transcribed by E Lorinczi THE RECORD, Hoffman Estates, IL Thursday May 23, 1963 Page 1 FIRE DESTROYS ATCHER's HOME Many Valuables lost: Damage over $100,000 Barn was Area Symbol By Rod Botts The loss of the Atcher home is a tragedy too great to express in an ordinary prose passage. Bob Atcher was justifiable proud of his converted barn house, and the people of this entire area must sympathize with him and his family in their loss. In a way, his house was a symbol of this area. It represented the traditions of old Schaumburg Center, which has seen gamblers and bootleggers come and go while serving the families of descendents of the Germans who homesteaded this land. The conversion of the barn to a house foreshadowed the conversion of the homestead farms to suburban subdivisions. It was appropriate that the owner of this house-barn is also president of the rural village of Schaumburg around it. The residents, new and old, of that village will miss the symbol of their tradition. Yet adversity has its compensations, During the blaze, a Hoffman Estates policeman directed traffic at the intersection of Roselle and Schaumburg roads, located in Schaumburg village. Helping to fight the fire was the Hoffman Estates fire department. Schaumburg and Hoffman have found little to co-operate in over their histories. Perhaps last Sunday's fire is a good way to begin. Perhaps greater understanding and good will between the two villages will rise Phoenix-like from the ashes of Bob Atcher's house.