The Huntley Farmside

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• School Board minutes
• Grafton Township minutes
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The Himtlev Famiside
Thursday, February 18,1999
A Press Publications newspaper ar serving the Huntley community
Volume 38 Issue 45
Village begins plans for anniversary bash in 2001
Steve Brosinski
Press Publications
Some birthday parties require a lot more planning than others. After all, a yearlong celebration marking the 150th anniversary of a town will need a lot more than a cake, ice cream and a few party favors.
Village officials are in the early stages of putting together a group to organize Huntley's sesquicentennial, which takes place in 2001. Committees must be formed to handle fund-rais¬ ing, to coordinate community- wide activities and even to doc¬ ument Huntley's past.
Village Trustee Sue Paulsen said civic leaders from School District 158, the Huntley Park District,' the Huntley Area Public Library, the business community and community groups will be asked to join the committee.
Paulsen said the committee will be looking for a theme to tie various community activities together. The festivities will probably be marked in June when the the annual town picnic takes place, she said.
"We would be happy to get 200 people involved," said Paulsen, who has been asked to represent the village. "When I first heard about it, I thought you couldn't do something like this. Now I think it's wonder¬ ful."
Paulsen and Village Administrator Carl Tomaso met recently with representatives of the city of Elmhurst, a city of about 40,000 which celebrated a successful sesquicentennial in the mid-1980s.
"We would be happy to get 200 people
involved. When I first heard about it, I
thought you couldn't do something like
this. Now I think it's wonderful."
Sue Paulsen
Village trustee
"You can take community events and work the sesquicen¬ tennial theme into each event," Paulsen said.
Even though there have been no formal solicitation of funds, a local developer has donated $1,000 towards the organiza¬ tion. Anyone interested in donating either time or money can call the village at 669-9600.
Paulsen said one steering committee will be responsible for putting together a written history of Huntley. The likely person to handle this job, Paulsen said, is Mary Beth Manning.
Manning, who serves as the unofficial town historian, said Monday that she is willing to help out.
"I am waiting to see what the village's plans are," Manning said. "At the meeting I stated my interest was getting a per¬ sonal history of people who lived here most of their lives."
She said she would like to start contacting the 34 life-long residents soon, before anyone dies. Manning and a team of local historians collected infor¬ mation for "McHenry County in the 20th Century," a 1,000 page hardback which emphasized the years 1968-1993.
"I do believe we should start soon," said Manning, adding that she would like to have a softback history of Huntley that would be finished in time for the sesquicentennial.
Manning said Huntley was named after Thomas Stillwell , Huntley, who settled here before the railroad came through town in 1851. Huntley died in 1894 and his body was buried in the town cemetery. Prior to Huntley, Prescott Whittemore, a native of New Hampshire, was the first to settle in the area.
Manning said there is no actual date for the founding of the town, only the year 1851, when the railroad was built.
Elmhurst City Manager Thomas Borchert said he remembers how the citywide event was so successful.
"It was an excellent commu¬ nity yearlong celebration of the quality of the community," Borchert said. "A lot of neigh¬ borhoods held their own sesqui¬ centennial block parties."
Elmhurst civic groups raised more than $300,000, and a com¬ memorative clock was donated to the city, which now stands in downtown Elmhurst.
Photo by Steve Brosinski
Stephanie Strociek meets with girls volleyball head coach Larry Kahl (left) and Huntley High School Principal David Johnson dur¬ ing her announcement to attend Winthrop College in South Carolina. The 18-year-old senior was awarded a scholarship to play for the Divsion I school.
Volleyball star snags scholarship
Steve Brosinski
Press Publications Stephanie Strociek said she paid close attention to her mother's advice before decid¬ ing to accept an invitation to attend Winthrop College in Rock Hill, S.C.
The Huntley High School senior chose the small Division I college largely because of an offer for a par¬ tial scholarship and also because of her mom's sug¬ gestion to go to an out-of- state school.
Strociek, a stand-out play¬ er on the Huntley girls vol¬
leyball team, announced her intention to attend Winthrop, where she will major in busi¬ ness.
"This is a very important step to move out on my own. It's going to be sad," the 18- year-old Strociek said about leaving her teammates. "We're all best friends. Now I have to start those friend¬ ships all over again."
Her parents prompted her to look for a college that was away from home and Strociek listened.
"They think it's good to see Scholarship—page 2