The Pantagraph from Bloomington, Illinois • Page 11

Bloomington-Normal, III. Feb. 4, 1979 Pantagraph A-11 People come first for Cullom news editor Toby Day CL'LLOM-Louis "Toby" VanAlstyne will be honored for his 60-years of service as editor of the local newspaper on "Toby Day" Feb. 11. "Toby Day" is a cooperative effort of citizens from Cullom, Kempton and Saunemin villages.

VanAlstyne will receive a key to the city at an open house and program at 2 p.m. at the Community Building in Cullom. The Cullom Village Board also voted to change the name of Washington Street (the street on which VanAlstyne lives) to VanAlstyne Street on March 1. i i I 1 (' Sun Oikhmiim'' rWitimJf 4 I I 4 I f9 I tt I 1 VanAlstyne became editor in 1919. He was familiar with the operation because he spent most of his young life at the office helping his father.

VanAlstyne and his two brothers continued the paper after their father's death. Later, it was only the editor. A nephew helped him for a few years after the brothers were gone. Then, once again, he was alone. VanAlstyne has experienced many changes in the life of the newspaper.

He remembers the days when the printed word was set by individual letters. Then came the linotype machine, which made the process an easier one. But even that grew old. VanAlstyne sold the paper to the Cornbelt Press Inc. in 1968.

When the paper was sold, VanAlstyne remained the editor. Today, at age 79, he drives to Fair-bury, where the paper is printed, every Thursday. He makes a last minute check for mistakes and then brings the paper home to the post office. The editor has accomplished his goal again. he said, "is the art preservative of all the arts." Lincoln area Morton barn burns, 9 pigs die MORTON (PNS)-Morton firemen were called to the farm of Duane Schmidt.

Lakeland Avenue at Cooper, at 6:58 a.m. Saturday to extinguished a barn fire that caused $15,000 damage. Fire Chief Jerry Moreland said the fire may have been caused by electrical problems. The barn was used to store hay. A sow and eight pigs were killed in the fire.

Damage to the structure was damage to the contents was $5,000. Irene Gassier was a couple of years behind VanAlstyne in school. She remembers him, but admits she doesn't know much about him. "He was a quiet fellow, although he did go out for sports some," she said. "He was very studious." Joseph Hahn Sr.

remembers the young editor in the same way. "He never really got into any mischief. He didn't even go out with us on Halloween." While his fellow classmates occupied themselves with typical boyhood stunts, the editor was busy editing. "He and two other boys started the school newspaper, 'The Big while he was in high school," Mrs. Gassier said.

"It was the only paper in the state completely edited by the pupils." Mrs. Gassier said all the students would anxiously await the next edition of the paper. The same is true of the editor's work today. "The whole town waits at the post office on Thursday afternoon," Viola Crawford said. (The paper is published on Thursdays and is available at the post office.) "It's (the post office) busier than it is in the morning when the mail is here.

"Everybody waits for his 'Seems to Me' column and the pictures." The editor's column seems to be a favorite of not only friends, but strangers, too. "They all write to me as though I was a long lost kinfolk," VanAlstyne said. "Sometimes I don't even know them." Mrs. Crawford said the editor even hears from people who have moved to California. Even in his column, the editor remains modest.

"If I felt the urge to use the first person singular (I)," he said, "I'd quote Mr. Peepers." Mr. Peepers would transfer thoughts the editor had. "He's always been modest." Mrs, Gassier said. "He didn't push himself out into the public.

He'd go to things and cover all the events, but he didn't try to make a show of himself. "He's always friendly and does his part in the community." Journalism was a natural profession for VanAlstyne to choose. His father bought part interest of the Cullom Chronicle in 1912. "I always thought it was queer when my dad would sit and look at that thing (the newspaper) for hours," he said. Now, he does the same thing.

The senior VanAlstyne bought full interest in the paper in 1917. The younger evacuated By Mary Ann Flick CULLOM There's a picture on the wall in the newspaper office in Cullom of two young boys. To the right of the picture is a plaque from the Illinois Press Association. It commends the editor for 50 years of service to the Chronicle-Headlight-Enquirer. Old printing equipment, file cabinets and a few chairs fill the back of the office.

There's also a barrel full of used pictures. A shadow box on the opposite wall brings back memories of the old school house. A big new calendar hangs beside the box. A modern electric typewriter is on the table beside the editor's desk. Besides the calendar, it's the only new piece of equipment in the room.

The desk is piled high with recent newspapers. Envelopes full of pictures are scattered around the desk along with plenty of pencils and notepads. Behind the desk, sits the man responsible for the news. He's the man who received the 50-year plaque. He is Louis "Toby" VanAlstyne, the editor of the paper.

It's a job he's had for 60 years. But the editor doesn't want to talk about his 60 years of service to the people of Cullom. He'd rather talk about the picture of the young lads or about the town's people. The picture, not the plaque, is above the editor. The plaque is placed in a less prominent place on the wall.

It's not that the editor isn't proud of the plaque. And it isn't that he didn't work hard to get it. But, for Toby VanAlstyne, the man whose main concern is the town and its people, the boys' picture is more important. He remembers how the boys used to come into the newspaper office to get scraps of paper. He also remembers slipping them money for helping out.

The editor "hired" the boys to help them out. He said their families needed a little help. Money was pretty scarce back in the 1920s. Times have changed, but the editor hasn't. He's still thinking of the community and the people first.

As editor, he covers all the meetings, clubs and other important happenings in the village. He said he used to know everyone in Cullom. Now, a lot of people have come and gone or have died. It's a new type of people in the village, the kind who don't spend their lives in one place. Although the editor still knows a lot of them and what they do and have to say, few people know the editor.

LINCOLN Leaking chemical solvents from three tank cars of an Illnois Central Gulf Railroad train that derailed near the 1500 block of Sangamon Street Friday were stopped shortly after midnight Saturday morning, Lincoln fire officials said. A spokesman for the Lincoln Fire Department said the chemical spill was cleaned up and the derailed tanks removed from the tracks. Although no reports of evacuations were received Friday, officials said several families were evacuated from their homes late Friday night as a safety precaution. Woman hits head in fall at home Carrie Smith, 18, of 778 Colby Hall. Normal, fell and struck her head while she was practicing dance steps at her residence about 9:45 p.m.

Friday, according to Normal rescue reports. She was taken to Brokaw Hospital, where she was treated and released. Shop 3 POMANDERS POTPOURRI 3 NATURAL SOAPS BATH JELLS EVERLASTING SILK WOOD FLOWERS (Arranged Free) 9 SUZY'S ZOO PAWPRINT CARDS Ho Cullom Louis "Toby" VanAlstyne has been editor of the Chronicle-Headlight-Enquirer for 60 years. At the age of 79, VanAlstyne drives to Fairbury each llUI Thursday to pick up the paper and bring it home. Members of the community will honor VanAlstyne's efforts on "Toby Day" Feb.

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