Dusting off the Archives

News from Verndale's Past

40 Years Ago, April 25, 1985

• Saturday evening, Miss Lynn Hahn was crowned Miss Verndale. She is the daughter of Larry and Diane Hahn. She will be representing Verndale at many events during the next year as well as competing for the Miss Heartland title in October, and participating in the Minneapolis Aquatennial and St. Paul Winter Carnival events.

•Verndale Senior Citizens heard from three speakers at a legal seminar held at the local center last Thursday afternoon. Karla Abdo, paralegal of Northwest Minnesota Legal Services, gave a short presentation regarding the sponsoring agency, a federally-funded non-profit organization established to provide free legals services to low-income people and senor citizens. Joe Majors, a Wadena attorney told those present about Medicare and Supplemental insurance “Filling the Medicare Gap”, while Barb Ramsdorf from the Wadena Medical Center put worries to rest of many seniors, telling them that they will be admitted to the hospital if needed, even if patients are unable to supply the $400 deposit required by Medicare.

• Reconstruction work began last week on County Road 4 by a crew of county employees who began widening ditches and road shoulders in preparation for resurfacing the roadway this summer. At a public meeting held prior to the project, residents along the route were asked to remove their fences, etc., which they didn’t want plowed under to save county funds which had been appropriated for blacktop and ditches only. Pictured, Jim Waldahl builds a field approach near the home of Mary Nanik.

• Dry conditions kept firemen busy Saturday and Sunday before the welcome rains came. At 12:10 a.m., strong winds blew down tree branches, which in turn, downed powerlines near the Steve Dougherty farm about nine miles north of Verndale. Firemen were called when it was feared sparks from the downed line would start fires. Before all the firemen could leave town for that fire, some were dispatched to the Roy Dague home at the southeast edge of town where sparks from stumps which were still burning were fanned by the strong winds, causing the fire to spread. While still fighting the previous two fires, word was received of a grass fire along County Road 118 at the Marvin Neuerburg residence. He had been burning leaves earlier and thought the fire was out.

15 Years Ago, April 29, 2010

• On Tuesday, April 20, the Verndale Fire Department responded to a fire call at the Verndale School shop room. A fire had ignited in one of the saws and traveled through the exhaust system. It is believed the fire originated when the saw blade hit a nail and it fell into the dust collection portion of the saw where it smoldered until the afternoon when it finally ignited.

• The Lady Pirates ran into a very tough opponent on Tuesday, April 20. The Bulldogs from OTC shut out the Pirates 5-0. Verndale only collected five hits including a double by Heather Heijhal. Jenny Swenson pitched six innings giving up six hits and three earned runs.

• The Verndale School Board has approved changing Justin Sperling’s administrative title from dean of students to K-8 principal/district assessment coordinator. The approval, effective July 1, and pending contract negotiations, came during the board’s Monday, April 26 regular monthly meeting, per the recommendation of Superintendent/Principal Paul Brownlow. Brownlow said other applications for the position were also reviewed, but none of those applicants have Sperling’s qualifications.

• Verndale 16s JO Volleyball is playing well this spring. They placed first in the Osakis tournament on Saturday, April 10 and second in the Nevis tournament on Sunday, April 18. Verndale will host the next tournament with the 12s and 14s teams playing on Saturday and the 16s will play on Sunday afternoon. Pictured are Theresa Moenkedick, Kaitlyn Richter, Amber Wendt, Coach Shari Mattson, Kayla Graba, Ashley Richter, Jordanna Schluttner, Megan Richter and Ashley Richter.

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