Looking Back
140 Years Ago
May 27, 1882
Ground was broken Monday for the new hotel to be erected by George Archer. It will be larger than the Phoenix hotel in Pontiac.
True's cornet band will accompany St. Paul commandery to Peoria June first to attend the laying of the corner stone of the new Masonic temple. St. Paul expects to show 40 swords in line.
Cropsey — In honor of the first born boy in Cropsey, a subscription was begun for the purpose of keeping the little fellow in clothes for the next 10 years, and the boys have contributed most generously. The purse, with the name of the donors, was presented to the child's mother, Mrs. Daniel R. Cook.
120 Years Ago
May 30, 1902
The seats are going rapidly for the commencement exercises Tuesday June 3. The speaker, William Hawley Smith, is one of the best platform orators in the country and all should hear him.
Weston — Ed Johnson was informed by Uncle Sam one day last week, that he had received the appointment as post master for the village of Weston. The appointment meets with the approval of the patrons of the office as Ed is an energetic young man, fully capable of performing the duties of said office, and worthy of the honor.
Strawn — The important business which J. B. Hayes was transacting in Shumway last week resulted in his marriage on Wednesday, to Miss Elizabeth Schafer, one of the elite of that city. The young people returned to Strawn Saturday and will be at home to their friends, in the Quinn property after June 1st. Mr. Hayes will be greatly missed in the bachelor club, but we all wish him a pleasant journey on the matrimonial sea.
110 Years Ago
May 31, 1912
Officers of the El Paso, Piper City, Watseka and Fairbury fairs met in Fairbury Monday afternoon and organized a fair circuit. H. B. Taylor, of this city, was elected president, and Mr. Funk, of Piper City, secretary. The new circuit has been named the "Sixty-two Mile Four-Fair Circuit."
The civic committee of the Federated Clubs of Fairbury was notified Wednesday that they had been successful in securing the drinking fountain given for the sale of Red Cross Christmas seals. The ladies are very anxious for the arrival of the fountain, coming opportunely, as it does, at the beginning of the heated season, and they expect shortly to have it located in some public place where it may offer, in a sanitary manner, the refreshing draught with which to quench the thirst of the passerby.
Mr. and Mrs. S. J. Perlee moved into their new residence on the south side of Elm street this week. Their new residence is one of the most modern in the city. It consists of seven rooms with ample closet room and is finished throughout in hard wood.
Forrest — It was a jolly crowd of women who met at the M. E. church parlor on Tuesday afternoon, for an experience social of how they had earned their dollar to go into the fund for remodeling the church. After their experiences were given and dollars turned in it was found that sixty dollars had been added to the fund. Then a social time was enjoyed and refreshments served.
100 Years Ago
May 26, 1922
The fife and drum corps, color bearers and other members of John Joda post, American Legion, will go to Bloomington tomorrow to attend the cornerstone laying of the McBarnes memorial building. There will be a monster parade of ten thousand ex-servicemen and women.
Mrs. Charles Steinberg entertained 30 guests at dinner on Saturday evening complimentary to Miss Esther Erickson.
Isam Travis, who is taking a vacation from his duties in the post office, went to Chicago Saturday for a visit with Rev. and Mrs. L. W. Ames.
The C.I.P.S. company will move into their new office quarters in the American Legion building June first.
90 Years Ago
May 27, 1932
Since the discontinuance of the passenger train service on the T. P. & W. railroad several years ago, little use has been made of the local passenger station, except that part that houses the telegraph office.
The corn and oats crops are looking good in spite of the fact that the nights have been cool.
Forrest — The junior-senior reception was held at the Danceland academy last Friday night. Dinner was served by the Jewel class of the Congregational church. Frederick Duckett entertained at the piano and also furnished the music for dancing.
Strawn — The commencement exercises of the Strawn High school will be held at the school auditorium next Wednesday evening. The senior class consists of five boys, Joseph Brady, John Kuntz, Arthur Nelson, Jerome Quinn and Raymond Somers.
80 Years Ago
May 29, 1942
Walter Nussbaum, on Monday, purchased of Hempstead Bull of Ann Arbor, Mich., through the Veatch agency, the Bull apartment house on West Walnut Street.
At the commencement exercises held last Friday evening at the Central theatre, The Blade's citizenship-scholarship award went to Raymond Bess.
Henry DeFries and J. A. Patterson will go to Chicago tomorrow to witness a double-header baseball game between the Chicago Cubs and the Pittsburgh Pirates at Wrigley Field.
