Lake Minnewaska freezes over

Dec. 3, 1964 – A record cold wave for November sent county residents scurrying for anything which would keep them warm when the thermometer hit 18 degrees below zero. The daytime high was 6 degrees. The cold weather record arrived right on the heels of the first measurable snowfall of the season.

Voters in the county’s villages were about to go to the polls though a light turnout was expected. In Farwell, Stanley Norlien and Harry Carlson had filed for trustee. Other village candidates unopposed were William Windahl, Rodney MacIver, Carl Hallstrom and Andrew Grimsrud. In Long Beach, those filing for office included Mrs. John Rygh and Floyd Torguson. In Starbuck, two incumbents were Adolph Carlson and Melvin Hanse; Chester Baukol had filled for trustee. In Villard, candidates for village positions included Arnold Tank, Walter Hoffman, Bernard Remington, L.A. Hutchins, Charles Walker, Alice Hoffman and Eva Husmann. In Lowry, those filing for office were Glen Lundblad and Frank Bisek; and in Westport incumbents filing were Ben Frederick, Mrs. Vern Rode, Bertha Frederick and Phyllis Dziengel.

Dec. 5, 1974 – Pope County Sheriff Ira Emmons and other law enforcement officials were puzzled by the reports of three animal mutilations. Other incidents had been reported in Kandiyohi and Swift counties. The county reports involved a heifer and two cows which had apparently been killed and then portions of their bodies removed. Among the things which kept officials wondering was that the left ears had been removed in all three cases. There was no apparent cause of death in any of the cases, and no human tracks had been found by the carcasses of the animals.

Ole Hoplin, a retired Lowry businessman, died at the age of 85. He had started Hoplin Nelson Hardware in Lowry in 1916 and had been active in the business until his retirement in 1955. He also operated a funeral home business in Lowry and in 1964 had purchased the Glenwood funeral home from Herman Berry. He had been very active in community politics and events as well.

Dec. 6, 1984 –  It wasn’t long after Lake Minnewaska froze over the previous weekend before fish houses began to appear. Pictured in the Tribune were houses sitting on five inches of ice though where the ice houses were had been open water just a week before.

Mike’s Fish and Seafood, a five-year-old Glenwood business owned by Mike Field of Brooten, was gearing up for the season. Field was expecting to sell 250,000 pounds of lutefisk before the end of the year, and the crew was turning out 5,000 pieces of lefse a day.

Pope County Hospice honored its volunteers. Among the honorees were Corine Lund, Wanda Haldorson, Marge Cagley, Geri McIver, Judy Conley, Kathy Bucher, Martha Dahlseng, Amy Lee, Mildred Dahlseng, Orla Espelien, Mary Kuntz, Shirlee Swanberg, Ella Zwiefel, Jean Bowen, Ed Bryce, Terri Elsey, Dan McIver, Donna Hill and Sue Kirkwold.

Dec. 5, 1994 –  Lake Minnewaska had finally frozen over, about a week later than normal. The freeze over of the lake was normally over early Thanksgiving week.

Santa Claus was coming to Glenwood for an appearance. Sponsored by the Glenwood Area Chamber of Commerce, there was an opportunity for parents to leave children to watch videos. Youngsters who attended got the chance to see Santa and each also received a gift.

Members of Pope County Hospice lit a Christmas tree on the hospital grounds in memory of those whom the program served over the years. People who had lost friends and relatives could contribute money to sponsor bulbs on the tree with proceeds going to the Hospice program.

Nov. 29, 2004 – The Community Thanksgiving Day dinner went off without a hitch last Thursday, with 412 people served a hot meal to celebrate the holiday. Two-hundred-fifty-nine people attended the dinner in person, filling the Minnewaska Area High School cafeteria up quickly for the hour-and-a-half-long meal. One-hundred-fifty-three people had their meals delivered to their homes, keeping volunteer drivers busy during the day.

The Minnewaska Area High School fall band concert filled the MAHS auditorium on Nov. 19. Led by conductor Kip Johnson, the varsity band, concert band and jazz bands I and II played songs varying from “This Little Light of Mine,” a classic arranged by Andy Clark, to “Snakes!” a modern, short piece exploring sounds associated with the slithering reptile family by Thomas C. Duffy. 

Dec. 1, 2014 – A float sponsored by Eagle Bank won the traveling trophy for “Best Holiday Spirit” at the annual Lighted Holiday Parade in Glenwood on Nov. 20. The lighted parade kicked off four weeks of community activities as part of the Magical Christmas in Glenwood event sponsored by the Glenwood Lakes Area Chamber of Commerce. There were 18 entries in the annual Lighted Holiday Parade through downtown Glenwood. The parade started off with the Glenwood Fire Department.

Directed by Caitlin Drayna, Minnewaska Area High School Varsity and Concert Bands kicked off the formal concert season last week. Thursday evening’s concert filled the MAHS auditorium with the melodious sounds of hard work and dedication to musicianship. This year marked the return of the Varsity Band, which had been blended into Concert Band in years past due to scheduling conflicts. Now, with MAHS moving from a six-period to a seven-period day, students are able to meet every day for Concert Band. Varsity Band, comprised mainly of freshmen students, met every other day.

On Nov. 23, Cory Larson and his two boys, Alec and Jack, skated across Lake Minnewaska – Glenwood to Starbuck. “It was a nice day, and they wanted to go skating, so we went,” stated Larson. The ice covering the lake was about 6 inches, but with no snow cover, skating was an option.