Days Gone By In Staunton

Thursday, December 15, 1966 -- VANDALS HIT LOCAL HIGH SCHOOL EARLY MONDAY -- Several vandals broke into the high school early Monday morning. They gained entrance by breaking the windows in the rear doors of the school.

The Star-Times did not arrive at the school until 7:30 a.m. and by that time the custodial staff had cleaned up much of the mess, having started before 6:00. It was evident, though, what greeted the staff when they arrived that morning. Eggs were still being scrubbed off the walls and floors, broken light fixtures were hanging from the ceiling, and the smell of disinfectant was in the air.

But this was only in the cafeteria. As one walked through the halls and hesitantly peered through broken doors he was greeted by torn books strewn across floors littered with the remains of potted poinsettias. Very few rooms escaped the vandals' hand.

Chief of Police Wm. Bechem informed us that this took place sometime after 2:00 a.m., as patrolman Morgan had been at the school on a routine check at that time.

Free Matinees at Temple Theatre -- An advertisement on another page announces that free matinees will be featured at the Temple Theatre the next two Saturday afternoons, beginning at 2:00 o'clock p. m. The matinees are being sponsored by a group of Staunton business men whose names are mentioned in the advertisement.

The management has arranged for two interesting programs, including a feature film and cartoons. These matinees are arranged so that parents may send their children to the theatre while they do their Christmas shopping, or the parents may do their shopping early and enjoy the show with the youngsters.

RAINFALL FLOODS BASEMENTS AND STREETS IN THIS AREA -- A period of torrential rainfall on Wednesday of last week caused the flooding of many streets in Staunton as well as taxing the storm sewer system over capacity so that large quantities of water resulted in many basements in the city. The rainfall started early Wednesday morning, and in two periods of an hour each, an inch of water fell. John A. Schnaare, local weather recorder, informed us that a total of 3.75 inches was measured by noon on that day, but the two periods of intense precipitation was too much for the sewers to take, with the resultant flooding. While many of the lower places were flooded, the greatest amount stood on East Main street and at the south edge of Hackman street.

Naturally, the water caused considerable damage at many places. The subway under the N & W railroad tracks on U.S. Route 66, northeast of Staunton was flooded most the of the day and traffic was routed through Staunton. The large trucks provided a continuous stream of traffic and these heavy vehicles caused a strain on the pavement, which will no doubt be revealed in the near future.

The downpour also sent a rush of tons of water into Lake Staunton, carrying much silt from the watershed into the lake, discoloring the water. Henry Haferkamp, chief operator of our water system, stated that there was no way to keep this discoloration out of the service pipes, but that it was safe for drinking purposes. He stated that by this time the water should be clear again.

CHRISTMAS MAILING LARGEST YET HERE -- Postmaster Fey stated that this year's mail exceeds all previous years in volume, and in parcels mailed. The patrons of Staunton Post Office are really cooperating, by buying their Christmas stamps early and mailing their parcels early.

Postmaster Fey hopes that this will keep up and that he will have a clean post office on Christmas Eve, all parcels and mail being delivered.

Thursday, December 22, 1966 -- BURGLARS ACTIVE LAST WEEK END -- Several burglaries were reported in Staunton and vicinity the past week end, and quite a bit of loot was taken.

Some time Friday night the Clarence Hefer grocery at 223 East Second street was entered by removing a pane from a door on the east side of the building. The miscreants carried away 50 or 60 cartons of cigarettes, boxes of candy bars, bags of Christmas candies, a 5-lb. loaf of cheese, a box of tokay grapes, and probably other items of merchandise.

Some time between 8:30 o'clock Friday night and 8:00 o'clock Saturday morning a burglar or burglars entered Dave's Auto Service on old Route 16 and East Mill street, operated by David Negro. A large number of hand tools used in auto repair, valued at about six or seven hundred dollars were stolen.

The warehouse at 66 Terminal Service Station also was entered by breaking a lock some time Saturday night.

According to rumors, some other places were entered, but we have been unable to obtain accurate details.

DEER KILL WAS LESS THAN IN 1965 -- Hunters bagged 1,404 deer during the second half of the shotgun season, the Illinois Department of Conservation announced. Deer season was divided into two three-day portions. A total of 7,327 white tails were killed during the six days, 285 fewer than were harvested in 1965.

Rain of Dec. 9 and 10 over the southern third of the state discouraged hunters and served to reduce the kill. About 500 fewer deer were bagged in Pope County this year than during the 1965 season.

Biggest deer killed was a buck weighing 250 pounds field dressed

SANTA DISTRIBUTED OVER 1000 TREATS -- Lion Bob Kilduff, chairman of the boys and girls committee, reports that over 1000 treats were distributed to the children of this community on Saturday. Santa Claus awarded the treat at his specially constructed "house" on the north side of the city park.

After all the children had been taken care of some treats were left and these were distributed among the patients at the local hospital and Staunton Nursing Home.