Column - 1987: Jan Esala honored as Woman of the Year

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

The Alexandria School garden yielded 42 bushels of potatoes from the planting of a half bushel and their half acre plot produced 75 bushels of onions… Crystal Theater sponsored a “Bread and Milk Eating” contest. Four boys fed one another while blindfolded. The first boy to empty his bowl won $5… Dr. N.P. Campbell and his buddy narrowly escaped drowning while hunting on White Earth Reservation. The bottom of their boat broke loose and they sank immediately. Their heavy clothing made swimming very difficult. Campbell’s buddy, an excellent swimmer, tucked the duck decoys under the doctor’s arms and was able to bring both of them safely to shore… Sven Larson arrived from Sweden recently and is enrolled in Mrs. Kittleson’s kindergarten class.

50 YEARS AGO

OCTOBER 1962

Commander Robert Carlisle, commander of Helicopter Anti-Submarine 811, accepted the Chief of Naval Operations 1962 Naval Aviation Safety Award. The award is presented annually to the squadron with the most outstanding safety record achieved in competition with 47 other squadrons in the Naval Air Reserve… Alexandria Technical College is in the process of receiving $400,000 in machine tools from the Defense Department’s Industrial Equipment Reserve… Fifteen students are enrolled in the Alexandria Technical practical nursing course, now under way. The faculty includes Janice Opsal. R.N., full time director-instructor, Mrs. J. Fezzler, R.N., and Mrs. J. DeGrote, R.N, part-time clinical instructors… The Minnesota Vikings entertain the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday in the first matching of coach Norm Van Broklin against his former teammates.

25 YEARS AGO

OCTOBER 1987

The Osakis Economic Development Corporation is offering $5,000 to anyone who wants to build a new home within its city limits. Money for the grants was raised through pull tab sales at the Osakis Liquor Store… Business and Professional Women have honored District 206 Business Manager Jan Esala as “Woman of the Year”… Midwest Communications Inc. has purchased KCMT-TV and the station will become a WCCO

satellite station “around the first of the year”… Just before newborn twins Heather Briana and Hayden Brian left the hospital, Nurse Irene Lorenz waved two Minnesota Twins’ “Homer Hankies” and placed them like blankets on the infants… Groundbreaking ceremonies were held this week for the Community State Bank expansion… Park Inn International held a grand opening with a balloon-packed “Picnic in the Park” banquet.

10 YEARS AGO

OCTOBER 2002

Dean Peterson and his brother, the late Glenn “Dutch” Peterson, were inducted into the Viking Speedway Hall of Fame this summer. They join Gerry Geris and Frankie Herzog in the prestigious spot… Author Delano Holmquist will conduct a book signing at B. Dalton Booksellers next week for her first book, SantaSaurus. It tells the tale of a Christmas dinosaur that saved the Holiday Spirit and also visited Alexandria… WCCO-TV announced it will close its satellite station KCCO-TV this fall. The company is branching out by expanding to three bureaus in Alexandria, Brainerd and Bemidji that will provide more news and local weather forecasts… Douglas County’s population stands at 32,821 and is expected to rise 41 percent and increase to 46,180 by 2030.

###

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

Tags: opinion, columns