Looking Back
130 Years Ago
December 10, 1892
The new pump for the waterworks was placed in position this week and the water from the new well turned on. The tank will soon be filled with pure artesian water. As soon as material can be had and weather will permit, the mains will be extended so that every house in the corporate limits will be within reach of fire protection.
The Kring boys gave a cinch party last Thursday evening to a select number of gentlemen friends.
The Fairbury relief committee was organized for the relief of the poor of this community, and the following officers elected: Pres., Mrs. Dominy; V.P., Mrs. O'Brien; Sec., Ella Langabeer; Treas., Mrs. Robinson.
Strawn — Gus Ringler sold his pool hall Tuesday to C. W. Holloway, of Wing, for $600.
120 Years Ago
December 12, 1902
Friday night burglars made an unsuccessful attempt to blow open the safe of H. L. Barnes at Cropsey. They secured $25 in silver from the drawer and damaged the safe considerably. A fellow who claimed to be a cousin of Banker Barnes is thought to be mixed up in the job and has been arrested and is in jail at Bloomington.
Wing — Mr. McElroy, our gentlemanly agent at the depot is removed to Forrest to a higher position and Mr. Sansom from Eylar takes his place at Wing. It is with regret that this community parts with Mr. McElroy, but Mr. Sansom comes very well recommended and it is hoped that he will prove to be as acceptable as his predecessor.
Chenoa — The ladies of the Methodist Church will hold their annual bazaar in the basement of the church on Friday and Saturday afternoons and evenings, December 12 and 13. It promises to be one of the best ever given and the booths this year will be decorated to represent the several possessions of the United States, England, Germany, France and Japan. It will be out of the ordinary and no doubt the ladies will do a large and satisfactory business.
110 Years Ago
December 13, 1912
In a talk with Manager Grotevant of the Central Utilities Co., he stated that the company had ordered a new horse-power boiler to be installed as soon as possible. They are figuring with a contractor on adding 60 feet to the top of their smoke stacks to give their boilers additional draft. Mr. Grotevant thinks that when these things are done the light and power troubles of the company and the people of the city will be over. The company has a force of men here who will set the poles and string the wires for 19 additional lights the city has contracted for in the outlaying districts.
To the Editor: I have been informed that the Electric Light Co. intends to, and is allowed by its ordinance passed by present council, to charge the patrons a minimum of one dollar per month for each user, whether light is used or not. It is an outrage and should not be tolerated one instant. The lights now given are too poor to justify the price now charged, without allowing such an outrageous charge as the above minimum to be made. —Yours for the people, C. R. Virgin.
Five bowlers came over from Strawn Monday and played the first team of Fairbury, the latter winning easily by something over 250. The Fairbury alleys are the best in the state outside of Chicago and there will probably be some good scores rolled here this winter as some of the bowlers are getting in fine form.
100 Years Ago
December 8, 1922
Oscar Noe, a student at the high school, has been missing from his home for several days. Noe, who is 17 years old, resides southeast of Weston and drives back and forth. He failed to put in his appearance at school Monday and an investigation revealed the fact that he and a companion had left town. They gave out the impression that they were going to Chicago, but the authorities are of the opinion that they may have gone to Bloomington or Peoria, as they were traced to Chenoa.
Wing — Mr. and Mrs. John Robinson entertained at Thanksgiving dinner twenty-eight of Mr. Robinson's relatives at a farewell dinner as they soon depart for the south for the winter, if not permanently. The dinner was served cafeteria style. The guests remained for supper and also for the evening. After supper they spent the evening in dancing and music and at other amusements.
One day last week the Ford coupe owned by Dr. H. W. Langstaff decided to take a spin by itself and it struck out east up Main sSreet until it collided with the water fountain in front of the town hall. The car was somewhat damaged as a result. Dr. Langstaff had parked the car in front of his office and had shut off the engine but in some way it started itself. You can't always tell about a Ford. Sometimes they need tying.
