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Normalite Publishing the human side of the news of the Normal Community
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Looking Back...

A look back from the pages of The Normalite

25 years ago

July 25, 1985

The Normalite’s “Above Ground Gourmet” tried the new Alexander’s Steak House, 1503 E. College Ave., this week and came away impressed. Alexander’s features huge steaks, an informal atmosphere and the service and cleanliness deserve the highest ratings.

One should keep in mind however, he or she can enjoy a salad and conversation which their steak is cooking and unattended. Going back and forth to check on it can be disconcerting; however if you have lots of time and want to enjoy the salad bar, you can eat first and cook later. Prices are reasonable, $10.95 for all steaks, and $8.50 each person to share one. This is third in a chain of Alexander’s and most likely not the last.

Carol Ann Townley of Normal has been named to the Ohio Wesleyan Dean’s List for the spring semester of 1985. She is a graduate of University High School, and is the daughter of Judge and Mrs. Wayne C. Townley of 906 Crestline, Normal.

A two-night telefund to secure pledges for the new ISU Arena will be conducted by The Redbird Club of ISU July 29-30. The campaign stands at $652,000 in pledges, with a goal of $825,000. The campaign will come to an end July 31.

“Most of the pledges to date have come from corporations,” said Richard Godfrey, ISU Foundation president who is coordinating the campaign. “We are focusing on individual pledges in the closing days of the drive.”

 

50 Years Ago

Friday, July 22, 1960

Robert Raney, Jr., 201 North Linden street, has been named Commander of Carl S. Martin Post of the American Legion for the coming year. Other officers for 1960-61 include C. V. Mattoon, senior vice commander; Howard Barrington, junior vice commander; C. A. Popejoy, adjutant. Robert Randall, finance officer, John Gibson, chaplain; John D. Jordan, sergeant-at-arms; and John McQueen, historian.

Dr. and Mrs. W. E. Raab, 713 Normal avenue, returned home on Tuesday from a month’s vacation in European countries. This marked Mrs. Raab’s third trip abroad as she made her first trip to Europe in 1937, and again six years ago.

They visited in Holland, Belgium, Germany, Switzerland, Austria, Italy, the French Riviera, Monaco and France. From there they flew to London and stayed just a block from Kensington Palace. They saw the Queen Mother and princess Margaret and her husband, Anthony Armstrong Jones, coming from the palace several times and took snap shots of them.  

The summer band of Normal Community high school will present a concert this evening at 8:00 p.m. at the Hudson grade school. Featured besides the band will be Miss Donna Cox, an alumnus of NCHS and former member of the band.

Miss Cox is junior in the school of music at Illinois Wesleyan university this fall. She will sing selections  from the musical “South Pacific.”  Also featured will be a baton duet by Nancy Myers and Nancy Bartmess, students at NCHS.

 

75 Years Ago

Friday, July 26, 1935

A Reflection

by the Editor of The Normalite

The writer began his printing career when a boy in the Normal Public school. He was editor of high school paper that was not printed, but read at “society” Friday afternoons.

That was forty years ago and Normal did not have the schools and buildings we have today. The facts are our schools were of low rating—three year high school—and the buildings inadequate and sadly in need of repair. The boy editor had the courage to say so. The paper was “suppressed.”

Undaunted that boy resolved to continue his fight for a better town and better schools. Two others joined him and finding an old printing outfit in an attic the three without previous printing experience brought out the first printed issue of the former suppressed, “society news sheet.”

For three years the paper continued its fight for better schools. The young printer was one of the first five to complete the four year course which had been added largely because of the agitation kept alive by the high school paper that could not be suppressed.

He worked in the poorly equipped printing offices and saw clearly that one of the handicaps Normal was laboring under was the lack of a local paper that completely covered the field and would stand for the best interests of the city.

It takes money to publish even a weekly paper and the editor-printer had no rich uncles to back him so he set out to get a plant. For several years he did only job printing, and to prepare for the realization of that dream—a Normal booster paper—he worked long hours and planned for the day when the first issue would be circulated.

Not until the extra day of 1908—February 29—did that first issue appear. The type was all set by hand and printed on a slow press and folded by hand.

The Normalite at once took up the fight to convince the residents of the town they could afford to pave the streets, extend the water mains and sewers, modernize the houses and build more. Nothing but a house to house circulated paper could ever have accomplished that campaign of education. Normal’s population was then 3750, who all lived in houses; today the population is 6800 and still we have no tents.

The Normalite does not presume to even infer that growth was entirely due to its campaign but we know that we helped.

Clarence A. Burner,

Publisher of The Normalite.

 

Tokens to be used in paying sales tax were distributed to Normal merchants Thursday by the Normal Chamber of Commerce. The tokens will be used in paying tax on all purchases up to and including 15 cents, and can be used above that if the purchaser wishes, although cash is preferable.

All merchants will have tokens on sale. They come in p packages of 40 and sell for 6 cents. They can be bought, however, at the rate of 6 for 1 cent. The schedule for payment with tokens is:

Amounts to 5 cents.. . . . . . . . .free

5 cents. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 token

6 to 10 cents. . . . . . . . . . . . 2 tokens

11 to 15 cents. . . . . . . . . . . 3 tokens

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