Column - 1962: Eleven miles of new I-94 near Fergus Falls opens

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

SEPTEMBER 1912

While stranded in Alexandria because of car trouble, Dr. Ishkanhan of Armenia spoke at the Methodist Church, denouncing the United States for shipping 12,000 barrels of liquor on the same ships that carry missionaries to Africa… A $1,200 improvement at Oscar Lake Lutheran Church included installation of frosted glass windows and a steel ceiling, varnished seats and an upholstered altar and pulpit… Mr. and Mrs. Hoffman have closed the Arlington Hotel for good and have plans to move to Bigger, Saskatchewan, Canada… Steve Pratt, whose farm was the townsite for Forada, has returned “home” for a visit… Mr. and Mrs. Phil Noonan are home from their honeymoon and have taken rooms at the Birchwood for the winter… William Melchert has been hired to teach English at the German Lutheran School.

50 YEARS AGO

SEPTEMBER 1962

Eleven miles of the multi-million dollar Interstate 94 near Fergus Falls opened this week. Paving is near completion in a section between Moorhead and Dalton… Pete’s Super Valu is celebrating the reopening of its newly remodeled store. Specials include turkeys at 33 cents a pound; 2-lb. Velveeta, 79 cents; bananas, 9 cents lb; Folgers coffee, 2 lbs. at $1.19… Plans for the new fire hall and police station were approved at an estimated cost of $135,000 plus $5,000 for excavation for the basement… The State Theater opened in the spring of 1925 with “Charlie’s Aunt.” Admission was $2 and a French horn duet from Minneapolis played for the first performance. The final performance at the theater will be this Saturday with free admission to “Happy Roads.”

25 YEARS AGO

SEPTEMBER 1987

“Young” music united older audiences when middle-aged music fans came to Jefferson High School for an evening of rock ‘n’ roll with Bobby Vee and Del Shannon. The event was a fundraiser sponsored by the Douglas County Sheriff’s Posse and Sheriff’s Federation… Fluid power students at Alexandria Vocational Institute were pictured beside the robot they built from scratch. Its body is sprawling aluminum framework; its guts are motors and dials; its nervous system is wires; its muscles are springs and air compressors; its limbs are long arms with pincer fingers. All those parts are connected to a brain – an Anatol computer. When the robot kicks into action, it hisses, whirs, clicks and pops as it turns out pen-and-paper desk sets, one at a time.

10 YEARS AGO

SEPTEMBER 2002

For the first time in the history of the Alexandria Area Shrine Club, the public was invited to witness the initiation of new “Nobles.” The 90-minute ceremony conducted by the Osman Shrine Ritual Team of St. Paul “led the new Shriners into the fraternity like in the early Arabian days”… Mary Elizabeth “Beth” Stark began a search for her birth mother when she found her original birth certificate in 1997. Her search ended in Iowa where she met nine siblings she never knew she had… Tom Lehman was inducted into the University of Minnesota “M” Club Hall of Fame. He is the most recognizable name in Golden Gopher golf history. He claimed All-Big Ten honors and All-American in 1979, 1980, 1981 and won the 1981 Minnesota Amateur title.

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

Tags: opinion, columns