‘Years Ago’ is a compilation of newsy tidbits as published in the Crawford County Independent & Kickapoo Scout on this week ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or sixty years ago.
TEN YEARS AGO
JUNE 10, 2010 – Sannes Skogdalen was the winning team at the annual spelling bee contest recently held at Norsland Nursing Home in Westby. They competed against three other teams including Bethel Home, Maple Wood Assisted Living and Norsland Home. The top spellers were Harold Gander, Evelyn Hanson, Nellie Burkum, Kay Dosch, Bernice Helgerson and Dorothy Dittman. Harold was the winning speller after spelling “simultaneous” correctly… Crawford County Sheriff Jerry Moran announced at a press conference last Thursday that he has decided to retire and will not seek a second term as he had announced three weeks ago. Moran ended his portion of the press conference by introducing and publicly endorsing Captain Dale McCullick as the person to become the next Crawford County Sheriff.
TWENTY YEARS AGO
JUNE 8, 2000 – The Seneca High School softball team made it to the state tournament for the fifth time in the 10 years Diane Yager has been coaching… Jeanette Stussy was among those evacuated from their homes in Gays Mills Thursday because of the flood. Mrs. Stussy’s rescuers were Todd Brudos, Aaron Fortney and Mark Olson… Jim Olson of rural Bell Center was pleasantly surprised when his mare, pregnant with a mule colt, gave birth to female twin mules.
THIRTY YEARS AGO
JUNE 14, 1990 – Jesse Heisz, Florence Crum, Claris Crum, Judd Johnson and Francis ‘Dutch’ Heisz, members of the Rand-Pettit VFW Post at Gays Mills, cleared dirt and weeds from the rock letters and numbers put down in 1940 by men of the Gays Mills CCC Camp. The letters were imbedded into the hillside near the corner of County B and Highway 131, north of Gays Mills, and it took the group several days to clear them of weeds and dirt. The Post hopes to make the site into a wayside with a historical marker about the camp, as well as picnic tables.
FORTY YEARS AGO
JUNE 12, 1980 – Betty and Dick Bell are pictured in one of the newly remodeled apartments in the Belmar building (the former Dobson building) in Gays Mills. The second floor of the structure now contains four completely remodeled one-bedroom apartments and one two-bedroom… There was much damage due to the wind during the storms that roared through Viroqua and southward Thursday night. In Readstown, a tobacco shed was smashed and trees at the Dorothy Adkins home next to Sime Funeral Home were blown over and limbs scattered throughout her yard. An estimated 40 trees were damaged in Readstown including 11 that were uprooted. Some toppled on roofs and wiring, to knock out power and phone service.
FIFTY YEARS AGO
JUNE 11, 1970 – Navy Petty Officer 2-C Dennis J. Boland, son of Mrs. Mary R. Boland of Seneca, participated in exercise ‘Steel Ring,’ while serving aboard the submarine USS Sirago in the Western Atlantic south of Newfoundland… Three Gays Mills business places were broken into early Tuesday morning and in two of them safes were broken open in a search for money. Targets for the thieves were Watson’s IGA store, Hillman’s tavern and Hutchison’s tavern... The Mt. Sterling ALCW will meet Thursday evening at the church parlors. The Good Will circle is in charge of the program and Mrs. Alfred Weltzin of the West Prairie churches will be guest speaker. Special music will be provided and refreshments will be served by Mrs. Andrew Helgerson, Mrs. Robert Johnson and Mrs. Thomas Herreid.
SIXTY YEARS AGO
JUNE 9, 1960 – Elaine Gates, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Sheldon Gates, who farm near Steuben, was crowned Crawford County’s 1960 Dairy Queen. The Wauzeka High School senior received her crown from Joyce Maybee, the 1959 queen… Integration of DeSoto Union High School and seven rural school districts was approved recently by the Vernon and Crawford county school committees. Those schools placed into the high school district were Bad Axe Valley, Oak Ridge, Nash Ridge, Victory, De Soto grade district, Ferryville, De Soto Union High School and a part of the Collins school district. The new district will have an equalized valuation of $5,523,600. De Soto’s union free high school system was the last of its kind in Crawford County.
