Library News

2 MT. MORRIS TIMES MT. MORRIS TIMES MO RRIS BE AT oglecountynews.com ShawLocal.com OFFICE 113-115 Peoria Ave. By EARLEEN HINTON ehinton@shawmedia.com There has been some interest in the forMT. Dixon, IL 61021 mer David L. Rahn Junior High School following the Oregon School Board’s decision Mt. Morris Times / ShawLocal.com • Friday, Jul 22, 2022 SUBSCRIPTIONS $39 in Ogle County, and $52 outside Ogle County. Singlecopy price is $1 To subscribe, make a payment or discuss your delivery, call 1-866-979-1053 Monday-Friday or send an e-mail to subscriptions@ oglecountynews.com. You also can subscribe online by going to oglecountynews.com and clicking on Subscribe. CLASSIFIED SALES 815-220-6942 apicco@shawmedia.com OBITUARIES 815-632-2534 phartman@shawmedia.com Deadline for obituaries is last month to seek bids to sell the building and its surrounding property. “Two different gentlemen did a walkthrough of the building and another has asked for a packet,” Oregon Superintendent Tom Mahoney told board members Monday night. “We know for sure we’ve had at least three with some interest in the building.” Mahoney said representatives who are considering starting a college in the area also had expressed an interest in the building. “They are going to do a walk-through in August,” Mahoney said. School officials unanimously voted in June to start the 60-day process to seek bids to sell the building after the Mt. Morris Village Board rejected ownership of the 1952 school building which was the Mt.2 p.m. Tuesday fo edition r Friday’s Morris High School. The school became the junior high when the two districts SEND NEWS joined in the early 1990s. news@oglecountynews.com A notice of sale has to be published for three weeks before the bid opening. “If no Publisher bids are received then we can hire a real Jennifer Heintzelman estate broker or demolish it,” Mahoney 815-632-2502 said in June. jheintzelman@shawmedia.com Mt. Morris Village Trustees recommended in June that the school board General Manager Earleen Hinton 815-632-2591 ehinton@shawmedia.com reconsider pursuing any disposition of the building for a period of two to three years. On Feb. 22, school board members voted 4-2 to close DLR at the end of the 2021-22 school year, despite pleas from Mt. Morris officials and residents to keep the school open.

Seventh grade and eighth grade students will attend Oregon High School, which is located five miles to the east in Oregon, beginning this fall.

DLR was the last remaining school in Mt. Morris. The Mt. Morris School District merged with the Oregon School District because of financial reasons.

Mahoney first proposed closing DLR in May 2021, citing decreasing enrollment throughout the district and increasing maintenance costs at DLR as reasons to do so.

“We continue to believe this decision is wrong, shortsighted and not in the best interest of students, staff and district families,” Labash said in a written statement two weeks ago. “Immediate disposition of the building through sale, transfer or demolition will eliminate a critical safety net, should serious issues arise as a result of this decision.”

An advisory committee, formed before the school board’s final vote, argued that information they had disputed Mahoney’s assessment of the building’s physical condition and also argued that the school district did not need to close the school because of financial reasons.

A walk-through of the building was offered to the public July 3.

On Monday, Bruce Obendorf, a former school board member and Mt. Morris resident, thanked the board for opening the school to the public for the walk-through.

“Thank you for giving Mt. Morris High School alumni the opportunity to see the

Some interest shown in DLR propert y building,” he said. “It meant something for them to walk into that gym again and remember. I thank you for allowing people to do that.” As part of the bid process, bids must be submitted in a sealed envelope titled “Bid for School District Real Estate” with the name, address and telephone number of the bidder displayed on the outside of the bid. Bids are due on Aug. 9, at 3 p.m., at the District Administrative Office, 206 S. 10th Street, Oregon, IL 61061. Bids will be opened and read aloud on Aug. 9, at 3 p.m., at the District Administrative Office. The award of the bid, if at all, shall be by the Board of Education on Aug. 15, at 6:30 p.m., or such later date as the board may determine. The property is available through auction by a sealed bid with no minimum sale price. “The closure of the David L. Rahn Junior High School building was a hard decision to make, but we know it’s right for our students, our taxpayers, and our OCUSD220 community,” Mahoney said in a news release. “It has opened the doors to new opportunities for junior high students this upcoming fall, such as the option to take Spanish and Ag as well as offering additional computer science and social studies courses. We are also thrilled to announce that FFA will now be available to our junior high students.” The repurposing of the David. L. Rahn Junior High School property can provide growth opportunities for the village of Mt. Morris through investment in new business, the release said.

News

Alexa Zoellner

815-632-2590 azoellner@shawmedia.com

MT. MORRIS LIBRARY BRIEF

Advertising Sales Alexandria Shields 815-632-2502 ashields@shawmedia.com

Mt. Morris Times, Ogle County News and oglecountynews.com are a division of Shaw Media. Ogle County Newspapers also prints the Mt. MorrisTimes , OregonRepublicanReporter, and Polo’s Tri-CountyPress .

