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Solar Energy Grant Sought When Lily Boyd Visconti drove to Woodstock one day recently, she admits to a nervous excitement that belied the otherwise calm young woman. This was to be ex­ pected for it was no ordinary day. As she drove, Lily smiled in anticipation of recovering a treasured possession that was lost nine years previous. Her story, out of the pages of fiction, had its start when she was a junior at MCHS. With youthful pride, according to custom, she ordered her class ring to fit the finger of the young man who later was to become her husband. It was Christmas time, and this was his gift in 1966. He wore the ring two days and lost it. Almost nine years later, on Aug. 11, 1975, she received a call from one Cathy Bronner of 364 Lincoln, Woodstock, in­ forming her that she had in her possession Mrs. Visconti's ring. It was difficult to say whose excitement ran highest, Mrs. Bronner for her success in locating the owner after a six- month search, or Mrs. Visconti for recovering the lost ring. At the reunion of Lily and her ring, she listened, unbelieving, We had a column written for this issue. Then the morning mail was delivered to our desk and our eye came to rest on a letter we knew had to be shared with our readers. It was more personal than letters that usually appear in the Public Pulse columns, and for that reason we thought this was an ideal spot. The writer is a former McHenry resident, Dyne Engeln. In spite of the fact that we would include him as still a young man, his recollections of another period in local history classifies him as an old timer. We are growing in number and our memories are the most cherished thing we share as life goes on at its merry pace. Here are his reflections after reading the centennial issue: "We don't see each other often so I address this to you instead of telling you in person how much I enjoyed the Plaindealer centennial issue - except for the reminder that unless the usual temporal order be reversed (or there is some intervention) I will inevitably someday be as old as it. "I also admired; and par­ ticularly the editorial skill. I have been making some comparisons, and this is, by content and context, by evocative power and emotional effect, the best anniversary issue of any newspaper I have ever seen. "I used the Si-' Chronicle and LA Times in my critique and you should know that the halftones of the 1906 ear­ thquake is nothing beside a good contrasty shot of the beautifully bowed legs of Linus Newman directing traffic on to details that brought about the happy ending. , Six months ago, friends of Mrs. Bronner in Harvard had purchased the 1964 car the Viscontis sold five years ago. First the new owners painted the auto, then they tore out the carpeting and in doing so discovered the ring. The Harvard couple believed no one would be interested in it, but their friend, Mrs. Bronner, accepted the challenge of trying to find the owner. Using her only clues, the initials L.M.B. and M.C.H.S., she called McHenry high school to obtain the names of people who graduated in the class of 1967 with those initials. Learning they belonged to Lily Boyd, Mrs. Bronner proceeded to call families with that name in the McHenry area. None were acquainted with Lily, who in the intervening years had changed her name through marriage. After six months of inquiry, through a "friend of a friend", Mrs. Bronner obtained the phone number of Mrs. Visconti. "It was a challenge", Mrs. Bronner said as she witnessed the happy reunion of owner and ring. Memories are made of this! Riverside drive somewhen in the '30s. "That, I submit, is real editorship, and it near brought me to my knees. There is something wrong with the big metropolitan dailies that they cannot, with their huge budgets, move me similarly. "I note in one wrap-up issue of the Times a list of names: Theo Roosevelt, Enrico Caruso, Eugene Debs, General Per­ shing, the Dolly Sisters, the Katzenjammer Kids. "These leave me unaffected. There must be something wrong with the way they organize layout, select type. Or maybe its the punctuation. "Because in the Plaindealer another list is much, much more effective - jour­ nalistically, that is. It must be the way the Plaindealer presents the news: Pete Weber, Pearl Claxton, Mike Schoenholtz, Chancey Duker -- and all the duplicating Freunds, Justens, Fretts, Stoffels. "They seem to jump right off the page to the eye. And make it water. That's real journalims - I mean journalism: you can see how I have been affected. "I've learned things too. I didn't know that the name of that school on the hill was the Landmark school, and that it was very near being sold and torn down. I'd have made a special trip if I had known it because I can still feel, beneath my foot, the deeply-dished sandstone steps (east en­ trance) and then the wooden stairs, also deeply dished from going-up and coming-down feet - and where are all the feet (Continued On Page 15) Open Filing ForJohnsburg School Board The first day for filing petitions for membership on the seven-member board of education of the newly created Johnsburg Community Unit school district is Wednesday, Sept. 17. The