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1925 – 100 Years Ago
According to a report received today by J. W. Concidine, custodian of the community swimming pool, the water in the pool has been passed by the state university as pure. A sample of the water was sent to the University of Illinois a few days ago and the report came back today. Mr. Concidine has also sent a sample of the water to the Columbus laboratories in Chicago for analysis and a report is expected in a few days. A few people in DeKalb thought that the typhoid fever germs may have come from the swimming pool and for that reason a test of the water was made. The water in the pool is changing all of the time, and new water is continually being pumped into the pool.
Evidently frightened by the story in last evening’s Chronicle stating that some silver had been stolen Saturday night from the Roy Goff home on DeKalb Avenue, the thief last night became chicken-hearted and returned the silver to the home. A half dozen dessert spoons were stolen from the Goff home. Last night, while Mrs. Goff was washing the evening dishes, she heard a noise on the front porch. A short time later she reminded her husband of the paper, lying near the door. Opening the package, she found that it contained the silver that had been stolen on Saturday night.
Hundreds of visitors from the northern part of the state are at Kingston Park today, attending the annual two-day Old Settlers’ picnic at the Kingston Park. Kingston has spared no effort in making the picnic today and tomorrow a huge success. Should the weather tomorrow be more agreeable than today, expectations are that the park will be crowded to capacity.
Repairs in the asphalt pavement on South Somonauk Street in Sycamore are receiving attention by a force of city workmen at this time, and is probably before the men complete the task, every street in the city made of such material will have been repaired. Fresh material is heated, poured into the holes and sprinkled with fine gravel, and quickly sets. This does away with many of the chuck holes along Somonauk Street, except those at the extreme south end, which will be taken care of with new paving at a later date.
1950– 75 Years Ago
As in the past, musical pieces and a serial display of fireworks will be a pat of the DeKalb Municipal Band festival program at the Hopkins Park Amphitheatre. The musical fireworks were an original creation with the DeKalb band festival. The displays are designed and handled by Sid Weiss of Ottawa, one of the nation’s leading fireworks designers and the outstanding nature of his displays reflect his years of experience in this field.
Sometime during the night Roy’s Shoe Repair Shop, located at 219 North Seventh Street was entered and burglarized with about $9 in change being taken from the cash register. The shop is operated by Troy Brasser and the burglary was discovered when he opened the shop for business this morning. Entrance was gained by breaking the window in the center of the building on the south side and then reaching in to open the lock. After taking the money from the cash register departure was made through the front door which has a night lock.
Hervie Palmer, DeKalb, a member of the American Broadcasting System orchestra and saxophone soloist with the Don McNeil’s Breakfast Club, will be one of the soloists for the DeKalb Municipal Band Festival at Hopkins Park.
A map of DeKalb which answers the question “Where Do Your Children Play?” has just been completed by the community class of Northern Illinois State Teachers College and will be on display at Riippi’s window. The map, which shows possible improvements for recreational facilities in the city and indicates what facilities are now being used, was prepared after study made by the class in a series of personal interviews with various citizens of DeKalb.
The rain and hail storm Thursday afternoon struck Waterman about 4 o’clock and for awhile was quite violent. There was a great deal of lightening and the shower of small hail stones brought down leaves and covered the grass with what looked almost like a snow storm. Corn was injured on farms north of the village but beyond the intersection of Routes 23 and 30 east a short distance, it did not rain at all.
Thursday afternoon the DeKalb fire department received two calls within five minutes. At 5:15 a call was received for the community truck to go to a farm north of Malta where lightening had struck a barn. The barn and baled hay were destroyed. Five minutes later the two other tucks made a run to the DeKalb Ice Company where a cushion in an auto parked nearby was damaged by fire.
1975 – 50 Years Ago
Former President Richard M. Nixon says he intends to make his Watergate tapes and documents public at a later date, but only after they are first “reviewed” by him and his family.
Demolition of a house built by Perry Ellwood, a member of one of DeKalb’s earliest families, began this week. The site of the three-story house will be used for an apartment complex or condominiums, a city building official said, but no construction permit has been issued.
If you’re a man or a woman on the streets on Friday you may have a golden opportunity to answer the following questions. 1. What is there about living in DeKalb County or your part of the county that you’d like to have continued or preserve in the future? 2. What would you like to change about DeKalb County or your area of the county? 3. This fall, 1975, what are your or your family’s needs or concerns? Looking for answers from DeKalb and Sycamore residents are the program councils of the University of Illinois Cooperative Extension Service.
2000 – 25 Years Ago
City and school officials in Genoa will try to grapple with problems associated with growth in the area during a special meeting at Genoa-Kingston High School. The session will discuss the proposed new high school, the proposed River Bend subdivision, and the water and sewer serviced needed to fund those and other developments.
Effective immediately, licenses will be required for raffles conducted in DeKalb County, but only if the value of the prize offered is $1,001 or more, not $500, as originally proposed.
For 26 years the DeKalb County Animal Welfare Shelter in Genoa has seen its share of four-legged friends. Shelter manager Gerrie Hayward stands behind the counter among the loud barking and swarms of flies. According to Hayward, the shelter houses around 50 dogs and 30 cats at a time. The cages are all nearly filled leaving no vacancy for new animals.
DeKalb County is closer to finalizing plans for the proposed Legislative Center following two meetings this week. But the project’s current $2 million construction budget does not provide for a basement, leaving many design details up in the air.
While acknowledging it may sometimes be difficult to separate planning issues from “political” issues, such as whether to offer tax breaks to developers, DeKalb’s Plan Commission is going to try. This seems to be the consensus Wednesday as the commission offered some final comments on Park 88, a 460-acre industrial subdivision likely to be built northeast of Fairview Drive and the Union Pacific Railroad tracks.
Compiled by Sue Breese