Today's Opinions

15 Years Ago

1998 – Students at Vandalia’s junior high and high school were being asked to address concerns voiced by local residents about students walking into traffic before school, during lunch and after school.
The Vandalia City Council was considering a one-block extension of Kennedy Boulevard, by renaming the 100 block of South Third Street.
Brownstown’s Erik Sefton was chosen to participate in the fifth annual Central Illinois All-Star Basketball Game.

They bring back memories of the candy section and creaky wooden floors of G.C. Murphy on Gallatin Street and the ice-cold root beer at A&W.
Because of that, it’s quite appropriate that the Facebook page started by Kathy Schultz is named “Vandalia Memories.”
And while the Facebook page does, indeed, stir many memories, it’s also a great display of Vandalia’s past for all ages.
Schultz started the Facebook page a little more than three years ago, and since then, hundreds of old Vandalia photos have been put online.

“I am the youngest daughter of Henry and Nancy Snyder, and was born on the bank or near the Okaw River, on what was then called the Snyder Hill, now known as the Dan Clark Hill.”
So begins the story, written by Nancy Snyder Blalock, for the 50th anniversary of The Vandalia Union newspaper, as she joined other old settlers in reminiscences from those earlier times.