Memorial to Pope Co. veterans to be dedicated

Nov. 5, 1964 –  President Lyndon B. Johnson paced Pope County vote-getters when he was elected to his first full term as the 36th president of the United States, soundly defeating opponent Barry Goldwater. Other top vote-getters in the county’s General Election were Congressman Odin Langen of the Seventh District, a Republican incumbent; J.H. Peterson, an incumbent in the race for the state legislature; and Melvin Heggestad and Otto Solbrekken who upset incumbents for county commission seats.

The Villard High School’s junior class play was set. Participating were Grace Husmann, Gary Reents, Linda Johnson, Terry Butler, Barbara Polzine, Steve Elliott, Linda Oeltjen, Bill Capp, Kathy Dziengel and Maclaren Pennie. They would perform A Ready Made Family, a comedy farce in three acts.

The Glenwood City Commission passed a resolution asking that Hwy. No. 29 north of Glenwood be changed from a two-lane to a three-lane highway. Rebuilding of the road was scheduled for 1966. The commission asked that there be three lanes from the greenhouse road north. A stumbling block was the Northern Pacific Railroad bridge on the hill.

Nov. 7, 1974 – Voters in eight Pope County cities elected mostly incumbents to office, though incumbents had a hard time of it otherwise in the non-presidential election year. Among those returned to office locally were Chuck Thompson, Tony Chalupnik and Ben Zavadil in Lowry; Charlene Nelson, Charles Walker, Walt Winter and Clarence Buchholz in Villard; LuVerne Flaten in Starbuck; and Doug Dahl in Cyrus. Lowry also had a liquor issue on the ballot which fell 86-52.

Nov. 1, 1984 – Work had begun on the conversion of the Brooten Creamery building into a doctor-dental clinic, which would offer services through Glenwood Medical Center. A Glenwood dentist had also signed a letter of intent to practice in the building.

Freezing rain helped to create a freak accident when a motorhome leased to the Vin Weber campaign slid on the highway near Sedan. A Sedan driver saw the vehicle approaching his car, headed for the ditch, and when he saw a crash was imminent, laid down on his car’s seat. This, the state highway patrol said, probably saved his life since the motorhome eventually rolled on top of the car. No one was seriously injured in the accident, though the car was totaled and much damage was done to the motor home as well.

County residents got a strong dose of things to come when a late evening rain turned into freezing rain and then snow, which fell to the depth of about an inch. Dry weather in the previous part of the week enabled county farmers to bring in an estimated 90 percent of the crop. A few combine operators, however, got stuck in low places which had been wet all fall.

Nov. 7, 1994 –  A memorial to Pope County veterans was to be dedicated Veterans Day, Friday, Nov. 11, on the front lawn of the Pope County Courthouse. The guest speaker was to be William Barbknecht, department commander of the Minnesota American Legion. After the unveiling of the memorial, wreaths were to be placed at the foot of the memorial by all post commanders in Pope County.

The year’s bumper crop was beginning to pile up outside area elevators as the elevators waited for grain cars to become available on the Soo Line. A pile outside the Cyrus Farmer’s Elevator in Glenwood was pictured with about 40,000 bushels. The elevator silos were already full with 425,000 bushels of corn and soybeans. The firm had an estimated 200,000 bushels outside in Cyrus. Many area farmers had been reporting corn yields of 150 to 200 bushels per acre, which was 20 to 30 percent above a normal year for most.

Nov. 1, 2004 – The MAHS FFA Horse Judging team took second place in the region three competition on Oct. 15 at the Paffrath Horse Stables in New London. The contest consisted of judging quarter horses, geldings, stock mares, weaning fillies, paint geldings, western and English riding classes and answering two sets of questions. It will now advance to the Minnesota State FFA Convention held at the University of Minnesota on April 24-26, 2005. Pictured in the Tribune were Shawna Stoen, Jessica Bennett, Karie Mattson, Cheryl Hedner and Tori Braaten.

Two Glenwood residents were charged with felony possession of methamphetamine. The house on Second Avenue Southeast in Glenwood was by searched with a warrant on Oct. 15 by the Glenwood Police Department, the Pope County Sheriff’s Office and the West Central Drug Task Force. 

Nov. 3, 2014 – Five Minnewaska band students were recently selected to play in the Benson 8th Grade Band Festival. The festival is an annual, one-day event for eighth-grade band students to experience the honor band atmosphere. Students from 11 area schools were chosen by their directors to participate, spending the day working with guest conductor Charles Weise, who taught at South View Middle School in Edina. MAS students selected for the festival were Sydney Metz, Emily Harste, Nathan Gallagher, Alyssa Erickson and Calvin Hofmann.

In her director’s report at the Glacial Hills School Board meeting, Deb Mathias told the board that the school was Celebration Status eligible again, which was granted through the state’s Multiple Measures Rating System for Title I schools. The rating was based on closing the achievement gap, student proficiency and student growth. The previous year, GHE earned Reward School status, which was given to schools in the top 15 percent. Celebration schools were the next 20 percent after Reward schools.

There was a new face at the Pope County Tribune. Marta Johnson was added to the staff a few weeks ago and had been writing, editing and snapping photographs ever since. Hailing from Starbuck, Marta had recently finished her third bachelor’s degree in English from the University of Minnesota, Morris. Previously, she attended and graduated from St. Olaf College with a double major in dance and Asian studies.

Someplace Safe, a nonprofit organization working to eliminate violence and oppression in west central Minnesota, was moving its office space in Glenwood. Located at 10 First Ave. SW, staff and volunteers were prepping for a move to 16 W. Minnesota Ave. “It’s sad to leave a good landlord,” said new crime victim advocate Terri Heggie. But with the next-door Fremad building’s future in flux, and shared water between the buildings being turned off Nov. 1, staying in their present location wasn’t an option, she said. 

Two Minnewaska Area High School seniors gave a demonstration of how technology can be used in the classroom at last week’s board of education meeting for Minnewaska Area Schools. Gavin Jensen and Ian Gustafson, students in a physics class taught by Mike: Troen, showed how inexpensive laptop computers combined with a whiteboard could demonstrate a variety of physics problems. Troen explained that the district purchased 10 Asus laptops for the class for $299 each rather than textbooks that fall.