Glimpses from the Past

GLIMPSES OF THE PAST - FULTON

1972: Henry K ramer becomes sole owner of the Fulton Journal

60 Years Dec. 26, 1962

Leonard Martin was installed as president of the Fulton Kiwanis Club at a meeting at Bush’s Cafe. Other officers installed were M.J. Wiersema, vice president; Burton Mathews, secretary and treasurer; and John Blodgett, Gerald Hill, George McMullin, Paul Sterenb e r g , H a r o l d W i e r e n g a a n d J o hn Wiersema, directors.

One of the individuals closest to the progress of the Fidelity Life Association for more than four decades will conclude her service Dec. 31. Mrs. Ralph Schepler is retiring after 42 years of service in Fidelity’s executive department. She has served as secretary to three presidents during her tenure.

50 Years Dec. 27, 1972

Henry Kramer will become sole owner of the Fulton Journal, including the Journal building, on Jan. 1, 1973. He is buying the majority interest in the newspaper and printing business from Donald Murray and the Journal building from Mrs. Donald Murray. Kramer’s ownership will mark one of the few times in its some 120 year of publication that the Journal has been owned by a publisher born and reared in Fulton.

Three directors were reelected and annual reports were heard at the annual meeting of stockholders of Harb o r C r e s t H o m e , I n c . D i r ec to rs reelected are Elvin Norman, Maurice Wiersema and J. K. Dolan. Other board member whose terms did not expire are Bert Van Houten, Herman DeVries, J. E. Mitchell, Edward Meures, James Shipma and Henry Kiefer.

40 Years Dec. 29, 1982

High winds and low temperatures caused a great deal of discomfort and some property damage. Firemen spent an hour battling high waves and high winds of the Mississippi River in an effort to locate a possible drowning victim after a capsized boat had been sighted. A plate glass window was broken at Mr. Bill’s Restaurant. There was a brief power outage in the north part of Fulton when limbs were blown down and fell on power lines. Another window in the Old Ford building at the east end of Tenth Avenue, now owned by Gaylord Rigg, also was blown out. The emergency services coordinator for Whiteside County reported tornado touchdowns in the county were thus far unconfirmed although minor damage w a s r e p o r t e d . W i n d s p e e d s w e r e reported at 76 mph in Whiteside County.

Former Mayor Warren Wiersema assumed his duties as a Trustee of the Fulton Flood Control District. He was appointed by the County Board to succeed the late Robert Lockhart, who served only a few months before his death several weeks ago.

30 Years Dec. 23, 1992

No one was in attendance at the public hearing meeting of the Board of Education of the River Bend School District. The reason for the public hearing was to give the public the right to object to a 13% property tax increase for this coming year. The tax levy will bring in about $1,285,900.

Lois Hamilton, Whiteside County Sheriff’s Tele-Communications supervisor, presented Capt. Larry Huizenga, rural Fulton, with an Emergency 911 Dispatch jacket. Capt. Huizenga was honored by the Whiteside County Sheriff’s Department on Dec. 4 for his outstanding leadership as 911 Telephone Board Chairman for the Enhanced 911 emergency system. The 911 system become operational Dec. 1, 1992 in Whiteside County.

20 Years Dec. 25, 2002

Four seats are up for grabs in the upcoming consolidated election on April 1, 2003, for a place on the River Bend School Board. The four board members whose time has expired are Don Temple, Ed Cole, Wendy Ottens and Larry St. Ores. All four have filed the necessary nomination papers. Four other area residents have filed, David Casper, Lori Lisius, Burton Van Zuiden and Jim Miller.

The Illinois Student Assistance Commission announced the names of this year’s students honored as Illinois State Scholars. The commission is pleased to announce that three Unity Christian High School students have been named Illinois State Scholars. They are Matthew Reichert, Alex Hoekstra and Brian Bosma.

10 Years Dec. 26, 2012

Holiday generosity is all around. The River Bend seventh graders held a food drive to support both Fulton and Albany food pantries. KROS Radio representative Greg Naftzger presented the Fulton/Thomson Food Pantry with some of the peanut butter collected during the recent “Spread The Joy II, Peanut Butter for the Pantries” campaign. Dr. Heath Treharne of Tree Of Life Chiropractic presented Harlan Wiebenga with food collected during the month of November from the food drive in Fulton and Rock Island offices. TLC donated more than 150 cans of food and additional nonperishables to the p a n t r y . M e m b e r s o f t h e T r i n i t y Reformed Church presented a check for $1,500 to the Fulton Food Pantry.

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