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June 25: Years Ago…
Years Ago

‘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 24, 2010 – Jim Larson is pictured with a tree trunk loaded with shitake mushrooms. Jim was helping his grandfather Brad Niemcek gather the mushrooms for the Gays Mills Farmers Market… Seneca School FFA members attended the National FFA Convention in Madison to help celebrate 81 years of FFA. Members included Ally Ostrander, Hillary Bark, Sawyer Roberts, Brock Reynolds, Jen Aspenson, Justin Redman, Ryan Hartley and Derek Wall… Nine Seneca students completed the tractor safety training course at Seneca High School: Tristain Sparks, Nathan Stephens, Morgan Payne, Nick Payne, Joe Childs, ToniRose Horsefall, Shawna Sprosty, Hunter Roberts and Lucas Klema

TWENTY YEARS AGO

JUNE 29, 2000 – A retired and a current player for the Green Bay Packers attended an autograph session Saturday at Michael’s Pub in Gays Mills. Bob Skoronski was the team captain for the Packers when they played in Super Bowls I and II in 1965 and 1966. Ross Verba was the youngest starting left tackle ever to play in the Super Bowl when he played with the Packers in 1997… An eight-foot fall from a deck in rural Soldiers Grove claimed the life of 13-month old Natasha M. Spencer… Members of the North Crawford FFA attended the 71stWisconsin FFA convention in Madison. The group included Becky Murphy, Amy Johnson, Emily Cleven, Stephanie Turner, Alan McCormick, Darcy Johnson, and advisor John Gibbs.

THIRTY YEARS AGO

JUNE 29, 1990 – The Kickapoo Exchange Natural Food Co-op in Gays Mills has been compared to the mythical bird, a phoenix, which rises from its own ashes. After fires, which destroyed two buildings in six years, the Kickapoo Exchange moved from their rented building at the south end of Gays Mills, to their new building at the north end of the village. With the help of about 40 members volunteering their time the move took place in about five hours. The new building was built largely through volunteer efforts and was coordinated by Barry Jensen and Todd Osman, who did much of the work aided by other co-op members. The sunny space includes such features as the front door designed and built by woodworker Tom Vanderhyden, a Russian furnace built by Barry Jensen will provide wood heat, and a dance floor at the rear of the building made with repurposed wood from a gym floor in the Duluth-Superior area.

FORTY YEARS AGO

JUNE 26, 1980 – Crawford County residents are gearing up for Fair Fun Days. Some of the former Dairy Days Queens will be participating in the parade including Karen Olson (1979), Mary Ann Kozelka (1978), Nancy Kinder (1977), Marsha (Ward) Everson (1973), Joanne (Hoffland) Thoftne (1963), and Pauline (Aspen) Parker (1958)… The Soldiers Grove Women’s Softball League schedule for next week: Jerrett’s vs. Brass Horn, McCormick’s vs Jerrett’s, Squeak’s vs Anchor Inn… The Sognefjordlaget (convention) will be held in Viroqua, with all meetings open to anyone of Sogning descent and those who are interested in Norwegian heritage. 

FIFTY YEARS AGO

JUNE 24, 1970 – Bernie Hanson, Rising Star barber, has a special kind of a houseplant growing in his shop. Healthy and vigorous, it has climbed the wall beside a mirror and is reaching for the ceiling. But there’s no flowerpot at its base. The vine has come under the siding from outdoors, then through a crack along the baseboard. It makes a good conversational subject for customers… Mrs. Frances Howe retired after serving the community for 27 years as the librarian of the Gays Mills Library. The library was started in 1943 as a project by the Wednesday Literary Club and has grown and flourished under the guiding hand of Mrs. Howe… Sgt. Gale Roth, son of Mr. and Mrs. Lewis Roth, Rt. 2, Gays Mills, arrived home from Vietnam, one of the first area soldiers to return to the states from the invasion of Cambodia. A prized possession of Sgt. Roth is a semi-automatic rifle made in Communist China, one of many thousands captured by U.S. and South Vietnamese forces in their sweep through Cambodia the last few weeks. 

SIXTY YEARS AGO

JUNE 23, 1960 – William Cody, 1960 graduate of the Seneca High School, was named sentinel of the Wisconsin Future Farmers of America at Green Lake last week. The group met for its 31stannual session. Cody is enrolled at Platteville State College… Pvt. Margie M. Granger, daughter of Mrs. R. J. Ricketts, Gays Mills completed the typing and clerical procedures course at the Women’s Army Corps School, Fort McClellan, Alabama. Ms. Granger is a 1958 graduate of Gays Mills High School and attended Iowa State Teachers College in Cedar Falls.