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POLO
Tri-County Press July 16, 2015 Volume 157, Number 43 - $1.00
Outdoor Theater
Butterflies
K-9 Center
The PACT will perform “The Rules of Comedy” outdoors July 17-19. A6
An annual butterfly festival will be held near Forreston July 25. A10
A Dixon animal shelter is working to raise funds for a K-9 Enrichment Center A7
County demolishes old restaurant property By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com
New Sidewalk Mark Fay, Dixon, and Max Snook, Polo, pour a new sidewalk at the corner of Mason Street and Franklin Avenue July 10 with the help of Kevin Rothermel, who is manning the chute. Photo by Vinde Wells
Roof goes on the Habitat home at Mt. Morris site By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com In a race against Mother Nature July 11, Mt. Morris firefighters won with time to spare. With dark skies and rain predicted, several members of the fire department volunteered to put the roof on Habitat for Humanity of Ogle County’s (HFHOC) 11th home, which is being built at 408 W. Front St. in Mt. Morris.
The group of volunteers started their project early and finished by mid-morning. “We had enough time to do the roof and eat lunch before the rain came,” said Fire Chief Rob Hough. The roof wasn’t the only work being done to the new house on Saturday morning. Inside, volunteers worked on the plumbing. HFHOC chose Elias and Betty Sotelo and their daughters Maya and Kiana as the recipients of the house, the second built in
Mt. Morris. Ground was broken April 26, and crews of volunteers and family members are on hand every weekend getting the house up and ready. Since it was founded 12 years ago, HFHOC has completed 10 houses. So far, HFHOC volunteers have built two homes in Forreston, both of which have been sold, one in Byron, four in Polo, two in Oregon, and one in Mt. Morris. Turn to A3
A building that originally was a gas station and more recently a BBQ restaurant, was razed July 10 in downtown Oregon. The Ogle County Highway Department was on site at 501 W. Washington St. to demolish the building at the corner of Fifth and Washington Streets. “I am extremely excited with the progress on this project,” said Ogle County Board member Don Griffin, who is coordinating the project through the Long Range Planning Committee. “This is a good project for the county and the city.” When completed the property will be graded and paved as a county parking lot. Additional expansion of the parking lot is in the county’s long range plan. Griffin said the house to the south of the property will be demolished in the future. In December of 2013, the county board approved buying the house at 102 S. Fifth St. from Scott and Barb Spoor for $99,500. At that time the board entered into a three-year lease with attorney Robert Lowe, who has his office there. The Washington Street property will provide additional parking for the Judicial Center and festivals
Polo alumni will face Milledgeville By Chris Johnson cxjohnson@oglecounty news.com Athletes from around the area will gather in Milledgeville this Saturday
night for a showdown between Polo and Milledgeville in an alumni football game. The Polo team is made up of athletes that graduated from Polo, Forreston, and Freeport Aquin.
Chad Linboom, Polo class of 2000, hit the field Sunday afternoon to practice with the team. He was throwing long passes back and forth with Aquin’s Dominic DeMichele
In This Week’s Edition...
and events in Oregon, Griffin said. The final demolition of the building was competed Friday. Griffin said the parking lot on that site will be completed in time for the annual Autumn on Parade festival, scheduled for Oct. 3-4. The first phase of the project was to remove the former Jackass BBQ building from 501 W. Washington St. and add parking spaces. This included the removal of underground tanks, left from the gas station, that were discovered on the property. The board approved a resolution in June to accept
a proposal for $15,283 from Stiles Inc., Loves Park, to remove five underground storage tanks from the property. Phase two will include the demolition of the house next door, once the lease expires for that renter. A date has yet to be set for that action. The final phase will be completing the entire parking lot, which will have 39 spaces. Costs for the project were estimated at $203,500 for the first phase. The final two phases have an estimated cost of $161,950 to complete. Vinde Wells contributed to this story.
Tractors were on parade in Oregon Twenty tractors from vintage to modern took to the streets Saturday morning for the eighth annual Rust-NDust Tractor ride. Tractor enthusiasts gathered at Ken Wolfe Jr’s home on Spring Creek Road north of Oregon to stage for the parade. Colorful tractors from Farmalls to John Deeres and even some Allis Chalmers and Olivers were on display during the parade. Tractors went west on Spring Creek Road before heading south of River Road
to Lowden State Park. The group continued into Oregon before heading back out of town on Daysville Road. During the parade everyone was waving to any spectators that happened to be along the route. Cody Flanagan and Josiah Flanagan each had grins on their faces as they drove their John Deere tractors along the parade route. After returning to Wolfe’s property the group had a variety of games and a hog roast scheduled.
to warm up before the practice began. It was clear from watching practice that everyone was there to have a good time and strap some pads on to play a football game for bragging rights. The game is made possible through Alumni Football USA. “We organize alumni football games across the country to raise money for their schools,” said Alumni Football USA State Director Chuck Hulke. “The games are about having a good time. It is a blast for the players, and I see the guys wanting to get back on the field and play football.” Hulke said the important thing for these alumni games is player safety. Before they could take the field, Hulke insisted the athletes received a reminder of the rules for the game. “We can only rush four right?” asked Linboom. “Linebackers can not blitz and the defensive line has to be in a 3 or 4 point stance,” said Hulke. “The referees will tell you to stay off the knees. We all have jobs and lives.” Another safety rule is to only block wide receivers Cody Flanagan and Lou Anderson ride this John Deere
Chad Linboom, Polo class of 2000, puts up a pass Sunday afternoon during practice. Photo by Chris Johnson
Church News, A5 Classifieds, B7-B10 College News, A4 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6
The Ogle County Highway Department was at 501 W. Washington July 10 demolishing an old restaurant and former gas station to make way for a new county parking lot. Photo by Chris Johnson
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, B6 Pine Creek News, A3 Public Voice, A8 Property Transfers, B3
4020 Diesel July 11 during the 8th annual Rust-N-Dust
Turn to B1 Tractor Parade in rural Oregon. Photo by Chris Johnson
Sheriff’s Arrests, B3 Social News, A4 Sports, B1, B2 State’s Attorney, B3 Weather, A2
Deaths, A7, B5
Walter J. Bernhard, Jesse A. Gigous, Mary K. Head, William E. Jones, Everett R. Kested, Juanita M. Lawton, Leo G. Piper, Michael J. Robinson, Donald N. Sherrick, LaMoine A. Stukenberg, Donald E. White
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com