Michelle Stoffel

A brief look at Triblocal

Triblocal is an easy-to-use, hyper-local string of Web sites and weekly newspapers that rely on user generated content to inform and engage residents with their news sources.

I am the Community Manager for the Barrington, Palatine, Cary and Fox River Grove communities.

I’ve included most of the stories I’ve written for Triblocal in this portfolio, but not every single one.

To go beyond the highlights and find everything I’ve written at Triblocal, simply click this link, type Michelle Stoffel in the search bar and click “All Towns.” The results are everything I’ve ever written, photographed or contributed to at Chicago Tribune’s Triblocal.

While you’re there, click around, check out the local news and view the most recent print edition by clicking the “Print Edition” button along the maroon bannerhead to find an exact replica of this week’s Triblocal-Barrington, Palatine, Cary and Fox River Grove edition.

4 notes

Palatine High School choir performs at White House today

Palatine High School’s choir will be performing at the White House Dec. 21 for the annual Christmas Open House.

After sending a CD of the high school’s choir to a White House contact, music director Steve Sivak waited to hear back for nearly two months, hoping White House staffers would select the his singers for the 2010 festivities. Instead, he was notified this week that his students would be performing this year.

“It’s a little unbelievable,” Sivak said. “We’re all kind of a little numb right now and the reality is going to set in when we leave.”

Sivak said he revamped their Christmas show for the White House.

“The kids are working really hard during class,” he said. “I added three more songs and I just handed out new music on Monday.”

The group will perform two two-hour sets, along with other performances around Washington D.C., giving as many students as possible an opportunity to perform.

Originally, only 20 students were allowed to sing, but Sivak had that number upped to 52. He also got clearance for all students participating in the trip to tour the White House.

The choir is set to perform “Jingle Bells,” “This is That Time of the Year” and “Stars I Shall Find.”
“It’s a once in a lifetime opportunity,”District 211 spokesman Tom Petersen said. “They worked really hard on this.”

Original

1 note

Palatine takes third at Oldham Invitational

Palatine High School came in third at its Oldham Invitational Dec. 19 with 137.275, placing behind Libertyville High School (137.825) and Prospect High School (137.700). Palatine has gnabbed first place at its first three meets, but failed to take the title at the invitational, held at Palatine High School.

“This meet went decently for us,” assistant coach Scott Hagel said. “It was great to see our team stay competitive the entire time.”

With less than one point between the three meet leaders, this was a tight meet.

“Sometimes it is good to lose a meet by a small margin, so that our girls can see how important every tenth really is,” Hagel said.

Eight teams competed in the Oldham Invite, which was named for retired physical education teacher Sandy Oldham, who coached the Palatine girlgs gymnastics team for 27 years. Bartlett-South Elgin, Glenbrook South, Libertyville, Naperville North, Prospect, Wheeling and York high schools all competed along with Palatine.

Bartlett-South Elgin came in fourth, followed by Naperville North, Glenbrook South, York and Wheeling.

Palatine’s next meet will take place Jan. 7 and will pit Hoffman Estates, Palatine and Conant against each other.

“We are a young team and are still looking to gain more meet experience,” he said. “Our girls will be working very hard over break to add some new tricks and also to overcome some injuries.”

Original and other versions with more photos…

1 note

Foreclosure rate in Palatine slows

With another year of increased foreclosure rates across the country coming to a close, Chicago’s metropolitan suburbs have fared no differently.

There have been 352 foreclosures in the first three quarters of the year in Palatine, an approximately 25 percent increase since 2008. That year, Palatine experienced an 86.6 jump in foreclosures from 2007, according to a study by the Woodstock Institute.

The Woodstock Institute, a Chicago-based policy and advocacy non-profit currently specializing in community economic development, has been tracking and mapping foreclosure rates in Chicago and the surrounding areas for the past two years.