deadline for filing is Friday, Oct. 10. Nominating petitions for membership can be picked up at the Johnsburg school ad­ ministrative office, located at the Johnsburg Middle school, 2117 W. Church street. They are also available at the office of Edward W. Hall, superin­ tendent of the educational service region, McHenry county courthouse, Room 108, 2200 N. Seminary avenue, Woodstock. Hours for filing are 8:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. U.S. Geological At the regular meeting of the McHenry County board Tuesday, approval was given a McHenry County Regional Planning commission report calling for a grant application for federal funding of a solar energy heating and cooling system for the county cour­ thouse. At a recent meeting of the Zoning & Planning committee of the County board, John Quay and Bob Layer had explained a possible 100 per cent federal grant for installing solar systems in public buildings. The federal government is accepting applications and will select certain buildings to be used for experimental purposes on this project. Quay had asked at -that time for direction on whether or not his department should continue with the necessary work to complete the questionnaire since there is no way of determining whether the county will be selected for one of the experimental projects. Upon a motion of Ervin Walters, a member of the Health & Agrimltnrp com­ mittee. a letterwas sent to the Banford road Kennels, Woodstock, offering to pur­ chase the present Animal Control center property at that site for the amount of $75,000, subject to County board ap­ proval This approval came at Tuesday's meeting. «• A Legislative and Public Affairs committee report ac­ cepted by the board included the information that Chairman Walter Dean announced the county may be forced to set up an Election commission. The county presently faces some problems in setting up polling places and in distribution of election materials. County Clerk Kays agreed to a joint meeting of those County board members who are township supervisors and have been involved .in the election process. This will be held Oct. 21 at 7 p.m., with the Legislative committee to study election problems facing the county in the 1976 election. The Zoning & Planning committee also noted that it had been brought to their at­ tention that Joseph Wetzler, whose property is located west of Rt. 31 and north of Bull Valley road, McHenry, is running an illegal junk yard. Since a junk yard requires a conditional use and this property has no such zoning, the owner was issued a red tag in .Hie mail. Cal Skinner. Sr., asked if the matter had been corrected, to which the Rev. Marx Jones responded that a letter had been sent to Wetzler and action is now in the hands of the state's attorney. Jack Hufner, who is in charge of the Civilian Education Training Act program', made a presentation on the progress of the CETA t<?date. With a goal of 114 jobs to be filled, fifty persons have been assigned to various types of employment. Hufner indicated there were 2,000 county veterans now attending junior college. Member Thomas Huemann of Johnsburg asked what his experience had been with job placements pertaining to reliability. Hufner responded that regular interviews with the employees are held, but he admitted high school drop-outs had not maintained a very good record. In a brief discussion con­ cerning the financial condition of the county, Richard Klemm, chairman of the Finance committee, announced that a tentative budget was not ready for presentation. It is expected that members will have this budget for viewing in October. Member Cal Skinner, Sr., said it was his understanding that some senior citizens had not received their tax exemp- *Tion forms from the state. In answer, Supervisor of Assessments Willard Hogge responded that his office is now on a computer basis and changes require more time. The matter was referred to the Finance committee for in­ vestigation. The board agreed with the Public Safety committee to have postcards printed and distributed to each traffic violator by the deputy at the time of violation. It will state that if the offender wishes to plead not guilty or request a jury trial, he must return postcard so that a hearing date can be set. The reason for the action was to reduce the court appearance time of deputies and result in a substantial reduction in overtime. Approval was given to the (Continued On Page 15) Stranger Than Fiction Reunited STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD LILY BOYD VISCONTI Survey Planning Tracer In River Hydrologists of the U.S. Geological Survey plan to in­ ject a harmless red water tracer into the river near McHenry Sept. 15, to study the travel time and dispersion characteristics of the 50-mile reach of the river between McHenry and Aurora. Data on the tracer as it moves downstream will provide information on mixing and dispersion characteristics of the river. As the tracer moves down­ stream it will diffuse and become invisible to the naked eye. The river will be flowing at the rate of approximately 400 cfs (cubic feet per second). Data from the studies will form a basis for calculating river speed and dispersion