Big Schook Day
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Woodstock High School graduate earns scholarship
Sophia Rogers is the winner of this year's Nancy Fike Scholarship. She plans to study political science and Spanish at Carleton College in Northfield, Minn.
Named in honor of the Society's former administrator, the Society awards the $1,000 Fike scholarship to a graduating senior from a McHenry County high school who plans to study education, history, or the social sciences.
This merit-based scholarship will be given in the winning student’s name to his or her college /university.
Banking on Clams
It is 1920 and the United States Bankruptcy Court has called a meeting of creditors for the Fox River Pearl Fisheries in McHenry – which during the previous month had involuntarily filed for bankruptcy with Northern District of Illinois’ Eastern Division in Chicago.
Creditors range from John P. Weber, who sunk more than $10,000 into the venture, to lumber and dredging companies, to Luther P. Bostwisk – who it is said devised the “secret formula” for growing pearls in clams. But there also are scores of farmers also affected.
3 p.m. Monday, May 15
General Pershing and World War I. Local historian and re-enactor, Ed O'Brien, will assume the guise of Gen. John L. “Black Jack” Pershing, commander of American Expeditionary Forces in France during World War I and responsible for more than 2 million men. Pershing, the most celebrated soldier of his time, is worth remembering as our nation marks the 100th anniversary of its entry into the war. Admission: $10.
Wine tasting, taste for history key
About 225 people attended the McHenry County HIstorical Society's party May 5, kicking off a new season and a new exhibit: Waterways & Getaways: Resort Life in McHenry County. Special thanks to the International House of Wine and Cheese, Richmond, Three Chefs Catering in Crystal Lake, Joe's Place in Marengo and our musical entertainment, saxophonist/pianist Dave Childress. A very special thank you also to Ed O'Brien, who portrayed Sven Mellin, owner of the Bald Knob Resort on Pistakee Lake.
6 to 9 p.m. Friday
UNION – Turn of the century tourists who ventured to the shores of Fox River/Chain O’ Lakes region of Illinois simply were looking to unwind and soak in the ambiance.
They’d fish. They’d boat. They’d dance. They might even drink some illegal hooch or play the slots. But the idea was to have fun – be it bar hopping with the aid of homemade pontoon boats or listening to the likes of the Bill Kalte Orchestra giving a floating concert out by the old lighthouse on Coon Island.
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