M A Y 2 0 1 5 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 8

A John the Barber Foundation Publication

Nothing but good news ! And Good people doing Great things!

From Arlington, Cherry, Ladd, Seatonville/Hollowayville, Spring Valley,and Dalzell, Illinois

Holy Trinity Cherry Fourth Annual Fish Fry to Benefit the Utility Fund for the Needy a

Great Success! For the fourth year in row, Holy Trinity Cherry delivered on a promise to help Ravioli Alleys most needed families, raising funds to help them avoid power shut-offs this Spring. Steward Chairman Lee Kirk-man and his team did a Great job selling eleven sponsorships and as-

sisting. Bridgett Potthoff/Cory Blair and their team again did a good job fry-ing fish and serving the crowd. Heres a big shout-out to them.four years run-ning.and this was the largest and smoothest event yet! Thank you! Thanks to the sponsors of

the event, HTC will be able to help more families this year than ever before. Talk about doing something Great! To top off the night, Sandy Vander Meersch donated her winning 50/50 prize to the Great Cause!Check out the heart-felt thank you notes on the back page from some of the first families that have been assisted. (HTC fish fry volunteers are back/L-R Adam Lane, Lee Kirkman, Eric Lane, front/Mark Cissell)

Hey, we lied! We will take your money!

In our first issues, we at URA said that we did not want you to send us money.wellwe lied! In order to help URA truly stand on its own, we have three money making methods: personal classifieds, sponsorships of an edition, and misc donations. Your donations are greatly appreciated! We will list your name the following month as a donator. Please send ad orders and donations to JTB Foundation, Box 88, Cherry, IL 61317. Thanks!

P A G E 2

DO SOMETHING

GREAT! Have your family or

business sponsor the printing of

Up Ravioli Alley one month!

Email or mail John the Barber

to learn how to do it!

For man with no forgiveness in heart,

life worse punishment than death. - Mr. Miyagi:

character in the movie Karate Kid 2

The John the Barber Foundation

P.O. Box 88 Cherry, IL 61317

editor@JohnTheBarberFoundation.com

Heres what people around the country are saying about Up Ravioli Alley!

Ann Steiner of Peoria, IL formerly of Cherry writes, I love getting my copy of

Up Ravioli Alley! Thanks to Mary Storkmar for submitting my name. I was born, raised, and married in Cherry and have many fond memories. PS. Have included a donation to help with your Great efforts.

Everett Solon of Centrue Bank in Streator, IL writes, "As always, another Great newsletter! I always enjoy."

Mary and Phil Hocking of Ladd write, Thanks for the great work on Up Ravioli Alley! It's a treasure!

Pete Pranzini of California formerly of Cherry writes, Please sent me two cop-ies of the Volume One book Up Ravioli Alley. My check is enclosed. I miss Ravioli Alley every day and wish I was there to help with the newsletter!

Heres Some Great News! Ravioli Alley Couple Moves Home! Cant get enough of this kind of story. Hall grads Anna Weberski of Spring Valley and Jered Hoscheid of Cherry are headed home! Both had impressively gone off to se-cure college degrees, Weberski from the University of St. Francis and Hoscheid from Bradley University. Great news! Anna, employed at Heartland Dental of Morris, and Jered, employed at Troy Simplified Technologies in Spring Valley, are getting married and settling right back in Ravioli Alley in Cherry. Fantastic news when Great young folks like this come home!

Local boy does good: Tom Templeton named President of Illinois Sheriffs Association Congrats to Tom Templeton, formerly of Cherry, for being named President of the Illinois Sheriffs Association! Tom has been at the LaSalle County Sheriffs office since 1973 and has been sheriff since 1998. All sheriffs in Illinois are members of the association and they are dedicated to effecting important legislation that effects law enforcement and public safety. Way to go Tom! (Tom is on the right in the pic-ture below, being sworn in as President by Thomas Kilbride, former Chief Justice of

P A G E 3

Jesus preached more and taught more about

helping the poor and the sick and the hungry than he did about heav-en and hell. Shouldn't that tell us something?

