Serving Ogle County since 1851
OREGON Republican Reporter
December 25, 2014 Volume 165, Number 2 - $1.00
Lady Hawks Third
Dog Ordinance
The Lady Hawks beat Forreston, but fall to Prophetstown at the Polo tournament. B1
Oregon Police Chief Darin DeHaan says its time for a new ordinance for violent dogs. A9
Festival raised $15,000-plus for statue repairs Oregon Trail Days was held for 5 years By Vinde Wells Editor The fund to make repairs on the Black Hawk Statue was enriched by more than $15,000 recently, thanks to a local festival. Amy Trimble, creator of the Oregon Trail Days
Festival, said the festival committee sent away all their money to the Illinois Conservation Foundation last week for the restoration of the Black Hawk Statue, which stands on a high bluff overlooking the Rock River at Lowden State Park near Oregon.. “The check for $15,718.93 consisted of funds generated during the July event as well as from sales of merchandise throughout the year,” Trimble said.
The Oregon Trail Days Festival was started in July of 2010 as fundraiser for the century-old landmark, and had its final event in July of 2014. Trimble said a total of more than $50,000 was raised for the project by the five festivals. The committee, who committed five years to the event, was hoping that new individuals would step forward to continue the twoday festival but so far no one
has expressed interest, she said. “We fully understand people’s reluctance to get involved,” Trimble said. “It takes a lot of work and time to put on a festival of this nature and when people realize that this is strictly a volunteer situation it becomes an even larger sacrifice.” The committee, which consisted of Beth Henderson, Donna Mann, Merlin and Cindy Hagemann, and Ken and Chris Williams, were
all very happy with their final contribution and their involvement in the statue restoration, Trimble said. “We feel like we’ve made a great contribution to Oregon by helping raise funds for Black Hawk but most importantly by creating media hype about this historical structure. Over the past several years we were able to bring several newspapers, magazines and TV outlets to Oregon to share Black Hawk’s story with
people all across Illinois and the Midwest,” Henderson said. “In some respects that was more important than the money that we raised. Mann urged the public to continue to make donations to the restoration project. “We strongly encourage people to continue supporting the fundraising efforts for the statue,” she said. “As we understand it, the initial estimates for the restoration Turn to A3
Three running for mayor, five for city commissioner By Vinde Wells Editor
Above, Stan Asp and Sue Ossman fill food boxes while below Stan Eden stacks cases of butter at the Oregon VFW during the annual Christmas food basket packaging and delivery day. Photo by Chris Johnson
Christmas food baskets delivered The Oregon VFW was the assembly point for dozens of volunteers at the Post’s home last Saturday as 104 Christmas food baskets were assembled and then delivered to Oregon-area families and individuals who needed them. The baskets contained Christmas meal staples such as ham, potatoes, milk, butter, bread, and vegetables. A bag of Christmas candy as well as apples and oranges were also included. VFW members along with other volunteers started delivering the baskets at 8 a.m. The VFW’s Christmas food basket program is made possible through donations from club members, the general public, and businesses.
As of late Monday afternoon, three candidates had thrown their hats into the ring to run for Oregon mayor and five more had filed their petitions for city commissioner. Current mayor Thomas Stone Sr., 69, will face challenges in the April 7 consolidated election from a current commissioner and a former mayor he has defeated twice before. Also filing petitions for the city’s top post were current commissioner Ken Williams, 68, and retired Oregon businessman Michael Arians, 65, who served as mayor more than a decade ago. Stone is seeking his fourth term as mayor. He was first elected to that post in 2003 when he defeated Arians. Stone also served as a city commissioner from 1999 to 2003. Arians, who owns and operates the Roadhouse at the south end of Oregon, served as mayor from 1999-2003, and lost his bid for a second term to Stone. Arians also ran
unsuccessfully for Oregon mayor in 2011, and lost a bid for Ogle County Sheriff in 2006 when he ran on the Democratic ticket against Republican Greg Beitel. Williams has served two terms on the city council and is presently the city’s Finance Commissioner. Another former mayor Jim Barnes Sr., 86, is seeking one of four city commissioner seats Barnes served as mayor from 1978 to 1999, when he lost a re-election bid to Arians. He also served on the city council prior to becoming the mayor. Barnes also served on the Ogle County Board from 2006 to 2012 and was the board’s chairman from 2010 to 2012. His daughter Virginia Pearson, 65, has also filed a petition for city commissioner. Also filing for the city council are current board member Thomas E. Izer, 83, and newcomers Terry Schuster, 60, and Kurt Wilson, 44. Izer served as a commissioner from 2001 to
2007 and was elected to his current term in 2011. He is presently the city’s Streets & Sidewalks Commissioner. Schuster, although new to city government, is presently a member of the Oregon Library Board. The mayor’s and commissioners’ terms are all four-year long. The filing period began Dec. 15 and ended on Monday at 5 p.m. Candidates who have filed have until Jan. 29 to withdraw from the race.
Only one for school board By Vinde Wells Editor An hour before the filing deadline, only one candidate had filed for three open seats on the Oregon School Board. Incumbent Mary Jo Griffin was the lone candidate at 3:30 p.m. on Monday. Candidates had until 4:30 p.m. to file their petitions with the Ogle County Clerk. The terms currently held Turn to A2
Christmas card returned to sender 51 years later By Jermaine Pigee Sauk Valley Media Kelly Denton spent the past few days trying to figure out how a long-lost Christmas card appeared in her mailbox. “I’d really like to know where it came from,” said Denton, 52, Mt. Morris. Last Tuesday, Denton received a card postmarked Dec. 15, 1963, from Dixon. That same letter had another postmark from Seattle, Wash., dated Dec. 11 of this year. In 1963, Carolyn Hackbarth, Mt. Morris, sent the card to William and Debbie Kiddell, her former neighbors. Both WIlliam and Debbie have since passed away. Hackbarth, 76, lived in Dixon when she mailed the card. Hackbarth slowly opened the 51-year-old envelope and re-discovered the card
Saturday afternoon as a group of people looked on at Pinecrest Community. “I know there is no money in here, because I don’t remember putting any in the card,” Hackbarth said with a laugh. The front of the card has three Christmas trees – two green and one red – along with the word “Greetings”. The inside of the white card reads “Merry Christmas Happy New Year.” “The card is in great shape
In This Week’s Edition...
after all these years,” Denton said. There is no house number on the envelope. Instead, Hackbarth just addressed the card to Hannah Avenue in Mt. Morris. Denton lives on South Hannah Avenue. “In a small town like this, everyone knows everyone,” Hackbarth said. “Back then, a lot of people just put the name of the street on the card Carolyn Hackbarth laughs as she holds on to a lost Christmas card she mailed in and the mail carrier knew 1963. The card was delivered to Kelly Denton of Mount Morris last week. Photo by Turn to A2 Philip Marruffo, Sauk Valley Media
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B8-B12 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6
Fines, B3 Library News, A9 Marriage License, A4 Property Transfers, B7
Service News, A4 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2
Deaths, B5 Scott D. Beatty, Diane J. Schmidt, Leonard W. Thweatt, Carolyn K. White
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com