Back in the Day-2-24-21
Ten years ago
March 2, 2011
Carol Munson and Brad Allen were hired as the new East Prairie Middle School and Tuscola High School Principals during a Feb. 28 school board meeting. The two were set to begin July 1, 2011.
Brian and Kate Moody of Tuscola were proud to welcome the birth of their second son, Elijah David Moody.
Eric and Kelley Wishall of Tuscola were proud to announce their new member of the family, a baby boy named Ethan Matthew Wishall.
Tuscola sweet 16ers Dan Yoakum, Sydney Murray, and Dylan Kleiss were hosting a party on March 5 for classmates in recognition of the three teens shared March 1 birthday. In lieu of gifts for themselves, they are asking for donations to BETHS Place.
FFA Week events at Tuscola High School included a breakfast to honor faculty, local farmers, and FFA alumni and a petting zoo for all Tuscola students to visit.
Twenty years ago
February 27, 2001
A Feb. 16 bid opening resulted in the awarding of a construction contract to English Brothers Company of Champaign for the new elementary school. They had the low base bid, at $7,017,000, and with several alternate bid items the board was in favor of adding, the final bid amount came to $7,114,900.
Five lucky folks went home from the annual ABC Car Raffle with their pockets full of cash, having decided to split the $20,000 pot. They were Tom and Beth Chamberlain, Jim Hoey (brother of Tim), Barb and Bob Utterback, Diane and Jim Sipich, and Mike Lindenmeyer.
Tuck and Sue Elder were playing host to Brazillian exchange student Marcus Carvalho, whose older brother, Gustavo, was a guest in their home four years earlier.
The Unity Rockets easily overcame the Tuscola Warriors in the championship game of the Arcola Regional, ending the good guys’ season with a 62-36 loss. For the first time since the Warriors’ December loss to the Rockets, no Tuscola player scored in double digits.
Thirty years ago
February 28, 1991
By a vote of 5-1 the Tuscola City Council agreed to go ahead with plans for building a golf course, and directed city attorney Mike Carroll to seek land options for the course.
The final five ticket holders in the ABC car raffle who took home equal parts of the $19,000 pot were Nick Gazzoli and Danita Harriss, Doris and Jerry Sims, Harold Miller, Ron and Glenda Millsap, and Darren Gilles and Alison McDaniel.
The Tuscola Board of Education unanimously authorized Principal Mike Damler to sign contracts and make a two-year commitment to join the Meridian Conference in football.
After 30 years with Century Motors in Tuscola, Ene Reece was calling it quits and retiring.
Members of the 1991 regional champion Tuscola Warriors whooped it up with fans after Coach Kerry Kincaid’s third-seeded cagers turned back number-one seed St. Joseph-Ogden by a 76-75 nailbiter. The victory marked the fourth consecutive time, dating back to 1988, that Tuscola defeated St. Joe for the regional title.
Forty years ago
March 3, 1981
There would be a new business on Sale Street this week, and a landmark business for almost 46 years would come down, when Jay R. North Furniture became Thompson’s Interiors. The sale of the business by Antoinette North to Jim and Audrey Thompson became final Feb. 28.
A certificate and $2,000 monetary award was presented to Tuscola resident Dale Bateman, Douglas County Extension agriculture advisor, in recognition of his “innovative Extension programming to agriculture in Douglas County and East Central Illinois.”
Mr. and Mrs. Norman Dietrich announced the engagement of their daughter, Susan Dietrich, to Greg Ogden, son of Mrs. Lawrence Ogden.
A finely-tuned Atwood-Hammond Rajahs team bombed the nets for a .581 shooting percentage on the way to a 60-40 romp over the Tuscola Warriors in second-round regional action at Sullivan. Warrior John Murray led all scorers with 23, and picked up eight rebounds to lead in that department.
Fifty years ago
February 25, 1971
The Tuscola School Board recently adopted pay scales for the 1971-72 school year. Salary range for a beginner teacher with bachelor’s degree was $7,400 to $8,600 for a teacher with six years’ training. Top salary for a teacher with bachelor’s degree and 11 years experience was $10,150; and if you added six years’ training to those qualifications the teacher would make $11,350.
Olympian Linda Metheny, currently teaching gymnastics and volleyball at Parkland College and master’s degree candidate at the University of Illinois, hoped she was sufficiently recovered from arm and ankle injuries to qualify for competition in the 1972 Games to be held in Munich. Metheny was the current national champion in four of five women’s gymnastics events.
Dr. Robert E. Burns announced he had purchased the Dietrich Electric Building at 701 N. Niles Avenue as the new location for his chiropractic office. He had maintained offices in the Hotel Douglas for several years.
Cadets of the Douglas County Civil Air Patrol braved freezing weather for a campout Feb. 13-15. Strong winds, frozen ground and an overnight snow that left drifts so high a snowplow coming to plow out the campsite got stuck did little to diminish the enthusiasm and ingenuity of the campers.