I'm so happy to have this web site. I'm from Minonk also but now live in Columbus, Michigan. My sister and brother-in-law are still in Minonk along with their children. They are Charlie and Jean McGuire. With this site, I can read all about home and not be quite so homesick. Thank You!

Often I check your site for news and keeping in touch with the community. Your editorials share much needed information with our neighbors. Often ideas come to mind that may benefit a group. Lucky you.

1.) Our recycling bin gets full way to fast. Why doesn't Minonk have a place to drop off great recyclables?
2.) Our kids in school could use 10-15 minutes a day to send and check emails to their parents and teachers.
3.) "Information Store" How about inviting people to share their knowledge with you? Ex. List of do's and don'ts for a good camping trip, take and use "OFF repellant". Any "how to" would be neat.

Maybe this email will spark some good ideas. Maybe not.

Thanks for your work doing www.minonktalk.com.

My mother Hazel got a copy of your Minonk Talk article "Where has the time gone". I certainly enjoyed your memories. All of the class of 51 that attended the two day reunion at Mona's and Woody's had a great time. The only sad note was that 12 of our classmates were no longer living. I really looked forward to the reunion and was not disappointed. Most of the classmates had disappeared from my life as I left Minonk in September of 1951 and mostly returned only to visit my parents.

In regards to the 1951 sectional game at Ottawa, Depue had a better team in our loss to them. We had never faced a full court press like they utilized and in retrospect, that was the determining factor in the outcome of the game. Add to that they had four players who were very good college players after their graduation.

One of our other senior teammates attending the reunion was Don "Sleepy" Veihman. He was a teammate from grade school through our four years of high school. It was scary how much he looked like his father C. M. Veihman, our grade school coach and principal.

Minonk has really changed. For example, there is no more jumbo where many of us went mountain climbing and on a good day could see Rutland, Benson, El Paso, and Flanagan.

The Woodford Hotel and the Cave Hotel have disappeared. They were stops on Don Veihman's Pantagraph paper route. I substituted for Don when he had holidays and vacations.

The Woodford Hotel had a 5 cent slot machine in the lobby and I put in a nickle one morning and hit the jackpot of 30 nickles. Of course I could not tell Ed and Hazel (parents) and I still harbor some guilt feelings yet today. But I did enjoy the "big win". Winning still beats losing as I learned in coaching.

I missed many things about Minonk like the Masonic Temple, McKeon's Hatchery where I cleaned eggs on Saturday and learned more about life there from Merle and the other guys there, the clay pit, Cliff Tyson's barber shop, Ketchies Tavern, policeman Heinz Janssen, Young's Chevrolet, Kent Lumber and Coal where I labored summers, the two Main Street elevators, The Princess Sweet Shop, Bradbury's Grocery, and on and on.

I was proud of the successes of our graduation class. We not only had a great basketball team but a great class. I hope most of us can make it back to the CITY OF TRADITION AND PROGRESS for the 55th year reuniuon which is in the planning stages.

Thank you for comments about our team and our class.