LOOKING BACK in the Early Files by Lora Stull

D.D.Dolecheck is now located in his new store building just north of  the Crew Hardware and F.F. Fogle has moved to the building formerly occupied  by Mr. Dolecheck.

Mr. and Mrs. Luther Tedrow and son Paul returned Saturday morning from Florida, where they spent the winter. On account of impassable roads around Quincy, IL, they left their car at that place and came on home on the train. They report good roads the rest of the way and a mighty fine trip.

Mount Ayr high will again be in the high school debate contest held by Drake University. The local team will leave Thursday evening for Des Moines and will debate sometime Friday. Mount Ayr’s opponents are not known, but a large number of strong teams are entered. The members of the local team are Helen Skarda, Mabel Trullinger, and Marian Williams. This team lost to the Blockton team in the first round of the state debate, but with the additional experience and the large amount of work in preparing for the contest a good showing is expected.

Marriages: March 10, Emma Anderson and Maurice Tennant..March 10, William Fugate and Gertrude O’Bryan..March 13, Clarence Lesan and Geraldine Reynolds.

Births: March 12, a son to Mr. and Mrs. S.C. Rice..Born Wednesday, a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. G.B. Weeda.

Obituaries in this edition were: Sadie M. Eckerman Darbyshire and Richard Stamper.

Electric and telephone services are being restored to normalcy following one of the most prolonged March sleet storms in the history of Ringgold County.

Managers and linemen of the Iowa Southern Utilities Company and the Rideta Electric Cooperative have worked days and nights since Saturday in an effort to maintain service. In Mount Ayr, the center of the storm area, electric service was maintained without interruption.

Damage to telephone lines in the county has been extensive. Ice, some of it nearly two inches thick, formed on the telephone and power wires and tore down hundreds of lines for the Bell Telephone Co. Many telephones are still out of service, repair operations being hampered by continuous falling of a fine snow and strong winds.

Mount Ayr was without any telephone connections with other communities from Saturday night until Monday morning. The connection with Creston was restored by mid-morning Monday-the first line to be repaired. Other towns in the county which were still without service Tuesday were Diagonal, Ellston, Tingley, and Beaconsfield.

Unestimated damage to trees in the city was done by the heavy ice. Some property damage has also been reported where trees or parts of trees have fallen on homes. There is hardly a street in Mount Ayr which isn’t littered with tree limbs and branches, many of which caused damage to telephone and light lines.

Snow, amounting to approximately eight inches, has fallen since Saturday, when the storm began. The four-day stormy weather picture included everything ~rain, sleet, snow, and driving hazardous.

Births: March 11, son Stephen Howard, to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Johnson..March 13, a daughter, Isael, to Mr. and Mrs. Francis McNeiley..February 28, a daughter, Tina, to Mr. and Mrs. Richard Hayes..Thursday a son to Mr. and Mrs. Donald Grout..March 8, a son, John, to Mr. and Mrs. Daryl Lyddon.

Obituaries in this edition were: Barbara Saltzman Sharp and Della Tedrow Stanley.

It was a  meteorological smorgasboard in Mount Ayr and Ringgold county last week~name it and we had it.

Rain, sleet, snow, thunder, lightening, even some clear skies.

A late winter storm moved into the area late Wednesday night and Thursday morning leaving in its wake ice-coated trees and wires and ice crusted snow on the ground. Accompanied by thunder and lightening, the storm knocked out power to a number of individual farms and forced cancellation of classes at all three county schools.

Schnoor to coordinate rural water. Feb. 2, 1976, the Southern Iowa Rural Water Associaton (SIRWA) hired Roger Schnoor of Mount Ayr as cordinator. Schnoor is a graduate fo the University of Illinois with a bachelor of sciene degree from the college of civil engineering and is a registered professional engineer in Illinois and Iowa.

The first step in establishment of a county historical research center was taken last week.

A micro-film reader and film cassettes purchased by the Ringgold County Historical Society were presented to the Mount Ayr Public Library by officials of the society.

Birth: February 25, a daughter, Kristen, to Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Smith Jr.

Obituaries in this edition were: Teresa Lee Tull, John W. Wimer, Jonathan M. Stuck, and Ervin Dickson.

In what was the first methamphetamine lab raid in Ringgold County, seven people were arrested at 100 Decatur Street in Kellerton early Monday morning.

Arrested Monday were Damon Eakes of Davis City, Brian Smith of Kellerton, Thomas Perdue of Leon, Heather Boswell of Lamoni, Darren Dale of Leon, Beth Welch of Des Moines and Emmett Davis of Kellerton.

Geese are making their annual migration back north and Sun Valley Lake was a stopping place for large numbers of geese this past week. Geese literally filled the sky over the lake as flocks flew over the area.

Eric Ehlen brought home first place in the annual Lefty’s Chili Cookoff held Saturday March 3 in Mount Ayr. Jackie Myer placed second and Martha Ricker placed third.

Marriage: October 14, 2000, Jamie Taylor and Bradley Stephens.

Births: March 6, a son, William, to George Hunt and Lynnette Knight..Febuary 14, a daugther, Sadie, to Dan and Jodi Beerman..March 10, a daughter, Jacilynn, to Gayle Worthington and Micki Straight.

Obituaries in this edition were: Gertrude Mahan Baker, F. Wayne McFee, Carroll Perry Matthews, James Earl Van Patten Sr.

Junior Kelcie Shields was named to the 2016 All -State girls basketball first team by the Iowa Newspaper Association.

The Mount Ayr Raider Jazz Band was selected to the Iowa Jazz State Championships to be held on Tuesday April 5 at the Des Moines Community Choice Credit Union Convention Center.

Glendenning Motor Company of Mount Ayr recently donated a CPR training unit to Decatur Co. Hospital EMS as part of a National Automobile Dealers Charitable Foundation Program.

Birth: March 3, a son, Henry, to Mr. and Mrs. Adam Gottemoeller.