(Taken from the archives at the Then & Now Historical Library in downtown Dorr)

25 Years Ago — July 26, 1999

William Poulson, 12, of Wayland was pictured on the Globe’s front page holding his pet tarantula he entered in the annual pet show, sponsored by Community Education and Recreation.

Hopkins residents Evan and Jack Qualls oppose replacing the historic 1903 bridge at 132nd Avenue and 18th Street in the interests of preserving history. The 14th Street Bridge in Hopkins Township, meanwhile, has opened with a state grant. 

Leighton Township couple Spencer and Diana Moore indicated their house on Round Lake Drive is being plagued by sewer backup at Green Lake.

Plans for new improved and paved 142nd Avenue and 135th Avenue are in the works for Dorr and Leighton townships.

Editor Nila Aamoth suggested in her Soapbox that teachers, not students, be subjected to a dress code.

Delbert Farnsworth of Wayland wrote a letter to the editor asking voters to approve the Henika District Library millage request.

Margo Wright penned a letter objected to the way she was treated by the Watson Township Board when she voiced her opinion at a recent meeting.

Henika Library held a special open house to commemorate the facility’s 100th anniversary. Henika family descendants Matt, Val and John Henika from Wheaton, Md., joined the ceremony with Director Lynn Mandeville.

Nikki Merchant, Jessie Merchant and Angel Merren, all stars on the Wayland High School softball team, were members of the Blazers summer ball club that won the 18-team midwestern tournament in Grand Par, Ill.

The Wayland Road Runners had a fun contest between the current high schoolers and the “geezers,” won by the former.

Shelbyville native Read Admiral Harold Briggs, former director of Pan American Affairs, Naval chief of staff for the White House and aide to President Franklin D. Roosevelt, died in Washhington. He was 95.

Alice Thompson of Hopkins, active in Allen General Hospital volunteer efforts and Hopkins Community Church died July 16 at the of 82.

50 Years Ago — July 23, 1974

Burrell Stein was re-elected president of the Hopkins Board of Education and Leo Smith was chosen vice president.

U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Earl Butz will be special guest at a three-county Republican Party rally Aug. 3 that includes Allegan, Van Buren and Kalamazoo counties.

John Graham has joined the Wayland City police force which also includes Dan Miller, Sgt. Eldon Millheim and Chief Harold Ernst.

Mrs. Arthur Miller has been chosen vice president of the Southwestern District of Michigan State Federation of Women’s Clubs.

The annual Miss Wayland pageant, sponsored by the Ladies Library Club, will be held Sept. 28, later then the customary mid-summer contest in order to give the winner more time to prepare for next year’s Allegan County Harvest Queen contest and state pageant. Jan Thomas, daughter of Supt. James and Mrs. Thomas, will be Wayland’s Harvest Queen contestant in September this year. 

A group of neighbors banded together to save the Jacob VanDyke family from drowning in a Dorr Township pond, pulling them to safety after Jason fell into the water from a boat while fishing.

A meeting has been scheduled by acting secretary Earl Miller to launch an emergency services group with paramedics and other EMTs invited.

The Wayland Community Fair this year will be held at the Pearl Street gym Aug. 16 and 17.

Nancy Antkoviak of Allegan wrote a letter to the editor criticizing the appointment of Fred “Rick” Hunter to the county prosecuting attorney’s post because it was decided by his former law partner, current Circuit Judge George Corsiglia.

The Wayland Community Band, under the direction of James Dunsmore, will perform in the third of a series of concerts in the City Park. Featured will be Sousa marches, selections by Meredith Wilson of “The Music Man” and from “1776.”

Three Wayland girls, Karen Stoddard, Colleen Erb and Therese Amborski are traveling to England this summer.

Linda Marie Smith of Hopkins is employed by Grand Valley State College’s Grand Rapids Urban Corps summer youth program. She is working in the Unity Methodist Community House.

Joyce Selvig of North Dorr is teaching this summer at baton camps in North Carolina and Virginia.

Plank Road Farm and Knights of Columbus Little League teams won thrilling playoff victories to earn the right to face each other in the local World Series.

The Hopkins chapter of the FFA captured second place in the Michigan Pheasant Ringneck Contest at Michigan State University.

