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VOLUME 102 NUMBER 53 Musin And Meanderin9 WEDNESDAY, FEBRUARY 1, 1978 Somebody fooled Mother Nature and it wasn't the oleo man on TV. In her anger, shejinleashed her fury on the Midwest by dumping a foot or, aww-fcisr Snow on McHenry,4hen seemingly delighted by hereaprice, continued her antics by swirling it here and there into rpountainous drifts. It was a grim reminder that Man is still the servant. Snowmobiles - those modern inventions that often reap the snorting of unhappy cbrivers of cars - reigned supreme. They rode down streets that more conventional modes of highway tra*~"" found impossible and won for themselves the praise of a grateful community.. Usually a vehicle of pleasure, they became servants of mercy, providing a welcome way out of trouble for many stranded motorists, as well as providing medicine runs. One of the first serious occurrences came shortly after 11 o'clock Thursday morning when a man riding in a jeep with his son on Curran road suffered what was believed to b® a heart attack. A radio call was put through to another CB and this, in turn, was radioed to the Citizens Band base. Within minutes, Dan Kinnerk, president of the McHenry Snowballers, and Chuck Werth, auxiliary police officer for the Sheriff's office, were on their way. Transferring the man from the jeep to the snowmobile, they soon met a 4-wheel drive jeep driven by Leonard Bogacz and the second transfer was made. From Curran road the emergency effort travelled to Draper road, where the Rescue squad was waiting to take the ailing man to the hospital. SOOT afterward, members representing the McHenry County Snowmobile association converged on city hall, where they continued to handle emergencies throughout the day and nigni. Although not a club member, Ride Fowl*, who was at the city hall, answered a call to deliver insulin to Gearmaster. Another employee of the firm, located south on Rt 91, complains*attesting ill after cleaning snow from his car Friday morning. He was taken by snowmobile, with sled *UachdLto McHenry hospital, where he was reported in satisfactory conation. A Gearmaster spokesman said between 12B and 140 were stranded in the plknt all night. This number tachatod a few people unable to Iwe a nearby service station. Food and conee were brought in, and an invitation was extended, through the Sheriff's office, for anyone in that vicinity to take refuge in the building. Learning, of the large number housed at Gearmaster for the night, th# NMirest chapter of the Red Cross authorised food. „ taller numbers of people staved all night at the Wm. Tonyan ft and Lenco Electronics buildings EnrouUs home, they encountered two very cold young men whose truck had ae?h abandoned, of necessity, on Rt. 31, near Crystal Lake, at noon. The weary hikers were taken to their Wonder Lake destination. At one time, even the county snow plow was submerged in snow. Both north and south of Rt. 120 on aimost every road, cars were buried to the roofs and passersby said it would have been easy for snowmobiles to pass over the top. Dee Hodgson, representing the county's Emergency Services and Disaster agency, and Betty Smith, city coordinator, manned their emergency station in East campus cafeteria from 3 p.m. Thursday to nron Friday. It was one of twelve such stations established throughout the county. Locally, fifty-one persons were welcomed at the refuge from the storm, and in the county as a whole, the number reached 488. 1 SECTION 24 PAGES 20' slept. SfecYemained up all Expectant parents from McHenry and then found nervous young woman school until she was assured Two full this issue is of pictures taken during the blizzard appear inside in , • * - - At 1:30 Friday morning, Albert and Joel Adams of the Polar Bear Snowmobile club set forth on their machines to meet a representative of Baxter Laboratories. They carried insulin which was enroute from McHenry hospital to Baxter. When he failed to arrive at an assigned location in Volo, the Adams brothers decided to go the distance and make the much needed deUvsry. Plaindealer employees adopted the theme of the postal with some alteration. Feeling that "the newspaper through", they carefully packed photographic plates of of Friday's issue of the newspaper on a snowmobile, pi reminiscent of the Eskimo, and began their ltt-hour press room in Woodstock. Some came by car when travel beyond McHenry in aity direction was impossible; others came by snowmobile, brought in when their cars became stuck in drifts. Director John Shay of the county agency contacted the Midwest chapter of the American Red Dross, for authorization of food purchases. As a result, bologna sandwiches provided a supper treat prepared by the two agency representatives and a fe\ volunteers. One lady cried oftert throughout the night, and one man insisted that he be allowed to continue walking to Carpentersville because had to get home to his wife and