25 Years Ago — Jan. 23, 1991
Members of the Wayland Area Emergency Services (WAEMS) were told by Manager Bob Farrell the agency is having financial difficulties and discussion about a plan of action is necessary. WAEMS had expenses of $37,588 over renevue for 1990.
The 10th annual Gun Lake Winterfest celebration will have a tribute to men and women in the armed services now fighting in Operation Desert Storm in the Middle East.
Wayland High School teachers Martha Ballard and Wendell Bastion are serving as advisors for a new tutoring program that includes 27 teachers and 32 students who are members of the National Honors Society.
Jamie George, 8, was presented with the Air National Guard Medal of Courage in recognition of his seven years battling leukemia and recovering after a bone marrow transplant.
Nona Miller became the first female ever to be elected mayor Gun Lake for that community’s Winterfest celebration for 1991.
Wayland High School teacher Don Mackey wrote a two-act musical comedy “Dinner at Wellington,” which students will perform Jan. 24 and 26 at the auditorium. The play stars Amy Nieuwenhuis, Jim Doan, Dee Fores and Amy Buskirk.
Luke Keyzer drilled a trio of three-point field goals and 6-7 center Dan Herp scored heavily inside as Martin’s varsity basketball team cruised to a 73-39 victory over Decatur. The contest was supposed to be a showdown for first place in the Southwest Athletic Conference.
Wayland’s varsity hoops team fell 62-52 to Hudsonville, despite 20 points from Eric VandenBerg.
The Martin wrestling team is ranked third in the Class D state poll after dual meet victories over Centreville and Hopkins and a 43-29 loss to Class B power Allegan.
The Hopkins boys’ basketball team now is 7-4 overall after a 72-66, featuring 21 points by Jeff Weber, 19 from Zack Wilson, 13 from Kelly Reynolds and nine from Kevin Kloska.
The Wayland area “Nasty Boys” bowling team captured first place in the Class Grand Rapids Bowling Tournament. Members are Ryan Konecny, Steve Presser, Jason Hulett, Jeremy Ballard and Jeremy Cutler.
50 Years Ago — Jan. 19, 1966
Voters in the Village of Wayland defeated a proposal for a home rule city charter by just 18 votes, 247-229. Mrs. Wallace Wakeman, wife of former school president, explained that she voted against the city charter because it changed the clerk and treasurer positions from elected to appointed.
Mayor Phillip Reno and six City Council members, Hugh DeWeerd, Walt Gurney, Arnold Wilde, Marshall Towne, Bill Mauchmar and Richard Wilson were elected in the special election, but they will not take their positions because the city charter proposal was defeated. Mrs. Halden Hudson and Mrs. Fred Hilbert were elected to two seats on the Henika Library Board.
Henry Sprague, 82, died in a traffic accident near Hopkins. He was a semi-pro pitcher who appeared with his brother as a pitcher-catcher act that toured nationally and he was manager of the Bradley Indians baseball team.
A fire and explosion at the Knoper Farm east of Moline caused between $15,000 and $20,000 in damage.
Mr. and Mrs. Gene Weber have announced they are closing their dry goods business after seven years. They bought the store in 1959 from Mr. and Mrs. John Arbanas.
Hopkins faculty members, now represented by a union, have asked the Board of Education to approve raises in base pay from $4,600 to $5,000 annually and for 3.3% to 4% annual increases.
Hamilton defeated Wayland 51-42, with Lloyd Schrotenboer scoring 25 points. Rick Baughman scored 12 and Gordon Hudson 10. Baughman and Cal Idema both gathered 11 rebounds.
Joanie Parker, Janine Hampel, Martha Blain, James Kaur, Pat Stoddard, Erwin Doublestein, Diane Wolf, Dan Berends and Ron Burpree were selected as members of an all-star band that was to perform at Wayland High School under the baton of a music professor from Michigan State University.
The John Howard Manufacturing Company was nearing completion of its facility in Dorr Township. The business custom builds Christmas tree balers.
A car parked by an onlooker near a fire at the Myron Wilde farm hindered local firefighters in their quest to get at the blaze, which destroyed a barn.
Jerry Lapham, a Martin High School graduate, has been elected president of the student government at Adrian College. He is a senior majoring in psychology.
“Goldfoot and the Bikini Machine,” featuring Frankie Avalon and Vincent Price, was the movie playing at the Wayland Theatre.
The Beatles were back on top of the nation’s music charts with the two-sided hit “Day Tripper” and “We Can Work It out.”
75 Years Ago — Jan. 24, 1941
There was no entry for this week in “Yesteryears” columns published for 1941 in the archives of Then and Now Historical Library.
100 years Ago — Jan. 21, 1916
The village was shocked and saddened to learn of the arrest of 19-year-old Sylvester Thornburg of Wayland, who was charged with the murder of his aunt, Mrs. Elmer E. Thornburg, at her farm home about eight miles west of Cassopolis. Sylvester has been staying at the house to help with chores in the absence of Elmer, who was away on business in Portage, Ind. Authorities found the body of Mrs. Thornburg face down on her bed and determined she had been beaten and strangled. Young Sylvester maintains his innocence, but when he was arrested in Wayland his face was covered with blood and scratches.
Frank R. Perkins and Earl R. Ryno, both of Wayland, were arrested by a U.S. deputy marshal and charged with fraudulently obtaining, dispensing and compounding cocaine. They were both arraigned in Grand Rapids by U.S. Commissioner Oscar E. Waer.
Henry Lentz of Lakeview is preparing to open the elevator on West Superior Street at the G R & I railroad tracks.
Members of the Wayland High School football squad were presented with monograms consisting of a “W” on a green field as a testimonial to their valor in battle on the gridiron in the 1915 season.
The winter academic term has commenced at Wayland schools and the high school is reporting its highest enrollment ever at 105 students. Publisher Rollo Mosher reported, “The capacity of the school building is being taxed to meet the demand” and discussions about adding classrooms are under way.
The little son of Mr. and Mrs. Glen Fisher of Leighton was reported to have drank some kerosene and had taken very ill, but has been recovering since.
Most members of the Allegan County Board of Supervisors have been meeting to a form a Gerrit J. Diekema for Governor Club.
Several Wayland school teachers have been attending a teachers’ institute at a Baptist Church in Allegan.
A.N. Higgins, publisher of the Prairieville Press and Barry County Graphic, was found lying on the floor after suffering a stroke at his home.
The 1950 Chevy belonged to my dad, John Rewa of New Salem. Whitey McEwen, the driver, and I used ride around in this beauty and drink beer and burn a few in self defence. It was 1972. We hitch hiked to Florida not long after that picture was taken.