125 years ago: Did the O’Fallon baseball team ‘chicken out’ against Mascoutah?
Looking back at stories that appeared in the O’Fallon Progress 125, 100, 75, and 50 years ago:
125 years ago, Aug. 4, 1899
“There was to be a ball game here last Sunday but the O’Fallon team failed to show up.
“They did not notify our boys at all but simply did not come. This is a dirty transaction on the part of the O’Fallon boys and we would warn all other clubs not to have anything to do with them as they are not a club that can be depended upon and deserve no recognition from other clubs.
“We understand that they remarked that our boys were too strong for them. They will be made to think so if they ever meet our boys on the diamond.”
(This was a letter to the Mascoutah Herald from a writer in New Baden. The O’Fallon Progress printed it without comment.)
100 years ago, July 31, 1924
“Not to suffer a loss on account of rain, the Home-Coming Association is making arrangements to have this year’s celebration covered by a rainfall insurance policy on the day of the event.
“The policy will cover a 12-hour period, probably between the hours of 11 a.m. and 11 p.m. The amount carried is for $1,000 and will stipulate this loss in the event that two-tenths of an inch or more of rain is recorded during the festivities.
“A similar policy was carried last year and the celebration went over without the slightest sign of rain. It is believed that by taking out a policy good weather will prevail and that the protection is well worth the price as the Home-Coming attracts thousands of people from near and far, who are O’Fallon’s guests on that day.”
75 years ago, Aug. 4, 1949
“Oft we have heard the adage “good fortune knocks but once at the same door.”
“But it does not always hold true, as evidenced in the John Fohne family, of rural route 1, Lebanon, where awards of two automobiles have gone from the same place in the span of a single year.
“Last year their son Robert, then 22, received a Studebaker car as the major award at the Troy homecoming.
“This year, at the same celebration lady luck again smiled on another member of the family when his nine-year-old sister, Doris, received the surprise of her young life when informed that she had the winning ticket for a shiny new Chevrolet, again the major award at the Troy celebration.”
50 years ago, Aug. 1, 1974
“The O’Fallon Chamber of Commerce unveiled plans for extensive promotion of the city during the month of August at an informal meeting Monday evening at Carvil’s Restaurant.
“A representative of the Winfield Advertising Agency showed many of the businessmen and merchants of O’Fallon the newly-designed logo which will be accompanying the advertisements and promotion items during the month’s campaign.
“Included in the campaign for the month is newspaper and radio advertisements in four newspapers and three radio stations, billboard advertisements, bumper stickers and lapel badges all which will invite the public to the O’Fallon Homecoming Aug. 24-25.
“Beneath the logo is the sentence “Old fashioned friendliness; new fashioned progress,” which has been adopted as the phrase for the promotional month.
“Joan Weinel, president of the Chamber of Commerce, said that the materials and promotions will be distributed beginning Aug. 8. A total of $3,500 is being spent on the promotions and Mrs. Weinel asked for the cooperation and ideas of the merchants concerning other ways of promoting the city during the month of August.”
(The logo featured the “LL” in O’Fallon as a stylized double-trunked tree. A version of it is still used by O’Fallon Township and the O’Fallon Historical Society.)