Column - 1912: Farmers in Forada plan to start a bank

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

MARCH 1912

The personal narrative of Raold Amundson’s journey to the South Pole was re-printed from the New York Times… J.R. Hanson, furrier in Osakis, made a business trip that gave him pleasure. He “made” all the towns between Alexandria and Fergus Falls on the Great Northern and sold 500 pairs of driving mittens… B.J. Johnson of Garfield traded his livery stable and property to Claus Johnson for a 60-acre farm in LaGrand Township… Ole Gilbertson cut down an oak tree with a four-foot diameter, believed to be the biggest in the county… The Crystal Theater played to a “standing room only” audience for its 1 hour-20 minute Passion Play motion picture… The farmers in Forada are meeting this week to plan the organization of a bank in that thriving community.

50 YEARS AGO

MARCH 1962

Mrs. Charles (Marilyn) French of Brandon was one of 12 homemakers vying for the title of Mrs. Minnesota at the Builders Show in Minneapolis. In competition, she prepared a ham dinner, frozen casserole, packed a picnic lunch in Tupperware and had to design a table centerpiece. She also had to style her hair three different ways… Phase one of the federal government fall-out shelter survey designated 46 buildings in Alexandria having enough protection factors to be considered for shelter against radiation. Phase two will be to obtain from those owners the “Fall-out Shelter License Privilege Agreements” that would permit their use in case of a threat… Alexandria Production Credit Association, now completely farmer-owned, moved into its new home on South Broadway.

25 YEARS AGO

MARCH 1987

Douglas County’s 9-1-1 emergency system has received more than 500 calls since it went into operation in December. On the first day of operation, the sheriff’s office received a call from an 11-year-old whose grandmother was having chest pains. The boy had just watched a television news story about 9-1-1 minutes before. He made the call that saved her life. The most recent call was about the fire at Blake’s by the Lakes when an 85-year-old resident living in an adjoining unit heard her smoke alarm go off, smelled smoke and then made the right call… Thanks to a change in Army policy, women are now being accepted in the Army National Guard… Last year, Jim Abers of Osakis caught a 3-pound, 6-ounce yellow bullhead to beat the old state record by 2 ounces.

10 YEARS AGO

MARCH 2002

Fred Bursch, president of Bursch Travel, accepted the American Express “Representative Excellence,” their most prestigious award for travel agencies. He credits his fine staff for the honor… Chelsea Brickweg and Amy Ristvedt competed in the Midwest Gymnastic Invitational and earned the right to advance to the USA Gymnastic State Championships… Bill Seeman, director of the movie Herman, USA, is seeking investors in consideration of Alexandria as a possible location for another film, The Swift River Rangers… Natalie Heckert will represent Alexandria in the Mrs. Minnesota-America Pageant in June… Karl Hausmann and Laura Chan used 250 toothpicks, one bottle of glue and the knowledge from science classes at Zion School to construct the prize-winning bridge that held more than 1.5 pounds of weight.

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

Tags: opinion, columns