“The real growth [in foreclosure rates] started to pick up in 2005 and started to explode in 2007 and 2008 started in 2008,” said Geoff Smith, senior vice president at the Woodstock Institute. “Much of the growth of the past year has been in the suburbs.”

Although foreclosure rates are generally increasing, the numbers have fluctuated this year due to interventions from the state and federal government, Smith said. Illinois now allows a grace period for homeowners to seek housing counseling before foreclosure, a policy instituted in March. The Obama administration has also enacted the Home Affordable Modification Program, which was set up to help troubled buyers get loan modifications.

“There was a big dip in second quarter in 2009 and a big jump in the third quarter,” Smith said, crediting the second-quarter dip to the homeowners’ ability to seek housing counseling. “Those two programs were implemented and because of that, that’s kind of effected foreclosure data we’ve seen.”

There were 222 foreclosures in Palatine in the first half of the year, and 130 in the third quarter.

The Village of Palatine has taken notice of the increased foreclosure rates, but doesn’t directly monitor them nor have they specifically designed any intervention steps.

“There has been an increase over past years,” deputy village manager Michael Jacobs said. “It’s not an overwhelming issue but it’s definitely a sign of the times.”

Jacobs said that the village’s main intervention is with maintenance of foreclosed and vacant properties.

“When you don’t have somebody living there, you have maintenance issues,” he said. “It gets complicated to chase somebody down, so we’ve kind of streamlined our process.”

Through Palatine’s current process, village staffers can attempt to track down the owner of the property, be it a resident or a lending company, and if they cannot find the owner or get the owner to comply with any necessary property maintenance issues, the village can hire a contractor to work on the property and recoup the expenses.

“We have seen our fair share [of foreclosures] and that was one of the reasons we tried to tweak our system,” Jacobs said. “We tried to come up with processs that’s still fair to the property owner but ultimately gets some compliance for the neighborhoods.”

The system instituted in Palatine will soon be echoed throughout Illinois if Governor Pat Quinn signs Senate Bill 1894, which passed the legislature during the veto session in October.

The bill would equip municipalities with tools to maintain foreclosed properties. According to the bill, lenders, servicers and county clerks must notify local governments about foreclosed properties, and authorize those governments to ensure those properties are maintained. Like Palatine’s system, the bill would also make it easier for local governments to recover costs for maintaining vacant properties.

According to Jacobs, Palatine recoups the money spent maintaining vacant properties when they sell.

The Woodstock Institute will have fourth quarter foreclosure rates after the year closes, but Smith doesn’t see things improving quickly next year.

“I would expect the number of foreclosures would increase again,” he said. “I don’t think the fundamental problems with the economoy will be fixed, unemployment will remain high, and until that is turned around you’re gonna see foreclosures remain high.”

Original

Jaycees discover the best pizza in Palatine

The Palatine Jaycees hosted their annual Best Pizza in Palatine competition Dec. 6.

With pizza-lovers casting their votes throughout the evening in eight different categories, Pizza Bella, 100 W. Northwest Hwy., came out on top with three wins.

The Jaycees host the event every year to bring out the community and raise money for a local charity.
Funds raised from the entrance fee was donated to the Youth Center at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights. The Youth Center is a residential substance abuse program for adolescents.

“Because we are a community organization, we want to give back to the community. They [the Youth Center] are with the community,” said Palatine Jaycees co-chairman Gerard Iannuzzelli, who, along with his wife Jennifer, organizes the best pizza event.

When the event kicked off at Durty Nellie’s there was standing room only, as those in attendance plucked pizzas from the tables and began the judging.

The slices were categorized by topping and crust-style. Instead of being told the name of the restaurants participating, the pizza plates were color-coded so participants had a
blind tasting.

Some in attendance claimed they could easily tell the difference between the slices.
“I can tell by the crust, by how you hold it,” Brita Higgins said.

For attendees, it was an inexpensive way to try a lot of pizza, and a way to enjoy spending time with others in the community. About a dozen people showed up just to establish a cheering section for Pizza Bella.

