi-Lady Beauty Shop in Pontiac and will take possession October 1st. Miss Smith is a graduate of Burnham's and is possessed of rare skill as a beauty artist, which assures her of a good patronage in her new location.
90 Years Ago
September 22, 1933
The annual Weston picnic held on Wednesday was largely attended, especially was this true of the night entertainment, the crowd literally packing the park. The day was ideal, with the exception of a rather strong wind that ruffled up things in general, but did not disturb the good nature of the large crowd. A program of good entertainment kept the crowd amused. The various displays of farm products, school work, needle-craft, etc., also drew their share of attention.
Last Sunday morning Harry Foster was making an iron shot across the water on No. 3 hole at the local golf course. Along with his divot went a dime which his iron had dug up. Louie Downing, caddie, retrieved the coin.
Dannie Paternoster, young son of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Paternoster, has two rather badly mangled fingers on his left hand. He was out in the country and was shelling some corn with a hand corn sheller. He started to reach down with his right hand for another ear of corn when his left hand became caught in the flywheel.
80 Years Ago
September 24, 1943
Sixteen gentlemen took part in an all-day croquet tournament on the court of Dr. and Mrs. H. C. Sauer, Sunday. Dean Williams and Si Steidinger were paired up together and this combination was too much for the other seven teams and they won the championship which entitled them to eat the lion's share of the dinner the ladies brought out in the evening. V. L. Dally and Orville Ehrhardt won the consolation division.
So many members of Mrs. Viola Mowry's family have September birthdays that it has become a custom to have a family party on the day that comes nearest to covering the most of them. Sunday the Matt Nolans of Pontiac; the Leo Johnsons and Miss Susie Johnson, of Campus, joined the Fairbury group in one big celebration at the home of Mrs. Mowry.
Mr. and Mrs. Edwin Gee, of Cropsey, received a letter yesterday from their son, Lt. John Gee, who had recently been released from a hospital in Sicily and had again joined his company. Lt. Gee, bomb flight leader, was with the group that scored direct hits on some twenty or more Messerschmidts and destroyed twelve of them and crippled several others while patrolling near Salerno recently.
70 Years Ago
September 24, 1953
An attempted robbery was thwarted last Thursday in the local office of the General Telephone Company of Illinois, when a youth was frightened away after seizing Janet Rice. Miss Rice said the stranger had been loitering about the office for an hour, and several times asked for change to buy Cokes. At 10:30 A. M. she walked from the desk where the cash was kept, to the filing cabinet. The youth suddenly seized her. After she shouted, he fled down the alley. After hearing the screaming, Manager Robert Griswold, Mrs. Arlene Steidinger and Tom Covington, wire chief, ran to the rescue, but the man had already escaped.
The Fairbury Hospital launched its final drive for funds to complete its building program Monday evening with a bang. The first night's yield was $6,208.50 with much of the territory only partly covered. This sum makes a big dent in the $18,000 previously announced as needed for completion and makes the prospect of a new hospital (paid for as completed) more of a reality. As this paper goes to press, Forrest is about ready to conduct their house to house canvas.
Oscar Williams, 19, was reported yesterday as "resting comfortably" at the Fairbury Hospital following an accident Saturday morning at the Honegger Mill. Williams was seriously injured when a tow buggy, which he was operating, fell from an unloading platform on the north side of the mill. The machine pitched from the platform when Williams' foot slipped from a brake onto the gas pedal. A diagnosis of his injuries had not been made yesterday as he was awaiting X-rays.
60 Years Ago
September 26, 1963
Fairbury Cub Scouts from Den 6 of Pack 172, received what for most was probably their first train ride on a recent Saturday morning. All properly ticketed, they boarded the caboose of the Wabash at the Fairbury Depot and rode the way-freight to Pontiac, where they were met by their den mothers, Mrs. Harvey Traub and Mrs. Howard Baum. The husband of the latter was the brave soul who went with the Cubs to assist the conductor and brakeman in keeping the livewires inside the caboose.
