McHenry County Blog

Bill Fetzner, the former Principal of South Grade School and most recently before his retirement in charge of buildings, died during surgery following a fall from a ladder at his home.

South Elementary School, where Bill Fetzner was Principal.

Fetzner’s son Rob currently serves on the District 47 School Board.

Fetzner was a grade school girls’ softball coach for my niece. My sister remembered that he would give signal after signal to her until he got her to smile and, only then, would give her the real sign.

The obituary follows:

William G. Fetzner, 62, of Crystal Lake, Illinois, passed away Friday, August 26, 2011 following a fall at his home.

Beloved husband, father, grandfather, uncle, brother and friend, Bill was born April 11, 1949, in Chicago, Illinois, the son of William C. and Ethel (West) Fetzner.  He was preceded in death by his parents and brother Thomas.

Bill married Mary Howard, the love of his life, on August 2,1969. They celebrated their 42nd anniversary earlier this month.

A lifelong educator, Bill received his bachelor’s degree from Eastern Illinois University, followed by his master’s degree from Northern Illinois University.

His entire professional life was devoted to the children and families of Crystal Lake’s District 47.

Bill taught at North Junior High School where he also served as assistant principal and then was assistant principal at Husmann Elementary.

Next he was named principal of South Elementary, the youngest principal ever hired in the district at that time.

He then served as Assistant Superintendent of Operations, overseeing the rapidly expanding school district, including major renovations of North Middle School and Husmann, and the construction of three new elementary schools and one middle school before retiring in 2005.

Bill’s constant motto was “Children Come First” – a saying he lived out each day as a teacher, principal, and mentor.

Bill also coached  baseball, soft ball and football- not only with his own children but many community children as well.

He leaves an enduring legacy of love for children, respect for those who educate them and pride in the important job of helping all children achieve their potential.

An avid outdoorsman, Bill loved fishing, hunting and birdwatching – hobbies he pursued with joy in his retirement.

Bill is survived by his loving family: wife Mary, son Rob(Jessica) Fetzner and daughter Katie (Casey) Coss; granddaughters Ashley,Chloe, Hannah and Caroline and grandson Drew; brother Jim (Joanne); sister-in-law Jeanne (Rhondal) and his many nephews and nieces.

Bill was the rock upon which his family depended and a source of unending love and support for each one of them.

Bill’s retirement years were especially joyful because of the time he spent with the grandchildren he adored.

lthough he can never be replaced, his family is comforted by the kindness of their many friends and family. In lieu of flowers, they ask that others honor Bill with contributions to the American Diabetes Association.

The family will hold a private internment but invite those who love and remember Bill to visit with the family at Davenport Family Funeral Home, 419 E. Terra Cotta Avenue (Route 176), Crystal Lake, Illinois from 4:00 to 8:00 pm, Wednesday, August 31, 2011.

The Northwest Herald’s Brett Rowland wrote a thought-provoking article published Sunday about how Crystal Lake Grade School District 47 has had fewer and fewer students after 2007.

Down from 9,124 to 8,359. Down 765 students.

So, there seems to be excess capacity. Looks like at least one school too much from the grade school sizes listed below this article. They run from 438 students at South to 714 at Glacier Ridge.

Cary faced a similar situation and has closed one school already. District 26 is also considering closing a second.

Let’s think about what school might be closed in Crystal Lake.

We’re talking elementary schools here.

Without comparing capacity with enrollment, I’ve been thinking about what school might be the most advantageous to be closed.

Age has to be one factor considered.

Husmann Elementary School from McHenry Avenue

The oldest is Husmann Elementary School.

Husmann Grade School and the Crystal Lake Library from Paddock Street.

That’s the school across from the library.

South Elementary School

The second oldest is South Elementary School. It was built it the 1950′s.

As I thought about how the schools could be re-used, the best senior citizen project I have ever seen came to mind.

Parkside Manor in Belvidere

It’s Parkside Manor in Belvidere. I found it in 1972 when I was going door-to-door for state representative. The units were efficiencies and each one faced on green space.

South School wouldn’t match the bucolic setting, but Cress Creek, which goes through pipes under the playgrounds of South Grade and Lundahl Middle School could be uncovered and naturalized, as was a stream flowing through the farm where Sun City was constructed.

Cress Creek as it leaves Crystal Lake has quite a flow in this picture.

Taking it out of the pipe might help the periodic flooding problem, too.

And, part of the school overlooks the Dole Mansion grounds.

