Yesteryear
100 Years Ago
(Dec. 29, 1922)
Gieseke takes on new job in Minneapolis
Gordon Gieseke left for Minneapolis last Friday morning where he has accepted a position with a firm of accountants. Gieseke has been with the Farmers and Merchants National Bank in Minneota for many years.
DeRider-Van Dorpe get married at St. Edward's
James DeRider and Miss Madeline Van Dorpe were married at the Church of St. Edward the Confessor on Wednesday morning of this week. The services were nuptial high mass, the celebrant being Father W.J. Stewart. The bride is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Peter Van Dorpe of Minneota. The bridegroom is one of the leading farmers of the Russell locality.
75 Years Ago
(Jan. 2, 1948)
Councilmen pay Berdans $4,000 for drilling well
The Minneota Village Council, which had at a previous meeting refused to pay a bill of $6,314 for a well Fred Berdan and Sons of Sleepy Eye had dug near the water tank this fall, paid the well drilling firm $4,000 to settle the account. The well, which is about 412 feet in depth, is reported to have a flow of about 35 gallons of water per minute. Council members, in refusing to pay the original bill, contended that the cost was too high for the flow of water obtained. They also argued that it would not pay to put pumping equipment into a well of that depth for that amount of water.
KSTP signs Bjornson for nightly broadcasts
Val Bjornson, a native of Minneota and one of the best-informed newspapermen in the midwest, was signed last week by Stanley Hubbard, president and general manager of KSTP to report that station's nightly news program, "Tomorrow's Headlines Tonight" at 10 p.m. each night . Bjornson was editor of the Mascot from 1925 to 1927.
Swede Prairie Store had fire on Dec. 25
The Minneota Fire Department was called out on Christmas morning for what might have been a serious fire at the Swede Prairie Store had it not been for their prompt action. The fire started from an overheated stove inside the store. There was some damage from the smoke and heat.
Tilleman new president of Alumni Association
Lawrence Tillemans was elected president of the Minneota High School Alumni Association at a meeting of that organization last Saturday evening. Wallace Pesch was named vice president and Colleen Friend was elected secretary-treasurer.
50 Years Ago
(Dec. 28, 1972)
Auto blazes disturb firemen's slumber
Two calls for automobile fires last Saturday morning disturbed fire fighter's sleep. One call was put in about 1:25 a.m. and the other was at 3:30 a.m. Three cars were involved in the fires, but no one was reported as injured, although a horse met his death in the second mishap. The first call was for a fire on South Jefferson Street when a parked vehicle belonging to Harvey Alleckson was struck by a car driven by Donald Hassert. The flames damaged both vehicles beyond repair. The second accident happened eight miles northeast of Minneota when a vehicle driven by Curtis Hellie, 17, of Hanley Falls, struck and killed a horse which belonged to Greg Hoff. The horse was crossing the Minneota-Cottonwood tarred road at the time of the accident/ The car was not badly damaged.
Santa greets passing motorists near Taunton
One of the most unusual decorations seen for a long time in these parts greeted motorists as they passed by the George Koch farm five miles north of Taunton during the Christmas holidays. The motorists saw a Santa Claus waving his right hand and standing on the wing of a two-seater Cherokee 140 airplane. The Santa used was a life-sized cutout. The family said they didn't use the airplane very much in the winter so they used it for this unusual farm decoration.
25 Years Ago
(Dec. 31, 1997)
Gislason's goes nuts again for the holidays
Gislason's Hardware has done the community a real service again this season. And it is something we all take for granted. During this past holiday season, and many years before, Gislason's has had a big barrel of salted-in-the-shell peanuts for their customers. The barrel stands right next to the checkout counter and is very enticing for its customers as they wait for their bill to be made out. Barb (Gislason) Rye said that the store has gone through 24 50-pound bags of peanuts so far this season.
Manor residents enjoy music from local carolers
The residents of the MInneota Manor Health Care Center and Madison Avenue Apartments had a large number of carolers come to entertain them over the holidays. The holiday music and the extra visitors were a very welcome addition to the holiday scene. Last week, the Minneota Area Community Band was on hand to serenade the residents with an hour-long program of Christmas music. Led by John Voit, the group extended their wish for a happy holiday with their varied holiday music.
Miniature village of Minneota on display
The village of Minneota is on display at the Minneota Manor Health Care Center, down to the smallest of details. Cyril VanDen Broecke has made all of the buildings in an attempt to recreate the village. Housed in the front lobby, the village is a conversation piece for those who come to visit.