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EARL WICK DIES Earl L. Wick, 71, of 4025 S: Tamarack trail, Crystal Lake, died April 1 after a long illness. He was one of the five original owners of Gearmeaster Corp., McHenry, and a former executive officer of the firm. A complete obituary appears elsewhere in this issue. The City Council split a little more than 70,000 Revenue Sharing dollars between eight groups and "The cutbacks will set our school system back 30 years." It was an Elementary District 15 teacher talking. "I had all I could do not to stand up and say, 'Allright, we'll restore all the programs and then at the end of the year we'll dose the doors and there won't be any school'." That was a board member speaking. Ttoere are problems in District 15 - financial problems that are serious - and they are plaguing not only the McHenry school system but most elementary districts throughout the state. Last Fall's teacher strike resulted in .tensions that relaxed after its settlement but have been fanned by the fuel of a new crisis. Last Friday we talked at length with a teacher and a board member. What we heard we believe to be honest statements of frustration. But honest though they were, when we pieced them together it became evident that any conclusions we ' it make would be without fragments of information on ch any claim to Tightness could be made. At this time it seems only good sense to concentrate on the areas of agreement. And there are several. Both teachers and board agree there is no easy solution to die problem of debt that continues to skyrocket. While the degree of optimism on passage of a referendum varies considerably, both sides feel the state should bear a greater burden of educational cost. This also becomes a practical assessment in addition to one of fairness because of die uncertainty of taxpayer support. There is agreement that program cuts can be serious for other than cultural benefits. A growing number of students are found to lack parental support and concern for their problems. These problems have a way of growing for the troubled student and for the school he attends without special interest areas and counseling help. Even so, the board insists it cannot allow the debt to continue its spiraling course. There are other areas of common meeting ground, which would indicate that the sooner there is a concentration on them the sooner we will know how successful they will be. One of them is a tetter writing campaign to legislators, letting them know the mood of the people. We have men and women willing to tackle a tough problem by running for the school board in the April 12 election. The public can learn their views through special, pre-election information to be carried in the April 9 issue of the Plaindealer. But whoever wins, don't expect miracles. Schools are not the only institutions that find themselves in a flnatwui hind these days. It's only that they are so very large and their product - the students-are so very important to the future of the communities they choose to caul their home as adults. KAF projects at Monday night's meeting. Finance committee chairman, Alderman Jack Pepping, said that "first and foremost" the Council should be concerned with city services." He added that revenue sharing money should not be used to underwrite "on­ going expenses", rather that they should be used for "one time expenditures that will be of lasting value to the City." The Finance committee recommended dividing the dollars in the following manner: $10,000 to the Public Works department, Easter Egg Hunt April 5 Children 6 years of age and under will find Saturday, April 5, a particularly ex­ citing time if they par­ ticipate in the Easter Egg hunt sponsored by the Department of Parks and Recreation of the City of McHenry. It will be held at 10:30 a.m. at Petersen park. Participants are asked to bring a basket or bag for the eggs they find. The Easter bunny will be present to greet the children and prizes will be given. Further information is available from the city by calling 344-3300. $35,000 to the Parks department for supply, improvements and a dredge, $20,000 for the mosquito abatement program and $§,000 for various organizations applying for money. Among the oraganizations asking for revenue sharing funds were the McHenry Alternative school, the McHenry Rescue squad, the McHenry library, the McHenry County Historical society, the Senior Citizens and the Youth Service bureau. Mayor Stanek said, "We have to be good to the Rescue squad, they're doing a great job." Alderman Datz agreed and suggested $5,000 minimum and "I'd even go to $10,000." Alderman Schooley was against giving more than $1,000 to the McHenry Alternative school, saying that the school received state money, had moved to a better building and had raised its tuition. Alderman Pepping pointed out that developer donations and a tax levy are not available to the Alternative school. There was some debate on how much money should be allocated to the Public W o r k s d e p a r t m e n t . Ostensibly, the money for that department would be used for the construction of a bridge from Oak street into the McHenry Lakes estate subdivision. Alderman Schooley said the construction of this bridge was more important than a dredge. He was supported by Alderman Meurer. Meurer said, "If the money comes from revenue sharing, or from somewhere else, it doesn't matter to me. But, there is a need for something to be done with this creek." Alderman Wieser thought the proposed $3,000 for the Senior Citizens should be raised to $6,000. "We should help them out now," Alderman Wieser said. "We don't know how much longer we will be getting revenue sharing money." When all the erasing and refiguring was conluded, the $70,334 was divided in the following way: $20,000 went to the mosquito abatement program, $18,000 went to the Department of Parks and Recreation (dredge), 15,334 went to the Department of Public Works (bridge), $6,000 went to the Senior Citizens, $5,000 went to the McHenry Rescue squad, $2,500 each went to the McHenry Alternative school and the Youth Service bureau and $1,000 went to the Historical society. R e p r e s e n t i n g t h e McHenry Jaycees, Jerry Sullivan asked the Council for permission to hold a 6.2 mile run to raise money for MCC Board To Consider • 0 . Heating Unit Evaluation At the March 27 board meeting, the trustees of McHenry County college decided to hold a special board meeting April 10 at 7:30 p.m. to hear a complete report by the consulting firm of Robert G. Burkhardt mid Associates, Inc. on the evaluation of the heating, v e n t i l a t i n g a n d a i r - conditioning system. The firm will identify the problems and also give a cost analysis of corrections to be made. Camp New Hope - a camp for retarded children. The Council voted unanimously to approve the request. The Council also voted to pay $10,000 for the Coles property on the east side of Green street, between the creek and the theater. Valley Hi Authorized To Improve Services The Valley Hi Nursing home has been authorized to take several steps to im­ prove its services and quality of care for the 90 residents at the county home in Hartland. Action was taken at the last McHenry County board meeting following reports from the Valley Hi Nursing home committee which is headed by Lou Anne Majewski. The Valley Hi committee is interviewing for the position of medical director. Morefield explained the position will serve as one of consulting. The residents' own physician will initially and continually be responsible for the care of the residents. Morefield announced a family afternoon is planned at 2 p.m. Sunday. April 13, for families of residents. Other visitors are welcome. Because of the unusually high claim load under Work- man's Compensation, the Valley Hi and purchasing and insurance committees urged finding a way to lessen the number of Workman's Compensation incidents. Candidates Meet Public The public will be afforded an opportunity to meet candidates for the McHenry elementary school board Wednesday, April 9. at 7:30 p.m. at Valley View school cafeteria. Although the meeting is not a League of Women Voters-sponsored event. Grace Jo O'Leary of Woodstock has agreed to represent that organization as moderator. Each of the seven can­ didates will be allowed a five-minute presentation followed by a written question and answer period. A short biographical sketch of each will be given prior to the opening of the program to allow those attending to familiarize themselves with the candidates. Three-year candidates are Gerald K. Bunting. Kathleen Cichonski. Jon Carl Gealow and Arthur.T. Newbrough Two-year candidates are (Continued on page 20) School District Gives Nod To Recreation Cooperation Although the board had discussion on the feasibility of expanding the existing facilities with a 25,000- square-foot addition to the Main hall building, no action (Continued on page 20) The board of High School District 156 has approved, on behalf of the district, an agreement for cooperative use of facilities and grounds with the city "in the best interest of the community'* at a recent meeting. Pete Merkel, city recreation director, said the city would act on the proposal at the April Council meeting. The agreement has been in preparation since last September. Merkel in­ dicated. If approved by the city, recreation programs are expected to begin in early June « , Board president Edward J. Neumann said he was encouraged by the cooperation between representatives of the two governmental units and highly recommended the program to the community On the committee representing District 156 in the planning for the recreation program were Bill Blankenhorn, athletic director; Tom Carl and Pat Wirtz, teachers; and Greg LaPlante. assistant prin­ cipal at West campus The board also granted permission for the East campus choral and jazz band to travel to Branson, Mo., and to participate in the Silver Dollar City Band and Choral festival from April 24 10 April 27 Principal William Dodds explained that the program is self- supporting and added that West campus chorus had attended this event last year In other business the board cancelled the April in structional meeting which would have occurred during the week of Spring vacation when staff members would not be present The pVogram topic "drug abuse" may be included with the May 6 meeting, it was noted. Following an executive session tM the board, they approved the continued suspension of an East campus student to extend until April 16. offense not indicated VOIUME 104 NUMBER 70 FRIDAY, APRIL 4, 1980 » 1 SECTION 22 PAGES 25' THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION SINCE 1875" iStoart ©inning ilttospaptr 1979' Illinois Press Association Newspaper Contest The idea for this Easter tableau was "just a brainstorm" according to the builder, Frank Schafer. The panorama is con­ structed almost entirely out of styrofoam and took nearly two months to build. Everything in the display is treated and will glow under a black light, Schafer said. Originally, the whole unit was built for Christmas but by changing the setting a bit; rebuilding here and there, Schafer adapted it for the Easter season. Various scenes from the Easter story are depicted in these photos. In the upper left photo, the designer and builder, Frank Schafer is shown with the model. At the lower left, Christ's tomb before the Ascension and after the stone was rolled away is depicted, as is Calvary hill, before the Crucifixion, in the lower right. From Cross To Risen Lord STAFF PHOTOS- WAYNE GAYLORD