By Ricky Rieckert This week, we’re starting off with our history of Aurora at East New York Street, west of Farnsworth Avenue. Many year’s ago on the south corner was Kilborns Gas Station and Automotive. On the north corner was Harpers Used Cars, now KFC. Heading west to Kendall Street:
Politics is with us every day, like it or not, we must understand. So we deal with the reality. In five months from this week the presidential elections, held every four years, will be conducted. They are important. So, too, are community and smaller elections such as zoning boards, mayorality,
The excitement is building! The Aurora Public Library District (APLD) is thrilled about our upcoming renovations to the Eola Road Branch. To share the plans with the community we’ll be host to informational sessions for community members at the Eola Road Branch Saturday, June 15 at 10 a.m., Tuesday, July
By Steve Groth Jim Ammenhauser and I have been photographing the State track and field meet at Eastern Illinois University in Charleston for The Voice the past six years. Jimbo’s three children, Riley, James, and Lauren, have been State qualifiers in the triple jump in that time. We have photographed
The Plano Reaper has been the mascot of the Plano high school athletics teams from its beginning. With an agricultural and industrial spirit, the people of the City of Plano always have been proud to call themselves the Birthplace of the Harvester, and the high school teams adopted the “Plano
Just a few thoughts on more than a few topics for our consideration: •The Fox Valley Music Foundation recruited volunteers to renovate a recent historic building into The Venue, a live music room at 21 S. Broadway, Aurora, and celebrated its fifth anniversary. •Sports, but community: Fred Weidner is the
On or around military-related holidays, I like to write something military-themed. Because Memorial Day is universally accepted as a military-related holiday, I’ll have to skip over the fact-checking of Wild Bill Suhayda’s blather in a recent edition of The Voice to present my military-themed piece. I’m not worried, because there
By Ricky Rieckert Hello, faithful readers. I just wish my fellow writers on The Voice had more discretion on how they write, and their subjects. But sometimes you can’t teach an old dog new tricks. Even a reader attacked prince Charles. Wayne and Bela have been at each other’s throats,
Holidays are important. In some variation, all holidays carry significance and to each person provide a meaningful understanding. Memorial Day originally started following the Civil War (1861-1865). A few years following the Civil War a huge number of survivors, many of them widows, decorated grave sites with flowers and memorabilia.
From the vault – revised (various dates): When I was writing “Common Sense” essays for TONIT (pronounced “Toe=nit”) – that other newspaper in town – I wrote a series of satirical observations on the types of motorists we must endure in our daily lives. I wrote them under the umbrella
Communication is important. Listening is essential. “The Voice newspaper in northern Illinois. How may I help you,” is a possible method of answering the business telephone. That’s the way we answer the telephone, especially on Mondays and Tuesdays, our usual deadline days in the function of the newspaper based in
For weeks students have protested the Israel-Hamas war. I have watched with mixed feelings about both the conflict and the protests. There are a few observations: The war between Israel and Palestine has gone on for thousands of years. According to tradition, it originated with the family dysfunction of the
Can we keep it? That question always surrounds the United States Bill of Rights and the U.S. Constitution. The scholarly, learned, and profound, delegates in the 1770s and 1780s who helped draft the legal course to our country had little guidance than the previous Articles of Confederation, and several European
By Ricky Rieckert A big wish to all of the mothers to have a happy Mother’s Day Sunday, May 12. Continuing my narrative on Aurora in the old days from an earlier column: On East New York Street, west of Eola Road at Eastern Avenue on the north side was
Special years can be understood in advance. This year, 2024, is such a year. If no other reasons, this year we will encounter the Summer Olympic Games and the major political parties’ national conventions. Any other items to be added make little difference in the quality of a year, however,
Members of the Diabetes Club of Fox Valley will hold their May membership meeting Wednesday, May 8, at the Oak Street Restaurant, 945 Oak Street, in North Aurora. Meeting will be held in the East Banquet Room. Dinner is optional on members’ own from the menu at 5:30 p.m. and
By Ricky Rieckert This week I’m touching a bit to complete information on last week in Aurora history. The buildings on Broadway, from East New York Street to Benton Street had vaults in the front of the basements, that were right under the sidewalks, with steam pipes overhead, under the
Evidence of Spring each year, and most specifically in April, is the full growth of the tulip flowers in Aurora’s Phillips Park.
General special days are more prevalent at this time of the year, late April into May: April 22 each year is Earth Day, April 28 is Workers’ Memorial Day, May 1 has various designations to include International Workers Day and May Day. Actually, the calendar is full of special designated
From the vault, revised (various dates): Ever since we hairless apes swung down from the trees and began to walk upright, we have disposed of our wastes wherever it was convenient (and healthy!) to do so. As the millennia passed and our populations increased, we had to dispose of ever