The Fairbury Woman's club is looking after the sugar ration for Indian Grove township. Mrs. Rose-Alice Neumann, Mrs. Dean Voorhees, Mrs. Ella Leonard and their assistants will be at the city hall, south room, upstairs next Thursday, Friday and Saturday to compute the allowance for each family or individual.
70 Years Ago
May 29, 1952
Joyce Wessels was disclosed Friday as the winner of the 1952 Blade Award. She is the daughter of Mr and Mrs. John Wessels.
Mr. and Mrs. Walter Henning returned Friday from a three-week vacation trip through the West.
Fairbury Tartars, coached by Bob Foard, won the Midstate conference baseball championship here Friday afternoon for the second year in a row by beating Chenoa 15-3. Francis Thomas gave up one hit.
Airman John C. Slaight is with the Naval Air Patrol Squadron in the Pacific.
Miss Doris Holland was honored with a miscellaneous shower Tuesday evening at the home of Miss Marjorie Dameron. The Misses Norma Jean Kilgus, Marilyn Ferguson and Pat Bodley assisted.
60 Years Ago
May 31, 1962
Anchor — Stray dogs attacked a flock of seven sheep on the Junior Bielfeldt farm last Saturday morning, resulting in the death of six sheep. The dogs killed some and injured some so badly that they had to be killed. One ewe escaped and jumped the fence and went back to the barnyard. That caused Mr. Bielfeldt to go check the sheep. He saw two dogs, one white and one black.
A fire extensively damaged the farm home occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Glen Schrof on the Harry Klopfenstein farm two and one-half miles east of Forrest shortly before noon Tuesday. The loss was estimated at $6,000. The Shrofs were away at work when Mr. Klopfenstein, smelling smoke, discovered the fire in a bedroom. The Forrest-Strawn-Wing firemen confined the blaze.
Bill Edwards, of Pontiac, Tuesday signed an option for the Farmers Grain company warehouse located south of the railroad tracks east of the depot, and plans to install a bulk fertilizer plant here after he exercises the option to purchase the land within the next 30 days. A phosphate storage building, office, enclosed mixing and loading shed and truck scale will be constructed before the facility is ready for truck loading by Sept. 1.
50 Years Ago
June 1, 1972
Miss Teresa Elliott, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Gary Elliott of rural Cropsey, has received word that the American Field Service has given her a placement as a participant in the Americans Abroad program. She is a junior at Fairbury-Cropsey High. She will be spending the summer with Mr. and Mrs. Jim Zervas of Larissa, Greece. Her new family will consist of her father Jim, who owns a movie theatre in Larissa, her mother Anastassia and two sisters, Julie, 19, and Christine, 15.
Rain, which most area farmers had been anxiously hoping for, arrived over the weekend holiday, in varying and spotty amounts on Saturday and Sunday that saw areas between Fairbury and Chenoa getting as much as an inch in 12 minutes and a half-inch on either side of the city, while in Fairbury itself, the pavement barely got damp. The weekend rain ended a two-week drought that had followed an extra wet spring season, which in turn was followed by rapid drying. As a result, some farmers, at first delayed in their planting by the wet weather, in some cases ended up with seed laying in dry dirt, waiting for moisture.
A van owned by Dave Roberts of Fairbury and driven by Alan Steffen of Fairbury was destroyed by fire Tuesday night on U. S. 66 near Odell. A passenger, Steve Stahl of Fairbury, sustained burns on his hands. Steffen and Stahl told State police at about 11 p.m. that they suddenly found the interior of the van behind them in flames. Steffen stopped the truck and the pair went to the back to open the rear doors and attempt to put out the fire. When they opened the doors, the rush of air apparently ignited the smoldering carpet.
40 Years Ago
May 27, 1982
Fairbury-Cropsey Unit 3 will receive 519 free textbooks this year under a grant made to the county by the State Board of Education, according to Regional Superintendent of Schools Wayne Blunier. Under the state textbook program, each participating school system is allotted one textbook per student as long as the grant holds out. This year, the county received $38,000 in state funds for the program.
Major award winners in junior high girls' athletics this year include Carol Ward, MVP in volleyball; and Amy Moore, MVP in track. Jackie Hoffman received an award for outstanding contributions in volleyball, while Alison Hable and Beth McGarry received similar awards for outstanding contributions in track.
Hard-boiled, dyed blue or pink, "babies" arrived at Fairbury-Cropsey Jr.-Sr. High school last week. Seniors enrolled in the parenting and child development course babysat hard-boiled eggs to find out whether or not they are ready for parenthood. Students were asked to name their eggs, dress, house, care for, cradle and protect them.
