Community News
School board green lights weight room project
Community Unit School District 7 will move forward with revamping and equipping the Gillespie High School weight room after members of the Board of Education voted unanimously to proceed with the project during the board’s regular monthly meeting Tuesday night, Jan. 23.
The meeting was postponed from its usual date due to icy road conditions on Monday.
Installation of new fitness equipment and flooring represents the next phase of the project. A project to install new HVAC equipment for the weight room, previously approved by the board, was completed over the winter break at a cost of about $108,000.
Supt. Shane Owsley said Direct Fitness Solutions, Mundelein, will provide and install fitness equipment focussing on cardio training, including self-powered treadmills. He said company representatives and administrators previously met with Athletic Department employees to ensure the new equipment is what “they need” for meet students’ needs for fitness training.
“This will put us in line with other schools we compete with,” Owsley said. The estimated $137,000 will come from proceeds of a $1.6 alternate revenue bond sale to underwrite capital improvements over the next three years. The bonds will be retired using revenue accruing from the county’s School Facilities Sales Tax. The district plans to pay down the bonds at a rate of about $200,000 per year, about half of what the district receives in sales tax revenue, over the next 10 years.
Board member Peyton Bernot said he recently visited the existing weight room and discovered it looked the same as it did when he graduated 14 years ago. “That equipment is very, very old,” he said.
Board members voted unanimously to approve the project on a motion by Bernot, seconded by Amanda Ross.
Owsley also reported to the board that the district was successful with an application for a state-funded safety grant in the amount of $466,365. The grant will be matched with $155,000 in local funding, giving the district more than $600,000 to spend on capital improvements related to student safety. The pending grant was the focus of discussion as the board considered the alternate revenue bond sale last year, since the grant can be used to defray the costs of some projects the district expected to finance with bond sale revenue.
In addition, Owsley told the board he is preparing an application for a grant co-sponsored by Blue Cross-Blue Shield to build an outdoor fitness court, which would be open to the public. He said Blue Cross-Blue Shield recommended CUSD 7 for the $30,000-$40,000 grant.
PERSONNEL
Following an executive session of about 90 minutes, during which the board primarily discussed personnel issues, the board took a number of actions regarding personnel:
- The board voted unanimously to extend Supt. Owsley’s contract by one year. Administrators are employed under a three-year contract, meaning Owsley’s new contract will continue through the 2026-27 school year.
- Board members unanimously accepted the retirement of BenGil Elementary teacher Lori Emmons, effective at the end of the 2027-27 school year.
- The board voted unanimously to terminate the employment of bus driver Christy Besserman, effective Jan. 22; accept the resignation of bus aide Cindy McCarty, effective Jan. 24; and accept the resignation of bus driver Alicia Landreth, effective, Jan. 6, and post a vacancy for the position.
- Board members voted unanimously to accept “with regret” the resignations of Matt Browner as middle school 8th grade girls basketball coach, and Nikki Browner as middle school 7th grade girls basketball coach.
- Anthony Kranvanya was appointed by a unanimous vote as a volunteer high school men’s basketball coach, pending certification and a background check.
- The board voted unanimously to hire Rebecca Leitschuh-Birdsell as a substitute bus driver, pending certification and a background check.
- Korben Clark was hired by a unanimous vote as head coach for the high school women’s track and and field program.
- Alex Ottersburg was hired by a unanimous vote as an assistant high school track and field coach, pending certification and a background check.
- Board members also voted unanimously to re-employee high school football coaches Dalton Barnes, Nate Henrichs, Cory Bonstead, and Donnie Allen, and volunteers Alex Jasper, Korean Clark and Zayne Ireland.
SURPLUS PROPERTY
The board voted unanimously to sell to Stacy Hart and previously identified surplus lot owned by the district and located on Park Avenue, Gillespie. Hart, who was the sole bidder for the property, offered to pay $800 for the parcel.
The board also voted to accept a seniority list for certificated and non-certificated employees.
GHS Principal Jill Rosentreter presented this year’s Illinois State Scholars—Michael Bertetto, Alexia Emelander, Graciela Koch and Leo Page. Each of the GHS seniors scored 31 or higher on the state’s standardized test, according to Rosentreter.
“These students are amazing in every way,” Rosentreter said. “We’re going to see great things from them after they graduate.”
