Library News

2 POLO TRI-COUNTY PRESS BE AT POLO TRI-COUNTY PRESS TRI-COUNTY PRESS TRI-COUNTY oglecountynews.com ShawLocal.com OFFICE 113-115 Peoria Ave. Dixon, IL 61021 Tri-County Press / ShawLocal.com • Friday, Sep 2, 2022 815-732-6166, ext. 2592 SUBSCRIPTIONS $39 in Ogle County, and $52 outside Ogle County. Single-copy price is $1 To subscribe, make a payment or discuss your delivery, call 815-732-6166, ext. 2518, from 7:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m. Monday-Friday or send an email to subscriptions@ oglecountynews.com. You also can subscribe online by going to oglecountynews.com and clicking on Subscribe. CLASSIFIED SALES classified@shawlocal.com HELP WANTED employment@shawlocal.com LEGAL NOTICES Children’s Programs September Storytime Saturdays, Sept. 10 & 24, 10:30 a.m. to 11:30 a.m., come join with Ms. Melanie at the library for a story read and craft activity. Please register for this event, limited supply of materials will be available. Both September storytimes will be themed around animals. Teen Advisory Board meeting, Thursday Sept. 29, 6-7 p.m., this is a monthly meeting event for Polo 8th grade to senior students to attend. If you are interested, please contact Ms. Melanie for more information and/or come to the meeting to check it out and learn more. Early Dismissal Day - Wednesday, Sept. 21, 12:30 p.m. - Snacks Made Simple followed by Movie at the Library, starting at 1p.m. sauklegals@shawlocal.com For more information or to register for any of OBITUARIES these programs, call 815-946-2713, email saukobits@shawlocal.com melaniew@pololibrary.org, go to the Polo Library Deadline for obituaries is 2 p.m. Tuesday for Friday’s edition website or Facebook page to look for the Google form link.

SEND NEWS Adult Programs -

news@oglecountynews.com 2022 Outdoor Concert Series - Join us at the Publisher Polo Library pavilion on Saturday night, Sept. 17, Jennifer Heintzelman 815-632-2502 for the final concert of the 2022 season as we jheintzelman@shawmedia.com welcome back The Beaux - playing your favorite classic rock songs from the 60s-90s. Grab a friend and bring your chairs to enjoy the music! The concert will start at 7 p.m. and will last approximately two hours. The 2022 Outdoor Concert Series is funded by a grant from the Community Foundation of Northern Illinois.

Community Conversations

Wednesday, Sept. 14 - 10:30 a.m. - Our guest will be Dana Chacon, Career Services and Community Education Program Coordinator of Sauk Valley Community College. Coffee will be provided, registration is not required.

Craft Night at the Library

Thursday, Sept. 22 - 5:30 p.m.

Join Tiffany Warren, from Weathered & Warren, for a monthly craft night at the Library! Space is limited, call 815-946-2713 or email library@ pololibrary.org to register. The class is free, donation would be greatly appreciated towards materials and future classes.

Yoga with Becka

Wednesday, Sept. 29 at 6 p.m. - Call 815-9462713 or email library@pololibrary.org to register.

Chamber’s Chili

Cookoff set for

Sept. 24

POLO LIBRARY

Yoga will now be every 4th Wednesday of the month.

Book Clubs

What we’re reading and discussing in September - Friday Discussion Group, Sept. 9 at 1 p.m. Meeting at Polo Senior Center to discuss “The Orchard” by Theresa Weir.

Wednesday Books 2 Movies, Sept. 21 at 5 p.m. Meeting at Polo Library to talk about the book and movie, “Crazy Rich Asians” by Kevin Kwan.

Monday Afternoon Book Club, Sept. 26 at 1:30 p.m. Meeting at Polo Library to share our opinions of “Once There Were Wolves” by Charlotte McConaghy.

Copies of these titles are available to checkout. All are welcome.

