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

15 years ago
Friday, March 9, 2007

• Commander William Stewart, USN, has been awarded the Bronze Star for combat operations in Iraq. Stewart served as the deputy commander of Joint Special Operations Air Detachment in the Arabian Peninsula during his third deployment to Iraq. A helicopter pilot, he has successfully completed more than 100 combat missions and has flown more than 3,500 mishap-free hours. Commander Stewart is a 1986 graduate of Kewanee High School and is the son of Atty. William Stewart and the late Marjabelle Stewart.

• Carrie Titus will give a presentation at Tuesday's meeting of the Rotary Club of Kewanee, on her recent trip to India under the Rotary International's GSE (Group Study Exchange) program. (Carrie (now Boelens) is now a member of Rotary. — D.C.)

25 years ago
Saturday, March 8, 1997

• In an interview with the Star Courier's Martha Szalo, daredevil motorcyclist Evil Knievel said he had planned to join Kewanee's Roger Reiman at Daytona Beach for the final BMW Battle of Legends race Sunday at the International Speedway. Instead, he learned Wednesday that his friend of 20 years had died Tuesday in a crash during practice laps at the Florida track. Reiman served as Knievel's head mechanic for some 15 years making sure his bikes were fit for whatever jump or stunt Knievel planned to make.

• "El Corralito" Mexican Restaurant is now open at the corner of Tremont and Second streets in downtown Kewanee. (The English translation of "el corralito" is the diminuative form of corral, or "playpen." — D.C.)

50 years ago
Thursday, March 9, 1972

• Fenwick's Tastee-Freez, 431 N. East St., is now open for the season. Saturday, Sunday and Wednesday's ice cream flavor special is chocolate, Monday and Thursday's special flavor is lemon, and Tuesday and Friday's special is strawberry.

• John Wallen was presented with an award for 50 years of continuous service at the Kewanee Post Office at a meeting of Kewanee Letter Carriers Local 688 held Tuesday night at the Kewanee Labor Temple. A sausage and pancake supper was prepared and served by fellow postal workers Sy Perrigo, Marion Kubinsky and Sharon Hulslander.

75 years ago
Saturday, March 8, 1947

• Highest prices for dead animals including horses, cattle and hogs will be paid by the Bradford Rendering Works. Phone Bradford 70, Sheffield 174, or Princeton 974, charges reversed. Prompt and sanitary service guaranteed. (When I was growing up on the farm in the 50s and 60s, whenever an animal died Dad called the "Dead Wagon," and a big truck with a winch came and loaded the carcass and hauled it away. One of the necessary but less romantic aspects of raising livestock on a farm. — D.C.)

• Students of the third and fourth grades of the Good School, accompanied by their teacher, Mrs. William Nicholson, toured the C. B. & Q. freight house, Richards' Dairy, and The Star Courier, and visited the fire department on Friday. (The Good School was located on the Page Street Extension just west of Kewanee. When the one-room schoolhouse closed in the late 40s, the building was moved into town and attached to the north end of the Knox School which is now a private residence, where it remains today. According to Wethersfield historian Frank H. Craig, the Good School was built in 1865 at a cost of $990. A 1948 Star Courier story listed the enrollment at 85 students. — D.C.)

100 years ago
Thursday, March 9, 1922

• Street Commissioner Fred Van Hecker calls attention to the nuisances caused by residents dumping ashes from stoves and furnaces on the streets of the city. Such practice is a violation of city ordinances and all guilty parties will be arrested. Rubbish must not be thrown in the streets but must be disposed of in the proper manner.

• Wanted: Young men and women who are not satisfied with "any old job" to enroll now for a business course at Kewanee Business College. Graduates are guaranteed good positions. Day and night courses offered. (The Kewanee Business College was located on the third floor of the Star Courier building,101 N. Tremont St. A private business, it offered post-secondary business and clerical courses and helped place graduates in good-paying jobs for which they had been trained. — D.C.)

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