Dusting off the Archives
News from Verndale's Past
75 Years Ago, July 12, 1945
• Romeo, S2/c and Pvt. Richard Goche are the sons of Mr. and Mrs. Martin Goche residing north of Verndale. Romeo, who is in the Navy, is now possibly on board a ship somewhere in the Pacific and Richard, who is serving with the infantry, is stationed in the Philippines.
• The first severe electrical storm of the 1945 summer which hit last Tuesday afternoon, July 3, took an unprecedented toll of life in Todd County. It caused the death of one Eagle Valley farmer, injury to three youths and the death of three farm horses. Lightning struck and killed Adin Jackson, 60, three miles southwest of Clarissa and at the same time struck dead the horse he was leading. Less than a mile away, the storm killed a team of horses on the farm of Charley Johnson and injured his three children: Everett, 18; Donald, 15; and Carol, 13.
• Pfc. Wally Bergman is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Bergman and at present is serving in the U.S. Army as Military Police in Germany. A recent letter from Wally to his folks stated that he expected to be home this summer before being sent on to the South Pacific.
40 Years Ago, July 10, 1980
• Members of the Verndale Lions Club will again undertake the staging of this year’s parade. Lions named as contact persons for registering entries are Duane Davis and James Shereck. It is hoped their phones will be ringing off the hook by persons planning to enter floats in the parade.
• Lyndon McClure was wounded in the leg last Wednesday evening when a pistol he was using in target practice discharged as it was being removed from its holster. The bullet entered his leg in the thigh and lodged in his ankle. Because of its proximity to an artery, local doctors were advised by a specialist that it was safer to leave it than attempt its removal.
• Anticipated progress in developing and connecting the newly state-approved well for Verndale has reached a snag. Representatives of the engineering firm, attorney’s office and financial institution were present to begin preliminary work on the project with the city council. But because the landowner, through which the route is planned, is hospitalized, little can be done until an easement can be obtained. Alternate routes, farther north, increasing construction costs considerably were also discussed. While the city attempts to obtain the easement, Attorney Mark Hanson said his concern would be working out a program for financing the project based on the $120,000 estimate made by Engineer Al Moen.
15 Years Ago, July 14, 2005
• The Verndale Grocery Store officially became R & M Grocery when it changed hands on July 1. Co-owners Rob and Melissa Olson and Jim and Carol Ackerson bought the grocery store from the group of investors that had operated the store the past few years. All four owners have been in service to people and decided to combine their experiences. Rob works for a vending company. Melissa owned and operated a daycare center and had previous management experience with Midwest Vision. Jim currently works at Mason Brothers and has 25 years experience in the grocery business. Carol is a certified nursing assistant and works as a home health aide. Each will work in the store, however, this will be Melissa’s full-time (and then some) job.
• Eric Blaha slid into home, but was ruled out, in Thursday’s game against Henning. Eric plays in the Mighty Mites division for Verndale Summer Rec. Eric not only had a great form on his slide, he had a smile on his face. It was a great display of love for the game.
• Council Member Brenna indicated that he wanted to reconsider the issue of the hourly wage for the Verndale Police Chief Jon Cline. At the June meeting, the council voted to hire Cline for the position of police chief at the recommendation of the Council’s Police Committee who conducted a search and interviewed three candidates. Cline was offered $12.50 per hour—the same pay he received as a full-time officer without supervisory responsibilities. Although Cline requested a pay increase, it was not granted. The council and Cline settled on $13.25 per hour with Stave, Carr and Desrocher in favor and Brenna and Moyer against it.