Spring has arrived early

April 4, 1963 – Three Pope County youths were injured in a pair of unrelated traffic accidents. Two young men from Villard were involved in an accident which occurred when the driver apparently fell asleep. A Villard area couple was credited with saving the lives of the two by pulling them from the icy waters of the Barsness Township youth was injured the same early Sunday morning when he also apparently fell asleep at the wheel on County Road No. 18, south of Lake Minnewaska. 

Two Glenwood High School speech entries won “A” ratings in regional competition. They were Linda Lyslo and Sharon Elvehjem. Lyslo was a freshman who competed in storytelling. Elvehjem was a senior, competing in original oratory. Neither won the trip to state competition, however, since only one winner in each regional category was picked. 

Name officers of the local Mrs. Jaycees were Gloria Callen, Rose Jacobson, Carole Kaus, Betty Noyes, Mrs. Bob Waxlax, Carol Peterson, Pat Lepper and Sylvia Hoven. 

April 5, 1973 – Spring had arrived a little earlier than usual if ice-out dates on Lake Minnewaska were any identification. The ice officially left the lake April 1, about two weeks ahead of schedule. The earliest date on record to that time was May 7, 1950, a year fisherman held their collective breaths. 

Glenwood High School juniors Harley Hanson and Marie Wold were named Boy and Girl Staters with James Bennett and Patricia Lund as alternatives. All four were active in school. Hanson was also an active 4-H member, won conference football and tennis awards and was on the student council. Wold was active in Girl Scouts and the youth program at Glenwood Lutheran Church as well as winning declam and speech and music awards. 

The Glenwood Jaycees and Mrs. Jaycees were again named the top chapters in their district. Local members were named to district posts as well. 

April 7, 1983 – Spring has arrived in Pope County as the ice left Lake Minnewaska. Area residents had the previous year wondered if the spring would arrive at all when the ice didn’t leave the lake until April 24. The winter had been mild during 1982-83 and the depth of the ice was less than usual, though a cold March delayed the thaw. However, local residents, accustomed to the vagaries of Minnesota spring, were not surprised to awaken to 2 inches of snow about the same time as the lake’s thaw.  

Local German Club members returned from their trip to the “Old Country.” Among those on the trip, accompanied by teacher Gunnar Fosker, were Trish Butler, Kim Peterson and Alan Wittiko who talked about their travels to the Tribune. They cited as highlighted remembrances of the trip the differences in the school systems, that Germans speak excellent English, the food and a visit to the concentration camp at Dachau. 

Scott Novak and Sherri Euerle, seniors at Villard High School, were named as Little Eight All-Conference players for the year. 

April 5, 1993 – Cyrus Math, Science and Technology school was rated as one of the 177 nest elementary schools in the United States. The small school of 110 students and 30 staff members received national recognition in April 1993 issue of Redbook magazine which sponsored a contest to recognize the best schools in the nation. The school was ranked as the top elementary school in Minnesota. 

After 27 years in business, Peter Meyer’s last day as deputy registrar in Pope County was March 31, 2993. It was reported that he would probably be selling shoes instead at Meyer’s Shoes, a business which he and his brother, Ralph, had for 32 years.

In Recognition of Christians’ observance of Holy Week a display of over 50 crosses had been set up in the chapel at the nursing home of the Glenwood Retirement Village. Residents, staff and members of the community had donated a variety of the religious symbols for the display which was open to the public through Easter Sunday. 

April 7, 2003 – Tenth-graders from Minnewaska Area Schools made their best showing ever in state reading tests this year, with 98.5 percent of students passing. 

A total of 134 students took the test Jan. 28, and 132 scored 3.0 or better on the test, according  to the Minnesota Department of Children Families and Learning.

Land-use issues were discussed at Wednesday’s regular meeting of the Pope County Board, as commissioners weighed whether or not to tweak the county’s land use ordinance and wrestled with the recommendation of the planning commission to deny a preliminary plat for the development of an eight-unit subdivision on Marlu Lake. 

April 8, 2013 – AgCode Inc., of Glenwood, announced the recent acquisition of Meristem Technologies, of Sonoma, Calif. The merger will allow for the best of breed in vineyard mobile enterprise software by merging the strong GIS functionality of the Meristem platform with AgCode’s iPad-driven platform that is an industry standard in payroll, harvest and vineyard management.

With guidance from Pope County Attorney Neil Nelson, commissioners nailed down some details for the upcoming sale of three tax forfeited and derelict buildings in downtown Glenwood, referred to as the Culligan buildings. By a unanimous vote, the Pope County Board approved adding two conditions that must be met by the buildings’ buyer to ensure the buildings are demolished in a timely manner. 

The Minnewaska Area Schools Board set dates to interview the final five candidates for the district’s superintendent position. The board could be on track to offer the job to one of the candidates by April 30. The position needed to be filled by July when the current Superintendent Greg Ohl was set to retire.

The parking lot at Minnewaska Area High School was packed to capacity as people gathered from all over the region to participate in the 2013 Pope County  Community Expo. From free kids’ inflatables and games to 150 business and organization booths, free health seminars and amazing special guests, the Expo truly offered something for everyone.