Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal April 2, 2015 Volume 152, Number 49 - $1.00
Girls Track
Earth Day
The Polo-Forreston girls track team is ready to begin the spring season. B1
Open House
A recycling event will be held in Rochelle on April 18. B3
A ribbon cutting and open house will be held April 8 for the new Public Safety Complex. A10
Black Hawk repairs on hold By Vinde Wells Editor Spring may be unfolding, but a well-known landmark remains encased in its protective “winter coat.” Frank Rausa, Sterling, said Tuesday that he hopes the Black Hawk Statue will soon shed the plastic mesh wrap that protected it from the cold and snow so that longawaited repairs can begin. “I think in a few days we’ll know something more,” Rausa said. Rausa, along with his wife Cherron, heads up the Friends of the Black Hawk Statue, an organization formed approximately six years ago to develop a plan and raise the funds to have the statue repaired. Most of the estimated $900,000 has been raised, and experts have developed a plan to repair the beloved statue’s crumbling exterior. However, red tape and getting official approval of the plan and the contract for the work has repeatedly
delayed the start of the repairs. Everything seemed to be in place late last fall after Illinois Department of Natural Resources (IDNR) officials signed a contract with project conservator Dr. Andrzej Dajnowski and his crew, from Conservation of Sculpture & Objects Studio, Forest Park. The IDNR has jurisdiction over the statue because it’s situated at Lowden State Park near Oregon. However, over the winter, Rausa said, the IDNR terminated that contract and revised it. Dajnowski recently received the revised contract, but another glitch slowed the process when engineer Amy Lamb Woods left her former employer Thornton Tomasetti and joined the firm of Simpson Gumperta & Heger, a Chicago-based Sixteen-year-old Connor Hopkins and 14-year-old Jake Bailey practice grappling techniques Saturday afternoon. engineering firm that Photo by Chris Johnson designs, investigates, and rehabilitates structures and Turn to A2
Voters to decide in several races By Vinde Wells Editor While voters in Forreston, German Valley, Adeline, and the Forrestville Valley School District have no contested races on the April 7 consolidated election ballot, residents in Polo and Leaf River have some choices to make. Two wards in the City of Polo are contested. In Ward 1, newcomer Phillip L. Peterson is
challenging incumbent Louise Hall for a four-year term on the board. Newcomer Jeremy Heller is challenging incumbent Randy Schoon for a fouryear term in Ward 3. Voters will also fill two seats in Ward 2. Incumbent Troy Boothe is running unopposed for a four-year term, and James Busser is also unopposed for a twoyear unexpired term. Both Turn to A2
Wrestling fans learn new skills By Chris Johnson Reporter Pro wrestling fans had the opportunity of a lifetime last Saturday when they stepped into the ring with realtime professional wrestlers. MWA Pro Wrestling wrestlers Brian Blade and Con Artiest, both stage names, held a training camp in Mt. Morris before a wrestling show, which was also a fundraiser for Wounded Warriors and the Let Freedom Ring. Festival. Before they could set foot in the ring, participating fans were given instructions on how wrestling works along with exercises for pre-event activity.
