A team from Rochester Intermediate
School took third place in the State
Future Problem Solvers competition in
the Oral junior division. Pictured with Dr.
Trevor Steinbach are, left to right:
Cameron Denler, Taylor Mitchell and
Savannah Clay; not pictured: Grace
DuRocher.
The Rochester High School Madrigals
presented their annual Madrigal Celebration
last weekend at the Fine Arts Auditorium.
Pictured are (top) King Bryan Webber and
Queen Devin Dinora and (bottom) Jester
Keegan MacDonna and Wizard Kyle Bernzen.
A group of Rochester Boy Scouts recently
came to the assistance of a fellow Scout,
who was trying to complete his Eagle Scout
project prior to Christmas. Jack Lourash of
Troop 103 of Mahomet was working to
replace some hardwood trees at the 4-H
Camp at Allerton Park near Monticello
Saturday, December 17 and was doing so
with little volunteer help due to the timing
prior to the Christmas holidays. Lourash was
attempting to replace trees that had been
destroyed by a storm this past summer,
planting 16 new trees. The project involved
removing the heavy wire cage and burlap
wrap that surrounded the ball of roots,
placing the tree, filling the hole with soil and
then watering and mulching each tree. About
one hour into his work, four members of
Rochester Troop 40, who were spending the
weekend at the 4-H camp, came over and
offered their assistance. With the help from
Mitchell McDevitt, Justin Hughes, Chris
Puckett and Nicholas Halteman, Lourash
was able to finish his Eagle Scout project
that afternoon for which he was very grateful.
RWC presents ‘An Evening with Mary
Todd Lincoln’
The Rochester Women’s Club will present “An Evening With Mary Todd Lincoln”
Tuesday, February 14 at 7 p.m. in the Community Room of the village hall/library.
Jane Lawder will present her biographical sketch of Mrs. Lincoln. She has devoted
much of her free time to portraying the wife of the 16th President for school children,
historical organizations and other groups. Lawder’s interest in Mary Todd Lincoln
evolved from volunteering at the Lincoln Home National Historical Site and she has
developed her interpretation and presentation over the years, refining her views of
Mrs. Lincoln’s tragic life. The public is invited to attend this free event. Light
refreshments will be served.
Fire Department car seat check
event February 4
The Rochester Fire Department will host a car seat check event Saturday, February 4
from 9 a.m. to 12 noon. There is no charge for this service. Please allow 30 minutes
to have a proper check completed. The event is sponsored by the IDOT Division of
Traffic Safety, SIU School of Medicine - ThinkFirst, the Secretary of State’s office, St.
John’s Hospital and Health Alliance Medical Plans.
Rochester Library book sale March 2-
4
A drawing for an e-reader (Nook Touch valued at $99) will highlight the 2012 Friends
of Rochester Public Library Friday through Sunday, March 2, 3, and 4 in the
Community Room of the Rochester Village Hall, #1 Community Drive.
Anyone who has joined or renewed their Friends membership during 2012 is
eligible (one chance per family). Those interested in joining can visit the library
website (www.rochesterlibrary.org) and downloading a membership form or join
during the book sale (cash or check only accepted). The drawing will be held at 4 p.
m., Sunday, March 4 directly after the sale.
Thousands of used, high-quality hardback, paperback and rare books as well as
CDs, audiotapes and DVDs will be for sale at bargain prices are available at the
sale. Fiction, non-fiction, adult, children’s, hardcovers, paperbacks, and classics as
well as movies and audiobooks are included.
Members of the FRPL have exclusive access to the sale from 6 to 8 p.m., Friday,
March 2 before the sale opens to the general public from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m.,
Saturday, March 3 and 1 to 4 p.m., Sunday, March 4. From 1 to 3 p.m. Sunday, book
sale attendees can buy everything that can fit into a standard paper grocery bag for
$2, and from 3 to 4 p.m. Sunday all remaining book sale items are free.
Donations for the sale are accepted during library hours: 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday,
Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday; 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Friday; and 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Saturday through Tuesday, February 28. Please do not donate used textbooks,
encyclopedias, Reader’s Digest Condensed Books, magazines, VHS or cassette
tapes, or vinyl records.
For more information, contact the Rochester Public Library at #1 Community Drive,
Rochester, or call (217) 498-8454 or check the library website at www.
rochesterlibrary.org.