The board also accepted a donation from the Coal Country Queen organization, in recognition of the district allowing the queen program to use school facilities for practices and for the annual queen pageant. Miss Coal Country 2023 Madilyn Martin, Junior Miss Lydia Lowry, Junior Princess Violet Bellovich, and Little Miss Vivien Bellovich attended the meeting to present the check.
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Dana Carr Skinner, 52, of Gillespie has announced her candidacy for Macoupin County Circuit Clerk. She will be on the November 5, 2024, General Election ballot.
Dana, a lifelong Macoupin County resident was born and raised in Wilsonville by her
parents, Barb and Van Baker. She graduated Gillespie High School in 1990 and attended SIUE
before starting her family. She has raised eight children all of whom graduated college or attended trade school. Dana is married to Todd Skinner.
Dana is currently a public servant, serving the people of Illinois as a paralegal. She has
over 25 years legal experience with 15 of those years being directly in the courtroom. She has
worked in law firms that practiced in all areas of the law from probate, family, civil, traffic,
criminal and real estate. After working several years in the legal field, Dana went back to college and obtained a paralegal degree.
Dana is running for Circuit Clerk because, “It is time for me give back to my community
and the residents of Macoupin County. Lee Byots Ross has done an amazing job as our current Circuit Clerk and I want to continue the work that she has accomplished. My adult life has been focused on my family and my children, and they are now grown. My focus now, would be to demonstrate to the residents of Macoupin County that I can and will do an excellent job as
Circuit Clerk,” Dana said.
The Circuit Clerk is responsible for establishing, maintaining and keeping all records of
the court, as well as several administrative, financial and public services.
“There are employees in the office now that have worked there a number of years, and I will be committed to them and their opinions, as well as the people the Macoupin County. I will learn from the current employees if I am elected in November and I believe that I have the experience, the knowledge and the work ethic that would make me an asset to the Circuit Clerks Office’s team,” Dana said.
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United Mineworkers of America President Cecil Roberts will commemorate the 125th anniversary of Union Miners’ Cemetery in Mt. Olive on October 13. Ceremonies begin at noon with a short historical parade, Roberts, IL AFL-CIO President Tim Drea, and frequent labor music.
Afterward, a meal will be provided as the labor music continues. The event is free and open to the public. A portable chair is recommended.
The cemetery is located on near 5536 Mt. Olive Road in Mt. Olive and can be found by following North Lake Street.
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Background of Union Miners Cemetery by the Mother Jones Museum:
The Union Miners Cemetery is in Mt. Olive, a small mining-town that was once the center of a rebellious group of miners who helped to secure Illinois as the solid rock for the United Mine Workers Union. Today thousands of visitors come each year to pay their respects to the memory to Mother Jones and the spirit that guided her and the founders of the labor movement in the United States. They reflect about the connections between the past and the present.
The cemetery was established in 1899, when commemorations of the miners killed in the 1898 “Virden riot” became controversial in the Mt. Olive cemetery where they were originally buried.
The bodies of the Virden “martyrs” were re-interred in a cemetery established as the Union Miners Cemetery by the Mt. Olive United Mine Workers local. Commemorations of these events in the following years contributed to a generation of activism in the Illinois coal fields.
They did this by claiming the kind of memorial space that was denied in other places, such as Haymarket, where police often disrupted commemorations. This built a sense of connection between past and present in the area, and made it clear that ordinary workers had changed the course of history. The role of the ordinary worker came into focus. Mt. Olive was one of the few places in the country where labor history was taught before the 1970s.
This is a unique place in the history of the labor movement; it was the only union-owned cemetery in the country. This is a place with a monument to Mother Jones, but it also evokes the power and potential of the labor movement. It is a place of reflection and remembering, of thinking of the labor movement’s roots. It is a shrine not only to Jones but to the sacrifices that connected human rights and labor rights, a place where people wonder when and why labor lost power.
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When I decided to write this article, my original intent was to find out when they removed the rails down the middle of Macoupin Street, but I thought I might research when the railroads came and went in Gillespie. So here is a brief history!
In the 1850’s, railroads were becoming more important to the US for both transportation of people and goods. Chicago was the hub of railroad traffic in the west and cities throughout Illinois were vying to have railroads come through their section of the state. Having a railroad meant prosperity and growth. Towns would grow with increased population. The key question was where are the railroads going to go? Influence by key political people throughout the state was important.
