Glancing Back for Sept. 21: City sorry over tree's demise

MATTOON — Seventeen-year-old Tom E. Ramage will receive his glider's license when he has acquired from seven to 10 more hours of student flying time. Ramage, the son of Mrs. Mary Jane Ramage of 1800 Piatt and the late J.E. Evans Ramage, said he has been interested in flying as long as he can remember. The first time he went up in a plane, he was three years old. He started taking lessons only five weeks ago. Any person 14 years of age or older can make a solo flight and receive a private license by the age of 16...CHAMPAIGN — "Dr. Jeckyll and Mr. Hyde" best describes Mattoon's dramatic 18-13 come-from-behind grid win over Champaign Central here Friday on beautiful, but windy, Centennial field. The Green Wave, a pre-season pick to capture the Big 12 Conference crown, looked anything but the part of a contender in falling behind 13-0 at halftime. The second half was a different story as Mattoon scored three times and twice in the final period to open its title drive on a scary but exciting note.

MATTOON — Everyone involved with the city's renovation of the former Link Clinic into a police facility now say they're sorry a more than 100-year-old tree came down Friday. A bald cypress that's received special attention through the years was cut in the parking lot immediately west of the Chamber of Commerce office along Lake Land Boulevard at Wabash Avenue. "Somebody messed up royally," Mayor Wanda Ferguson said. "I hate that it came down," police chief Dave O'Dell said. "We could have worked around it. It's just a mistake." Terry Poplette, who's with the Champaign architectural firm that designed the project, said the tree's demise was part of the plans submitted to and OK'd by the city when the project was put out for bids. The general contractor on the project took those plans and hired a local firm to cut the tree. Looking back, those involved say the unique tree could stand with minimal or no disruption to the project. The parking lot is being restriped and refinished, but that could have occurred in the existing configuration. Nearby residents and other interested citizens aren't being so kind in their discussion of the incident. "It's a criminal shame," said Kathryn Ferguson, who lives near the property and is familiar with the tree's place in Mattoon history. "I hate whoever did that." The tree, Ferguson said, was full grown when she was a girl taking piano lessons in the area nearly 70 years ago. It was planted by a lawyer whose last name was Hall, who Ferguson said was one of the city's founders after the Civil War. Ferguson said she was gone when the tree was cut, but neighbors reported that it "shook the block when it fell. I went to the post office and when I came home, I walked around the corner, and it was already down," Ferguson said. "I can't believe anyone was so heartless as to take that tree." The city apparently didn't review the plans carefully for the parking lot, and then didn't take seriously a worker's offhand comment. O'Dell said a worker on the project asked Mattoon Water Department General Manager Mike Smyser about the tree's fate a couple weeks ago. Smyser called O'Dell, and O'Dell said the cypress wasn't the tree that was coming down. He thought the reference was to another tree behind the building. O'Dell said he told Smyser at the time that he thought the cypress tree would be a good spot to put some benches. But the chief left town on Friday for municipal league meetings in Chicago and when he returned, the tree was history.