Looking Back

News from Bertha and Hewitt's Pasts

25 Years Ago

July 5, 2000

Three weeks ago, Band Director Ken Nelson received a call from Joe Desciose, an independent photographer from Manhattan, New York. Desciose is a garden photographer. He takes photos for the New York Botanical Garden and Brooklyn Botanical Garden. He was calling to ask Nelson if he would be interested in having himself come meet Nelson and the band. He wanted to include them in a book he is working on. The book is a photo book on high school marching bands, an explanation and illustration of where marching bands come from. Desciose arrived in Bertha on Friday, June 23. Nelson had a busy day planned for the two of them.

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The Hewitt City Council held a public hearing on building a city-owned housing unit. About 20 people were there to listen to Councilman Jim Walker present information on the housing project. Walker explained he’d been playing around with the idea before he was on the council. Various contractors made offers to build housing units but they wanted the city to guarantee occupancy, which Walker said was illegal. According to his estimates, the bottom dollar cost for architectural fees, site preparation, building and appliances would be $330,000.

75 Years Ago

July 6, 1950

Leslie Fox, a native of Hewitt and graduate of Bertha High School, took over duties as editor of the Wadena Pioneer Journal on Saturday. For the past ten years Les has been the linotype operator and sports editor for the Pioneer Journal. He succeeds Harry Davey, who has been editor for three and a half years. He is very well known in this community. Les graduated in 1925 and that same year he got his first printing experience working for H.L. McChesney, publisher of the Hewitt Banner.

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Mail service by train to Bertha, curtailed by the railroad switchmen’s strike, has been resumed with deliveries being made twice daily by truck. The first effect of the strike was felt on Monday. No mail reached here by train until late in the afternoon when a train manned by supervisory personnel of the Great Northern ran a train north. It did not return. Until the strike ends, all train mail on this spur line of the Great Norther will be trucked up.

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