1 Front Volume 140 No. 37
Friday, November 8, 2013
The Tonica News
Single Copy Cost 50¢
Area veterans staff 24-hour vigil By Ken Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
OTTAWA — Twentyfour hours may seem like a long time to some, but to area veterans who participated in the honor guard event at the War Memorial in Washington Park in Ottawa, it isn’t too long at all.
American Legion Post of Ottawa and other area veterans are in the fifth year of a vigil program where area veterans sign up to take 15 minute shifts as honor guards. The event started at 4:45 p.m. on Nov. 1 with an opening ceremony and ended 24 hours later on Nov. 2. One of the prin-
cipal organizers of this event is veteran John Dubeck of Ottawa. “It’s our fifth year of doing it,” Dubeck said. “We were looking for positive things to do to contribute to the community, and we began the 24-hour honor guard vigil. No shift has been missed because of the
quality of people wanting to help.” Two veterans minimum are assigned to the honor guard shift for 15 minutes. Other veterans or family members may join in. Over the 24-hour period, there were a total of 96 shifts, and a total of more than 200 veterans kept the event going.
“No one missed a shift,” Dubeck said. Veterans and members of the Ottawa community donated food, so the veterans could have a warm meal or a quick snack during the event. Darrell Peters, commander of the Ottawa Veterans of Foreign War Post 2470, was one of the veterans who participated.
“The event has grown over time. I guess it started out, and they were having trouble filling out all the spots. Some of us were doing multiple shifts. When you get to our age, it kind of hurts,” he said. “Getting the veterans from the veterans’
See Vigil Page 4
Losing a friend ... Area residents remember Jim Goldasich By Dixie Schroeder news@tonicanews.com
MCNABB — A helper to many, someone who always saw the big picture and a person who thought of others before himself. These are just some of the ways McNabb resident Jim Goldasich is being remembered. Goldasich died Oct. 27. Goldasich, a former employee of the Illinois Department of Public Health, was known throughout the area as someone who could make things happen and get things done. Jeannie Vaskie, a former member of the McNabb Ambulance Service was someone who looked to him to guide their organization from an all-volunteer status to a paying system. “Through his previous work, he had seen a lot of departments make the transition,” Vaskie said. “I’m sure he had encountered the kind of growing pains we had been going through. So he had a good knowledge base of that transition and how to make it go smooth.” Goldasich was a starting point for many changes in emergency management improvements throughout the area, Vaskie noted he had helped in bringing the helicopters into rural areas to move critically injured patients more quickly. Dan Hartenbower, a former member of the Tonica Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance group, knew Goldasich was a gem when he met him. Vol. 140 No. 37 One Section - 8 Pages
“He was one of the original people in the EMS system with LaSalle and Peru. Carol and I were EMTs at the time,” Hartenbower said. “He was one of those dedicated guys. He was always working for it; he was always there. He was never afraid to lend a hand when you needed it.” Mike Vaskie of McNabb joined the McNabb Fire Protection Board when Goldasich was a member of that same board, and he said Goldasich always knew the answers. “He was always the detail guy,” Vaskie said. “He was my shell answer man. If I had a question or I had a problem, he is the guy I went to. He always, always, always came up with an answer.” Rick Turri of Tonica has worked many years in many capacities for the Tonica Volunteer Fire Department and Ambulance service. Goldasich did a lot of training for Tonica and assisted with the department getting grants when they needed them. “He was a nice guy and always looking out for communities, not just McNabb or Putnam County, but outside of that,” Turri said. “He helped us get our first ambulance. He was part of the group that spoke up and helped us get a grant for our first ambulance ... He was thinking of the whole area, whether it was Putnam County or Tonica or anywhere around, he just always helped. We worked together a lot.” John Cimei of McNabb
See Goldasich Page 3
Tonica News Photo/Ken Schroeder
Bob Beenenga’s favorite hot rod for cruising was mostly completed before he bought it. He’s added some wiring and lights and dropped the chassis 5 inches to capture the 1960’s look he wanted.
A passion for hot rods By Ken Schroeder kschroeder@putnamcountyrecord.com
TONICA — For many men, automobiles become a passion. For Bob Beenenga, that love affair may border on obsession. “I was into cars in high school. I was into muscle cars. I wanted to get back into hot rods, so I started building them,” Beenenga said. Beenenga builds cars from scratch. The finished project may look like a restoration, but very few pieces of the car come from the same source. For instance, Beenenga’s current project has parts from several sources. “This is going to be my brother Neil’s car when I’m done. It’s got a Chrysler 354 hemi in it with a Chevy four-speed and a Ford nineinch rear-end,” Beenenga said. “It’s a custom built frame on a ‘32 Ford frame. Henry Ford did not make a frame for the modern style engine,
Tonica News photo/Ken Schroeder
Beenenga’s most recent project, this Hudson Hornet, has already received a few modifications, including a Buick grill and Chrysler taillight assemblies. so we have to add supports. It’s all hot-rodded with custom brakes.” The chassis for the car was purchased from Toledo and has had the roof lowered and canted quite a bit until the windows are about half
the size they originally were. Beenenga estimates he’s done about 15 cars from scratch and restored a couple more. A few of
See Beenenga Page 2
Inside Lostant Grade School students celebrate Red Ribbon/Anti-Bullying Week See Page 6
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