Looking Back with Lora Stull
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One Hundred Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News,Thursday, March 3, 1920.)
By a vote of 75-49 it has been decreed that Lakota is to be the permanent name of what formerly was Germania in Kossuth County. The name of the place was changed during the war and after a year’s delay the post office department recognized the new name. Recently agitation was started to change the name back to its pre-war status and a campaign followed in which ugly charges were made against leading citizens because of pro-German sympathies during the war. Some of the most enthusiastic workers in dropping the old name are of German descent.
The heart felt sympathy of all the people of the community goes out to the children of Mr. and Mrs. Bert Pyle, who mourn the death of both father and mother. The entire family was ill with influenza and on Monday, February 16, the mother passed away and on February 18 the father, both were buried in the Watterson Cemetery. Herbert was 49 years old and Iva was 44, they were the parents of eight children, two of which preceded them in death. The surviving children are: Mrs. Howard Barnhouse, Bud, Avis, Eliza, Verdie and Artie.
Marriages: Feb. 27, Lela Hart and Forest Maloy…Feb. 29, James Parker and Frances Taylor…Feb. 28, Wallace Teale and Mabel Benedict…Feb. 24, Thomas Nye and Merle Nickles…Two weddings of interest to the Ellston people took place last week at Mount Ayr, Fern Buell became the bride of Glen Butcher and Vera Fouser became the bride of Verne Creveling.
Births: February 22, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. E.P. Hosack.
Obituaries in this edition were: Herbert Pyle and Iva Pyle.
Seventy-Five
Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News,Thursday, March 8, 1945.)
Service Selections: Pfc. Ivan Dowell was killed in action on the European front February 7…Lewis “Jack” Shaw was killed in action in the European theater of war…Two Ringgold County boys are prisoners of war..Pvt. Lyle Sackett, who had been missing in action since December 20, in Luxembourg is now a German prisoner of war…Cpl. John Blauer, who was reported missing in action over Belguim is a prisoner of war in Germany, Stalag 4B. (At the end of December 1944 about 7,500 Americans arrived from the Battle of the Bulge. At least 3,000 of them were transferred to other camps, mostly to Stalag VIII-A. On 23 April 1945 the Red Army liberated the camp. Altogether soldiers from 33 nations passed through the camp.)
Ration News: Many persons when applying for tractor gasoline and fuel oil, applied also for gasoline for lamps, iron and washing machines, or for fuel for brooder stoves. The application was for tractor use only. Therefore, the fuel for washing machines, brooder stoves, etc., was not included in the ration. A separate application must be made for purposed other than the tractor…In an effort to wipe out traffic in counterfeit sugar stamps, the OPA has provided that a retailer who gives invalid sugar, may not get more sugar until he makes good the invalid stamps previously turned in.
Marriages: March 7, Betty Borrush and Linford Mason…February 25, Eleanor Lorimor and Linn Gehrke.
Births: March 2, a daughter, Melanie, to Lieut. and Mrs. John McFarland…March 4, a son, Michael, to Pfc. and Mrs. Gerald Jones…March 1, a daughter, Mary, to Lieut. and Mrs. L.M. Vaughn…February 28, a daughter, to Mr. and Mrs. Merritt Denney…February 26, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. Eugene Olney.
Obituaries in this edition were: Margaret Caroline Sullivan Warin, Mary L. Tharp DeWitt, and James H. Sanford.
Fifty Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News,Thursday, February 19, 1970.)
News of Men in the Armed Forces: One of the army badges that soldiers wear with special pride is the Combat Infantryman Badge, which was awarded January 12 to Specialist Four Jerry McAlexander near Pleiku, Vietnam. McAlexander, 21, a son of Mr. and Mrs. Kenneth McAlexander of Beaconsfield, is assigned as a mortar platoon crew member in Company B, 1st Battalion of the 4th Division’s 14th Infantry. The CIB has been awarded since late in WWII for sustained ground contact against an enemy.
Freshman boys end season undefeated record of 11-0. The Mount Ayr freshman have won 27 games in a row over a three year period. They won 8 straight games as 7th graders, 8 straight games as 8th graders. Larry Giles has been their coach all three years. Team members include: David McNeill, Bob Johnson, David Henderson, Kurt Nichols, Joe Carr, Dave Richards, Rick Adams, Randall Smith and Mike Pierson.
Marriages: January 16, Pamela Wilcoxson and Charles Hart.
Births: Feb. 13, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. James Mahan Jr..Feb. 13, a son to Mr. and Mrs. Dennis Coleman…Feb. 13, a daughter, to Mr. and Mrs. Dale Bickel.
Obituary in this edition was Ralph Kling.
Twenty Five
Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News,Thursday, Februray 16, 1995.)
The Depot Restoration Project of the Mount Ayr Preservation committee continues to progress with the outside stuccoing and new windows being done. The MACHS carpentry class is doing the windows with Ron Landphair in charge.
Agriculture and the policy-makers who attend to it need a wake up call, a modern-day Paul Revere. Farming as America has known it for more than 200 years is in trouble and is vanishing. Recently at a meeting in Ames, Natural Resources Conservation Service chief Paul Johnson said the nation needs “healthy food, healthy land and a healthy agriculture.” “He defined healthy agriculture as one in which farmers are paid well for providing the first two. In the past they haven’t been he noted.”
Raiders crown 4 champs. The sectional wrestling tournament for the Raiders was last Saturday at Corning. Four Mount Ayr Community High School champions move on to Districts. They are Justin Gourley at 112 pound class; Steven Stull at the 145 pound class; Jacobs Knight at the 152 pound class and Jamie King at the 171 pound class.
Obituaries in this edition were: Veneta Arlene Minnick Dukes, Georgia Anna Owen Fox, Donald Arthur Keller, and Edith Luella Osborn Rickabaugh.
Ten Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record-News,Thursday, February 4, 2010.)
According to the ground hog in Pennsylvania’s prediction on Ground Hog Day Monday, there will be at least six more weeks of winter and winter hasn’t shown any signs of wanting to let up in Ringgold County.
Mammography goes digital at county hospital. One of the tools in discovering breast cancer early, when it can be treated most successfully, is the use of mammography, and Ringgold County Hospital has been made several steps forward in its ability to provide mammography services. The next step in fighting breast cancer is the use of digital mammography; a more advanced technology in the detection process.
Births: January 25, a son, Holden, to Lance Leonard and Sara Deskin.
Obituaries in this edition were: Billy Emmett Harris, Sam K. Merrill, William Ralph Rees, and Thomas Darrell Rhodes.