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1922 – 100 YEARS AGO
Reports indicate that St. Mary’s hall will be filled to capacity on the 18th, the date of the firemen’s first annual ball sponsored by the firemen and others. Proceeds are to be used for the purpose of a first-class radio set, while the balance will be placed in the firemen’s pension fund. Tickets have sold well, and it is believed that there will be more than 2,000 people in attendance at the function.
One of the large telephone poles on South Seventh Street near Girrard Street was broken some time Tuesday night when an auto crashed into it, evidently coming from the south. The pole was broken near the top, on account of three heavy cables being fastened there. Telephone men spent yesterday setting a new pole and getting the cable lines moved over, and are hoping that the next time the driver wants to hit something, he will refrain from any of the company’s cable poles.
Martin Brock left DeKalb early yesterday afternoon for Waterman planning to deliver some potatoes. Getting off the cement road, Brock, although resorting to every means known, was unable to get back onto the pavement. He remained marooned until early today when another attempt was made to get the machine onto the pavement with the result that one of the front wheels was broken.
Twenty-three hundred dollars have been subscribed by farmers living south and west of DeKalb for the purpose of fixing up about four or five miles of bad road. The work has been done among the rural folks in a quiet way, and arrangements are now being made to get considerable crushed stone and gravel for the necessary repairs. The road to be given attention is that leading from the Plank farm on South First Street to the farm of James Coyne, about four miles west. It has been a muddy highway for years, and the farmers out that way have tired of trying to get to town with machines.
We gave away over 800 goldfish last week and we still have one hundred left. To anyone purchasing a tube of Ny-Denta Tooth Paste we will give a globe and two nice goldfish as long as they last. Come early. Secor’s
Hotel DeBum of the North Western, two bunk cars which have been used by travelers getting off trains during the night, passed out of existence yesterday when fire razed the two cars. It was believed by the railroad authorities here that the cars had seen their days of usefulness and when it was found the cars were afire, no effort was made to extinguish the flames. It is understood that the cars have been used all winter by travelers as sleeping quarters, and now that warm weather is approaching, the fellows will have to find other quarters.
1947 – 75 YEARS AGO
Spring is just around the corner to most people but to Emil Cassier, veteran superintendent of the Sycamore Community Park, it already has arrived. Thursday, Cassier had to order the lawnmowers into action at the golf course to cut the greens. The greens were much too soft to be mowed, but the grass was growing so fast that he was forced to mow it since that is one of the secrets of good golf greens. So, the greens at the park have had a trimming already at a time when the lawns have just started to show a tinge of color. The park is not open for play yet, but Cassier said a few days of hot dry winds will dry out the fairways and place them in playable condition.
After a month of work, Strains’ Restaurant situated in the basement of their grocery store on the corner of State and Somonauk Street in Sycamore, will be open for the first time Easter Sunday morning for breakfast. People have been watching with increasing interest, the building of the glass brick stairway on the Somonauk Street entrance for the past few days. The glass brick is just one of the features that make the new restaurant one of the most modern and attractive eating places in town.
Kirkland is again holding its outdoor Easter Sunrise Service one mile northeast of the old Hemp Mill, now Tuttle & Kift Plant. The service begins at 5:10 o’clock and will close the moment the sun appears behind the three large crosses at the top of the hill.
Yesterday afternoon the DeKalb Fire Department was called out twice. The first run was for a grass fire and the second for an auto fire. At 2:20 o’clock, the department was called to North Thirteenth Street where a grass fire was in progress and threatening to spread to nearby buildings. The fire was extinguished without trouble and no damage was caused. Two hours later, a run was made to Rolfe Road where an auto was on fire. The fire was out when the truck arrived and damage had been limited to some burned wires.
1972 – 50 YEARS AGO
The DeKalb School Board is planning to open “Gurler School” this fall. “Gurler School” is the name arbitrarily given to the Northern Illinois University laboratory school last night as the DeKalb board discussed a proposed agreement with the University for running a public school program at the campus site this fall.
Two federal agencies have approved the placing of a new post office on DeKalb’s east side, between Sixth and Fifth Streets, instead of a west side site proposed over a year ago. The Army Corps of Engineers and the U. S. Postal Service have both approved placing the new postal facilities on the city’s east side. The post office originally was planned to be put on the city’s west side in the Urban Renewal District. The first plan called for the post office to be placed on a 105,233-square-foot site on Lincoln Highway’s south side across from the First National Bank of DeKalb.
1997 – 25 YEARS AGO
Opportunity House recently received rave reviews on its 1996 Supported Employment Satisfaction Survey. The survey, sent out annually, asks employers who have used OH’s job placement services if they are satisfied with their employees, with the training provided, with the service and with the commitment OH vocational staff makes with employers to ensure continued satisfaction. This year’s results were the best in the company’s history.
The United Pentecostal Church of DeKalb dedicated a two-acre parcel on South Seventh Street for the construction of a new worship facility Easter Sunday.
Living up to its name, the City of Sycamore may soon be the home of many more trees, now that a landscaping ordinance, requiring foliage for new developments of all kinds, is on its way to the city council. If the new ordinance passes, residences, commercial stores and industries, built after the effective date of the ordinance, will be required to landscape their properties.
Richard Mamoser said one of the reasons he moved to rural Kingston was because he was attracted to an old barn he spotted just off Myelle Road. He said he saw the two-story barn, and the farmhouse it accompanied, and had to own it. But late yesterday afternoon, Mamoser’s barn was totally destroyed in an accidental fire.
– Compiled by Sue Breese