Column - 1984: Vernon Maack honored with 'Good Neighbor' award

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

100 YEARS AGO

June 1909

The annual salary of Postmaster Brough of Alexandria was raised from $2,100 to $2,300. Osakis Postmaster Branson’s annual pay will increase from $1,500 to $1,600… W.K. Olson moved from Rose City to Carlos to take charge of the meat market and groceries he purchased from Mr. Ogren… Twenty-nine new subscribers have been added to the Alexandria Telephone Company; 28 others have discontinued the service… Forada City Council voted to pay $3.50 a day to its street men working with their teams of horses. The salary of laborers will be $1.75 a day… George Washington Martin, wanted for four years for stealing horses in Alexandria, was arrested in a bar in Beltrami County and is now a guest in the Douglas County jail.

50 YEARS AGO

June 1959

Several Alexandrians were division champions in the 5th annual Viking Archer’s Tournament, including Expert A: Don Ruhl; Bowman: LaMount Mounsdon; Novice: Ken Feda; Free Style Class B: Don Lund; Women’s Class A: Arlene Ruhl… Harold Hall, Douglas County surveyor and city consulting engineer, is listed in the 1959 Who’s Who in Engineering… While checking his fishing tackle for this season’s bass opener, Dave Djuik dreamed about last year’s opener when he qualified for the National Two-for-One Club by catching two bass with one cast on one plug… Ed Barsness of Glenwood will be interviewed by WCCO on his book, Europe Calling. The book deals with the lives of the common people he met during his travels in 1956… The famous Explorer II will be on display at the Alexandria Airport during Viking Days in mid-June.

25 YEARS AGO

June 1984

The Plank, a nightclub located north of Alexandria, will reopen under new ownership this summer… Raymond Dusing received the prestigious FAA award for saving the lives of five Henning residents during inclement weather last winter… Phyllis Hanaak was the lucky winner of the 1984 Chevrolet Chevette given away by KSTQ Radio as part of their grand opening ceremony… Burger King combined the opening of its enlarged dining area with an introduction of its croissant breakfast… Osakis 5th-grader Julie Emerson’s biographical sketch about her grandmother, Myrtle Russell, was declared the winner in the Douglas County Historical Society biography contest… Under the title, “Meet the Colonel,” columnist Erling Rolfsrud vividly portrayed the career of auctioneer Gary Ekdahl… Vernon Maack has been honored with WCCO’s “Good Neighbor” award.

10 YEARS AGO

June 1999

Alexandria Cardinal Boys won the 8AA track title for the fifth consecutive year, outdistancing Bemidji by 170-99 points… Sheriff Bill Ingebrigtsen was appointed to the Minnesota Sentencing Guideline Commission by Governor Jesse Ventura… Celeste Beam, a summer intern at Echo Press, will write feature stories and oversee the The Vacationer… John “Jack” Hedine received the Melvin Jones Fellowship Award in recognition of his commitment to the Lions Club for more than 50 years… Jenny Quam, native Alexandrian, has authored a book about the 1997 Grand Forks flood entitled A Small Town’s War… The governor for “all of Minnesota,” Jesse Ventura, has “cut the pork” from the state spending bill. In the $550 million proposal, he salvaged the $60 million light rail system while taking the meat axe to $54 million from other projects.

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

Tags: opinion, columns, marge, van, gorp