YOUNG House Numbering Lakeland Park Problem Page 4 Track Tearn Conference Champs Many Warrior Heroes Page 6 Present County Plan Report Commission Meets May 14 Page 20 For Education 3-Year-Old Saved From Citizen Group Fights Defeat Of Bill pa// /„f0 River Dies Last week the Senate School Formula subcommittee defeated SB 268, which would have provided a 10 percent weighting factor for elementary students in grade kindergarten mrough eight. Undtr the present state aid formula, high school districts are receiving at least 25 percent more state aid than elementary districts. In McHenry, for example. District 15, the elementary district, spends $1,818 per pupil while District 156, the high school district, spends $3,089 per pupil-a difference of $1,271. The Citizens,}legislative Organization (CLO) for District 15 has been com mitted to try to correct these formula inequities for more than a year. Similar groups in McHenry county have joined ihem in this project. Senator Jack Benefit Project Chef Kathy Munion and Tasty Tomato Jen Halper are so excited about their project - tacos - that they go about their work in costumes. They are shown above serving toa fifth grade class at St. John's school. Johnsburg. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD Combining nutrition, economy and math skills in a classroom project is no small feat. When the result proves to be a benefit undertaking, then it is even more noteworthy. At St. John's Catholic school, Johnsburg, fifth graders are doing just "Ifferent that. Once a week they invite a di class in the school to order tacos. After estimating the amount of taco ingredients needed based on the orders, a small group shops weekly and compares prices at several McHenry stores. This data becomes the topic of the math class for practical math application. The fifth grade students then prepare the tacos in their classroom kitchen and serve the nutritious food to the "class of the week". Profits of the project go to help pay for the new school roof at St. John's school. Schaffer has offered legislative advice and leadership for these organizations and was the sponsor of SB 268. The Citizens Legislative Organization began a letter writing campaign in the community in support of this bill. However, the bill was defeated before the campaign could get off the ground. The bill that was passed out of this committee was one that was sponsored by the School Problems commission - SB 954. According to the CLO. this bill would do nothing to correct the disparity between the elementary and high school districts; in fact it will only compound it. The CLO testified at the School Problems commission hearings last Oct. 24. District 15 administrator. Dr. Richard F Farmer, also testified at the Finance committee hearings of the School Problems commission in April of 1981. "Members of this commission have admitted, off the record, that the present formula is clearly inequitable." yet they continue to rob the elementary districts because of political influence from Chicago." according to Eileen Zurblis. 3 member of the CLO and also of the District 15 board. On Feb 14, the Citizens Legislative Organizations from McHenry and ! Crystal Lake co-sponsored a "coffee" regarding school state aid Dr. Donald Gill, state superintendent of schools, was the principal speaker Dr Gill stated that he realized the present state aid formula was discriminatory against elementary students He promised to try to revise the formula and, indeed, attempted to reach a compromise state aid bill, which collapsed. "What's the solution? Do we sit by and let this crime continue year after year or do we get angry, organize, and fight back9" questioned Mrs. Zurblis. \i we decide to fight we must organize all interested groups -- parents, teachers, board of education members, administrators, taxpayers, civic leaders - and appeal to them to write to their legislators and urge them to change the formula?' The Citizens Legislative Organization has scheduled a meeting for Wed nesday. May 20. at 8 p.m at McHenry Junior high school. They urge a large attendance. \ it Fall, died JSJati 9, in Little 1A urday ngels JAMES (HAW MCOtA NtWS SMV1CI A three-year-old McHenry youth who had been under medical care since his near-drowning last morning. May 9, Nursing home, Elgin. James Young, 3, fell into the Fox river from a pier near his home at 712 N. Country Club drive. McHenry, last September, according to a McHenry County Sheriff's police report The youth was located and pulled from the river by McHenry Police Sgt Daniel Kinnerk, and two area residents, Jeffrey Rudge and Len Ward, after being in the water for about 30 minutes The McHenry Area Rescue squad began emergency medical treatment and transported him to the Emergency room of McHenry hospital, where he was resuscitated The child was transferred to Lutheran General hospital. Park Ridge In December. James was admitted to the Elgin nursing home, according to the administrator The child was born Aug 2. 