Rotary club to be formed in Glenwood

March 10, 1955 – Twenty-three Glenwood students participated in the district speech tournament. They were Fred Kickertz, Carol Connett, Margaret Halstead, Delores Olson, Pauline Morton, Pat Holden, Gail Slattery, Judy Hoplin, Susan Hanson, Oral Christianson, Janice Hallstrom, Ruth Kishel, Bonnie Engebretson, Marlon Swenson, Janice Dreyer, Jim Gloege, Jean Lemon, Karen Schelin, Rosalie Kvale, Lila Peterson and Karen Hallstrom.

Township chairs in the county included: Mrs. Charles Hauge in Bangor, Marvin Feigum in Barsness, Wallace Magnuson in Ben Wade, Oliver Nygaard in Blue Mounds, Mrs. Anton Hauge in Chippewa Falls, Walter Kittelson in Gilchrist, Glen Van Tries and Wilfred Hedlund in Glenwood, Alfred Sundin in Grove Lake, Herbert Bly in Hoff, Hilmer Lea in Lake Johanna, Charles Peterman in Leven, Allan Nygaard in Minnewaska, Duane Solvie in New Prairie, Maynard Spilseth in Nora, Henning Lysen in Reno, Clarence Nelson in Rolling Forks, H.M. Hanson in Walden, Mrs. Albert Peterson in Westport and Alfred Spangrud in White Bear Lake.

March 11, 1965 – A 38-year-old school administrator from Dolton, Ill., would become the new Glenwood superintendent of schools around July 1, 1965. Announcement of the hiring of Harold C. Sutter as superintendent of schools here at a salary of $14,000 a year was made by the Glenwood board of education.

A Rotary club was in the process of being formed in Glenwood. A group of Glenwood men had been meeting Wednesdays at Cliff’s café at 12:05 p.m. to form the club, and when 25 charter members were signed up, the club would officially chartered and become a part of Rotary International, a worldwide service organization of 540,000 members in 129 countries. Included in the membership of the club thus far were Oliver Hoplin, Cliff Hansen, Gordon Cagley, the Rev. Hart Armstrong, Dr. Howard LeCander, Chuck Kettells, the Rev. John Spencer, Dennis Martinson, the Rev. L.D. Kramer, Ronald Laycock, the Rev. Robert Fegan, Bob O’Fallon, the Rev. Jacob Meyers and Harlan Long.

Doug MacIver won the Glenwood Laker team scoring title in basketball just edging ace guard Mike Shea. Unofficial figures gave the star forward 319 points over the 18-game season, an average of 17.7 per game, while Shea had 317 points, an average of 17.6, just one-tenth of a point behind MacIver.

March 13, 1975 – Glenwood Furniture Mart had been sold by Interstate Builders, Inc. of Glenwood to Ernest E. Rousseau of Glenwood, who had been managing the firm for the past year. Mr. Rousseau would officially take control of the building, lot (where the Rogers cafe once stood), inventory, fixtures and equipment the following Monday.

Carol Olson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Dean Olson, Glenwood, and Gaylen Dvorsak, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Dvorsak, Lowry, had been named as Girls’ and Boys’ Staters. Named as alternates were Jane Kinney, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Kinney and Tom Torgerson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Don Torgerson. Boys’ and Girls’ State were sponsored by the American Legion and Auxiliary. Girls’ State would be held June 8-14 at the College of St. Catherine in St. Paul, while Boys’ State would be the same week at St. John’s University at Collegeville.

The Pope County planning and zoning commission’s hearing on alternate routes for the proposed UPA-CPA powerline was recessed after 2½ hours Thursday night and would be continued April 3. The meeting was recessed after an overflow crowd of 150 area farmers and other interested parties made it perfectly clear that they didn’t want the powerline to run across their land or through the county and there were no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

March 14, 1985 – Glenwood firefighter Bill Winter was pictured in the Tribune showing one of the 33 new pagers recently purchased by the fire department. Each member had a pager that would notify the firemen quicker and more efficiently in the case of a fire call. The package cost about $9,000, but would pay for itself in savings when the fire phone was disconnected. The pagers would be especially useful for firefighters living on the fringe of town who might not hear the fire whistle if they were away from their telephones. In fact, the day after the pagers were issued, 23 firemen answered a call where, normally during a daytime call, only 12 to 15 might respond.

