Looking Back

1912The Rock Island depot at Thompson burned.The Ford car was about the only model with left-hand drive; nearly all others had the steering wheel on the right side.Fairbury Telephone Co. stock-holders voted to sell to the Lincoln Telephone & Telegraph Co.The Jefferson County Commissioners spent most of the Commissioners' meeting touring the county to inspect the bridges that had been recently washed out due to high waters. Bonds were approved for the repair of said bridges.Fairbury's new council met and their first act was to lift the limit on the number of bars that would be allowed in Fairbury. Anyone who was willing to pay $1,500 for a license was allowed to open a bar in Fairbury, only six bars were allowed within the city limits.1922W.L. Woods, chairman, Louis Jarchow and John Mendenhall were county commissioners; Clyde Marthis was county clerk. The commissioner's payments for the preceding month ranged from $25 to $60. B.F. McPherson, county farm superintendent, received $70 a month.1932There was a sugar surplus, and it was priced at four and a half cents a pound. Other grocery prices in Fairbury: milk 5 cents a quart, packaged coffee 15 cents, breakfast bacon 9 cents, pork roast 8 cents a pound, pork steak 10 cents, butter 18 ½ cents, beef tenderloin 20 cents a pound, eggs 10 cents a dozen. Meat prices “on the hoof” were $2.25 a hundred pounds for hogs and $7 for cattle.Charles Bryan defeated Omaha's Ritchie for the Democratic nomination for governor; Dwight Griswold of Gordon was the Republican nominee. Local nominees (Democratic and Republican) included J.A. Brunt and J.A. Axtel for state senator; Frank Wells and O.R. Jones for representative; Foster Helvey (serving by appointment) and Emil Ackman for sheriff; Grover Grissom and Charles Koenig for commissioner. Nominated for county judge were E.R. Bee and Samuel Gallamore.City is shocked by the death of Dr. Albert M. Lynch after only a few days of illness. Lynch was known as a prominent physician and Ex-Mayor of Fairbury. During his eulogy he was characterized as an indefatigable surgeon and general practitioner who was also interested in things outside of his profession such as all civic affairs that made for the good of the community.1942F.O. Jones and precinct assessors were reevaluating Jefferson County farmland with a 10 percent reduction. The Fairbury Journal said hardly any residential property in Fairbury would sell for its assessed value.1952Officers-elect of Fairbury's Junior Chamber of Commerce included Earl Barth, president; Lyle Austin and LeRoy Welch, vice presidents, and Dale Staff, state director.Directors-elect of the Fairbury Industrial Development Corporation were C.J. Bachoritch, Martin Bottger, Max Denney, Harry B Harris, Earl Howell, Hugh B. Ri-ley, Roy L. Schainost, Lawrence Shinn. Jack Shipman, Harry B Stearns, Sam Stull, John Theisent, Ernest Wiebe, J.A. Williams and Robert Williams.The County Poor Farm was scheduled to go on sale block June 5. The county voted and decided in a 2 to 1 decision to auction off the property and all contents. This included 320 acres with 50 acres planted to wheat and 100 acres to pasture as well as 16 buildings which includes a 20-room house. The property was originally purchased by the county in 1888 with the deed being recorded in 1889.Two track records were broken by Fairbury performers at the Doane Invitational helping to place Fairbury third overall. Record breakers included Keith Richardson, who cleared pole vault at 11'6 8I 1/2". The Fairbury mile relay team broke its own record with a 3:39.8 run. The mile relay team members were Jerry Spencer, Jack Krauss, Loren Eigenberg, and Gary Tippin.1972Alan Dux of Fairbury FFA chapter was named Area Star Farmer; Roy Shinn and Mark Willoughby were State Farmers.A record total of 448 animals had been shown at the Blue Valley Beef Revue. Harlan Ruhnke was president. Bob Engle of Geneva won the 4-H judging prize offered by Henry Evers of Odell.Key roles in the FHS play, “Matchmaker,” were handled by Kim Austen, Karen Bohlmeyer, Mike and Patricia Kidder, Todd McDaniel, Chuck Glaesemann, Larry Hiller, Jody Johnson, Debbie Quam, Theresa Hill and Julie Wilkinson.1982Fairbury Elks installed Fred Drexler exalter ruler; other officers included John Wilson, Bob Minks, and Larry Schwan.Fairbury elementary school pupils whose art work was accepted for statewide exhibit were Derrick Barker, Kendra Cummins, Bryce Heitman, Mary Niemeier, Jerolyn Smith and Krista Ward.Work began on a new bridge over the Little Blue River just south of Endicott.A Jeff wrestler, Mark Schacht, was invited on South American Tour as part of the Nebraska contingent. This was a South American goodwill wrestling tour. Schacht has a record of 27-2 and has been on varsity for the past three years.Three Fairbury High School students qualified to compete in the Nebraska High School Press Championship. Kevin Peterson placed in the sports writing category, with Lana Welsh competing in the yearbook theme development section.Keith Trimm was the first alternative in editorial cartooning.1992Stephen Deger, a 1960 graduate of Fairbury High School, was to assume duties as Meridian's superintendent of schools in the upcoming summer.The First Church of God located at 818 Fourth St. in Fairbury, celebrated its 100th year anniversary.Fairbury Journal-News Publisher Fred A. Arnold Jr. noted frigid temperatures returning to the area made the day after Easter feel more like the day after Christmas.Greg Trimm was promoted to the position of meeting planner at UNO's Peter Kiewit Conference Center (PKCC).Fairbury senior Danyel Grammer, daughter of Bob and Elaine Garrett of Endicott and Gail and Mary Ann Grammer of Council Bluffs, Iowa, accepted a two-sport scholarship from Teikyo-Westmar University in LeMars, Iowa.2002Fairbury High School Seniors, Terrell Hurst and Ahren Ambrose, earned positions at the state finals by scoring among the highest in the state on the written exam, testing their knowledge of automobile technology. Their instructor was Tim McAllister. These students went on to compete at the Ford/AAA Student Auto Skills contest at Southeast Community College in Milford.Two Fairbury High School Seniors signed letters of intent to play sports in college. Luke Beerbohm signed to complete in basketball at Doane College in Crete. Ross Boeckner signed with the University of Sioux Falls to play football.Renovation and improvements of Park facilities included a new shower house and hook up area located to the old tennis courts at Crystal Springs. Expenditures for the new shower house/restroom were approximately $32,400.Hazardous materials training for emergency personnel was put to good use when a trailer pulling an anhydrous tank toppled over into a ditch, releasing a small amount of the gas into the air. Responding to the situation were members of the Fairbury City Fire Department, the Fairbury Rural Fire Department, Jefferson County Ambulance District 33, Jefferson County Sheriff's Department and Farmers Coop hazardous materials team members.

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12.11.24