“This is our third year coming,” said Higgins, who brought her two young sons and nephew. “It’s a family affair. The kids love going out to stuff like this.”

After sampling the different pizzas, attendees voted on a scoreboard and the Jaycees
tallied the results.

Pizza Bella took top honors with three category wins, while Vinny’s took second with two category wins. Artistic Cuisine, Sarpino’s and JJ Twig’s all won a category each.

Artistic Cuisine Chef Zee Otero entered first in 2007 and has since won several categories, including this year’s win for best thin crust sausage pizza.

“We’re a pretty new place, people don’t know about us,” Zee said. He added that after the competition each year, he has new customers come in and order pizza they discovered at the competition.
Pizza Bella owner Tony DeFilippis was also in attendance to grab up his prizes.

“Winning makes it feel like all the hard work and the all-day-long days are worthwhile,” DeFilippis said. “What I want to do, people appreciate it.”

DeFilippis took over Pizza Bella two years ago and this is his first year entering the Jaycees’ competition.

The results

Pizza Bella won best thin crust cheese, best thin crust pepperoni and best thick crust specialty. Vinny’s won best thick crust sausage and thin crust specialty. Sarpinos won best thick crust pepperoni. Artistic Cuisine won best thin crust sausage. Twiggs won best thick crust cheese. Vinny’s won best thick crust sausage.

Original and more photos…

Barrington seeks citizen input on pension woes

Facing mounting payments into pension funds, Barrington officials decided to take a unique course of action and voted Dec. 1 to add an advisory referendum question regarding pension funds to the Feb. 2 ballot.

“We’re saying there’s a pension issue and [the question] allows tax payers to weigh in on this,” Barrington Village President Karen Darch said.

Area municipalities are struggling with how to come up with the required money pay into the pension funds. The amount each government must pay varies, but payments have increased across the board due to losses on investment returns and step increases in payments required by the Illinois General Assembly.

Barrington village officials were inspired by a question voted on the ballots by Lake Forest city council Nov 16. The village decided to adopt the same wording for their February primary ballots as well. The question asks voters, “Shall the Illinois General Assembly and the Governor take immediate steps to implement meaningful pension reform which will relieve the unsustainable burden on local taxpayers?”

“”The idea of pension reform is one that we’ve all been talking about,” Barrington Village President Karen Darch said. “The question is pretty straight-forward. We’re getting it out there for the public to consider, to learn more about pensions.”

Darch added that the question is calling attention to the fact that the Illinois General Assembly controls local pensions. Because local municipalities cannot modify how much they must pay into pension funds, they must cut services or raise taxes to make the increased required payments in 2010.

Because Barrington is not a home-rule community, it cannot levy its own tax increases.

“This year, we’re struggling because revenues are declining and these costs are increasing,” Darch said. “When you’re not passing that on, you’re looking at cutting department budgets. We have to cut somewhere. There’s only a finite number of dollars.”

The question’s main purpose, according to both Darch and Lake Forest city manager Robert Kiely who, along with officials from the Lake Forest city council and the Northwest Municipal Conference, crafted the question.

“About 18 months ago, we identified this trend that was occurring in the unsustainability in public safety pensions,” Kiely said.
“What we heard from a number of municipalities is ‘We’re right behind you, Lake Forest,’” city manager Robert Kiely said. “They’re looking for somebody to be first.”

The results of the advisory referendum question will be sent to elected officials in the general assembly, Kiely said.

“The residents need to be aware of the situation and contact their legislators,” Kiely said. “It isn’t to try and say that there’s one best solution. It’s just to try to raise awareness and take the matter under serious advisement.”

Senate Bill 2011, which would have extended the amount of time municipalities have to fully fund their pensions, thus lowering the financial burden next year, passed the Senate but stalled in the House.