characteristics at different river discharges. This study is part of a con­ tinuous study by the U.S. Geological Survey in cooperation with the Illinois State Water Survey to deter­ mine time-of-travel and mixing characteristics of streams in Illinois. A similar study was made from Aurora to Ottawa in July. THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION SINCE 1875 t>vV VOLUME 100 NUMBER 12 FRIDAY, SEPTEMBER 12, 1975 18 PAGES 15* District Asks $?,958,000 Vote School Tax Levy Study Chain-Fox Dredging Program At last Friday's meeting of the Chain O' Lakes-Fox River commission, held at the McHenry Country club, Chairman William Brook of Antioch discussed the program his department was engaged in concerning the problems to be corrected. Present to hear him outline plans was Leo Eisel, director of the Illinois Department of Transportation, Division of Water Resources. Brook explained that this was a continuing program, with initial funding of $250,000 for dredging. He said the goal is to have a contract out for County Head Start Classes Open In McHenry Sept. 22 Registration for Head Start classes will be held at the Head Start Child Development center at the First United Methodist church, 3717 W. Main street, in McHenry, Wednesday, Sept. 17, from 9 a.m. to 7 p.m. According to Lyle Johnson, director of the program, children from low income families or those receiving public aid are eligible for Head Start, which provides nursery school and related services to pre-schoolers. Parents of pre­ schoolers are invited to come to the Center or to call Mr. Johnson at 385-3243. Classes will begin Monday, September 22, and will be held from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Monday through Thursday throughout the school year. A morning snack and a hot lunch will be provided, and help with transportation will be arranged if needed. The program also includes medical and dental check-ups and immunizations. "The children will learn many of the skills needed for a good start in school," said Johnson, "and should benefit from learning to get along in a group situation." Parent participation is encouraged in policy making and in classroom activities. A social service worker Ms. Lynda Markut will be available to work with parents also. Head Start is a federally funded program locally supervised by the Community Action Agency for McHenry County. The federal govern­ ment pays up to 80 percent of the cost, with remaining costs being met through local con­ tributions of space, volunteer time, supplies or other ser­ vices. There is no charge to participating families. According to Ms. B.J. Jones, chairperson of the agency's board of directors, funding is available for only one Head Start center in the county - that (Continued On Page 15) dredging by February of 1976. Problems involved were pinpointed as (1) Site for the deposit of the dredging; and (2) Finding a contractor to possible contact land owners who might be interested in land fill from the dredging. Eisel mentioned two sites in which the state has been in­ terested, Crab Apple Island and Ness' Island on Rt. 12 and Fox Lake. The Commission also has a few sites under consideration. There was agreement that data is needed before the program can start, namely, how many cubic yards would be involved, where the bottom of the lake lay beneath the sediment, and what the sediment actually consists of. Rep. John Matijevith of North Chicago made a motion authorizing Commission Engineer John Guillou to act on behalf of the commission as a liaison with the Commission and Division of Water Resources in proposed dredging operations and to report back to the Commission. It was also suggested that the executive director of the Commission, Jerry Murphy, (Continued On Page 15) Consolidated School District 15 passed a resolution in meeting Tuesday night to levy 1975 taxes in the amount of $1,958,000. This amount will be filed in a certificate of levy with the county clerk of both McHenry and Lake county. Largest amount is $1,380,000 in the Education fund. Others are $250,000, Maintenance, Building and Operation fund; $150,000 Transportation fund; $45,000 Illinois Municipal Retirement fund; $50,000 Working Cash fund; $50,000 Fire and Life Safety; $13,000, Liability Insurance; and $20,000, Special Education Building. The Bond and In­ terest fund levy will be made by the county clerk. Acting on personnel, the board approved the em­ ployment of Barbara Kosick to teach first grade at Hilltop. They also accepted the resignation of Deanna Gard­ ner, who held that position. Among non-certificated staff members, they approved Jeanette Walker for the Parkland cafeteria; Bobette Fossum, secretarial assistant at Edgebrook; Ann Smith, motor program coordinator, Landmark; Geraldine Leister, teacher aide at Parkland; Diane Adams, playground aide and Regina Cameron, teacher aide, both at Hilltop; Karyl Bryniarski, Health Occupation girl at Landmark; Barbara Virgens, teacher aide at Junior high; and Elva Guzman Bustillos, bilingual aide. Resignations were accepted from Jacklyn Allen, Bernadine Wemkin, Berniece Carr, Luz Schmiegelt and Madelyn Duel, all non-certificated personnel. Mary Ann Knaack, Carol