McHenry County Blog

A press release from the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District:

On September 11, at 6:00 p.m., the Algonquin-Lake in the Hills Fire Protection District will be dedicating their new Firefighters Memorial and honoring the memory of the two firefighters who made the ultimate sacrifice by dying in the line of duty, the only two in the fire department’s history.

Also, the Firefighters Memorial will honor all who lost their lives on September 11, 2001.

On April 5, 1967 Firefighter Edwin LeRoy “Roy” Benson died while advancing a hose line at a residential fire.

On May 23, 1976 Captain G.D. “Mac” McIntyre died while returning to quarters after an emergency incident.

By today’s standards and definitions, each of these incidents would be considered a Line of Duty Death.

Times were different back then.

Both men were “volunteers” with the department and responded from home or work when a call was dispatched.

Roy owned the Sinclair Gas Station at 7 North Main Street.

Mac worked for the Chicago & Northwestern Railroad and was also Civil Defense Director for the Village of Algonquin.

Roy was survived by his wife Katherine and sons Richard and Edwin Jr. Mac was survived by his wife Bette, daughter Kathy, and sons William and Daniel.

During their funerals, both were acknowledged to be volunteer firefighters, but there was no special honor or ceremony bestowed upon them or their families.

The guider which will be the centerpiece of the Algonquin Riverside Park Firefighters’ Memorial was shown the community at the Algonquin Founders Day Parade.

Eleven years have passed since the attacks on the World Trade Center, Flight 93, and the Pentagon. The lives lost on that fateful day will also be honored by the Firefighters Memorial. The architecture of the Memorial itself and a fifteen foot section of the World Trade Center will pay tribute to the almost three thousand lives lost on that tragic day.

This project has been entirely paid for by donations and fundraising efforts.

Some funds are still needed for the continued upkeep of the Firefighters Memorial.

If you would like to donate, checks can be mailed to: Algonquin Firefighters Association, 1020 W. Algonquin Rd. Lake in the Hills IL, 60156. If you have questions regarding the Firefighters Memorial, please email alglithffmemorial@gmail.com.

We would like to welcome our residents to attend this very special Dedication and Memorial Ceremony being held next Tuesday, September 11, at 6:00pm.

The Firefighters Memorial is located at Riverfront Park, 201 North Harrison St.

A new state law requires municipalities to post their employees’ salaries. McHenry County Blog is on the third day of posting pages made public by the City of Crystal Lake.

The job titles today cover more Firefighter Paramedics.

Click to enlarge this page.

More tomorrow.

If you know teens (14 through 19) who might be interested in becoming a fire fighter or a paramedic, there is an opportunity near Crystal Lake where one can get experience from those who perform the job.

The Nunda Rural Fire Protection District sponsors an Explorer Post, the details of which can be found below:

Meetings are Wednesday nights 7-9 at the Route 176 Fire Station near Burton’s Bridge.

Information can be obtained from Capt. Michael Laufer at 815-790-0799.

Here’s a shot of Crystal Lake Firemen lined up in front of City Hall at the 9-11 ceremony conducted there:

Crystal Lake Firemen lined up in front of City Hall about noon.

Last Friday, State Senator Pam Althoff was quoted in a Wall Street Journal article about public pensions. (Non-subscribers can read the article here for seven days after publication.)

Here’s the part about the McHenry County legislator:

“In Illinois, Pamela Althoff, a Republican state senator from a suburb of Chicago, last year supported a bill to overhaul police and firefighter pension plans. A close friend of hers, a retired firefighter, wasn’t pleased.

Pam Althoff

“Over dinner at the friend’s home, Ms. Althoff assured him that the pension bill was only for new employees and wouldn’t affect his pension.

“‘That was like throwing gasoline on the fire, even though I thought it was water,’ Ms. Althoff says.

“His response: ‘This is about what we’ve earned, the benefits and promises made to us. We shouldn’t be eroding this for anybody,’ she recalls.

“After nearly half an hour of back and forth and no concessions, the man’s wife, who had been trying to pacify the conversation, got very quiet and then said, ‘we’re just not going to talk about this,’ Ms. Althoff recalls.

“Since then, they haven’t.

“The bill—signed into law in December—requires newly hired police officers and firefighters to retire at age 55 instead of 50 to receive full benefits and requires local governments to ensure police and firefighters’ pension systems are at least 90% funded by 2040, among other changes.”

Back in the 1960′s the Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund notified local governments like McHenry County that it was going to embark on a similar 40-year program to make its pensions solid.

That forty years is up and IMRF retirees can rightly brag that their pension fund is not in trouble.

This car probably has the most bumper stickers of any I have taken pictures of.

There are eight of them.

You really have to enlarge the picture by clicking on it to get the full impact.

Let’s look at the ones on the left side first.

The first one has a motorcycle rider being blow parallel to the bike by the wind.

The second may be a reference to a past vacation:

Bottom left appears

There is also the logo of the firefighters union.

These are on the right side:

There are three in the middle. The biggest has a motor cycle wearing the number “15” with the word “FUEL” in larger letters next to the rider.

“2007 EAA” with a plane flying out of the letters is to the left.

Beneath the EAA sticker is an English dragon standing up with “Sport Kilt” above the crest.

And, at the bottom is a White Sox

bumper sticker.

So, we know this car is owned by a male, fire fighting, motor cycle riding, White Sox fan and, maybe, that he wears kilts and vacations in Baja.

Can you come up with anything else?

This car probably has the most bumper stickers of any I have taken pictures of.

There are eight of them.

You really have to enlarge the picture by clicking on it to get the full impact.

Let’s look at the ones on the left side first.

The first one has a motorcycle rider being blow parallel to the bike by the wind.

The second may be a reference to a past vacation:

Bottom left appears

There is also the logo of the firefighters union.

These are on the right side:

There are three in the middle. The biggest has a motor cycle wearing the number “15” with the word “FUEL” in larger letters next to the rider.

“2007 EAA” with a plane flying out of the letters is to the left.

Beneath the EAA sticker is an English dragon standing up with “Sport Kilt” above the crest.

And, at the bottom is a White Sox

bumper sticker.

So, we know this car is owned by a male, fire fighting, motor cycle riding, White Sox fan and, maybe, that he wears kilts and vacations in Baja.

Can you come up with anything else?