Dusting Off the Archives

News from Verndale's Past

40 Years Ago, January 1, 1986

• Pictured, Millie Krueger of Verndale points to the first of a collection of Danish Christmas plates sent by an uncle from Denmark to her parents in the late 40s and continued to send as long as he lived. Millie and her husband, Howard, continued the collection until 1979 when they became too expensive.

• There will be 12 panels in the Minnesota Historical Society genealogical traveling exhibit which will be in Verndale next weekend to teach those interested in learning how to trace their family trees. The exhibit, Journey into Your Past, consists of the panels measuring 12’x5’x8’ and includes a supply of instructive brochures for which there will be a nominal fee charged to cover production costs. The panels give examples of how some families traced their family roots, migrations to Minnesota, etc.

• The new pastor and his family at the Verndale Assemblies of God aren’t sure how long it will take them to become acclimated to these northern temperatures, which are about 10 degrees lower than what they had been accustomed to before arriving here last week. The Reverend Roger Melquist, his wife, Helen, and children, Wendy, 14, and Jason, 10, arrived in Verndale on December 19.

• The Minnesota Department of Corrections, having acted in good faith to assist Wadena County in the process of upgrading its jail facility for the past seven years, has now denied the request for another extension. The denial was based on examination of the issue and compelling factors which, it claims, requires extensive physical modification to meet stands. The letter, denying the request, was sent to Arvid Edeburn, chairman of the Wadena County Board of Commissioners on December 16, 1985. The board had requested a two year extension.

15 Years Ago,December 30, 2010

• The Verndale Lions and Lioness sponsor a poster contest each year. The Lioness winners are: Kendra Wilhelmi, third place; Danica Gilb, second; and Aubree Seals, first place. The Lions winners are: Haley Stinar, third place; Hailey Holm, second place; and Arielle Matti, first place. All first place winners will attend the 5M9 Lions Convention at Breezy Point on January 15 for more competition and prizes.

• On December 22, the Verndale Holiday Store was opened for students. Donations were collected by Verndale Lioness members, such as Kathy Johnson. Johnson is not only the school librarian, but also a Lioness member. The Holiday Store was a chance for elementary students to come down to the library and pick out gifts for friends and family. Over 500 gifts were donated by the community, which was plenty for this year’s Christmas. There were even enough donations for the remaining gifts to be saved for the upcoming Fall Family Fun Nights.

• As a holiday activity, parents were invited on December 20 to come and decorate cookies with their Cub Scouts. Parents and Verndale Teacher Mrs. Youngbauer supervised the cookie making and helped decorate as well. Pictured, Austin Ludovissie concentrated on frosting his cookies ‘just right’ while sneaking a taste of frosting every now and then. Calvin Ames and Dawn Triebenbach made cookies together.

• The mountain of concrete continues to grow each day at the Wadena-Deer Creek High School demolition site. Plans are to begin crushing next week. The concrete will be crushed down to granular size, then sand will be mixed in to create a Class 5 fill. This fill will be used to fill the original gym basement and around the entire building site. Digging out the concrete footings is taking longer than expected as they are from 11 to 14 feet deep in the original section of the school.

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