Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal July 28, 2016 Volume 154, Number 14 - $1.00
Township Merger
It’s Fair Time!
Fundraising Hike
Voters in November will decide if Lafayette and Taylor townships will merge. B3
The 163rd Ogle County Fair is just around the corner. Insert
A Polo man has helped raise $1,000 for Serenity Hospice and Home. A4
Hometown Days offered fun with a dash of humidity Temperatures felt like 106
It was so blasted hot Saturday, but it all worked out and the people that came out had fun,
By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com
Above, crafter Mary Huenefeld takes her creations down at the end of Hometown Days Saturday afternoon. At right, nine-year-old Madysen Carpenter puts her face in an apple pie while competing in the Forreston Hometown Days pie eating contest Saturday afternoon. Photos by Chris Johnson
Project PLAY will be demolished By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Oregon school officials have decided it’s time to replace playground equipment used by youngsters in the school district for almost three decades. Superintendent Tom Mahoney said July 22 that the castles, twisting walkways, and the slides of Project PLAY (Play Leads to Active Youth), located just outside Oregon Elementary School, will soon be coming
The Oregon School District has posted signs at Project Play that say Caution: Play at own risk. You may get splinters. Photo by Earleen Hinton
down. “We’ve had an increase in kids getting injuries on Project PLAY, mostly splinters,” he said. “There’s no way to maintain it and guarantee no injuries.” In the interest of student safety, the demolition will happen before school starts next month, Mahoney said. The all-wood construction of the unique playground, built by volunteers in 1989, is its downfall, he said. “Twenty-six years is a long time for something that’s all wood even if it gets treated,” Mahoney said. Portions of the playground were removed a few years ago and replaced. Because the playground gets a lot of use in summer, signs have been put up warning the public about the potential for splinters. Project PLAY was the brainchild of retired teacher Nancy Ryder, Oregon, who had seen a similar Robert Leathers playground in her hometown and immediately believed Oregon should have one. She and Deb Wuebben were co-chairmen of a committee to get the project
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off the ground and raise the needed $45,000. “The idea was to give the children a creative play area — anything that leads to imagination,” Ryder said. On the other hand, Ryder said she can understand the decision to remove it. “I’m not surprised that they would want to take it out because it’s high maintenance,” she said. Ryder said the Leathers company representatives, who designed the playground after getting input from the community, helped with every aspect. “They told us everything we needed and how to go about it,” Ryder said. “We ordered special pine from Georgia. They [Leathers] were very specific.” After months of fundraising, including a Pennies for the Playground drive at the elementary school, hundreds of volunteers converged on the school grounds on Oct. 1115, 1989 for a five-day build to put it all together. “We had so many people volunteers who were good at so many things,” Ryder said. “We had electricians,
Birth, A4 Church News, A5 Classifieds, B5-B10 Entertainment, A6
carpenters, ministers. It was really neat.” “There was a diversity of ages of the people who helped,” said retired teacher Marilyn Berg, a member of Turn to A3
Crawling and jumping on inflatables followed by free pie was a recipe for success at Hometown Days despite the hot and humid weather Saturday. According to weather reports, the feels-like temperature was 106 degrees Saturday with the mercury in the low 90s and the humidity at 80 percent. “The free kids activities were very well received,” said Forreston Area Business Association (FABA) president Gene Green. “They really got into the pie eating contest.” Green said he was the judge for the contest and enjoyed watching the different techniques for eating the pies. Nine-year-old Madysen Carpenter plopped her face right into her apple pie and started working from the middle while 14-year-old Matthew Homman worked his way from the edge of a pie. “They all seemed to enjoy this contest,” said Green. There was also a spaghetti eating contest for the kids. A beer garden with live music was scheduled for the evening and was held despite a few setbacks. “The band was good but the night started with a severe storm,” said Green. “It rained hard for 90 minutes, but 140 people waited out the weather and the band took the stage. Everyone was having fun once the rain stopped.” The rain was the end of a hot and humid day.
- Gene Green “It was so blasted hot Saturday, but it all worked out and the people that came out had fun,” said Green. “That is what matters. We can not control the weather. A 3 on 3 basketball tournament began bright and early and continued through the mid-afternoon. The teams that were playing in the final rounds were taking breaks to stay hydrated. Organizer Jonathan Schneiderman said the cloud cover early in the day was helping the action by providing some shade for the athletes. A car wash raising money for Relay for Life had a steady stream of cars throughout the morning. Sunday morning a community church service was held in the park and more than 200 people turned out, said Green. “For breakfast more than 250 people were served Sunday,” he said. “The Lions served 350 for the pork chop dinner Saturday.” Even with the higher temperatures, Green thought Hometown Days was a success. “Next year the weather will be perfect,” he said. “At least we might have less heat and humidity. Other events held during the festival included a 5k and a one mile walk on Friday night, a craft show at Memorial Park on Saturday, and a softball tournament at Warnken Park.
Blanket Project 4-H Club members tie a fleece blanket for Serenity Hospice Home July 23 while they wait for their clothing projects to be judged at the Ogle County Farm Bureau building. Pictured left to right are: Nicole Zeigler, Pine Creek Valley, Katelin Ackland, Ogle County Clovers, Lydia Sherburne, Soaring Eagles, Grace Mongan, Carefree, Faith Marquardt, Carefree, and Gracie Prose, Carefree. Their projects will be displayed at the Ogle County Fair Aug. 3-7. Photo by Vinde Wells
Fines, B4 Marriage Licenses, A4 Public Voice, A4 Property Transfers, B4
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, A10, B2 State’s Attorney, B4
Deaths, B4 Helen L. Cann, Doris Isgrig
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com