First, they had to carry in parts of the ring to help Con Artiest set up the ring. Brian Blade then made the willing would-be wrestlers do squats, sprints, pushups, and sit-ups all as a warm up. He then talked about the reality of the pro wrestling business. “You have the WWE or not much,” he said. “Get your education and go to college. Have something to fall back on. Your odds are that you may not make it to the WWE. I had a chance at a developmental deal and turned it down. Financially it did not make sense.” He said many independent circuits pay wrestlers only on a per match basis which
only results in a couple of hundred dollars for the night. “You start off at this level. Mantaur started here,” said Brian Blade. “Jeff Hardy started at shows like this. This is the grass roots.” Mantaur is a former WWE wrestler. He said the small independent shows are where wrestlers learn the craft and develop a following. “If you can not get these people to like you, you can’t get 16,000 people to like you,” said Brian Blade. “It is not about the moves. If the fans do not care, then it doesn’t matter. It is what you do to make them out there care about you. The main thing is the people. They
matter.” Wrestlers compete for the love of the sport and entertainment. “You have to do this for the love. You can’t get discouraged,” he said. “It is not going to take a couple weeks to get good.” Brian Blade has been wrestling for 14 years and grew up watching regional pro wrestling. He watched numerous AWA shows in Omaha, Neb. and fell in love with wrestling. He saw the great wrestlers like Greg Gagne, Jerry Lawler, the Road Warriors, Jesse Ventura, Hulk Hogan, Ric Flair, and Arn Anderson. Turn to B2
Good crowd turns out for the 65th antique show By Vinde Wells Editor After a drive from his home in St. Charles, Dennis Lee was having a great time Saturday afternoon at the 65th annual Antique Show put on by the Oregon Woman’s Club. “It’s a great show,” he said. “My mother started taking me to antique shows when I was 12. I like looking at old stuff.” It was Lee’s first time at the two-day event, held in the Blackhawk Center, Oregon. A crisp clear day on Saturday brought lots of people to the show, but Sunday’s cold, wet weather may have discouraged a few from attending. Although the final numbers were not yet tallied, show manager Ron Bry said Monday that attendance for the two days was at least average. However, he
acknowledged that the number attending fell short of last year’s record crowd of 1,970. “Saturday was gangbusters,” he said. “We had 1,275, but attendance was down Sunday. With the sleet in the morning, some people may have decided not to venture out.” Customers seemed to enjoy the show, and the vendors left happy, Bry said. “Everything went really well. People were staying longer to look around. It was a buying crowd. I think everybody was quite happy,” he said. A new vendor who came all the way from Ft. Worth, Texas, assured Bry that he will be back. Vendors Bob and Marsha Hudson, Lapel, Ind., said Saturday that business had been brisk. “It’s a nice crowd and people seem to be buying,” Bob said.
In This Week’s Edition...
“We’ve had a good day,” said Marsha. Across the auditorium, Renae Rebechini, from the Lost Lake area near Dixon, was wrapping up a purchase at the booth of veteran vendors Mark and Kristine Hutson, Harvard. Rebechini said she attends the show every year. “I love it, and this is one of my favorite booths,” she said. “I’m a gardener, and they have the best garden stuff.” Mark smiled at her enthusiasm. “It’s nice to see return customers,” he said. “It’s been fantastic.” Carol Becker, St. Louis, Mo., was a first-timer at the show. She timed a visit with her sister Marge Wilhelm, Oregon, so that they could take in the antique show. “It’s wonderful,” she said as she gently opened a small metal box on display at a booth. “She came to visit me just
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B12 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6
so she could come to this,” Wilhelm said with a grin. An antique bracelet at Jeanine Thomas’ booth, drew the attention of Linda Wszolek, Peotone. “I’ve come here for five or six years,” Wszolek said as she tried on the bracelet. “I love it; there’s lots of different dealers.” The variety of items dealers offer is one of the draws, said Bry, who has managed the show for 10 years. “We keep it eclectic with a variety of genres and price ranges,” he said. Next year’s show will be a week later than usual, Bry said, because Easter falls on the last Sunday in March. Consequently, the show will move from the last weekend in March to the first weekend in April. “Next year’s dates will be April 2 and 3,” Bry said. The Chana United Methodist Church provided the food for the event.
Marriage Licenses, A4 Property Transfers, B6 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4
Dennis Lee, St. Charles, looks at a tray March 28 during his first visit to the Oregon Woman’s Club’s annual Antique Show at the Blackhawk Center. Photo by Vinde Wells
Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B6 Weather, A8
Deaths, B5 Richard S. Clark, Curtis W. Miller, Nancy Peltz, Larry E. Schier, Mary E. Suneson, Shirley J. Turner
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