The Chester Rotary has had two speakers during the month of October, beginning with Barb McCormick on Wednesday, October 17.
McCormick is treasurer of the Mississippi Valley Art Guild. The organization now has a headquarters at 987 State St. in Chester, next to Chester's Gazebo Park. According to McCormick, the Guild has gone through difficult times in recent years, but has built itself back to 45 members and is going strong with many new and interesting projects. They meet at the headquarters at 6 p.m. on the last Monday of each month and they welcome anyone who is interested in art.
On Wednesday, October 24 the Chester Rotary heard from local resident Brenda Owen on the subject of Chester's recent involvement with the National Historic Register, the nation's list of places worthy of historic preservation.
Owen has worked extensively on Chester's behalf for the past two years, in an effort to place four Chester properties on the register.
All four properties have been approved by the National Register, located in Washington, D.C. They are Chester's old fire station building, built in 1935 by relief workers through the WPA; the Frederick Wiester House, built in 1859 and also known as the Stone Cottage at 1515 Chestnut St.; the C.F. Weinrich house, built in 1873, a post Victorian with Gothic Revival influence, located at 217 Opdyke St.; and the Hugh Nesbitt house at 340 E. Buena Vista St., Chester's only Greek Revival and built in 1854.