1977. to Ray and Chong Suk Kim Young A complete obituary appears elsewhere in this issue Poppy Sale In City May 16 Members of Veterans of Foreign Wars Post 4600, American Legion Post 491 and their Ladies' auxiliaries will offer poppies to the citizens of McHenry Saturday. May 16 The small red flower known by the Veterans of Foreign Wars as the Buddy poppy and by the American Legion as the Memorial poppy are assembled by patients in the Veterans Administration hospitals as part of therapy programs The patients are reimbursed for assembly of the poppy, which provides them with some income and helps to provide them with some of life's necessities In addition to providing the hospitalized veteran with a small in come, the poppy money collected by the veterans' organizations' volunteers also provides aid to veterans' families, emergency relief, hospital services, aid to needy veterans, therapy, guidance services, rehabilitation and financial aid to the Veterans of Foreign Wars National home in Eaton Rapids. Mich The Ladies auxiliarv to V F W Post 4600 chairman, Sally Bujak. and the American Legion auxiliary chairman. Dottie Messer. ask the public to 'honor the dead by helping the living veteran" by giving generously when they are approached by a volunteer on Poppy Day. May 16 Con- Tree THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER " S E R V I N G T H E C H A I N - O L . 4 K E S R E G I O N S I N C E 1 8 7 5 " VOLUME 105 NUMBER 82 WEDNESDAY, MAY 13, 1981 1 SECTION 22 PAGES 25' McHenry Entries Winners In County "Big Tree" Contest of winners He was recognized for the largest Siberian Elm. Pear. Norway Spruce and White Spruce Mrs L.J Hartmann. also of McHenry. had the largest Ginkgo The Conservation district officers said the contest, now in its second ye*r. is held "to pay attention to our cultural and natural heritage Our big trees are the only living witnesses to the changes that have transformed the pre- settlement landscape into today s environment". When the McHenry County servation district presented Big champion awards recently, several of the winners were from the McHenry area John Stiiel of Johnsburg won for his Box Elder, Jason K. Eckert of McHenry for his Shagbark Hickory, and Gary A Salman of McHenry for his Silver Maple Mrs AG Hodossy entered the largest Pussy Willow Keith Klontz had the greatest number Subdivision Dominates A wedding is a wedding, is a wedding. That might be Gertrude Stein's asswsment, but, of course, she never attended the nuptials of a sports editor. Just as a sports writer is an individual like no other, so it follows that his wedding has a touch of class that distinguishes it from the run-of-the- mill. Sports people think differently. It's a difference that makes its presence known even to the least observant onlooker. The usual, garden variety of bridegroom has no greater problem tharvgetting through the ceremony. Not so with the sports writer. He conjures up all sorts of questions as his career life becomes intertwined with a new personal life ahead. There he stood before the altar Friday evening, handsome and with an air of confidence that was misleading. Jeff Stern shared with bridegrooms from time immemorial the knocking knees hidden nicely beneath neatly pressed trousers. With a well- rounded and secure foundation in the athletic field, his first thought is, "Here I am, the first draft choice - No. 1". • With a glance at his watch, he realizes the time is one minute past the scheduled hour of the wedding and he displays some annoyance because the organist has failed to burst forth with the opening bars of the Wedding March. After all, punctuality grows with the athlete. Again the sports mind takes over the situation and he almost voices, "There they are, waiting at the gate" as he sees beautifully attired bridesmaids. ready to take their first steps toward the altar. As they approach, he finds himself mentally making note of the "uniforms" (Continued on page 20) by Anthony Oliver Sidewalk requirements and a number of amendments to the McHenry Sub division Control ordinance dominated much of the discussion and action at a three-and-a-half hour special meeting of the McHenry City Council Monday night. The council voted unanimously to amend the ordinance so that sidewalks would be required on both sides of a street in new subdivisions. A proposal from Mayor Joseph B. Stanek to include another option in a pair of "carrot-and-stick" ordinances dealing with the copstruction of sidewalks on existing properties in the city met with plenty of discussion, but little action at the meeting. The "carrot" ordinance provides for a voluntary, 50-50 split of the cost of sidewalk construction between the property owner and the city. The "stick" ordinance, used when there is no cooperation from the property owner, gives the property owner 30 days to either build the sidewalk to city specifications or comply and split the cost. If the property owner does not cooperate, the city may go ahead with the work and assess the property owner for the entire cost of sidewalk construction. Mayor Stanek's proposal, which applied to the voluntary compliance ordinance, was to have the owner buy the materials while the city provided the labor to do the job. He said the cost of the labor was usually about equal to the cost of the materials and felt the city should have the latitude to provide the labor. Where these ordinances come