Glimpses of the Past

GLIMPSES OF THE PAST - FULTON

1972: Rockwood State Park dedicated by G ov. Ogilvie

60 Years July 25, 1962

Mr. and Mrs. Donald Bly and children returned home from a vacation and mission assignment. Two weeks were spent in Swainsboro, Georgia, where Mr. and Mrs. Bly and another couple were engaged with the Mary More Mission in taking a religious census. Their aim was to find out how many Catholics, or people interested in the Catholic faith, were living in that community.

Dr. B. J. Snyder of Fulton was one of 37 osteopathic physicians given a life membership by the American Osteopathic Association at its annual meeting at the Drake Hotel. Doctors eligible to receive this honor are those who have either reached the age of 70 or have been in osteopathic practice for 50 years or more.

50 Years July 26, 1972

Morrison Rockwood State Park will be formally dedicated by Gov. Richard Ogilvie on Aug. 4 at the boat ramp area. The 1,240-acre park contains 77-acre Lake Carlton, named in memory of L. Carlton Anderson, an early proponent of the park. Concept and promotion of the park has been a special concern of the Morrison Lions Club, with the present committee including Roy Velde, Stan Domack, Al Zuidema, Erwin Stralow, L. Null, Mark Olson, Harry Watt and Alvin Shawver.

Tasty-Mates Drive-In was offering buy a hot dog and for 5 cents you can get your favorite drink (regularly 15 cents) on Friday and Saturday.

40 Years July 28, 1982

“Heinie” Meurs is giving up at least two jobs, and probably several more, as he retires from both the Fulton Fire Department and the City of Fulton. After 23 years as assistant fire chief and a stint with the Blackhawk Fire Fighters Association that carried him through all offices of the organization i n c l u d i n g t h e p r e s i d e n c y , H e n r y Meurs is laying down the burdens of office. He insists that Mrs. Meurs is entitled to a large share of whatever credit may be due him. She always had a big part in promoting the Miss Flame festivals.

Members of the Fulton Fire Department are among the firemen honored by Gov. James Thompson when he proclaimed July 25 through Aug. 1 as “Firefighter Appreciation Week” in Illinois. Firemen are John Clark, George Van Kampen, Bruce Whitbecker, Larry Naeve, Ron Koenes, Steve Bailey, Robbie Hammersmith, Bill Abbott, Art Jordan, Ron Van Kampen, Jim Brondyke, Steve Bull, Fritz Jordan, Roger Fiet, Delbert Housenga, Henry Meurs, Robert Buik e m a , D w a y n e S c h i p p e r , F o r r e s t Erickson, Terry Bielema and Richard Kane.

30 Years July 22, 1992

L i n d a S m i t h o f t h e W h i t e s i de County Farm Bureau Women donated a Whiteside County Agricultural video to the Fulton Public Library. Some local farmers filmed for the video are the Larry Beswick farm, the Jeff Smith farm, the David Stralow farm and the Jerry Norman farm.

Vanesa Gonzalex of Caracas, Venezuela, will be Fulton’s AFS student for the 1992-93 school year. She will arrive in Fulton on Aug. 8 and will make her home with Ken and Deb Dykstra and their children Brian, Kevin and Eric.

20 Years July 24, 2002

Members of the Fulton Fire Department donated a generator to Dan and Tami Zuidema to support their son Jason’s medical equipment if a power outage would occur at their home. The department donated the generator w i t h t h e f u n d s r a i s e d f r o m t h e i r annual soup supper.

Contractors have been busy constructing the new salt-holding building at the new city public works garage area. The building will be convenient for city crews to load trucks with salt when clearing ice and snow. The $70,000 price will be paid by using Motor Fuel Tax Funds received from the state.

10 Years July 25, 2012

Chastity Welch, manager of Carroll Country Farm Bureau, presented a check for $6,300 to Thomson/Fulton Food Pantry volunteers Harlan Wiebenga and Ron Pessman. The Young F a r m e r s o f C a r r o l l C o u n t y F a r m Bureau conduct a crop drive in support of the local food pantry.

