Column - 1912: New schoolhouse built in Belle River district

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

MAY 1912

Minnesota Dairy and Food Association now requires that all eggs be candled before being accepted by merchants and storage plants… George Southwick was the winner of the 1913 Maxwell automobile in an American Home Magazine subscription contest… Four students graduated from the Nelson School… There was damage and no fire when lightning struck the Homestead elevator in Forada. Frank Chan was in the building. He and some nearby mason workers suffered severe shock. None sustained bodily injury… Julius Krebs shipped a carload of cattle. His best steer brought $125… Students at District 41 in Belle River will have a new 28 foot by 20 foot schoolhouse by the fall term.

50 YEARS AGO

MAY 1962

The Alexandria Land O’ Lakes plant produces about 85,000 pounds of powdered milk a day from about 1 million pounds of fluid milk. This week they shipped eight boxcars totaling 560,000 pounds to government storage for use in the school milk program… The state and federal government approved a $70,000 expansion for the Alexandria Armory, the first improvement since 1940. A 23 foot by 90 foot addition will include a full basement for a rifle range, shower and toilet facilities, boiler and locker rooms… After a five-year debate, the City Council confirmed the vote to locate a new fire-police building on the previous city hall corner… The Viking Beer Garden is now open under the new management of Beryl and Dot Bratton.

25 YEARS AGO

MAY 1987

Ellen Niblett, president and member of MADD since 1983, was honored with an “Outstanding Service Award” by Mothers Against Drunk Driving… Gerry and Joan Sandwick created 58 stained glass panels to fill three large windows for the United Methodist Church… A three year project just completed in Douglas County is the first in the state: a 322-page book entitled Douglas County 4-H: 80 Years of Making the Best Better. It is published by the 4-H and the Douglas County Historical Society… Heavy equipment began digging at the location of the city’s new K-Mart Store on the southwest end of Alexandria… The ongoing battle between Glenwood and Madison, MN over which town is the “Lutefisk Capital of the World” will be aired on the NBC Today Show this week to coincide with Glenwood’s “Hagar Days” parade.

10 YEARS AGO

MAY 2002

Lance Corporal Jim Cox, 1998 graduate of Jefferson High School, shared his experiences aboard the USS Bataan in the fight against terrorism in Afghanistan following 9/11. Among other accomplishments, his crew was partly responsible for taking over the Kandahar Airport… Workers from Lee’s Construction poured cement for the new skate park scheduled to open May 30 in Dean Melton Fillmore Park… Lindsay Watts, 1988 graduate of JHS and a member of the Tangled Up in Blue women’s a cappella group at the University of Wisconsin, is the featured soloist on a CD recently released by the group and its brother group, the Madhatters Men’s A Cappella… Karla Hoppe was crowned Douglas County Dairy Princess.

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

Tags: opinion, columns