directly into play is on the west side of Green street, heading south toward Knox park and the city limits. The council has been discussing the con struction of sidewalks along this roadway for some time, but action was not taken until Monday night. A motion from Alderman Raymond Smith, which met with unanimous approval, authorized the city to con struct the sidewalk on the west side of the street with the property owner paying the material costs and the city doing the work. If the property owner Control Talk Council Meeting C of C Acts On Reagan Plan decides not to take part in the program, the "stick" ordinance could be used Alderman Michael Wieser questioned the mayor's contention that the costs were essentially the same, noting that the city could come out on the short end if $10 per hour and $12 per hour em ployees were used on the project Smith asked if it would be easier to simply set a rate saying the city will pay so much per square foot of the project. « Favoring the percentage amount rather than the set amount. Alderman Jack Pepping commented that the city would constantly have to readjust the ordinance to stay with the going rate of construction Supporting Smith, Wieser said those costs do*not change that often and the ordinance could be adjusted once or twice a year after study by the proper committee. "If we stand with concrete costs, then we will not have to pay more than that I don't want to say that we'll pay 50 percent of what the job ts4' Wieser said. Pepping added. "I am still sold on the percentage approach. It is fair, equitable and relates to the condition of the times." The alderman commented that the problem lay in the definition of the costs He said city labor should be defined and included in the percentage approach Narusis pointed out that the or dinance is flexible enough that in the event the labor cost is 40 percent of the project. the city could offer to pay labor and 10 percent of the materials. Alderman George Harker said he would like to see something added to address public sidewalks by shopping centers, schools and churches. "We should require that public sidewalks be in the public right-of-way, as we do in the residential areas of the city." Harker said City Attorney Bernard Narusis said he thought the two ordinances covered that situation. "The ordinances apply to any property in the city." Narusis pointed <»ut. No action was taken to include the voluntary it was in- Stanek proposal in the compliance ordinance, but eluded in Smith's motion regarding the Green street project. Pepping later commented that the Green street project should be extended along the east side of the street as well He noted that residents on the west side of the street may wonder why they have to pay and no one else does "I consider Green street street and the ordinance sidewalks on both sides of street," Pepping said (Continued on page 20) a major requires a major by Myrtle Procter The Legislative Advisory committee of the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce has endorsed a resolution to be presented to the McHenry Chamber board unanimously supporting President Reagan's Economic Recovery plan Under the leadership of Ronald Graves. Legislative Advisory com mittee chairman, and Frances Olsen. executive director of the Chamber, the members of the committee studied the proposals of the President's program and met May 5. to collectively evaluate the program R. Barry Buzbv. manager of Public Affairs of the Northern Central region of the U S Chamber of Commerce, was present with the group to explain that organization's stand on the President's program Buzby informed the committee that the nucleus of the U S Chamber's economic program was adopted by the Reagan administration Further, he noted priorities of the Chamber in cluded budget and tax cuts, reform in Social Security, reform in unem plovment compensation and legislation toward reducing balance of trade deficit through the creation of an export trading commission Buzby encouraged the committee to communicate with their legislators or their legislative assistants when issues affecting the McHenry area were to be considered in committee He stated that most activities will now take place in committee or sub-committee, and action from the grass roots is im perative at this point, rather than after the bill has been approved by the committee The Executive board of the McHenry Area Chamber of Commerce was scheduled to act on the committee's recommendation at the board meeting of Mav 12 Kiwanis Gives Merit Awards The Kiwanis club of Wonder Lake held its thirty-second annual Merit Award dinner at the Ringwood United Methodist church last week, honoring eighth grade graduates of the area. Club president. Dr. Ray Jones, is shown presenting awards, left to right, to Christopher Anderson and Margaret Otesiczuk of Harrison school; Steven Halmbaugh and Connie Bacon of the Wonder Lake area attending North wood Junior high school; John Gallagher and Cynthia Dlckow of St John's Catholic school; and Ron Beck and Mandy Miss man of Johnsburg Junior high school. Speaker for the evening was Gordon Smith, minister of the Ringwood United Methodist church. STAFF PHOTO-ANTHONY OL1V ER