Many may have noticed how bright and shiny Fulton’s fire hydrants are. A group of volunteers from The E-Free Church in Camanche, organized by Becky Pluister, painted Fulton’s fire hydrants and cleaned along the bike trail. Dan Clark, Fulton Public Works Director is grateful to these volunteers for their efforts and accomplishments.

YOUR HEALTH

Benef its of adequate sleep are discussed

By STEPHEN D. HARRISON, M.D.

The term circadian rhythm refers to the notion that humans have a natural rhythm in the course of 24 hours. We presume that as we are all unique, we may have our own special time clock. We naturally presume that some people are night owls by nature. As it turns out, we are all far more alike than we are different. People who claim to be night owls revert to the standard timeline when deprived of light and other artificial constructs as a natural hardwired program.

The World Health Organization identifies shift work as carcinogenic or cancer-causing along with raising circulation problems with the heart, depression, etc. Eric Barker quotes from The Circadian Code, “The majority of Americans and Europeans go to bed after midnight or wake up with insufficient sleep.” This has the same impact as shift work. Consistency is important and we cannot correct this deficiency on weekends in a healthy fashion.

We have all heard the benefits of adequate sleep is generally sited as 8 hours. It turns out, the proper amount is closer to 7 hours. The other essential factors to keep in mind are: 1) Light. It turns out all light matters, not just blue light which has received much attention. Dim whatever you can when the sun goes down. Blue light blocking glasses 2-3 hours before bed helps. 2) Eating. Eating during daylight is quite helpful for your health, energy and hormones. This is something that the intermittent fasting has con firmed. Eating late may provide short term energy, but the drain on the next day more than offsets the gain. 3) Exercise. Studies aim for 150 minutes per week. This can be done through natural activity and simple walking. Others site that bursts of sprint-like activity done for 10-15 minutes three times a week is quite helpful. Either way, activity from 3 to 6 p.m. is ideal. If you must exercise later, the cool shower trick helps reset your internal temperature which contributes to circadian rhythms. 4) Consistency. This is far more important than people realize. You cannot make the deficits up with sleeping in on weekends or power naps. 5) Sunrise and sunset. Direct sunlight outside for 2-10 minutes has an incr ed ible positive impact in the morning. By the same token, doing the same at night does another positive measure for hormones and energy. 6) Best time to work. If you do everything right, what is the best time to reap the benefits? It’s actually 10 a.m. to 3 p.m.

Another consideration for helping to rebalance the out of synch circadian rhythm involves electromagnetic waves. We hear about avoiding electromagnetic waves in our lives, but the reality is this is nearly impossible. H o w e v e r , i f t h e e l e c t r o m a g n e t i c waves are controlled in a process known as pulsed electromagnetic fields (PEMF), this therapy can produce the types of brain waves that restore proper sleep and relaxation.

NEWS BRIEF

State Rep. McCombie to host first-ever Sweet Corn Day

State Rep. Tony McCombie, R-Savanna, will be hosting the first-ever Sweet Corn Day celebration from 4 to 7 p.m. Monday, Aug. 1, at 9317 Illinois Route 84, Savanna. McCombie passed House Bill 4766, which will mark every Aug. 1 as Sweet Corn Appreciation Day in Illinois.

“Like millions of others in Illinois, sweet corn reminds us of summer and fun family memories. Sweet corn has always been a favorite of mine and we want to help make new family memories in northwest Illinois. On Aug. 1 in Savanna we will celebrate Sweet Corn Appreciation Day! This is a family fun event with bounce houses, face painting and, of course, sweet corn. I hope you all will come and join in the family fun and celebrate sweet corn with us on Aug. 1,” McCombie said.

If you have questions about Sweet Corn Day, please call 815-632-7384 or visit Rep. McCombie’s office at 2510 Locust St., Sterling.