Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal September 25, 2014 Volume 152, Number 22 - $1.00
Undefeated
Snow White
The Forreston Cardinals handled Warren 50-14 to win the homecoming game. B1
Returning Home
PACT will perform Snow White with some surprises Sept. 26-28. A12
A Navy officer from Polo was greeted with a surprise homecoming parade Sept. 22. A11
Family business unique approach Leaf River family will run Vintage Chicks & Feed By Vinde Wells Editor
A love for old-fashioned items and agriculture has led a rural Leaf River family to open a new business that features both. Gene and Vicki Miller will host a grand opening Oct. 4 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. to show off Vintage Chicks & Feed at 700 E. Ill. 72, three miles west of Byron.
Mike Crowe, Lindenwood, gazes over the prairie during a tour of East Heinkel Hill Saturday morning at Nachusa Grasslands. Photo by Chris Johnson
Tours held at Nachusa Grasslands By Chris Johnson Reporter Walking through lush prairie grasses and winding though a savanna was like a trip back in time. There were no cars, roads or power lines visible when exploring portions of East Heinkle Hill Saturday morning at Nachusa Grasslands during Autumn on the Prairie. Thousands of acres of prairie land are being restored
at the grasslands to recreate what the Midwest had in the 1800s. Volunteers have been seeding, planting, clearing, and burning the land to destroy invasive species and return the prairie to all its glory. Mike Crowe, Lindenwood, has been with Nachusa Grasslands for 26 years. “I was one of the first groups of stewards,� he said. “Today you are going to visit East Heinkle Hill. This is an
18-year-old prairie.� Crowe was leading a dozen people on a tour of this secluded part of the grasslands. “It was a sandy corn field,� he said. “Now there is tall Indian grass in the field.� Another grass that was thriving was big blue stem, commonly called turkey foot. A third grass that had patches in the prairie is cordgrass, spartina. “This grass is good for thatched roofs but on the
prairie it is also used for burning,� Crowe said. These was only some of the hundreds of plant species that make up the prairie. As the group walked across the land he would pause at several of the plants. While talking about the White Indigo plant. “This is a legume and has deep roots,� said Crowe. “This allows the plant to grow on this sandy soil.� Turn to A10
So far, both the Oregon and Sterling park districts have instituted tight restrictions on where park users can smoke, said Marcia Widolff, director of public health. The next park districts on her radar are Freeport and Dixon, she said. The Smoke-Free Illinois Act, passed in 2008, mandates that public places
and places of employment must be completely smokefree inside and within 15 feet of entrances, exits, windows, and ventilation intakes. The Oregon and Sterling park districts both took that a step further, implementing a ban on smoking within 50 feet of all park amenities such as playgrounds and fields.
“We just wanted to make sure our park users could come and participate in programs and services offered by the park district, and be in a public place, and not have to worry about someone smoking near them,� said Erin Folk, executive director of Oregon Park District. “We want people to be
The family enterprise includes the couple as well as their three grown children. The store, which opened Sept. 6, features livestock and pet food along with what Vicki calls “rustic relics,� everything from Mason jars to barbed wire art. It all started years ago, daughter Amy Kirchner explained, when her father started selling livestock feed from the store which is just down the road and around the corner from the family farm where they raise Hereford Turn to A3
Annual festival returns Oct. 4-5 By Vinde Wells Editor Volunteer organizers have been busy planning the 44th annual Autumn on Parade festival, slated for Oct. 4-5, in Oregon. An “Autumn of Superheroes� is the theme for this year’s event. “In honor of this year’s theme, entertainers on Saturday on the courthouse square will include Wonder Woman and Captain America,� said festival president Marseyne Snow. “We’ll also have Spiderman doing his acrobatics and
Cat Woman will be painting faces.� Back again this year is a post parade show by the South Shore Drill Team on Sunday, following the Harvest Time Parade. “South Shore is always a such a crowd favorite that we decided last year to have them stay a bit longer and do a show after the parade was over,� said Snow. “People really liked that so we’re doing the post parade show again on Jefferson Street in front of the Oregon library.� Snow said this year’s parade, held on Sunday at 1 Turn to A3
Several park districts are looking at going smoke-free By Christi Warren Shaw Media Slowly but surely, the Whiteside County Health Department, in conjunction with the American Lung Association, has been working to convert all of the Sauk Valley’s parks into smoke-free zones.
able to enjoy the programs and services offered by us without any outside factors or influences that could take away from that experience.� The Sterling Park District imposed the 50-foot ban in 2009. Doug Jacobs, director of parks and planning for the district, echoed Folk’s reasoning for the decision.
“It was one of those things where we’re promoting all these healthy activities, regardless of whether it’s swimming at the Duis Center, or it’s exercising at Westwood,� Jacobs said. “It seemed to make sense. We’re promoting health; Turn to A3
King & Queen
Color Guard
The Forreston Homecoming Queen Josie Pasch and Members of the Forreston American Legion present the American Flag before Forreston’s homecoming game. King Max Barkalow were announced before the football Photo by Chris Johnson game Sept. 19 . Photo by Chris Johnson
In This Week’s Edition...
Byron Police, B5 Church News, A5 Classifieds, B8-B14 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B4
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, A11 Public Voice, A8 Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, A11
Social News, A4 Sports, A12, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B7 Weather, A3
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Deaths, B3 Ruby J. Rowland