McHenry County News FRE
E
11512 N. 2nd ST. • MACHESNEY PARK, IL 61115 • (815) 654-4850 • www.McHenrycountynewspaper.com Display Advertising & Classifieds: 815-654-4850 • Circulation: 815-654-4854 • E-mail:McHenrynews@rvpublishing.com
Volume 6 Issue 29
WOODSTOCK CAR WASH N O W
• 3 Heated Bays • Brand New Vacuums • Automatic Wash Now Open • 7’ High and Large Enough for Dually Pickup Trucks
O P E N
218 Fair Street, Woodstock, IL (Behind McDonalds)
JULY 14, 2016
239731
Dick Tracy Day held at Woodstock Square By Anne Eickstadt CORRESPONDENT
The historic Woodstock Square goes yellow and black in honor of Dick Tracy Day on Saturday, July 2. Shops are selling Dick Tracy cupcakes, cookies, hats and memorabilia. Cardboard cutouts of villains from the comic strip are scattered throughout the Square providing photo ops for visitors. The park sports a Jail & Bail cell in which to lock up family and friends. ‘Dick Tracy’ appears regularly in front of the Old Courthouse to arrest the villains ‘The Brow’ and ‘Influence’ who are causing havoc and tossing money bags around. Auctions and contests are being held throughout the day. The Friends of the Old Courthouse have wrapped the small pavilion in the Square and the groves of trees in each corner of the park with long lengths of traced Dick Tracy comic frames. This display is to encourage people to join in to create a new Guinness World Record for Longest Comic Strip by a Team. Frames of the comic strips have been scanned and can be traced by team members. They chose Dick Tracy comic strips because Chester Gould, creator of Dick Tracy, made Woodstock his home. “We’re about halfway there,” Sue Stelford of the Friends of the Old Courthouse tells me. “But there’s no time limit, so we are going to keep on going. We really have had a good response. We have over 770 people on our team and we expect at least another 200 today.” Jean Gould O’Connell, Chester Gould’s daughter, and her children came out to participate in the celebration. Jean brought her son Tracy O’Connell and daughter Sue Sanders along with their spouses, Cynthia O’Connell and Brett Sanders. They joined in the tracing team. I caught up with them at a viewing of the Chester Gould documentary at Stage Left Café. “He was the most wonderful man I have ever known in my life,” Jean says of her father. “He was a top cartoonist for 45 years. He was a great father and a wonderful grandfather.” Chester’s grandson, Tracy, tells me, “He was bigger than life and a good role model. He was my best friend.” Chester Gould had an office at the top of the Tribune Tower in Chicago. He would take the train in and walk a mile from the train station to his office every day. He even continued to go to the office
ANNE EICKSTADT PHOTO McHenry County News
The Gould Family: Tracy O’Connell, grandson of Chester Gould with wife Cynthia. Jean Gould O’Connell, daughter of Chester Gould. Sue Sanders, granddaughter of Chester Gould with husband Brett. See more photos on page 2.
as an advisor after his retirement. “46 years, 6 days a week and I never missed a deadline.” [1931 – 1977] “I didn’t think much about the comic strips. It was just something father did,” says Jean. “It wasn’t until after he died that I got the full impact of what he accomplished. The best living thing to come out of Dick Tracy is Crimestoppers.” Fans of Chester Gould’s Dick Tracy
comics will remember his Crimestoppers Textbook – a frame of each comic strip which provided tips for the amateur crime fighter. These ran from the early 1950s until his retirement in 1977. This led to the development of today’s Crimestoppers network. Dick Tracy Day is part of the Friends of the Old Courthouse fundraising efforts to complete the restoration of the building. To become a part of Dick Tracy history,
you can help set a new record in the Guiness Book of World Records by taking the time to trace a frame from Dick Tracy at the Old Courthouse at 101 N. Johnson Street, Woodstock, Illinois. Further information on the Friends of the Old Courthouse and Dick Tracy Days can be found online at www. friendsoftheoldcourthouse.org or at their Facebook page.
McHenry County Board gives the green light to phase one By Samantha Fetzner REPORTER
After the McHenry County Finance and Audit committee voted in favor of providing the necessary funds to widen Randall Road at the end of June, the McHenry County Board took to their vote. In a 14-8 decision, the board voted in favor of providing an additional $10 in funding to buy additional land for the project’s first phase. The Board’s vote comes after the Transportation Committee had voted against the project in late June. The vote, which took place on Tues. July 5, means that the county will be purchasing land and moving forward with phase one of a projected $97 million project. The plan includes two phases to acquire right-of-way at major intersec-
tions on the Randall Road corridor. The project involves both Lake in the Hills and Algonquin. The first phase is geared toward Randall Road itself and widening to a sixlane space between Polaris and Harnish drives. The second phase would take the road to six lanes from Polaris north to Ackman Road. In addition to widening Randall, more turn lanes would be added per the current plan. Project specifics call for a second turn lane on Randall at Algonquin Road and a third turn lane on Algonquin onto Randall. The construction would also eliminate some existing entry ways onto Randall Road. A lot of the concern has been how the construction will affect local businesses with less immediate access.
Voting within the county offices initially began in April, but had a lot of back and forth between departments. Moving forward on the project helps remove it from the County Board’s road improvement project
list. The project had been noted as needing to be improved for over a decade. Congestion on Randall Road has become a very large concern, and has grown even worse in recent years amongst the communities affected. Whether or not phase
Fall 2016
two will be completed is not clear. The first phase is projected to account for about $50 million worth of the $97 total cost. The construction is slated to begin in 2017. A projected date of completion was not available.
registration is
oPen
3-4 year old & 4-5 year old classrooms We share the GOOD NEWS about Jesus every day! Limited transportation available Contact us today for registration information: 815-923-2733 littleblessingslc.info@yahoo.com www.littleblessingscenter.org • #Letyourlightshine #LittleBlessings
248783