Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS October 2, 2014 Volume 47, Number 31 - $1.00
One Hurt in Wreck
A Fresh Start
Assessments
A Polo man was injured in a 4-vehicle accident on Ill. 64 last week. A9
With a new 4-H year beginning, clubs are seeking new members. A7
Several properties in Ogle County have had changes to the assessments. B6-B8
Engine #2 comes back after 67 years By Vinde Wells Editor After more than six decades of “living” just down the road, one of Mt. Morris’ grand old “ladies” has returned home. The Mt. Morris Firemen’s Association purchased a 1930 fire engine affectionately known as “Old Betsy” from the Leaf River Fire Department earlier this year. The antique engine was loaded onto a trailer and brought back to Mt. Morris in June, in time to be displayed in the Let Freedom Ring Grand Parade. Mt. Morris Fire Chief Rob Hough said plans call for restore the old truck, both mechanically and body-wise, through fundraisers. “I want to emphasize that no tax money is being used,” he said. “The work will be
paid for through fundraisers and firemen’s association funds.” Once Betsy is running and bright and shiny again, the department will use her for parades and during Fire Prevention Week programs, Hough said. “We’ll drive it in parades and to the preschools,” he said. The firemen’s association purchased the old truck from Leaf River for $6,000. Leaf River Fire Chief Steve Shelton said his department’s plan was also to restore the truck, but that didn’t happen. “We put a lot of work into it over the years but it wasn’t coming like we wanted it to,” Shelton said. “Since it came from Mt. Morris we decided Mt. Morris firefighter and paramedic Justin Stewart, left, and Fire Chief Rob Hough pose with Engine #2, also known they should have the first as “Old Betsy,” a 1930 firetruck. The truck recently came back to Mt. Morris after 67 years in Leaf River. Photo by Turn to A2
Vinde Wells
AOP offers choices galore this weekend in Oregon By Vinde Wells Editor If you’ve got a hankering for a funnel cake, need to do some early Christmas shopping, or just want to get out to enjoy perfect fall weather, the Autumn on Parade festival in Oregon this weekend has it all. The Farmers’ Market and Craft Show, situated around the scenic Ogle County Courthouse square and adjoining streets, will feature 150 vendors selling their wares at 170 booths. “We have a little something for everybody,” said AOP Committee
Member Laury Edlund and chairman of the Farmers’ Market. True to its roots in 1970, the Farmers’ Market and Craft Show remains the heart of the festival which celebrates its 44th year this weekend, Saturday, Oct. 4 and Sunday, Oct. 5. So far, the weatherman is promising sunny skies and temperatures in the 60s. The Farmers’ Market’s booths offer a diverse array of items, Edlund said. “This year we have quite a few more vendors selling produce and food items,” she said. “It runs the gamut from honey and maple syrup
products to peanut brittle and dip mixes.” Jeff Warren, who owns BerryView Orchard, Mt. Morris, will offer homegrown aronia berry treats for the first time this year. Maple syrup and sweets made from maple syrup will be available at the Maple Lane Farm booth from Rob and Lynnette Hough, Mt. Morris. Seasonal favorites apple cider and caramel apple wedges are the bill-of-fare at Oregon resident April Roos’ booth. As they have every year of Turn to A8
Village bd. mulls cat complaint By Vinde Wells Editor Free-roaming felines are becoming a nuisance in town, according to one Mt. Morris village trustee. Trustee Tim Harvey said at the Sept. 23 village board meeting that the village has a problem with stray cats. He said he has had stray cats in his yard on several occasions and has fielded complaints from other residents with the same Autumn on Parade volunteer Ray Farrey ties cornstalks problem. to a light pole as part of the preparations for the annual festival Autumn on Parade. Photo by Chris Johnson
Turn to A3
Bison on the near horizon for Nachusa Grasslands Months, years of planning to prepare for herd By Earleen Hinton General Manager Cody Considine couldn’t help but smile as he stood on a high hill overlooking the old Holland Farm Site at the Nachusa Grasslands on a clear sunny day last week. “Right there, where you see that fencing is where we will be directing the bison into the corral when we have our round ups,” said Considine, the restoration ecologist at the Grasslands. That’s right he said bison. And yep, right here in Lee County, just a few miles from Dixon and Oregon. Casual visitors to the 3,000 acre Grasslands, owned and operated by The Nature Conservancy, probably haven’t noticed all the extra activity going on at the scenic preserve these last few
months. Volunteers, staff, and contractors have been working side-by-side putting up fence and constructing a state-of-the-art bison corral for the preserve’s newest addition, the first of which are slated to arrive later this week. And that’s just the past few months. The real foundation for getting a conservation herd of bison at the Grasslands started years ago and has been accomplished through hundreds of thousands of volunteer hours that helped reshape the farmland back into a habitat that could again support bison. “I’m anxious, concerned, there’s a lot of tasks yet to be done,” said Bill Kleiman, preserve manager. “We started thinking about this in the early 1990s, but then we decided we had too much restoration work to do so we put the dream off for another 15 years.” That dream begins later this week when the first bison arrive at their new home.
In This Week’s Edition...
“We will start out with 15 to 20 and hope to have around 50 when it’s all said and done,” said Considine who is headed to Iowa this week to help bring the first bison back. The bison destined for
the Grasslands come from TNC preserves like Wind Cave National Park in South Dakota. The Nature Conservancy currently has 13 preserves with approximately 5,500 bison. Wind Cave bison are
unique because they have not been bred with cattle. “The Wind Cave herd has been closed since the 1900s,” said Considine. “It’s pure and has had no cattle integration. We don’t have anything against cattle, but bison
have a much more hands off approach.” The Grasslands bison will be transported to the preserve in livestock trailers. They will be unloaded into the Turn to A8
Cody Considine explains how bison will be funneled into the state-of-the-art facility bison corral during annual round ups at The Nachusa Grasslands. The first bison are expected to arrive this week. Photo by Earleen Hinton
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B9-B14 College & Service, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B5
Library News, A3 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B5 Public Voice, A11 Property Transfers, B4
Sheriff’s Arrests, B5 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B4
Deaths, B3 Diane R. Berthiaume, Joan M. Carr, Janice E. Snapp, Suzanne C. Sumell, Gary L. Webb
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com