A “bag” that turned out to be an owl

Dec. 6, 1962 – The City of Glenwood’s long-time Santa retired after 30 years on the job. Clint Torguson stepped down, figuring it was time to spend a Christmas Eve with his family. His wife, Peg, dressed as Mrs. Santa, often accompanied him on the 25-50 visits he made to area homes each year. 

The local chamber of commerce was electing members to its board of directors. Nominated for the posts were Tom Brown, Gordon Cagley, Don Callen, Caryl Codgrove, Dennis Gloege, Larry Haeckel, Cliff Hansen, Dick Kaus, Raynold Kvitek, Lloyd Keacher, William Peters, Walter Pfahl, Robert Robards and E. Vincent Thompson. 

Bill Kleven retired after spending 21 years with Northern States Power. He had joined NSP in 1942 in the steam engine plant in Glenwood. 

Dec. 7, 1972 – Dr. Paul A. Swedenburg, a Glenwood doctor who had practiced medicine for 42 years, was making plans to retire. He had been in Glenwood 26 of those years. His clinic had been sold to Drs. Howard Lecander and Judd Peterson, chiropractors. Swedenburg and his wife, Fern, planned to travel. 

A record cold wave for early December hit the area when the mercury plunged to 20 degrees below zero. Heavy snowfall also fell, and more than six inches was deposited on the county. There appeared to be no relief in sight.

A rural Brooten youngster was apparently no worse for the wear following a fall through the ice. Officials said that only an early discovery and mouth-to-mouth resuscitation saved the two-year-old’s life. He was riding his tricycle on the river near his parents home at the time of the accident.

Dec. 2, 1982 – Glenwood’s Waterama was back in the black, put there in part by an insurance check issued when it rained just prior to the big Sunday parade. The $6,500 was a boon for Admiral Chuck McGinty, Commodore Bill Endres and Vice Commodore Don McNea who had worked throughout the year to keep the project in the black. They had succeeded at their efforts, and the insurance check, issued when the required amount of rain fell in the required amount of time, would allow the next year’s crew to begin the year in good shape.

Local fisherman had just put their fish houses on the lake when the first break-in of the year occurred. Taken were an ice chisel, a new oil burner and fishing rod. The lake had taken quite awhile to finally allow the houses to go out. 

The Lakers girls’ basketball team edged the Morris Tigers 53-47 in their home debut. Among the Lakers Participants were Sam Mattson, Sarah Anderson, Karla McCrory, Charlie Morgan and Sonja Olson. 

Dec. 7, 1992 – Property owners who had received their property tax statements may have been surprised by a significant increase in the proposed levy issued by School District #612. District Business Manager John Troop credited the increase with two major factors. The first was in the health and safety category and the other was that the district had to levy for the maximum amount of approximately $124,000 in the debt redemption fund. 

The Glenwood City Commission was briefed on development projects on the drawing board. John Caskey, who served as the economic developer for the Glenwood Development Corporation, informed the commission that he was proposing a county wide resort and motel bed tax. 

The Minnewaska High School Choral Department was to present its annual Christmas concert over a period of three days. Not all concerts were to feature all choral groups, with the junior high groups being split between concerts. 

Dec. 9, 2002 – Last year, hundreds and hundreds of people braved the cold weather to catch the glimpse of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s lighted Holiday Train. 

The number of ice fishing houses on Lake Minnewaska jumped from a couple dozen to a couple hundred in the last week as cold weather has put about a foot of ice across the lake. This year’s freeze was slightly  earlier than average. In the past, an early freeze means that more anglers will lug their houses on the lake. 

While ice fishing number have been down in the recent years due to late freeze and/or low fish numbers, area anglers and bait shop owners are hoping for a good year with the early freeze and more aggressive stocking program that has been in place the last few years. 

Dec. 3, 2012 – Mike Salonen, his stepson Derek Burd, friends Corey Johnshoy and Hunter Weisel were duck hunting about six miles southwest of Starbuck; as he was driving back to the hunting site, Salonen said he noticed what he thought was an errant Tom’s Food Pride bag floating in the field. Later, one of the boys called to have Salonen walk the field; they’d gotten a mallard, but hadn’t found it yet. While searching for the mallard, Salonen saw the bag again. He found the mallard, and he also found the “bag,” a magnificent female snowy owl that had been  shot with a .22, hiding in the weeds by a drainage ditch. 

After nearly 10 inches of snow fell on the area on Sunday, dawn broke on Monday morning to a clear, cold winter scene. Roads remained snow-covered in most of the area and students at Minnewaska Area Schools got their first snow day of the season as MAS joined others in the area and closed the schools on Monday. 

When John and Cindy Krattenmaker moved to the Glenwood area from Montrose, they had no idea they’d be starting off with a $1,000 shopping spree from the pages of the Wagner Hardware Fall 2012 merchandise book. John said he entered the drawing when he came into Wagner’s to have a key cut.