The MT. MORRIS TIMES (USPS No. 365-440) is published weekly by B.F. Shaw Printing Co., Shaw Media. Periodical postage paid at Mt. Morris, Illinois. POSTMASTER Send address changes to MT. MORRIS TIMES, P.O. Box 8, Oregon, IL 61061. Phone 815-732-6166, ext. 2516.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2022

Summer Reading Program

“Reading Beyond the Beaten Path” reading logs need to be completed by Saturday, July 23, to qualify for the party and awesome prizes! If you have reached your goal be sure to stop by the library for an invitation to the celebration and to get your goody bag!

Kable Concert Band

Join us on Wednesday, July 27, for the weekly Kable Concert at the Bandshell. Mt. Morris Library will be making rootbeer floats for the event. Floats will be provided by donation. Stop by for some great treats and awesome music!

Storytime-Wednesdays at 11:15 a.m.

Summer has just flown by! We will have a craft kit to help build your own kite using sand and a story time to celebrate! Don’t miss the take-n-make kite craft and a breezy story time on Wednesday.

Page Position Available

We’re hiring. Page position available starting in August. This part-time job is open to high school students who are available to work Saturdays and evenings. Duties include helping at the circulation desk, shelving books, interacting with the public, working with the children’s programmer, and other duties as assigned. Applications may be picked up at the library; there is no online application available.

Lego Club

Our next Lego night on Thursday, Aug. 18, from 6 –6:45 p.m. Bring a friend and build some fun with Lego bricks! All Children and parents are invited. Children under 8 need to bring a parent with them.

Adult Book Club

The July book is The Paris Library by Janet Skeslien Charles. Everyone is welcome to join this book club group! Copies of the book are available at the library. This group will meet in-person at the library on Monday, July 25 at 3:30 p.m.

Curbside Service is available!

We want to remind everyone that you still have the option of having your materials delivered to your vehicle. If you have holds waiting for you, call us to tell us you are on your way, and we will bring them out to your vehicle when you arrive. Call us if you need more information.

Freshman Athlete/New Athlete Orientation Night

Oregon High School will hold its mandatory Freshman Athlete/New Athlete Orientation event on Thursday, Aug. 4, at 7 p.m. in the OHS gym.

This event is mandatory for all incoming freshmen and new/transfer students to Oregon High School who are planning on participating in athletics during their high school career.

A parent/guardian must also attend the orientation event.

Students will not be able to participate in games or contests until this requirement is met.

For families who are out of town on Aug. 4, the event will be repeated at the regular school orientation event on Thursday evening, Aug. 11, at 7:45 p.m. in the gym.

Therapeutic riding center still reeling from damage done by March windstorm

By EARLEEN HINTON ehinton@shawmedia.com

A s t r o n g w i n d r i p p e d t h r o u g h southern Ogle County in March and in a matter of minutes significantly damaged the main arena building at Pegasus Special Riders, a therapeutic riding center.

Four months later, the center is still reeling from the storm’s effects.

“We are still fighting with the insurance company and now we are waiting again,” said Donna Fellows, Pegasus’ board of directors’ president.

She was the first to learn of the March storm damage when she saw what the wind had done to the main building via remote cameras at the facility.

Fellows contacted Dave Diveley, p r o p e r t y m a n a g e r , a n d w h e n h e arrived at the center he saw the devastation. “The south end of the building took the brunt of it,” he said in March. “All the horses were OK, but they were jumpy from the storm.”

The 11 horses were housed under the wooden hay mow at the south end of the 62’x420’ building when the storm hit. The horses and two cats that resided in the structure were not hurt.

The wind pushed the north end of the building in, twisting and bending the large garage door.

T h e “ h o o p ” b u i l d i n g w a s c o n structed in 2002. Its roof and sides consist of a large tarp called a “coverall” that stretches over the steel frame. Sections of the tarp were torn from the frame and deposited nearby while some sections remained on the frame with tears.

Those gaps remain today.

“It’s been like this since March 5,” Fellows said. “It has rained in on our hay storage so we had to destroy hay that would normally feed the horses. We just had our first cutting of hay, but when we have our second cutting we don’t know where we will put it.”

Fellows, who helped re-established Pegasus in 1996 overseeing the therapeutic horseback riding program and the purchase and development of the land on Carthage Road, southeast of Oregon, said it is likely the insurance settlement will not cover the entire price of rebuilding.

“We were informed we had a ‘cap’ o n o u r i n s u ra n c e s o w e c o u l d b e responsible for $100,000 or more to just replace what we have now,” she said. “In 2002, it cost us $150,000. Now that has doubled in price.”

She said officials have looked into many different types of buildings, rather than the hoop (engineered building).

“We’ve looked into everything from pole buildings to metal buildings and our need for storage, but this [hoop] is the type of building we need,” she said.

Metal buildings are primarily used for storage and don’t have the ventilation or floor suitable for the riding area.

Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media Dave Diveley, property manager at Pegasus Special Riders, points to some of the damage to the main building by strong winds in March. No horses were injured.

See PEGASUS, Page 4

Member FDIC Congratulations David!

