2005 Year in Review

Commemorative Booklets Arrive and Disappear

The Morrison Sesquicentennial Commemorative Booklet was delivered to area businesses June 7-8 by artist David Alan Badger of Havana, IL.

For purchasing an advertisement, each enterprise received free booklets. Badger created original drawings for 71 of the 73 advertisers to showcase their business; two submitted photographs of the personnel in lieu of an illustration.

Some businesses will give their booklets to the public. The copies for Northside Country Inn were gone within a few days, according to Donna Geerts, and she wondered how to obtain more.

Morrison Sesquicentennial has the answer. Badger gave the committee 1000 copies of the booklet to sell as a fund raiser. To send a 72-page booklet to your relatives and friends who live away, purchase multiple copies for $5 each at the Sesquicentennial Store, 218 W. Main. Store hours are 1 to 4 Monday, Wednesday, and Friday.

Why purchase a copy when you might obtain a free one? Why purchase a second copy? The committee has those answers, too: to satisfy your curiosity and obtain a more complete record of the illustrations.

Following a suggestion from Betty Stralow, co-chair Stephanie Vavra compiled a list of the 47 current owners of the homes and buildings drawn by Badger. This addendum also corrects minor address errors and includes addresses that were not listed in the booklet. It will be available only in the purchased booklets.

Vavra was aided in her research by Sharon Boyles, Aubrey Fisher, Barbara Kophamer, James Prombo, Em Schroeder, Jane VanZuiden, and Karen Zuidema.

Each Sesquicentennial committee booklet will be identified by a decorative seal on the cover.

by Stephanie A. Vavra, Guest Columnist
June 12, 2005