This is the confirmation class at Immanuel Evangelical Lutheran Church (now Hope Lutheran Church) in Minneota.  Pastor Anders Kervig is seated in the middle.  He was pastor there from 1898-1901. Only one of the students has been identified; seated on the right is Sarah (Geiwitz) Werpy.

From the Mascot Files: 100, 75, 50 or 25 Years Ago

100 Years Ago
(Feb. 1, 1921)

Teigland re-elected
to insurance board
Jake L. Teigland returned from Cottonwood yesterday where attended the annual meeting of the Norwegian Mutual Fire Insurance Co. of Eidsvold. There were 130 present. Mr. Teigland was re-elected to the board of directors for a three-year period by an overwhelming majority. Teigland has written more insurance than any other member of the board; his record being over one million dollara the past year.

Hunter dies when gun
accidentally discharges
Walter Sternke, 27, while out hunting rabbits last Friday, was mortally wounded by the accidental discharge of the shotgun he was carrying. The accident happened near the school house five miles west of Minneota. Sternke was climbing through a barbed-wired fence and had leaned the gun against the fence. As he tried to pull the gun through the fence, the hammer caught one of the wires and discharged. The children from the school found him in a snowdrift when they went out for recess. Dr. Sanderson was summoned from town and he brought the young man back to his office in town, but he passed away about 3 1/2 hours after the accident.

75 Years Ago
(Feb. 1, 1946)

Fire destroys home
north of Minneota
Fire, believed to have started from defective wiring, destroyed a four-room house north of Minneota belonging to Willard Olevson and occupies by Mr. and Mrs. John Mattson early Tuesday morning. The Mattsons, who were not at home when the fire started, lost all of their furniture and clothing that were in the house. The Minneota Fire Department was called to the fire at 1:45 a.m., but were unable to save anything inside as the roof had fallen in by the time they arrived on the scene.

Icy conditions blamed
for several injuries
Rain turned to ice later in the day last Wednesday and not only slowed traffic to a snail's pace for the rest of the week, but proved to be dangerous to pedestrians. Mrs. Andrew Bottelberghe fell on the way to church on Sunday morning and suffered a broken hip. John F. Finnegan Sr. fell near the stockyards on Friday and seriously injured his back. Mrs. Julius Verschelde slipped on the ice outside her home on Sunday and broke her wrist. Bernard Sanders slipped on the street on Friday and suffered bruises that have him laid up at home.

Fire Department has
busy 12-hour period
The Minneota Fire Department responded to three separate calls within a 12-hour period last Tuesday. Never before in the history of the department, which was organized in 1885, have there been as many calls in that length of time, a department member told the Mascot.

50 Years Ago
(Jan. 28, 1971)

Ufkin elected as
President of MBA
Virgil Ufkin, Gambles Store proprietor, was elected president of the Minneota Businessmen's Association when the board of directors met to name officers and make committee appointments for the year on Monday night. Ufkin succeeds Harold Jackson, who was head of the MBA last year. Dennis Tomasek was named vice president and Carl Strand was named secretary-treasurer.

Twins' Quilici makes
appearance here
Frank Quilici of the Minnesota Twins was in Minneota last week for a talk at the high school. Quilici, a spokesman for Oak Grove Dairy, spent some time with local distributor Bob Alleckson. He then spent some time at the Mascot officer where he told that he used to work at a foreigh-language newspaper in Chicago.

Large turnout for
Porter Crop Show
Attendance at the Porter Crop Show, which was held last Thursday, was the best it has been for many years, according to the chairman of the committee in charge of staging the event, Hans Syltie and extension agents Dave Johnson and Arnold Classen. The committee was pleased with the response both in the attendance and the number of exhibits.

St. Ed’s students
receive awards
Rita Hoffmann and Judy Hammerlink. eighth-grade students at St. Edward’s School, received an award for publishing their newspaper, “The Seventies at St. Ed’s”, from the national headquarters of their Savio Club. Hoffmann is the president of the St. Edward’s unit of the Savio Club and Hammerlink is the vice president.

25 Years Ago
(Jan. 31, 1996)

Fier, Anderson are
Triple-A qualifiers
Minneota High School Principal Bruce Johnson announced that John Fier and Laurie Anderson are the Minneota representatives for the Minnesota State High School League Triple-A Awards (Academics, Arts and Athletics). The awards go to high school seniors with a 3.0 or higher grade-point-average who participate in League-sponsored athletic programs and fine arts activities.

Laleman sets new
school wins record
Minneota senior Bruce Laleman set a new school record last Thursday night when he won his 128th career wrestling match. Jason Fier, who previously held the school record, presented Laleman with a recognition award. Laleman placed third in the state tournament last year.

Sussner sets new
girls' rebound record
Jodi Sussner, a Minneota senior, notched the 1,000th rebound of her basketbal career last Friday night, and in the process, set a new school record. She scored 12 points and grabbed 16 rebounds in a 59-53 loss to Lake Benton. Sussner is averaging 20 rebounds per game this season for the 6-6 Vikings.

Manor sends used
beds to Russia
Local health care workers located an agency through Global Health Ministries, a group organized and supported by missionaries in Minnesota, and donated and shipped used medical equipment to where it is needed most. Several nursing home beds were sent to Belarus, Russia, where these types of items are in short supply.

This day in World History Jan. 28

1813 - Jane Austen’s “Pride and Prejudice” is published by Thomas Egerton in the United Kingdom.

1878 - The first telephone exchange occurs in New Haven, Connecticut. George W Coy the first full-time telephone operator.

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