Best wishes...

Leaders of the Millennium Committee have told me that they doubt they will be ready to begin construction on their building in two or three years. Nor are they willing, at this point, to commit adequate space in that building for the meals or the pantry whenever it is constructed. Given the vagueness of that situation, the south side building makes sense.

That is why the Meals board and the Pantry board have asked the city and the township to work toward making the south side site available. As a member of both boards, I appreciate their cooperation to date, and I urge citizens to support this worthy attempt.

Enjoyed the story on butchering chickens. You caught the experience pretty well, including the unique smell you get from burning off the pin feathers.

The thing that I remember about McKeon's store was that during the mid to late 1950's he had the only 5-cent coke machine that I knew about. (All of the machines at the gas stations were up to a dime by then.) The store was on 5th street, right on our way home from the Minonk grade school. He did quite a little business there in warm weather, selling the little 6 ounce cokes. The only rules were that you had to leave the bottle in a rack or pay a deposit of 2-cents on it.

I worked at Gardner's Hatchery for several years on Saturdays and after school setting eggs for the incubators and helping to deliver chicken feed. During this period flocks of hens were cannibalizing one another and for a time we were hired to place little red spectacles onto chickens noses to keep them from seeing straight ahead which made their pecking at one another more difficult if not impossible. Susan Gardner, Dean Barth, Glenn Dunham and others were among several who worked part time at the hatchery during the hatching season...winter and early spring.

We also had baby chicks (about 24 to 36 hrs old) come to our farm's "brooder house" every early spring...these chicks were very delicate for the first month of their lives and were kept warm under a "brooder"....a tent like device that was made of sheet metal and held heat down on the floor of the brooder house. The brooder was about 4 X 8 feet in size and was electrically driven...if electricity went out due to bad weather then chicks would freeze if not provided alternate sources of heat...like taking them into the basement of the house. On one occasion high winds with sub-freezing temperatures caused drafts in the brooder house that "drove" the chicks out from under the brooder and into a corner where a number of them smothered.

Yes, this way of life is probably gone but the realities provided lessons that were long lasting.

Dave, thanks for the great write up and the memories that it created.

While investigating who is filling my mailbox with scam-spam I came across your site and on the graveyard online listings of Minonk I was able to locate a number of my ancestors who have migrated to Illinois. I am not so much into genealogy but I am highly interested in the conditions of living the immigrants had to face. I have good records of the Broers folks that went to live in Illinois and I am quite willing to share authentic copies of documents dating back to 1723. I have always wanted to visit the area where some of my ancestors migrated to and I intend to do that fairly soon.

Sincerely

Harm-H. Broers

harm.broers@telia.com

Why would the city even consider purchasing the old south end restaurant for a food pantry? I thought that the new millennium center was supposed to have a kitchen and food pantry? It seems like some type of temporary solution could be reached until the millennium center opens without the city having to buy a building for $30,000 and then sink another $5,000 into it.

I just finished reading your editorial"editorial" on your entry into the field of commerce. I also found Gerry Schmidt's letter very interesting.

I grew up less that a half a block from the hatchery and have many fond memories of playing in the general area. Allow me to share with you one of my experiences. Apparently, if the eggs are not incubated properly, or if any number of criteria are not met, the eggs cannot be used and were put out behind the building to be picked up and disposed of. It seems that, as I can recall, brother Andy, cousin Andy, Dean Stalter, and I found a bunch of these rotten eggs and we proceeded to get into the darnest egg fight that you can imagine. By the time we finished, we were all completely covered with rotten eggs and probabaly smelled to high heaven. I can't recall how Aunt Georgia, or Mrs. Stalter reacted to their son's coming home covered in rotten eggs, but I do remember my mother's reaction. I think it is safe to say that none of us ever felt that we wanted to involve ourselves in that particular activity again.

I'm in the process of planning a spring scout camporee in the Omaha area that has a Lewis and Clark Theme. As I'm getting into the later stages of planning for exhibits and events, I thought I'd share a few of the scores of websites on theme of Lewis and Clark and this the 200th anniversary of their expedition.

The National Park Service website is www.nps.gov/lecl. From there you can find a junior ranger book for kids to download, complete, and submit for a junior ranger badge. There are links to a calendar of events as well. The 'expedition' will leave the St. Louis area after winter camp in April 2004 and begin their journey up the Mississippi and Missouri Rivers. There will be 'several major events at historic spots along the journey and many communities along the way will be having their own celebrations.

A web site associated with the National Park Service site, contracted for by the Park Service is: http://www.lewisandclarkgnet.org/. This is from the Peter Kiewit Institute at Univ of Nebraska-Omaha for access to journal entries, interactive maps and videos associated with Lewis and Clark related themes. Great passtime for a cold winter afternoon for history buffs.

Cheers and keep up the great work!

Steve Cinnamon

Well, we'll actually be staying Scottsdale, but why split hairs.

We will stay at the Fairfield Inn (a Marriott property) at 5101 North Scottsdale Road, Scottsdale, AZ 85250 in downtown Scottsdale. Barth has been there and has given it a thumbs up. It is a two story facility with 218 rooms, an oversize heated pool and spa, a full-service restaurant, and a bar. A complimentary deluxe continental breakfast is included with the room. There are on-site coin laundry facilities and each room has, among other things, an iron and ironing board. Other amenities include coffee and tea available 24 hours, free USA Today paper, and free parking. The location is great for our needs.

Best news is the rate-The normal rate is $99 per night. Since we are coming as a group, we can have the rooms on April 15, 16, and 17 for $69 per night (singles and double are same rate). Further, if you stay AFTER the 17th, the rate will be the same. Unfortunately, April 15 is the date when rates go down at this particular motel. We get the reduced rate on the 15th but anyone coming in a day or two BEFORE the 15th will not get the lower rate for the extra nights prior to Thursday. Of course, adding days is subject to availability.

Now, please call the Fairfield at 1-480-945-4392 to make a reservation. Please tell them you are part of the Minonk group so that you get the $69/night rate. They are currently holding ten rooms for us (and would be glad to add more) but can hold these first ten only until March 15 �.so call now. If we need additional rooms and know it soon enough, we will get them.

Cancellation policy: No charge if you cancel 24 hours prior to expected arrival date.

On a separate sheet, I have listed some activities that are available. Please mark those that are of interest to you and we'll try to fit in as many of them as possible. Because you and your spouse might be interested in seeing different attractions, mark how many people want to go to each attraction you mark.

Here's some of what we will be doing Thursday late afternoon we head to Rawhide, an authentic Arizona 1880's town for a trip back in time. We will eat at the Rawhide Steakhouse and Saloon, a very casual (yes, you can wear jeans) sort of place. The 160 acre complex has free admission and includes such activities as stagecoach rides, old time photos taken in western costumes, stunt shows, a variety of shops with different Western gear, a chance to pan gold, and what their own brochure describes as "plenty of rootin', tootin' excitement for folks of all ages." The AAA book says dinner here ranges from $10 to $23.

He was a linotype operator for the Minonk News Dispatch for over 40 years. He was a dedicated worker and did a great job all of that time.

Just thought I would let you know how much I appreciate the picture of my dad.

Thanks,