Dusting off the Archives
News from Verndale's Past
75 Years Ago, January 2, 1947
•Twenty-four businessmen, professional men and laymen turned out for a spirited meeting last Friday evening in the Legion room. The major topics of discussion were the reopening of the Verndale Theater and the changing of the name of the club. The name of the organization will hereafter be known as the Verndale Commercial Club, instead of the Booster Club. An executive committee, composed of Dell Biggs, Ray Gadaire, Gordon Blume, C.R. Peterson and Bob Bradford, was elected to draw up a set of new rules and bylaws and make other necessary arrangements for the reorganization of the club before the next meeting.
•Gus Tullgren of Wadena, our new county sheriff, was a Verndale visitor on Monday. While in the Sun office, Mr. Tullgren informed us that he has selected James Warrick of Wadena as his deputy. He also stated that Mr. John Bengston, the retiring sheriff, has consented to remain in the office with him for a while to help him get acquainted with his new work.
•Little six-year-old Raymond Murdock, one of the polio victims from this community of the recent epidemic, was brought home from the Gillette Hospital in Minneapolis on December 14 where he had been receiving treatment the past four months. Raymond, who is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Dave Murdock residing northeast of Verndale, has made a remarkable recovery from his illness and shows very little evidence of paralysis.
40 Years Ago, January 7, 1982
•Rewarded for being the best “napper,” Kurt Lehner was handed the “fairy wand” with which to awaken his classmates. The kindergartners now enjoy recess both morning and afternoons, as well as at noon, after which they rest on mats. This is the first year they attend classes all day-every other day, imposed as an economic measure for transportation. Kindergarten had previously been conducted half days, every day.
•Keith Radniecki of rural Verndale is not trying to raise the temperatures of Minnesota winters with his outdoor furnace. He has it so well insulated that little heat escapes, although he says when he builds another one for heating their home, he plans to add another half-foot of insulation around the heat retention area.
•Mayor Louise Otremba passed out committee assignments and appointed Bob Reul as acting mayor at the first meeting of the new year held in the Community Center. Municipal Liquor Store Manager Dick Minnette asked the council why he couldn’t just go to the Community Center and borrow chairs where extras were needed, rather than purchase six new ones as instructed by the council at last month’s meeting. He was encouraged to move forward with ordering some especially for the establishment, rather than risk damage to those at the center.
15 Years Ago, January 4, 2007
•Another year has come to an end and with it is also the end of an era as the Verndale Sun newspaper has been sold. With the new year, another era begins for the new publishers as they have taken their first steps on their journey to creating a quality newspaper for the community to enjoy. Sisters Mary Solien, Carol Clauson and Sonya Grabe, owners of the Citizen’s Advocate newspaper in Henning, WAW Enterprises, LLC., have purchased the Verndale Sun from Peter and Theresa Quirt.
•The students of the Verndale Public School celebrated their last day of school before the Christmas break with “Friday Fun Day.” The junior and senior high students kicked off the holidays with a dodgeball tournament in the gym. There were also other games, tug-of-war and movies. The elementary students also had fun with class parties, dancing, games and many other fun activities.
• Ardith Carr’s sixth-grade class had Gingerbread House Day on Thursday, December 21. This has been a tradition for the past 17 years or so. The students bring items to make and decorate their houses.
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