Dusting off the Archives
News from Verndale's Past
75 Years Ago, May 13, 1948
• There will be six candidates vying for the four vacancies on the Verndale School Board of Education at the annual meeting next Tuesday, May 18. The candidates are: Gordon Blume, Harold Fisher, Mrs. Fred King and C.P. Pettit who are present incumbents and have filed for re-election; and LeRoy Manselle and Wm. Pilgrim threw their hats in the ring. Voting will take place at the schoolhouse. Of the filings, Gordon Blume is filing for the unexpired term of C.E. Anderson, and Harold Fisher for the unexpired term of Lester J. Marquardt.
• Plans are now complete for the “Black and White” Holstein show at the cattle barn at the Wadena County Fairgrounds on Thursday, June 10. It was announced this week by Clyde Kelsey, president of the recently-organized West Central Holstein Club. At a meeting of the board of directors held in Henning on May 4, it was learned that 25 breeders will exhibit approximately 85 head of purebred Holsteins at the show.
• The well drillers for the Verndale city water system ran into some difficulty this week. On Monday and Tuesday when they began testing the supply, they found that it was only pumping about 40 gallons a minute when they expected it should pump between 350 to 400 gallons per minute. They are now waiting for bailing out equipment from Minneapolis as they suspect sludge, clay, etc., is slowing up the water supply and they will have to bail and clean out their gravel packing.
• The Verndale High School has set Thursday evening, May 20, for the date of their formal junior-senior banquet to be held at the St. Frederick’s Church.
40 Years Ago, May 12, 1983
• Judges from the Heartland Pageant in the Brainerd area will choose a new queen from the 10 contestants at the Miss Verndale Pageant to be held this Saturday evening, May 14. The program will be held in the school auditorium. Candidates seeking the Miss Verndale title are: Jennie Anderson, Brenda Butler, Cathy Colby, Carmen Osek, Tammy Krell, Shelly Notch, Angie Peterson, Michelle Richter, Pam Schmidt and Sheri Thurston.
• At the Verndale Booster meeting held Monday, April 4, plans were made for the building of a new shelter in McNair Park. Work was to have begun on May 7, however, the strong southeasterly winds delayed the project. The club voted to sponsor the summer recreation program.
• Forty chickens were lost in the barn fire at the Everson Chapman home located 13 miles northeast of Verndale last Monday afternoon. Three horses and a number of goats were saved. The Verndale Fire Department was called to the farm shortly after 3 p.m., and when they arrived were told the fire inside the barn had been extinguished. After checking it out, firefighters returned to town. When they were about three miles north of town, they received word that the fire had rekindled, and they turned around to return to the scene. Since it was located in a wooded area, the DNR fire spotting plane circled the area to watch for the possible spread of the fire into the brush and trees surrounding the area due to strong 30-35 mph winds from the southeast.
• Five Verndale art students won awards in the recent Staples Skills Fair displaying their talents in a variety of mediums. They are Chuck Goddard with his spackling of a tiger’s head: Jeff Masog, who entered the photography class, Angie Peterson with her acrylic painting, and Kevin Hanlon, who placed first with two watercolor pictures. Matt LeFebvre displayed his pencil drawing.
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