WMOK News Check
Tuesday – July 19, 2022
WMOK Metropolis – Serving Metropolis and the surrounding area since 1951
93.7FM 920AM and streaming worldwide at 920wmok.com
In Today’s WMOK Online News Check:
– Be warned of severe heat as the week proceeds – we suggest that you use common safety guidance to avoid ill effects from the heat
– Sully’s Billiards Bar & Grill and Hannan Logistics will provide meals to youth age 15 and under today – details in the WMOK News Check
– Arrest Reports
– The Massac County Youth Fair continues – Farm Follies at 6:30p – followed by the food auction
– Tomorrow on WMOK’s Coffee Break – Metropolis Animal Control and Abatement Officer John Roman
– Massac County Farmer’s Market – Thursday and Friday 3p-6p – Saturday 8a-12p
We have begun compiling a list at WMOK of the vendors who will be at the market this week.
Vendors please send a facebook message, email wmoknews@frontier.com
or call the station at 618-524-9209 to be put on the list.
Ask About Our Meat Bundles – (270) 488-316
Tonight – Mostly clear, with a low around 74°.
Wednesday – A 20% chance of showers and thunderstorms with a high near 98°. Heat index values as high as 109, with wind gusts as high as 21 mph.
Wednesday Night – A 10%chance of showers and thunderstorms with a low around 71°.
Covid transmission is at elevated levels in Massac and surrounding counties – we suggest “tightening up” on Covid safety mitigations to avoid transmission
Learn more here –> All Seven Southernmost Illinois Counties at Elevated Covid-19 Transmission Levels
Today is National Flitch Day! A flitch is a measurement for bacon. It is half or one side of a pig and is now known as a slab in the United States. Flitch Day is based on and dedicated to an old English custom which goes back to at least the thirteenth or fourteenth century, and by some accounts to 1104. The custom was also mentioned in Chaucer’s The Canterbury Tales, which was published in the late fourteenth century.The custom mainly took place in two locations: Whichnoure (now Wychnor Hall), Staffordshire, and Little Dunmow in the Uttlesford district of Essex, England. In Little Dunmow, married couples would prove that neither one of them had had any thoughts over the previous year and a day in which they wished that they hadn’t been married. The couple would kneel in the churchyard on two hard, pointed stones while taking an oath in front of monks and the rest of the town. If it was believed that they hadn’t had any thoughts of regret, they were given a flitch of bacon and were paraded around town. It was quite rare for a couple to actually be given a slab of bacon. The custom lasted until the mid-eighteenth century. It was also brought to America by English colonists but was not long practiced there.
William Harrison Ainsworth published the novel The Flitch of Bacon in 1854, which became popular in Britain and helped revive the custom. Regular events started being held in Great Dunmow, just a few miles from Little Dunmow. They are still held there every four years on leap year. Couples are cross-examined by a counsel and then have to convince a jury made up of six bachelors and six maidens that during a year and a day of being together they never once wished they weren’t wed. The jury tries to disprove their claim so that the bacon can be saved for the days’ sponsors. Successful couples are paraded through High Street and then get a flitch of bacon.
The National Weather Service in Paducah has issued a Heat Advisory for tomorrow, Wednesday, from 11A-7P, along with a Hazardous Weather Outlook statement for our area. Wednesday through Monday – A Heat Advisory is in effect for the entire four state area Wednesday. There is a chance for widely scattered thunderstorms Wednesday afternoon and evening east of the Mississippi River as a front moves through. If the activity develops, stronger storms could produce high winds. With high temperatures expected to hover near the 100 degree mark and lows in the 75 to 80 degree range Friday through Monday, widespread and dangerous heat index values in the 105 to 110 or higher range can be expected. Air quality conditions could also deteriorate going into next weekend, creating additional stress.
Some relief from the heat may be possible by Tuesday, as showers and thunderstorms are forecast to increase from the north. A few storms could become strong to severe late Monday into Tuesday, with damaging winds and hail the primary hazards, as well as lightning and heavy rainfall.
JULY
The Massac County Youth Fair will continue through Saturday, July 23 at the Massac County Fair Grounds. This year’s Fair Theme is Plowing Through in 2022.
When WMOK spoke with Tammie Obermark about this year’s Youth Fair she told us that they now have third and fourth generation exhibitors and they’re very proud of the history that surrounds the event. In addition to the family and community aspect of the fair, Obermark reminds Massac County residents of the revenue that the Youth Fair brings in to Massac County as many of the participants in the fair stay in our local hotels and dine locally while visiting.
Pork Burgers will be sold today under the pavilion at the Youth Faith. The Dairy Delight’s Ice Cream Give A Way will also take place today in the enclosed building with Ice Cream and games for everyone.
Pre-Registration Hours for Exhibit Hall Entries Extended – Pre-registered entries for the exhibit hall may be brought in Monday from 5 – 8P or on Tuesday morning from 8AM until 1PM. Remember, new entries must be made Tuesday.
Exhibitors: New Procedures for Entering Some Foods – This year the Massac County Youth Fair will have different and even more items! This year they are asking the exhibitors to bring pictures of those items they wish to be in the auction. This will allow those items to be displayed in the exhibit hall. The pictures will be displayed with the entry tag and ribbon awarded.
Hear WMOK’s Coffee Break with Tammie Wiseman Obermark below:
Tuesday, July 26th – 10AM until 12PM – Metropolis Public Library Summer Programming Party- Washington Park
Friday, July 29th from 1-3P at the Metropolis Public Library Genealogy with Backstory Bloodhound will take place! This is your opportunity to sign-up for a free, no obligation 30-minute consultation with a professional genealogist. Rick Allen, who operates Backstory Bloodhound, will be available to assist on He will assist you in developing a plan to either begin your research or to climb over that stubborn brick wall. Please bring whatever documentation you have on the research problem with you to the session.
For more information about this program you may call Director Rosemary Baxter at the Metropolis Public Library at 618-524-4312. For more information on Backstory Bloodhound’s services (as well as a free blog with research tips), go to https://link.edgepilot.com/s/7600522a/QUD3rsHdgk647JwkRGQEWw?u=http://www.backstorybloodhound.com/.
Upcoming Important Dates for Massac Unit #1 Students:
Tuesday, August 9 – Teacher In-Service
Wednesday, August 10 – Teacher In-Service
Thursday, August 11 – First Day of School for Students
More Upcoming Fundraisers and Events
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