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Fairbury post office name to honor Social Security founder
By Dave Tompkins
dmtompkins@verizon.net
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By Dave Tompkins

dmtompkins@verizon.net

FAIRBURY – The official date hasn’t been set, but the Fairbury Post Office will be renamed to honor a man who developed a pension plan that eventually became Social Security.

U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin, an Illinois Democrat, introduced legislation in May to name the post office after Dr. Francis Townsend.

“Dr. Francis Townsend was an innovator and original thinker,” said Durbin. “His efforts to fight poverty set the stage for Roosevelt’s New Deal social security programs during the Great Depression. Naming this post office after one of its most famous citizens is a fitting celebration of both Townsend’s contribution to the city and this important milestone.”

Durbin spokeswoman Christina Mulka said a formal ceremony may be held at the end of September. Despite the attention, Postmaster Bill Schmidgall doesn’t believe the change will have a lasting impact.

“It won’t have any impact on our services, and I doubt that we will become a tourist spot but it is great to recognize Dr. Townsend,” said Schmidgall. “It will be an exciting event and brings an historical to perspective to Fairbury.”

Townsend grew up in Fairbury and served in the Army Medical Corps during World War I. After retiring, he created the Townsend Old-Age Revolving Pension Plan. The proposal granted $200 monthly to seniors older than 60 with the condition that the entire sum was to be spent within 30 days to stimulate the economy. The plan led to a social movement of more than two million members in 7,000 clubs nationally and gave birth to Roosevelt’s Social Security Act.

Donation approved – The Chatsworth Town Council approved the third and final $3,000 annual donation to the Chatsworth Boys and Girls Club of Prairie Central. The board will review future contributions. The board agreed to discuss a proposed TIF district at the Sept. 4 meeting.

Field usage approved – The El Paso-Gridley School Board approved increasing the mileage reimbursement for approved staff member travel from 38 cents to 43 cents per mile. The board also approved the use of the high school football field by the El Paso Junior Football League (JFL) for their games on five dates this fall.

Land options reviewed – The Kappa Village Board has approved an ordinance to consider purchasing property for a city hall and other municipal buildings. The property is zoned as 12 lots and is located in the center of the village. The board set Kappa Cleanup Days as the second weekend in October and also appointed Becky Bailey as trustee and Leverna Chambers as village clerk.

Contract approved – The Lexington School Board approved a tentative budget of $5,590,000 for the 2007-2008 school year. The final budget will be determined once the state budget is finalized. The board also approved a $20,000, four-year tech support contract with Quality Network Solutions. The contract includes a 2 percent annual increase.

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Reader comments on this story - 5 total

Note: All views and opinions expressed in reader comments are solely those of the individual submitting the comment, and not those of the Pantagraph or its staff.

re:to sure wrote on Aug 25, 2007 11:48 PM:

" i probably wont ever collect because the system is set up to payoff with deficeit funds. my contributions today are paying todays retired and disabled (whether real or not) and in 30 years when i reach retirement age thre will be more people on the draw than contributing. imbeing held back because i could be using my funds in other ways. i know that involves risk, but its better than throwing cash in this fatally flawed system "

TO SURE... wrote on Aug 25, 2007 5:37 PM:

" are you saying you don't or won't collect social security? afterall, you don't want to be held down, right? "

Working man wrote on Aug 25, 2007 10:57 AM:

" An honest employer will pay 6.20 percent social security tax from monies collected through the employees payroll deductions. That honest employer will also pay 6.20 percent from their business income as a matching payment. "

Ziggy wrote on Aug 25, 2007 6:55 AM:

" I wish Durbin would have offered to have it named after himself, then we could have called it "DICK" for short!!!! "

sure wrote on Aug 24, 2007 9:15 PM:

" lets honor the man that creatd the vehicle that drives this entiitlement based society that holds the hinest working man down "
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