Reed, Carol Hamil and Delores Bown were employed as bus drivers. Approval of the entire per­ sonnel report was impossible when Lockwood objected to the increase in salary for Mary Ann Schadt, Transportation department, from $2,500 to $3,000. Lockwood expressed his opposition because he felt the increase was at too high a rate. Since his was the only negative vote, the increase was allowed. The employment of Ms. Schadt is a cooperative salary arrangement with High School District 156, which pays the other half. By a vote of 4 to 3, the board voted in favor of a change in the amount awarded for tran­ sportation, which was part of the 1975-76 professional negotiations agreement ap­ proved. Originally, an agreement had been made to increase the travel allowance from nine cents to thirteen cents. However, Member Lester Smith felt even this amount was not sufficiently high and recommended the amount be set at fifteen cents. In a vote, Smith, Dorothy Vick, Marilyn Muntz and Terry Howard were in favor of the higher amount. Opposed were Henry Nell, M. David Cain and Gary Lockwood. A resolution was passed to restore full state funding in (Continued On Page 15) Reach Agreement In IPCB Hearing On Water Company Consider Pre-School Plan At a hearing Wednesday morning in city hall called by the Illinois Pollution Control board in connection with the Lakeland Park Water com­ pany, it was announced that the three parties involved had reached an agreement. Hearing Officer Terrence Brady of Waukegan explained that a proposed settlement had been reached in December of 1974 between Sherwood L. Levin, attorney for the com­ plainants who were LaVerne Hromec and Lakeland Park residents, and Joseph S. Wright, Jr., attorney for Johnsburg Festival Features Many Events Two new items have been added to the Saufen Und Spiel Fest being held Sunday, Sept. 14, at the Johnsburg Com­ munity club grounds in Johnsburg. Of most importance is a hot air balloon demonstration which will be presented by the Eagles Nest Balloon port from Fox River Grove. For those who have never seen a hot air balloon at close range, this will be a fine opportunity to observe the skill and mechanics of hot air ballooning. This demon­ stration will begin immediately after the old timers' baseball game at about 3:30. * Highlight of the 1 p.m. parade is the forty member Navy precision drill team from Great Lakes Naval Training center. Parade Marshal Earl Walsh will be joined by Senator Jack Schaffer, Mayor Stanek of McHenry, and Mayor Eichorn from the village of Sunnyside. Five beautiful McHenry county princesses will add their charm and glamor to the parade. The Community club is pleased to have Marissa Pace, Miss McHenry; Melissa DeCraene, Miss Crystal Lake; Kay Bowen, Miss Union; Cindy Choin, Miss Huntley; and Renay Borre, Miss Richmond; join in the festivities. The chairman of Saufen Und Spiel stated, "This will be. the largest and best parade we've ever had with many more entries than ever before" The schedule of events follows: Parade, 1 p.m.; flag raising ceremony, 2; Guest Speaker, 2:15; Softball game, Oldtimers verus Hettermann's softball team; horseshoe contest, 3 until dark; square dance demonstration, 3; beer drinking contest, 4; German band - dancing, 4 to 8 p.m.; Sweet Adeline^, 7:30. \ Lakeland Park Water com­ pany, owned by Northern Illinois Utilities of Wonder Lake. However, when the document was given to the Illinois En­ vironmental Protection Agency (I.E.P.A.)" for its approval, it was rejected. The I.E.P.A. suggested that several revisions be made in the document. After months of negotiations, the revisions were incorporated into the "Stipulation and Proposal for Settlement". The revised document as approved by Attorneys LeVin and Wright for their clients was read into the record at Wednesday's hearing by Assistant Attorney General James Jenks, who represented the I.E.P.A. Hearing Officer Brady an­ nounced that the revised document will now be tendered to the Pollution Control board for its final review and ap­ proval of the settlement. Mrs. Audis Bowlin and Lloyd Wagner of the Lakeland Park Property Owner's association were present at the hearing as representatives of the com­ plainants. Neither the complainant's attorney nor Lakeland Park water company's attorney were present for the proceedings Wednesday. Brady announced that both attorneys had called to inform him that, without reserve, the document would be signed by them. * Sister Viola, left, principal of St. John's school, Johnsburg, Gail Frisch and Ray Broderick study pla ns for possible dev elopment of a non-sectarian pre-school to start in 1976. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD St. John's school board of Johnsburg is considering the development of a nonsectarian Pre-school for the school year, starting in 1976. The aim will be to provide a learning en­ vironment in which children may develop a readiness for further education. Persons whp believe there is a need for such a program or might be interested in sending a child to such a program. should contact Ray Broderick 497-3956 or Mrs. wm. A. (Pat) Comstock, in the near future. If enough parents are interested, further information will be given.