The Globe published photos and stories of three Third District Court of Appeals candidates, Luther Raines, Leo Maki and Daniel Walsh.

John Denver rook over the top spot among the nation’s top tunes with “Annie’s Song.”

75 Years Ago — July 29, 1949

Former Wayland resident Mrs. Clinton Fleming (nee Francis Benedict) died of polio at Blodgett Hospital in Grand Rapids. She was only 43.

Russ Rugaber spoke at the most recent Rotary Club meeting about how Pet Milk outgrew the old Helvetia Condensary in town. He said the company in 1948 paid out more than $4.1 million to local farmers for milk.

Editor-Publisher Rollo G. Mosher, Naman Frank, Fredric Hilbert, Russell Rugaber and Phil Reno attended a special seminar in Lansing and were told about the rapid growth of the use of telephones all over the nation. They also were introduced to the newfangled toll dialing system.

The Wayland Rod & Gun Club will have its annual picnic at Murphy’s Cove July 31. Included will be trap shooting, speedboat races and other fun and games.

The Village of Wayland will have a special community meeting to discuss a proposal to implement sanitary sewer and water services. On hand will be the engineering firm of Consoer, Townsend & Associates, which the village has hired to complete the plans.

Allegan city officials are reporting a successful response to their decision to install parking meters downtown, particularly with providing more parking spaces.

Now showing at the Wayland Theatre downtown:

• Allen “Rocky” Lane and his stallion “Blackjack” in Sheriff of Wichita.”
• Joseph Schildkraut and Billie Burke in “Castaway.”
• William Bendix, Rosemary DeCamp and James Gleason in “The Life of Riley.”
• Spencer Tracy, Deborah Kerr and Ian Hunter in “Edward, My Son.”

100 Years Ago — July 25, 1924

Claude Keith and Merton Haldeman, the two boys who ran away from the courthouse lawn while mowing the lawn in Allegan, are serving a larger sentence now in the county jail. Keith was apprehended in Kansas City, Mo., and Haldeman in Alexandria, Ind.

President Calvin Coolidge has promised to investigate a tariff on butter to aid dairy farmers.

John E. Ward’s new home on Hanlon Street “will be of glazed tile and modern in every way, and will be a decided addition to Wayland’s list of modern homes.”

The Rev. C.M. Keene, former pastor of the Christian Church in Wayland, has accepted a call from the Church of Christ in Owosso.

A treasurer’s statement has reported this year’s Chautauqua advanced sales and season tickets amounted to $384 and total receipts amounted to $742.15.

The Standard Oil Co. has announced that gasoline prices have been lowered by a penny.  Costs are 17.7 cents per gallon for tank wagons and 19.7 at service stations.

The Blue Lantern now is open for business under F. A. Burlington, selling ice cream, cold drinks, fancy groceries, cigars, confections and tobacco products.

Editor-Publisher Rollo G. Mosher announced the Globe soon will begin its 42nd year of publication. He said his father first printed it at Beall Brothers Store in 1884. He commented, “Well, here goes for another year of hustling and boosting for Wayland, our old home town. We’re proud of it.”

However, Mosher added that Elmwood Cemetery in Wayland Township needs a wooden fence on the west side because it’s older than the Globe.

The Wayland Cadets have purchased band instruments from the Modern Woodmen Society and soon will organize a local band. “This seems the best prospect for a village band Wayland has had for many years, as all the members are boys right at home and musically inclined.”

Mosher in an editorial endorsed the  gubernatorial candidacy of W.W. Potter of Hastings.

It was noted that neighboring Barry County has 204 inland lakes, the majority of them containing good fishing.

Misses Alida and Alice Vos were in involved in a traffic mishap in which their car was overturned at a steep bank while they were returning from swimming at the beach at Selkirk Lake. They both escaped with minor bruises.

A marl digging demonstration from Michigan Agricultural College will be conducted at the Wayland Cooperative Association farm at Pickerel Lake.

Now showing at the Regent Theatre downtown: William Barnum in “Moonshine Valley.” The Lee Kids in “A Pair of Aces.” “The Telephone Girl” and “Lights Out.”