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>• AUGUST 6 , 1975 - PLAINDEALER CENTENNIAL EDITION P^AGE S Ringwood--Quiet Community Changed Little By Time One of the local communities that t ime's passing has not disturbed greatly is Ringwood, settled in 1837 by Dr. Luke Hale and William H. Beach. Dr. Hale was physician who practiced in Ringwood for many years. Both he and Mr. Beach came with their families from Vermont. The-plat of Ringwood was made in 1854 and the name was suggested from the fact that the settlement was entirely surrounded by a ring of woods. The Ringwood of today has FORMER RINGWOOD SCHOOL-This building was built in 1862 and was in use until the present school was constructed. Before 1862, pioneer children attended school in a little red brick schoolhouse at this same location. OLD GENERAL STORE-Walter Bradley is shown in his general merchandise store in Ringwood. Later, it was taken over by Ed Hawley & Son, Lew, followed by Bruno Butler, Floyd Howton and Joe Visconti. It now stands empty. Sunnyside Looks Ahead To 20th Anniversary In J 976 The village of Sunnyside lies just north of the community of Johnsburg on the east and west sides of Wilmot road and to the west of the Fox river. Sunnyside was organized and incorporated on the ninth day of April , 1956. During the first year of incorporation, a parcel of land, approximately 122 acres, known as Peter Klap- perich's Riverdale subdivision and Knight 's Pistakee Terrace subdivision, detached from the municipality, leaving 80 acres within the village limits. Subsequent annexations have expanded the boundaries and the village more recently covers well over 400 residents. In 1940 Alfred J. May, a resident of the village, planned and started development of the subdivision on the May property which was known as Sunnyside farm. This land was originally a portion of the estate deeded to Nicholas Frett by the United States govern­ ment, sometime before his death in 1844. Residents of Sunnyside reside within the Johnsburg elementary and the McHenry community high school districts. Original officers of the village were president, Leonard Guge; clerk, Roberta Roggenbuck; treasurer, Irene Gerrity; trustees, William Boston, Arthur Brink, Richard Wadecki, Paul Colomer, John Ripley. Armin von Obsfelter. Officers of Sunnyside in 1975 are James Eichhorn, president; Ray Nolan, treasurer; Evelyn Sandell , clerk; Richard Mickelsen, William L. Sandell , William Neumann, Jr. , William Mit­ chell , Gregory Nowak and Lowell Halcom, trustees. Within the last two years, three new subdivisions have been annexed to the village. Hilltop, Sudeenew second and third additions. Five acres of land have been purchased for a new municipal building which will house the police department. Civil Defense and new village hall . Two acres will be set aside for a park area. The land purchased is on the south side of Channel Beach drive. The village of Sunnyside is looking forward to celebration of the village's twentieth an­ niversary June 29, 1976. gained one or two modern in­ dustries, such as Modine and Morton Chemical. But Barnard Mill road is sti l l the cozy, tree- shaded thoroughfare lined with two or three stores and com­ fortable old homes--none of which are disturbed by busy Wonder Lake just two miles to the, west; by burgeoning McHenry to the south: or by Johnsburg to the east. This description of Ringwood's earlier days, from a 1966 mimeo brochure handed out at a celebration, exudes the smack of rural l ife: "Ringwood, Ill inois, was a busy shopping center for town and country folk for miles around. People came from as far as Belvidere to shop. The largest store around was built by Joseph Cristy in which he sold everything from hor­ seshoes to yard goods. The general store was then owned by Bradley and Foss. Children were always remembered with candy in a striped paper bag. The thriving grocery business was taken over by Edward Hawley and his son. Lew, who also ran the grocery store on wheels. The late Bruno Butler more recently owned the store now (1966) in the possession of the Floyd Howton family. The building built by Joseph Cristy housed a general store operated by Ed Hawley and Mr. Bokemeier. Later Frank Muzzy, now in Marengo, bought the building. The premises were later remodelled into apartments. (Continued from page 4) length of t ime, and con­ sequently this provided avenue for carp and crappies to regain access to the lake. Sampling of the fish population has been un­ dertaken on almost a yearly basis since 1959. Along with this fish sampling, water chemistry tests have been taken each winter and a chronicle has been kept on visibili ty measure­ ments of the water. In the winter of 1962-63 a suffocation of some of the fish occurred under the ice (winter­ kill) and in the spring large numbers of bass and bluegill were found on the shore