Looking Back
News from Bertha and Hewitt's Pasts
25 Years Ago
October 7, 1998
The Todd County Sheriff’s Department arrested 46-year-old John Peter Graphenteen on Sunday, October 4, in connection with some daytime burglaries. In a press conference on Monday, Sheriff Dave Kircher said, “We are 99 percent sure this is our man.” Graphenteen, originally from Hewitt, was at the residence in lot one of the Riverside Mobile Home Park in Motley in Morrison County when he was taken into custody.
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A 15-year-old male has been accused of calling in a bomb threat to the Wadena-Deer Creek public school district office on the morning of Friday, September 25. He has been charged with making a terroristic threat and made a court appearance on Monday, September 28. He remains in his parents’ custody. The threat to the school came just three days after a similar bomb threat was made to the Bertha-Hewitt School. Wadena Police Chief Lane Waldahl does not believe at this point that the two threats are connected.
50 Years Ago
October 7, 1948
On October 8, the newest addition to the business life of Bertha was exposed to the public eye when the Gambles Store opened its doors at 9 a.m. The store is under the ownership and management of Bill Matthews, a local boy of three years standing.
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The new Tritsch and Company Garage in Hewitt, known as Harold’s Garage, has opened for business.