—By Michelle Stoffel, Triblocal.com reporter

Original

**Note: I also localized this for the Lake Forest area here

Junk Warehouse, Etc. turns trash into trendy home decor

Nestled on a tiny side street off Highway 14 in Lake Barrington, a row of block-style buildings house numerous auto body shops, an iron works and a company that manufactures gym mats.

Inside a space sandwiched between Commercial and Industrial avenues, color jumps off the walls, huge collections of antique chair and table legs lay in piles and a former chicken coop hammered to the wall doubles as a hanging shelf.

Junk Warehouse, Etc. can be essentially be considered a furniture and home decor shop, but the company really skirts classification.

The three owners call the company something between an indoor flea market and a vintage boutique for salvaged and re-purposed items.

“They took what would ordinarily be junk, like a pillar from a porch that’s falling down and they made it into a coat rack,” said Sue Gager, a customer and adult program supervisor for the Bensenville Park District. She organized a stop at the facility as part of an antique and resale shop tour for seniors in Bensenville.

Gager had previously purchased a shutter from the warehouse, attached a piece of cardboard behind it and now files bills in the slats.

“Everything here has a story to tell,” co-owner Ann Messner said. “That’s their character and people know there’s only one.”

Originally established in 2002, Junk Warehouse was conceived by Lori O’Callaghan, who is the master carpenter behind the business.

She was approached by a friend to start the business, but after about two years her partner moved on, leaving O’Callaghan the sole proprietor.

“I had contract employees, but with the economy, it was becoming difficult to stay open,” O’Callaghan said. “We had such loyal customers, because it became one of these destination places…not only as shopping place, but a meeting place.”

As the possibility of closing became more real, O’Callaghan started looking toward the future. She decided to bring two friends and long-time customers—Messner and Sharon Hughes—into the business.

“We started talking and I’d feel really good and then go home and say ‘I dunno,’” Messner said. “Then we’d be meeting again, and eventually we said ‘This feels right, let’s do it.’”

Messner and Hughes, otherwise known as the Etc., joined this year and the three re-launched Junk Warehouse as Junk Warehouse, Etc. in mid-November.

“We’re hanging up the apron and putting on a tool belt,” Messner said.

“We all have different strong points,” O’Callaghan said. “Sharon has a marketing background and Ann is business know-how. She keeps us on the straight and narrow.”

“Lori’s our fearless leader,” Hughes said. “[She] can drill in the dark.”

Junk Warehouse, Etc.’s 4,000-square-foot space is a showroom, warehouse and workshop where O’Callaghan works to restore, repurpose and repaint her projects. Often, pieces leave the showroom looking completely different than when they entered it.

They’ve created wine glass charms  from the ear tags made for cows and designated an installation of gym lockers as a large-scale shelving unit.

The women travel around and visit different flea markets, antique stores and junk shops to find pieces.
“We go out of the area as much as possible,” O’Callaghan said. “You wanna stick with old places.”
“I meet people at flea markets, who say, ‘Come out, see my barn,’” Hughes said. “You get lots of ideas. It’s a frenzy that feeds on you.”

Although Hughes and Messner may know how to hunt down new pieces and display them in the showroom, the work that takes place in the workshop is still very much O’Callaghan’s domain.

“Lori’s most talented,” Hughes said. “She’s like MacGyver.”

Though not a known secret agent with a penchant to make a missile out of bubble gum, as the television character might have, Hughes said that when she walks into the workshop, she’ll often find O’Callaghan on a 6-foot ladder with a drill.

“She is teaching us,” Messner said. “The day we opened, when we finished…she gave us little handheld electric drills.”

The gesture was meant to encourage the two new business partners to get into the construction aspect of the company.

“I don’t want to tell anyone they can’t do something,” O’Callaghan said.

In fact, she uses her expertise to teach workshops and seminars at the Junk Warehouse, where customers can restore furniture, paint a piece they already own or even re-purpose something they found in her shop.

“Somebody asked if my dad taught me,” O’Callaghan said. “He never said ‘No,’ never said I couldn’t do it, but it was my mom. She’s incredible, she’s my mentor., always very handy. She taught me, ‘Don’t waste anything.’”

