We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks
We don't write papers, we build scrapbooks
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Just in case you haven’t noticed, I am a fat man. And speaking for all fat men around the world, there are certain priorities we hold – especially when going on vacation. Now, before I get into all of this, I need to say – for the record – I am extremely happy I went on vacation last week. I needed the break, and had never been to Europe – an item on my bucket list. Venice is amazing! And … it truly kicked me in the butt – HARD – but, I made it all the way to the top of the Acropolis in Greece....
With Dan off on his cruise of the Greek Islands, we ran across this old column that we had forgotten about – but giggled again once we read it. So, we felt the need to reprint it, because … well … it’s still fun to marvel over how stupid those “superior” Chicagoans can be … Sometimes the truth is stranger than fiction. Everybody has their own favorite way of getting through and around Chicago. Personally, I prefer the Kennedy to the Dan Ryan to the Skyway. But there is also 290 in to the Ryan,...
The second annual Northwest Illinois Volleyball All Star Game was held June 5th at Eastland, and judging from the increased crowd, it's growing in popularity. According to IHSA rules, only seniors who have graduated can participate in any All Star contest. Players throughout the entire NUIC were chosen – based on their All Conference status. Anyone making first team was invited, and any players from the nine school districts covered by Village Voices who made second team or honorable mention w...
It was going to take an exceptional team to knock off the Orangeville Broncos and their 17 game winning streak coming into Memorial Day's Super Sectional in Sterling. But ... in all fairness, Peru St. Bede is an exceptional team. As for the game itself, Orangeville was in no way out-classed by the Bruins. The Broncos had runners on in almost every single inning, and in scoring position multiple times. "We just never got the key hit we needed," admitted head coach Lon Scheuerell. "We get one or...
Ever spend a lazy afternoon on the deck lying in the sun contemplating the universe? You know, the hidden meaning behind who we are, and what our purpose is on this Earth? I never have either. But, I did spend one evening after the grass was cut and the dishes were clean, sitting on my front porch coming up with answers to the puzzle that every single male on Earth has struggled with … Women! I’m sure many of you may not agree with this, and once my wife hears about it I may be eating PB&J for a...
When Bob Peters and Kristi Diemer retired from their respective careers, they were far from being "done" working with people. A UPS driver since 1994, Bob enjoyed all of the people he'd meet on his routes, but found himself having an affinity towards Lena. "My ultimate goal was to get the Lena route at UPS," Peters explained, "But that just never happened." Meanwhile, Kristi had worked as an optician for 40 years with Northwest Eyecare. But even though she too had retired, the urge to do somethi...
A few weeks ago, at the end of the regular season, the Orangeville Broncos played Forreston in what many thought was a Sectional preview. But in the game, while Forreston threw their ace, sophomore Aubrey Sanders, the Broncos threw Laney Holland – their off-speed pitcher – instead of ace, Leah Baker. "Yeah, but I'm not sure you can say that gave us an advantage today," head coach Lon Scheuerell said following the Broncos 9-1 Sectional semi-final victory. "You never know, I've seen pitchers multi...
Sterling Newman honestly thinks they accomplished something Wednesday night by coming back from a 3-0 hole to knock off Pearl City and advance to the Sectional final. And that's fine, let them think that. But in the overall scheme of things, Pearl City had won much more before the game ever began. As for the contest itself, Tanner Perdue was the early hero in the first inning. With two outs and Perdue at second, a ground ball was hit to short, and bobbled, making for a close play at first base...
All of the talk going into the Softball Sectional Championship game revolved around South Beloit's pitching ace, Trinity Mesch. After all, the senior had shut out Dakota 1-0 in the Regional championship, then did the same with another 1-0 win over East Dubuque in the Sectional semi-finals. So, the biggest question was, could Orangeville score? "She's the best pitcher I've seen in terms of velocity," said Bronco head coach Lon Scheuerell. But while the Sobos may have had one superstar player in M...
The Lena-Winslow Boy's Track Program has always been strong over the years. They have sent qualifiers to the state finals, and brought back several individual medals. But nobody could have envisioned what kind of season lay in store for the Panthers this past season. In a sport where most of the competition dwarfs the number of kids who attend Lena-Winslow, just being able to qualify some events is special. But for the first time in school history, the Panthers made history by claiming their fir...
They are just three small innocent words. When spoken individually, none of them are more than a single syllable long. They are not profane; they do not call any form of religion into question, or challenge any political authority. But when combine together to make a simple phrase they are the most outlawed words in my house. “I don’t know.” Maybe it is because I married a teacher, who feels it is her quest in life to removing that phrase from everyone’s vocabulary. Maybe it is because she fee...
If Monday night's Regional opener between the Warren/Stockton Warhawks and Galena Pirates is any kind of indicator, the 2023 baseball post season is going to be exceptional. Head coach, Jim Nielsen, knew the Pirates were a formidable team – so much so, that picking which of his pitchers was going to start was not much of a question for him. "Brady (Broshous) has been fantastic in seven of his last eight games, and the one he wasn't was against Galena," Nielsen explained. "I told him, 'They d...
Lena-Winslow knew coming in that trying to beat a quality program like Pearl City – regardless of how young they were – three times in a season would not be easy. And while both teams have very few seniors on the roster, it was the Panther veterans who proved to be much more powerful. The Panthers have had a formula that produces runs all season long, and it paid off in the top of the first as speedster Rachael Setterstrom reached first, stole second, and was then driven home by senior Kie...
