Earl Dee Davidson, Moline, will be honored at an open house on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2013, in observance of his 80th birthday. Relatives and friends are invited to attend from 1 to 3 p.m. at the Moline VFW, 1721 7th St. No gifts, please, but a shared memory would be treasured. Send them to his home address, 4624 55th Ave., Moline, IL 61265. Earl Dee was born Feb. 1, 1933. He married his high-school sweetheart, Nora Mitchell, on Aug. 1, 1953. She died in 1995. He married Bev Hartman in 2009. His children are Dan (Dianne) Davidson, LaGrange, Ga.; Kathy (Mike) Vogel, East Moline; Randy Davidson and Nancy DeBo, East Moline. He has 10 grandchildren; three great-grandchildren and one stepgreat-grandchild. He retired from the Rock Island Arsenal in 1988 after 38 years.
Today is Saturday, May 18, the 138th day of 2013. There are 227 days left in the year. 1863 -- 150 years ago: A large variety of children's wagons and gigs have arrived in thecity and are being sold at war prices. 1888 -- 125 years ago: All Rock Island retail houses, with the exception of a clothingstore and a jewelry store, have agreed to early closing hours during the summer months.The store will be closed at 8 p.m. 1913 -- 100 years ago: Baseball enthusiasts in Rock Island are attempting to raise$20,000 to keep the Island City Park open, despite the fact that the city has no franchise inorganized baseball this year. 1938 -- 75 years ago: The organization of a third rural young people's unit will beundertaken tomorrow night at the Milan Presbyterian Church, with Mrs. Mildred K.Wellman, home advisor, and Robert Smith, county farm adviser in charge. 1963 -- 50 years ago: Deere & Co. will begin a "big switch" on its telephone systemMonday morning. The extension numbers of all 1,600 telephones on the firm's EastMoline and Moline exchanges will be changed Monday morning. 1988 -- 25 years ago: East Moline's June Jamboree VI -- Nostalgia Days, will seemlike a '60s revival with the appearance of stars like Bobby Vee, Freddie Cannon, PeterNoone, Turtles, The Grass Roots and Lou Christie. This year's festival has beenexpanded to five days, June 22-26, at the Northeast Park complex.