Serving Ogle County since 1851
OREGON Republican Reporter
July 13, 2018 Volume 168, Number 31 - $1.00
Jamboree Music
Vintage Ball
Police Praise
Free concerts in Mt. Morris continue on July 13 and July 20 A6
The Ganymedes defeat Somanauk at the Chana School Museum Field.. B2
An Oregon man gets a certificate for helping the Oregon Police Department. A2
E.D. Etnyre to give $100,000 toward statue repairs Oregon company to give major boost to fundraising efforts By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com The fundraising efforts for the Black Hawk statue’s repairs got significant boost last week when a local manufacturer announced its plans to make a large donation. E.D. Etnyre & Co. will contribute $100,000 toward the cost of restoring
the 107-year-old landmark that overlooks the Rock River from a high bluff at Lowden State Park, just east of Oregon. “As two of the community’s oldest residents, both the Eternal Indian and E. D. Etnyre & Co. have called the community of Oregon home for over 100 years; without either the community would just not be the same,” said Robin Etnyre, Corporate Communication Specialist. “For this reason, E. D. Etnyre & Co. is pleased to support the Oregon Together Black Hawk Team in the preservation of this historical landmark.”
Jan Stilson, chairman of the Black Hawk Restoration Team expressed her committee’s appreciation. “Thank you very much for supporting us,” she said. “I think it’s wonderful. It shows the connection E.D. Etnyre has to the community of Oregon and to the Black Hawk statue. They were present when it was constructed in 1910. They were very supportive then and are very supportive now. It sets an example for other businesses and corporations.” Team members said last week that they need to raise approximately $300,000 as the private portion for a
matching state grant. The total cost of the repairs is estimated at $600,000. Created by sculptor Lorado Taft in December of 1910 and dedicated the following summer, the concrete statue needs the repairs due to the ravages of weather and time. Taft called the statue the Eternal Indian and intended it to be a tribute to Native Americans. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2009, and on the state’s list of Most Endangered Historic Places in 2015. Over the years, despite numerous repair efforts, parts of the statue
have crumbled and fallen off. Winter weather has been especially devastating. The Oregon Together: Black Hawk Restoration Team was formed several months ago to complete the ongoing restoration efforts begun more than a decade ago by the Friends of the Black Hawk Statue. An account for donations has been set up at the Stillman Bank, and checks should be made out to Oregon Together: Black Hawk Restoration. For more information contact Stilson at 815-668-1339 or jstilson21@comcast.net.
City okays plan for new mains
The Farmer & the Fawn Fawn is rescued after being trapped in a 12’ hole in farmer’s field
By Zach Arbogast zarbogast@oglecounty news.com
By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecountynews.com A routine task held some big surprises for a Polo farmer over the weekend. Phil Fossler, who is also a realtor, was mowing the grass in a waterway through a cornfield southwest of Polo Saturday afternoon when the front tire of his tractor lurched into what turned out to be a 12-foot hole. “All of a sudden the tractor stopped,” Fossler said. “It threw me against the steering wheel. I was going slow - probably only about two miles per hour — because I was up next to the corn.” When he shut the tractor down and got off to survey the situation, he saw something brown at the bottom of the hole and assumed it was a field tile — until it moved. “Then I saw it was a fawn,” Fossler said. “He was alive and healthy. He was running around down there, trying to get out.” He called his wife and asked her to bring an end loader from his nearby farm. Then he noticed the hole was wider as it got deeper and decided to call Ed Dyer, of Polo, for a tow truck. “I didn’t want an end loader anywhere around it,” he said. Dyer soon arrived, took a look at the hole, started back to his truck — and totally disappeared. Fossler said he had fallen into a second 12-foot hole. Dyer told Fossler he had dislocated his shoulder and needed the ambulance. Besides calling the ambulance, Fossler called Greg Wagner, who knew how to operate Dyer’s tow truck, and the Conservation Police. Using equipment from Dyer’s truck, they hoisted him out of the hole and took him to the waiting ambulance for a trip to the hospital. That done, they pulled the tractor out of the hole and rescued the rambunctious fawn using a lasso. Conservation officer Steve Beltran said the fawn’s mother was spotted nearby, and the two were soon reunited. Dyer’s shoulder was put back in place at the hospital, and he is recuperating. The mystery that remains is what caused the two holes. “Right now there’s no explanation,” Fossler said. “I’ve been cutting this waterway for 10 years and nothing like this has ever happened.” The field, which Fossler recently sold, is farmed by David and Keith Poole. Fossler said they told him they have not seen the holes there previously either. Experts from the Ogle County Soil & Water Conservation Department were scheduled to take a look Tuesday morning.
In This Week’s Edition...
Above, the fawn stands in the 12’ deep hole waiting for rescue workers to help. At left, one of Phil Fossler’s tractor wheels was stuck in the mouth of the hole requiring a tow truck to free it. Fossler was mowing grass in a waterway in a cornfield when his tractor lurched into the hole. He saw the fawn in the bottom of the hole when he got out to investigate why his tractor was stuck. Photos courtesy of Steve Beltran
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B5-B8 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B4
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B4 Public Voice, A7 Property Transfers, B3
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B2 State’s Attorney, B3
An engineering agreement approved on Tuesday has set in motion the first phase in replacing Oregon water mains, and it won’t affect residents’ water rates. The Oregon City Council unanimously voted to approve an engineering agreement with Willett Hofmann and Associates, Inc., to move forward with replacing and improving water mains throughout the city. The first mains being targeted are Third Street from Washington to Madison Streets, Third Street from Webster to Collins Streets, and Hill Street from Ill. 2 to Fifth Street. The four-inch-wide pipes would be replaced with eight-inch-wide pipes, putting in new hydrants, new valves, running new water services to the property lines with shutoffs, and “looping” - connecting dead ends to other mains. Looping can allow continuous service if there is a break in one water main line. Matt Hansen, Vice President of Willett Hofmann, said he’d like to put an alternate bid in which includes the main along Collins Street from Fourth to Third Streets. “Basically, what we’ll do is make the base bid those first three streets and then do an alternate bid for the other one,” said Hansen. “If it looks like it comes in at, or below, budget, and we can afford it, then we would do that Collins Street piece.” Hansen said replacing the mains has always been on the radar, but with repainting the reservoirs and working on well houses two, three, and four, they didn’t see how they could fit the project into the budget. The city borrowed $2.5 million from the Illinois Environmental Protection Agency’s Water Pollution Control Loan Fund for the well houses and reservoir projects. The IEPA forgave $750,000 of principal. With the IEPA forgiving up to half of the amount loaned, Hansen said they had been looking at projects costing around one million, with the hope that the IEPA will forgive around $500,000. “Forgiveness of principal is not guaranteed though, is it?” asked finance commissioner Terry Schuster. “I don’t want to be committed to costs if suddenly we discover we are not receiving the forgiveness of principal.” Hansen said they will know as they get Turn to A2
Deaths, B4 Ronald J. Davis, Michael H. McNett, Diane M. Welenc
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