25 Years Ago — Nov. 14, 1990
Martin insurance agent Ke
n Bleeker was pictured on the front page of the Globe with a glass of water in celebration of not having to borrow water any more. The Village of Martin was getting a municipal water system to replace the 30 wells found to be contaminated.
Two Leighton Township farmers, Ralph Lettinga and Lee Wierenga, have asked the Township Board for permission to be removed from Public Act 116 Farm Preservation Act. Lettinga, who was granted permission, said his farm now is located in an area heavily populated with residences and there are plans for the site to become a mobile home park. Wierenga’s request was tabled.
The Drug Abuse Resistance (DARE) program has been extended from Wayland High School to the junior high. Trooper Karla Christianson will present six half-hour classes on the dangers of drugs.
The Globe published a “For the Record” feature that included listings of all marriages and divorces in Allegan County for October.
The Martin girls’ solid basketball season in which they suffered only one loss came to an abrupt end in the Class C district opener with a 42-38 loss to Hamilton.Missy Howell scored 11 points and Vonda Evers had 10 rebounds.
The Hopkins girls ended their basketball season with a an overall record of 9-11.Julie Hall was the Vikings’ leading scorer in both of their last two games.
The Wayland girls finished their regular season impressively, winning all but one of their last 10 encounters and finishing at 13-7 and 10-4 in the league. Leading the second half surge were Julie Ainsworth, Heather Staley, Laura Barghan, Ann Iciek, Heather Chrisman and Chris Gruver.
Maryann’s Treasures craft shop was opened by proprietor Maryann May on Maple Street.
50 Years Ago — Nov. 10, 1965
Charles “Chuck Regan of Wayland was featured in a front page picture showing him with TV personality Art Linkletter at an insurance company banquet in Jackson. Regan was named one of the top salesmen.
Sophomore Karen McEwen and freshman Linda Karston were congratulated for achieving perfect 4.0 grade point averages on the Hopkins High School honor roll for the first marking period.
Wayland Precision & Tool, a subsidiary of Schieffler Tool & Die of Grand Rapids, opened up shop on South Main Street in Wayland at the former farm machine business of Merle Rairigh.
Robert Iciek of Hopkins is a member of the cast of the Western Michigan University theater presentation of “The Cave Dwellers.” He is a sophomore at WMU.
Mrs. Alton Frank retired as postmistress of the Moline Post Office after 20 years and was succeeded by Mrs. David Block. Mrs. John Glupker remains as an assistant.
A special election has been scheduled for Jan. 17 on the question of adopting the city charter for Wayland, thereby making it a home rule city. Candidates for mayor and city council have until Nov. 29 to file.
The Allegan County Fair Board promised to tighten the purse strings after a financial audit came back with disappointing results, despite record attendance.
The Wayland Education Association officially was recognized by the Board of Education as the bargaining unit for teachers in the school district. The Hutchinson Act of Michigan enabled public employees to have unions and engage in collective bargaining.
Community Fair Board President Mrs. Harold (Dora) Weaver announced the 1966 fair will be held Aug. 25-27.
Daryl Fleser was chosen as director of a new night school program to provide dropouts with an opportunity to come back to school and earn a diploma. Fleser told the board Wayland had 20 students drop out of high school the previous academic year.
Hopkins earned a share of the Al-Van Conference title by defeating Saugatuck in the season finale and fashioning a 7-1 overall record. Jim Newell scored on a 55-yard punt return, Greg Brown tallied a TD from a yard out and a PAT was registered by Bill Pavlak. The Vikings gave up only 48 points for the whole season.
Wayland completed its season with a 2-5-1 record under new coach Lyle Berry. The Wildcats finished strong with a 26-0 victory over Hamilton, as Leonard Kaminski had another 200-yard rushing game.
The Rolling Stones repeated atop the nation’s music charts with “Get Off My Cloud.”
75 Years Ago — Nov. 15, 1940
There has been some talk recently that the old fire truck, which is nearly 14 years old, is sadly in need of replacement. Just the other night, when the November blizzard was raging at its highest, the truck was called out to a fire at the Frank Mills place west of Bradley, and the boys had their troubles to get old firewagon there at all. Another thing, the boys did not relish riding in the open on such a night as that, especially when traveling at a high rate of speed, or at least as fast as the old truck will go.
The big lottery party in Washington put some 17,000,000 young men where the breeze of conscription could blow about 10 percent of them into Uncle Sam’s uniform for a year in military training of the 890,000 to be taken, 117,000-odd will come from New York State, but even the most sparsely populated sections of the nation will do their share.
How many will come back to civil life — how many will embrace the Army as a permanent career — that is a big question. But the regular officers do their best, when they find lads with a flair for the military life, to do a job of salesmanship.
The officer’s training schools will do their part. When a $20 a week clerk finds he can bark commands, and gets a yellow bar on his shoulder and a company to order around, what kind of bet is it that he will go back to his desk?
Sir Neville Chamberlain, umbrella man of appeasement, who saw the Nazi dogs of war howl him out of his post of power in Britain and send him down into the limbo of nonentity in his native land, may end his days in sunny California.
Traveling in utmost secrecy and unheralded, he is said to be on his way to the land of climate and peace, accompanied only by his wife.
Chamberlain’s departure from his home shores had its paradoxical side. At Munich he had signed a pledge with Hitler that would mean, as he put it later, “peace in our time.” a phrase that was hurled back in his teeth later when bombs dropped on London.
Whether you celebrate Thanksgiving Day on November 21, because of the president’s proclamation, or on November 28, in accordance with the tradition of its observance on the last Thursday in November, it won’t be long now until you’ll be “talking turkey.” For, so strong is tradition, that no Thanksgiving Day dinner table seems quite complete unless there’s turkey.
100 years Ago — Nov. 19, 1915
Miss Opal Smith wrote a letter from Kissimee, Fla., telling tales of what she saw from a train through Kentucky, Tennessee and Georgia.
A barn belonging to Rhine Potter a mile west and eight miles south of the village was destroyed by fire Saturday afternoon.
Lucious L. Averill died at his home just west of Dorr after an illness of several months. His funeral was at his home with the Rev. R. Gordon officiating and interment was in Jones Cemetery.
Mrs. Perkins from Ann Arbor conducted a Women’s Christian Temperance Union seminar at the Congregational Church with the presentation, “The Onward Rush of the Water Wagon.”
Andrew Damoth, who was born in 1862 in Yankee Springs Township, died. He and his wife, Clara, had two sons. His health had declined steadily for a couple of years after he was crushed by a heavy stone. He was buried in Elmwood Cemetery.
The Williams Brothers Co. is reporting that the price of cucumbers is being increased from 75 to 90 cents per bushel.
A special Thanksgiving Night of moving pictures will be presented at Frank’s Opera House.
Albert Dean returned from St. Paul, Minn., to take a sales position with the Yeakey Auto Co. in Wayland. His family will join him soon after.
NOTICE: “Will the party who was seen by two persons to pick up a sack of wheat near Claude Smith’s about two weeks ago and put same in carriage and carry away, please return to Jas. R. Crofoot and save trouble.”
In the wake of the death of D.W. Shattuck, there will be a giant closing out sale starting Nov. 26, purporting to offer “$25,000 worth of the highest quality ready to wear clothing, shoes, dry goods, furnishings and groceries at less than the cost of the raw materials.”
PHOTO: The community of Martin turns out in full force to celebrate Armistice Day in 1918. This photo is courtesy of Scott Kuykendall.
