Dusting off the Archives
News from Verndale's Past
75 Years Ago, June 30, 1949
• Effective next week or July 1, Verndale will have a new liquor store manager and a new chief of police. Hugo Weber is the present city water pump caretaker and will have the job of village chief of police added to his work. He will be taking over the position held by Harry Gibbs. Due to the resignation of R.E. Downing as manager of the liquor store, Jack Attleson has been promoted to manager and Ted Schmidt has been hired to work as his helper.
• Vince Nanik of Wadena made a deal this past week for Ferd Gruenhagen’s Verndale Blacksmith Shop and his residence in Verndale. Mr. Nanik’s house in Wadena was traded to Mr. Gruenhagen in the deal.
• Bob Anderson, local golfer, nearly won the short stop tournament at Staples last Sunday. Bob won his way to the semi-finals and was playing the third and fourth round of nine holes to avoid having to play 36 holes. Dr. Christie won the match.
40 Years Ago, July 4, 1984
• Many attending the State Highway Study Commission meeting at Wadena last Friday afternoon were county and township officers and personnel who testified before the committee. The general trend of comments was that unless the state provided funding to care for the roads, outstate counties and townships would find it impossible to maintain more roads, should the state turn them over to local jurisdictions as recommended by the Citizen’s Advisory Committee comprised of metropolitan citizens.
• A hobo-style picnic was enjoyed last Friday afternoon by members of the Mystery Sisters, along with games in McNair Park. Each brought a lunch on a stick labeled for their secret pals. The best dressed were chosen to pose with their lunches. They were Orlet Larson, Pat Weiher, Barb Miller, Barb Ludlow, Noni Stone and Janet Anderson.
• Instead of auctioning to the highest bidder a kiss from Miss Verndale, this year a group of local admirers came forth to pay a dollar at a time for the honor. They are Boll Beven, Tom Yule, Earl Flores, Lee Denny, Rodney Bounds, last year’s winner Virgil Seaton, Vern Anway, Bob Schultz, Larry Hahn, Ken Reul and Ken Winterfeld.
15 Years Ago, July 2, 2009
• A major fire broke out on December 21 and devoured some of the Central Minnesota Arena and Event Center, also know as R&J Horse Sales or just plain Sundby’s to some. Along with the twisted and charred metal was the additional loss of 40 horses that had been sheltered in a stall barn adjacent to the 30,000 square foot arena. The new arena and event center will be an estimated 100,000 square feet.
• Exploring the sights and sounds of Birdwell Island traveling through an ant hill and touching a live snake were a few activities kindergarten students enjoyed during their field trip to the Minnesota Children’s Museum. A highlight for the Verndale students was the Clifford Gallery which featured many activities based on Clifford the Big Red Dog.
•The Verndale American Legion baseball team has played ten games this summer. The team is made up of the younger players with virtually no varsity level experience. Although Verndale has been outscored by a large margin each game, the kids don’t let it get them down.
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