Dusting off the Archives
News from Verndale's Past
75 Years Ago, January 22, 1948
•The Verndale Commercial Club held a spirited and constructive meeting on Monday evening of this week. Gordon E. Blume, the outgoing president of the club for 1947, opened the meeting, calling for reports from the different committees of the past year, and then he himself read off a list of a number of things the club had accomplished the past year. After hearing the various committee reports, etc., Mr. Blume then turned over the gavel to the new president, Gordon D. Bluhm.
•Tuberculin testing in the schools, a mass chest x-ray survey through the county health service and health education are among the projects made possible in Wadena County through the use of Christmas Seal funds, according to Mrs. Mary Conley, secretary of the Wadena County Public Health Association. Summarizing the 1947 activities, Mrs. Conley reported that the county association appropriated $150 toward local expenses of the mobile x-ray survey and spent an additional $100 for literature and supplies.
•Verndale’s cagers had to come from behind again at Sebeka last Tuesday night to earn the win from a hot-shooting Sebeka five. It’s getting to be a habit with Verndale, in the last four games Earl Seaton’s Pirates have had to come back in the second half in order to win. It was no different against Sebeka’s Trojans as Verndale was trailing at the end of the first and second quarters by 13-3 and at the half 22-16. The Pirates began to sail the second half as they cut Sebeka’s lead to 26-25 at the end of the third period. The final quarter Verndale took control of the ball game and came out with a 35-30 win.
•The second meeting of the Verndale Educational Association was held Monday, January 19, with Mr. Wollan presiding. The minutes of the last meeting were read and approved. It was voted to have our meetings every second Friday afternoon from 2:40-4 p.m. Our discussion next meeting, led by Mr. Bluhm, will be on the “Philosophy of Education.” Mrs. Peterson will lead a discussion on the “Needs of Children.”
40 Years Ago, January 27, 1983
•Firemen were called to the home of Fire Chief Duane Davis at 11:15 a.m. last Thursday to extinguish a fire of undetermined origin, which began in the family room which was added to the home about two years ago. Firemen fought the fire from the exterior, while others were inside with airpacks to determine the origin and the extent of the fire.
•Ida Gibbs looks more like a woman of 65-70 than one who has just celebrated her 90th birthday. She attributes it all to lots of hard work. She hails from he southeast corner of Wisconsin where she was born in Jefferson County, one of seven children. She accompanied her parents to Minnesota when she was five years old, settling in Bartlett Township. She vividly recalls the name of each of her teachers: Anna Whalen, Jessie Henderson, Gertie Rich, all of Aldrich; Winnie Proctor of Verndale; Emily Kelly, who lived just south of their place and Mary Baird who lived across the road from them. Ida was 18 years old when she met George Minnette. They were married on November 10, either 1911 or 1912, she can’t remember exactly.
•Sparks flew as the Burlington Northern railroad tracks through Verndale received a dressing down last week, as the grinding unit removed the rough edges and build-up on the rails. It was quite a sight to behold in the early hours after the sun had set.
• Six Verndale Lions Club members and their wives attended the Lions 5M9 Midwinter Convention held in Brainerd January 21-23 at the Holiday Inn. They were Jim Neuerburg, Jim Pierce, Larry Anderson, William Fisher, Grant Boe and Richard Brown and their wives. Two hundred Lions from Otter Tail, Todd, Becker, Cass, Crow Wing, Aitkin, Wilkin, Hubbard, and Wadena counties were in attendance.
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