Column - 2002: Distress call leads to gunfire, long stand-off

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

FEBRUARY 1912

Albin Anderson of Spruce Hill was in Alexandria attending to business for the Mission Field that is contemplating building a church in the “Hill Country”… After being notified that a man is interested in building a summer hotel here, The Commercial Club met to discuss a suitable site for its construction. Suitable sites considered were Geneva Beach and the George Campbell 50-acre site on Lake L’Homme Dieu… A holiday was declared in the area schools so that the pupils and faculty could attend the ski tournament in Glenwood. They will make up the day on Saturday… The city of Alexandria’s financial report showed an opening balance of $33,354 and ended the year with $29,655… Clinton Howard, temperance advocate, lectured at the WCTU meeting for three hours on the “Joy Ride on the Water Wagon.”

50 YEARS AGO

FEBRUARY 1962

For the third consecutive year, Innis LeRoy’ s Echo Press Women’s department won top honors in the Minnesota Press Women’s annual contest… Eleanor Anderson of the Rose City Ramblers 4-H Club won first prize in the annual Rural Youth Public Speaking contest… With 10,000 added seats and the bats of the Mantles, the Marises and the Killebrews, officials of the Minnesota Twins are optimistic their second season will be more profitable than the first. The team has served as peacemaker for the rival cities of St. Paul and Minneapolis. The former Washington Senators, booed and jeered in the nation’s capital, accomplished in 13 months what the die-hards and cynics said they couldn’t: They made the area one great metropolitan baseball center.

25 YEARS AGO

FEBRUARY 1987

About 200 people of all ages and walks of life attended the AIDS seminar to learn more about the virus that attacks the body’s immune system. Douglas County pathologist Dr. Mark Soanbauer conducted the seminar… Darrel Flaig was presented the 1986 Sertoma Service to Mankind Award. During his 51 years at Anderson Funeral Home, he worked for all three generations. He retired in 1980 and has since given his time and talent to the community… Mike Pfeffer, Alexandria standout wrestler, has won four straight Alexandria Invitational titles… Alexandria Gun Club has opened an indoor shooting range in the basement of the Wedum Supply Warehouse on Nokomis and Lincoln Avenue.

10 YEARS AGO

FEBRUARY 2002

The Ice Fishing Challenge brought about 2,500 anglers to Lake L’Homme Dieu. Kirsten Minnerath took home the top prize of the Ford pickup for her 3.51 pound northern… A routine check on someone’s welfare was everything but routine when a Lake Miltona resident opened fire on a squad car. About 30 Douglas County deputies responded to the distress call. No one was injured in a stand-off that lasted five hours before the man was apprehended… Washington School fifth-graders opened a store called Smart Start to learn the art of running a business. The idea came from the new principal, Judith Christ… To celebrate 100 days of school, Zion Lutheran first grade students had a pajama party. They put together a 100-piece puzzle, did 100 jumping jacks and wrote a story about how they would spend $100.

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

Tags: opinion, columns