As an added bonus, the Crystal Lake Park District’s Main Beach is within easy walking distance.

In short, the building could be renovated for efficiency apartments. A number of the rooms already have running water.

After parents' cars have filled the parking places at South, the only place to wait is on Nash Road. District 47 has spent no money to improve the problem, unlike improvements made to Husmann and West Grade Schools.

South also is the least parent pick-up friendly. It is the only grade school were parents picking up or dropping off kids must do so on the street. Undoubtedly, a apartment developer would figure out a way to put a circular driveway, complete with parking, in front of the school similar to West School’s.

Husmann as seen from the entrance to the Crystal Lake Library.

Historic Husmann, the original high school which is named after grade school principal John Husmann who refused promotion to superintendent because he wanted to stay with the children, should be saved for historic reasons.

Besides possibilities for parking spaces on lots of the asphalt playground area, there is a lot and drive -through to the east and a separate lot across Franklin Street.

It has had major additions constructed, has adequate parking possibilities (including the lot across the street where the old, architecturally unique pump house was leveled to provide more spaces).

The front entrance also has a sloping sidewalk, where it was accessible only up steps before.

Because there are numerous people my age in town who grew up here, this location’s walking distance proximity to Downtown Crystal Lake might prove appealing.

The Bluesniks played at Duke O'Brien's one recent April Saturday night. The band consists of Tony Biell, Piano & Hammond organ; Mike Bakalar, vocals and harp; Joe Kay, guitar; Jim Cheatle, drums; Mitch Goldman, tumptet; Robb Calabro, saxophone. They are worth hearing. The next public venue is June 19th at Kiefs Reef in McHenry.

It might even prove appealing to younger folks, given the entertainment district that has taken root downtown.

There is another possibility for part or all of the building.

Its basement was the first Crystal Lake Library.

The north side of Crystal Lake's Public Library with newest addition on right.

Could some or all of the other floors be strong enough to hold books?

Could parts of the library occupy Husmann?

The other grade schools are not located where immediate adaptive re-use comes to mind.

Maybe readers will have some thoughts.
= = = = =
The population of each of District 47′s schools follow:

• Canterberry – 500
• Coventry- 519
• Glacier Ridge – 714
• Husmann- 641
• Indian Prairie – 606
• North – 679
• South – 438
• West – 697
• Woods Creek – 634
• Hannah Beardsley Middle School – 980
• Lundahl Middle School – 1001
• Richard Bernotas Middle School – 1012

I’m not sure it was really a graduation ceremony, but fifth graders at South Elementary School were in the auditorium getting recognized for various accomplishments.

The last was for the recently departed Librarian Cheri Pearl. Her death this past spring cast a pall on the entire school.

My son has attended funerals when he was younger, but he didn’t want to go to Mrs. Pearl’s. He was too sad.

Part of the reason was undoubtedly that Mrs. Pearl’s daughter, Tricia, was both my son’s third and fifth grade teacher. But every student gets to know the librarian.

A collection was taken and the $800 raised will go toward the creation of a patriotic corner in the school library.

Mrs. Judith Ferretti read what was on the plaque for the crowd and held it up at an angle where my flash would not reflect from it.

It has a picture of Mrs. Pearl and her dog. It reads (click to enlarge):

I looked for pictures of her dancing at the New Year’s Eve wedding of Mackenzie Walter to Carlos Garcia, but couldn’t spot her. Maybe if you click on the images of the folks dancing up a storm, as she was that night, you will find her. She certainly was more than holding her own.

= = = = =
Besides the photo of the plaque, the one on top is of one group of 5th helpers

South School parent Paul Greenlee, whose family lives on Bennington, has forwarded my story about the Crystal Lake Police Department’s ticket writing “fenzy” (his word) to Mayor Aaron Shepley, the city council and District 47 board members.

I thought you might find what he said of interest.

Mayor Shepley, City Council and District 47 Members:

Thank you for your time. I am a parent of two children at South Elementary School. My family and I moved to Crystal Lake at the end of September 2008. For your information and background, I cut and paste below an entry from the McHenry County Blog authored by fellow South parent Cal Skinner. (I have eliminated the original story, which you read at the link above.)

First may I express my concern over this ticket-fest perpetrated by the Crystal Lake Police Department on parents at South. On this particular day as he shows, it was for a special child/parent event at the school. Like Mr. Skinner, I wonder what happened at today’s child/mother event.