—By Michelle Stoffel, Triblocal.com reporter

Original and more photos…

The ‘Owl Man’ brings comedy, education to Barrington

If you have two smiles, you know what you have? Peregrines.

Mark Spreyer is the director of the Stillman Nature Center in South Barrington. He is a naturalist, ornithologist, biologist, scientist, educator and comedian—not just because he’s constantly cracking bird-related puns—he was also part of a science-based comedy troupe in the mid-90s.

Humerous he may be, but Spreyer is passionate about environmental concerns.

Spreyer graduated with a bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan in 1978 and received his masters in biology, which a focus on ornithology, or the study of birds, from St. Cloud State University in Minnesota in 1985. His work spreads across six states—as a biologist in Kansas, for the Audubon Society in Wisconsin, the Minnesota Valley National Wildlife Refuge and the Brooklyn Botanic Garden in New York to name only a few. He has written for numerous local and national publications, co-produced a documentary for ABC and created a 5,000-square-foot traveling raptor exhibit at the Science Museum of Minnesota

Most notably, he headed the peregrine release project in Chicago before eventually finding his way to Stillman and back home to Barrington, where his interest in nature began.

“I was born and raised here,” Spreyer said of the Barrington area. “I played by the EJ&E [railroad], before it was the CN. That’s why I do what I do: catching caterpillars, growing up on the lake, following muskrat tracks in the snow…”

Oddly enough, it was expertise in sprawling open spaces that brought him to one of the biggest and most dense cities in North America.

“Where I did my grad work [in Minnesota], there was 20-square-miles with nothing—nothing to urban dwellers, everything to me—peat bogs, wolves…six months later, I’m sitting in the city of Chicago.”

Pair of grins

During the 1950s and ‘60s, DDT was widely used as an insecticide. The chemical agent kept bugs off crops, but also kept the peregrine falcon from reproducing. The pesticide interfered with calcium absorption, resulting in egg shells so thin that they broke under the weight of the incubating parent, Spreyer said.

The project started in 1989 after peregrines, an endangered bird species, were seen nesting on skyscrapers. Scientists discovered that the birds felt comfortable nesting in cities because the skyscrapers look like gray cliffs to the birds, Spreyer said.

“So creative people at Cornell thought, why don’t we release them in the city?” he said.

So they did. Spreyer led the team in Chicago, which thrust him into meetings with journalists, scientists and city and national government officials.

Dan Dinelli, a long-time associate and friend of Spreyer’s, volunteered with the peregrine project to observe the birds from afar and ensure they stay safe and healthy.

“I remember [Spreyer] being very concerned with what the state and the DNR [Department of Natural Resources] wanted…working locally with building managers and insuring that air conditioning units were properly covered or window washing operations being pushed back during the breeding months to not disturb these young birds,” Dinelli said. “There was a lot of thinking involved. Mark should be proud.”

At the time he was working on the peregrine project, Spreyer performed with CHAOS. The group was part of the Lincoln Park-based Chicago Academy of Sciences and played venues such as science fiction conventions and Mensa meetings, Spreyer said.

“We appealed to a wide array of tiny markets,” Spreyer joked.

CHAOS performed skits about Jacques Cousteau diving for his keys or “Puff the Maggot Dragon,” a song about decomposition, which Spreyer can recite word-for-word today.

In the city, at least a half a dozen or more pairs were established, some of which were combinations of Chicago falcons and Milwaukee falcons, Dinelli said. Peregrines continue to nest on some of Chicago’s tallest buildings today.

GH OWL

“He doesn’t have a favorite [bird], but that’s his favorite,” Stillman intern Claire Roggeveen said as she pointed to Stillman’s great horned owl.

It’s evident in Spreyer’s license plate, which reads GH OWL, and in the phone number at the Stillman Nature Center: 847-428-OWLS.

