Column - 1909: The Osakis Creamery churns out 18 tubs of butter

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

June 1909

The Osakis Creamery turned out 18 tubs of butter on its first churning… O.H. Curtis purchased a seven-passenger gasoline launch for pleasure trips on Lake Osakis… Mesdames W. J. Sorenson and E.A. Gronberg opened a home bakery in the east room of the Brown Meat Market… Chris Fiskness reported that more than 500 of his countrymen converged on Glenwood for a picnic and to form a Trunderforengen Society… George Washington Martin responded to horse theft charges against him and claimed he was not aware of any bench warrant against him. Shortly after the alleged event, the U.S. Army sent him on a three-year tour of duty to the Philippines to fulfill his army obligation. He claimed the warrant never reached him.

50 YEARS AGO

June 1959

The ageless Satchell Paige, former Cleveland Indian, Miami Marlin and St. Louis Brown, will make his first appearance at Knute Nelson Memorial Field when the Havana Cuban All-Stars square off with the Alexandria Clippers. Paige, now “between 50 and 60,” is expected to pitch the first few innings of the exhibition game… Mrs. Aloys Korkowski, last year’s winner in the whole wheat bread contest, is the champion white bread baker in the Douglas County Farm Bureau Women’s Nutritional Contest… Randy Hanson of Garfield was one of 82 gifted high school students nationally to win a scholarship to the St. Olaf Science for Youth Institute… Northern Natural Gas Company has proposed to the Federal Power Commission its willingness to extend natural gas to 21 Minnesota towns, including Alexandria.

25 YEARS AGO

June 1984

Jodi Krafta captured first place in the Class AA Girls Golf Tournament. She is the second Alexandria golfer to win the state title, joining the ranks with Lisa Kluver… The 1,000th packaging machine built by Douglas Machine was designed for Coca Cola Company to package non-returnable pop bottles. It measures 69 feet long and is 11 feet wide... Douglas County sold $2.5 million in bonds to finance the reconstruction of state and county highway systems… Seven part-time members of the Sheriff’s Posse have been hired to augment the regular county road patrol deputies… Craig Anderson’s Viking Adventure Coach is now available for charter travel in 49 states, through Alex Travel Agency… Bottlemen’s Wharf on North Lake Nokomis will celebrate its grand opening with wine tasting and prizes galore on Saturday.

10 YEARS AGO

June 1999

LeRoy Mackove, superintendent of Osakis Schools, has been named an Administrator of Excellence by the Minnesota Association of School Administrators… Brett Swedberg tied for individual honors in the Class AA Boys Golf State Tournament. He is believed to be the first ever Alexandria boy to win this award. The previous best was fourth-place winner Pat Herzog in the early 1980s… Dan Engebretson reeled in a 12-pound, 6-ounce walleye from Lake Latoka using a leech in 19 feet of water. Robert Frederick took the contest lead with a 1-pound, 4-ounce sunfish using a Beetle Spin in 10 feet of water… Vlad Michtchenko, a Ukranian living in Alexandria, has communicated with 260 countries by Morse code over his Ham radio, and has only 60 countries left before he “touches them all.”

• • •

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

Tags: marge van gorp, opinion, columns