30 Years Ago
May 27, 1992
Emergency officials said that residents of the eastern sections of Fairbury, "narrowly missed" having to evacuate their homes May 20. If an overturned trailer of anhydrous ammonia had been closer to the city limits on State Highway 24, or wind direction different, a real danger from the fumes could have happened. The accident happened about 1:05 p.m. when Raymond Hankes, 45, of Fairbury, driving a 1986 Ford pickup truck, hit a bump in the road. He told investigating officers that the bump caused the hitch to the trailer to come loose and overturn. When the trailer overturned, the potentially-lethal gas began escaping from the 'pop-off' valve, causing a potential for real problems. There was never any fire danger, but thousands of gallons of water was used to mix with the gas so it would not form a cloud. Once the water and gas mixed, it ran off as a less harmful solution.
Kenny Headley, lifelong Fairbury resident and businessman has sold the Pizza Palace on East Locust Street, to Pizzas by Marchelloni, managed by John Strong of Minooka. Pizzas by Marchelloni is part of the Italian Express Franchise, founded by Hasan Aslami with partner Frank Strong in 1986.
Prairie Central high school soft ball pitcher Lynette Aberle ended her 1992 soft ball season early due to severe fractures she received in three fingers on her glove hand two weeks ago during play. Aberle ends her career as the Hawk's all-time leader in strike outs and victories, with 43, had a 13-3 record heading into the accident, and finishes with a 1.10 ERA over more than 108 innings of play.
20 Years Ago
May 29, 2002
Christine M. Slagel, daughter of Ron and June Slagel of Fairbury, graduated with highest honors from the University of Illinois College of Veterinary Medicine on May 12. As valedictorian of the Class of 2002, Christine gave the Response during the presentation of Doctors of Veterinary Medicine and Hooding Ceremony Commencement at Krannert Center for the Performing Arts, on the U of I campus. Christine is a 1995 graduate of Prairie Central High School, and graduated summa cum laude from Illinois State University in 1998, where she completed the pre-med program in three years with a 4.0 grade point average.
An open house was held at the SELCAS garage in Fairbury on Saturday, in commemoration of the ambulance service's 30 years of service to counties in southeastern Livingston County, and also in conjunction with EMS Week. Free blood pressure checks and blood/glucose screenings were available during the afternoon. Longtime SELCAS board member Jim Roberts attended the open house. Roberts, a charter member of the board, who created the same (Southeast Livingston County Ambulance Service), retired three years ago after serving on the board for 34 years.
Gerald and Patricia Potter of Fairbury will observe their 50th wedding anniversary on June 1. Potter and the former Patricia Lake were married June 1, 1952 at the Colfax Methodist Church with Rev. Bracewell officiating. Their attendants were Charles Potter and Ella Mae Lake. Mr. Potter retired in 1988 after 24 years as an over-the-road truck driver for Pittsburgh Tube in Fairbury.
10 Years Ago
May 30, 2012
The GFWC Illinois Fairbury Women's Club has selected Delmar Platz as the 26th annual Citizen of the Year for Fairbury. He will be presented his awards during Dave's annual Pig Out event on Tuesday, June 12. Platz has spent many years volunteering his time for several organizations in the community. He was an active member of the Fairbury Jaycees, a cub scout and boy scout leader during the time his son was in scouts, coached girls softball for his daughter and is currently helping with his grandson's travel league baseball team. He served with the U. S. Army and is a member of the VFW and American Legion, helping set up and tear down the Fairbury Fair for more than 40 years.
Brian J. Munz Scholarships were presented to Isaac Steidinger and Ethan McPerson at the May 16 meeting of the Fairbury City Council. Fairbury Mayor Robert P. Walter made the presentation.
A native of Strawn and former Prairie Central coach and physical education teacher was named Secondary Physical Education Teacher of the Year in Illinois. Dawn Davis, who has taught physical education for more than 25 years, was given the honor by the Illinois Association for Health, Physical Education, Recreation and Dance. Davis received her education from Oral Roberts University, where she was named the Outstanding Physical Education major in 1984. She received her master's degree in physical education in 1989 from Louisiana State University. She went on to achieve the highest certification for a teacher, receiving the National Board Certification in 2010.
Two Prairie Central Junior High students were recently honored at the Cornbelt Region's Principal's Association luncheon. Laine Honegger, daughter of Gregg and Michelle Honegger, and Alex Duffy, son of Rob and Debbie Duffy, were selected to attend the luncheon with Mrs. Dieken, PCJH principal. To earn this recognition, the selected students must be eighth graders, academically strong, active in various organizations offered at PCJH and exhibit characteristics that afford them the honor of student leaders within the PCJH building.
Kari Kamrath
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Looking Back through the years in the pages of The Blade