Prominent people in the US and central Illinois like Judge Joseph Gillespie, William Mattoon, Electus B Litchfield and Robert Rantoul (Massachusetts senator) and others help bring the railroad south.
The move south was brought about by the chartering of the Terre-Haute & Alton Railroad in January 1851 out of Mattoon, Illinois. It was to extend south to Alton because legislators wanted Alton to compete with St. Louis in the growth of the area. The work was started in 1852 to originally go 172 miles. It was completed in March 1856. Extensions were created from Alton to Belleville and eventually to St. Louis. By 1857 the route was completed and a railroad went through Gillespie. The St. Louis connection was helped by the building of the Eads Bridge in 1874.
In June 1867, the Terre-Haute Alton Railroad was leased to the Indianapolis & St Louis Railroad but went into foreclosure in 1882 and sold to the Cleveland, Cincinnati, Chicago and St. Louis Railroad (known as the Big Four). This railroad came under control of Vanderbilt and the NY Central Railroad system.
The Terre-Haute Alton Railroad/Big Four Railroad came to Gillespie on an east west route. It passed through Gillespie today in the land next to the Civic Center, crossing Macoupin Street next to Subway. The Big Four Terminal was just off Macoupin Street where the Civic Center is located. There were additional terminals in Hornsby and Dorchester.
A 2nd railroad will add additional prosperity to Gillespie. The Illinois Traction System was a brainchild of William B. McKinley (not the president). He had a vision to create an electric railroad empire that covered at its peak 550 miles of rail.
The Traction system started in connecting Danville and Champaign in 1901-02, then to Decatur to Springfield in 1904. He also completed the route from Springfield to Granite City going through Gillespie and Benld in 1904. This Interurban as most people called it was a passenger service. It would eventually connect to Peoria by 1907 and St Louis by 1910. It was also possible to go to Chicago by connecting with other railroads. The Illinois Traction Terminal was on the corner of Macoupin and Spruce Streets where United Community Bank is located and at one time did have a small spur to the east.
Everyone associates the growth of Gillespie-Benld and the surrounding area to the coal mines, but the railroad also played a key part in the growth of the area.
You might wonder why main street is so wide compared to other towns’ business districts? Gillespie was unique by having the Interurban rail down the center of Macoupin Street but also the Big Four crisscrossed near Walnut Street. The town has to be one of the few towns in Illinois to have that unique situation.
In the early days, the crisscross intersection was controlled by only railroad signs. The “Stop, Look and Listen” slogan did not stop accidents at the crossing. Eventually, a crossing watchman was hired to control the car and pedestrian traffic at the intersection of the two railroad lines. It was also not unusual for a parked car to back into the Interurban in the business district.
These two railroads went north-south and east-west throughout town until the Interurban ceased to operate. The last Interurban use was on March 3, 1956. The rail line was eventually taken over by other railroads and would only be used for freight transportation, especially by Norfolk Western and other railroad lines. The rail line did have a brief arrangement to transport coal from Monterrey Coal Junction to Edwardsville in 1970, but the last use of the old Interurban Line for freight use occurred on August 20, 1970.
The eventual decline of the railroads in Gillespie coincides with the decline of the coal mines. Railroads were being transformed from coal to diesel and coal use immediately declined.
The Big Four stopped operating on December 17, 1964. Slowly they started to remove the tracks between Litchfield and Bethalto. Illinois maps show Big Four railroad tracks in 1965, but they are gone by 1967.
Now to the original premise of the article, when were the railroad tracks removed down the middle of Macoupin Street? My sources throughout town were varying, I got all kinds of guesses. I narrowed it down by my own memory. It was there in 1972 when I started teaching but then all of a sudden it was gone. I searched newspapers in the fall of 1972, then 1973 and I found it in 1974.
In January of 1974, the city decided to do something about the water lines in the business district. There was a conversation in late February to remove the tracks, but when will they do it? At the same time there was discussion about the sewer lines where the tracks are located. So, the city decided to it all at the same time, remove the tracks, and do water and sewer lines. By early April 1974, the tracks are gone and by early May, the downtown was a mess because of the water main project. After the downtown removal of tracks, the city eventually moved further north and south on Macoupin to remove the remaining tracks.
So, what proved to be a simple search gave you, the readers, a history of the railroads in Gillespie. Stop by the library and see the assorted railroad pictures and if you have anything railroad-related or an interesting picture involving the railroad such as an accident involving the railroads. I would like to see them.