A 1940 Fairbury high graduate is now an assistant professor of mathematics at the University of Georgia, Athens. Edith Robinson, who this summer earned her Ph.D. in Education from the University of Wisconsin, recently left her summer home in Fairbury for the 700 mile drive to Athens. She explains that the U. of Georgia trains most of the teachers in the state and her job will consist of giving special training to future math teachers.
Aldermen at a City Council meeting Wednesday, Sept. 18 voted to draw up an ordinance for a building permit in the city of Fairbury. Mayor Roy Taylor said, "It's not that we want to restrict what people build or how they build, but this new ordinance will provide a record at City Hall concerning new structures in the city. He noted that there have been new houses built in the city that were not properly taxed. The city is losing taxes, the schools are losing taxes and the county is losing tax money, the mayor pointed out.
50 Years Ago
September 27, 1973
W. W. Walker, president of Honeggers' & Co., Inc., of Fairbury, announced today that Harvest Industries, Inc. of Los Angeles, Cal., and Honeggers' & Co. Inc. had reached an agreement with respect to the merger of Honeggers' into a subsidiary of Harvest. Walker said he saw no changes in present personnel, "because the Harvest people were not interested if there was a need for management by them."
An open house Sunday, Sept. 30, will unveil the just completed and vastly expanded remodeling program of Fairbury Federal Savings and Loan Association. Now in its 87th year, the financial institution has more than doubled its previous office space while adding additional customer service counters and a drive-up window. The Neo-Mediterranean-style architecture at the southwest corner of Third and Maple streets, has taken more than a year to complete. Cost of the expansion program which also includes a blacktop parking lot and decorative wall, was estimated at approximately $150,000.
Carl Mowery, son of Mr. and Mrs. Milton Mowery of Fairbury, and Robert Ficklin, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert L. Ficklin of rural Fairbury, are members of the Illinois Wesleyan University marching band, the Marching Titans. The Marching Titans perform before and during the halftime of every Wesleyan home football game. Both are 1973 graduates of Fairbury-Cropsey High School. Mowery was drum major and Ficklin a drummer in the prize-winning Marching Tartars.
40 Years Ago
September 22, 1983
A pair of claw hammers brought $165 last Saturday as the Harvey Storks auctioned off the estate of lifelong Fairbury area carpenter Alf Maier. It took six hours for the large crowd to make its way through the large sale. But the highlight came when the claw hammers went up for bid. Maier had trained many area carpenters. And apparently, a few of his old students felt those hammers might have played a part in their learning experience. Hence, the unusually high price for the hammers. But then, not unusual in respect to the sentimental value.
By the hundreds they flocked to the casting desks. Young and old, students and professionals, they all had one objective in mind: to be chosen as Extras in the upcoming movie, "Grandview USA." Seven of Fairbury's young adults were among those selected to appear in the Grandview prom scene, filmed Saturday at Saunemin High school. Connie Lawrence, Wendy Roth, Robin Metz, Tamira Kothari, Roger Bachtold, Glen Hofmann and Greg Vaughan joined about 200 other Central Illinois Extras at 6:30 a.m. last Saturday at Saunemin for their first taste of movie-making. Whether or not the Fairbury faces survive the sharp scissors in the cutting room remains to be seen, but their once-in-a-lifetime chance to be in the movies sure was worth the Extra effort.
The Fairbury-Cropsey Marching Tartars won nine of a possible 10 first-place trophies in their class, and placed third overall in the grand championships at the Dwight Harvest Days celebration.
30 Years Ago
September 23, 1993
A second application has been filed with the Federal Communications Commission for a construction permit to operate a new Class A FM radio station in Fairbury. Mark L. Rollings, of St. Louis, Mo., filed the application September 1, apparently in close proximity to the time a similar license request was made by David C. Keister on behalf of McLean County Broadcasters, Inc. Both applications are for an FM broadcast station to operate on Channel 299 at Fairbury.