David Mecklenburg

Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer

The Mt. Morris Fire Foundation is seeking to raise $2 million toward the cost of a new fire station.

The estimated cost of a new building is $4.5 million, and the nonprofit foundation, along with the fire district staff, is asking for the public’s assistance to avoid increasing property taxes.

The Mt. Morris firehouse is nearly 100 years old and was originally built as a car dealership and service station when Model T’s filled the streets.

The station has been modified over the years to remain functional, however, with low ceilings, narrow overhead doors, porous brick and close proximity to the street, among other issues, the foundation board and fire department staff are pursuing the construction of a new building.

“Our firehouse has served its useful life,” Fire Chief Rob Hough said. “Our commitment to lifesaving work has not wavered, and the staff continues to serve the community despite the indisputably difficult and unsafe environment from which they operate. The new firehouse will allow us to operate in a safe and responsive manner into the foreseeable future.”

The cost of the new building reflects fiscal prudence and is in line with stations in similar-sized communities in northwest Illinois.

The initial projected cost is $4.5 million, and the district is not seeking to increase taxes in any way, officials said.

Besides charitable donations, the district is pursuing state and federal grants, and local, state and federal low-interest loans.

“It will be a modest, sensible structure keeping with the aesthetics of the downtown,” said Scott Diehl, Fire District Board of Trustees president. “It will afford the district much-needed space with a little room to grow. It is designed to address the inefficiencies of the current building and provide a modern safe environment for our staff.”

The Mt. Morris Fire Protection District serves a 45-square-mile area surrounding the town, responding to nearly 1,100 emergency calls for service annually.

The district employs a fire chief and six EMT/paramedics, and relies on the dedication of 20 volunteers, officials said in a news release.

“Since 2000, due to a drastic increase in medical calls, the fire station has been staffed 24 hours a day, seven days a week with on-site paramedics,” the release said.

Donations may be mailed to Mt. Morris Fire Foundation, 15 E. Center St., Mt. Morris, IL 61054.

To learn more about the foundation’s mission and to donate online, visit mtmorrisfirefoundation.com.

SPECIAL EVENT

Fundraiser for Serenity July 21-24

Jack of all Trades … and Jill’s too! Huge Barn Sale will be opening for four days only from July 21-24.

The barn at 1194 W. Mud Creek Road, north of Oregon, will be filled with new and vintage items, collectibles and fun things to own. “After 25 years of having a fundraising sale, we think we have it right!,” organizer Karen Virnoche said. “We started out on our porch and after a few years when the barn was ‘remodeled’ with cement floor and new windows, we moved into the barn. The last four years we have given the proceeds to Serenity Hospice and Home.”

Serenity serves people anywhere they call “home” and provides support in all areas of need from medical to bereavement to volunteers, Virnoche said.

Heirlooms, items for reimagining a room, and possessions that have accumulated over the years are all part of this year’s sale.

The sale will be open from at 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., rain or shine.

Illustration provided This drawing shows what a new fire station would look like in Mt. Morris. Fundraising efforts are now underway to raise $4.5 million to construct the building.

• PEGASUS

Continued from Page 3

“We need a building that allows us to have a softer ground for our aging horses and some of our volunteers, too,” she said. “At this point we really have to rely on donations.”

According to the organization’s website, “Pegasus Special Riders provides a variety of programming to benefit qualified individuals through year round programs and outreach programs.

“The Therapeutic Riding Program improves the quality of life of those we serve. Our primary clients are individuals with disabilities who benefit physically, emotionally and cognitively through animal-assisted activities, primarily through interaction with horses. We do not turn anyone away due to their inability to pay.”

Fellows said Diveley is the organization’s only full-time employee with dedicated volunteers stepping in to help with daily chores and events.

“We’ve lost a whole year of lessons, but a lot of clients are sponsored through scholarships, so we really don’t have a revenue stream,” Fellows said. “We still have our horses and we have that to be grateful for and we are s o f o r t u n a t e n o n e o f t h e m w e r e injured. But this is very daunting.”

Fellows hopes supporters will come to Saturday’s Family Picnic Fundraiser to help raise funds for the repairs. Festivities begin at 5 p.m. at 6668 S. Carthage Road.

The $15 event, which will mark Pegasus’ 25th anniversary, includes a pork chop dinner sponsored by Ralph & LuLu’s of Ashton and live music by Jim Kanas. The price for a family of four is $50 and there is no charge for children 5 years and under.

“If it is rainy we want people to know that the event will be held rain or shine,” Fellows said. “We will push all the equipment to the side in our storage building and everyone will be covered.”

Tickets will be available at the door or by calling 815-973-3177. peutic horseback riding to northern Illinois residents with physical, mental and emotional challenges.

The organization is staffed by 50 volunteers who are involved with all aspects of the program from horse care, horse handling during lessons and barn chores to fundraising and special events.

Visit Pegasus at www.PegasusSpecialRiders.org for additional information.

Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media The garage door to the main building at Pegasus Special Riders was pushed inside by the March storm.