The Huntley Farmside

              Volume 40 No. 18
Your hometown newspaper
Thursday, May 4,2000
© 2000 Press-Republican Newspapers
Historical Society Museum gets moving
by Cassie Peterson
for the Farmside Press
The magical history tour is coming to take you away. Although there may be nothing magical about it, county resi¬ dents will soon be able to take a step back in time via a traveling exhibit from the McHenry County Historical Society.
The Historical Society recently purchased a school bus from Marengo High School to house the planned exhibit. Over the next year, volunteers will be working to refurbish the bus and prepare its first exhibit, a retrospective of McHenry County throughout the 20th century.
^Beginning next spring, coun¬ ty residents will be able to view the exhibit at locations through¬
out the county, including town festivals and even at their workplaces.
Museum administrator
Nancy Fike conceived the idea of a traveling exhibit about two years ago. She said, "The con¬ cept harks back to the days when the book mobile showed up in town."
According to Fike, people often have difficulty adding even one more stop to their busy schedules. Although many children have been to the museum on class trips, much of the population is missing out on all that the museum has to offer.
"We decided that we could be more of a presence in the community if we could bring the museum to the community," said Fike.
Fike stressed that the role of the Historical Society is to reach out to people and raise their awareness of history all around them. She said, "If the only place you can see your own history is in a museum building, then we have failed."
The bus project was made possible by a $5000 donation from Jim and Laurie Tonyan, owners of Tonyan Bros., Inc.—a trucking and gravel mining business located in McHenry. The Tonyan family has lived in McHenry County since the late 1800s.
The Tonyans have long been supporters of the museum. "I've always felt quite strongly about the museum," said Jim Tonyan. He added that, with the rapid growth the county is currently   experiencing,   pre-
Museum hours
The McHenry County Historical Museum opened May 2 for this year's season. It is locat¬ ed at 6422 Main Street, Union. Admission rates a re: members free; adults $3; seniors and children $2; families $8. For more information, call (815) 923-2267.
serving the past has never been more important. Tonyan noted that the traveling exhibit will be a great tool for bringing his¬ tory to the people. He added, "I
think it'll have a positive effect on the museum."
Part of the Tonyans' contri¬ bution, $1500, paid for the pur¬ chase of the bus, and the remainder will be used to cover renovation costs. However, before the exhibit can become a reality, the museum needs spon¬ sors to underwrite the opera¬ tional expenses, such as insur¬ ance and fuel. Volunteers are being sought to help with the renovation process, as well.
"These .things only work if the community gets behind them," said Fike. Although much work remains to be done, Fike anticipates that the bus will begin traveling the county by next spring. "Hopefully," she said, "It'll be a heck of a lot of fun."
Hobos invade Himtley
Church variety show entertains for its 30th year
By Tracey Schwartz
For the Farmside-Press
The "Hobos" of the First Congregational Church per¬ formed another lively rendition of their annual dinner and musi¬ cal variety show last weekend at the church in Huntley.
After serving up beef stew and the fixin's to their audience, 16 children, ages eight to 15 sang, danced and joked their way through a fictional tour of Disneyland on Friday and Saturday nights.
Directors Amanda Brettman and Hazel Carlock, both 14, led the young actors and the audi¬ ence through places like "Workland" where they sang " Whistle While You Work: and "Underwearland" where they sang "Bare Necessities" while waving boxers in the air. Hobo Dan Regan quipped, "Let's be
brief!" The Hobos didn't forget the schmaltz with the lovely voice of Hobo Jessica Runge, 10, who sang "Candle on the Water." The Hobo's big finale was of course, their theme song, "Beef Stew."
A stop at "Door Prize Land" at intermission included more than 30 prizes donated by local busi¬ nesses that were awarded to members of the audience each night. In honor of Arbor Day on Friday, Gro Horticulture Enterprises donated a two-inch shade tree to be dug, delivered, and planted. It was won by Tory Ream. Taylor Stump and Tree gave away 10 white pine seedlings on both nights. Everyone in the audience received a goodie bag of pens, magnets and gadgets from local businesses.
Although the Hobo Show has been a tradition in the church for more than 30 years, this was Brettman and Carlock's first year directing. Both veterans of previ¬ ous Hobo Shows, the girls wrote the script and organized the cast. Carlock said they were happy the show had all live accompani¬ ments, no prerecorded music.
For the Farmside-Press by Jim Schwartz High school students who are members of the First Congregation Church of Huntley perform last weekend in the church's annual hobo show.
The children began practicing in late March with Sandy Zippe who has been thejshow's music direc¬ tor for three years. Zippe, an ele¬ mentary music teacher and choir director in Woodstock, said, "I love working with the kids. They keep me young."
The cast of Hobos included
Brettman, Carlock, Nina Clark, Justine DeAlmeida, Katelyn DeAlmeida, Ryan Erickson, Courtney Evans, Destiny Hedgepath, Beth Hollister, Christina McBride, Abby Parisek, Danny Regan, Molly Regan, Brandon Rickard, Jessica Runge, Courtney     Wilkerson,     Dayna
Wilkerson and Brandon Wilkerson. Crew leaders were Nancy Storms, kitchen chairperson; Penny Wilkerson, publicity; Greg Wilkerson, stage setup and sound and lights; Laurie Runge and Penny Wilkerson, door prizes and goodie bags; and Delores Evans, tickets.