children". His starting point was Round Lake and somewhere along the route he had been picked up and brought to the emergency station. Eventually, The Blizzard - It words of wisdom convinced the walking traveller that he should remain.; - " v , Some relaxed in the teachers' lounge; others played volleyball in the gym to ppss the time. Mats were brought to the cafeteria from the gym agdtired travellers who failed to reach their destination, playing cards. of town had visited a doctor.in unable to return home, the fear at being confined to the care could be brought to her if she was unable to get to the hospital across the street. One of the lighter and more pleasant moments in the cafeteria came when a modest trat dBliging black youth from Crystal Lake assumed responsibility for entertaining the weary overnight guests. He played the piano, danced and in other ways helped to shorten the long hours. In addition to her assignment at East, Mrs. Hodgson received another assignment about 10 o'clock Thursday night. She was asked to arrange for the food to feed those who remained at Gearmaster. After some time, she was able to locate management personnel of one of the city's supermarkets who opened the store and supplied 200 doughnuts. Because of the depth of the snow, it was necessary to form a caravan of snowmobiles to make the long distance south on the highway to the plant. Unexpected overnight guests were the rule rather than the exception, and true to the notion that disastrous type happenings bring people closer together, they were warmly welcomed. News is made and forgotten in record time, and the storm of Jan. 26-27,1978, will soon be relegated to memory. But true to human nature it will have its day again. >metime in future history - say twenty-five or fifty years - old of the day will be recalling, with a sigh, that "storms these days Aren't what they used to be". KAF bed, Blew, Buried "Breaker one • nine, can some good buddy give me road conditkms on that route three - one south?" That was a popular lingo on the Citizen Band radio last Thursday during the blizzard. The owner of the car directly above, located on Route 31, south of MeHenry,. he received aatoandaaa Two McHenry men were injured, one seriously, following a five-car accident during the blizzard the morning of Jan. 26. In all, over eighty accidents were reported to McHenry County Sheriff's police due to the severe weather. Steven Stanek, 22, son of McHenry Mayor Joseph Stanek, 1316 Millstream, McHenry, sustained serious leg injuries after the car he was driving was struck by a McHenry Woodstock Disposal van. The state police report that Stanek had stopped on Crystal Lake road near Bull Valley road to avoid a car driven by Robert Popovich, 2915 Kama, McHenry, that was parked partially on the roadway. Popovich had stopped to avoid another car that had stopped ahead of him in the blinding snow. While Stanek was stopped, the van, driven by Stephan J. Zriny, 614 Lillian, McHenry, struck his car, pushing it into the parked Popovich auto. A fourth car, driven by James T. Harrison, 1925 Woodlawn, McHenry,0slid into the back of the van standing in the roadway. The Harrison vehicle was then struck from behind by a failed to heed the words of • • Friday morning Just a portion of Ms ante and a pair of CBi can be seen above the snow. The second picture, at right, to typical of scenes on local thoroughfares throughout Thursday and Friday. car driven by Richard M. Kirchner, 124 Woodstock, Crystal Lake. Stanek was taken to McHenry hospital by the McHenry Area Rescue squad and paramedics indicated that he may have sustained a compound fracture of his left leg and a broken right leg.* Stanek's left thigh was punctured, but x-rays revealed no break or fracture to either leg, although the left knee was seriously damaged. Stanek underwent surgery Monday morning to repair severe ligament damage to his left knee. Zriny, driver of the van, was also taken to the hospital by the Rescue squad, due to chest injuries he sustained in the accident. No other injuries were reported. Due to the many accidents handled by state police, further information regarding the accident is not/yet available. Another McHenry man was injured following a one-car accident Jan. 28. Anthony A. Gurske, 814 Southside avenue, McHenry. was taken to McHenry hospital by the McHenry Area Rescue squad for injuries he sustained after his car struck a utility (Continued on page 22) It looks north on Crystal Lake road, showing traffic at a standstill because of drifts and blowing snow. Unable to go farther, cars were stuck on highways and in ditches, some submerged almost to the top. It was a confusing pattern of vehicles stopped and unable to get out of the way the huge plow approaching from the north. Because of modern technology, combined with the know-how and will of man to better his conditions, traffic was relatively back to normal by the weekend on most major county thoroughfares. STAFF