Kewanee History from the Star Courier Files, compiled by Dave Clarke

Compiled by Dave Clarke
·3 min read

15 years ago
Wednesday, June 15, 2007

  • Gary Robbins, a 1976 Kewanee High School graduate who has been embedded with the Marines in Iraq, will share his experiences and insights on the war with the Kiwanis Club during their regular meeting Wednesday. Robbins is the USAID representative to the Al Asad Provisional Reconstruction Team in Iraq.

  • The Bobtown Neighbors Club met recently at Happy Joe’s with Maxine Klavohn as hostess. Cards were played. Prizes were won by Evelyn Bates, Leonore Kuster, and Connie Johnson. The next meeting will be held June 20 at the home of Donna Becker.

25 years ago
Saturday, June 14, 1997

  • Twenty-seven participants, ages 8 through 17, took part in the annual summer horse camp which began Tuesday and ended Friday at Black Hawk College East Campus, south of Kewanee. The camp, which attracted students from three states, is directed by BHE Equestrian Science instructor Donna Irvin. (True story: Kewanee chiropractor Jeff Johnson was on a hunting trip to Montana with friends when, one night around the campfire, their local guide, hearing that Jeff was from Kewanee, Ill., said he had never been east of the Mississippi River until he had to take his daughter and her horse to a summer horse camp she had signed up for.at a community college there called Black Hawk East. — D.C.)

  • Make Father’s Day happy — have breakfast together at McDonald’s on Tenney Street. Dad’s breakfast is free! Valid on Father’s Day, Sunday, June 15, from 7 to 11 a.m.

50 years ago
Thursday, June 15, 1972

  • Fast Food Makers, a division of Hardee’s Franchises, a burger-based fast food chain with headquarters in Rocky Mount, N.C. which has 575 Hardee’s and Sandy’s units across the United States, has announced plans to construct a commissary in the Kewanee Industrial Park. The facility will serve as the Midwest distribution center for paper and food products and will also house engineers and draftsmen. Future plans for the center include the manufacturing of hamburger patties. An option has been taken on an 11-acre site for the operation which will employ 40 to 50 people.

  • A total of 493 persons in a steady line throughout the day, were checked by the mobile glaucoma unit sponsored by the Lions Club here Wednesday. Four possible cases were found and referred for further examination, The mobile unit is under the direction of the Illinois Society for the Prevention of Blindness.

75 years ago
Saturday, June 14, 1947

  • The architect’s contract for Kewanee’s new armory will be awarded before June 30. This information was received by Mayor Fred J. Brown this morning in a letter from the Illinois Armory Board. Title to the property, at East and First streets, site of the proposed armory, will be deeded to the Illinois Armory Board.

  • Lovers of band music in the Kewanee area are assured of a half dozen concerts by the Boiler City Band this summer, the first being scheduled for West Park on June 18. The series will be held on successive Wednesday nights through June and July. The band, playing its second season, has 32 members and is directed by L. J. Bert, head of the instrumental music department in the Kewanee public schools.

100 years ago
Thursday, June 15, 1922

  • Several thousand Kewanee people attended the Flag Day celebration Wednesday at North Park where Elks and American Legion members had prepared a fitting program in observance of the national holiday.

  • Rinella & Olson, the live-wire Chestnut Street wholesale fruit and vegetable dealers, put over a real hot weather “scoop” today when they introduced the first watermelons of the season to the Kewanee market. A whole railroad carload of the big, luscious green melons shipped from Ocala, Florida, was placed on the side tracks at 7 o’clock this morning. There were 1,100 melons in the car and by noon, a good portion of the load was distributed to the merchants of the city. The melons are being retailed at around 75 cents each while they last!

This article originally appeared on Star Courier: Kewanee History from the Star Courier Files, compiled by Dave Clarke