Serving the Polo Area Since 1857
POLO
Tri-County Press March 12, 2015 Volume 157, Number 25 - $1.00
State Bound
Farm Focus
Sound Studio
The Forreston Cardinals won the Super Sectional 67-53 Tuesday night. B1
Farm life is the topic of a special section about Ogle County. Inside
The Whiteside Area Career Center has opened a new sound studio for students. A9
Polo’s 30th farm toy show draws steady crowd By Vinde Wells Editor A steady turnout March 7 at the 30th annual Polo Farm Toy Show had vendors smiling. “It’s going pretty well,” said vendor Marge Immel, Polo. Next to her, vendor Craig Schisler, Polo, nodded. “It’s a good turnout, a steady crowd,” he said. Garrett VanDrew, who was keeping track at the ticket desk, said around 260 people had come in just the first two hours of the show held in the Polo High School gym. The show, sponsored by the Polo Lions Club, offered the obvious toy tractors and farm equipment, along with dolls, cars, knives, coffee cakes, and an array of other collectibles, filling rows of tables the length of the gym. Barry Wainer drove up from Galesburg to attend the show for the first time. He said he does a show in the area where he lives. “I’m looking for vendors
and stuff to buy,” he said. “This is a good show.” Brad Engelkes, Kings, is a veteran of the event and said he makes it a point to come every year. “I’m here because I enjoy it. It’s a pretty good show,” he said. Five-year-old Hayden Freeman, Tampico, was eyeing a small tractor. His smiling mother, Jessica Smith, said the youngster likes “everything” but they were specifically looking for a John Deere mower. Cub Scout Gage Zeigler, Polo, also was interested in tractors and said John Deeres are his favorites. “We’re looking for parts today,” said his father Mark Zeigler. “We always buy one tractor a year to add to our collection.” For toy tractor enthusiasts who want more, the Forreston FFA Alumni will hold its 27th Annual Toy Show and Craft Fair on Saturday, March 14 from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. at the Forreston Junior and Senior Ginger Albano, Polo, and her son Alex visit with vendor Carrie Ukena, Polo, at the 30th annual Farm Toy Show March 7 at Polo High School. Photo by Vinde Wells High School.
Ambulance referendum looming By Vinde Wells Editor
Oregon Fire District voters will have an important decision to make when they go to the polls early next month. A referendum on the April 7 ballot will ask fire district voters if they want a tax-supported ambulance service associated with the Oregon Fire Department. The question on the ballot reads, “Shall the Oregon Fire Protection District levy a special tax at a rate not to exceed .40 percent of the value of all taxable property within the district as equalized or assessed by the Department of Revenue for the purpose of providing an ambulance service?” Fire officials have said Five-year-old Eli Lotz, Oregon, turns the crank to make a a yes vote means the fire rope with the help of Lee Hinrichs, Coleta, March 7 at the district will have the means 30th annual Polo Farm Toy Show. Photo by Vinde Wells to provide a full-time
round-the-clock ambulance service. The service will be funded by property tax dollars, and will add an estimated $175 to the tax bill on a $150,000 house, excluding exemptions. A no vote means the district will no longer have an ambulance service, and residents or visitors in the area will have to rely on mutual aid from neighboring fire districts, all of which have long since provided their own tax-supported ambulances, or call a private ambulance service from Rockford, Dixon, Freeport, or another city. Relying on an outside ambulance service, public or private, is likely to increase the response time to emergencies. For the last several months, as coordinators of the Friends of the Oregon Fire
District, Lindsay Breeden and Marie Tilly have been talking to organizations and other groups about what the referendum means to the community. “It’s important to vote yes on this because our community needs a good infrastructure, and that includes an ambulance service,” Breeden said Tuesday. “This affects people’s lives.” Breeden is trained as an emergency medical technician (EMT) and her husband Tim is an Oregon firefighter. The Friends of the Oregon Fire District was formed in the late fall to promote the referendum because fire district officials, by law, cannot campaign for it. Late last year, the fire district board decided to place the referendum on the ballot in the wake of the
June closing of the Oregon Ambulance Service, Inc., a privately-owned, not-forprofit corporation. The closing left the 120-square-mile fire district without its own ambulance service. Since the early 1970s, the fire district had been served by the Oregon Ambulance Service Inc., which was managed by Oregon residents Jim and Betty Ferris. Over the years, fire department officials had off and on discussed the possibility of establishing an ambulance service. The issue came to a head last June 11 when Betty Ferris told the fire district board that the ambulance service would close its doors June 17 for financial reasons. Turn to A3
Space themed projects filled coliseum for Penny Carnival By Chris Johnson Reporter Pigs were “flying” last Saturday evening at the Oregon Coliseum — thanks to a catapult. A small stuffed pig was part of a game made by the Circle M 4-H club. “We are doing a catapult game and the object is to get the animals to the stars,” said club president Carly Miller. “The theme of the game is Shoot for the Stars. I am having a blast tonight.” Circle M was one of the Ogle County 4-H clubs with games made for the annual Penny Carnival. All of the games were space themed for this year’s
event. Another object-launching game was created by the Summerhill Huskies. Carter Daws, 10, was running the booth at the start of the carnival. “We made a slingshot, that you pull back a band to try and hit the stars with a ball,” he said. “The game is kind of hard.” When asked if anyone hit the target, Daws said some people have been successful. Not all of the clubs made games. The Polo Pioneers lived up to their name by making the International Space Station out of cardboard boxes.
In This Week’s Edition...
“Our booth is the space station,” said Brianna Kuhne, 8, “This morning when we went through you could see through it, but tonight it is dark in there so we are using flashlights to see.” She said the kids that went through their booth were able to explore the space station with their imagination. The annual event is always a draw for area children and Saturday night was no exception. Within 30 minutes of the start the coliseum was filled with families walking between the games and exploring the games created by the clubs.
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B8-B12 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B7
Above, two-year-old Sophia Ebert and her dad Justin, Oregon, line up a catapult shot Saturday evening at the Circle M game. At right, Bevi Foster, age 8, Polo, spins a toy during the 4-H Penny Carnival. Photos by Chris Johnson
Marriage Licenses, A4 Public Voice, A11 Property Transfers, B6 Sheriff’s Arrests, B6
Social News, A4 Sports, A11, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B6 Zoning, B7
Deaths, B5 Shirley A. Burke, Robert G. Cheatham, Judith E. Sponseller, Bonnie L. Swift
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com