Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal February 5, 2015 Volume 152, Number 41 - $1.00
Scout Derby
Road Victory The Lady Cardinals traveled to Pecatonica Tuesday night and earned a victory. B1
Honoring Family
The Polo Cub Scouts held their annual Pinewood Derby. A4
A young student honored his late grandfather by writing an essay about his life. A12
Accented ‘e’ for the victory By Chris Johnson Reporter It could have been a eureka moment for fifth grader Makayla Cole Friday morning but she remained calm. With a glint in her eye, Cole said flambé and began spelling. “F-l-a-m-b- accented e,” she said. “And with that accented e, you are the spelling bee champion,” said Rod Genandt, the reader for the annual spelling bee. Upon hearing the word flambé, Cole knew she was going to win. “My mom made practice sheets and this was one of the words we practiced,” Cole said. “I am excited. This is my first time winning the bee.”
Residents clear snow Monday
Winning the bee almost did not happen for Cole. She missed bonafide (bonified) in round 7 and brethren (bretheren) in round 8. However she was back in the bee after each of these rounds due to the heartbreak of fellow competitor Dylan Greenfield. Greenfield spelled prolific correctly and only had to spell ammunition for the win. He missed that word by spelling it amunision. With that the next round began where he spelled fragile correctly. For the win he had to spell notoriety but spelled it noteriaty. These two misses allowed Cole to get back in the bee and win. Greenfield finished the bee Fifth grader Makayla Cole spells a word correctly during in third place. the final round of the spelling bee Friday morning. Photo Turn to A2 by Chris Johnson
By Chris Johnson and Earleen Hinton Some used shovels others fired up their snowblowers and some just smiled and went sledding. Those were the range of responses from Ogle County residents we talked to and photographed on Monday— one day after Old Man Winter dropped more than a foot of snow in our lap. Tiffany Rufer and her exchange student, Anton Aba-Varela, were shoveling out the driveway in front of Rufer’s home on S. Third Street in Oregon. “We shoveled some yesterday and are trying to finish up today,” said Rufer. Aba-Varela smiled as he reacted to the amount of snow. “See, I have my sunglasses on. We’ll shovel
and then go skiing,” he said laughing. Across the street, Mary McGinnis was clearing the sidewalk with a snowblower. “We brought it from Wisconsin and I’m glad we did,” she said. One block away, fouryear-old Sam Ross was too busy to stop and talk as he helped his mom Allie, shovel the sidewalk in front of their home. “We have a really nice postal carrier and we wanted to clear the sidewalk for them,” said Allie. On N. Sixth Street, Oregon postal carrier Diana Mullarkey trudged through the foot of snow, smiled, and leaned over to reach a mailbox that was partially covered with snow. Turn to A10
Winter blizzard forced the closure of roads More than 12” falls over Ogle on Sunday By Chris Johnson Reporter The light snow that began falling Saturday night turned into a blizzard that dropped more than a foot of snow and made roads impassable across Ogle County. The snowfall began tapering off Sunday afternoon, but the winds picked up causing blizzard conditions and dangerously drifted roads. Ogle County Sheriff Brian VanVickle had requested all motorists to avoid traveling after 4 p.m. on Sunday due to the road conditions. “Road conditions are extremely poor and very dangerous,” he wrote on a news release. “Many roads
are nearly impassable and with the continued snow and gusty winds these conditions will continue to deteriorate.” This continued deterioration led the sheriff to close all roads in the county shortly before 9 p.m. “I decided to issue the travel ban for the safety of our deputies and to warn motorists if they became stranded help may not be immediately available,” VanVickle said Monday morning. “We had issues throughout the day and evening with motorists not listening to the warnings.” Complicating matters was the NFL Super Bowl game Sunday evening. Many residents were still heading out to see the game at various parties despite the weather and poor road conditions. By the time the game was over the roads were shut down. Turn to B3 Ill. 26 north of Ill. 64 was drifted and had this section as one lane only. Photo by Chris Johnson
Area food pantries can always use community support By Vinde Wells Editor With holiday giving past, local food pantries are still in need of donations to meet the ever-growing number of residents they serve. Four food pantries in Ogle County served a total of more than 300 families in December, a number that is steadily on the rise. “The need for helping people in Ogle County is greater than anyone would have imagined,” said Sharon Wallace, a board member at Oregon’s Lifeline Food Pantry. “Lots of people need a helping hand.” Polo Lifeline served 110 families in the Polo School Volunteer Renee Ludwig helps a customer shop at New District in November - an Life Community Center, Forreston. Photo by Vinde Wells
In This Week’s Edition...
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B8-B12 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6
all-time high. “We get new people every month,” said director Kathy Wragg. “It’s not that people aren’t working. Jobs don’t pay enough.” The situation is the same in two more pantries. “We get new people all the time,” said Jan Francis, a board member at Loaves & Fish Food Pantry, Mt. Morris. Rhowena Genandt, who serves on the board of Forreston’s food pantry at the New Life Community Center, said six new people have come in for food in the last few days. The Mt. Morris and Polo pantries have been a little short on food since Christmas. Francis said they have had
Fines, B6 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B5 Property Transfers, B6
Sheriff’s Arrests, B5 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B7
to send a few people away with less food than needed. Bad weather in early January kept the Polo pantry from getting a delivery from the Northern Illinois Food Bank, Wragg said. Genandt said the local churches that support the pantry have been faithful about donating both food and money. “We’ve been very blessed,” Genandt said. However, she added that some items, like laundry and dish soap, are always in short supply. Donations are often short this time of year for the Oregon pantry and again in the summertime, Wallace said. Money is the most
needed donation at the pantries, although food is also appreciated. “Money is the best donation because we can buy food at a cheaper price,” Wragg said. “Money is the best,” Francis agreed. Wallace explained that money is often needed to purchase meat as well as to cover expenses like rent and utilities. Volunteers are also needed at all four pantries to help stock shelves, help customers shop, and a number of other tasks. “It’s a real rewarding experience to help,” Wallace said. “I don’t think people realize the extent of the need in our communities.”
Deaths, B6 Harlan J. Alderks, Leo Barney Jr., J. Elaine Pumfrey, Robert J. M. Tudor
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com