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t \l\.'NQ,c THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER "SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION SINCE 1875 VOL.91 - NO. 51 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 5, 1969 16 PAGES, 10 <? Select Bigelow Site For Proposed Courthouse Anna M. 100 On Hughes Two Dissenters In Board Vote s MRS. ANNA M. HUGHES Believed to be McHenry's oldest resident is Mrs., Anna M. Hughes, who on Friday, Feb. 7, will observe her hundredth birthday. She will celebrate quietly at the Tobey nursing home, 910 W. West blvd., Lilymoor, where she has resided since last October. Expected to call that day are her niece, Mrs. Leslie Luing, of McHenry, friends and families, all enjoying with Mrs. Hughes her gifts and refreshments. Mrs. Hughes contributes her longevity, at least in part, to eating grapefruit daily. Until eight years ago she enjoyed working crossword puzzles regularly. She has always taken great pleasure in meeting people, and in younger days was fond of entertaining. Anna Hughes was born Feb. 7, 1869, in Chicago. She was employed as a travelling saleslady for a Chicago firm for many years, and it was during her travels that she met William Hughes, to whom she was married in 1917. Mr. Hughes died in 1939. Eight years later she took up residence with her niece, Mrs. Luing, in Chicago, and later at 1816 N. Oak drive, McHenry. In the fall of 1967 she entered a Woodstock Nursing home and later moved to the Tobey residence. Her only living relatives are her niece, Mrs. Luing, and two otners, Sister M. Poala, BVM, DesMoines, Iowa, and Mrs. Temple Carr, Sun City, Calif. Mrs. Hughes was grand counselor in 1927 and'28 and presided at the grand conventions in Cedar Rapids, Iowa, United Commercial Travelers of America. PLAINDEALER I'.i'Vm VETERANS MEET The Veterans of World War I, McHenry barracks, will meet on Thursday, Feb. 6 at 8 p.m. at the Legion home. In . two separate decisions made by the board of supervisors last Thursday afternoon, members voted both to approve the report on a court house site evaluation and also the recommended Bigelow site, with arrangements for negotiations to purchase to be made by the Public Building committee, contingent upon annexation to the city. Approval of the report met with unanimous support, while the vote on the site itself was 26 to 2 favoring the proposed location. The negative votes were cast by Edwin J. Buckley and Ernest Foote, both of Woodstock. A third Woodstock member, Thore Emrickson, saidthat while the Annex was his original choice, he was forced to change his vote as he regarded the site with the future in mind. In a concise and clear report submitted by Richard Seehausen of the architectural firm of Johnson, Kile and Seehausen of Rockford, the Bigelow pfro- Soldier Dies In Vietnam As the Plaindealer goes to press Tuesday, word is received o" th>? death in Vietnam of James W. Ambrose, III, 23, son of Mr. and Mrs. James W. Ambrose, II, of 119 S. Barreville road, McHenry. The young serviceman died Friday, Jan. 31, when the tank on which he served as a gunner, struck a land mine. No details were received, and no location given, but it is believed he died in the explosion. Ambrose would have been 24 years old Sunday, Feb. 2. He entered service six months ago and arrived in Vietnam with the armofed division of the Army three weeks ago. Since then, manners of his family had received letters tolling of his work on the tank and the caution required because of frequent land mines encountered on search and destroy missions. (continued on page 11) perty, consisting of 40 acres on the southeast corner of Rt« 14 Bypass and Kishwaukee Valley road, was the firm's first, choice. This was the same location recommended about three years ago by the McHenry county Building commission but later was rejected when the city of Woodstock refused to annex the property. Mr. Seehausen pointed out that since the report was first made known a week prior to the meeting, confidential information revealed to the committee "leaked out" and pressures had since been put on his architectural firm. However, he said no attempt had been made by anyone prior to that time to influence the engineer's decision. The next step will be legal negotiations concerning the transaction, all matters to be approved by Chapman & Cutler, bond specialists, before be- * coming final. It was pointed out by Mr. Seehausen that „ about a half million dollars might have been saved had the Bigelow property been accepted when first proposed a few years ago. Woodstock's Mayor Frances Kuhn and members of the City Council were present and quietly listened to the proceedings. There was no indication that the Council, at long last* would not take the necessary action to annex the Bigelow property. The next step would be presentation of the matter to the public under a general obligation bond proposal. This procedure resulted from a recommendation of the bond specialists to the board, which had originally considered undertaking a revenue type bond program in which the various offices in the new building