Baseball Warren/Stockton 5 East Dubuque 4 The Warhawks jumped all over Warrior ace, Angel Reyes, with four runs in the top of the second inning, but everyone knew the Warriors would battle back. Will Stietz threw five strong innings for the Warhawks, but ran into trouble in the bottom of the sixth. But Colby Tucker came on and slammed the door to earn the save. The Warhawks got the winning fifth run in the top of the fourth inning when Jerad Dvorak led off the inning with a single, and two outs...
For years, the Lena-Winslow Panthers could never clear one very large hurdle – the Orangeville Broncos. It wasn't that they always lost, it was that they were never really close. So when the Eastland Regional Championship game settled into yet another battle against the purple camouflage ... Vegas figured it would be a route. Lena-Winslow sent a message in the top of the first – scoring two quick runs, and threatening for more before the Broncos got out of the inning. But in the bottom of the fi...
While I know there are some who would think I haven’t out-grown it yet, when I was a kid, I was a big attention hound. A common story my mother would tell was of the time my aunt and uncle were coming over to stay with us, but they arrived after my bedtime. My mother set them up on the pull out couch in our living room, and everyone went to bed. But at six in the morning, once I got up, I charged into the living room, jumped up on the end of their bed, ripped off the covers, spread my arms o...
I begin this week by asking a simple question, that in reality is not so simple when you think about it. What is a dog? I mean, can you describe a dog? Some might say, “A four-legged carnivorous mammal with floppy ears and a tail.” But that doesn’t fit because not all dogs have floppy ears, and I swear my family once had a dog who loved grapefruit! You can try to look up “dog” in the dictionary, but even they can’t lock it down in spite of multiple paragraphs all trying to answer one simple ques...
The ordinance had been passed a couple of months ago, but the signs throughout town that actually pointed out what roads in Lena were approved truck routes just finished being put up – which means that enforcement of the new regulations can now begin. The issue is quite simple – road repair. Lena was having a growing problem with road repairs being needed throughout town, and the biggest reason the roads were falling apart was due to large trucks using rods that were never intended to handle tha...
Wow, I got a lot of comments and reactions from last week’s column. I didn’t realize so many people never knew the story of how the Voices got started – and really liked being able to connect the dots with what facts they did know from the history of newspapers in our region. But, it sparked a lot of questions in regard to why I thought so many newspapers were failing, what I thought made the Voices successful, and my reaction to some of the bashing I often get on social medias – So, let’s get t...
The coaching purge taking place at Stockton High School has caught the attention of everyone throughout the NUIC. It needs to be pointed out from the outset, that while there were an awful lot of people we talked to about this subject, we promised not to use anyone's names – for obvious reasons – jobs are at stake in some cases, and no school wants to openly criticize another. But there is a lot of criticism. "I can't believe they let their football coach (Matt Leitzen) go, said one AD. "As...
Michelle Magee grew up in Stockton, played on the Blackhawk Basketball teams that marked the transition from Terry Korth to Denny Young, and graduated in 2004. Since then, she has become the owner of Logan's Bar in Freeport, and turned it into a major night spot for both food and fun. But, as she herself admits, the desire was always there to come back to Stockton. "Oh, yeah, I always wanted to," Magee admits. "these last five years we were working really hard trying to find a spot." As Fate...
I got a rather interesting email the other day. A couple of Lena-Winslow junior high students, Emily Goebel and Ryder Schulz, were assigned a project about Lena businesses and I’m not sure if they chose us, or it was assigned, but wanted to ask me about why I chose Lena for my business and how it got started. I responded, and gave them probably more than they wanted, but it also got me to thinking – I’m not sure readers today know the story themselves. After all, Village Voices began back in 20...
1. East Dubuque 14 – 8 Warrior got a cake-walk week to pad their record and sit still in the top spot while everyone else struggles. 2. Fulton 13 - 6 Just when Fulton lookoed like a major power, they get swept by the Warhawks. So who's #2? 2. Le-Win 11 - 3 - 1 I know, I know, I've got a lot of teams at #2, but nobody is strepping up to prove that they deserve it. 2. Pearl City 12 - 8 Wolves are another strong squad we're waiting to see emerge. Split with the Panthers was vital. 2. War/Stock 8 -...
1. Orangeville 19 – 2 Broncos continue to impress, and with Forreston's fall, they take over the top spot in the region. 2. Forreston 17 - 3 Forreston wet the bed against Dakota and finally fell to a 1A school, so they drop a notch in the polls. 3. Fulton 13 - 5 Steamers proved with dominant sweep over the Warhawks that they are the top team in the West. 4. Lena-Winslow 11 - 9 Panthers have become our sleeper pick as Setterstrom keeps stealing bases, and the Panthers steal wins. 5. S...
The status hearing of the Broshous trial Thursday afternoon inside courtroom four of the Stephenson County Courthouse was rather short, but may have revealed a lot. “Your honor we have an agreement to six months out for a plea date,” her attorney said. “We’re having some restitution issues we’re working out.” “My understanding there was a significant amount of money,” Judge Schorsch said. “So, six months make sense, we will plan to set a date for November 16th at 1:30.” And with that, it was o...
