Dusting off the Archives
News from Verndale's Past
75 Years Ago, July 7, 1949
• Reverend and Mrs. Ralph W. Davis and their three children moved to Verndale last week from Langdon, North Dakota, for Reverend Davis to take over the Methodist churches in central, Verndale and southwest Bertha. Their three children are: Kenneth, 7; Raymond, 2; and Sylvia Mae, nine months.
• Arvid Nelson of Aldrich and Darrell Nelson of Perham completed a deal this past week with Clarence E. Anderson for the purchase of Andy’s feed and poultry business in Verndale. The Nelson brothers are the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Nelson of Aldrich and are well known in the community. They are not new in the feed business, either, both having six years or more of experience handling feed.
• Forty-seven Wadena County girls have been nominated for the Little Round Hill centennial queen contest. For the next few weeks these girls will be vying for the title through votes received by news coupons, advance pageant ticket coupons and votes earned by advance pageant ticket sales. Governor Youngdahl will crown the queen at the centennial pageant on Thursday evening, August 4, the first day of the Wadena County Fair.
40 Years Ago, July 11, 1984
• As pictured, it’s scenes such as these which have prompted the Verndale City Council to make the decision to fence off the area around the Burlington Northern Caboose recently in McNair Park. Replacing the glass in windows and doors is becoming an expensive item when people don’t appreciate having a bit of history preserved. Cabooses are being phased out of the railroad industry and if it were not for exhibits such as these, generations down the line my never see one.
• Two candidates have filed for Commissioner District II which covers Wing River, Aldrich and Thomastown Townships, the Staples Annex and the cities of Verndale and Aldrich. Dale Paulsen of Verndale and Russ Birch of Staples are the only two filing for the post relinquished by Gorden Berg, who has served for two, four-year terms.
• Four former Webelos graduated into the full-fledged Boy Scout program in an impressive candle-lighting ceremony held last week Monday in the fire hall meeting room. While their parents watched, Scott Veronen and Kevin Baker conducted the initiation.
15 Years Ago, February 21, 2009
• It took 238 days since the November 2008 election until Minnesota finally declared a winner in the U.S. Senate race. Al Franken came out victorious over Norm Coleman who originally led by 215 votes after election day. After the April 2009 court ruling was in, it was Franken that led by 312 votes. It was one of the closest votes in political history.
• If you don’t want to get your hands dirty, don’t study with University of Minnesota Professor of Anthropology Dr. Katherine “Kat” Hayes. On June 15, Hayes and eight graduate and undergraduate students took to the hills or, more specifically, the Little Round Hill in the Old Wadena Park to see what they could find out about past civilizations there. Hayes is very interested in the fur trade era and has previously explored sites connected with that way of life in upstate New York.
• Ever since 1906, Dower Lake has been a big attraction for residents of Todd and Wadena counties. It now has another reason for people to frequent the small lake, a brand new fishing pier. The 600 foot long pier was built over steel pilings, some of which are driven down 70 feet. The pier deck is nine feet wide, built with 2x8 decking with railings from 30-42 inches in height. The cost of re-building the pier was approximately $540,000. It is dedicated to our late senator Dallas Sams.
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