Serving the Forreston area since 1865
FORRESTON Journal July 27, 2017 Volume 155, Number 14 - $1.00
OHS Welding Lab
2017 Fair Tab
Nite Out
Oregon High School unveils its new welding lab with an eye on the future. A9
Read all about the upcoming Ogle County Fair! Insert
The Ogle County Sheriff’s Department will hold National Nite Out Aug. 1. A6
Nursing home evacuated, high water reported By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Torrential overnight rain forced the emergency evacuation early Saturday morning of the nearly 60 residents of Oregon Living & Rehabilitation Center. Storms that began around 6:30 p.m. Friday and continued all night dumped 6 to 8 inches of rain on Ogle County. By 6 a.m. the floodwaters were edging ever closer to the healthcare facility at 811 S. 10th Street, Oregon. “With the floodwater rising we realized we needed to evacuate,” said Jen Stark, Director of Communications for Momentum Healthcare, which owns the facility. With the help of the Oregon Fire Department and other local agencies, the residents were taken first to the fire station and then to
three other area healthcare facilities. “They were taken to the fire station for triage, some by ambulance, some by our own vehicles, and some by Village of Progress vans, and some by school buses,” she said. From there they were transported to healthcare facilities at Franklin Grove, Amboy, and Shabbona, all of which are owned by Momentum. Stark said Monday that officials would determine sometime later in the day when residents will be able to return. The building sustained no damage, she said, because the water didn’t get inside. The situation was a case of training paying off. “We train once a year for McKeon McClain comes barreling out of the inflatable obstacle course, one of the busier attractions at Forreston a full evacuation,” Stark Hometown Days. Photo by Zach Arbogast said. “Our staff handled it very well. They all worked Turn to A3
Rain couldn’t stop the fun By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com
A police car heads north on Illinois 26 in downtown Forreston as storm clouds loom to the east. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Ogle County is a disaster area after the strong storms After unprecedented flooding in northwest Illinois, Gov. Bruce Rauner issued a state disaster proclamation on Monday for Carroll, Henry, Jo Davies, Lee, Ogle, Rock Island, Stephenson Bruce and Whiteside Rauner counties where the Rock and Pecatonica rivers are expected to swell to record and near-record levels this week. Rauner issued the proclamation while in Milan, where he visited flood support operations at an Illinois Department of Transportation (IDOT) yard. According to a press release issued by Rauner’s
office, the disaster proclamation will ensure continued state support to communities as they fight floodwaters brought on by recent heavy rains and begin the recovery process. “We’re working closely with officials in these counties to determine their needs and quickly deploy flood fighting resources,” Rauner said. “This proclamation will ensure that we can continue to provide whatever assistance is needed to protect residents and critical infrastructure.” Rauner said the state of Illinois has already provided 175,000 sandbags to communities in northwestern Illinois to protect critical infrastructure, including the
Torrential rains on Friday and sticky, humid heat on Saturday couldn’t stop families from having fun at Forreston’s Hometown Days. Hometown Days kicked off July 21 with a fun run and 5k at Warnken Park, “The Sandlot” movie at Veteran’s Memorial Park, and food served by Relay For Life, bingo, and Karaoke in the downtown area. However, friendly fun wasn’t the only thing that greeted families that evening; dark clouds joined the party, and brought overwhelming rain with them. Storms carrying through into the early morning hours left Memorial Park damp and muggy, but the show still went on. “Unfortunately it shortened the bingo time and the Relay for Life food stand, but we were able to complete the 5K,” said Jane Koeller, Hometown Days committee member. “However, if it was
going to rain one day, that was when it needed to be.” Saturday’s 3 on 3 basketball tournament carried on inside the Forreston High School gymnasium, and vendors, the Bouncy House and obstacle course, and petting zoos still settled themselves in for the long haul. “We’ve been up since 2 a.m. bailing out the basement,” said Forreston Village Clerk Courtney Warren, who was selling aronia berry products with her husband, Tod. “We thought about staying home, but we decided we couldn’t miss this.” The humidity didn’t stop a couple of crowd favorites from returning, either: the Pie and Spaghetti Eating Contests, respectively. Christina Hatlak, owner of Christina’s Bakery, 25 Church St., German Valley, showed up with several of her berry and apple pies, ready to be scarfed down in gruesome fashion. Two divisions were formed: one for children 16 and under, and another for 17 and above. Forreston kids Cayden
Shelton, Joel Ludwig, Madyson Carpenter, and Henry Warren all showed up to see who could get the dirtiest and the fullest, but Ludwig ended up taking home the $25 prize and the pride of knowing he ate the most pastry. The adults were up next, but Kevin Green ran away with it, cleaning his entire pan before Kim Brown and Nick Kavala could come close. “I’ve never done an eating contest before, but this was a lot of fun and I’m glad I did it,” said Green. Brown joked that she only came by to purchase fresh garlic, and ended up eating a pie. “This is always a big highlight of my summer,” said Hatlak, beaming, as the pie carcasses were being cleaned up. Green told Hatlak “That was a very tasty pie, by the way,” to which a crowd member shouted “How would you know?! You didn’t have time to taste it!” Time for leisurely tasting would be absent, as well,
for the next challenge: a pile of spaghetti, courtesy of Mimmo’s Pizza, Forreston. This time, though age brackets were separated into 8-to-12, 13-to-18, and 17 and up, all 10 eaters went at it together. Ludwig would win again, with Logan Lauer dominating the youngest group and Tod Warren cleaning up the adults section. Crowds were on the short side this year for the early day, but picked up later on — presumably, after storm-related clean-up was complete. “Mother Nature plays a huge part in the crowds and unfortunately there were a lot of people dealing with things of far greater importance than Hometown Days,” said Koeller. “However, the pork chop dinner, Sunset Strip on Saturday night, the community church service, and the community pancake breakfast were all well attended. It is always nice to see the community gather together and celebrate their hometown.”
Turn to A3 Scott Timm, age 47, for Forreston, gives his son Cameron, age 18, a playful shove as they start the Hometown Days 5K Run on July 21. The race was held before the heavy rains fell. Photo by Earleen Hinton
In This Week’s Edition...
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B6-B10 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B4 Marriage Licenses, A4
Oregon Police, B3 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
Social News, A4 Sports, B2 State’s Attorney, B3 Weather, A3
Deaths, B5 Donna J. Pearson, Neil K. Minnis, Glenn Rowe, Ed Spratt
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com