Column - 1912: Boys skip school in Nelson to earn money

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

OCTOBER 1912

Manual training courses at Alexandria High School include drafting and wood shop, blacksmith shop with forges, tin shop and working with concrete. The agriculture course offers the study of grains, grasses, potatoes and breed of stock. For girls, the domestic science classes include methods of cookery; learning to darn socks, make underwear and a wash dress… The “Mystery Raffle” is quite a sensation at Howard Theater. A portion of a well-known local person’s face is projected on the screen and the first person making the identification wins $5… A lot of boys are missing from the Nelson school these days. The chance to earn money picking potatoes is more appealing… An attempt to assassinate Colonel Teddy Roosevelt while campaigning in Chicago was unsuccessful.

50 YEARS AGO

OCTOBER 1962

The 1962-63 Alexandria School District budget totals $1,569,000, which is $60,300 higher than last year… Tadahiko Araya, a foreign exchange student from Japan, is being hosted by the Robert Davis family… Carl Hintzen of Carl’s Fireside served a free steak dinner to all members of the VFW Junior Baseball team, runners-up at the state tournament… In This Corner contained the recipe for Mrs. James Pipo’s Baked Beans, judged to be the best at the Democratic Bean Feed… Due to recent tariff revisions, it is possible to do unlimited bus travel in the United States for $99. For full particulars, see Bursch Travel… Glen Ziebarth of Brandon was awarded a $2,400 scholarship from Fairmont Foods, based on academic aptitude, leadership, character and promise of success in the dairy industry.

25 YEARS AGO

OCTOBER 1987

Travis Freudenberg was the lucky draw winner of “Skippy,” the 8-foot-long crocodile offered through a promotion sponsored by Supervideo when Crocodile Dundee came to town… A tentative agreement has been reached between District 206 and its teachers, giving them a 7.8 percent increase in salary and benefits over the next two years… The Douglas County Historical Society (DCHS) announced it now owns the Anton and Henrietta Berglund house in Evansville. It will be known as the Evansville Historical and Research Center as a branch of DCHS and research center for western Douglas County… Erik Anderson, son of Ken and Jeanne Anderson, was pictured as he hugged the giant Cookie Monster he won at JCPenney’s “Big Bird Birthday Party.”

10 YEARS AGO

OCTOBER 2002

“Ben Franklin” made an appearance at the Garfield school, looking very much like Al Senstad. He talked about his ventures and misadventures, and about the importance of voting… Featured on the cover of the October issue of Minnesota Business, was Jill Blashack, founder and CEO of Tastefully Simple… Osakis firefighters used the Jaws of Life to rescue Arthur Scott Johnson, who was trapped inside the cab of his grain truck when it rolled into a ditch. He was taken to the hospital, treated and released… Workers attempted to smooth a two-block area of Nokomis Street in Osakis after someone drove on the new cement… Members of the Jefferson High School debate team opened the season by bringing home the first-place trophy from the Coon Rapids tournament.

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

Tags: opinion, columns