- John Grisham, American author

We NEED your stories about people from your town doing

Great thingseither now or in the past.

Please email or mail to JTB.

Below is a listing of the 2015 Holy Trinity Cherry Stewardship Events Sponsors. Each sponsor donated $100 toward the listed event. Please make sure to say "thank you" to these

businesses and families when you see them! Please contact Lee Kirkman 815.488.7873 if you would like to sponsor.

Q1 Annual Fish Fry to Benefit the Utility Fund for the Needy

LiHeap

Q2 Bottoms Up Diaper Drive and Baby Shower

Pinter General Contracting Jack & Lynn Cissell

Lee Kirkman CIT Group

CIT Group Larry & Monafae Scriba

Alan & Sandy Vander Meersch Pfstier Seed

Larry Ping Will Linker Pioneer Seed

Will Linker Pioneer Seed Phil Hocking

Larry & Monafae Scriba Jeff Doll Dekalb Seed Sales

Pfister Seed Jeff Perry Buick GMC

Phil Hocking Brandner Mapping & Sales Inc.

Jeff Perry Buick GMC AG Industrial Supply

AG Industrial Supply open Be a $100 event sponsor? Call Lee Kirkman

815.488.7873 open

Q3 5K Walk Run to Benefit the LaSalle Veterans Home

Q4 Warm Hands, Warm Hearts Coats, Hats, & Gloves

Drive

King Tire Larry & Linda Kirkman

CIT Group CIT Group

State Bank of Cherry member FDIC Lous Spring & Welding

Wendys Will Linker Pioneer Seed

Larry & Monafae Scriba Larry & Monica Scriba

Pfister Seed Pfister Seed

Will Linker Pioneer Seed Jerry Perry Buick GMC

Larry & Linda Kirkman Toedter Oil

Jeff Perry Buick GMC AG Industrial Supply

Aplington, Kaufman, McLintock, Steele& Barry

Kirkman Roof & Tree Service

AG Industrial Supply AG Industrial Supply

open open

P A G E 4

Dont Forget: Cherry United

Church of Christ/ Holy Trinity Cherry Pie & Coffee

Social Hour, first Thursday

of each month. 1:30 3:30 at Cherry

Church Hall. Bring a friend!

DO SOMETHING

GREAT and volunteer to be chairman for a month, please email or mail

John the Barber.

The impersonal hand of government can never

replace the helping hand of a neighbor.

- Hubert H. Humphrey, American politician

Heres a few quick Rav-notes...

I remember Fisty Hand! Anna Brady writes to comment on the Fisty Hand mystery photo in the April issue: I am 96 years old. I was 9-10 years old in 1927-28 attending Florid schoolhouse in Florid, IL when Fisty Hand came to give a talk. He had traveled from the east coast to west coast with his Spirit of Spring Valley wagon. I really enjoy reading Up Ravioli Alley!

Jack Boroski Above and Beyond the Call: Heres a huge shout-out and thank you to Jack Boroski for the Great time and effort he has given to Hall High School with 32 years of service on the Hall school board. Jack is stepping down as president with John Piccatto Jr. taking over for him. Thanks to Jack and the entire Boroski family for they have done for Hall High!

Spring Valley Elemetary Students Move Fast, Do Great Things: Garrett Weatherby, quickly providing medical aid to his sister, and Luke Bogatitus, call-ing 911 to come to this aid of his grandmother, both received recognition and a metal for heroism. Great job boys! Great jobs parents and teachers for teaching these boys what Great moves are all about!

