Your source for community news and sports 7 days a week.
DUKES SEEK PLAYOFF BID; BEARS LOOK ROCKETS OUT FOR PRIDE TO BREAK EVEN PREP FOOTBALL, B1
CHICAGO FOOTBALL WEEKLY, INSIDE
dailyGAZETTE Thursday, October 15, 2015
SERVING ROCK FALLS, STERLING AND THE SURROUNDING AREA SINCE 1854
DIXON | CONSOLIDATION TALKS
ROCK FALLS
Councilmen join board meeting, share ideas
‘Go, Cubs, Go’
City, Parks clear air Siren’s song not BY BRENDEN WEST bwest@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5529 @BWest_SVM
DIXON – It isn’t just the Park Board trying to come to terms with potential consolidation into city government. Councilmen are trying to wrap their minds around the concept, too. Park Board Chairman Ron Pritchard said it caught him off guard when Mayor Li Arellano Jr.
broached the topic publicly last week. Councilmen Mitch Tucker and Chris Bishop – who joined Pritchard at Wednesday’s Park Board meeting – said they, too, were surprised by the remarks. But a conversation that started with a long pause ended with two government bodies clearing some of the air and exchanging ideas. “I’m here to listen,” Bishop PARKS CONTINUED ON A4
Want in on the conversation? The Dixon City Council will next meet at 5:30 p.m. Oct. 19 at City Hall, 121 W. Second St., and councilmen encouraged Park Board members to attend, too. Go to DiscoverDixon.org or call City Hall at 815-288-1485 for an agenda or more information.
DIXON
Labor of love for the Lord Second Baptist celebrating its first century
Blast had nothing to do with team’s victory, mayor says BY ANGEL SIERRA asierra@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5695 @_angelsierra
ROCK FALLS – Apparently, it’s just a coincidence. Tornado sirens heard blaring Tuesday evening had nothing to do with a historic Cubs victory, Mayor Bill Wescott said. That’s good, because that would have been illegal. A firefighter “working on a project” in a control room at the fire department, inside the city’s Municipal Complex, let slip a tape dispenser that landed on the button
Country trio to make pit stop at The Cooler BY LUCAS PAULEY lpauley@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5576 @LucasJayPauley
Photos by Alex T. Paschal/apaschal@saukvalley.com
BY KATHLEEN A. SCHULTZ kschultz@saukvalley.com 800-798-4085, ext. 5535 @KathleenSchul10
Editor’s note: This history was complied entirely from Second Baptist Church records, and from the recollection of founding member Phlechner Spotts Sr., a boy of 8 to 10 when the first church was built, that was recounted and recorded in 1980. DIXON – It’s a small, tenacious congregation with a mighty proud history – a history built by determined, devoted hands with stone and sand and sweat. This month, the members of Second Baptist Church, 501 W. Third St., are celebrating their church’s first 100 years. Their roots run even deeper, though, back to shortly after the Civil War, when the first black people to settle in Lee County, who “brought with them a desire for worship and fellowship,” organized a small church in 1866.
‘‘ $1.00
Second Baptist Church, will hold a fellowship dinner at 2 p.m. followed by a commemorative worship service at 3:30 Sunday. A worship service dedicated to its founders will begin at 11 a.m. Oct. 25. A slide and film presentation will follow. Call the church, 815-288-1566, for more information.
Keith L. Hayes leads a group of singers in “Center of My Joy” during a Black History Month celebration in February 2013 at Second Baptist Church. They met in a frame buildwould speak and read from ing on Hennepin Avenue, the Bible. between Second and Third Sunday school persevered, streets. however, and in 1915, as their Their numbers were few, numbers grew, church memand finding a “shepherd” bers began to hold services in to lead the small flock was various homes in Dixon, and difficult, so their effort to sometimes even in Sterling. establish a church fell short. Second Baptist Church was Oftentimes, they would meet born. at various homes, and with LABOR CONTINUED ON A3 no minister, different people
– The congregation of Second Baptist Church in Dixon
24 PAGES 2 SECTIONS VOL. 161 ISSUE 219
NASHVILLE, Tenn. – When The Cains finally do get a chance to rest their voices and their minds in their adopted home of Nashville, there are still so many suitcases on the ground that
“you can’t see the carpet.” But that just comes with the territory. The sibling country trio – Taylor, 25, Madison, 24, and Logan, 23 – has pretty much been touring indefinitely, chasing the dream through their high-energy show and three-part harmonies. They will present their unique brand of country at 8 p.m. Oct. 24 at The Cooler, 311 W. Second St. in Rock Falls. TRIO CONTINUED ON A5
Join the choir
’’
We look to the guidance of the Holy Spirit that the coming years might be as fruitful as the past 100 years have been and that Second Baptist might be a guiding light to those in the community who need its help.
TODAY’S EDITION:
SIREN CONTINUED ON A7
ROCK FALLS | ENTERTAINMENT
Nashville siblings’ cross-country tour takes few breaks
At its second location at 501 W. Third St. in Dixon, Second Baptist Church’s congregation, the roots of which date back to the end of the Civil War, is celebrating its 100th anniversary this month. Second Baptist members formalized their church in 1915, and a year later, started to build their first church (submitted photo inset) at 605 Madison Ave.
that set off the citywide alarms, Wescott said. It’s “not the best story,” the mayor admitted, but it’s the Bill Wescott, Rock Falls official story. It was both mayor, a Cubs fan, insists his an accident loyalty had and an iso- nothing to do lated inci- with siren blast. dent, he added. Emergency personnel would never activate the siren for something “as stupid” as a ball game, he said, especially when such misuse could put a job on the line.
INDEX
ABBY ................... A8 BUSINESS ........... A7 COMICS ...............B6
CROSSWORD....B12 LIFESTYLE ........... A8 LOTTERY ............. A2
Submitted
The Cains, featuring siblings (from left) Logan, Taylor, and Madison Cain, will perform at 8 p.m. Oct. 24 at The Cooler, 311 W. Second St., Rock Falls.
Tummy ready to rumble?
ENTERTAINMENT, A9-12
Ultimate Tailgate returns Sunday. Read more on A9.
PAINT JOB PREPPED ON WEST LeFEVRE
Philip Marruffo/pmarruffo@saukvalley.com
Sterling Township Highway Department employee Bill Stewart blows debris from cracks along the white lines on West LeFevre Road on Wednesday afternoon. The department sealed the cracks so that repainting can begin today.
OBITUARIES ........ A4 OPINION .............. A6 POLICE ................ A2
Today’s weather High 68. Low 36. More on A3.
Need work? Check out your classifieds, B8.
TO SUBSCRIBE TO THE PAPER, CALL 815-625-3600 OR 800-798-4085