Dusting off the Archives
News from Verndale's Past
75 Years Ago, September 4, 1947
•Ferdinad A. Gruenhagen of North St. Paul took possession of the Verndale Blacksmith Shop on Wednesday of last week, having purchased it from Lester J. Marquardt. Mr. Gruenhagen has 22 years of experience in the Great Northern blacksmith shop at St. Paul and four years in general farm blacksmithing. He plans to move his wife and six children and take up residence in the building Mr. Desrocher has remodeled into living quarters in the back of his residence. Mr. and Mrs. Marquardt plan on remaining in Verndale. Mr. Marquardt started driving the fourth school bus on Wednesday and in his spare time will work at the blacksmith shop.
•The first day’s enrollment of the Verndale Public School hit a record high of 301 with a possibility of this figure being increased from 10 to 20 in the near future. Superintendent Bluhm stated that the first day of school presented a school bus transportation problem with the three buses found to be inadequate to handle the 220 children being transported. Thus on Wednesday of this week, a fourth bus was added.
• Donald L. Dague, seaman first class, USN, son of Mr. and Mrs. Milford Dague of Verndale, is serving aboard the submarine tender USS Nereus, which is on an extended training cruise to Alaska and the Aleutian Islands. The Nereus, along with four submarines of the Pacific Fleet, is scheduled to visit Adak, Pribiloff, Kodiak, Seward and Juneau in the course of the cruise.
40 Years Ago, September 9, 1982
•Nine bids were received by the council for materials and labor to construct a 34x64 foot addition to the fire hall on 1st Avenue SW at the regular monthly meeting held on Tuesday evening, September 7. The bids varied from a low of $2371 for labor to a high of $15,383 for materials and labor. Three were bids for materials only, five were for labor only and one for both materials and labor. The council recessed this meeting until September 13 to consider the action on the bids.
•Horseshoe pitching champions Ernie Mallow, Virgil Seaton and Jack O’Connor comprise the East League of Bertha. Harry Harlow of Bertha was in town last week to present them with the overall championship trophy. As winners of the O’Connor league, they had to defeat the top teams in the East-West divisions of the Hilmar Johnson league as well to claim the championship title.
•To earn their 50-Miller Award, boy scouts of Verndale Troop 326 journeyed by canoe from Shell City to Staples. In order to earn the award, they not only had to canoe the distance but policed and improved the campsites. The boys qualifying for the award were: Randy VanBatavia, Mark Tiede, Floyd Suhl, Mark Neilson, Troy Bounds, Robin Snook, Doug Masog, Jason Neuerburg, Mike Willis, Auggie Anderson, Tony Dolezal, Matt Ganz, Loren Horsager, Scott Anderson, Brian Jacobson, Kevin Baker, Paul Harne, Jeff Harne and Scott Veronen.
15 Years Ago, September 5, 2007
•Mike Lovelace, president of the Friday Night Lights group was presented with a lifetime athletic pass from the school for all his efforts and contributions to this outstanding project. Members of the group applauded head Football Coach Mike Mahlen as Announcer Dan Skogen officially dedicated the Verndale football field to him, naming it the Mike Mahlen Field.
•The Verndale volleyball team had a bumpy start to their season last week with two losses to Parkers Prairie and Eagle Valley. On Tuesday, the girls played at home against Parkers Prairie. Head Coach Kelly Youngbauer set a goal to win their first match of the season but unfortunately, this goal was not met. Parkers Prairie defeated Verndale 3-0.
• The first item of discussion at the Verndale School Board was the $1 excess levy that had been put off from last month so the financial committee could crunch some numbers and see where the school would be in a few years. After a long heated discussion, it was decided that the school is financially stable enough to hold off on the levy. A couple of school board members thought this was an opportunity they needed to take. The new preschool wing will cost around $150,000.
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