Online Catalog - Did you start a series and can’t find the next book? Are you wanting to watch a specific movie? If we don’t have what you’re looking for at Polo Library, visit our online catalog to search other libraries and have it delivered right to Polo Library for pick up! Visit pololibrary. org and click on “Books/Media” and “Your Account” to access the online catalog.

The Polo Chamber will host its Chili Cookoff Competition again this year on Saturday, Sept. 24, at Louise Quick Park.

Cash prizes will be given for Judges’ Choice, People’s Choice, Non-Traditional, and Showmanship. Please see the flyer for complete details!

Interested teams can visit www.polochamber.com to complete the sign-up packet no later than Sept. 19.

In addition, the Larry Lannen Memorial Blood Drive will be held from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. To schedule an appointment visit RRVBC. org.

General Manager Earleen Hinton 815-632-2591 ehinton@shawmedia.com

News Alexa Zoellner 815-632-2590 azoellner@shawmedia.com

Advertising Sales Jennifer Heintzelman 815-632-2502 jheintzelman@shawmedia.com

The Tri-County Press, Ogle County News and oglecountynews.com are a division of Shaw Media. Ogle County Newspapers also prints the Mt. Morris Times, Forreston Journal and Oregon Republican Reporter.

The TRI-COUNTY PRESS (USPS No. 638-530) is published weekly by B.F. Shaw Printing Co., Shaw Media. Periodical postage paid at Polo, Illinois. POSTMASTER Send address changes to TRI-COUNTY PRESS, 113 N. Franklin, Polo, IL 61064. Phone 815-732-6166, ext. 2516.

All rights reserved. Copyright 2022

PINE CREEK NEWS

By KAREN MERLAK

This month seems to move faster each year. These are my favorite weather days, heating up during the day and much cooler at night. Living in northern Illinois, we always have a nice variety of weather. This is the Lord’s day and we will rejoice in it.

T h i s m o r n i n g i n c h u r c h , w e w e r e greeted by Dave Burright. Don Hay and Nancy Hopkins assisted with the service. Pastor Suzanne Hall Stout shared her message of the morning. Our service can be attended in person or watched online on our Facebook page.

To celebrate Matt and Clint’s birthdays, I called each of them on their special day. Their new home has been humid and uncomfortable for most of the summer. They both shared the big news that there is a new puppy staying with Matt.

It has been another busy week as we started school in our district. On Wednesday, the students had a half day of attendance. I have a wonderful class of third graders. We are getting to know each other and the new rules for the school year.

O n M o n da y n i g h t , t h e s c h o o l w as opened for parents and students to drop off their school supplies. I had the pleasure of meeting all but one of my students. We have already completed a couple of art projects that will be displayed for the upcoming open house.

One of the best parts is getting to see the students from last year. They have grown so much over the summer. Most of them have stopped by to tell me what they did over the summer and share their excitement about their fourth grade year.

After only two and a half days with my new class, I am feeling exhilarated and exhausted. I spent a good part of my summer working on projects for my class and still have more to do.

There were many times over the past 30 years or so that I dreamed of being in this job. I have always loved working with children. I have often been asked why I didn’t go back to school earlier.

Like most of us, I had other lessons to learn first. I had other obstacles to overcome before I could be in this position. Each time I had to start over and work through challenges, I would grow and change.

I may not have been ready to pursue this career if I had tried it earlier. Through it all, God was there. He was making it possible for me to grow and change into the person I needed to be.

He was there in that one conversation with a dear friend that encouraged me to go back to school. God was with me during the late nights writing reports and the long drives to and from school. He was there with me celebrating when I walked across the stage for my diploma.

Years ago, when I first started dreaming about getting to teach, I had no idea how or when I would get here. God knows us. He knows our thoughts and dreams. He is here to support us when we want to chase those dreams.

He will be there in ways we may not even realize. We see Him in the words and support of our family and friends. We see Him in the encouraging prayers of our church family. We see Him in the open doors that happen along the way. He is with each of us every single day.

I hope to see you next Sunday when we meet in our little church in the country. We are looking forward to our open house on the afternoon of Sept. 18. We hope you can join us in celebration.

Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media Pegasus Property Manager Dave Diveley talks to workers at the therapeutic riding center on Monday. A Sunday evening storm caused more damage at the site on Carthage Road just five months after the center’s “hoop” barn was heavily damaged during a March wind event. The center had just started repairs Aug. 22, just six days before the Aug. 28 storm hit.

A nother storm hits Pegasus r iding center, damages buildings

BY EARLEEN HINTON ehinton@shawmedia.com

For the second time in five months, buildings at an Ogle County riding center have been severely damaged by strong winds.

“I received a call at 6:29 p.m. on Sunday that our loafing shed was gone and our entryway, which we had just picked up and moved to the side in order to work on the barn, had been tossed,” said Donna Fellows, Pegasus Special Riders president on Monday. “They just started dismantling the barn on Aug. 22 to repair the damage in March and now six days later we get more damage.”

In March, a strong storm ripped through southern Ogle County and, in a matter of minutes, heavily damaged the main arena building at the therapeutic riding center.

Located on Carthage Road, south of Oregon, just north of the Lee County line, the center was still reeling from that storm, which took the south end of the “hoop” arena barn off its moorings, rattling the 11 horses that were housed under the wooden haymow at the south end of the 62-by-420-foot building. The horses and two cats that resided in the structure were not hurt.

The wind also 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 consisted of a large tarp called a “coverall” that stretched over the steel frame. Sections of the tarp were torn from the frame and deposited nearby, while some sections remained on the frame with large gaping tears.

The large arched entryway that was at the north end of the barn was salvaged from the March storm and moved just a few yards away from the barn while contractors began dismantling the main structure last Monday.

But Sunday’s windstorm changed all that, twisting the entryway and dumping it onto its side while stripping metal siding from the loafing barn and depositing it across the driveway while wrapping some pieces around several trees to the north.

The horses and cats were again rattled by the destruction, but unhurt, Fellows said.

“ T w o h o r s e s d e c i d e d t o g o t o another pasture because the fence was down, but they all get along so that was OK,” she said. “We were again so

Ost fr iesland to G erman Valley, Illinois

40 visitors from Germany stop in German Valley as TV crew documents trip

By KATHY PASCH Special to Shaw Media

Moin!! Not a greeting we’re accustomed to hearing, but it rang out continually Aug. 18 in the halls of Silver Creek Reformed Church. By invite, I had been included in this gathering t h a t h a d n ’ t o c c u r r e d s i n c e 2 0 1 9 because of COVID-19.

Arriving by busload was a group of 40 international visitors from the Oldenburg area of Western Germany. They had been touring locations of early Ostfriesian settlements in Minnesota and Iowa, with German Valley as the last stop, it being known as the “Mother Colony” of the East Frisian settlements.

The trip known as “Route to Roots” was led by Dr. Wolfgang Grams. The group included a German TV crew of N D R / A R D , a N o r t h e r n G e r m an branch of the Public Broadcast System making a documentary of their journey.

I came well prepared to make contacts armed with a copy of an old map of Ostfriesland marked with the locations where my ancestors had lived and my family tree. Although my father could speak fluent Plattdeutsch, a dialect known as Low German, I cannot. I knew that only a few in the group could speak English.

It was refreshing to see two brothers in their 20s that accompanied their grandpa and another of the same age that was there with his mother. I could sense a strong commitment to family. It was humbling to think that I might share DNA with any of these people.

Everyone was more than friendly with familiar last names such as Kruse, Freese, Peters, Reiners, Muller, Hildebrandt and not so common first names such as Helwig, Waltraud, Jutta and Hannelore to name a few.

As the Harms name is part of my family tree, I took a seat at a table next to a couple whose name tag showed their last name as Harms. His name was Otto, and I was lucky he spoke English quite well.

Soon we all were enjoying our delicious food when Otto asked if it was common to have both bread and potatoes at a meal. I noticed many followed a practice of holding a fork in one hand and knife in the other, using both the whole time while eating.