Soldatis doing Great things..Again!: Always on the look-out for stories about "good people doing great things," we were pleased when Arlington resident Ruth Pommier contacted URA and told us we need look no further than JOE SOLDATI, owner of Central Millwright Services, of rural Arlington. Born and raised in Cherry, Soldati is a member of Holy Trinity Parish. When contacted by Ruth about the possibility of his being able to replicate a metal plant stake that is widely used in Calvary Cemetery to display silk floral stalks, Soldati assured her he could do it and took her order for 35 stakes. He very promptly filled the or-der, to perfection, and then went the extra mile of personally delivering them to her home. When asked for the statement, Ruth was told they were his gift to Calvary Cemetery, and he would not accept money, even to cover the cost of the materials involved. As a result, the historic Arlington cemetery, which was con-secrated in 1885, will realize 100 per cent profit from the sale of these stakes. To order a plant stake, contact JoAlyce Hewitt at (815) 638-2743 for pricing and to answer any questions you might have. The stakes are available now, in time for Mother's Day and Memorial Day, so you are urged to act quickly while the sup-ply lasts. Since Soldati is prominent in the area, this shout-out will come as little surprise to the many people who know him, because that's just the kind of man Joe is--a "good guy" who did just one more "great thing." Thanks, Joe. You're one of Ravioli Alley's best!

Cherry UCC at it again: Heres a shout-out to Cherry United Church of Christ again! The Cherry UCC donated to the Spring Valley Project Success Food Pantry to provide two Easter baskets to families in need in April.

DO SOMETHING GREAT! Have your family or business sponsor the printing of Up Ravioli Alley" for one month! Email or mail John the Barber to learn how to do it!

P A G E 5 V O L U M E 2 , I S S U E 8

Cont...Rav-notes... Ladd Library Helping With Drivers License: The Ladd Public Library will be holding a Rules of the Road refresher

course on May 14, 2015, 10:00 -- 12:00. There is no charge for the course, but pre-registration is request-ed. Questions may be directed to the library at 815-894-3254.

Ladd Community Education and Enrichment Foundation Schwans Fund Raiser: This fine group will be hosting a fundraiser May 27 July 11, 2015 as part of the Schwans cares fundraising network. All Schwans online orders placed during that timeline will generate funds for the Foundation. These funds will be used to continue our mis-sion to provide educational and developmental tools and equipment to benefit the students of Ladd Community Consolidated School District #94. Enjoy Schwans products at the same retail price you currently pay while con-tributing to our organization or try Schwans for the first time. Go to Schwans-Cares.com and select Ladd Cmty Consolidated School. Once you are set up, order online for every delivery and select the Ladd Community Edu-cation and Enrichment Foundation at the check-out. You will get delicious food delivered to your home and we will get a percentage of your purchase at no extra cost to you. Thank you in advance for your support!

St. Bede Class of 59 Doing Great Things, Setting the Bar High for Other Classes: St. Bede Academy received a gift of more than $12,000 from the class of 1959 in support of this years Fund-A-Need for the St. Bede Auc-tion. The class gift was presented by Francis Speltz to Abbot Philip Davey in an effort to help with the Google Chromebook Initiative. We are grateful for this special gift from the class of 1959 which gives us a great start to achieving our Fund-A-Need goal of placing a Google Chromebook in each students hands by fall, said develop-ment director Julia Yaklich.

Ken Doc Dachsteiner, formerly of Spring Valley now of

Yorkville, IL sends the attached photo of the Tonelli basketball

team of Dalzell, third place winners in the 1955 News Tribune

Christmas tournament at LP. Back L-R Ken Doc Dachsteiner,

Harold Meek, Joe Pienta, Ernie Marty. Front L-R unknown

#43, Jack Buffo, Frank Ta Ta Baracani. Can someone identify

#43 for us? How about the coach?

Cherry United Church of Christ Received new Cross from Newest Member

Hey Randy Reynolds! Thanks for making and donating the Great new cross!

Beautiful!

Jan Pini of Ladd dropped us a

line with a very cool newspa-

per article and photos from

the Ladd 75th Anniversary in

1965. Check out this shot

with the following caption:

No birthday celebration is

complete without a cake and

little Cindy Walters led the

childrens parade Friday

night.

