Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS October 8, 2015 Volume 48, Number 32- $1.00
Golfers Advance
Assessments
Fall Clean Up
Three Hawk golfers advance to the Byron Sectional. B1
New values have been given to all properties in county. Section C
Residents urged to find alternatives to burning leaves and yard waste. A7
DQ owner says donation made to food pantry By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com The owners of a local restaurant say they made a donation to a local food pantry several weeks ago to make up for inadvertently overcharging customers for sales tax earlier this year. Rocky Sofolo, co-owner of the Oregon Dairy Queen, said his business partner David Dillon dropped off items of food at Lifeline Food Pantry in Oregon back in July. “My partner and his wife dropped off the donation the day after he spoke to the city council,” Sofolo said Tuesday. An excavator demolishes the old Sullivan’s Foods in Mt. Morris Monday morning to make way for more parking. A A local food pantry official new store was built on the site and held a “soft” opening Oct. 2. Photo by Vinde Wells confirmed that. Sharon Wallace, co-
Coming Down
president Lifeline, said Tuesday that pantry volunteers told her the owners brought in four bags of canned goods. Dillon told the Oregon City Council July 14 that a donation had already been made to the food pantry to make up for the restaurant overcharging customers for sales tax. “What we did was made a donation to the food pantry in town,” said Dillon at the meeting. Sofolo said Tuesday that he believes the restaurant overcollected a total of $13 to $15 in sales tax. He said the overcollection was due to a computer glitch and went on for only a short Turn to A3
45th Autumn on Parade rings in another success By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com From the Food Court and Farmers Market to the Harvest Time Parade, festival organizers deemed this weekend’s Autumn on Parade a rousing success. “I think it was a success. It went very well,” said AOP President Marseyne Snow. “Even though it was cloudy part of the time, people seemed to enjoy themselves.” Snow said Sunday’s parade had 124 units, many of which were based on the festival theme of Flashback to the 1970s. “We had 130 signed up, but we did have a few noshows,” Snow said. The downtown streets were packed elbow-toelbow with people watching the parade and cheering enthusiastically for their favorite entries. The 5k run Sunday morning drew 531 participants - 100 more than last year. Back downtown, vendors appeared to leave the festival happy. Food Court Chairman Ray Farrey said most booths there sold out before the festival was over. “Cliff Jones made 500 dozen cider donuts Saturday, and had to turn people away when he ran out around 4 in the afternoon,” Farrey said. Jones provides donuts for the Oregon Masonic Lodge’s food booth. The Ogle County Beef Producers sold 800 sandwiches on Saturday, and were out of food by 2 p.m. on Sunday, Farrey said. He listed off several more vendors who found themselves in the same
situation. Farrey said he believes the cool weather, in the upper 50s, played a big part. “It was an ideal weekend for the Food Court,” he said. “It was cooler so people were eating rather than just getting soft drinks. The crowd was bigger, too, this year.” Farmers Market Chairman Dave Boehle said the 189 booths at this year’s festival may be the most ever. “They all seemed to be really pleased with their sales,” he said. “We heard nothing but positives.” One vendor took a chance and drove 340 miles to display her wares. Liz Hanson, Mercer, Wisconsin, brought a variety of homemade metal spinners, whirligigs, and small garden signs. She makes them by hand with her husband. “I do all the welding on these spinners,” she said. “They ride on stainless steal bearings and will spin easy.” When they first go in a garden the silver from the stainless steel is bright and shiny and shows some darker spots from the welding. In less then a year the creations come alive. “They will naturally rust and patina,” said Hanson. Throughout the festival, shoppers were spotted carrying the spinners through the farmer’s market. The festival also provided a time to see the community where Hanson’s mother was raised. “I decided to give this festival a try,” she said. Another vendor was selling small barn quilts and had a shorter drive to attend the farmer’s market, just 24 miles. Lori Blask owns Baileyville Barn Quilts and
In This Week’s Edition...
Vendor Liz Hanson traveled 340 miles from Mercer Wisconsin to exhibit her homemade whirligigs at the farmer’s market. Photo by Chris Johnson
had a variety of small ones for sale this year. The boards ranged in size from small 12 inch squares to 3 foot square quilts. “Barn quilts can hang on the house, barn, shed, or garage,” said Blask. “They are popular in Wisconsin where you see the larger barn quilts.” In keeping with the festival theme, Elvis fans got a chance Sunday to sway and sing along with “The King.” Elvis impersonator Chris Corcoran, Mt. Morris, belted
Agriculture, A7 Church Bells, A5 Classifieds, B7-B12 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6
out favorites like “Blue Christmas” and “Blue Suede Shoes” to the delight of the cheering crowd. Kali Aluli, Oregon, danced to the music, holding his 4-year-old granddaughter. “We came to support Chris,” he said. “He’s fabulous - he has a great voice.” Across the Rock River at Oregon Park East, horse power was the focus on Saturday. Run by Focus House, the annual AOP Auto Classic
Library News, A3 Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, A7 Public Voice, A8 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
brought 175 rides from vintage 1930s cars to modern muscle cars. Jim Dunham, Elmhurst, brought one of the rarest cars in the country to the show. His 1939 Graham Coupe is one of 12 registered in the county. “We think there are only 20 of these cars,” said Dunham. “I belong to Graham International and there are 12 registered cars. It is a very rare car.” Dunham thinks that there may be other examples of the
Social News, A4 Sports, B1-B2 State’s Attorney, B5 Zoning Permits, B6
car waiting to be discovered. “There is always one stuck in a barn somewhere,” he said. This coupe received a full two-year restoration and was modified to be more of a hotrod style while retaining most of the stylings and feel of the original car. The work was completed shortly before Dunham purchased the car four years ago. Chris Johnson contributed to this story.
Deaths, B5 Lucille R. DeWall, Norma J. Deuth, Lois A. Malott, Diane M. Thompson
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com