LOCAL & STATE
Daily Chronicle / Daily-Chronicle.com
Monday, October 7, 2013 • Page A3
Civil War history explored at local cemetery By FELIX SARVER fsarver@shawmedia.com SYCAMORE – Dennis Maher always heard stories about his Civil War relatives as a child. On Sunday, the Sycamore resident got his chance to share stories about Civil War veterans to dozens of people who came to the Elmwood Cemetery in Sycamore. Maher’s tales were part of a series of presentations hosted by the Sycamore History Museum to commemorate the battles 150 years ago in a war that ripped the nation apart and claimed the lives of more than 600,000 soldiers. The presentations, part of the museum’s annual Elmwood Cemetery Heritage
Walk, drew connections between Sycamore and the Civil War through stories of local residents who fought or provided help during the war. Maher recounted the lives of two veterans, Enoch Marchant and Edward Winans. Both Sycamore residents enlisted during the conflict, but only Winans fought in more than a dozen engagements, such as the Battle of Harpers Ferry. Marchant spent several months in Nashville, Tenn., carrying out railroad duties. “They both joined with a great deal of enthusiasm and patriotism and one saw [more battles] than the other,” Maher said. “But they both did their duty.” Marchant and Winans
were two of eight veterans profiled by members of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War. The veterans were buried in Soldiers Row, with their graves marked by white, rounded tombstones. Close to 200 Civil War veterans and three generals are buried at the cemetery. Visitors also got to learn the history behind the Elmwood Cemetery Gates and Sarah Ellen Sprenkle Teach, a Sycamore resident who served in the Women’s Relief Corps, which aided widows and orphans of veterans. People during the Civil War period had a thirst for knowledge about the war, said Curtis Clegg, one of the presenters. There were about 500 correspondents reporting on
the war, and emerging technology such as photography shaped people’s perception of what was happening, he said. Clegg said photography allowed people to see for the first time what battle was like, and the photographs of the carnage showed it wasn’t romantic. “It was really a quick dose of reality for a lot of people,” he said. John Boies, president of the Elmwood Cemetery Association, said the cemetery not only provides a peaceful place for gravesites but also a place for people to learn about their roots. “What a great resource that the community has kept for the study of local history,” he said.
Felix Sarver – fsarver@shawmedia.com
Thomas Oestreicher, a member of the Sons of Union Veterans of the Civil War, talks about the history of the organization for audiences at the annual Elmwood Cemetery Heritage Walk in Sycamore. Oestreicher was one of many speakers to talk about Civil War veterans from the Sycamore area.
8STATE BRIEF
Supporters recognized
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• CHANCE Continued from page A1 standards for black students who have the potential to succeed in college but lack the test scores and high school rank for consideration for traditional admission.” On Friday, leaders recognized those who have supported the CHANCE program over the decades, including retired Illinois State Senate President Emil Jones Jr., retired NIU Executive Vice President Eddie Williams and U.S. Congressman Danny Davis. They also offered awards to NIU Executive Vice President Raymond Alden, Vice Provost Anne Birberick and Deputy Provost Earl Seaver for supporting diversity on campus. In recent years, program leaders have worked to improve the program’s image, bolster graduation and retention rates, strengthen on-campus support and better help students before their first day of classes, said Denise Hayman, director of the CHANCE program. In 2011, program leaders received a five-year grant from the National Science Foundation to encourage more students, especially minority students, to study science, technology, engineering and math. CHANCE students, as well as students recruited as part of the NSF grant, take a special math seminar before starting their freshman year. The classes meet in Naperville or downtown Chicago, and often are taught by minority instructors, Hayman said. Hayman concluded the ceremony Friday, which itself was another effort to strengthen the program’s image, with a video detailing current students, their backgrounds and their goals. These students embodied the program’s potential, and its success, Hayman said. “In this day and age when money is tight, sometimes these programs aren’t always given the credit they deserve,” Hayman said. “When you talk about the larger goal of providing access to everyone, this model is actually a national model.”
Photos by Monica Maschak – mmaschak@shawmedia.com
Sadie Lang, 3, picks up garbage in front of the Sycamore Post Office as part of Kids Work Day on Saturday. Local children volunteered to rid downtown Sycamore of litter to prepare for this year’s Pumpkin Festival.