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Up Ravioli Alley Needs Your Help Finding Assistant Editors/Field Reporters

Help! Up Ravioli Alley needs an Assistant Editor to help us get the newsletter done each month.help layout and create content, dig for stories, etc. Please email editor@JohnTheBarberFoundation.com or mail Box 88, Cherry, IL 61317 to find out more! Thanks! Best guess at who the young man is at the typewriter below?

The Three Trees Once there were three trees on a hill. They were discussing their hopes and dreams when the first tree said, 'Someday I hope to be a treasure chest. I could be filled with gold, silver and precious gems. I could be decorated with intricate carving and everyone would see the beauty.' The second tree said, 'Someday I will be a mighty ship. I will take kings and queens across the waters and sail to the corners of the world. Everyone will feel safe in me because of the strength of my hull.' Finally the third tree said, 'I want to grow to be the tallest and straightest tree around. People will see me on top of the hill and look up to my branches and think of the heavens and God and how close to them I am reaching. I will be the greatest tree of all time and people will always remember me.' After a few years of praying that their dreams would come true, a group of woodsmen came upon the trees. When one came to the first tree he said, 'This looks like a strong tree. I think I should be able to sell the wood to a carpen-ter', and he began cutting it down. The tree was happy, because he knew that the carpenter would make him into a treasure chest. At the second tree, the woodsman said, 'This looks like a strong tree. I should be able to sell it to the shipyard.' The second tree was happy because he knew he was on his way to becoming a mighty ship. When the woodsmen came upon the third tree, the tree was frightened because he knew that if they cut him down his dreams would not come true. One of the woodsmen said, 'I don't need anything special from my tree. I'll take this one', and he cut it down. When the first tree arrived at the carpenters, he was made into a feed box for animals. He was then placed in a barn and filled with hay. This was not at all what he had prayed for. The second tree was cut and made into a small fish-ing boat. His dreams of being a mighty ship and carrying kings had come to an end. The third tree was cut into large pieces and left alone in the dark. The years went by and the trees forgot about their dreams. Then one day, a man and woman came to the barn. She gave birth, and they placed the baby in the hay in the feed box that was made from the first tree. The man wished that he could have made a crib for the baby, but this manger would have to do. The tree could feel the importance of this event and knew that it had held the greatest treasure of all time. Years later, a group of men got in the fishing boat made from the second tree. One of them was tired and went to sleep. While they were out on the water, a great storm arose and the tree didn't think it was strong enough to keep the men safe. The men woke the sleeping man, and He stood and said 'Peace' and the storm stopped. At this time, the tree knew that it had carried the King of Kings in its boat. Finally, someone came and got the third tree. It was carried through the streets as the people mocked the man who was carrying it. When they came to a stop, the man was nailed to the tree and raised in the air to die at the top of a hill. When Sunday came, the tree came to real-ize that it was strong enough to stand at the top of the hill and be as close to God as was possible, because Jesus had been crucified on it. The moral of this story is that when things don't seem to be going your way, always know that God has a plan for you. If you place your trust in Him, God will give you Great gifts. Each of the trees got what they wanted, just not in the way they had imagined. We don't always know what Gods plans are for us. We just know that His ways are not our ways, but His ways are always best.

Holy Trinity Cherry Utility Fund For the Needy Touches Many Check out a few of the thank you notes HTC received from those that were helped avoid power shut-offs this

Spring!

Please place an Up Ravioli Alley personal ad and help everyone received URA! No subscription fees or major

ad sales, but buying a personal ad is a nice little way to help us! Mail $20 payment to John The Barber Founda-

tion, Box 88, Cherry, IL 61317 or email editor@JohnTheBarberFoundation.com and we can use Paypal.

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Great job Cherry Fire Department!

Thank you for all you

do!

In Memory of Johnny Bussa

Ladd , IL

1913 1910

Good man doing Great things.all the time!

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St Bede Class of 73

Thanks Up Ravioli Alley for all the

Great things you are doing!

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Cherry Boy Scouts Food

Drive.

To benefit the Hall Food Pantry

Keep your eyes open for dates and instruc-

tions.

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