90 Years Ago
December 9, 1932
The Rotary club's plans for a Merry Christmas for Fairbury children are receiving the whole-hearted cooperation and support of other local organizations and of the individual citizens as well, and the progress made up to date is very encouraging and there is every reason to believe that with the support of the public generally no child in Fairbury will fail to receive a visit and gift from Santa Claus this year.
Forrest had two costly fires last Saturday, one of which was in town and the other one just east of Forrest on Route 8. The one in town was the store of Jesse L. Rudd, and the other one was at the Wallace farm, which is tenanted by Frank Hilsabeck. The fire at the Rudd store was discovered early Saturday morning. The Forrest firemen were on the scene quickly and succeeded in keeping the flames from spreading. At the Hilsabeck place the barn, two implement sheds and an automobile were burned. Although nothing could be done to save the barn and sheds, men with buckets of water kept the house from catching on fire.
Wing — On account of the depression, a number of farmers are cutting wood in the timber west of Wing, instead of buying coal for the winter. Quite a large number of trees along the river bank have been cut down and hauled up for the winter firewood.
80 Years Ago
December 11, 1942
In last week's Blade, among the Livingston county doctors listed as having entered the army service was Dr. G. G. Seitman, of Forrest. This information was incorrect. Dr. Seitman has passed a physical examination but has not been called into the service and is maintaining his practice at Forrest until further notice.
Setting a new all-time corn producing record for Cass County, Ind., Edward H. Berlett, of Walton, Friday night was acclaimed as the 1942 Cass County five-acre corn club champion with a yield of 144.3 bushels per acre. Mr. Berlett was a former resident of the Chatsworth vicinity. He formerly lived on the Drilling farm east of Charlotte, but moved to Indiana about 23 years ago.
A car driven by Mrs. C. R. Voris left the blacktop road between Pontiac and Weston last Saturday afternoon, after hitting a patch of ice and went down into a ditch. With Mrs. Voris were her parents, Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Kring, the car belonging to the Krings. No one was seriously hurt, Mr. Kring having one ear cut and Mrs. Kring receiving a cut on the side of the head when her glasses broke. When the car hit the patch of ice it left the road and went down into the ditch, heading back north as it did so. The car hit a post which kept it from falling over on its side. However the post damaged the top of the car and the running boards were torn loose.
70 Years Ago
December 11, 1952
Lloyd E. Metz recently received the United Nations medal for service in Korea. Also the U. N. service ribbon with four bronze stars. Lloyd received his discharge at Ft. Sheridan on Oct. 6, after spending 21 months with the armed forces, 11 months being with the construction engineers in Korea.
William Wagner will attend the Sixth Annual Mid-West National Band clinic, December 11, 12 and 13, at the Hotel Sherman in Chicago. This clinic, which is the nation's biggest and most practical band clinic, attracted more than 3000 directors and administrators last year. Six of the nation's finest school bands will present the best and newest music of all Publishers. There will be 154 important instrumental clinics and six concerts by outstanding bands.
In order to learn more about office work and the different jobs available, the members of the Forrest-Strawn-Wing office practice class and their instructor, Miss Marcia Reed, visited the State Farm Insurance Company in Bloomington last Friday. During the tour, the students were shown the uses of the many different machines, the telephone switchboard, and the medical rooms. Those making the trip were Marilyn Metz, Joan Marlin, Mary Honegger, Helen Whitfill, Eileen Pope, Beth Tomlinson, Marlene Shive, and Donna Lou Womack.
60 Years Ago
December 13, 1962
A Pontiac man received a $600 check from Howard Arnold Monday afternoon as reward money for finding Arnold's $6,700 tractor, stolen from the Fairbury Industries site early last Saturday morning. Milford Brown discovered the Ford tractor sitting 1.6 miles northwest of Reddick last Wednesday. Tracks showed that the tractor was driven away from the construction site, but the method of getting it to its ultimate destination was unknown.
