Dusting off the Archives

News from Verndale's Past

40 Years Ago, July 24, 1985

• The three active members of the alumni band being formed this year will be making a last-ditch effort this week to contact former instrumentalists in an effort to recruit them for the formation of an alumni band to fill out the plans of a band for the future, the present and the past. Sandy Gould and Jerry Swanson say they’ve picked a simple song so that no one should have difficulty picking it up in the two practices remaining which are July 29 and August 3.

• Wadena County nominees for Outstanding Senior Citizen, chosen for their accomplishments since reaching age 65, were honored at the county fair last Friday afternoon. They were Alice Oehlenschlager of Nimrod who was crowned, Mary C. Thompson of Wadena, Hilda Rasmussen of Nimrod and Esther Horsager of Verndale.

• It isn’t often that representatives from all the 50 states in the Union are represented in Verndale at one time, but such was true last week Thursday when two of three large tour buses stopped here for a rest and a break. They held Gold Star Wives of America, Inc. members who had been attending the national convention in Minneapolis. They were enroute back after taking a side tour into Canada. One of the buses was delayed when one of the passengers became ill and had to be taken to a hospital for treatment. The group plans to meet in Arizona next year according to Mary Johnson of New Jersey and Joy Dove of Minneapolis, national president, with whom we visited briefly.

• Twenty-three city residents, mostly senior citizens, attended the public meeting called by the city council to air the pros and cons of re-installing water meters. Chuck Anderson of the Minnesota Rural Water Association showed a slide presentation telling of meter history, why have meters, meter locations, purchasing, parts, how the meters work, etc. The greatest opposition seemed to be the concern of the $10,000 cost of the meters, maintenance and reading of the same, etc. Those in opposition didn’t seen as concerned about the $2400 deficit being experienced each year in the water department, with funds from the liquor fund being used to overcome that deficit.

15 Years Ago, July 22, 2010

• Doug and Laura Breid’s Pleasant View Farm in Wadena has been recognized as a 2010 Century Farm. The first generation of Minnesota Breids was Phillip Breid, born in 1855 in Germany. He married Sophie Poelger and immigrated to America in 1882. They had four children, one of which was Fred Carl Breid, born in 1886, the next generation Breid farmer. The farm began as a dairy farm with only 20 cows.

• Many have wondered and asked what the city of Wadena is going to do about all the damage from June’s tornado. FEMA has declared Wadena an official disaster area. This means Wadena and Otter Tail counties will not have to pay out of pocket for tornado cleanup efforts. This is mainly directed at public losses such as school damage, community center and cemetery losses, as well as police overtime. The Initiative Foundation announced it will administer a $150,000 emergency loan fund to help Wadena County businesses keep their doors open after last month’s tornado damage.

• This summer’s Strawhat and Sunbonnet Days in Verndale has a new king and queen: Bill and Ruby Jacobson. The Jacobsons were chosen by the Verndale Historical Society to represent them at this year’s celebration. This came as a delightful surprise to the both of them. They met at a summer camp while Bill was on police work. The couple was married in 1953 and moved to Verndale in 1963 with three of their five children: Debra, Brenda and Mike. In 1968, they added Bruce and Bryan to their family.

• Verndale students who attended the summer programs wanted to help the kids in Wadena, especially the summer recreation students who lost items during the tornado disaster in June. The students decided to help by donating money to the Wadena Summer Rec program. At the game played in Verndale on Thursday, July 1, students collected $209. Mayor Ardith Carr presented the gift of money to the Wadena coaches before the game. KWAD was there live during the presentation.

Subscribe to get more of your current news!