Upcoming elections make the headlines

Oct. 29, 1964 –  The Tribune reported that there was good news and bad news about the opening of the annual pheasant season. The good news was that the weather was perfect; the bad news was that the pheasants were few and far between. Hunters in the Starbuck area, however, were able to turn over 161 birds to the annual pheasant dinners for hospitalized veterans effort.

Rehearsals were beginning for a production of Cinderella by students at Glenwood High School. The cast included Linda Lyslo, Terry Johnson, Sally Wittwer, Linda Carlson, Becky Austvold, Ruth Halvorson, Gary Weber, Lynn Rambeck, Roger Erdahl, Janet Femrite, Diane Graves and Steve Nestor. The play was directed by Craig Bucher with Janis Hustas as student director.

The Villard Mallards ended their 1964 football season in a blaze of glory with a 34-6 win over Cyrus, clinching a tie for third in the Little Eight Conference. Scoring touchdowns were seniors Chuck Butler, Rick Rosenfield, Ivan Walter and Bob Albers. Others on the Villard squad included Maclaren Pennie, Dennie Gaffaney, Rich Adolphson and John Hoffmann.

Oct. 31, 1974 – Vandalism and a stolen car were among items on the front page of the Tribune’s weekly edition. Vandals had shot out the windows of at least eight cars after a Friday night football game, and a car stolen from the Clem’s Fairway parking lot was recovered in New Brighton.

The Tribune was also wondering what effect, if any the Watergate would have on November elections, a week away. Were voters so turned off by politics that fewer than usual would appear at the polls in an off-year election?

Among the local candidates were William Boyle, incumbent, and Ray Munger for auditor; Eleanore Larson, incumbent, and Jeanne Kienitz for register of deeds; C. David Nelson, incumbent, and Robert Groth for county attorney; Brick Void, incumbent, and Wally Ogdahl and Palmer Arness, incumbent, and Kelly Nelson for county commissioner posts.

Oct. 25, 1984 –  When Glenwood’s tax levy went up 107 percent from 1983 to 1984, some people thought the increase was short-term and would fall the following year. When the 1985 levy was set $13,000 higher than the previous year, those people really wondered. An analysis of the budgets for the four years prior to 1985 showed that the major reason that the tax levy increased by over $260,000 was that city expenditures increased by over $290,000.

The Villard school board certified a levy of just over $350,000 for 1985, the maximum allowed by the state in all areas except capital expenditures. A new program that could be included in that levy was an early childhood program. The district had 104 children in that age group. The board also discussed filling the vacancy created when Marty Avelsgaard resigned as principal.

Alone at the top of the West Central Conference, Glenwood’s volleyball team needed only a victory over Montevideo to claim the title. With just one win in the first seven matches, the Glenwood team had then racked up wins in the last six of seven outings.

Oct. 31, 1994 – It was general election day in Minnesota on Tuesday, Nov. 8. Voters were to elect a governor and lieutenant governor, secretary of state, state auditor, state treasurer, attorney general, a U.S. senator, a U.S. representative and senators and representatives to the state legislature. The office of county sheriff was the only contested race in Pope County. Mark Hedner, the current sheriff, was running against Tom Larson, a deputy in the department.

Work was progressing on Central School in Glenwood. The work was part of the demolition and repair agreement before turning the building over to Central Square Inc.

The 21st annual pumpkin carving day at Ann and Andy Preschool was pictured in the Tribune. Parents took part in helping their child create a face on all sizes of the orange vegetable. Tyler Morrissey was pictured with his dad, Jim, designing a face before carving began. The preschool teacher this year was Irene Zens.

Oct. 25, 2004 – This time there were no major surprises. With four bids under $2 million for the basic building, bids for a new Lakeside Ballroom were within, if not under, the architect’s projections. The apparent low bidder was D&W Construction of Alexandria with a base bid of $1,925,000 and a total bid on seven alternates of $183,940 for a total of $2,108,940. The final low bidder, however, depended upon whether all of the seven alternate bids were chosen or which ones were chosen.

Glenwood firefighters got some practice in working with anhydrous ammonia in a drill held at the CF Industries loading facility east of Glenwood. Firefighters simulated backing up CF employees who were rescuing a vandal who had attempted to open a rail tanker of anhydrous ammonia which was to be unloaded at the CF site. While CF employees Darrell Kollman and Ed Weispfenning went to rescue the supposed vandal, Glenwood firefighters placed a fog of water spray to protect the two. 

Oct. 27, 2014 – On the Nov. 4 ballot, voters in the Minnewaska School District will have two choices to make regarding the district’s future. In a nutshell, voters have the chance to support facility improvements district-wide, and an opportunity to put current technology, literally, at the fingertips of every Minnewaska student. On the ballot, the questions will ask voters for financial support in two areas. Question #1 asks for the authorization to issue general obligation school building bonds in an amount not to exceed $8,750,000 for the betterment of district facilities, including the high school, elementary school and day treatment center. Question #2 asks for the authorization of a capital project levy for technology improvements. If approved, $200,000 would be designated annually for 10 years.

Pope County’s new Land and Resource director has been chosen and is scheduled to arrive on Nov. 17 David Green currently works in a similar position in Custer County, S.D. He is a certified septic inspector and is looking forward to moving to the area. Commissioners noted that it will be nice having a highly qualified, “in-house” certified director again; Amanda Strommer, former Land and Resource director, resigned this past summer and Dave Rush of Douglas County has been filling in as needed on a contract basis.

Forty-five teams competed for the title of champion in the Koep’s Walleye Challenge, sponsored by Marthaler Chevrolet and Central Marine and Sports. The weather set the perfect weekend for walleye fishing on Lake Minnewaska on Sept. 6-7, when 90 fishermen hit the water in search of the mighty walleye.