Four Fairbury-Cropsey football players made the United All-Conference squad, according to word received by Coach Jack Mitchell. They were Nelson Asper, fullback; Paul Brucker, halfback; C. B. Ziegenhorn, center; and Doug Beatty, tackle. Guard Roger Runyon was named to the second team and quarterback Bob Smith was given honorable mention. The Tartars held a 5-3-1 record this year, compared to the 1961 season of 4-4, and the 1960 season of 1-8.
The Division of Highways has announced that a hearing will be held Dec. 27 at Livingstons, in Chatsworth, concerning the proposed location of Route 24 skirting the south edge of Chatsworth, lining up with the jog east of Chatsworth. About a mile west of Chatsworth, the road would swing to the left and skirt the south edge of the village running just north of the Airport, and eliminating the two sharp corners east of town. The 2.45 miles of highway would be constructed as a freeway.
50 Years Ago
December 14, 1972
Disaster struck the long expanse of new aluminum awnings along the north side of Locust Street business houses in the three blocks between First and Fourth Streets Tuesday morning. A heavy build-up of ice from sleet and freezing rain that had fallen through the early morning hours caused three canopies to pull loose from the buildings and crash to the ground at Bob Nussbaum Plumbing and Heating, Dean Williams Jewelry and Huber's Clothing. Several other awnings along Locust Street needed to be propped up to prevent them also pulling loose.
Ten Brownie Scouts, all members of Troop 133, received special honors during investiture and pinning rites held Monday evening, December 11 at the home of Mrs. Ivan Stoller, Fairbury. Investiture ceremonies were held for five first year Brownies, Debbie Stoller, Jill Schmitz, Lisa Luttrell, Tammy Johnson and Holly Goslin. Brownies who received their second year pin Monday evening were Jacqui Stoller, Kirsten Kaisner, Tina Bachtold, Kristi Zehr and Julie Dawson.
Mrs. Eldon Miller of Oxford, Miss., the former Miss Cheryl Rolf, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Le Rolf of Fairbury, just happens to be a baseball enthusiast, like her husband. Dr. Miller was a professional baseball player with the Cleveland Indians and their two oldest sons, Doug and Gary, spend almost the entire summer on the diamond. Cheryl has assumed the duties of Little League umpire for the Oxford Park and Recreation Commission. Reportedly traditional boos and hisses for officials have somewhat diminished since she took over the post.
40 Years Ago
December 9, 1982
While Fairbury area residents were spared many of the horrors of flooding that besieged our neighbors to the northwest in Pontiac, we nonetheless found ourselves very wet after almost six inches of rainfall pelted the region late last week.
Governor James R. Thompson on Tuesday declared Cook, Lake, DuPage, Kane, Will and Livingston counties state disaster areas and asked the the U. S. Small Business Administration make emergency loans available to home and business owners who suffered uninsured losses from flood damage. "This declaration and request," the Governor said, "means that property owners in these six counties have several courses of action to help repair damage caused by flood waters during the past week."
Former Fairbury-Cropsey volleyball standout Diane Bunting capped off her fourth year as a starter at Illinois Wesleyan by being named Most Valuable Player of this fall's team. Diane, who also captained this year's IWU squad, was honored by her fellow players as the Titan's MVP. Diane led the IWU volleyball team in both spiking percentage and number of kills. She also emerged as the squad's leading passer, the skill of getting the ball to a setter who, in turn, sets the volleyball up for a spike.
30 Years Ago
December 10, 1992
"We're done with the Forrest Lake," Ann Zimmerman, representing the lake board, told the Village Board Thursday night. "The problem is money and keeping it up. Zimmerman told the trustees that four of eight members of the lake board have already quit, that they have dropped their participation in bingo – a major fund-raiser for the lake – and do not plan to hold their annual pancake and sausage day – another fund-raiser. Mayor Richard Sanders said he hates to see the lake close because the kids are going to miss it.
