Dusting off the Archives
News from Verndale's Past
75 Years Ago, July 10, 1947
•Mr. Wm. (Sharkey) Payne, who purchased the old Verndale Theatre and building in April, and since that time has had some of the building and equipment undergoing a complete remodeling, redecorating and new air-conditioning job is ready for his grand opening this coming Sunday afternoon. Frank Borzage’s “I’ve Always Loved You,” a late and popular show, has been chosen as his opening picture.
•L. E. Perkings and L. D. Frazier, well-known insurance agents of Verndale, who represent the Fidelity Phoenix Fire Insurance Company, a member of the American Fire Insurance Agency and Indemnity Group, have just been presented by the company with its gold medal token of more than 25 years of representation. The face of the medal bears the insignia of the company and the back is suitably entranced with each of their names and the company’s affiliation data.
•Gordon E. Blume was appointed treasurer of the Verndale School Board at their meeting Tuesday of last week. Mr. Blume succeeds Clarence E. Anderson who resigned from this office a few weeks ago.
40 Years Ago, July 15, 1982
•Three more candidates have filed for county commissioner posts, according to information released by the auditor’s office Tuesday. They are Robert L. Folkestad for District 3, Ralph Lorentz for District 1, and Arvid Edeburn for District 3. They will be competing against incumbents William Hunnicut (District 3) and Nick Schmitz Jr. (District 1) who filed last week.
•Two races are being planned to add to the fun of Verndale’s annual Strawhat and Sunbonnet Days celebration scheduled for August 7 and 8. The races will be held on Saturday, first a bicycle race and then an outdoor toilet seat race.
•This is the building to look for at the county fairgrounds when it comes to canning time. It is located just north of the new 4-H building. Mary Zeise and Larry Sworski from the Community Action Council invite all to avail themselves of this service they provide in this community canning center. Measuring about 10’ x 30,’ it is equipped with complete high-pressure food processing equipment manufactured by the Ball Co. It was to have been opened on July 12 but was delayed due to difficulties in finding a qualified Grade B boiler operator.
15 Years Ago, July 11, 2007
•The 2007 Sorehead nominees are David Wiese and Dan Schmitz. Sara Wiese said, “I would like to nominate my dad and long-time G&L service employee David Wiese cause he’s a big ol’ sorehead in my book and should be recognized as that!” Jim Carr nominated Dan Schmitz and shared he is involved in many community activities, church and is on the Verndale Fire Department as well as running the annual auction.
•On July 3, the Verndale Exploration Club made the trip into Wadena to visit Sunnybrook Park for some fun in the sun! The kids played games like water relay races and water balloon toss. They also had a scavenger hunt. Community Ed. has sponsored afternoon exploration clubs for students in grades K-4; which runs concurrently with the summer rec. schedule. The Exploration Clubs are led by Angela Hopkins and she is assisted by Kim Yungbauer and volunteer grandma Ruby Jacobson.
•The Verndale Legion baseball team hosted Staples on Monday, July 2. This was the team’s final home game of the season. Their last regular-season game will be held on Monday, July 16 with Verndale at Sebeka. This week Verndale travels to Walker on Wednesday, July 11 and to Bertha on Friday, July 13.