Thursday November 24, 2016 Vol. 4, No. 38
The Weekly Post
Hot news tip? Want to advertise? Call (309) 741-9790
“We Cover The News of West-Central Illinois With A Passion” Serving the fine communities of Brimfield, Dahinda, Duncan, Edwards, Elmwood, Farmington, Kickapoo, Laura, Monica, Oak Hill, Princeville, Williamsfield and Yates City
Brimfield board OK’s concessions building
****************ECRWSS*****
PRSRT. STD. U.S. POSTAGE PAID Elmwood, Illinois Permit No. 13
FREE!
Carrier Route Presort RURAL BOXHOLDER LOCAL P.O. BOXHOLDER
Compliments of Our Fine Advertisers!
DEER SEASON HOTSPOT
By TERRY BIBO
BRIMFIELD – A stand-alone building may be too complicated, but Brimfield Athletic Boosters seem set to have a concession stand next spring. Board President Dan Heinz said Brimfield Unit School District 309 architects determined that converting a shed built as a student project last year would involve more work than boosters anticipated. Instead, an existing storage room on the south side of the track building could be retrofitted and expanded with a 10-by-25foot concrete pad. “We did talk about making some improvements to the building,” said Superintendent Robert Richardson. Boosters have accumulated some funds for the concession stand. At least one local business, F&M Bank, has offered to help. “It will be a significant contribution,” Heinz told board members at the Nov. 16 regular meeting. On a motion by board member Scott Bauer, who has shepherded the project, the board approved the concession stand with a unanimous voice vote. Booster members said later they would meet to discuss how to proceed. Nearly 20 people were present at the board meeting, apparently attracted by For The Weekly Post
Continued on Page 2
Happy Thanksgiving!
The Weekly Post office will be closed Thursday and Friday (Nov. 24-25) as we celebrate Thanksgiving. Ad deadline for the Dec. 1 issue will be Monday (Nov. 28) at noon.
John Powers (center) shares a laugh with deer hunter Mark Niebuhr of Williamsfield Saturday on the second day of the Illinois shotgun hunt while staffer Billy Morris of Canton answers the phone. Powers has run Elmwood Locker Service for 30 years, taking over for his late father Jerome Powers who bought the business in 1956. Photo by Jeff Lampe.
Locker turns deer into a delicacy By JEFF LAMPE
ELMWOOD – When the Ongena family walked into Elmwood Locker Service Saturday afternoon, John Powers lit up in a broad smile. The same thing happened as he talked with Mark Niebuhr and with hunter after hunter who hauled their deer into town for processing. Deer season is like old-home week at the locker. After nearly four decades of turning deer meat into a delicacy – be it salami, sausage, jerky, jalapeno cheese sticks, steaks, roasts or burger meat – Powers has grown accustomed to seeing the same faces each fall. “Some of these guys have been coming here for 10-15 years,” Powers said. “Some of them even longer back to when I started.” Catering to the needs of hunters during deer season requires sacrifice, as Weekly Post Staff Writer
A young John Powers (right) takes time for a picture with his father Jerome (left) after the elder Powers shot a buck in the early 1980s.
Powers and his staff are busy enough during normal business hours keeping up with demands for butchering and jerky production. Deer season adds to the chaos, as hunters show up at all hours. “I was here until 1 a.m. last night,” Powers said Saturday. “We had deer
lined up down the driveway.” So it goes during shotgun season, even one that started as slowly as last weekend. High winds for the first two days of the season kept deer – and some hunters – laying low. Even in the worst of conditions, hunters will bag deer. When they do, many come to Elmwood Locker, which has been in the Powers family since 1956. That’s when Jerome Powers purchased the business that he ran, with help from wife Liz and his seven children, until his death in 1986. “When we were kids, everybody had Saturday duties,” recalls Jerry Powers, eldest of the children. “Dad had a heckuva business butchering cattle and hogs. Every farmer had cattle and hogs back then.” Over the past few decades, that Continued on Page 8