Jack and Jill grocery store to close after 25 years

Feb. 20, 1964 – The first inking of the effects of the invasion of a musical group from England called the Beatles came when a Glenwood High School student was sent home from school for sporting a Beatle-style haircut. He was told to go home and return to school when he had changed his hairstyle. 

Pictured in the Minneapolis Tribune’s Sunday Picture magazine were local Boy Scouts and their leaders who had participated in the annual fishing derby on Lake Minnewaska. Included were Adolph Olson, chair of the derby, and Jim Stradtman with scouts, Steve Nestor, John Holtberg, Bob Fallon, and Bill Bentrud. Also included in the photo essay were scouts from Alexandria and Morris. 

The Glenwood High School band was about to leave for a band festival at Luther College in Decorah, Iowa. Under the direction of George Opheim, the 90-member unit was the only high school band to participate in its entirety, though 83 other high schools were sending soloists to the festival. 

Feb. 21, 1974 – Glenwood businessmen, including Dan Schliesmann from Coast to Coast, Jim Stradtman of Corner Drug, Harlan Long of Ben Franklin Store and John Caskey of Hardware Hank, as well as others, were facing increased problems with shoplifters. They described the agonies of calling the cops about good customers and kids of good customers, but agreed that “something has to be done.” 

Pope County Dairy Herd Improvement honors went one more time to old pros Ole and Roger Tollefson and Newcomers, Ken Thurk and Curt Reichmann. The Tollefson dairy had won these awards so many times, the Tribune declared, that it “is like a broken record.” 

Ted Peterson, Alexandria sportswriter and former sports writer for the Minneapolis Tribune, said that, if such an award had existed, Dave Lee would have been named the best wrestler at the Dist. No. 22 tournament. Lee had scored two pins and two major decisions in action at the tournament on his way to the 155-pound championship.  

Feb. 23, 1984 – The county historical society was about to become the area’s first county-wide information center for tourists and other travelers. The center was due to the efforts of the historical society, the city of Glenwood, area chamber of commerce and senior citizens groups. Part of the idea was to have a place (which was open on weekends) to hand out information. 

After months of negotiating, the Pope County sheriff’s deputies signed a contract with the county board of commissioners. The deputies had been ready to go to mediation if the issues involved in the contract negotiations had not been settled. 

Although continued discussion of budget reductions was held by the Glenwood/Lowry school board, no action was taken at the board’s regular meeting. 

Libby Hoffman, Gerry and Tom Zitzmann and Shaun Strauss competed in the regional Math Counts competition for Villard.  

Feb. 21, 1994 – The year’s January thaw, anticipated since December, had finally arrived. Temperatures soared from 35 below zero two weeks earlier to 48 degrees above zero on the previous Thursday. Temperatures were scheduled to cool off the first part of the week though.

The spirit of the Olympics was evident both in the Starbuck Elementary School and the Villard Elementary School as students participated in their own version of the Olympic games. The games were held as a culmination of the students’ study of Greece. 

Glenwood Jack and Jill, a Glenwood grocery store for nearly 25 years, was to close. The grocery store made its announcement with a “lost our lease” sale. The store was to close when a major portion of the current inventory had been sold. 

Feb. 16, 2004 – The Alexandria architectural firm of Widseth, Smith, Nolting and Associates had been awarded a contract to design a new Lakeside Ballroom. The Glenwood Commission agreed to have the firm bring back a new design for a ballroom that would cost 41.8 million. After a 5 percent contingency fee, architectural fees and a  fee to Alex Sill were added in, the overall cost for the project were estimated to be $2.1 million. 

Doug Reker, CEO of Glacial Ridge Health Systems had resigned. Vern Silvernale, of Dawson, had been named interim administrator while a search for a more permanent replacement was found. 

Feb. 17, 2014 – Glenwood City Commissioners set a public information meeting on the changes to the city code for 5 p.m. on Wednesday, Feb. 26. A committee has been working on the property maintenance changes for more than a year and has proposed suggested changes to the city commission on a number of occasions. The city is also currently updating its city codes. 

Utilizing the first “warm” day in a long time, construction crews set to work last Wednesday digging the pool for the new GrandStay Hotel & Suites in Glenwood. Dean Peterson, a member of the Hotel Ownership group, said though construction has been a challenge with this winter’s long sub-zero stretches, the group still hopes to have GrandStay’s doors open to July 1. 

As a part of MinnAqua, a program exploring Minnesota’s aquatic resources, Minnewaska fifth-graders got some hands-on experience making their own lures. MinnAqua is a statewide angling and aquatic education program designed by the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources (DNR). Nancy Koep is volunteering her time to teach the MinnAqua classes over the course of eight weeks. As a followup activity after the kids have completed their environmental education program, Koep will be taking the entire grade ice fishing on Lake Minnewaska for an afternoon of fun.