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STERLING GRADS PREP Corn galore FOR RIVALRY REMATCH in Rock Falls ALUMNI FOOTBALL, B1
PHOTOS, A5
dailyGAZETTE Thursday, July 23, 2015
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
LOCAL BAND FEATURE | THE DEFEATED ROYALS
DIXON PARK DISTRICT | REFERENDUM TALKS
Tax bump in road’s future? President: Referendum ‘only hope for Lowell Park Road’ repairs
Still Defeated Photos by Lucas Pauley/lpauley@saukvalley.com
The Defeated Royals, featuring (from left) Josiah and Daniel Hazel, Joel Wetzell, and Micah Green, will open the Sterling Main Street Music Fest at 2 p.m. Saturday at Grandon Civic Center. The doors open at 1 p.m.; see the full lineup for the event in our local entertainment listings on A10.
Band shuffles mix, but dream remains the same BY LUCAS PAULEY lpauley@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5576 @LucasJayPauley
ROCK FALLS – The Defeated Royals looked a lot like many other young bands – but in a good way – during an interview and video shoot Saturday morning at Ric and Carol Hazel’s home in rural Rock Falls. There they were, clearly having fun and defying the heat with the garage door open, fans blowing and music flowing. The band features the Hazel brothers, Online extra Josiah, 22, and DanClick on this story at saukvaliel, 19; Joel Wetzell, ley.com to see the boys play 18; Micah Green, 21; their tune “Hashtag Girls.” Hunter Seidel, 20; and Marcus Castillo, 20. Seidel and Castillo will be unable to make the band’s next show, Saturday during Sterling Main Street Music Fest at Grandon Civic Center. But that’s OK. The band is flexible in that way. They have to be.
Bassist Micah Green keeps cool by playing in front of a fan during practice on a humid Saturday afternoon in Rock Falls. When not keeping the rhythm with Wetzell, Green, a Dixon resident, earns a living at Mirror Landscapes.
ROYALS CONTINUED ON A5
Check our calendar; circle dates on yours Local bands not your jam? Many other events are set for this weekend and in weeks to come. See our listings on A9-12.
WHITESIDE COUNTY | RURAL SCHOOLS
Genealogists out to preserve history
BY BRENDEN WEST bwest@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529 @BWest_SVM
DIXON – Road repairs, employee wages, equipment – they all cost money, something members of the Dixon Park District Board say they are sorely lacking. Addressing financial woes might require a public referendum either to increase the tax rate or to expand district boundaries to incorporate more properties. That discussion began during Wednesday’s regular board meeting. If things progress swiftly enough, Dixon citizens could see some type of referendum addressing park district revenue as early as this coming spring. “I don’t think there’s any choice but to run a referendum,” Park Board President Ron Pritchard said. He pointed to perhaps the district’s most pressing issue – the continual deterioration of Lowell Park Road. Other potential funding mechanisms for that repair are “iffy at best,” Pritchard said. Estimating the district gets $9,000 per year to address street repairs for more than 30 parks, he said voter approval might be the district’s only remaining resort. That doesn’t bode too well for Dixon Parks, said Executive Director Deb Carey. The last time the district pursued a referendum 15 years ago, it was voted down.
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REFERENDUM CONTINUED ON A3
Having gone through these referendums before, there’s a lot of work to be done. When you start talking taxes, education is key.
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Ron Pritchard Dixon Public Parks Board president
Group plans to publish book of relics from schools in 22 townships BY JERMAINE PIGEE jpigee@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5525 @JPigee84
STERLING – Members of Whiteside County Genealogists want to preserve the history of rural schools in this area. “We have genealogists from all over the country who have ancestors come here,” said Marilyn Anderson, a local history librarian at Sterling Public Library. “And a lot of times, they want to know where their grandma went to school, and what kind of grades she got.”
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To share history For more information on the project, or to submit information on a rural school, email Marilyn Anderson at SPLGenealogy@comcast.net, or visit Sterling Public Library. The genealogists have started to document all rural schools from 22 townships in Whiteside County. “We want to find all the rural, one-room school houses from when they started in 1840 until they started to consolidate in the 1950s,” said Donald Mul-
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nix, co-chairman of the project. “We are trying to get pictures of what they look like today compared to how they looked back then.” Sterling Public Library has already started to display photos. One photo shows Lyndon School, the first school in Whiteside County. Another shows a diploma from Whiteside County Schools in 1947. “We want to interview school Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com teachers or students who Marilyn Anderson, a local history librarian at Sterling Public Library, attended a one-room school goes through the old photos and documents Wednesday at the house,” Mulnix said. library. Anderson is working with Whiteside County Genealogists in its endeavor to preserve the history of all rural schools from 22 GENEALOGISTS CONTINUED ON A2 townships in the county, and eventually publish a book on it.
ABBY ................... A8 BUSINESS ........... A7 COMICS ...............B7
CROSSWORD....B13 LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 POLICE ................ A2
Today’s weather High 83. Low 61. More on A3.
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License apps don’t show in Morrison, A3
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