Thursday March 3, 2016 Vol. 4, No. 1
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New features highlight annual Elmwood show By JEFF LAMPE
ELMWOOD – Brad Crisco is hoping a stuffed Sasquatch will emerge. Or more realistically, for the arrival of an impressive largemouth bass, a jackalope or maybe even a bear. Those are just some entries that will be welcomed to a new contest being held in conjunction with this year’s Elmwood All Outdoors Show. The non-deer mount contest, with a $100 first prize, is one of several changes for the show. This weekend marks the seventh annual Elmwood All Outdoors Show, an Weekly Post Staff Writer
event designed to break the grip of cabin fever for hunters and anglers and to raise money for Elmwood athletic programs and athletes. Show hours are 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday (March 5) and Sunday (March 6). The show has helped generate more than $150,000 for Elmwood athletes and athletic programs since it was mapped out on napkin in a Tinley Park Off Track Betting parlor. Along with some changes comes plenty that is familiar: more than 100 booths selling hunting and fishing products and outdoors-related artworks, fish-
ing guides, lodges and much more. “We’ve got some old stuff and some new stuff,” said Brad Crisco, an Elmwood teacher and assistant football coach who is the show organizer. “We’re hoping to get some interesting mounts in this year for the non-deer contest plus some big bucks. And it looks like the weather is going to be nice.” Another new attraction is a hand-made cedar canoe that will be on display. “Looking at pictures of it I think it will be a neat attraction,” said Crisco, who along with a committee organizes the event, proceeds from which go to ath-
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letic programs and to scholarships for athletes. As in previous years, show-goers will have opportunities to buy hunting, fishing and outdoors gear, and also to compete in a big buck contest, to hear experts on various issues and to take part in related activities. The big-buck contest offers door prizes to 1 in 10 entries and plaques for the top-scoring deer. Bucks can be dropped off to be measured from 5-7 p.m. Thursday or Friday (March 3-4), or 9 a.m.-noon on Saturday (March 5). Continued on Page 9
School board will continue FCS program By BILL KNIGHT
ELMWOOD – The Board of Education on Monday unanimously voted to continue the school’s Family and Consumer Science program for next year after about 60 people attended, and teachers, students, parents and members of the community spoke out to support FCS for about 45 minutes after the meeting convened. Eliminating the program was one of a Inside few topics addressing Williamsfield the District’s future, moves to disfrom upgrading class- miss a lawsuit room technology to against the moving to Phase II of school district. its long-term building See Page 9. plans. All comments praised FCS for teaching life skills ranging from cooking to balancing checkbooks. Polite throughout the proceedings, people praised the school and community for having a “positive environment” and “common sense” and for being “a town that grows their own.” Parent Chad Anderson said, “It’s not just For The Weekly Post
Cort Severns stumbled onto the hobby of working with BMW sedans in his spare time. Photo by Bill Knight.
BMWs became hobby for Oak Hill engineer By BILL KNIGHT
OAK HILL – Collectibles include baseball cards and comics, coins and antique tractors, and such personal pastimes can range from obsessions to hobbies. For Cort Severns, it’s a bit of both, as motorists driving on Illinois Route 8 near Maher Road undoubtedly notice with the various BMWs parked outFor The Weekly Post
side his home. Severns, a 34-year-old engineer at Caterpillar, smiles and shakes his head recounting how he came to “collect” the iconic sedans made by Bayerische Motoren Werke AG, the German luxury carmaker. “About seven years ago, I had a friend who was trying to sell an old BMW, and the best offer he got was $300,” he said. “I said, ‘For that, I’ll
buy it from you,’ and I bought it, figuring it was something to play around with.” A graduate of Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Terre Haute, Ind., Severns works at Cat’s Building AC in Mossville, where he designs electrical systems. So he decided to use his skills on his new acquisition, he says. “I rebuilt the ECU [engine control Continued on Page 2
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