5/7/99
By LAURI ARNOLD
Courier-Post Staff Writer

Ilasco will not be forgotten, at least not if former residents and descendants of the the community can help it.

A dinner and dance is scheduled to begin at 6 p.m. Saturday at the Knights of Columbus Hall in Hannibal, with proceeds to go toward the funding of a historical marker for the once booming town two miles south of Hannibal. Tickets are $10 for ages 13 and up, $5 for ages 6 to 12 and free for children ages five and under.

"I'm sure this is only just the beginning," said Sally Polc, a member of the Ilasco Historical Marker committee.

The dinner will begin at 6 p.m. and will include all home-made items. Some of the items on the main menu will include klbasa and kapusta (sour kraut and sausage), Ilasco meatballs, a whole roasted hog, scalloped potatoes, green beans, salad, bread, drink and desert.

"We have got so many ladies who are donating food," Polc said.

In addition to the main menu, there will also be a specialty table including such items as kolac, krusciki, Italian lasagna, taradia and rosky, in addition to such deserts as a pastry known as angel wings.

Polc noted that the main menu and specialty table include items that are a part of a variety of different nationalities such as Slovak, Croatian, Hungarian, Romanian, Ukranian, Polish and Russian. All of these nationalities represent the people who immigrated to Ilasco, beginning in 1902, to work at the Atlas Portland Cement Company.

"There were not enough workers in the area," Polc explained.

Polc's grandfather-in-law came from Slovakia in 1904 to work at the cement plant. She said many of the immigrants came with the intention of making a good amount of money, then returning to their native lands.

"In essence, what they did is end up sending the money home and send their families over," Polc said.

She said Ilasco, at its peak, had approximately 2,000 residents, however she estimated that throughout the years, several thousand immigrants actually lived there at one time or another. Today, Ilasco consists of four homes, the remains of two businesses, the old jail and two churches.

Of course, many Missourians also worked at the cement plant and Polc said local delicacies will be a part of the food lineup Saturday night as well.

It will come as no surprise that with the diversity of the immigrants to Ilasco, the area became known for its festive weddings. With that in mind, Saturday evening will include a dance being touted as "the old-fashioned Ilasco wedding celebration, without the bride and groom."

"Anybody who had ever been to a wedding in Ilasco always remembered it," Polc said.

The Mahoney Brothers, a blues band from Quincy, Ill., will be providing the music for the evening. Overall, she said it will be a big celebration for Ilasco.

"That's really the theme here," she said. "We want to celebrate."

Polc said there will also be a short program, including a presentation of the drawing for the historical marker, which was designed by Michael Kettelkamp of Hannibal.

"We really do appreciate what he has done for us," Polc said.

She said the program will only be a small part of the evening, however, so that more celebration can be fit in.

In addition to Saturday night's fund raiser, the committee is also selling mugs at $5 each that have a photo of the cement plant workers in 1922 on them.

"They're very attractive, and we've already sold some," Polc said.

And she added that the historical marker will likely be just the beginning of the efforts in Ilasco, but concentration will remain on the marker alone until it is completed to the committee's satisfaction.

"We hope this is just the beginning of the restoration of Ilasco," Polc said.

Tickets for Saturday night's event can be purchased at both facilities of Hannibal National Bank, New London and Center State banks and the law firm of Briscoe and Mobley in both their Hannibal and New London offices.

"We would just love it if they could buy their tickets in advance," Polc said.

For more information, call: Sally Polc at (573) 248-1216 or Mary Rita Brothers at (573) 221-9052. Donations for the historic market may be made payable to Ilasco Historical Marker, and mailed to Rodney J. Rodenbaugh, P.O. Box 446, New London, MO 63459.