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Tri-County Press October 3, 2013 Volume 156, Number 2 - $1.00

Pink Rules

Ready to Run

Hog Roast

Polo teams will play to support breast cancer awareness next week. A13

Ogle County Sheriff Michael Harn seeks a second term. A7

Polo firefighters will serve their annual hog roast on Oct. 12. A2

$4 million wrongful death lawsuit filed Polo teacher was killed May 20 By Vinde Wells Editor The husband of a Polo High School teacher who died of the injuries she suffered in a vehicle crash in May is suing the Stephenson County Sheriff’s Department. Jason Kamp, Byron, filed a lawsuit Sept. 13 in Stephenson County claiming a dispatcher’s oversight contributed to the death of his wife Sarah, 32, who was pregnant with the couple’s second child when she died. Kamp, represented by Rockford attorney Timothy S. Mahoney, is seeking $4 million in damages for wrongful death. Sarah Kamp died at OSF St. Anthony Medical Center, Rockford, where she was airlifted after a two-vehicle crash at the intersection

Cook Off Above, First State Bank Shannon/Polo employees manned the Duck Dynasty booth Sept. 28 at Polo’s annual Chili Cookoff. Pictured from left to right are: Pam White, Kayla Bergstrom, Debbie Gassman, Teresa Wolber, and Lori Galor. At right, Polo firefighters Jerry Velez and Chad Karrow confer over their chili entry. Photos by Vinde Wells

Sarah Kamp

The Stephenson County dispatcher who took the call assured the neighbor that the sign would be taken care of, the document says. The lawsuit alleges that the dispatcher then took another unrelated call and “forgot about” the missing stop sign. “There was a shift change at 6 a.m. and no one was ever alerted that there had been a Turn to A2

More crafters sign up for AOP Farmers Market

Tour brought visitors to four country locations By Vinde Wells Editor

of Montague and Rock City Roads on the OgleStephenson county line just after 7 a.m. on May 20. At the time of the crash, Illinois State Police said the stop sign was not in place that controls traffic on Montague Road at the intersection with Rock City Road when the crash occurred. Traffic on Rock City Road is not required to stop. A strong storm the night before apparently blew the sign into a nearby field. Police said Kamp was driving westbound on Montague Road and proceeded into the intersection without stopping. Her silver Toyota collided with a white Saturn driven by Barbara Faulkner, 56, Leaf River, who was northbound on Rock City Road. According to the lawsuit, a resident who lives near the intersection called 911 to report the missing sign at 5:51 a.m.

By Vinde Wells Editor A larger and more diverse Farmers Market and Craft Show will be one of the highlights for visitors at the 43rd Autumn on Parade festival this weekend. Farmers Market coordinator Laury Edlund said 181 vendors, at least 25 more than at previous festivals, will display their wares in booths on the Ogle County Courthouse lawn and the surrounding area in downtown Oregon on Saturday, Oct. 5 and Sunday, Oct.6. “It’s definitely up this year,” Edlund said. “I think some are looking for a different venue or maybe one closer to home.”

She said several of the new vendors told her they were referred by the festival’s veteran crafters. “I’ve had a lot of them tell me ‘I’ve heard you have a good festival and I should be part of it,’” she said. Several new crafters will add variety to the items offered for sale, Edlund said. “We have maple products this year, a woman who makes bras into aprons, and items made from sea shells,” she said. “ Lloyd Bellows will do blacksmith demonstrations as well as offer his items for sale.” The AOP festival will serve up its traditional fare of fun with some added attractions for 2013. Haunted Harvest is the theme for this year’s event.

“Following this year’s theme ‘Haunted Harvest,’ entertainers on Saturday on the courthouse square will include Fred the Vampire and Horrible Harry just to name a few,” said festival president Marseyne Snow. “Frankenstein will also stroll the courthouse lawn on stilts. After all it is a Haunted Harvest.” One of the new events for this year is a post parade show by the South Shore Drill Team on Sunday. “Because South Shore is always a such a crowd favorite during the Harvest Time Parade we decided to have them stay a bit longer and do a show after the parade is over,” said Snow. Turn to A2

owned the area since 1846 and over the years allowed neighboring families and Two longtime friends Scout groups to utilize their made the most of a beautiful property for recreation. fall day to learn more about Tennessee immigrants to local history and reminisce the area often used the woods Sept. 29 at the Mt. Morris for their annual picnics which Country Living Tour. were discontinued sometime Ginny Hough, 83, and in the 1950s, as near as LaVonne Anderson, 91, anyone remembers, said tour who have grandchildren in guide Molly Baker. common, were among the The Country Living Tour more than 100 people who included four stops, all with took the tour on a picturea story to tell. Participants perfect autumn afternoon. could ride a bus for a guided The event was sponsored tour to each stop or take a by the Mt. Morris Tourism self-guided tour. Committee. Tourism Committee The first stop on the tour member Jan Hough said the was Weller’s Woods for a event was well-received. Tennessee Picnic under the “It was a beautiful day, spreading oak trees. and we heard lots of good Hough spied an antique comments,” she said. auto displayed there. “Everyone seemed to have a good time, workers as well as attendees.” The second stop on the tour was the Barnacopia, owned by Gary and Judy Bocker at 2744 West Branch Rd. The newly-completed old style, timber-frame barn is a bed and breakfast and banquet facility, as well as a farm museum. Its three floors feature antique tractors, farm memorabilia, and cars; a view of Polo’s downtown in the 1950s; a game room; 50s Longtime friends LaVonne Anderson and Ginny Hough and 60s diner complete with reminisce while they wait for a hayride at Weller’s Woods a juke box; and an ice cream Sept. 29 at the Country Living Tour sponsored by the Mt. parlor. Polo High School senior Justin Wright, a varsity football player, reads to first graders “My brother had one just like this,” she said, as she headed over for a closer look. She and Anderson shared memories of local happenings and people as they waited their turn to take a hayride through the scenic pasture and woods. Anderson said she was enjoying the tour as well as the blue sky and temperature in the mid-70s. “I’ve lived here 68 years, and this is a real adventure for me,” she said. “It’s fun.” Weller’s Woods, located at 6669 W. Oregon Trail Rd., was a well-known place to camp, picnic, and fish along the Pine Creek as far back as 1927, when the first Tennessee Picnic was held there. The Weller family has

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Morris Tourism Committee. Photo by Vinde Wells

In This Week’s Edition...

Birth, A4 Church Bells, A5 Classifieds, B7-B14 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6

Turn to A2

in Rachel Phillips’ class at Centennial Elementary School Sept. 27. Photo by Vinde Wells

Marriage Licenses, A4 Pine Creek News, A3 Polo Police, A3 Public Voice, A8 Property Transfers, B4

Sheriff’s Arrests, B4 Social News, A4 Sports, A12, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B5 Weather, A3

Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com

Deaths, B3 Sharon Bittinger David H. Martin Scott D. Rudolf


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