Sanders hired as new RIS principal
for 2012-13
The Rochester school board held a special meeting Tuesday, at which Kathleen
Sanders was hired as the new principal at Rochester Intermediate School for the
2012-13 school year. Sanders is an experienced administrator with Springfield
District 186, where she has served as a building principal as well as the Director of
Research, Testing and Evaluation. She will replace Laurie Lundin, who is retiring at
the end of the current school year. The board also approved the hiring of Bill Owens
as a high school track assistant coach, as well as several volunteer coaches for the
high school spring season, including Matt Wacaser and Gary Ramsey (baseball);
Todd Ward, Robin Taft, Bill Derks and Brad Alewelt (track) and Ron Bortmess and
Sarah Ryan (girls soccer). The board approved the resignation (retirement) of
Yvonne Hubbard and approved leave of absences for Heather Arnold, Derrick Nelson
and Megan Jenkins. (From Feb. 2, 2012 issue)
Registration for Kindergarten
Tuesday, Feb. 14
Kindergarten registration meetings for parents of those children who will be five
years old on or before September 1, 2012 will be held at Rochester Elementary
School EC-1 Tuesday, February 14 at 2 p.m. and 7 p.m. General information, as well
as “life in kindergarten” will be shared with parents. Registration materials will be
distributed at both meetings. Parents are asked to bring a certified copy of their child’
s birth certificate, two forms of identification showing proof of residency, such as a
driver’s license, recent utility bill, mortgage document or rental agreement, and a
copy of the child’s physical and immunization records. For more information, parents
should call the school at 498-9778.
ALL-STATE MUSICIANS - Nine students from
Rochester High School have received
All-State Honors out of the nearly 24,000
students from around the state who
auditioned  last fall. The RHS students
participated in one of nine district events and
received top honors to be selected to
audition and participate at the state level this
past week in Peoria for the Illinois Music
Education Conference. This is the highest
award a high school music student can
receive. Honored were, front: Micah Anderson
(All-State Future Music Educators Seminar);
middle, left to right: Devin Dinora (All-State
Choir), Connor Gleason (All-State Band first
chair), Stephanie Moss (All-State Choir),
Sarah Headman (All-State Honor Choir);
back: Bryan Webber (All-State Choir), Luke
Henson (All-State Choir), Andy McClintock
(All-State Band fifth chair) and Keegan
MacDonna (All-State Choir).
Volunteers sought for Rochester EOC
The Rochester Citizen Corps is looking for individuals interested in volunteering their
time to staff the phones in the Rochester Emergency Operations Center.
The EOC, which is located in the village hall/library complex, is opened with the
emergency 911 lines for the village go down. Call takers will staff phones in the EOC
and notify emergency responders, police, fire and public works of situations that
require their attention. Volunteers will receive training for this position and will serve
as the critical link between citizens in distress and emergency responders. Anyone
interested in volunteering is asked to submit an online application to the Rochester
Police Department by Friday, February 10. There will be a three-hour training session
held Thursday, February 16 from 6 to 9 p.m.
Rochester took first place in the nine-team
Division 700 of the WYSE Academic
Challenge held February 7 at LLCC. The
RHS team will now advance to the Sectional
competition to be held at Illinois College in
Jacksonville March 6. Team members are,
seated (left to right): Alec Beeve, Ross
Blumhorst, Mario Cannamela, Brett Geever,
Reese Hofstrand, Erin Lindstrom, Keegan
MacDonna; back: Andy McClintock, Cameron
Monari, Tom Nelson, Winnie Nuding, Jeff
Surbeck, Nicole Tabatabai and Aspen
Williams.
Public hearing on waste hauling
Monday, March 26
  The Village of Rochester will hold a public hearing Monday, March 26 on the topic of
waste collection in the village. The hearing will be held at the village hall/library
Community Room at 6 p.m. The village board has been considering changes in the
number of waste haulers allowed to work in the village, following up on a study
started last July by village manager Dale Laningham of area communities.
Rochester has five waste hauling companies working, and Laningham said a sixth
company is seeking to come in. Concerns have been raised over the wear and tear
of village streets by the big trucks. All of the current vendors have been invited to the
hearing and all current village board members are expected to be present. “We
welcome comments from the community on this important topic,” said village
president Dave Armstrong.
‘Night of Jazz’ at Rochester
Schools April 28
   Rochester Schools Music Department will hold its annual “Night of Jazz” Saturday,
April 28 at 6 p.m. in the junior high gymnasium. The gym will be transformed into a
jazz club atmosphere, with a dance floor surrounded by tables of eight plus an
elevated stage for the bands. Entertainment will be provided by the excellent RHS
vocal and instrumental jazz groups, with special appearances by the junior high jazz
groups. The evening includes a fully catered buffet dinner from Nelson’s Catering,
featuring baked ham or chicken breast, choice of potatoes, southern style green
beans, garden salad, rolls, iced tea, coffee and dessert.