Mike White of White's Building Center in Forrest has purchased the Lyle Honegger Sales business in Fairbury. The concrete slat manufacturing plant on West Walnut street employs four people and annually converts about 2,500 cubic yards of concrete into slats for use primarily in swine confinement housing. The firm will undergo a slight name change, White says, and will be known as Honegger Slats." It will be a separate operation from the building center, which White started nine years ago.
The Prairie Central 8th grade girls' basketball team advanced on Friday night to the East Peoria sectional in an impressive win over arch rival Pontiac Junior High, 27-17. It was Kate Posey who paced the Hawks with eight points and played what Coach Dawn Davis called "exceptional defense" to keep the Pontiac Indians at bay. T. Anne Rudin added seven points for the Hawks and pulled down seven rebounds. Tricia Goldensoph and Jaime Mack each had four points and Heather Bittner and Erin Vaughan each added two points.
20 Years Ago
December 11, 2002
Fairbury's City Council approved the purchase of a dog on Wednesday night for the new canine unit in the police department. Councilman Terry Nussbaum asked several questions of Officer Curtis Elliott, who attended the council meeting. He wanted to know when the dog would be on duty, what officer would be his handler, how many hours a week would he work, cost of maintenance of the dog, insurance, etc. Elliott responded and told the council that one officer would work with the dog but that all officers would be trained in the use of the dog. The dog would work about seven and one half hours a day with one half hour on maintenance of the dog. The project cost is estimated at $1,200 to $1,500 a year and insurance would be $600 a year.
On Oct. 26, 2001, Seaman Apprentice Shane Allen Ziegenhorn of Fairbury successfully completed basic training for the Untied States Coast Guard in Cape May, N. J. He graduated on Nov. 15, 2002, from a 24-week training program for the Fire Control Technician job field in Yorktown, Va., with a B+ average. The training consisted of learning basic electricity and electronics, servo systems, microwave and radar principles, module test and repair and miniature electronics repair. He is a graduate of Prairie Central High School, and is the son of David and Kelly Ziegenhorn of Fairbury.
Pastor Steve, Jennifer and daughter, Leah Michael, will be leaving Fairbury on Jan. 9, 2003, to begin their missionary work in Johannesburg, South Africa. Steve and Jennifer have lived the past six out of seven years in Fairbury, where Steve has been an emergency room and intensive care nurse at St. James Hospital in Pontiac. Jennifer, daughter of Bill and Lorna Winn of Fairbury, is a 1986 Prairie Central graduate. She has been a special education teacher in the Prairie Central School District. She currently is a teacher at Living Word Christian School in Roberts.
10 Years Ago
December 12, 2012
Plans are moving along for the future Brian J. Munz Public Safety Complex in Fairbury. City Superintendent Leroy McPherson told members of the Fairbury City Council Wednesday night that plans have been submitted to engineers with the Farnsworth Group and test holes will be drilled for the foundation. The facility will be blue on the SELCAS side and will fade to red on the fire department side. McPherson said the project could go out for bids in February or March.
The Prairie Central eighth grade girls' basketball team, coached by Joe Oprondek, defeated Ottawa Sheppard on Dec. 5 in the IESA Sectional, to advance to the state tournament. Members of the team are Abby Lane, Maddison Dunn, Annaliese Miller, Maddie Rinkenberger, Cassie Bastian, Jodi Holland, Molly Lane, Katelyn Steidinger, Molly Davis, Claire Casner, Joelle Bachtold, Kylie Vogel, Allison Cagley, Carrie Sargent, Jesse Friedman and Sierra Retter.
Robert and Iola Aberle of Fairbury will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary Dec. 15 with a family dinner. Aberle and the former Iola Yoder were married Dec. 15, 1962 at St. Paul's Lutheran Church in Forrest. The Rev. M. E. Schroeder officiated the ceremony. Their attendants were Darlene Abraham Cygan and Lloyd Aberle. They have two daughters, Kelli (Josh) Maquet and Lynette (Darin) Bazzell. They also have four grandchildren.
This article originally appeared on Pontiac Daily Leader: Looking Back Fairbury history through pages of The Blade
