Looking Back with Lora Stull
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One Hundred Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record News, Thursday, September 14, 1921.)
For several months the condition of Ringgold County courthouse has been a subject of considerable discussion among county officials and those who during the course of business have occasion to visit the building.
The openings caused by the settling of the building, particularly on the east wing, have recently taken on a menacing aspect and from day to day there has been a perceptible widening in the apertures until it was finally decided that expert judgement should be obtained as to the safety of the building.
Henry Libbe, state architect, was called and on Monday came to Mount Ayr and made a thorough inspection of the building. Mr. Libbe’s report will be filed in writing with the state board.
President Harding for co-operative marketing-
“The right of farmers to form co-operative associations for marketing of their products must be granted. The concert of agriculture is as essential to farms as a similar concert of action is to factories. A prosperous agriculture demands not only efficiency in production, but efficiency in marketing.
Through co-operative associations the route between the producer and the consumer can and must be shortened. Wasteful effort can and must be avoided. Unnecessary expense can and must be eliminated.
It is to the advantage of all our people that every possible improvement be made in our methods of getting the products of our farms into the hands of the right people who consume them.
The legitimate functions of the middleman may continue to be performed by private enterprise under conditions where the middleman is necessary and gives his skill to our joint welfare. The parasite in distribution who preys on both producer and consumer must no longer sap the vitality of this fundamental life.
Marriages: Last Sunday afternoon Esta Addison and Sam Weatherwax were united in marriage.
Obituary in this edition was: Harriett Henrietta Kirkman Singleton.
Seventy-Five
Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record News,Thursday, September 12, 1946.)
The Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp. has notified the National Trail Ride committee that it will cover the Lamoni event October 10-12.
The movie company will either cover it exclusively for their Newsreel or make a short out of it.
An Indian village will be part of the attraction offered in connection with the National Trail Ride October 10-12.
Members of the Mesquakie tribe, descendants of the first Redman with whom the earliest white settlers of Iowa came into contact, will set up their wickuip tents and teepees at North Park.
Who are the Mesquakie Indians, you ask? In the earliest days they were known as the Foxes and with their allies the Sauks, claimed 2/3 of Iowa as their own. Although they made war on rival Indian tribes, the Mesquakie and Sauks soon became friends with the white men along the old frontier but the pressure of the pioneer migration was great and in 1842, against their wishes and only after much talk, the Indian agreed to give up their land.
If they would move to Kansas within 3 years, the government promised annual payments of considerable sums of money.
They packed their possessions and slowly trailed off toward the setting sun in the late month of 1845. But the Mesquakies were homesick for Iowa’s valleys. The plains of Kansas were not as beautiful as the prairies of their former home and they started coming back to Iowa to live.
Month after month the Indian families straggled back to the little settlement on the Iowa River west of Tama, where the tribe now lives much as their white neighbors do.
Marriages: September 7, LaVon Hartschen and Clinton Sheumaker…August 30, Opal Shaffer and Ralph McMichael.
Births: Born Monday, a daughter, to Mr. and Mrs. Paul Jeter…September 7, a son, to Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Brower…September 5, a daughter, Sylva, to Mr. and Mrs. Glen Bixby…August 27, a son, James, to Mr. and Mrs. Wayland Young…September 3, a daughter, Alice, to Mr. and Mrs. Eldon King…September 2, a daughter, Mary, to Mr. and Mrs. Stewart Elder…Saturday night, a daughter, to Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Smith.
Fifty Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record News, Thursday, September 16, 1971.)
A young Ringgold County woman, 18 year old Jan Overholser, died Monday, September 13 of injuries suffered earlier in a 2 car collision eight miles west of Mount Ayr at intersection of Hwy. 2 & P27. (Since this accident, there have been 7 other recorded deaths at this intersection and 1 a quarter of a mile west of intersection. Two on June 11, 1981; one July 8, 1994 and five on July 8, 2016.)
Five families have recently established homes in Mount Ayr–Mr. and Mrs. L. Banks Wilson, Mr. and Mrs. Robert Grune, Mr. and Mrs. Donald Nichols, Mr. and Mrs. David Blades and Mr. and Mrs. Lowell Howie.
Top point winners at the Ringgold County Speedway this year are: Jerry Hagen, 1st; Francis Willis, 2nd; Art Garrett, 3rd; Rod Stark, 4th; Lloyd Glendenning, 5th; Arv Woollums, 6th; Mark Johnson, 7th and Bill Stull, 9th.
Marriages: August 15, Martha Poore and Dale Scritchfeld.
Births: August 24, a daughter, Kay, to Mr. and Mrs. Lynn Byers.
Obituary in this edition was, Lora Denhart Buck.
Twenty-Five Years Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record News, Thursday, September 12, 1996.)
The city council appointed Doug Still of Mount Ayr to fill the unexpired term of Frank Mason. The term runs until end of December 1997.
Council member Duane Burchett voted against the motion, saying he felt the city should go to a general election for a successor.
The weather wasn’t the best closing down activity early Saturday night, but the celebration still brought thousands of people to Mount Ayr square for the Ayr Days Celebration over the weekend.
There was a large crowd for the hour and 15 minute parade Saturday afternoon with more than 1,800 staying around to be served at the annual barbecue Saturday evening.
Winners of the 14th annual Milt Henderson Running Classic held Saturday morning during the Ayr Days Celebration were: Jenifer Johnson, womens’ walk; Jennifer Nelson, 2 mile run; Franklin Brown, men’s walking champion; Joshua Flowers, men’s 2 mile run; David Griffith, men’s 5K winner; Micky Sederburg, 10K run and Cindy Swoyer, 5-K winner
Ron Schafer, former Mount Ayr resident, has returned to assume a full time position as part of the Ringgold County Hospital Ambulance Service’s team of caregivers. Schafer began his duties September 9.
Marriages: August 10, Deborah Webb and Kendall Lee.
Births: September 4, a daughter, Madison, to Mr. and Mrs. Ron Skarda…September 10, a daughter, Brooke, to Mr. and Mrs. Steve England.
Obituaries in this edition were: Walter Franklin Main, Grace Wilma Culp Main, Marshall Ernest Barker and Chris Isaac Hightshoe.
TenYears Ago
(From the Mount Ayr Record News, Thursday, September 8, 2011.)
Local medical care providers have reported several cases of chicken pox, according to the Ringgold County Public Health Department.
Chris Doster, on behalf of the Ringgold County Tobacco Prevention Coalition, presents a $1,000 tobacco-free parks mini-grant to the city of Kellerton.
Some Monarch butterflies were tagged during a special event at the Don and Connie Huff Wildlife Area NE of Mount Ayr Saturday. This helps researchers who track the migration of the butterflies from Canada and the midwest to Mexico.
Obituaries in this edition were: Loren Russell Drake and Charlotte Jean Garrels Summers.