ROCHELLE –– People and places change over time as styles evolve, however the memories left behind never change. Flagg Rochelle Township Museum is celebrating Rochelle’s history this weekend.
On Friday night Rochelle Then and Now will be hosted by Terry Dickow. Dickow will lead a tour around downtown starting at 5:30 p.m. The tour will stop at locations and buildings where Dickow will show pictures and share the spots’ history. The tour will talk about local history, stories and people from Rochelle’s past while comparing to the current downtown.
Then and Now will run in conjunction with Second Friday hosted by the Downtown Rochelle Association.  The tour will cover about one mile downtown Rochelle and will last approximately one hour.
Dickow presented the same tour last month and had 35 visitors walking around with him. He said they appreciated the humor he added to the tour and together shared stories and memories from Rochelle’s past.
Dickow encourages community members to attend stating they will learn new and interesting facts. While leading the May tour others in attendance shared facts with Dickow that he had not known.

The tour is free to attend however a donation container will be passed following the event with donations going to the museum.
Love in Rochelle
Love in Rochelle will begin at the museum on Saturday with a wedding reception. Love in Rochelle will feature a display of more than 15 wedding dresses and five additional wedding outfits from Rochelle residents. The wedding dresses range in time from the mid-1800’s up till the early 2000’s.
Weddings dresses that will be on display are from the weddings of: Yvonne and Gary Mason (1983), Betty-Lu Allen and Floyd Barnes (1940), Mildred Wady and Frank Barnes (1915), Dorothy And Arnold Heltness (1953), Anna Binz and Adam Krug (1917), Gertrude Davis and Angus Bain (1931), Ida Countryman and Fred Craft (1891), Sally Sawicki and Tom Burgess (1981), Sally Sawicki and Steve Strang (2004), Susan Tracy and Tom Hillison (1974), Matilda Lux and William Doyle (1886),  Karen Malaney and James F. Winterland (1982), Mrs. Dexter Stocking, and Lorena H. Zack (1954). There is also a Copper Velvet wedding dress from 1935 that will be on display from an unknown bride.
Sally Sawicki has donated miscellaneous items from her wedding to go along with her dresses such as shoes and an invitation.  
Along with the wedding dresses Gretchen Bain has donated a bridesmaid dress from the 1960s. Lorretta Baker and Harold Holtman have donated a wedding dress and peignoir from 1947. Laurentia Srinivasagam and Ayyasamy Edward will have their Wedding saree from the 1930s and Esther Kamali and John Prabhakar’s wedding sherwani from 1965 will also be on display. B.F. Allen has donated a tuxedo jacket from 1985 for the Love in Rochelle Display.
The reception will begin at 2 p.m. with wedding cake donated by Kimberly Ekes, champagne and punch. During the afternoon museum staff and volunteers will be on hand to give tours and answer questions.
Sally Sawicki has created two dress-up wedding dresses that will be in Debby’s Closet for kids to try on while the display is in Flagg Township Museum. An adult wedding dress will also be in the dress-up closet.
The dresses will be on display through mid-July.