Looking Back with Lora Stull
PROTECTED CONTENT
If you’re a current subscriber, log in below. If you would like to subscribe, please click the subscribe tab above.
Username and Password Help
Please enter your email and we will send your username and password to you.
One Hundred Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record News, Thursday, September 29, 1920.)
Preliminary announcement of the population of Ringgold County, as shown by the fourteenth census, was received the first of the week. The report show that Ringgold County has a population of 12,919 an increase of only fifteen over the report ten years ago. The report shows that population of Mount Ayr to be 1,738 which is 92 more than 10 years ago. The population of other incorporated towns of the county is as follows: Beaconsfield, 171; Benton, 246; Diagonal, 569; Ellston, 212; Kellerton, 693; Knowlton, 202; Maloy, 121; Redding, 289; Tingley, 391. Population by township as shown by the report is as follows: Athens, 1365; Benton, 478; Clinton, 820; Grant, 564; Jefferson, 868; Liberty, 616; Lincoln, 561; Lotts Creek, 329; Middle Fork, 465; Monroe, 770; Poe, 500; Rice, 584; Riley, 308; Tingley, 745; Union, 697; Wabonsie, 448; and Washington, 1,063.
Automobile speeders have been given due consideration in municipal court in Mount Ayr this week. Mayor Smith has heard one case a day thus far during the week and in each instance has assessed a fine of $5 and costs, making a total of $8.85 which is the fixed penalty for first offense. Subsequent offenses come higher according to Mayor Smith’s rules. For the benefit of those who have overlooked the signs: Speed Limit in the incorporated town for Mount Ayr is 15 mph.
The Delphos community was visited by a wind storm Thursday night of last week, which damaged quite a bit of property. The new silo, just completed on the Wm. Blunck farm, was blown down. Ernest Sawyer’s hen house was blown down and other damage was done about his farm. Several large trees were reported to have been up-rooted.
Marriages: September 14, Minnie Burch became the bride of Lyle Greenman.
Births: September 14, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. Glen Butcher. .
Seventy-Five
Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record News, Thursday, September 27, 1945.)
Service Selections: The Beaconsfield community, in which he had lived for many years, is saddened by the death of Captain Frances Maurice (Mose) Jones, who was reported missing in action over Germany March 19, 1945 and was later reported killed on that date. The word was recently received by his wife Doris Jones of Ellston…The Silver Star Medal, awarded posthumously to Staff Sgt. Cecil Staats, who was killed in action January 26, 1944 on Samar Island in the Philippines; was presented recently to a brother, Gene Staats, at the family home in Marceline, MO. The Silver Star citation read: “For gallantry in action against the enemy on January 26, 1944, Staff Sgt. Staats, a member of an amphibious patrol, remained on the boat as mortar gunner when the main body waded to shore. When the patrol received devastating enemy fire, he immediately put his weapon into action, continuing to deliver effective fire while the boat, the main target of the enemy, picked up men in the water.” Upon being told his company commander was wounded and still in the water, Staff Sgt. Staats immediately started to his aid but was struck and mortally wounded as he was leaving the boat. The undeviating courage demonstrated by Staff Sgt. Staats in this gallant action does honor to the highest traditions of the military service.”
Cliff Shaughnessy sold his restaurant on the SE corner of the square last Wednesday to Mrs. Eleanor Rice Boltz and Miss Phyllis Rice. The restaurant is being operated under the name of Red & Brownie Cafe.
Marriages: September 23, Betty Johnston and John Hayes…September 15, Sylvia Scott and Corwin Parker.
Births: September 21, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. Howard Pine…September 21, a daughter, Jerry to Mr. and Mrs. Dean Jackson.
Obituaries in this edition: Glen Edwin Sherwood, Darlene Cooper Buchanan, Marion Frances Mull, James Preston Fife and Mitchell Watts Shaffer.
Fifty Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record News, Thursday, September 10, 1970.)
Mr. and Mrs. Herbert Jackson and children returned home the last of August from a 2 weeks’ vacation and sight-seeing trip through 8 states and two provinces in Canada. They crossed Lake Michigan on the clipper ship.
Royce Dredge and Gary Foland won the season championship races held at Ringgold County Speedway southwest of Mount Ayr Sunday night. Dredge finished 5th in the season’s standings, won the claimer division, while Foland won the modified division.
The Rev. Jeen Shoung Park, minister of the First Christian Church in Mount Ayr, and his wife, Songja, were included among the 27 persons given the oath of citizenship by Federal Judge Roy Stephenson during ceremonies held Tuesday of last week. Rev. Park and Mrs. Park are native to Korea and they came to the United States in 1955 and 1968 respectively.
Births: September 6, daughter, to Mr. and Mrs. Roger Simmons…September 8, daughter, to Mr. and Mrs. Bill Hunt…August 26, a daughter, Lisa, to Mr. and Mrs. Merrill Still.
Obituaries in this edition were: O.C. Walker and Emmett Earl West.
Twenty Five Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record News, Thursday, September 7, 1995.)
Two potential police officers were interviewed by Mount Ayr city council in a special meeting Thursday evening. After interviewing James Heilman of Osceola and Lee Porter of Sigourney, the council voted to offer the position of a full-time police officer to Heilman. Heilman would be hired at a starting salary of $17,710, the P-2 level.
A $3,000 grant from the South Central Iowa Community Foundation was presented to the Big Bird Nursery School for the purchase of a computer and educational software for the pre-school program.
The dedication of the Marlin E. Fogle Recreation Area was held Monday During the Diagonal Lions Labor Day celebration activities. Work has begun on the first phase of the project in which the dam will be constructed and the community effort to bring 40 acre Fogle Lake and 230 acre recreational area into being was celebrated.
Marriage: June 17, Angela Grose and Gabe Kollesari.
Obituary in this edition was: Dorothy Helen Baumann Waller.
Ten Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record News, Thursday, September 2, 2010.)
Jim Smith of Beaconsfield was inducted into the 2010 Iowa 4-H Hall of Fame during a ceremony at the 4-H Exhibit Building at the Iowa State Fair Sunday August 22. Smith has had involvement in 4-H his entire life. He was a member of the Tingley Toppers 4-H club as a young man. He especially excelled in his beef project work. He participated in every aspect of 4-H and achieved the high honor of being selected to represent Iowa at the National 4-H congress in Chicago. As an adult, Smith has served on the 4-H and Youth Committee Extension Council, as a 4-H leader and 4-H parent. He has auctioned the county fair livestock sale since 1969. Smith is truly an excellent model of what 4-H volunteer is all about.
Sgt. Wes Zollman, a Mount Ayr native living in Afton, is embarking on his third overseas deployment. He left recently with his Iowa National Guard team to be a team leader in helping train the Afghan army during a one-year deployment.
Obituaries in this edition were: Opal Lorene Rice Goodale and Carolyn V. Wells Greenman.