Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS July 30, 2015 Volume 48, Number 22 - $1.00
Vintage Baseball
Colored Wings
At the Band Shell
The Oregon Ganymedes will play in a World Tournament next month. B1
Butterflies were the stars at Elkhorn Creek near Forreston. B1
Illinois Rail will bring bluegrass music to downtown Mt. Morris Friday night. A6
Board to consider naming band shell for director By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com The band shell in downtown Mt. Morris may soon have a name. Andy Eckardt asked the village board Tuesday to call it the Warren G. Reckmeyer Band Shell in honor of Reckmeyer who is retiring this month after 59 years as the director of the Kable Concert Band. Eckardt, who is the Oregon High School Band Director, said a
plaque designating the new name will cost an estimated $1,000 to $1,500. He asked if the plaque could be purchased from the village band fund. Village trustee Jon Murray, who heads up the Public Property Committee, said the board will consider the name change at its Aug. 11 meeting. He said he supports the plan but it cannot be voted on without first being listed on the board’s
meeting agenda. Murray said he will also look into the funding. Eckardt has directed the Kable Concert Band this summer. In another matter, trustee Tim Harvey told the board that the village has purchased $900 worth of anti-mosquito pellets to drop into the storm sewers in an effort to kill mosquito larvae before they hatch. He said the action was taken after a dead bird found in Mt.
Morris earlier this month tested positive for West Nile virus (WNV). The village has also been sprayed twice this summer for mosquitoes, he said. Village president Dan Elsasser said he was told by Ogle County Health Department officials that two kinds of mosquitoes are in the village. The pellets are effective on the ones that carry WNV, he said, because they lay their eggs on the
Officials will look at options for a jail
Reckmeyer to hand off his baton Diretor of Kable Concert Band retiring after 59 years
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com After almost six decades as director of Mt. Morris’ Kable Concert Band, Warren Reckmeyer handed off his baton at this week’s Wednesday night concert. Warren, 91, is retiring after 59 years, and Oregon High School Band Director Andy Eckardt will take over. “It’s just been a lot of fun. It really has,” he said Monday evening. Warren holds the record for the longest time a director has served the band, which has played every year since 1896. “They usual stayed about a year,” he said. Warren started playing in the band shortly after he and his wife Carol moved to Mt. Morris in 1955. “We had hardly set foot in Mt. Morris when [the late] Rod Kelsey was knocking on the door about the band,” Carol said. “We were expecting our first child.” It was logical to ask Warren since he was the newly hired band director for the Mt. Morris School District. Two years later in 1957 he was named the band’s 30th director. The Reckmeyers share a love of music. Carol was also a music instructor, teaching vocal music in Mt. Morris Schools for many years. The two retired from teaching in 1985.
surface of standing water. In other business the board: • learned that a sanitary sewer on Main Street may require extensive repairs after it caused a back-up into a home. • referred a request from Bob Janacek for a zoning amendment to the Planning Commission. Janacek asked the board July 14 to allow him to put a handicapped accessible apartment on the ground floor in the business district.
Warren and Carol Reckmeyer talk about the past 50 years with the Mt. Morris Kable Band. Photo by Chris Johnson
Their daughter Sarah has followed in their footsteps. She is the director of the Ottawa High School Band, which has won the state sweepstakes in its class for 19 consecutive years. They also have three sons and nine grandchildren. Warren’s interest in music began in high school. “We had a fine high school band,” he said. “I just respected the director very much.” In college he planned to pursue a degree in engineering, but changed his mind. “Music was the most fun,” he explained with a grin. Warren played in the college band and in a dance band during his three-year stint in the
U.S. Army. He plays all instruments, but clarinet and saxophone are his specialty. Besides directing and playing in the Kable Concert Band, Reckmeyer plays almost weekly in a jazz band in Rockford. In recent years he has played with a circus band during visits to Sarasota, Florida. Carol is also a percussionist in the Kable Concert Band. Warren said the band was founded in 1845, making it one of the oldest in Illinois, but “really took off” in 1896. The band was originally sponsored by Harry and Harvey Kable, the brothers who founded Kable Printing Company in 1898. Turn to A2
After years of discussing the need for a new jail, Ogle County officials are taking the first step in the process of building one. County board member Don Griffin, Oregon, told the board July 21 that the Long Range & Strategic Planning Committee, which he chairs, is looking at various companies to do a feasibility study for the project. The committee decided July 14 to spend no more than $40,000 on the study without county board approval. Last November as part of the 2015 budget, the board approved a fiveyear plan that included spending $25 million for a new jail in 2018. Various sites have been discussed for the new jail, most recently near the new public safety complex on First Street in Oregon. The present jail, which is attached to the courthouse, was built in 1969. Mark Goldman and Robert Aguirre from the National Institute of Corrections inspected the jail in 2009 and recommended building a new one. Lack of space and poor ventilation were two of the problems they listed in their report.
County fair is underway By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Preparations for opening day of the Ogle County Fair had fair officials, volunteers, and participants working long hours early this week. The 162nd fair opened Wednesday and runs through Sunday at the fairgrounds on Lime Kiln Road, just north of Ill. 64 a mile west of Oregon. Plenty of help and a favorable weather forecast had fair board president Harlan Holm feeling good Tuesday morning. “Preparations are going quite well. Things are coming together,” he said. “We’ve had a good turnout of new volunteers. They’ve been showing up here at the fairgrounds and asking what they can do to help.” With a forecast of
temperatures in the 80s and only slight chances of rain, it appeared that Mother Nature would do her part as well. “Weather-wise we are looking pretty good, too,” Holm said. “It’s supposed to be in the mid to high 80s and rain is slightly possible on Wednesday and Sunday. We can handle that.” He said the carnival arrived Monday afternoon and workers set up rides late into the night. The grounds shows were also getting ready for their performances on Tuesday. “I think they’re going to put on real good shows,” Holm said. Volunteers were also working Tuesday to get the livestock barns ready for 4-H and open show exhibitors, who were slated to arrive Wednesday afternoon. Tickets to the fair can be
In This Week’s Edition...
purchased at the gate for $8 per person which includes unlimited carnival rides, grounds shows, and most entertainment events. Tickets to the grand stand shows are $10 each. Ample free parking is available in a large field south of the fairgrounds. The 2015 Ogle County Fair Queen Pageant was slated to open the fair Wednesday evening. The pageant was set to begin at 5:30 p.m. with the Little Miss and Mister Ogle County Fair contests, followed by the Young Miss and Junior Miss contests, and capped off with the coronation of the new queen. The grandstand shows will be traditional, Holm said. The Riverbend Antique Tractor Pull was scheduled for Wednesday at 6 p.m. Turn to A3
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6
Soaring Eagles 4-H member Kaeden Motszko, left, listens as Ogle County Fair exhibit building judge David Shuman, Polo, points out features of the Farmall M project that were interesting Saturday afternoon during the judging of the 4-H projects. Turn to A3 to read a story about the exhibits entered into this year’s county fair. Photo by Chris Johnson
Library News, A2 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B5 Public Voice, A8 Property Transfers, B5
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B3 Weather, A2
Deaths, B6 Sara D. Haugen, Mary R. Martin, Melody Martinez, Donald L. Woodin
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