By Ricky Rieckert Dear readers, subscribers, and patrons, Happy Fourth of July! This week, on East New York Street at Union Street, on the northeast corner, was Matt’s Texaco. Matt Monaco owned and operated it. He had a white flag outside of the station, for a Chicago White Sox win,
Independence Day this year provides 248 years since the historic and significant signing of the United States Declaration of Independence. At the time, the gathering to declare a colonial development separate from the anchor, the original nation, England, was a new twist, new development. The older European nations offered strength,
By Ricky Rieckert This week, I’m taking you west on East New York Street in remembrances of Aurora to Broadway, from my old homestead. But first, I wanted to tell you about, Harold O’Brien, who lived across the street from me. When we were 7 and 8 years old, we
Music is a part of our lives. For many of us music is an important part of our lives, whether we play an instrument, sing, dance. For some of us appreciation of music, good music, is essential. The Fox Valley Brass Band will offer a Summer Pops concert Sunday, June
By Ricky Rieckert This week I want to start out by wishing and hoping all the dad’s had a great father’s day. I ended last week in the history of Aurora places at State Street and East New York Street. In the middle of block between State Street and Union
Karen Luebbers loves to spin yarn. In fact, she has been creating her own yarn from sheep’s wool for more than 40 years. She is one of the many artisan residents at Covenant Living at the Holmstad who will be featured during the senior living community’s annual Bazaar in September.
Holidays are special in a variety of ways to many different individuals. As a society we place value on holidays. Propelled by the May 30 dedication to Memorial Day, celebrated this year Monday,27, June is filled with special days on the way to one of the most significant to us
Last week we saw the 80th anniversary of D-Day and were reminded of the thousands of troops who stormed the beaches of Normandy. On the air were numerous recounts of that day and the events leading up to the assault on German forces from land, sea, and air, plus the
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