Once the meal was over, Otto suddenly said to myself and two other “locals” seated at our table, “Come with me, I want to take a picture.” We followed him to the table of gifts the group had brought. He handed each of us a linen placemat and said, “This shows the Ostfriesenrose. We want you to have it.” Looks like we had made new friends!

The group had brought a number of gifts to show their appreciation. Norman Osterloo received rohrzucker sticks (sugar sticks for tea) coming from the oldest in their group going to the oldest host.

M a n y m e m o r i e s w e re s h a r e d including a heartfelt story from a man stationed in Germany in the 1950s. In later years he was able to return and find the house where his mother had lived. During the luncheon at one table, a sentiment was expressed that the people in Ostfriesland felt they had been deserted by those that went to America and never talked about them. Another sentiment was “We as a people are one, it’s the governments that set us apart.” The day was a memorable and valuable experience.

The host to these international visitors was Rund De Teepott, a group interested in their Ostfrisian roots.

They meet the first Monday every other month at 1:30 p.m. at Silver Creek Reformed Church, 326 S. Bunker Hill Road, German Valley, with their next meeting to be held Oct. 3. Visitors are always welcome.

The majority of the German Valley, Forreston and Baileyville area early settlers came from Ostfriesland.

I did not realize until recently that m y g r e a t - g r e a t g r a n d f a t h e r t h a t arrived in 1851 had connections to and lived little more than a mile from where the Arends (known as the first settlers of German Valley) lived. But that’s another story.

Photos provided ABOVE LEFT: Otto Harms of Aurich Haxtum, Linda Staska, Kathy Pasch, Helen Ukena Jones, Marianne Harms, also of Aurich Haxtum, pose for a photo. TOP RIGHT: Johann Köster of Leer speaks with Loga and Ron Timm of Baileyville. ABOVE RIGHT: The TV crew films the event. BELOW: Oldest and oldest: Norman Osterloo of German Valley and Luise Huismann of Aurich Egels.

Earleen Hinton/Shaw Media ABOVE LEFT: Pegasus officials Donna Fellows and Dave Diveley examine storm damage at the therapeutic riding center Monday. A Sunday evening storm caused more damage at the site on Carthage Road just five months after the center’s “hoop” barn was heavily damaged during a March wind event. ABOVE RIGHT: Two of the horses graze in a pasture east of the hoop barn.

• PEGASUS

Continued from Page 3

lucky that the animals were not hurt.”

Fellows, who helped reestablish Pegasus in 1996 by overseeing the therapeutic horseback riding program and the purchase and development of the land on Carthage Road, said it is likely the insurance settlement will not cover the entire price of rebuilding from the first storm, let alone the second.

“We found out that we had a $250,000 ‘cap’ on our insurance so we could be responsible for the rest to just replace what we had,” she said noting that the barn cost $150,000 to construct in 2002.

“Now that has doubled in price,” she said. “And it was $45,000 just to disassemble the barn last week. It all adds up.”

She said officials had looked into many different types of buildings, rather than the hoop (engineered building) but this hoop design was the type of building best suited for the riding area.

Metal buildings are primarily used for storage and don’t have the ventilation or floor suitable for the riding area, she said adding that a softer ground was needed for aging horses used in the facility’s programs.

Sunday’s storm also was selective in its destruction, leaving a cornfield to the west and soybean field to north untouched.

“We’ve been here since 2002 so why pick on us now and then twice,” she said.

Pegasus Special Riders is a nonprofit organization providing therapeutic horseback riding to northern Illinois residents with physical, mental and emotional challenges.

“We do not turn anyone away due to their inability to pay,” their website states.

David Diveley, the property manager, is the organization’s only fulltime employee. Dedicated volunteers step in to help with daily chores and events, Fellows said.

Pegasus is marking its 25th anniversary this year and will be honored as a Unit of Honor at the Harvest Time Parade at Oregon’s Autumn on Parade on Sunday, Oct. 2.

Visit www.PegasusSpecialRiders. org for information or to donate.

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