McHenry Public Library District Digital Archives

McHenry Plaindealer (McHenry, IL), 30 Sep 1983, p. 1

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1 Section 24 Pages 25' Cullom Lake Friday September 30, 1983 Number 16 Volume 108 STAFF PHOTO 'WAYNE GAYIORD In Genealogical search of McCullom Lake pioneers The 1885 History Book of McHenry County proves to be of interest to Oscar D. McCollum, Jr., left, and his wife Lpls Ann, center. The Colorado ample visited McHenry last week on a genealogical search, after McCollum discovered that he Is a descendant of the early McHenry County pioneers for At right is Phyllis County Genealogical mal|Jgg a reprint of the was named, member of the McHenry which is responsible for history book. '83-84 MCHS budget near $7 million By Marion Olsen . The NfcHenry High School District 156 school board adopted it* 1983-84 budget following a public hearing last week. There was no public response to the hearing MHHUMMHMtnflitber at the petting or during the 90-day review period prior to the hearing. Hie new budget shows a total adjusted revenue of $6,929,079 and expenditures of $6,894,561. The result is a projected operating surplus of $34,518. Current enrollment is an unofficial count of 1,581 students, according to Assistant Superintendent Norbert Wolter. The 1982-83 budget approved last year at this time projected $6,869,000 in expenses and 16.510,000 in revenues. The Education Fund 1 -- t h e g r e a t e s t p o r t i o n of the 1983-84 total budget with expenditures of ana revenues of $4,499,630.80. This fund included teacher and staff salaries, costs of books, educational supplies and administration. The Building Fund showed expenditures of $1,055,807 and revenues of $1,001,143.80, inds showing' surpluses included Transportation, and Interest and Site and Construction. The Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund showed a deficit of $7,064.60. In other action, a motion to lower the selling price on the Building Trades house at 4833 Pyndale from $82,000 to $79,900 was defeated by a 3-2 vote. Board Members David Benrud and Michael Low favored selling the house at the lower price. Members Edward J. Neumann, Judith Zid and Robert Anderson voted to stay with the present price. Members Barbara Slater and James Tonyan were absent. Supt. Robert O. Swartzloff said, "The house has generated a lot of interest," but, he added, any potential buyer's commitment was contingent on selling a presently owned house- In other business, Board Member Judith Zid annotated delegate and Michael KS, alternated attend the 1M Sfend the suspension of Joint Annual Conference of tfte ESatJampus students until ififaftjg Association of Schodl Boards, School- Administrators and Business Officials from Nov. 19-21 in Chicago. In his report, Supt. Swartzloff acknowledged donations of cars and a pickup truck to the district's automotive program from Thomas C. Ha rutins and David Alton of McHenry, Dennis R. Leo, Woodstock and Wilbert B. Mayrent, Lincoln wood. He also reported that two motion picture projectors had been donated by Mrs. Dorothy Bennett of McHenry. In addition, he told the board that the McHenry Parks and Recreation Department would not be sponsoring swimming Erams at the West Campus this winter. He indicated funding restrictions was the reason given for discontinuing the program. Following an executive session, the board took action to two Oct. i They also revised board policy on health insurance as follows: Insurance will be paid in its entirety for all full-time classified staff employees. Dependent coverage will cost $27 to the employee, and the remainder of the cost will be paid by the district as a part of the benefit package for all permanent full-time employees engaged prior to Sept. 21, 1983. The designation covers both 9- and 12-month employees, loyees hired on or after 21, 1983, will have the ion of dependent coverage at full cost. Bus drivers are not included in the policy. by Donna Bertulis If George McCollum had known the interest he would create 100 years after his death, perhaps he would have kept better records of his life and family. Certainly Oscar D. McCollum, Jr. wishes it had been so. For the past 10 years, the 62-vear-old Colorado resident and his wife have been spending their vacations traveling around the world, toiling over old county history books and records. To many , that wouldn't be a dream vacation, but to McCollum, it's "*m«ch more than interesting. Through intense genealogical research, McCollum has discovered many interesting things about his ancestors. Among those findings is the fact that McCullom Lake in McHenry is named after McCollum's great-grandfather, George, and his brothers. In 1970, Oscar McCollum and his wife, then residents of Arlington, Va., took a Genealogical research class, heir interests were immediately aroused. For 10 years, McCollum, a retired CIA agent, has been tracing down his family tree. His research brought him to McHenry County on two separate occasions. George McCollum was one of four brothers who settled on McCullom Lake's western shore shortly after McHenry County was incorporated. William, John and Da via McCollum purchased land in the county in 1837. George and his family joined his brothers in 1840. The McCollum brothers were relatively poor farmers, and were not huge land owners. They, like hundreds of early McHenry County settlers, simply took advantage of the government's land offer - land sold for iust over a dollar an acre, ana property taxes were only about $1.50 per year. The lake adopted the McCollum name because it was not formally named. Residents began referring to it as McCollum Lake after the pioneers who settled nearest its "by Anthony Oliver ^ In an effort to simplify -procedures, the McHenry Zoning Board of Appeals (ZBA) voted --- unanimously to Irecommend placing the :authority for granting sign ordinance variations with tne i city council, rather than with the ZBA. According to the existing 'ordinance, persons seeking ^variations from the sign -ordinance were required to petition the ZBA, obtain a recommendation and then take the matter to the McHenry City ^Council. : A petition brought by the city • seeks to change the ordinance to : allow a person requesting a sign ordinance variation to approach the council directly. I City Attorney Bernard • Narusis said the motivation for * the action was to streamline the ! procedure and save petitioners the cost of hiring an attorney, publishing notice and then have to go to the