When he became executive director of the nature center, there was no copy machine, no computer, and no parking lot.

“There was just an answering machine with that phone number,” he said.

Spreyer first called Stillman home in the 1980s, when he stayed there to “keep the place warm,” he said.

Spreyer manages operations at Stillman—maintaining park trails, building new attractions and promoting the center’s work at community events like Schaumburg’s recent business expo.

“He’s our first and only employee,” said Susan Allman, president of the Stillman Board. “We’ve come a long way to put together an old estate into a nature center. We do it for the animals, not just people.”

Spreyer’s focus is on birds of prey, which he takes on tour, showing them to classrooms of young children, 4H clubs and Boy Scout groups, among others. He’s shared the birds with enough students to build a reputation.

“When Mark goes to schools they all know him as ‘The Owl Man,’” Allman said.

Do the ‘Bird of Prey Shuffle’

Spreyer uses humor, anecdotal evidence and layman’s language to bring the world of biological and environmental science to his classrooms, evidenced by a rarely seen video he created called the ‘Bird of Prey Shuffle.’ Falcons and owls dance a version of the ‘Super Bowl Shuffle’, which Spreyer outfitted with facts about the birds.

“Students ask me, ‘How come that’s not on YouTube?’ I say, I’m not giving it away for free,” Spreyer said.

Besides presenting to classrooms around the northwest suburbs, 4H and Scouting clubs, he is a part-time professor of biological sciences at the College of Lake County.

“I love teaching at the College of Lake County,” he said. “If it starts with an ‘e’ I’ll teach it—environmental issues, evolution, environmental biology.”

He said his classes consist of part instruction and part labs, many of which take place outdoors at nearby nature preserves.

“There are kids from Lake County that have never even been to these great places,” he said. “It’s not predictable. You never know what you’ll do, never know what you’ll see—well, I know something cause it’s on the quiz—but that’s the fun.”

Allman said his personality and knowledge make him a great educator.

“He can talk to kids in the morning and adults in the evening,” Allman said. “And not just about owls, he has knowledge of so many different areas.”

He’s so knowledgeable,” Roggeveen said. “He can really captivate an audience.” She often goes out to presentations with Spreyer, with whom she has a friendly and jocular relationship.

“He’s kind of unique in the sense that he’s serious but he also jokes around,” Dinelli said. “He usually just enjoys making people laugh…Mark’s a pretty bright guy. His way of thinking is probably not very traditional. He doesn’t get trapped into or hung up on some of the environmental buzzwords. He’s just got a unique way of thinking about things, that makes you think and question what the mainstream is trying promote.”

In defense of what’s common

There was a time when passenger pigeons would dominate the sky from horizon to horizon, a striking sight not seen today, Spreyer said. Huge populations of pigeons were killed off in a manmade attempt to control their population, an idea Spreyer dismisses.

“People seem to want to curse what’s common,” he said. Spreyer, however, sees what’s common as a way for people to engage in the natural environment.. He promotes the idea that pristine nature is not a far-and-away destination; it is everywhere.

An article Spreyer wrote called “Home is Where the Heartland is” contains what he points to as his life philosophy.

“When you are ready for an honest wildlife experience…just look around your suburb or city. Wildlife lives there,” he wrote. “Remember it’s not the habitat; it’s the attitude.”

—By Michelle Stoffel, Triblocal.com reporter

Original and more photos…

Cary’s largest company expanding facilities

Sage Products, a medical products manufacturing company, is expanding their plant in Cary. Already the 7th largest employer in McHenry County, according to the McHenry County Economic Development Corporation, the plant will soon hire more employees and increase their building size by approximately 160,000 square feet of floor space, bringing the total facility from 365,000 up to more than 525,000 square feet, Sage COO Scott Brown said.

“It’s something we’ve been looking at for the last several years,” Brown said. “We’ve looked forward to this day, that we would get to this point.”

