Like many other Illinois small towns, the Iroquois County municipality of Cissna Park is a great place to live.

There’s very little crime, well-kept single-family homes, a strong public school system and a sense of helping each other.

Cissna Park, though, has held onto one asset long gone from many other small towns. It still has its own newspaper. The Cissna Park News comes out every Thursday, the work of Rick and Sharon Baier.

Rick has been working at the paper full time since 1972, but he describes his wife, Sharon, as the force in keeping it going. Rick took over from his dad, Richard, who bought it in 1958. Richard, a force in the community in many ways, is deceased.

Both Richard and Rick both have served as mayor in Cissna Park. Rick’s mother, Myrna, still lives in Cissna Park at age 92. The paper, many other weeklies, also has a role as a printing shop, producing everything from business cards to wedding invitations.

A Nieman Lab report says that one-fourth of all newspapers in the United States have disappeared since 2005. Most of those lost are weekly newspapers. A newspaper remains a great source of vitality in a town. It is a chronicle of life, birth, marriage, graduation and death. It marks a town’s triumphs and history.

Cissna Park incorporated in 1883. Pioneer William Cissna bought the land to raise cattle. He also helped bring the railroad to town. It was a spur line, the end of the line, so the train backed up, loaded up and pulled out.

Both the train and the cattle are things of the past, but Cissna Park thrives. The Park part of the name was added because Illinois already had a Cisne.

The 2020 Census listed the town as having a population of 817. The current mayor is Chad Verkler. He and his wife, Ashleigh, own the town Dairy Queen. Chad walked by it one day and told his wife, “Why don’t we buy it?”

She told him he was crazy, but a couple of weeks later they were owners. Since then, their three children have all worked in the business, learning the value of a dollar, as dad says.

That’s typical of Cissna Park, which still has a lot of locally-owned family businesses. The downtown is full. Cissna Park has groceries, a hardware store, a flower shop and a furniture store.

Local employers include KSI, which originated and manufactures a conveyor belt, a safer way for moving grain than an auger. Kaeb Sales supplies major farming equipment, including milking machines. IGSE, Illinois Grain and Seed, builds bins for farmers across the Midwest. Cissna Park Co-op is a grain elevator.

Despite the distance, officials say Cissna Park does serve as a bedroom community for some, with commuters driving to Champaign, Kankakee and even Chicago. A new 15-lot subdivision has been approved.

The village contracts with ERH to hand le its sewer services. There is a contract with the Iroquois County Sheriff’s Department for police work.

The fire department, which also includes ambulance services, is a volunteer one, with about 25 men and women participating. Participants must get and maintain an EMT license to serve.

Medical services are provided by two clinics. More than 60 years ago, residents got together and raised funds to build the Cissna Park Memorial Building, with the intent of bringing physicians to town. Today, Gibson Health is the successor to that idea. The Carle Clinic came into Cissna Park five years ago.

One of the unique recreational opportunities is the Cissna Park Country Theatre Workshop. Founded more than 40 years ago by Dick Baier, Wilma Dryden and Dick Reutter, local people volunteer to put on theatrical productions there. This year’s shows were “Disaster” and “Barefoot in the Park.”

A recreation board organizes youth baseball, soccer and softball.

Cissna Park has one of the best town festivals in the state. The Old Settlers Reunion is held during the third weekend in August and is organized by the town’s American Legion Post. There is a parade, dancing, live entertainment and a carnival in the downtown park.

A highlight is the annual raffle of a new car. A winner can also take the prize in cash. Tickets are sold statewide. The American Legion, located downtown, does a lot for the community. It has a top-rated rifle team and supports Wreaths across America.

Cissna Park is served by a consolidated school system with three buildings. All three are located on the same campus in town. The high school teams are known as the Timberwolves. The school has a storied tradition in basketball. Though small in numbers, they have successfully competed against much larger schools.

The two most famous folks with links to Cissna Park are C. Addison Brown and Katherine Reutter. Brown was a football teammate of Red Grange, the Galloping Ghost, at the University of Illinois. That was a more exclusive club than you might think, Baier says. There were only 14 players on the team.

Reutter was a speedskater who won two medals, silver in the 100 meters and bronze in the 300 meter relay, at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Reutter grew up in Champaign, but is part of the Cissna Park Reutter family. She was Grand Marshall of the Old Settlers Reunion, a town honor.

“We are a tight knit community,” Mayor Verkler said.

When there was a seriously ill child in town, Cissna Park pulled together to raise more than $100,000 for medical expenses.

“This is a great place to raise a family. You can feel secure here, and a lot of people who grow up here, wind up staying here,” he said