LOOKING BACK in the Early Files by Lora Stull

Violet Trower has moved back to her home in the country and again has a long walk back and forth to school.

Glen Warner is driving a snappy pair or mules nowadays.

Horse admirers are having an inning just now. A survey of farm activities makes it clear that the use of horse power on Iowa farms is decidedly on the increase. Fewer sales of tractors and a larger demand for draft horses is quite noticeable in all rural communities F. J. Anderson, horse breeder and prominent farmer of Audubon county, has been making investigation and he has reached the conclusion that there is a marked improvement in quality of horses. There is no demand for light weight animals and this has given an impetus to the rearing of high type breeds. Mr. Anderson has been delivering addresses before farm organizations and he reaches the conclusion that there will be more colts on Iowa farms the coming summer than have been visible since the advent of the tractor.

Ellston school notes” Miss Laird and the seniors enjoyed a wiener roast at High Point last Wednesday evening. Although it was slightly cold all report a good time. A roaring campfire was built to sit around, then each and everyone told a ghost story or a humorous selection.

Marriage: March 25, Welma Langer and Victor Toman.. March 25 Wallace Creveling and Ardis Toney.

Births: March 27, a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Orville Sheldon..March 26, a son to Mr. and Mrs. Fred Morris.. March 21, a son, Forest, to Mr. and Mrs. Forest Bailey.

Dr. Max G. Pool arrived this week in Mount Ayr to establish an office and serve Ringgold county as a veterinarian.

A son of G.A. Pool, he was reared on a farm near Lenox. He is 35 years of age.

Pvt. Cyril Dean Greene, who left February 23, for air corps service is completing his AF basic airmen indoctrination course at Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, TX. Lackland is the world’s largest air force base, center of air force basic training for airmen and women, indoctrination station for prior service re-enlistees, and home of the AF’s Officer Candidate School.

Gerold Willey, who left March 21, for army duty is stationed at Camp Carson, CO.

Plans are near completion for an important event in the history of Ringgold county~the formal opening of the new and beautiful Ringgold County Hospital in Mount Ayr.  Sunday April 15 is the date set when the new county institution will be open for public inspection.

Dedication and open house of the new $600,000 Rosary Hospital is scheduled at Corning Sunday afternoon April 8.

Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Umbarger, David Lyle, and Dianna Lynn moved last week from Fairfax, MO to the Roy Stull farm.

Cathy Irene Norris celebrated her eighth birthday anniversary Saturday by entertaining with a party for 18 friends. Included in the favor were Susan Freeland, Paula Evans, Janet Varner, Dickie Stephens, Allen Culbertson, Cathy Pate, Jimmie Marrs, Carolyn Drake, Alice Sickels, Kay Hartman, Judy McGahuey, John Petersen, Mary Black, Jeanne Morehouse, Roger McCay and Jimmie Ward.

Births: March 30, a son to Mr. and Mrs. John Curry..March 31, a son to Mr. and Mrs. Manson Reynolds..April 3, a son to Mr. and Mrs. Donald Stephens..Friday, a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Carl Ford..March 27, a daughter to Mr. and Mrs. Warren Giles.

Obituaries in this edition were: Jesse Johnson, Samuel Clough, Elmer Carter Nickle, Leo E. Williams, Ida May Mickael Simpson, William Cronin and Mary A. Jackson Faurot.

Births outnumbered deaths by almost 50 per cent during the first three months of 1976 in Ringgold county, according to clerk of court Rollin Noble.

Thirty-one births were recorded in the clerk’s office, while only 21 deaths were reported. There were 10 marriages and one adoption. Noble reported there were no dissolutions and 10 passport applications.

The Raider Quest, student publication of the Mount Ayr Community high school journalism department, has been declared a national winner in the editorial division of the Quill and Scroll 1976 national writing contest.

Birth: March 22, a daughter, Heather, to Mr. and Mrs. Bill Jennings.

Obituaries in this edition were: Franchen Z. Main Beal and Dewery Arthur Kinder.

Things were back to normal at Mount Ayr Community Monday morning after a bomb threat and power outage brought an early dismissal to school Friday.

According to school officials, a message written on the wall of a bathroom stall in the girls’ hallway restroom at the high school was discovered Wednesday.

The message said a bomb was going to go off on Friday, March 30, at 12:30 p.m. in the high school custodial room.

The school was thoroughly searched and nothing was found. With the threat apparently a hoax.

A Mount Ayr Community high school student is one of 50 Iowa high school seniors who have been honored in the 2001 Iowa Academic All-State Team recognition program of the Des Moines Register.

Janice Weddle of Mount Ayr, daughter of Dan and Kristy Weddle, has been named to one of the five regional Academic All-State teams.

Weather statistics for the month of March furnished by Eugene McAlexander are as follows: A high of 54 degrees on March 23rd; a low of 1 degree on March 1. There was 10 inches of snow and rainfall, and melted snow measured 2.14 inches.

Named honorary chapter farmers at the Mount Ayr community FFA Banquet Monday night included, Bill and Ginny Quick, Lisa and Charles Hensel, and Roger McGahuey of B&M Recycling.

Births: March 24, a son Dylan Scott, to Mr. and Mrs. Jayson Spurr..March 22, a son, Zachary, to Mr. and Mrs. Dave Caldwell.

Obituaries in this edition were Wayne Edward Barber, Harry K. Lorimor, Leonard Vernon O’Neal, Fidella Mae Young.

An Amish man escaped serious injury when the buggy he was driving collided with a motor vehicle Thursday, March 24.

According to the accident report released by the Ringgold County Sheriff, Mike Sobotka, the buggy operated by Levi Miller of Redding was westbound on Hwy 169. Another westbound vehicle, a Freightliner straight truck driven by Cain Poore of Mount Ayr attempted to pass the buggy, not seeng the passing vehicle, Miller  attempted to turn south on 160th Ave into the path of the Poore vehicle.

Neil Morgan, Ringgold County Assessor, recently resigned after 15 years of service to Ringgold County to become the county assessor in Marion County.

Ringgold County Conservation director, Kate Zimmerman has recently been notified that on March 17 one of the trumpeter swans released in 2013 in the county has been located in Minesota.

Obituaries in this edition were: Roger Allen Bell, Randy L. Hagle, Karyn Rae McCafferty Pickering, Donald Campbell, Joseph Willard Snethen.