Township officers honored for years of service 

Feb. 13, 1964 – The deed to four acres in the southern part of Glenwood was handed over to the county’s historical society. Presenting the land were the city of  Glenwood and the James Barsness family. J. H. Peterson, president of the society, accepted the deed and the same day was re-elected president of the group. He announced that plans to build a historical center on the land were underway. 

Alfred Tangen, a New Prairie Township farmer, was appointed to the Pope County Board of Commissioners to replace L. E. Finstad, of Starbuck, who had died. Tangen had served on the township board, his elevator and shipping association boards and was a member of St. John’s Lutheran Church.

Glenwood musicians collected 23 out of 33 possible “A” ratings at district music contests. The top mark at the contest went to Glenwood’s Jackie Hansen who received an unusual “A-plus” for her cornet solo. 

Feb. 14, 1974 – The return of over-the-road haulers to the highways solved the problems of some local business owners as well as the truckers themselves. A truckers’ strike looked like it was going to affect area grocery stores and other businesses which depended on daily or even weekly freight shipments as well as area trucking companies. 

A new emergency system got its first test during the fire which destroyed the Rogers Hotel and Greene’s Shoes. By a simple lift of a special notification phone from the receiver, all 30 city firemen were notified at once that a fire had been reported. Dispatcher Lorna Mullen was pictured in the Tribune with the new equipment. 

The flu bug was hitting hard at area schools and nursing homes. So far the bug had succeeded at postponing a boys’ basketball game between Starbuck and Benson, put a quarantine on area hospitals and nursing homes and made large inroads in daily pupil attendance at area schools. The Glenwood school reported over 200 kids gone in one day, but the Benson schools had over 400 absentees in one day. 

Feb. 16, 1984 – The Pope County Extension Service got a demonstration of the use of computers in farming. Possible programs might include those on buying land, pesticides, best crops, fertilizers, costs and more. The Glenwood Public Library got its first computers. Librarian Karen Simmons said that children were especially anxious to log time on the new machine. 

Parents who wanted to could have their kids fingerprinted in a special program to keep children’s identities on file. Police Chief Ivan Fossen said that the fingerprints could be important if kids were missing or in cases of death. 

FFA Week for the Future Farmers of America was observed with local officers pictured in the Tribune. They included Rod Stoen, Ken Weisel, Dan Munsterman, Brian Wildman, Kurt Lardy, Mark Pitcher and Craig Oeltjen. 

Spring might have seemed like a long way off, but it was on the minds of the Pope County Board of Commissioners as they settled on a uniform gopher bounty for the county. Greg and Brad Vold were pictured in the paper readying their traps for a new season. 

Feb. 14, 1994 – Opposition to renovating the vacated Central High School building into a 40-unit housing complex and community center was heard at a meeting the previous Monday. In attendance at the meeting were the Pope County Board of commissioners, the Glenwood City Commissioners and some of the 21 Glenwood residents at a meeting the previous Monday. 

After a week where the temperatures slipped to 30 below (and Lower) for the third time that winter, many residents had started to think it was nice when the temperatures reached into the 20s. Pictured in the Tribune were Paul Wildman and Mike McGinty from Brownie’s Tire Service working on a car outside in short-sleeve shirts. 

Joe Bentler, an eighth-grader at Minnewaska Area High School, was the winner of the third annual Minnewaska Area schools spelling bee. Twenty seven students participated in the oral round by scoring the highest in a written test given to fifth through eighth-grade students in the school district. Bentler, the son of Keith and Cele Bentler, of Glenwood, would go on to compete in the region contest in Fergus Falls. 

Nine township officers in Pope County were honored for their years of service as township officers. Pictured in the Tribune were Nancy Barsness, who received a certificate for her 15 years as clerk in New Prague Township, and Chester Branch, who was honored for his 26 years as a supervisor in Blue Mounds Township.

Feb. 9, 2004 – When avid Minnesota Twins fans have twin babies, chances are pretty good that the newborns will be named for ball players. Torii and Hunter were recently brought home to Brooten by proud parents Paul and Paula Johnson. Shortly before they left the hospital in mid-January, however, the twins got a visit from their namesake, Twins center fielder, Torii Hunter, who heard about the newborns and their names and stopped by the hospital for a visit. Paul and Paula were nearly speechless. Hunter is one of their favorite players, and when he came into the twin’s hospital room, Paul Johnson said he seemed larger than life.

The Minnewaska competition cheer team traveled to St. Paul to compete at the Minnesota Cheerleading Coaches Association state competition. Minnewaska placed fifth, competing with 75 teams comprised of over 1,000 cheerleaders from across the state. The team included captains, Mandy Ihnen and Brittany Tostenson, Brianne Frederick, Brittany Moen, Ashley Larson, Lizzy Netwal, Carrie Bower, Danielle Lundblad, Connie Pederson, Mataya Anderson, Tina Meulebroeck and Coach Val Rae Boe. 

Feb. 10, 2014 – Groundwater management in the Bonanza Valley – stretching from Paynesville to Starbuck – was the topic of discussion at a DNR informational meeting at BBE High School in Belgrade on Jan. 29. “Even in this ‘Land of 10,000 Lakes,’ we need to look at how we use our water,” Jason Moeckel of the DNR Division of Ecological and Water Resources told the capacity crowd of 200. 

The public hearing pertaining to a proposed social host ordinance scheduled for Feb. 18 has been canceled until further notice. After hearing from County Attorney Neil Nelson that more time was needed to craft a workable ordinance, commissioners unanimously approved canceling the upcoming public hearing and will announce a new public hearing date once Nelson is comfortable with the ordinance language. 

Though temps teased up into digits on Saturday, the Winterama Polar Plunge proved plenty cold for the more than 40 jumpers taking the leap. Jumpers included Waterama royalty and their supportive families and representatives of many area groups, businesses and teams. Creativity outshone the cold.