line. The clarity of the water decreased yearly due to algae blooms (microscopic free floating plants), and the action of the wind and carp stirring the bottom. Fish like bass and bluegills are sight feeders and require at least 15 inches of visibili ty in the water in order to feed successfully. As the clarity of the water decreased the rough fish took over and the bass were severely affected. The bluegill and crappie became, stunted and over- populated the lake. Because of the gradual deterioration of the lake, -a group of concerned people again s\,>t together in 1966 and "The Ringwood Garage, located at 5020 Barnard Mill Road: is the center of Ringwood. J . Clarence Pearson is the owner (now retired) and operator of the garage and fill ing station1 since January 9, 1929. His father. Gust Pearson, worked with him until his death in 1959. Mr. Pearson collects antiques, many of them recovered from the pioneer Ringwood settlement. Past history of this building includes the John Miller family, who ran a blacksmith shop in 1914, and it was here that "Chuck" Miller, prominent McHenry business man, grew as a youth. ; Prior to the Millers the owners were Nick Nett and Carl Bradley. "The old Feed Mill (1912) where feed was ground for local farmers, was operated first by Leroy Peet, then Arthur and Charles Peet. Later the building was used for living quarters and is now(1966) the Welter apartments. The duplex house that sets back from the road was a creamery in years gone by, operated by Arline Pearson's father, Eland Harrison. "Ringwood once sported a dance hall . It was located above the Ames Smith Feed Store behind the post office. The first dance was in the winter of 1921 with the Ray Mc Andrews orchestra. They played to a full house at their monthly dances. "The Ringwood Nursery was BUSINESS DISTRICT OF RINGWOOD TODAY located where the Morton Chemical parking lot is now and was operated by John' ' V. Buckland. Town children would come out and pick strawberries for ten cents a quart. Mr. Buckland also had Jersey cows and sold their milk to townfolk. Upon his death, the heirs sold it to Earl Whiting. "Morton Chemical plant was known as Edwal Laboratories, named after Edmund Lowe and Walter Guthman, later changed to Ringwood Chemical. Before all that it was the Bowman Dairy plant. At one time during a milk strike, the milk was dumped from the wagons into the street and it ran down towards the tracks. "The post office was in the same building as the drug store, operated by S.W. Brown. When Ernest Winters bought the store, the post office moved to the old bank building. When the hank closed, the building became a tavern, then a church, then a nut factory, then purchased by . the Charles Brennans and leased again to the U.S. Government for a post office. "The late Doctors Hepburn and Nye Sr. , attended medical school together from 1890 through 1898. Dr. Hepburn set up his practice in Ringwood. During his career in Ringwood, Dr. Hepburn delivered --by horse and buggy until he purchased an automobile in 1909--more than 1,200 babies, among them I)r William Nye, currently practicing in McHenry. Dr. Hepburn died on Palm Sunday, 1961." The Ringwood Park had a bandstand and free movies were shown on the side of the Muzzy building in the late 1930's. As late as 1951 there were free movies sponsored by Bob Brennan and Mike Wieser who had an ice cream store nearby formed the McCullom Lake Conservation club to work with the state biologist~ "an f t try to solve the lake problems. Various ideas were discussed and tried until i t was decided, on the recommendation of the biologist, to again rehabilitate the lake. The first step taken was to install a self-cleaning, concrete and steel fish-proof spillway that could withstand weather and vandalism. Then in September, 1970, the lake was again poisoned with the chemical Rotenone. Re-stocking was completed in 1971 with the following species: 50,000 channel catfish fingerlings, 200,000 northern fry and 13,000 bass fingerlings. The bluegill were scheduled to be stocked last but by that t ime there was already a • good population of bluegills and none were stocked. Checks were maintained yearly on the fish growth, and the lake was opened for fishing Aug. 8, 1972. Checks are maintained on the fish growth by means of shocking and gill nets and to date no carp have been found in the lake and the fish are growing average to above average. Bass up to 4 lbs. , and northern up to 12 lbs. , have been recorded. * C O R P O R A T I O N M O T O R G R O U P RAE CORPORATION • PERMANENT MAGNET MOTORS •SPEED REDUCER MOTORS •TORQUE MOTORS •SHUNT WOUND D.C. MOTORS • UNIVERSAL AC/DC MOTORS •TACHOMETER GENERATORS • GEARS • CONTROL SYSTEMS RAE Corporation was established in Racine, Wisconsin in 1945 and has grown steadily since that time. 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