Glimpses of the Past

GLIMPSES OF THE PAST - FULTON

1963: Bet ty Crocker Homemaker Award w inner announced

60 Years Jan. 16, 1963

Miss Betty Hoff has been announced as the local winner of the Ninth Annual Betty Crocker Homemaker Award in a written examination taken Dec. 4, 1962, by a class of six graduating seniors at Fulton Community High School. She received a special letter and a gold pin and is eligible to have her examination papers entered in the Illinois State Homemakers of Tomorrow Contest, which is sponsored by General Mills.

A new high mark of $4,927,383 in deposits as of Dec. 28, 1962, was reported by President Henry Kiefer of the Fulton State Bank at the annual meeting of stockholders and directors. Bank deposits increased from $4,247,934 a year earlier.

50 Years Jan. 17, 1973

The Board of Education approved a contract for James Proud of Clinton to take over the duties of George Pinnell as driver training instructor at Fulton High School. Proud has a bachelor’s degree from the University of Northern Iowa. He also will serve as an assistant coach. Pinnell resigned to take a position in city administration in Iowa.

Five men from the Fulton area were appointed as trustees of the newly formed Fulton Flood Control District by means of a resolution adopted by the county board at its meeting. Those appointed are James Shipma, J.E. Mitchell, William Carswell, Dwight Wiersema and Donald Murray. The trustees expect to start working at once with the U.S. Engineers on detailed plans for providing long-range flood protection for the Fulton area.

40 Years Jan. 19, 1983

Jon Voss, a student at Fulton High School, was presented the “Accent on Excellence” award for January. The award was given in recognition of Voss’ outstanding achievements in scholarship and also in student activities.

Even if the referendum for more taxes for the schools are voted favorably Feb. 22, personnel and services in River Bend District schools still will have to be reduced sharply to balance the budget for the 1983-84 school year. This was the burden of recommendations made at a school board meeting by Dr. Martin Kinert, the superintendent.

30 Years Jan. 13, 1993

Agri-King’s state-of-the-art laboratory celebrated its 20th anniversary. An open house for its employees was held featuring a pictorial history of the lab as well as a walk-through tour of its facilities. That first year the lab analyzed about 36 samples of feedstuffs a day, with a four-day turnaround time. Today, the lab averages 500 samples a day with a 24-hour turnaround time on all rations.

Tim and Laura Wessels and their son, Jared Matthew, were honored at a baby shower luncheon given by the seventh grade class of Unity Christian Junior High School. They also were honored at a baby shower given by the Unity Christian High School yearbook staff.

20 Years Jan. 15, 2003

Officials at Central Bank Fulton announced that Randy Clary has been named Chief Executive Officer of the financial institution. He is responsible for all deposit and loan operations of the bank, including customer relations and business development.

Ron Koehn’s teaching career at Fulton High School will come to an end on Friday as he will be retiring. He came to Fulton in 1974 with a degree in history from Illinois State University. In 1983, he received his master’s degree in history, also from Illinois State University, and in 1995, he received recognition from the Moline Dispatch and the Rock Island Argus as a master teacher. Koehn also was coach of the school’s scholastic bowl team for 11 years.

10 Years Jan. 16, 2013

The Fulton Fire Department was p r e s e n t e d a P a tr io t i c E m p l o y e r Award, which recognizes the department for the support it provided to N a t i o n a l G u a r d s m a n S h e l l y Giannetto, former EMS coordinator for Fulton Fire Protection, during her deployment to Iraq. The award reflects the efforts made to support Citizen Warriors through a wide range of measures including flexible schedules, time off prior to and after deployment, caring for families and granting leaves of absence if needed.

The New Year Baby from the River Bend District has arrived! Jaron David was born to Joe and Julie Lutz on Jan. 10 at 3:49 p.m. at Mercy Hospital in C l i n t o n , I o w a . J a r o n w e i g he d 7 pounds, 11 ounces and measured 20¾ inches long. He is welcomed home by big brother, Jonah.

YOUR HEALTH

Sig ns and treatment of earaches in young children are discussed

By Stephen D. Harrison, M.D.

Most parents with young children are familiar with ear infections and most children have had several by the time they reach age 3. The condition arises when the tubes connecting the sinus, the eustachian tubes, become clogged. Fluid that sits too long may become infected. This clogging may be caused by colds or sinus infections and lead to bacterial or viral disease. Earaches are more common in children because the eustachian tube is shorter and smaller and does not drain as well as in adults.

Some parents are familiar with the symptoms of traumatic earaches occurring in the middle of the night. In the younger child, fussiness may be the only symptom. On occasion, hearing loss will be the presentation. Unfortunately, sometimes there are no symptoms until the condition is fairly advanced. Appetite may be decreased and there may be associate listlessness as with any prominent infection. The condition may worsen when the child lies down on the side of the infected ear. Sometimes the eardrum will burst and pus will drain from the ear. Infections usually clear up within one to two weeks.

Unfortunately, it is not uncommon for them to return. Sometimes fluid may stay in the middle ear even though the infection is gone, which may lead to further infections and temporary hearing loss. If the hearing loss is ongoing, there may be trouble with speech and language skills.

Treatment for ear infections generally involve antibiotics. They tend to eliminate the bacteria that cause many ear infections. Since there is no way to distinguish clinically the viral from the bacterial, antibiotics are prescribed for most cases. However, experts say there is no hurry to treat these infections because many will disappear on their own. Pain relievers such as Tylenol or Children’s Motrin may be given at appropriate doses. A warm, not hot, heating pad held over the ear may help relieve the pain. Sweet oil and other home remedies should be avoided as these may lead to damage. Your doctor may have a topical pain reliever, but this is generally short-lived. It is important to take all of the prescribed medication as directed.

Improvement generally should be seen within 48 to 72 hours. If not, you should let your doctor know. Your doctor may wish to see your child again after treatment if it was an unusually bad infection, if your child is particularly young, there have been many recurrences, or other situations as discussed.

Unfortunately, some children seem to get one infection after another. Sometimes low-dose antibiotics are given during the season of high risk, namely winter, when respiratory infections are most common. Avoiding cigarette smoke is important since this is felt to be a definite risk factor. Allergies also may lead to the trapping of fluid in eustachian tubes. Effective management of the latter may cut down on infections of the ear. If fluid stays in the ear for more than three months, there is hearing loss, etc. Your doctor may wish to consider tubes to drain the fluid. These tend to reduce the number of repeat infections, sometimes leading to dramatic improvement overnight. Tubes are like yesterday’s tonsillectomies – there are people who will benefit from them, but they are not done as commonly as they were a few years ago as we seek to establish better guidelines for those who will benefit.

Some countries will not treat ear infections for the first three days. Studies show that many ear infections are self-limiting and you must treat eight cases of ear infection to treat one. This is on par for many medical conditions. Thus, some doctors will give options to patients in our country. Parents may give some consideration of when they go to visit their doctor. Factors of consideration include how bad the pain is and other signs of infection, the patient’s prior experience, etc.

Other risk factors for ear infections include being bottle fed instead of breast fed, presence in a day care center, family history of ear infections (especially before their first birthday), premature birth, presence around people who smoke, and for some unknown reason boys seem to have more middle ear infections than girls. The good news about ear infections is that most resolve without significant consequences and generally do not lead to worse conditions or ongoing damage except in a minority of cases.