Serving the Polo Area Since 1857
POLO
Tri-County Press October 8, 2015 Volume 158, Number 3 - $1.00
Golfers Advance
Assessments
Fall Clean Up
The Polo Marcos placed second at Regionals and will golf in Byron at the Sectional. B1
New values have been given to all properties in county. Section C
Residents urged to find alternatives to burning leaves and yard waste. A7
Building codes requested to be updated again By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com
Coming Down An excavator demolishes the old Sullivan’s Foods in Mt. Morris Monday morning to make way for more parking. A new store was built on the site and held a “soft” opening Oct. 2. Photo by Vinde Wells
45th Autumn on Parade a success By Vinde Wells vwells@oglecounty news.com From the Food Court and Farmers Market to the Harvest Time Parade, festival organizers deemed this weekend’s Autumn on Parade a rousing success. “I think it was a success. It went very well,” said AOP President Marseyne Snow. “Even though it was cloudy part of the time, people seemed to enjoy themselves.” Snow said Sunday’s parade had 124 units, many of which were based on the festival theme of Flashback to the 1970s. “We had 130 signed up, but we did have a few noshows,” Snow said. The downtown streets were packed elbow-toelbow with people watching the parade and cheering enthusiastically for their favorite entries. The 5k run Sunday morning drew 531 participants - 100 more than last year. Back downtown, vendors appeared to leave the festival happy. Food Court Chairman
Ray Farrey said most booths there sold out before the festival was over. “Cliff Jones made 500 dozen cider donuts Saturday, and had to turn people away when he ran out around 4 in the afternoon,” Farrey said. Jones provides donuts for the Oregon Masonic Lodge’s food booth. The Ogle County Beef Producers sold 800 sandwiches on Saturday, and were out of food by 2 p.m. on Sunday, Farrey said. He listed off several more vendors who found themselves in the same situation. Farrey said he believes the cool weather, in the upper 50s, played a big part. “It was an ideal weekend for the Food Court,” he said. “It was cooler so people were eating rather than just getting soft drinks. The crowd was bigger, too, this year.” Farmers Market Chairman Dave Boehle said the 189 booths at this year’s festival may be the most ever. “They all seemed to be really pleased with their sales,” he said. “We heard nothing but positives.”
One vendor took a chance and drove 340 miles to display her wares. Liz Hanson, Mercer, Wisconsin, brought a variety of homemade metal spinners, whirligigs, and small garden signs. She makes them by hand with her husband. “I do all the welding on these spinners,” she said. “They ride on stainless steal bearings and will spin easy.” When they first go in a garden the silver from the stainless steel is bright and shiny and shows some darker spots from the welding. In less then a year the creations come alive. “They will naturally rust and patina,” said Hanson. Throughout the festival, shoppers were spotted carrying the spinners through the farmer’s market. The festival also provided a time to see the community where Hanson’s mother was raised. “I decided to give this festival a try,” she said. Another vendor was selling small barn quilts and had a shorter drive to attend the farmer’s market, just 24 miles.
Members of the South Shore Drill Team perform during the post parade show on Sunday. South Shore Drill Team uses the performing arts to engage inner-city youth throughout their critical teenage years, mitigate the dangers of gangs, drugs, and violence, and guide members towards completing their education and becoming responsible citizens. Photo by Earleen Hinton
In This Week’s Edition...
Agriculture, A7 Church Bells, A5 Classifieds, B7-B12 Entertainment, A6 Fines, B6
Lori Blask owns Baileyville Barn Quilts and had a variety of small ones for sale this year. The boards ranged in size from small 12 inch squares to 3 foot square quilts. “Barn quilts can hang on the house, barn, shed, or garage,” said Blask. “They are popular in Wisconsin where you see the larger barn quilts.” In keeping with the festival theme, Elvis fans got a chance Sunday to sway and sing along with “The King.” Elvis impersonator Chris Corcoran, Mt. Morris, belted out favorites like “Blue Christmas” and “Blue Suede Shoes” to the delight of the Turn to A2
The Polo City Council was asked Monday to consider a region-wide building code. Building inspector Casper Manheim, Oregon, told the council about the advantages of adopting the 2015 International Code Council (ICC) building code, as numerous other northern Illinois municipalities and counties have done. Manheim said that Polo is the only one of the 10 cities he represents who has not adopted the code. He introduced Andrew Pieri, Forreston, who is a planner for the City of Rockford. Pieri said adopting a uniform code across northern Illinois would make construction projects easier for builders and various contractors. While many states have adopted statewide building codes, Illinois has not, he said. “In the State of Illinois, every community can have its own building code. That’s very problematic,” Pieri said. A uniform code means a builder would follow the same standards no matter where the project is located, rather than having different requirements in each community or county. He said the building codes establish standards for construction. “They ensure you have a safe building,” he said. Pieri said 35 communities
in nine counties in north Illinois are being approached to adopt the ICC code. “We’re trying to build a consortium of several communities working together,” he said. Alderman Randy Schoon said he sees value in the plan. “I can certainly see where it would be an advantage to be the same,” he said. Alderman Jim Busser said he wants to study the proposal further before making a decision. “We just spent several months going through our building codes,” he said. Clerk Susie Corbitt said Polo currently uses the 2006 version of the ICC code book. Manheim said the committee working on the regional building code hopes to have it approved by all affected areas by the end of December. Training on the 2015 ICC code will be offered to builders in the areas that adopt it in coming months, Pieri said. The training sessions will be held in Dixon, Rockford, and DeKalb for convenience, he said. In other business the council: • approved the route for the annual 4U Charities 5k run on Saturday, Oct. 24, • approved a request from Joe Wilson, owner of Chesty P’s in downtown Polo, to draw up an ordinance allowing him to hold Chesty Puller’s birthday celebration on the last Saturday in June each year.
A hungry customer takes a free sample of the coffee cake offered by Mike Faivre, Polo, Saturday at the AOP food booth manned by the Polo Knights of Columbus and Polo Economic Development Committee. Photo by Vinde Wells
Marriage Licenses, A4 Oregon Police, A7 Public Voice, A8 Sheriff’s Arrests, B3
Social News, A4 Sports, B1-B2 State’s Attorney, B5 Zoning Permits, B6
Deaths, B5 Lucille R. DeWall, Norma J. Deuth, Lois A. Malott, Diane M. Thompson
Published every Thursday by Ogle County Newspapers, a division of Shaw Media • www.oglecountynews.com