Published: August 09, 2009 12:47 am      

Rossville moves past hard times

150th birthday brings out festive mood

“To read the papers and to listen to the news … one would think the country is in terrible shape. You do not get that impression in the small towns across America.” — Charles Kuralt



ROSSVILLE — Charles Kuralt, former CBS News correspondent, would have loved being in Christman Park on Saturday.

The mood was festive and upbeat.

A town that has suffered serious blows since it celebrated its centennial some 50 years ago has perhaps turned the page to a new chapter.

Townspeople devastated by the closing of the high school and the fire that wiped out half of the downtown business district seemed to have put that behind them and made up their minds to move forward and to celebrate.

From talking to both current and former residents, there is a soft spot in their heart for Rossville.

No place was it more prevalent than in Christman Park on Saturday as the village celebrates its sesquicentennial.

Anne Tuggle Sawyer of Danville grew up in Rossville and was in the park on Saturday.

“This is just wonderful,” Sawyer said. “It brings back such wonderful memories and the wonderful people that lived here.”

Another former resident was Frank “B.B.” Borror of East Peoria, who had a little different view.

“To me it is not the same place,” Borror said. “With half of the downtown gone it just doesn’t feel the same.”

However, Borror does have fond memories of Rossville.

“We had a Commercial-News paper route and kept the same route in the family for 10 years,” Borror said. “I even won a Gannett scholarship when I graduated from high school.”

“It was for $3000, which was a lot of money in those days.”

Gannett Company was the former owner of the Commercial-News.

Ron Harness and his wife Lois were in the park enjoying the festivities. The Harnesses are life-long residents of the village and thought the festivities were great.

“This has been great for the community,” Ron said. “Everyone has cleaned up and fixed up their properties; it has really given Rossville a shot in the arm.”

While the park was full of activities — from the living history camp, the carnival, the old-timers baseball game, the pie contest, the barbecue cook-off, and the constant music from different bands — the most striking observation was the groups of people gathered about talking, reminiscing about the Rossville of old.

Kevin Young, president of the Rossville Community Organization and one of the main coordinators of the celebration, was happy with the way things had gone so far.

“It is absolutely fantastic,” Young said. “Everyone in the community took on a big load of community pride and made this happen.”

Young said the cooperation was just wonderful from the different civic groups to individual citizens who pitched in to help.

Up on the hilltop at the pie-making contest, the winner was Connie Trobaugh with her entry of a key lime pie that left the judges wanting more.

In the barbecue cook-off, the overall winner was Chris Potter of Alvin. Potter said this was the first contest he ever entered. Potter beat out four other contestants, including a husband-and-wife team that started competing in 2004 and has competed in an average of six contests a year in five states.

The late afternoon was dominated by the parade with more than 70 units. The grand marshals of the parade were Richard Schlecht and Helen Bowles. The parade included units from the Tippecanoe Fife and Drum Corps, the Pipes and Drum Corps of Fountain Trust and the World Famous Arcola Lawn Rangers.

Also in the parade were the four surviving class members of the class of 1939 from Rossville High School.



ON SUNDAY

A community-wide church service will be held at 9 a.m. at Christman Park, and a time capsule will be buried at the mini park at the corner of South Chicago and Gilbert streets.