Dusting off the Archives
News from Verndale's Past
75 Years Ago, August 28, 1948
• The Verndale, Aldrich, Women’s kitten ball game was the same story as last week’s game, only with Verndale the winners this time. Verndale, like Aldrich last week, had a good first inning, and piled up 11 scores. Aldrich, like Verndale’s last game, just couldn’t get going until the last two innings. Aldrich rallied and the game ended 21-16 in favor of Verndale.
• Verndale High School Athletic Coach Earl Seaton Jr. is issuing a call for all high school boys intending to play football this season to be on the school grounds on Wednesday afternoon, September 1, for their first football practice at 2 p.m.
• The body of Pfc. John W. Ash has been returned to the state from Manilla aboard the U.S. Army Transport Dalton Victory and was to have reached San Fransisco on August 12. From there his body was to be forwarded at a later date from the American Graves Registration Distribution Center in Kansas City, Mo., to the Butturff-Bjerke funeral chapel in Wadena. Pfc. John Ash is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Ash. It will be remembered he was killed at Bongai in the Philippines on April 15, 1945. He had enlisted in July 1944.
• The crew of men who were erecting Verndale’s city water tower were apparently making fast work of their job. They began their first work on Saturday and on Wednesday of this week, they had the four standards up, the “cat walk” and were starting on the tower. They expect to complete their work in three weeks. The 50 to 60 thousand gallon capacity water tower will be 128 feet from its top to the ground.
40 Years Ago, August 24, 1983
• Present at the installation service at Balsamlund Lutheran Church on Monday evening, August 15 were: Rev. Roger Botz, O.S.B. of Collegeville, Rev. Richard Kennedy of Fergus Falls, the new pastor Rev. Maxwell Johnson, Wadena/Verndale, Rev. Peter Martinson of Sebeka, Bishop Harold Lohr of Fargo, Rev. Ted Carlson of Garfield and Rev. Tim Lincoln of Detroit Lakes. The ceremony took place outdoors at the church site, southeast of Verndale.
• Two passengers were injured last Sunday morning when a 1978 Chevrolet van collided with a 1970 Ford pickup at the intersection of County Roads 22 and 4, three miles north of Verndale. According to the sheriff’s department, the accident occurred at approximate 9 a.m. Walter Robert Perry, 58, of Route 2, Staples was westbound on 4 and the van driven by Gerald Tomperi, 40, of Menahga was traveling south on 22, when the collision occurred. There were 10 passengers in the van, two of whom were injured and taken by ambulance to Tri-County Hospital in Wadena.
• Five of the six seniors returning to the gridiron this year, posed in this photo around new equipment built to help train linemen to keep low when tackling. They are Jerry Swanson, co-captains Mike Wutzke and Jon Efraimson, Mike Cyper and Brian Jackson. Mark Anderson was absent.
• The monthly meeting of the Verndale Historical Society will be held Thursday evening, August 25, in the basement of the Methodist Church. This will be a work session to address fliers for prospective book buyers, so members are asked to bring lists of addresses. A short business meeting will follow.