Column - 1962: Evansville is only village in Douglas County to vote 'dry'

Talk about it

The following is a collection of stories and other items that were included in Alexandria newspapers over the years.

100 YEARS AGO

DECEMBER 1912

The new two-story schoolhouse with a basement in Miltona is the first of its kind in the area. There are two rooms on each floor and it was built for $5,200. Students will be hauled to school in a new comfortable rig… Kensington students are attending classes in their new school even though the basement and plumbing work is not yet complete… Engstrom and Pennar were contacted by Rud Wegener Brewing Company to construct a new four-story fireproof brew house measuring 17’ wide by 25’ long and 45’ high… Street lamps in downtown Carlos will be replaced after Christmas, and the old ones moved to other parts of town.

50 YEARS AGO

DECEMBER 1962

Keith Dougherty displayed a 7-pound, 2-ounce walleye he took out of Lake L’Homme Dieu while fishing off his dock with a minnow… The “drys” won out by only eight votes in Evansville. It was the only village in Douglas County to vote “dry” in the recent legal liquor election… A single lung shot with a bow and arrow was all it took for 17-year-old Jim Aga, son of Donald Aga, to get his first deer… Len Oswald, who lives by the second hole of the golf course, was pictured swinging his golf club after warm weather brought him and other golfers out of winter retirement… Cliff Hollingsworth, owner of Cliff’s Little Store, was recognized as the “oldest grocer” in Alexandria in terms of operating under the same name/same location for 23 years.

25 YEARS AGO

DECEMBER 1987

Doris Hoffrogge shared this and other recipes from the ALCW Var Saa God cookbook: Lefsa: Yew tak yust ten big potatoes Den yew boil dem till dar done. Yew add tew dis some sveet cream – by cups it measures vun. Den yew steal tree ounce of butter And vit tew fingers pinch some salt. Yew beat dis very lightly. If it aint gut it iss your fault. Den yew role it tin vit flour and light brown on stove you bake. Den yew call in all Scanhuvians tew try da fine lefsa yew make… Some Jefferson High School seniors in Bill Riggs’ social studies class are skeptical about the recently signed Reagan-Gorbachev arms reduction treaty, believing it is a political ploy by both leaders.

10 YEARS AGO

DECEMBER 2002

Alexandria Clinic announced plans for a $3 million expansion project. Part of the space will be leased to the Minneapolis Heart Institute for diagnosis and treatment… TPT Golf, a new indoor golf simulator, has opened in Carlos. Its owners, Tom Burns, Paul Chermak and John Henry, who also own Lakes Area Excavating, say playing a round feels just like the “real thing”… In his recently published book, Batter Up: Celebrating a Century of Minnesota Baseball, author Ross Bernstein made several references to local sports events: Cal Larson’s no-hitter in the Alexandria VFW 2001 state championship; Dave Dykema’s record-tying three home runs in a state tournament game for Osakis in 1988 and the Parkers Prairie American Legion’s team state championship win in 2001.

• • •

Marge Van Gorp of Alexandria is a regular contributing columnist to the Echo Press Opinion page.

Tags: opinion, columns