Dusting off the Archives
News from Verndale's Past
75 Years Ago, March 31, 1949
• News was received last week that Cpl. Edgar Dickinson’s remains are being brought back from Europe for reburial services in the Fort Snelling Cemetery on April 19. Cpl. Dickinson, the son of the late Maurice Dickinson and Mrs. Martha Hanson, was killed near Luxembourg on April 8, 1945 while on a reconnaissance mission, only one month before the hostilities in Europe ended on May 8, 1945.
• Eddie Stigman, who returned last summer from Quam where he had been working with a construction company, left on Monday to return for another year or more. From here he went to Minneapolis where he flew by airplane to San Francisco and from there traveled to Quam by boat.
• Twelve boys: Rich Grewe, Bob Doll, Ron Doll, Rol Anderson, Don Umland, Butch Davis, Frank Roberts, Bud Conley, Leo Minnette, Jim Lepper, Ray Pfeiffer, Lawrence Sharp, and Mr. and Mrs. Earl Seaton, Jr. returned home Sunday morning at about 4 a.m. after three entertaining days at the State Tournament at Minneapolis. Some of the boys were marking their first trip to the Mill City, and they made the most of all the sights the city had to offer.
40 Years Ago, March 28, 1984
• Because sports, from horse racing to ball games, have always played an important part in the entertainment for Verndale, the theme “Games People Played” has been chosen for the 1984 Strawhat and Sunbonnet Days celebration to be held August 4-5. The button design contest has been extended to April 25 to allow artists time to research and draw a design based on this theme.
• Robert Sommars made a point in the discussion with Representative Jerry Graba in a coffee hour sponsored by the legislator last Saturday at Dorie’s Diner. The were discussing the welfare costs. Those visible in the picture were: Ken Todd, Robert Sommars, Rodney Anderson, Representative Graba and Rodney Bounds.
• Verndale firemen are among those meeting every week at the fire hall taking a 40-hour course in crash injury management taught by Bill Jacobson of Verndale, Multi-County Ambulance Service and Don Snorek, EMS Coordinator for WAVTI. Students pictured practicing with a backboard are: Bobby Anderson and Dan Fisher of the Verndale Fire Department, Merlin Olson, Sebeka Fire, and Mike Herbert, sheriff’s deputy from Sebeka, Darrell Corbin, Sebeka Fire, Gary Majahrzak of the Menahga Police Department and Sandy Anderson, RN, Verndale. The “victim” strapped to the board was Bruce Uselman, dispatcher for the Wadena County Sheriff’s Department.
15 Years Ago, April 9, 2009
• Looking south on Farwell Street, the snowpiles were higher than the dump truck. On this impassable day, looking north on Farwell the downtown was full of cars and pickups. It is clearly a challenge to get through the storm. However, if this winter seems to have been bad, here are some facts from some of the worst winter storms in Minnesota history: October 16, 1880,earliest blizzard in Minnesota with drifts exceeding 20’; November 26, 1896, Thanksgiving Day storm, severe cold went to -45 degrees; January 10-12, 1975, perhaps one of the worst blizzards and strongest storms closed most roads in the state, some for 11 days, with 20’ drifts.
• This past weekend 20 young Raiders from grades K-8 participated in the NYWA regional wrestling tournament in Bemidji. The top three winners in each class qualify for the State Tournament. The eight individuals who earned a trip to the State Tourney are first graders Craig Orlando and Ricky Hang; third grader Holton Truax; fourth grader Ethan Kimber; fifth grader Ethan Orlando, sixth graders Anthony Kern and Dillon Card and seventh grader Andy Bounds.
• During the Verndale City Council meeting, the council unanimously approved the adoption of two resolutions for the approval of an application to the state’s Public Facilities Authority (PFA). A $461,500 loan application is in lieu of helping the city pay for improvements to its sewer system and a $319,900 loan application in lieu of helping the city to pay for improvements to its drinking water system.