Sage has existed in its current facility since 2000. They make patient hygiene-related products, which help those who are on ventilators, undergoing surgery or immobilized from developing complications.

The expansion will provide the company with more warehousing space for raw materials and finished goods and increase their production facilities. Sage currently produces five product lines.

Unlike many companies reporting losses during the economic recession, Sage’s business has actually been growing.

“Business has been very good,” Brown said. “The health care business has been prospering pretty well as an industry, particularly in our area [preventative medical products].”

According to Brown, Sage has seen sales double-digit percentage increases over the last five years.

“We spent more in capital expenditures than we ever have in our history,” Brown said. “Especially within the building, we’ve invested more than ever before.”

Sage’s workforce will be expanding concurrently with their new building.

The company has hired about 20 new people each year since moving operations from Crystal Lake to Cary, and will do the same in 2010, Brown said. Sage currently employs more than 550 people. The company was recently ranked No. 5 in Modern Healthcare’s 2009 list of the 100 best places to work in health care.

They have presented expansion plans to the Village of Cary, and are currently meeting with architects, but haven’t gone through the bidding process, according to Mike Nygren, director of marketing communications at Sage.

“We hope to have a shovel in the ground before the first of the year [2010],” Brown said. “It’ll probably take us nine or 10 months.” The company has owned the property where the expansion will be built since 2000.

Village of Cary administrator Cameron Davis equated the expansion space to a couple hundred semi-trailer trucks. Sage’s expansion plans are no small bit of good news for Cary—Sage is the largest property tax payer in the community.

“We’re thrilled. They’re a great corporate partner, and very professional,” Davis said. “So few corporations are expanding. It’s a nice twist on what’s going on.”

—By Michelle Stoffel, Triblocal.com reporter; photo submitted by Sage Products

Original

Village symbol recalls Cary’s beginnings

Any official document from the Village of Cary bears a simple, blue and white symbol. Although not officially adopted by the village, the image of a water pump and well house is printed on business cards, fax forms, letterheads—even the weekly e-mailed newsletter.

The symbol pays homage to a bygone era in Cary.

“It was a meeting place for the farmers, a trough for watering horses,” said Shirley Bean, member and administrative assistant with the Cary Historical Society.

Formerly, it stood directly across from what is now the Tracks bar. Alongside the bar, visitors in town could hitch their horses. The original wooden pump had a water trough for horses to drink from. The silver pump that stands underneath the kiosk today is a cast of the former, functional one. The kiosk was constructed to mimic the old well house.

The original pump, colloquially known as the Old Town Pump, was removed in 1925 when West Main Street was paved.

“What’s there today is the best replication,” Mayor Tom Kierna said.

According to “Cary Me Back,” a book on the history of Cary, when the pump opened in 1895, the Crystal Lake publication The Nunda Herald said, “The well house erected over the town pump is very neat. It is not only attractive but suitable and convenient place to store the Village Hose. The test of the hose and force pump on Saturday was very satisfactory.”

Along with the pump, the well house appears in Cary’s symbol. Although not exactly matching the original’s silhouette, it includes key details like the pointed top, the slatted sides and the archway entrances.

In 1912, 17 years after its opening, the Village of Cary installed a water system and improved the well house. The village added a water fountain for drinking and installed running water to fill the horse trough.

After the pump and well house were demolished in 1925, Cary residents wanted it back, even though they were getting pumps in their homes and no longer needed it to gather water, Bean said.

Shortly thereafter, “they put it back in because the people wanted it,” she said. “People wanted to see it there, it was just for people to see.”

Since celebrating its centennial in 1993, the village has used the same symbol on all official documents.

“When the village refurbished and rebuilt the pump, we incorporated it in conjunction with the 100-year anniversary,” Kierna said.

“It’s a neat thing to see and then to know the history of it,” Bean said. “It’s a wonderful, historic thing.”

—By Michelle Stoffel, Triblocal.com reporter; photo from the “Cary Me Back” book

Original