Serving the Mt. Morris area since 1967
MT.Times MORRIS
July 6, 2018 Volume 51, Number 38 - $1.00
Zumbini in Oregon
Butterflies Fly
At the Band Shell
Moms and kids get their exercise at Zumbini class in Oregon.B2
Monarch released at dedications for Serenity Home & Hospice B1
Shindig will bring back the 60s tonight, and the Kable Band continues its 122nd season July 11. A2
Music, food, fun continues at LFR through Sunday By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
Let Freedom Ring Queen Megan Buttens stands in front of the Freedom Bell with Grace Mongan, Miss America’s Miss River Valley Outstanding Teen. Buttens said she’s looking forward to representing the community as the Queen. Photo by Zach Arbogast.
Buttens crowned 2018 LFR Queen By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecountynews.com Royalty was crowned right inside the Reckmeyer Band Shell June 27 as Briannah West and Lylse Warner became Little Miss and Mister Firecracker, and Megan Buttens was crowned Let Freedom Ring Queen. Three girls and one little guy gathered up for Mt. Morris’ annual Little Miss and Mister contest, where boys and girls put on their most patriotic outfits, share a little about themselves, and show off their talents to a crowd and judges. Five-year-olds Rosalean Bruns and
Briannah West, and 3-year-old Kayleigh Lynn Williams, took turns showing off their red, white, and blue, but Briannah walked away with the crown. West led the crowd in the pledge of allegiance as her talent. Little Lylse Warner, 4, ran unopposed, but he didn’t put any less effort into his outfit (complete with star-spangled suspenders) nor in his performance of Walk The Moon’s “Shut Up And Dance.” As Warner’s father, Dustin Warner, put it, winning Little Miss and Mister Firecracker can be a confidence boost for the kids. “It takes a lot of courage to get up there,
whether or not there’s a lot of competition,” said Warner. “Winning it is a pretty big confidence boost for the kids, I’m sure.” With the little winners headed back to parents, another crowning took place: Let Freedom Ring’s 2018 Queen. Just as Rebecca Hough ran unopposed last year, Megan Buttens ran alone this year. However, again, that didn’t stop her from delivering a show for the audience. Playing the flute, and joined by her friend Samantha Bowers on the oboe, the pair played “The Raiders March,” what most people would recognize as the Turn to A3
The Let Freedom Ring festival in Mt. Morris got off to a steamy start with temperatures at 90 degrees on Wednesday for the traditional 4th of July Patriotic Program, Grand Parade, and fireworks. Special events including music, food, and family entertainment will continue through Sunday, July 8 with the theme “Fourth of July in the Emerald City” to commemorate the 55th anniversary of the festival. Activities on Friday get started with a silent auction on the lower level of the Mt. Morris Coliseum from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. The annual Jonas Levi Fultz Memorial Cruise will be held from 4 to 8 p.m. on Main Street and Wesley Avenue Jonas and Linda Fultz had been producing this event for more than 15 years before his death in 2013, and Linda is carrying on the tradition in his memory. The show includes a mix of classic cars, street rods, and motorcycles. A bake sale and craft fair will be held on the downtown campus from 5 to 8 p.m., while kids have fun in the Bouncy Houses. The Ogle County Pork Producers will offer serve sandwiches from 5 to 8 p.m. on the campus. Music begins at 7 p.m. with Shindig featured at the Mt. Morris Jamboree at the
Reckmeyer Band Shell. Back Country Roads will take over at 9 p.m. on the stage at Maggie’s Idle Hour. Take a six-mile tour of the area on Saturday morning on the bike ride. Registration begins at 8:30 a.m. in front of the band shell. A kids’ history event celebrating the Illinois Bicentennial, compliments of the Mt. Morris Public Library, will take place at 10 a.m. at the band shell. The silent auction, craft fair, and Bouncy Houses continue from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m., along with a flea market. Try your skills at knockerball from noon to 5 p.m. on the campus. Participants in this unusual sport wear large plastic bubbles while playing soccer. Other events on the campus include games by local scouts at noon, a scavenger hunt at 1 p.m., and bed races at 2 p.m. The Ogle County Beef Producers will serve rib-eyes from 4 to 7 p.m. Music will dominate the afternoon and evening with Tristan Bushman from 2 to 5 p.m. at Maggie’s, the Basement Bluegrass Band from 4 to 5:30 p.m. and Pablo & the Rhythmix from 6 to 8 p.m. at the band shell, and the Gilligans from 8:30 to 11 p.m. at Maggie’s. Sunday starts off at 11 a.m. with the Living Hope church service at the band shell and the Pink Heals Breast Cancer Firetruck on the campus. The silent auction, craft fair and Bouncy Houses continue Turn to A3
More funds are needed to repair Black Hawk Even with state grant, $300,000 still needed for statue repairs By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com Even with a state grant on the way, the Black Hawk Restoration Team has to raise the better part of $300,000 for repairs to the area’s best known landmark. The $350,000 state grant approved recently by the Illinois General Assembly, is a matching grant, which means State Rep. Tom Demmer updates the Oregon Together Black Hawk Restoration Team private donors must come up Monday morning about the progress on funding for the statue’s repairs. At left is Beth with an equal amount, or in this George, president of White Pines Resort, and at right is Debbie Dickson, executive director case slightly more than that, to of the Oregon Chamber of Commerce. Photo by Vinde Wells fix the Black Hawk statue at
In This Week’s Edition...
Byron Library, A7 Church News, A5 Classifieds, B5-B7 Entertainment, A6
Fines, B4 Marriage Licenses, A4 Mt. Morris Library, A3 Public Voice, A7
Lowden State Park. The grant is a 51-49 match, and the 51 percent must come from private sources. At a meeting Monday morning that included State Rep. Tom Demmer (R-Dixon), Restoration Team Chairman Jan Stilson said the estimated cost of the repairs currently sits at $600,000. The fund for the statue’s repair has $59,000 in it. Demmer was on hand to answer questions and to present official copies of the resolution that released the grant money to Stilson and Oregon Mayor Ken Williams. The grant was approved in 2009, but remained tied up by state budget woes until last month. Demmer said that the money previously spent on the preparation work for the repairs
Property Transfers, B4 Rock River Center, A4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
Published every Friday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com
to the 107-year-old concrete statue will not be considered as part of the private matching funds. “Past contracts don’t count,” he said. The preparation work was done under a contract with then-project conservator Andrzej Dajnowski, from Conservation of Sculpture & Objects Studio, Forest Park. Quality Restorations Inc., of Wood Dale, has been chosen by the Illinois Department of Natural Resources to finish the job, although a contract has not yet been signed, Demmer said. The money to pay for the preparation work, which included repair specifications, laser scans, and chemical and structural analyses of the concrete, came from the approximately $500,000 Turn to A8
Deaths, B4 Dorothy F. Foy, Beverly J. Groenewold