Basketball fever reached a new pitch in Glenwood Tuesday night as the Glenwood Laker boys’ basketball team took a convincing win over Breckenridge in the Region 6A boys’ semifinal round Tuesday night. The Laker boys’ team, which was undefeated this season with a 22-0 record, manhandled the Cowboys from the opening buzzer in a convincing 57-29 win that stunned Cowboy supporters and surprised many unfamiliar with Glenwood’s team.

Independent Drying Systems, Inc. of Lowry, was recently presented with a 10-year Service Award by Stormor, Inc. of Fremont, Neb. Pictured in the Tribune accepting the award from Bob Schultz, territory manager of Stormor, were R’Dell and Bud Molander.

March 13, 1995 – Double wins by Minnewaska Laker basketball teams sent the girls to the state tournament and the boys to the Section 6A tournament. The girls upset Hancock in a dramatic double overtime win.

The Kids’ Kingdom playground committee kicked off a new fundraiser for the playground construction behind E.N. Nordgaard. The group’s goal was to raise $70,000 and start construction on the playground in July. The latest fundraiser was a “Kids’ Kingdom Club.” Membership was $50, and entitled members to chances to win prizes.

A children’s musical, “Puss in Boots” was set for March 17-19. The production was sponsored by Ann and Andy Preschool. The musical was under the direction of Kathy Ofstedal with piano accompaniment by Diane DeJong. The cast included Rosine Hermandson-Olsen, Monica Kriesel, Rebecca Chapman, Diane Cordes, Randy Pederson, Irene Zens, Bobbi Marczak, Randy Guderian, Jim Morrissey, Chuck Jessup, Terry Duhn, Laura Smith, Beth Smedstad, Jan Ronning, Rose Meade and Sandy Silver. 

March 14, 2005 – The fate of Minnewaska Area Schools elementary schools was to be settled. The Starbuck Elementary School may not house elementary students in the next year. An information hearing on what the Starbuck Elementary School building would be used for the next year drew a crowd at the March 10 special board meeting. Concerned citizens discussed the future of the Villard Academy with the MAS board at a public hearing the previous week. Villard Elementary Academy may be leased to a private school from Alexandria the following year, pending a decision to be made by the MAS board. In 1991, the district included 2,000 students, but by 2005, enrollment had dropped to 1,361 students.

The Everyday Adventures of Harriet Handleman raised money for Ann and Andy Preschool. Cast members were Olivia Wahlquist, Teegan Cooley, Patrick Stumpf, Duane Cooley, Keith Volkmann, Justine Hill, Lars Meisner, Chip Wahlquist and Ingrid Wahlquist as Harriet.

Glenwood Public Works Director David Perryman, scout Jeremy Pedersen and Glenwood Mayor John R. Stone gathered to celebrate the completion of Pedersen’s Eagle Scout project. Pedersen built a shed to house a city-owned four-wheeler and golf cart. The project was completed on Feb. 22.

March 9, 2015 –  Engines roared and racers competed in the annual Hetteen Cup Vintage Snowmobile Races on Lake Minnewaska last Saturday. The mild weather attracted a good crowd to Lakeside to watch the action from the Lakeside patio.

The calendar turned to March, and just two days later, Pope County and much of the state was struck with a winter storm that dropped several inches of snow before high winds roared into the area causing blizzard conditions last Tuesday. At least the first part of the old saying, “March comes in like a lion and goes out like a lamb,” was proven truthful. With a mild weekend and temperatures predicted in the 40s and even 50s the following week, most of the snow that did fall should disappear quickly, and there should be a chance of spring settling in before April.