Ice off date later than previous year

April 30, 1964 – A car/pickup accident claimed the life of a New Prairie Township farmer. This was the first highway fatality in the county in 1964.

Admiral Bob O’Fallon, Commodore Jim Stradtman and Vice Commodore Pete Meyer were pictured in the Tribune as plans for the ninth annual Waterama celebration were well underway. They had announced that power boat races would be held on Lake Minnewaska during the event. 

Farmers in Pope County got a belated start on spring fieldwork as cold, wet weather had pushed the beginning of the plowing, discing and seeding back a couple of weeks from the previous years. George and Dale Blair reported, though, that they hoped to be done by the end of the week. 

April 25, 1974 – The ice officially left Lake Minnewaska on April 25, 20 days behind the early departure the previous year and eight days behind the median date of April 13 since 1906 when record keeping of the melt began. 

Finden Cleaners, which had been a family business in Glenwood for 60 years, changed hands. Mr. and Mrs. Ralph Finden sold the business to the Gordon Knoshals. The cleaners was started in 1914 by Peter Finden and Ralph had worked there most of his life. 

A rural Sedan man died, apparently from injuries he sustained while fighting a grass fire near his home which was also destroyed in the blaze. 

Lee Sorset was named Laker Fan of the Year at the annual Laker Booster Club banquet. Sorset was honored for his dedication to Lakers sports teams. 

April 26, 1984 – Inez Johnson, a lifelong resident of the Lowry community, was chosen as the Lowry Citizen of the Year by the Lowry Lions. Johnson began working for the Lowry Telephone Company as a teenager and continued to be employed there until her retirement in 1982. A member of St. Paul Lutheran Church and a member of the Lowry Senior Citizens, she was active in all kinds of community events.

All three incumbents, Robert McCrory, Elaine Bennett and David Tostenson, had filed for re-election to the board of education of Independent School District No. 612. No other candidates had filed for the May election. 

Tickets were on sale for the community’s annual prayer breakfast. The breakfast would feature a speaker, Hannah Hall, a Terrace area resident who had fled from advancing Russian troops in Eastern Europe during World War II. 

Ski jumper, Anders Haugen, died in Minneapolis at the age of 95. He had participated in tournaments with Glenwood’s Tuddy Kaldahl and was the first American to win an Olympic medal. He had skied until the age of 84. Many Glenwood boys learned to ski from Haugen beginning in 1911 and continuing through the 1930s. 

April 25, 1994 – Meredith Fredin, 18, of Farwell, was crowned the 1994 Pope County Dairy Princess. She was the daughter of Wayne and Kathy Fredin. The coronation had taken place at the American Legion in Lowry. She was pictured in the Tribune with fellow candidates Elizabeth Mitchell, of Starbuck, and Lesa Hollerman, of Farwell. 

The county commissioners had decided to move the license bureau out of the courthouse to downtown. Jill Solmonson had been appointed as deputy registrar for the county and would assume this position. 

The 640 students at E.N. Nordgaard Elementary School had helped to beautify the earth for Earth Day by planting 49 trees on the school property and picking up trash within the city. The weather cooperated as each grade headed out with plastic bags to pick up litter during the second annual “Clean Up the Town” project.   

April 19, 2004 – Firefighters from Villard, Glenwood and the Department of Natural Resources (DNR) battled a large blaze in a cattail slough west of Lake Villard Saturday afternoon. The fire, which blackened several acres, took several hours to put out. A DNR firefighter plane stationed in Alexandria was called in to help fight the fire. The plane scooped water from Lake Reno and dumped several loads on the fire, which could be seen for many miles. 

Minnewaska Area High School students Taylor Hill and Cole Klick were honored at the North Central Service Cooperative for making a difference in their schools. The students were singled out at a banquet because of their work ethic, the example they set and their leadership. Instructor Sue Fossen said Klick was a “shining education.” Ted Hill said Taylor Hill was a “good kid and a role model for younger students.” The two were presented with $150 scholarships for their hard work and accomplishments. 

April 14, 2014 – Minnewaska Area Elementary School students were greeted with several inches of snow already on the ground and more falling as they boarded buses after school on Wednesday in Glenwood. The heavy, wet snow started about midmorning and continued through the day, dumping about 7 inches of snow on the area. Most of it disappeared over the weekend as temperatures were closer to normal for the middle of April. 

As Pope County Director of Probation Terry Jaworski put it, “We hope for the best and prepare for the worst.” Jaworski was referring to a request put before the Pope County Board of Commissioners last Tuesday to purchase three bullet-resistant vests for probation agents. The vests would be worn as a precaution by agents who are conducting fieldwork, Jaworski explained. 

If you ask Dr. Schlueter when he’s retiring, he just shakes his head and smiles. “Someday… but not now,” he’ll say. “I’m just having too much fun.” Dr. Jefferey Schlueter began his medical career in Chaska, Minn. Later, on a rainy drive through central Minnesota, Dr. Schlueter and his wife Mary Beth came across the town of Glenwood – and have called it home since December of 1981.