Dusting off the Archives
News from Verndale's Past
75 Years Ago, May 6, 1948
• KWAD, Wadena’s radio station, received their okay from Washington to go on the air last Saturday, and on Sunday, May 2, broadcast their electronically transcribed dedication program of April 25. Julie Langer and Lavonne Juergens of Verndale were both heard on the dedication program. Reception in this area has been very good, and The Sun and its readers join in wishing the Wadena station the best of luck and success.
• High school honor students: Valedictorian Lola Erickson and Salutatorian Gerald Gibbs. Others who will be graduating with honors from the Verndale High School are as follows—those who have attained an average of 89 or higher are: Alan Dalen, Joyce Pleidrup, Mildred Miller, Alice Juergens, Lela Mack and Iona Hammes. The graduating class is larger than usual with 31 students expecting to complete their high school courses and will be attending commencement.
• The Verndale Liquor Storefront was damaged last Saturday afternoon when Clark Hasting’s foot slipped off the brake, and his car came up over the curb and smacked into the doors of the liquor store.
40 Years Ago, May 5, 1983
• The Verndale City Council approved the purchase of heavy-duty commercial carpet through Verndale Floor Covering at the regular monthly meeting Monday evening. Normally, $12-$18 per square yard, it was offered to the council installed at $8 per square yard for a total of $320, plus $30 for the special glue needed to adhere to the cement floor. Once installed, the move of the office equipment will be made from the clerk’s home to the new office located at the south side of the fire hall annex on Brown Street. It was decided that the clerk would be in the office from 9 a.m.-2 p.m. on Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday on a trial basis, until it was determined whether more or less time is required.
• Handing over the keys to the Verndale Grocery Store are Jeff and Gloria Hackett, handing them to Wanda and Fred Klimek of New York Mills, who have assumed ownership of Jeff’s Supermarket. The store will be named Fred’s Verndale Grocery. Fred was raised on a dairy farm near Urbank, and graduated from Parkers Prairie High School. He received a degree in supermarket management from the Pipestone AVTI. He has since been employed in Onamia, Long Prairie and New York Mills. Wanda is employed in Wadena County Court. They have an eight-month-old daughter, Cassandra.
• Poppy poster winners this year were Carl Meister, first; Cathy Tadniecki, second; and Mary Jo Wutske, third, in the Legion Auxiliary contest. Kathy Wiese presented the winners with cash prizes of $3, $2 and $1.
15 Years Ago, May 8, 2008
• For 32 years, Verndale Custom Homes has been in business on Highway 10 in Verndale, building fully custom, energy-efficient homes. In the late 1980s and early 1990s during the housing boom, there was quite a bit of scientific research being done on better ways to build homes. Verndale Custom Homes was right there in the middle of the research, learning that there was a way to seal the walls to avoid a “sick house” as Wayne Stave explained it was “a house that had mold in the walls.”
•Each year at Verndale we are privileged to be the host school to several foreign exchange students. The Ethnic Fest was developed to create an opportunity for the exchange students to share their cultures and homelands with the people of Verndale and for the community to be able to experience and appreciate the cultural diversity the students give to the school community during their time in Verndale.
• The Verndale 21st Century PEP Club Food Drive was held and the students responsible for the drive, collected the food from the elementary classrooms and delivered it to the Wadena Area Food Shelf. Featured this week is the winning classroom, Mrs. Waldahl’s third grade. The single classroom donated 82 of the 283 items collected.
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