Gregory Schmidt named the new superintendent

May 2, 1963 – Not even the drizzle in the air put the damper on the annual Glenwood High School prom. Leading the Grand March were Phil MacIver, Kathy Vegoe, Jane Hoplin, Larry Hanson, Don Anderson, Kathy Shelden, Wendy Schaub and Ralph Femrite. Named the best mixers were Kathy Shelden and Larry Koob. They were presented their awards by the previous years’ best mixers, Sylvia Femrite and Paul Swenson. 

Dr. I.S. Benson, a Glenwood dentist, was honored by his fellow dentists in Minnesota for 50 years of practice. Benson had practiced in Glenwood for all but two years of those 50 years. At 72, he had been semi-retired for a few years but had no plans to quit working entirely.

Alex Ferguson, one of the country’s best-known pioneer residents, died at the age of 89. He was born in Reno Townshipwhere his parents, Peter and Sarah Ferguson, were among the first settlers.

May 3, 1973 – Three Glenwood High School Laker band members were named to the 144-piece all-state band. They were Ann Kinney, junior, French horn; Jackie Varner, sophmore, clarinet; and Dale Kramer, junior, cornet. 

The high school choir, under the direction of Harold Skilbred, was to present its annual spring concert. Accompanists for the group, which had recently won three superior ratings in the distinct contests, would be Marie Jorgenson, Laura Doughty, Helen Twite, Les LaCroix and Mike Severson. Special vocalists for the choir’s presentation included Curt Bol, Mark Schumacher, Dwight Johnson, Steve Peterson, LaCroix, Bol, Craig Bullock, Severson and Tom Mork appearing in male quartet numbers.

Among the Girl Scouts assisting in spring clean-up day projects were Kay Lynn Kaus, Kim Peterson, Lori Moriarity, Jill Stradtman, Robin Harper, Gail Larson, Kelly Bishop, Becky Strong, Karen Kaus, Cheryl Kerfeld, Cherri Olson, Molly Mills and Kathy Dokken.

May 5, 1983 – The city of Glenwood announced it had hired David Wencel to serve as city clerk. Wencel, a graduate of Kinman Business University in Spokane, had been working in Maple Grove. The vote to hire Wencel was unanimous on a motion by Bob Dyke and second by Merlin Berglin.

A couple with four children from Illinois was hired to manage the Terrace Mill District for the mill foundation. Rogers and Johellen George and their children would be returning to Minnesota. Both had grown up in the Twin Cities area. 

The Glenwood Fire Department was about to begin using a new rescue unit provided, in part, with funds from the Glenwood Jaycees. Pictured in the Tribune with the new unit were Tim Torguso, Jim Codner, Lloyd Schwarz, Mel Hoium, Jerry Elwood, Boyd Bodeker, Darwin Grammentz and Ray Mattson. 

May 3, 1993 – The 1993 Pope County Dairy Princess was Lisa Hollermann of Farwell. She was pictured in the Tribune with attendant Tammy Hoverndick. Both were to represent the dairy farmers of Pope County by speaking and promoting dairy products throughout the year. 

The new consolidated school board for District No. 2149 had gotten organized the previous week and then immediately started discussions on how to balance a budget for 1993-94 which, without change, could have faced a $200,000 general fund deficit. The general fund was the largest of the district’s funds and covered most of the general operating expenses for the school system. 

Pictured in the Tribune was new playground equipment at the school in Villard. The equipment, which cost just over $12,000, was installed April 23-24.

May 5, 2003 – After 19 years of serving as the Pope County Veterans Service Officer, Dick Mollers would retire at the end of June. Mollers was born in Glenwood in 1941. His parents owned a restaurant in Lowry before they decied to sell and move to Minneapolis in 1945. Mollers lived in the Twin Cities area until graduating from high school in 1960 when he joined the United States Marine Corps. 

It took barely 20 minutes for the Minnewaska Area School Board of Education to present and vote for an elementary alignment plan. And unlike some painfully long previous meetings on the subject, some punctuated by emotional comments, there was not any discussion at the meeting.

April 29, 2013 – Gregory Schmidt, who has been serving as superintendent for MACCRAY School District, was named last week as the new superintendent of Minnewaska Area Schools. The MAS board approved a three year agreement with Schmidt at a special meeting on Friday.

The financial status of the city of Glenwood is in good shape, according the annual financial audit conducted by Abdo Eick and Mayers, LLP. “It was a pretty good year [for the city],” said Kyle Meyers, who gave the audit report to the city commission at last Wednesday’s work session at city hall. 

The Minnesota Hospital Association (MHA) is opposing a payment change plan by Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Minnesota (BCBS) scheduled to take effect May 1 that will slash payments to hospitals and have a particularly devastating effect on rural health care.