However, while taking my daughter to school, I have witnessed such a police action as he reports occurring at South on at least one other occasion. I wish to convey to you the following concerns:

1. Is this REALLY the best use of our police department? Can someone truly answer that question affirmatively and do so with a straight face?

2. What kind of police department do we have in which such glee is expressed in such a feeding frenzy and especially at such an event on its own citizens and neighbors?

3. Is this a tactic to further raise revenue in a community wherein the financial reserve of this city is the equivalent to a full year of its operating budget? Does the Crystal Lake Police Department have a quota system for tickets written?

4. Why is the traffic control in this area such a mess? I don’t refer to parking or stop signs, though Mr. Skinner raises good points about parking. Specifically, I point out that the assigned police traffic guard has been observed present (or not present as the case may be) at erratic and inconsistent times and is frequently off the school premises before 8:50 a.m. So the police department is going to ticket the living daylights out of the school’s parents, yet not provide safe conduct for its students? Just what am I paying for exactly?

5. Why is it that school patrols made up of the responsible students of South 5th graders are limited to walking from the sidewalk across the driveway and that’s it? There are multiple areas where patrols can provide a good service by just walking younger children across Golf and provide other service as well? Why cannot such responsible children be used at other areas as well, presupposing quality and relevant training? Granted it was decades ago, but when I was a patrol at the old Dundee Elementary School, we walked our fellow students across intersections.

6. It is my understanding that at one time, there was a crosswalk painted across Golf and school patrols were utilized to safely conduct children across that street, but the Crystal Lake Police Department demanded this be abandoned. However the police department in turn has failed to provide any additional public safety support on that street, not counting preying upon parked cars of parents.

7. Why is it appropriate to only have a public safety member at the controlled intersection of Golf and Highland, but one not provided at Golf and Nash, which in my experience is busier intersection?

If there is wise and appropriate utilization of police/public safety resources here, I’m not seeing it. I brought this up after a recent PTO/SOS meeting and was advised that decisions regarding crossing guards were controlled by the police department.

I am not privy to any study they may have performed but any such opinion recommending the level of support for South is baseless based upon my own observations.

My feeling and experience is that Mr. Skinner’s characterization of South as an “orphan school” in at least this area has somewhat of a foundation.

Traffic control via a numbering system such as at other schools such as Glacier Ridge and Indian Prairie will not work because of the limited in/out flow in the area. I haven’t seen parents or other vehicles traverse the area in front of the school in a reckless way and believe that such a system would work at South. Personally, I also believe such systems are anti-parent, but that is another topic for another time.

Mr. (Ron) Miller and Dr. (Donn) Mendoza, I have heard excellent things about each of you and D-47’s reputation and results in the district seem to support your respective reputations. I would appreciate it if you would forward this email to members of the School Board, as the D-47 web site did not have an option to send an e-mail to its governing board as did the City’s web site to the Council.

Mr. (Jeff) Thorsen and Ms. (Ellen) Brady Mueller, I would ask the same of you, as you were the only two board members who provided a specific email address for contact. (Others can be emailed, but only to a “comments” email. Presumably, they are forwarded.)

While there are but short weeks left in the current school year, I would hope that by the start of school in August that a more family friendly policy might be adopted for families seeking to support their children at the school and more importantly provide more assurance that children in this school can walk safely to and from South. By copy of this, I am asking the parents for whom I have limited email addresses, to send this to other South parents so they are aware of this issue.

Your kind attention and response will be appreciated.

Paul Greenlee
832 Bennington Dr.

= = = = =
Various photos of parked cars at South Elementary School appear above, plus one of two girls waiting to be picked up. I pick my son up quite late, knowing that if I come before 3:40 PM I won’t be able to find a parking place.

You see the easy way to watch what the Crystal Lake City Council is up to near the bottom, where Mr. Greenlee mentions that only Council members Jeff Thorsen and Ellen Brady Mueller have individual emails on the city’s web site. The photos also show the new seating arrangements after the swearing in of Carolyn Schofield, who can be seen between Councilmen Jeff Thorsen (on the right side of the top photo) and Brett Hopkins on her right.

The photo above shows how Cathy Ferguson has moved to the other side of the dias, where she how sits to the left of Ellen Brady Mueller (sitting in the seat Dave Goss used to occupy) and Ralph Dawson.

Maybe it was because Mother’s Day was yesterday, but when I drove past South Elementary School in Crystal Lake this morning, there were no policemen ticketing cars the way there was two weeks ago for Donuts for Dads.