A haunted house will be open the week preceding Halloween in Fairbury. Members of the Charity Home Rebekah Lodge #112 and International Order of Odd Fellows have joined forces to construct the haunted house in the basement of their lodge on West Locust Street, chairperson Sally Beal said. There are about 160 members in the Rebekah Lodge and about 120 in the IOOF.
A Fairbury man escaped serious injury in a one-truck rollover accident during heavy rain Sept. 14 on a curve five miles south of Fairbury. James E. Schmidgall, 35, lost control of the pickup, went into the ditch and rolled, the truck landing on it's left side. The 1 p.m. accident occurred during a heavy rain.
20 Years Ago
September 24, 2003
Carra Tinges has been awarded the Avon Corporation's President's Club Scholarship. Only 75 scholarships were awarded in the nation. Recipients were chosen based on academic qualifications, extracurricular achievements and community involvement. Carra graduated from Prairie Central High School in May with a 4.0 average, is an Illinois State Scholar and a member of the National Honor Society. She is currently attending Butler University where she was awarded the Trustees Scholarship and the Heritage Scholar Award for her academic achievements. She is the daughter of Darryl and Lorri Tinges of Fairbury.
The Prairie Central Marching Hawks made a clean sweep in Class AA hardware at the Geneseo Marching Band Contest on Saturday, Sept. 20. The band received Best Winds, Best Color Guard, Best Drum Major and Best Percussion as well as receiving first place in class AA.
Like Mother...Like Daughter(s)! Debbie Kaye Craddock has been a licensed beautician in the Fairbury area since 1986. What makes her business so unique, is that Debbie Kay's oldest daughter Shawn Campbell, also a licensed beautician, has been at the business with her mother for 10 years, and in the very near future, another daughter, Shana Hetherington, will be working full time at Debbie Kaye's too.
10 Years Ago
September 25, 2013
Fairbury's water department received recognition during Wednesday's meeting of the Fairbury City Council. Water Superintendent Duane Ifft was presented with a plaque from the Illinois Department of Public Health for complying with the Illinois Fluoridation act for at least 10 consecutive years. According to Ifft, the city has to be within 0.9-1.2 milligrams per liter on most days, but is allowed a few days with levers too low or high. “Every year, they'll give you an award if you are meeting it, but when five, 10 or 15 years pass, they'll give a special plaque like this,” said Ifft.
Robert and Carol Sue Haab of Forrest will celebrate 60 years of marriage with a family dinner on Sept. 29. Haab and Carol Sue Rieger were married on Sept. 27, 1953 at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Forrest. JoAnne Temple and the late Burton Haab were their attendants. They are the parents of Nancy (Joe) Lane of Bloomington, Rob (Kathy) Haab of Forrest, Kay (Ryan) Shiflett of Fairbury, Gail (Gary) Marten of Tulsa, Okla. and Mark (Kim) Haab of Fairbury. They have nine grandchildren and two great-grandchildren.
Ivan Miller won best of show with his arrangement entered in the “Barnyard Arrangement” category at the annual Westview Flower Show sponsored by the Fairbury Garden club on Friday, Sept. 13. Alex Williford took first place in the garden division. This annual event has been a project of the Garden Club for many years and is open to the public. Connie Kostelc was chairman of the show and served as one of the judges. Other judges were Paula Trainor-Rosenbaum, Lorraine Sellmyer and Andrea Lee. Students received blue, red, white and participation ribbons for their arrangements. Outdoor garden winners received a chrysanthemum potted plant and ribbons. The outdoor gardens were featured on a poster at the Flower Show on Friday.
(Looking Back from Kari Kamrath is sponsored each week on Fairbury News by Duffy-Pils Memorial Homes with locations in Fairbury, Chenoa and Colfax)
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