Tickets are $18 and can be purchased from Susan Gleason at ssgleason@netscape.
net or by calling 498-2005.
The Village Market has new owners. Amit
Patel, right, and his brother-in-law, Roopsh
Patel (Patel is like Smith in India), purchased
the store last week from Andy Lunt. Andy's
dad Otho bought the store, then known as
Rentschler's Market, in May, 1970. Otho died
in 1998. Andy Lunt, who has spent 35 years
at the market, said he is "retired" but not for
long after he was approached by the Patels,
who live in Rochester and Taylorville. They
have had other stores in Springfield and still
one in Taylorville. Amit added that all the
employees have been retained, the hours
will be the same and that any changes will
come in time.
Matthew Riechers of
Springfield (right) and
Amanda Hamilton of Athens
were honored at an April 18
banquet as Lincoln Land
Community College’s
representatives on the Phi
Theta Kappa All-Illinois
Academic Team. Community
colleges from around the
state each select two
students for this prestigious
honor. Riechers, a graduate
of Rochester High School, is
an engineering major with a
3.93 grade point average. He
is active in the Honors Club
and Phi Theta Kappa, the
leading academic honor
society for students at two-
year colleges. Riechers was
recently awarded the
Blaudow/ATS Leadership
Scholarship to continue his
engineering studies at
Southern Illinois University
Carbondale, where he will
transfer following graduation
from LLCC in May.
Auxier to be
inducted
into ICA Hall of
Fame
 Les Auxier, longtime boys head golf
coach at Rochester High School, will
be inducted into the Illinois Coaches
Association Golf Hall of Fame in May.
The induction ceremony will be held
Friday, May 18 at 6:30 p.m. at the
Doubletree Hotel in Bloomington. In
addition to a five-year stint at Warsaw
High School, Auxier coached 23 years
at RHS where his teams compiled a
dual match record of 568-130-2 and
won nine Sangamo Conference titles
and six Sangamon County titles.
Auxier’s 1999 team won the Class A
state championship and finished with
a 30-0 regular season mark. He also
had a third and fourth place finish at
State among 12 appearances. His
RHS teams won seven Regional titles
and two Sectional titles.
14 local art students selected for exhibition
      Nearly 100 pieces of artwork created by elementary, middle and high school students from
Sangamon County will be on exhibit through Friday, May 18 at the Southern Illinois University School
of Medicine. The annual exhibit, now in its 25th year, is in the second floor lobby of the school’s
main building at 801 North Rutledge, Springfield. It is open to the public from 8 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. on
weekdays. Local students who had work selected for the exhibition include Alex Sidener, Maggie
McCloud and Curtis Roselle of Rochester Elementary; Ethan Rominger, Isabella Drum, Matt
Reeves and Parker Drowns of Rochester Intermediate; Kaden Keran, Alaine Ruggless, Katie Archey
and Allyson Milnes of Rochester Junior High; and Darby McNeal, Josey Stoneburner and Megan
Cantrall of Rochester High School. A reception for the students, their parents, teachers and
principals will be held Friday, May 4 at 4:15 p.m. The exhibit is coordinated by Amy Minch, art teacher
at DuBois Elementary School in Springfield.
Lions Club donates $3,500 to arboretum
      The Rochester Lions Club has contributed an additional $3,500 toward development of an
arboretum in Rochester Community Park. This brings the club’s total donation to the project to
$7,000 in the past 18 months. This donation is specified for the construction of the main pedestrian
walkway. The club’s earlier donation paid for some 100 trees and other plantings on the arborteum
site. In observance of Arbor Day, volunteers completed more plantings last week. Additional tree
planting is scheduled for next fall. The project will include nearly 1,000 feet of pathways and the
estimated cost of gravel and fabric alone is $5,000. The village crews are providing labor and
machinery, which will amount to around $15,000. Individuals and organizations are encouraged to
contribute to the project. Donations can be taken to or mailed to the Rochester Village Office.
Fire Department open house, dinner May 20
       The Rochester Fire Department will host an open house and chicken dinner Sunday, May 20 at
the firehouse, located at 700 East Main Street. There will be activities for children and all are invited
to view the RFD’s equipment. Tickets must be purchased in advance and are available from any
RFD member, at Rochester True Value, the Rochester Veterinary Clinic, or by calling 498-7121.