Maybe there was some better use elsewhere in Crystal Lake.

Maybe the moms know they shouldn’t illegally park.

Crystal Lake Police turned a warm and fuzzy breakfast of Dads and their children into a public relations disaster at South Elementary School two weeks ago tomorrow.

Every year South Grade School, which my son attends, puts on a “Donuts for Dads” breakfast before school.

The Moms and staff of the grade school buy donuts and provide them to kids and Dads.

They even have bananas and yogurt for those whose carbohydrate intake shouldn’t be be as high as donuts provide.

All in all very warm and fuzzy, don’t you think?

But, outside there was a concerted effort by Crystal Lake Police to ticket illegally parked cars.

Apparently, this was a high crime area in Crystal Lake that Monday morning.

Even a supervisor was doing the lowly work. You can see his vehicle, parked askew in the very few one of the legal parking places in front of South School.

Tickets like this littered windshields up and down Golf Road.

As I drove by the vehicle the supervisor had just ticketed, I heard him ask a subordinate,

Then, I noticed the unmarked car toward the intersection of Golf and Spruce Lane. It was parked next to the cars being ticketed. You can see it in the photo of the supervisor issuing the ticket above or below.

As I drove past the school, I noticed a third police car, this one clearly marked, parked at the corner of Spruce and Golf.

I, of course, learned my lesson last spring. And, when I did, the city’s outside parking ticket processor in Milwaukee screwed up. It sent me a notice I had not paid. I wanted to report my lost payment to Crystal Lake’s Inspector General, not knowing if the Milwaukee outfit was stealing parking ticket money, but was told the city doesn’t have such an investigator of wrong-doing. (From what I heard last Friday, it really needs one, by the way.)

This is not the first sweep of parking law disrespecting South School parents. It happened in March of last year. And at other times when I left my camera home.

It is apparent that neither the District 47 school board nor the city council cares. Off road parking places and a drive-through exist at West and Husmann Elementary Schools. At Husmann, which I mistakenly thought was put on lots purchased to the east, but was put on school property. West School’s is a retrofit. Indiana Prairie has parking for both teachers and parents. So does Woods Creek.

Even North Grade School’s parking situation is better than South’s.

South School remains an orphan school.

There’s room to build a drop-off driveway and more parking places and other suggestions have been discussed. But no action taken.

Tomorrow, it’s

I wonder if the Crystal Lake Police will have nothing better to do than enrage South School Moms, as they undoubtedly enraged South School Dads two weeks earlier.

My ten year old made this for me half a life ago.

He brought it home from school.

Guess he was in first grade with Mrs. Gedzyk at South Elementary School in Crystal Lake.

I’ve kept it on my wall.

Which is more beautiful?

The real forsythia or the popcorn forsythia?

My ten year old made this for me half a life ago.

He brought it home from school.

Guess he was in first grade with Mrs. Gedzyk at South Elementary School in Crystal Lake.

I’ve kept it on my wall.

Which is more beautiful?

The real forsythia or the popcorn forsythia?

An email alert to parents came this afternoon at 1:33-

Alert Name: South Power Outage

Alert Type: General

Complete Message: This morning, sections of South Elementary School were without electricity and consequently, had not heat due to an electrical short outside the building.

ComEd responded immediately and had the building hooked up to a generator by approximately noon placing the building back to full power while they fixed the problem.

During the time when the school had no heat the children were asked to wear their coats in the classrooms, and a few classes were moved to warmer locations within the building. All of the children were very cooperative while this problem was being taken care of.

We wanted you to have this information as your child shares today’s experience at South with you.

Thank you.

School Name: Crystal Lake Community School District 47

Sent By: RONALD MILLER

Don’t we wish it were still as warm as this picture of South Grade School?

An email alert to parents came this afternoon at 1:33-

Alert Name: South Power Outage

Alert Type: General

Complete Message: This morning, sections of South Elementary School were without electricity and consequently, had not heat due to an electrical short outside the building.

ComEd responded immediately and had the building hooked up to a generator by approximately noon placing the building back to full power while they fixed the problem.

During the time when the school had no heat the children were asked to wear their coats in the classrooms, and a few classes were moved to warmer locations within the building. All of the children were very cooperative while this problem was being taken care of.

We wanted you to have this information as your child shares today’s experience at South with you.

Thank you.

School Name: Crystal Lake Community School District 47

Sent By: RONALD MILLER

Don’t we wish it were still as warm as this picture of South Grade School?