Sycamore kids help clean up city By ANDREA AZZO news@daily-chronicle.com SYCAMORE – It was two weeks before the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival, and children were getting their hands dirty. To clean, that is. More than 150 kids participated in Kids Work Day on Saturday in downtown Sycamore to help clean the community in preparation for the festival, which will be held Oct. 23-27. DeKalb resident Danielle Frey, 8, said she was cleaning the Earth. “It’s important because if our Earth is covered in trash, people can get dirty, and it wouldn’t be as clean as it is,” she said. Sycamore High School’s Key Club, a youth service organization, helped organize the cleanup. Every child who participated received a free T-shirt and a coupon to a local business. Participants picked up trash in a 15-street area, focusing on the parade route,
Samantha Calligan, 7, walks down the Sycamore Post Office ramp after picking up garbage Saturday during Kids Work Day. said Sycamore Mayor Ken Mundy. Mundy said he wasn’t surprised by the large turnout. “It’s how we are,” he said. “It defines Sycamore. It’s gratifying so many young people came because they know Sycamore, and they want it to be clean. They’re learning about service.” That’s exactly the lesson that DeKalb resident Tracey Sosin, Danielle’s mother,
U.S.: Capture significant blow against al-Qaida • LIBYA Continued from page A1 Tanzania, and Nairobi, Kenya, which killed more than 220 people. He has been on the FBI’s most wanted terrorists list since it was introduced shortly after the Sept. 11, 2001, attack, with a $5 million bounty on his head. U.S. officials depicted his capture as a significant blow against al-Qaida, which has lost a string of key figures, including leader Osama bin Laden, killed in a 2011 raid in Pakistan. However, it was unclear whether the 49-year-old al-Libi had a major role in the terror organization – his alleged role in the 1998 attack was to scout one of the targeted embassies – and there was no
immediate word that he had been involved in militant activities in Libya. His family and former associates denied he was ever a member of al-Qaida and said he had not been engaged in any activities since coming home in 2011. But the raid signaled a U.S. readiness to take action against militants in Libya, where al-Qaida and other armed Islamic groups have gained an increasingly powerful foothold since the 2011 ouster and killing of dictator Moammar Gadhafi and have set up tied with a belt of radical groups across North Africa and Egypt. Libya’s central government remains weak, and armed militias – many of them made up of Islamic militants – hold sway in many places around the country,
including in parts of the capital. Amid the turmoil, Libyan authorities have been unable to move against militants, including those behind the Sept. 11, 2012, attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi, in which the U.S. ambassador and three other Americans were killed. Libyan security officials themselves are regularly targeted by gunmen. The latest victim, a military colonel, was gunned down in Benghazi on Sunday. Several dozen members of the Islamic group Ansar al-Sharia, which has links to militias, protested on Sunday in Benghazi, Libya’s second largest city, denouncing al-Libi’s abduction and criticizing the government. “Where are the men of Tripoli while this is happening?” they chanted, waving black Islamist flags.
hopes her daughter learns. Sosin said it’s important her daughter learns to help her community. “It’s teaching her to be responsible and independent,” she said. Sycamore resident Tom Stamatakos would second that notion. He was with his two sons, ages 5 and 8. Stamatakos said there wasn’t as much trash as he expected.
“We’ve picked up plenty of trash, but we really had to look for it,” he said. Volunteers had collected more than 20 trash bags about halfway through the cleanup effort. Kathy Dombek, Key Club advisor, said they were fortunate the area was already relatively clean. “People do care,” she said. Local Boy Scout troops volunteered as well. Sycamore resident Elijah Herra, 7, of Cub Scout Pack 141, said he picked up a lot of cigarette butts and waste paper. He said it was important to clean for the Sycamore Pumpkin Festival so that when tourists come to town, they have a good impression of the city. “You need to clean up trash to keep Sycamore clean,” Herra said. “Clean up other people’s trash, and don’t litter.” Sycamore resident Ben Hollendoner, 11, agreed. “Cleaning up the community will help plants grow and the environment grow,” he said.
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CHICAGO – People looking for the best deals on the new Illinois health insurance marketplace should consider moving to cities along the northwestern state border, if they don’t live there already. The Quad Cities area has the lowest prices for mid-level plans expected to be the most popular under President Barack Obama’s new health initiative. That’s according to price information released by the federal government, which is running the new Illinois marketplace. Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Illinois offers the lowest monthly rates for so-called bronze and silver plans in many parts of the state. The highest prices are in the northern Illinois counties of Lake, McHenry, Kane and DuPage. Rates vary by region for two main reasons: prices that hospitals negotiate with insurers and how frequently people use health services.
– Wire report
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