Lots of winners in area schools

March 17, 1955 – A representative group of pastors and lay people from Lutheran churches in the area met to discuss establishing a home for the aged in Glenwood. The meeting was called and chaired by Dr. Magnus Dahlen, executive secretary of the board of charities for the synod. About 55 pastors and lay delegates from the area were at the meeting. The approximate cost of the home, which would house 40 to 50 people, was $200,000.

March 18, 1965 – The season’s worst storm paralyzed the area with a 10-inch snowfall and 40 mph winds. The storm closed schools and blocked roads. Twenty-two inches of snow had fallen so far in the month of March.

Eleven Glenwood students won superior ratings at the Dist. No. 22 contest at Alexandria. They were Allison Kinney, Janis Hustad, Roger Bruhn, Diane Graves, Linda Lyslo, Genevieve Kickertz, Cathy Motis, Joon Geol Yoo, Karla Findley, Robert Vollrath and Rose Meade. They would represent Glenwood at the regional tourney in Fergus Falls.

The new Glenwood Post Office would be dedicated. The building was remodeled by its owner, A.E. Kvam, for lease to the postal service. The building included 3,500 square feet of space, a loading ramp, surfaced driveway and new furniture and fixtures. The postmaster was C.P. Femrite.

March 20, 1975 – Winners of the awards at the annual Jaycee banquet included Roger Salonen, Bill Davids, Ernie Rousseau Jr., John R. Stone, Bruce Wagner, Ron Erno, Jerry Maher and Randy Schlief. Mrs. Jaycee award winners were Angie Schlief, Lois Maher and Marion McCrory. Top Jaycee couple were Bruce and Terri Wagner.

Eleven Glenwood High School concert band members participated in the Phi Beta Mu Festival of Bands at St. Olaf College in Northfield. The 11 were Jackie Varner, Erick Gandrud, Paula Hough, Debbie Pearson, Peggy Schumacher, Kay Hagen, Steve Mikkelson, Bruce Felt, Cindy Varner, Mike Rippe and Brenda Anderson.

March 21, 1985 – Bids were opened for renovation of the Pope County Court-house, and those bids surprised the project architect and set county commissioners to wondering where adjustments could be made. The low bid was $570,000 while the architect had expected the bid to be about $490,000.

For just the second time in the history of the school, the Glenwood Lakers boys’ basketball team was set to enter the state basketball tournament. The 1956 entrants had been coached by Jim Gremmels. John Holsten was coaching the 1985 entry, accompanied by Mark Kerfeld, Grant Thompson, Mike Olson, Troy Wagner, Arnold Gerdes, Tony Togerson, Mike Thorfinnson, Kyle Thompson, Mike Hegg and Craig Tostenson. They would meet Greenway Coleraine at state.

Frank Hoffmann, sixth-grader at Villard, won the Villard spelling bee to compete in Fergus Falls. Also participating were Dene Quandt and Michelle Novak.

March 20, 1995 – Glenwood mayor Donavon Schaub died at St. Cloud Hospital on March 18. Schaub had served as Glenwood’s mayor in the 1980s for five years and then ran for election again in 1990. He served a four-year term and was elected last November to another four-year term which began in January.

The Glenwood Retirement Village was set to host an open house to honor Oliver Hoplin, who completed over 38 years as president of the GRV board of directors this month.

The MAS school board reviewed the school district’s financial condition and decided that if Gov. Arne Carlson’s budget proposal goes into effect and the current spending level is maintained by the district, the schools could be $132,000 in the red at the end of the 1995-96 school year. 

March 21, 2005 – The school board voted to close Villard Academy and suspend Starbuck’s elementary program. K-4 will attend E.N. Nordgaard, while fifth and sixth-graders will go to Minnewaska Area High School.

Local Boy Scout Troop 423 raced their pinewood derby cards on March 14 at E.N. Nordgaard Elementary School. Pictured was J.R. Formo, who won the “best appearance” award. Daryan Morin took first place in the race, Nicholas Foner placed second, and Dustin Neu placed third.

The Lakeside Ballroom construction was reportedly two weeks behind schedule, but the structure was mostly enclosed. Project architects expected windows to go in that week. Commissioners would determine the ballroom’s interior colors, textures and materials during their work session meeting.

March 16, 2015 –  The helipad at Glacial Ridge Health System (GRHS) was re-licensed by the Minnesota Department of Transportation (Mn-DOT) Office of Aeronautics and reopened last Monday, March 9 to receive emergency helicopter transports on a 24-hour, seven-days-a-week basis. Last Wednesday morning, normal operations began, with the first helicopter landing at the local hospital’s helipad and departing with a patient. 

Trophy Lake was the place to be last Monday as fifth-grade students from Minnewaska Area Schools had a chance to put some new skills to the test. Each year, MAS fifth-graders have the opportunity to take part in a nationally recognized program, MinnAqua, which teaches them about Minnesota’s aquatic natural resources and the skills needed for fishing. An ice fishing outing with the entire grade culminates the MinnAqua program. Local volunteer Nancy Koep, who has been teaching the DNR-developed MinnAqua curriculum to MAS students for five years, also arranges the ice fishing outing.

The Minnewaska Area High School speech team was speeding toward subsections, and collecting significant hardware along the way. At the March 7 meet at Battle Lake, the team pulled in a second-place finish, bringing home the trophy above held by captains Cole Mercier and Gavin Jensen. Members contributing to the team’s success at Battle Lake were, Jenna Dyreson, Miranda Cerney, Greta Serrin, Grace Bartels, Chloe Anderson, Sam Pfeiffer, Kallan Mercier, Karissa LaMont, Meghan Cerney, Andrew Middendorf, Mason Schlief, Gavin Doebbert, Ian Gustafson, Greta Reichmann, Karra Hanson, Alex Larson, Shannon Strutz, Ryan Majerus, Aanan Schlief, Ryan Moen, Hannah Braaten, Hannah Hoffmann, Tori Anderson, Eva Kimball, Anna Haus, Collin Stumpf, Seth Trussell, Calvin Hoffmann, Stefan Haehne, Naomi Leedahl, Shayla Hollenbeck, Annika Hartman, Zack Evans, Carter LaMont and Sam Peters.