Staunton Star - Times - Published in the Interest of the Staunton Community for Over 143 Years

Thursday, May 31, 1990 -- Pool - Dance Party At Forest Lakes Pool -- Forest Lakes Resort and the Majic Jukebox will co-sponsor a Pool-Dance Party at Forest Lakes Swimming Pool for area teens on Saturday, June 2. The dance will be chaperoned and supervised and parents are invited to stop by for a visit or sit by the pool and enjoy the music at any time.

The dance is open to any child, age 11 to 14 years old. Time will be from 6:30 to 10:30. Two other pool - dance parties are currently being planned for Saturday, July 14, and Saturday, August 11.

For more information, call 635- 2644 or 635-2943. In case of rain or bad weather, the dance will be moved to the reception hall across from the pool.

Storm sewers and Lake are overflowing -- Besides many complaints to the city of flooded roads, ditches and basements, this month's record breaking rainfall has brought Staunton's lake to threatening levels. City Engineer Deborah Ramsey said that the overflows in town are simply a matter of the storm sewers being unable to handle the large amounts of rainfall. She said the flooding in town was not related to the present sewer project, and that many communities in this area are experiencing similar problems.

Ramsey said she was concerned about the status of the dam at Staunton Lake when the water level rose within 14 inches of topping the dam. This is in spite of the fact that huge quantities of water have been going over the spillway. What the outcome of water overflowing the dam would be is unknown. Ramsey said state officials have said if Staunton Lake received 6.5 inches of runoff in 24 hours the lake would overflow the top of the dam. One day last week the lake received five inches in 14 hours.

Although one purpose of the present sewer project was to separate storm water from the sanitary sewers, Ramsey said the project has not added to the flooding problem. She said before the project was begun the water flowed to the sanitary sewer and if there was an overflow it all flowed into Ginseng Creek. She said neither the sanitary or the storm system was prepared to take this kind of rainfall. A part of the storm sewer did collapse in one area and the city ran pumps to control the situation.

Ramsey said maps of storm water drainage were prepared for the city in 1976. The maps show runoff in various parts of town going in different directions. Some runs south of town and some runs to Ginseng Creek. She said there is very little anyone can do about flooding in this kind of rainfall. Many ditches in town have been tiled over and the flow of water is restricted. Ramsey said about all people could do was to keep ditches and culverts clear.

Special training for Volunteer Firemen -- During the month of May, the Staunton Fire Department received special training on different occasions. The fire department regularly trains each Monday evening but several times throughout the year the department receives specialized training from outside instructors.

These include instructors from the University of Illinois Fire Service Institute, equipment manufacturers, and specialists from the fire and rescue field.

On Sunday, May 6, the Staunton Fire Department received specialized training in the use of the Lukas hydraulic rescue system. The Lukas system is a rescue system which consists of hydraulic spread, cutters and rams, and can be used to extricate victims from auto accidents, train accidents, agricultural accidents and a variety of other rescue situations. This hydraulic rescue system is the basis for the recent and on-going fund drive which the Staunton Fire Department has been working on.

The Lukas rescue system class was taught by Fred Windisch, chief of Ponderosa Volunteer Fire Department, Houston, Texas; Jeff Doran, deputy chief, Ponderosa Volunteer Fire Department; and Bob Campbell, owner of Mac's Fire and Safety, Litchfield. Mac's Fire and Safety also was kind enough to provide the hydraulic rescue tools for the hands-on training.

The class started with a classroom session in the morning. The class then moved to Bud's Service Center, which donated scrap vehicles, for hands-on training. Using the tools, the students removed doors, windows, roofs, and displaced the dashboards of several cars. At the conclusion of the class, eight Staunton firefighters were certified as Lukas rescue tool operators. Those individuals were Ron Dustman, Bill Knop, Dick Brown, Dennis Crouch, Butch Fey, Tony Bagaglio, Rick Haase, and Brian Banovz.

On Monday, May 14th, the Staunton Fire Department hosted the Waterous Fire Pump Demonstration Unit. This demonstration unit travels the entire country. The unit provides firefighters with actual hands-on training on the workings of a fire pump. The unit includes cut-away versions of typical fire pumps. The pumps are actual working models so firefighters can see the inner workings of the pump. The class was taught by Dave Anderson, a training and maintenance specialist for the Waterous Company. Twenty firefighters from the Staunton Fire Department and 21 other area firefighters were in attendance at the pump demonstration class.

The Staunton Fire Department is committed to providing its residents with quality-fire and rescue services. Through training and dedication, the department is striving to provide the best services possible.

Rain halts a variety Of activities here -- Record breaking rainfall in May, more than ten inches, has brought a variety of activities, some with dollar signs attached, to a halt. Spring planting and construction have been delayed for several weeks.

Dave Sievers of Staunton Elevator said after three very dry years, this wet spring is "going to cost a lot of money." He said there have been no beans planted and only perhaps 10% of the corn. Of the corn that was planted, as much as half may need to be replanted. "If they (the farmers) ever get out it is so late the yields may be hurt," he said. Sievers also said it's not just the farmer that gets hurt, everybody in the economy does. "Ask me in another week. It's going to be critical." he said.

Work on the new concession stand at the Staunton Recreation Park also came to a grinding halt due to the rain. The directors of the Staunton City League had hoped to have the building completed by the end of May when the city baseball season begins.

Several weeks ago Chuck Frey and his brigade of volunteer union brick layers began laying the blocks around the new stand. For two weekends the men began work at 8 a.m. only to be drowned out hours later. And for the last two weekends the rain has been so heavy they have not even been able to get started.

Odorizzi said Melvin Hefer has lined up a crew to put a new roof on the entire structure once the blocks have been laid. But there is no question "This rain is going to stop a lot of things."