Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal January 14, 2016 Volume 153, Number xx - $1.00
Polo Invite
Cookie Time
Grand Gift
Polo-Forreston wrestlers take sixth place at Polo Invitational Tournament. B1
Local Girls Scouts are once again selling their tasty cookies. A4
A Polo couple donates a grand piano to Heartland Community College. A9
Belvidere PD gives squad car to German Valley By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com German Valley has a “new” police car on patrol thanks to the generosity of a Boone County community. The City of Belvidere recently gave the village a squad car that the police department there was ready to retire. With new paint and decals, the car is now on duty on German Valley’s streets Part-time German Valley Police Chief Mike Boomgarden said the village’s only squad car, a 1995 Crown Victoria
purchased used 19 years ago from the Freeport Park District, had reached the end of its run. Looking for a replacement, Boomgarden, who is also the full-time police chief at Forreston, reached out to other police agencies to see if any of them had a good, used car they wanted to sell. Belvidere Police Chief Jan Noble, a longtime friend, had the answer. “The city council up there voted unanimously to give us a used car at no cost,” Boomgarden said. “They even put new tires on it for us.” Noble said he took German
Valley’s need for a car to his police commission and city council with a proposal to give then the 2007 Dodge Charger slated for replacement in the near future. “They agreed this was a good way to help out another community,” Noble said. Boomgarden said the car, with 80,000 miles, came with the cage for prisoners and snow tires. Noble delivered it himself. Boomgarden took the car to Forreston Auto Body to have rust spots repaired and a new paint job. “We got it repainted and German Valley’s “new” police car, a 2007 Dodge Charger, is ready for action with a put our decals on it,” he said. fresh paint job and new decals. The City of Belvidere gave the used car to the village. “It’s now in service.” Photo supplied
New Grubsteakers may be ready to reopen in spring By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com A well-known Ogle County restaurant is rising from the rubble just 9 months after the most devastating tornado to hit the area in recent memory. Grubsteakers, on the northeast corner of state Routes 64 and 251, was in the direct path of the EF4 tornado that tore through Lee, Ogle, and DeKalb counties on April 9. After months of planning and getting the necessary permits, owner Ava Mirtoska has started rebuilding on the same site, and hopes to reopen sometime in May. “I can’t wait,” she said. “I
miss my customers. I can’t wait to see everybody again.” Mild December weather allowed the site to be excavated, the foundation to be poured, and the framework to go up. By now, Mirtoska said, the roof is half done, along with some of the outside brick work. Recent snow and cold temperatures have slowed the work down, but she hopes to have the outside finished by the end of January. “Then they can work on the inside,” she said. Several fundraisers were held, and almost $20,000 was raised to help rebuild Grubsteakers. She appreciates the
Ogle County to the small DeKalb County village of Fairdale, where two women were killed and most of the homes were devastated. Mirtoska was recognized by the Ogle County Board 2 weeks after the storm for her actions that night, when she saw the storm approaching and, with just minutes to spare, ushered her customers Construction work on the new Grubsteakers restaurant and employees into a storm is continuing. The popular establishment, located at Ill. cellar. About a dozen people 251 and Ill. 64, east of Oregon was destroyed by the safely rode out the storm and April 9, 2015 tornado. Photo by Earleen Hinton were rescued a couple of support she has received in Lee County west of Ashton hours later by firefighters. from her customers and the about supper time, then cut a The restaurant, several northeasterly path through vehicles in its parking lot, community, Mirtoska said. “I am glad to be living here, where people care about each other.” The tornado touched down
and several nearby homes were smashed before the twister moved on to Fairdale, destroying farm buildings and homes along the way. The National Weather Service determined the wedge-shaped tornado was a half-mile wide at times and was on the ground an estimated 39 miles after moving into Boone and McHenry counties. Aerial surveys done the morning after the twister showed that Grubsteakers was one of about 180 structures damaged or destroyed by the storm.
Oregon man works out to lose weight, get healthier By Tina Ketter Communications & Marketing Supervisor Oregon Park District
Dry wall is going up at the Granny Rose K-9 Enrichment Center in Dixon. Weather has delayed construction about 6 weeks. Photo by Alex Paschal
K-9 Center is being built Sauk Valley Media Delays have been a bit of a thorn in Granny Rose’s side, but friends of man’s best friend needn’t worry. The animal shelter’s K-9 Enrichment Center will still open. It’s just going to be a little later than expected. Construction on the new Granny Rose K-9 Enrichment Center is running 6 weeks behind schedule. Mark Knie, president of the shelter’s board, said supplies coming in late and bad weather are mostly to blame for the delay. “The steel came in 2
weeks late, which was a factor,” Knie said. “When we were working on the roof, it was really windy, and the next week, we had rain and snow.” Despite the setbacks, the hope is that the 13,000 square-foot, $1 million project will be completed by the second week of February. Construction on the project began in July. “We still have to lay down the flooring, put up more drywall and paint,” said Debora Proctor, who will serve as the director of the facility. “We have the heat and lights on, cooling is in
In This Week’s Edition...
and the doorways are coming in.” The new facility will provide dog training, and is designed to hold obedience and agility training as well as therapy dog classes yearround. Eight instructors will be brought in to train dogs. The hope is to also host American Kennel Clubsanctioned events. The AKC is known nationally for its televised Westminster Kennel Club Dog Show. Knie said any sanctioned club within a 125-mile radius of Granny Rose would Turn to A3
Business Briefs, B5 Church Bells, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6
Chris Johnson, Oregon, knew he wanted to make a change. After weighing in at 350 pounds in July of 2014 he started off slowly, walking the central loop at Oregon Park West. As his stamina increased he went from walking .83 miles to the entire trail at 2.13 miles. “When I started I was walking slow and was unable to keep a good pace,” said Johnson, who is a reporter and photographer for Ogle County Newspapers. “By the end of summer I was averaging about 3.5 mph and decided to try and change my food habits.” Johnson, 34, hit a wall with his weight loss at 340 pounds. He tried a variety of physical activities but nothing was working. Knowing he needed extra motivation and direction if he was going to reach his goal of getting healthy he decided to purchase a membership tothe Oregon Park District’s Nash Recreation Center in November of 2014. “I knew if I waited until New Year’s, I would never stick to a New Year’s resolution. I knew I needed
Marriage Licenses, A4 Forreston Police, A3 Public Voice, A8 Property Transfers, B3 School Menus, A2
Sheriff’s Arrests, B4 Social News, A4 Sports, B1. B2 State’s Attorney, B3 Weather, A3
Chris Johnson poses with Scooby-Doo on a trip to Universal Studios, Orlando, Florida in November.
to start right away,” he said. After beginning at Nash, Johnson took things a step further and enlisted Kim Henry, Nash’s personal trainer, for assistance. “I knew if I was paying the money for a membership and a trainer I would take things seriously,” he said. “I did not want to waste that money.” With trainer and membership in hand, Johnson began his journey. After going over his basic goals with Kim he left with a basic five-day a week plan to get started. He began with cardio and weights, determined to
meet the goals he had set for himself. He admits the first couple of months the workouts were hard, but cutting out the junk food was even harder. “I knew meeting with the trainer would be a good motivator to keep losing the weight and inches,” Johnson said. “I never wanted to go to an appointment for a weight in and find myself heaver than the previous session.” At his one year mark, in November 2015, Johnson stepped on the scale at 290 pounds. Turn to A3
Deaths, B4 Harlan E. Blake, Bradley W. Jewell, Robert E. Luy, Karshan A.L. Peterson, Alexis M. Walker
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com