Dusting off the Archives
News from Verndale's Past
75 Years Ago, March 17, 1949
• Mr. and Mrs. C.E. Anderson entertained all the basketball team, Coach Earl Seaton and Mrs. Seaton and the cheerleaders on Sunday evening at a turkey dinner. There were 18 attending the joyful event.
• Over 500 people attended the Peterson and Son anniversary party last Thursday in which 550 cups of coffee were served during the day. Mel Rundell won the radio prize; John Robben the electric iron; Irwin Grewe the toaster and Fred Horst the teapot. The Petersons wish to extend their sincere thanks to everyone for the friendly relationship they have enjoyed during their first year in Verndale.
• Richard Hess of Verndale, who is an English major at Bemidji State Teachers College, is assisting in the arrangements for the Journalism Conference on April 1 at the college. Ed Shave, of the Minneapolis Star Tribune, prominent Minnesota sports columnist, will be the principle speaker at the one-day journalists gathering.
40 Years Ago, March 14, 1984
• Over 80 pigs were roasted in a barn fire early Monday evening at the Gavin Heib farm north of the Aldrich Town Hall, about five miles northeast of Verndale. Gavin came to town just before 6 p.m. with two hogs which had just been butchered. The fire alarm sounded about 6:10 p.m. His wife Sandy called in the alarm when she saw the two-year-old 32x60 barn smoking. The fire is believed to have started from a heat lamp on a sow that had recently delivered. Lost in the fire were 10 sows, two with litters of 10, six to be pigging in about a month and about 50-30 pounders, and two butcher hogs.
• Rodney Bounds and Grant Boe, representing the Lions Club, asked permission from the Verndale City Council to hire someone to draw up a plan for McNair Park, also making it mandatory that any organization wishing to take on the project, such as shelter building, gazebo, playground equipment, planting trees or whatever, seek city approval first. The proposed draft would be displayed at the city office for reference. The council put its stamp of approval for the club to seek estimates on such a draft, expressing the desire that several organizations be involved in the planning, keeping in mind utilization of the area.
• Verndale’s speech team put forth considerable effort at the Staples Junior High Speech Contest last week on Tuesday, March 6, with three ribbon winners. They were Cindy Crowe, a blue ribbon in prose; Monica Dolezal, a blue ribbon in poetry, and Jennifer Ninneman, a red ribbon in non-original oratory.
15 Years Ago, February 21, 2009
• Jill Holm, pastor of the Assembly of God Church in Verndale, arrived home two weeks ago from a 12-day mission trip to Guyana. She was part of a group of 18 people organized by Debra and Wayne Zimmer’s End Time Glory Ministries of Wilmar. The 18 travelers brought with them donations of medical and dental supplies, clothing and gifts for local pastors, and a message of hope and love to congregations in and near Guyana’s capitol city, Georgetown.
• The Minnesota High School Football Coaches Association will hold its 45th Annual Hall of Fame Banquet on Saturday evening, April 4, at the Double Tree Hotel in Minneapolis. Five outstanding individuals have been selected to enter the “Hall of Fame” for their dedication and contributions to high school football in Minnesota. Mike Mahlen of Verndale High School is one of the inductees.
• Swans bring a sign of spring. The largest of North American waterfowl, the Trumpeter Swan, is a resident throughout much of the area. The male is called a cob, the female is called a pen. With a wingspan of over seven feet, these snow-white birds are truly spectacular. Standing on the ground, an adult Trumpeter stands about four feet high. The Trumpeter Swan was hunted for its feathers throughout the 1600s-1800s, causing a tremendous decline in its numbers. Its large flight feathers made what were considered to be the best quality quill pens.