council for final action. Narusis pointed out that under the terms of the state zoning law, a city council can delegate the authority to grant variations, if it so chooses. He also noted that a municipality's authority to regulate signs predates zoning laws in Illinois by about 20 years. "Historically, signs and zoning are separate and distinct," Narusis said. "It's not as though this is a revolutionary move. The zoning aspect is still there (the location or a sign in the zoning district), but as to the variation, it would go to the city council rather than bother the zoning board." "How difficult would it be to keep the publication notice in there?" asked ZBA member Robert Jessup. "I feel that at least the adjacent property owners should know." A IOOK ifiSldfi... Special education Page 8 Ringwood day plans Page 9 Student open hotliWe Page 2 Regular features ' . . So 1 Hear Page 4 1 Mostly Social Pages 12-13 Musin' and Meanderin' * Page 2 Twice Told Tales Page 6 Narusis said it would be no problem at kll. ZBA member Kay Halverson asked if there was any provision for the individual notification of adjacent property owners. "As it is written now, there is no requirement," Narusis replied. "The standards for variation are still there." Narusis said there was a lot of flexibility with the city council. If the council felt property owners' input was necessary, the matter could be sent to committee for review. "Is the whole objection the money involved (hiring an attorney, publishing notice)?" asked Mrs. Halverson. Narusis said the usual variation request involved such "nominal" items that the petitioners were generally incredulous that they nad to go to the ZBA. "In my time on the board, there has only been one petition for a variation from tne sign ordinance," said ZBA Chairman James Fouse. ZBA member Harry Semrow, Jr., said, "I can appreciate Bob's (Jessup) concern. In a very technical sense, it's an affront to due process that you're not notifying the neighbors." Narusis said he expected that argument and countered, "That's attorney talking to attorney; look at the building code, or the fence ordinance. There's , no statutory requirement for publication. I think there's more heat on the council than on the zoning board in any controversial zoning matter." Narusis also noted that many states handle the matter of signs as simply part of the building code, with no reference to a zoning ordinance. ZBA member Fred Kupstis commented, "If they want to take the monkey off our back as far as signs are concerned, that's fine." The motion to recommend approval of the petition amending the zoning ordinance was made by Donna Tobeck and seconded by Kupstis. Voting in favor were Fred Kupstis, Donna Tobeck, Harry Semrow, Jr., Kay Halverson, Robert Jessup and James Fouse. ZBA member Annie Cuda was absent. Delay in Dial-a-Ride Dial-a-Ride service, tentatively scheduled to start locally Oct. 1, will be delayed. This word came Tuesday from Supervisor Albert A. Adams, who said his office has been flooded with phone calls during the past couple of weeks concerning the start of service. The postponement has resulted from a delayed delivery banks. Eventually the name just stuck. The difference in current * spelling of McCullom Lake and the family name confused McCollum initially. But an 1872 McHenry Township map and other records from that time indicate the original spelling- McCollum Lake. Phyllis Bauer, who has hieen helping McCollum in his research, says the now-accepted spelling of McCullom Lake was simply caused by a 100-year-old spelling error- perhaps by a county clerical worker or map .maker "Many of the early settlers could not read or write,"explained Mrs. Bauer. Most of Illinois' early residents were poor, uneducated farmers, said Bauer. Possibly, when permanent records were being drawn up by a clerk, (such as death certificates and land* records) the individual was asked his name, and it was recorded phonetically. "Many early settlers were foreign, "continued Ms? Bauer. "The mispelling could have been caused by pronunciation. Many clerks then had been known to take the liberty of Americanizing a name." The McCollums were descendants of Archibald McCollum, a Scotsman who arrived in the colonies before the Revolutionary War. In a - recent trip to Scotland in a search for family ties, Oscar Jr. discovered that all his ancestors there had spelled their last name "McCallum". There are some aspects of George McCollum's life that his great-grandson still finds a mystery. But overall, genealogy has taught Oscar McCollum Jr. much about his ancestors, and the lifestyle of the early settlers. George McCollum was born in the "panhandle" of what is now West Virginia, in about 1800. He was married in 1823 in Central Ohio, to a woman named Sarah Daugherty, who bore him six or seven children. One of those (Continued on pogo 3) MICHELLE PATTERSON date on the two Dial-a-Ride buses. Adams said he is as disappointed as fhose anticipating the service and hopes the RTA will deliver the vehicles before inclement weather arrives. As soon as the township has a definite deliver}' date, residents willbe informed. A Johnsburg High School senior whose ambition is to enter the field of Advertising has won the title of McHenry County Junior Miss. Michelle Patterson was given the title last Sunday in Crystal Central School amidst an applauding audience of relatives, friends and contestants. Miss Patterson also was selected winner of the creative and performing arts segment with a creative dance routine. This was in competition for the national scholarship program. The 13 entries were judged on personal interview, 36 percent; scholastic achievement, 15 percent; creative and performing arts, 20 percent; poise- and appearance, 10 percent; and physical fitness, 15 percent. The County Junior Miss program is sponsored by the Crystal Lake chapter of the American Business Women's Association. It seeks to encourage and recognize the achievement of high school senior girls. Winners go on to state contests. Michelle is the second local winner. Two years ago Mary Higgins of Wonder Lake won the title. The new Junior Miss moved to Johnsburg from McHenry after attending Edgebrook, Valley View and McHenry Junior High Schools. She is active at Johnsburg in Student Council and as a pom-pon girl. - Her hobbies are drawing, dancing and painting. The daughter of Judith and Ronald Dopke, she plans to attend the University of Illinois next year.

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