Here are some selected excerpts taken from the front pages of the Minonk News-Dispatch of 1942 telling of the war preparations and other happenings in Minonk.

Jan. 1: The plate glass windows were installed at the new Minonk Tractor and Implement Co. building on North Chestnut Street on Monday. Milo A. Sterritt is the principal owner and also an agent for the Illinois Oil Co.

Contributors to the annual Red Cross roll call drive were announced by Logan D. Wilcox, chairman of the Minonk branch. The roll call drive takes care of the regular duties of the Red Cross, while the present War Relief Fund drive is for emergencies brought about by the war.

The Christmas season of the Minonk post office broke all records of recent years. More than 40,000 letters and cards were mailed here and the incoming mail was much heavier. Outgoing packages increased in volume this year due to the boys in camp.

Dr. and Mrs. J. L. Hubbard are holding open house New Year's Day at their new home and clinic on Maple Avenue.

Henry Meyer, owner of the Minonk Cold Storage and Locker Plant, on West 5th Street, is installing fifteen more lockers to take care of the new demand. He will now have 230.

Jan. 8: February 16 has been set by the President as the date for the registration of men between the ages of 20 and 44, inclusive, for military service.

A total of $549 of Minonk's quote of $700 in the Red Cross War Relief Fund drive, has been raised.

A bitter cold wave, which last night sent the mercury tumbling to 14 degrees below zero, swept into this community last Saturday night and has since hovered over this vicinity.

Lester Oertwig, who has been employed at the Young Chevrolet Co. for the past two years, will open an automobile paint and body shop in the Pickard building as soon as the building is vacated by the Minonk Tractor and Implement Co.

Jan 15: Woodford, Mc Lean and Livingston Counties were placed in Illinois air raid warning district 14 of region 3 in a new statewide setup.

Jan. 29: G. H. Leffers is remodeling the old poultry house building in the 600 block of Chestnut, which will be purchased from the Simater Estate, and will soon move his Minonk Builders Supply to that location. WPA workers are pouring the sidewalk in front of the Vogel grocery store this morning and have completed the curbing in the south block.

Feb 5: The Woodford County Selection Service Board plans to use the high school buildings of the county for registration of all men between the ages of 20 and 44 on February 16.

Feb. 12: C. R. Denson has a photograph of Abraham Lincoln, printed from the original negative, taken in Springfield before he left for Washington, D. C.

These interesting news items are from the beginning of 1942 with more to follow.

Submitted by historian Jari Lynn Oncken