PHOTOS-WAYNE GAYLORD School Closing Alert The Transportation director for the McHenry school districts, Dick Glawe, issued a statement Monday morning commending Chicago area radio stations for their public service messages last Thursday and Friday. Glawe was particularly complimentary to WIVS, Crystal Lake, for its-quick and often repeated announcement of theclo6ing of schools due to the snow storm. Each fall, area radio stations arrange code words with school districts which must be used when informing the media of an emergency school closing. The Transportation director said the system works very well normally, but he has experienced considerable difficulty in reaching WGN this year due to the heavy volume of telephone calls pouring into the Wally Phillips show. On Thursday morning, personnel at the school district office dialed constantly for two hours and ten minutes before getting through to WGN. Glawe reports that all the stations do a good job, but urges parents to especially listen on questionable mornings to the Crystal Lake station as the list of school closings handled by them is limited to the Northwest suburban area and, therefore, shorter and repeated more often. THE MCHENRY PLAINDEALER SERVING THE CHAIN-O-LAKES REGION SINpE 1875 Blaze Forces Family Of Six From Home During Early Morning Storm twenty years in local police work. City officials arranged the party for 145 persons at the McHenry Country club in (Continuea on puge 22) Felde of 917 Ringwood road, Vicki, 15; Kim, 12; James, 8; and Chris, Jr , 2. Each left the burning home shortly after 5 a.m., wearing only their sleeping attire, and no shoes. They sought refuge with neigh­ bors. Parents and their four children were driven into sub­ zero temperatures and six-foot drifts early Friday morning when fire swept through their ranch style home. Narrowly escaping injury or death were Mr. and Mrs. Chris Mrs. Felde is not sure why she was awakened, but feels it must have been by the crackling of breaking glass and smoke emanating from the kitchen. As she and her husband approached that room and found it in flames.they Deadline Extended Unusually severe weather conditions throughout most of Illinois last Friday prompted an announcement by Secretary of State Alan J. Dixon that the deadline for displaying 1978 automobile license plates will be extended to midnight .Feb. 15. Dixon noted that his office has issued repeated reminders 'in recent weeks that the Jan. 31 deadline for license display would not be extended. "The blizzard and near blizzard conditions now existing in Illinois could not, of course, have been anticipated, and I feel that an extension is necessary in fairness to our citizens who simply cannot get to a location to obtain their plates," Dixon said. The Secretary of State said his decision to extend the license display deadline to Feb. 15 was also prompted by the fact that there have been no mail deliveries to the Secretary of State's office from Chicago for two days. "Applications caught up in the mail which can't be moved because of the weather will never reach my office in time to be processed and returned to Illinois citizens by the original Jan. 31 deadline," he said. The Secretary , of State pointed out that the original Jan. 31 deadline was in fact an extension of the statutory date of Dec. 31 requiring the display of license plates. "What we are talking about here with the new deadline date of Feb. 15 is really the second extension being granted to Illinois motorists," Dixon said. began screaming to arouse the children. Following their earlier teachings. Vicki and Kim went to the aid of the younger members of the family. They were unable to see the children because of the dense smoke in the bedrooms, but managed to feel their way to the beds and led the boys to safety. Fortunate to receive a diaf tone immediately, Mrs. Felde called the operator to turn in the alarm. When the children were out of the house, the parents attempted to call the family's two pet dogs from the basement. When they failed to respond, the Feldes believed the Setter and Retriever had been overcome and the parents were forced to leave the house. However, long afterward, when they were able to return, the dogs were discovered in a remote area of the lower floor, (Continued on page 22) For the second time in as many weeks. Police Chief Ken Espey was honored Saturday night by friends and business associates. He is retiring in February after more than Mayor "Fires" Police Chief Headlines like that make the front page of many newspapers, but in McHenry last Saturday night the "firing" was of a complimentary nature. Mayor Joseph Stanek lights the huge cigar he has just presented to the retiring chief of police. Ken Espey, during the city's dinner for him at the McHenry Country club. Well known for his love of cigars, the gift was one of many humorous presentations to be taken to his new home in Florida. STAFF PHOTO-WAYNE GAYLORD