would pay for the structure through rentals. Under such a plan, the McHenry County Buiiding commission would have been charged with the task of selecting the site. Mr. Seehausen presented a complete, factual report in which all pros and cons were considered, resulting in the evaluation which favored the Bigelow property. The latter has a $100,000 selling price. He added that while the Annex was particularly appealing to Wood- (continued on page 11) Hospital Looks Ahead To Possible New Location While Fred Buck (second from left), new director, listens, McHenry hospital board members discuss expansion prospects following annual meeting Saturday evening. Record 225 attended (DON PEASLEY PHOTO), dinner. From left: Joseph A. Conerty, Jr., Woodstock; Buck, Crystal Lake; George P. Freund, McHenry, board president; and Mrs. Elmer Stange, McHenry, Woman's auxiliary president. Two Business Firm Thefts Investigated Two thefts at local business firms last weekend are still under investigation by city police. Concentrated surveillance by officers on night patrol almost thwarted one of them. Officer Kinnerk, on duty at 3 a.m. Saturday morning, noticed a window broken in the rear of the Guettler service station at 818 N. Front street. He contacted Officer Weichmann, who with Officer Baker had checked the buildings in that area only twenty minutes previous and found nothing amiss. (continued on page 11) McHenry hospital officials are looking forward to expansion; of their facilities with the present 134-bed hospital being called on for more ° services NEGOTIATE ON PROPOSED SITE FOR NEW COLLEGE With approval of the Brackman- Backhaus property as the choice of site for the proposed McHenry County college, negotiations have progressed concerning acquisition of the land„ College Board Atty. Wm. Carroll, Jr., told members meeting last Thursday that sellers of the property had been unaware the college was interested only in a portion of the acreage available. He added that a request was made for an option of five months or longer, (continued on page 11) than anticipated when the virtually all-new structure opened in 1966. Discussion at Saturday night's annual meeting of the McHenry Hospital corporation centered around the future potential which can materialize with the board's decision to ex- SHORTED WIRING CAUSE FIRES IN CAR AND HOME McHenry firemen were called out twice last weekend, once to extinguish a car fire and the other time to prevent damage to a home. On Saturday, a Wonder-Lake woman was driving along Riverside Drive in McHenry when the car began to smoke from shorted wires under the dash. Fire Chief Ed Justen (continued on page 11) pand at another location. Though mentioned only in oblique terms, it is evident that President George P. Freund and others with the responsibility of providing health care in the McHenry area are exhilarated over the possibility of the location in conjunction, or near the new McHenry County college. "When we decided to look around and price land in the area, we asked ourselves: 'Why not somewhere near the new Junior college, possibly on the Crystal Lake-McHenry blacktop?' As you know by now it appears a distinct possibility that the junior college will locate at McHenry." Anthony Corcoran, administrator, reviewed the honor accorded McHenry hospital when it was chosen by National Cash (continued on page 11) Canine Request Brings Service With A Smile m "Ask and you shall receive". The human segment of the public has followed this familiar adage throughout history, but there have been occasional doubts that the animal kingdom was fully aware of its wisdom. These doubts have been dispelled by all who are acquainted with King, the large dog of mixed heritage (Dane and Boxer) which belongs to the Leonard P. Gehrke family of ,3212 W. Skyway drive, McHenry. One day Mrs. Gehrke pulled up to the drive-in window of the McHenry State Bank, and after transacting her business asked for a sucker for the dog. King, who had been sitting quietly in the back seat, jumped t<5 the front, beside his owner, to receive the ^ treat. " Although there appears to be no elephant blood in his ancestry, King demonstrated a fine memory. On his next visit to the window, when Mrs. Gehrke was a bit slow in making the request, King made his own wishes known with a loud bark. When the sucker was forthcoming, he devoured it in one fell swoop of his mighty jaws and the die was cast for future visits. Now, when the family car approaches the bank, King has only.to put, his head out of the window, as he is doing in the first photo, and Teller Rosemary Pollitt brings forth his treat. Miss Sherry Gehrke the young lady of the family, is shown reaching out a hand to accept the sucker in the"name of her pet dog. Plaindealer Photographer Wayne Gaylord, who happened on the scene as the "transaction" took place, said King's request for service was most convincing, backed up by a mighty set of jaws that prompted Mrs. Pollitt to act on-the-double. Joking aside, Mrs. Gehrke says the pooch is all-heart and acts as a friendly ambassador to those who knock at the family door. PLAINDEALER PHOTOS