(Taken from the archives at the Then & Now Historical Library in downtown Dorr):
25 Years Ago — April 9, 2001
The Globe’s front page photo featured Sandy Stephan of Wayland Township starting up a go-kart for sons Jason and Jared during a balmy spring break day.
Diana Moore wrote a letter to the editor insisting the reason for the firing of Leighton Township Fire Chief Paul Baker was because of anger and personal agendas.
Karen Hennip of Dorr penned a letter critical of the casino plans, writing, “I would rather be remembered as a seeker after God and a seeker after truth than as a seeker after more wealth and more entertainment.”
Editor Nila Aamoth announced in her Soapbox that the Globe would be willing to sponsor a bronze statue in the mini-park at the downtown four corners.
A number of local residents appeared at a Wayland Township Board hearing to protest the cost of a drain project on Pearl Street. Allegan County Drain Commissioner Lynn Fleming was on hand to explain the project.
A proposed rezoning from medium density residential to heavy industrial from Dan Timmer and David Maas of T & Partners was rejected. The land eventually would have been home to a pipe distribution company.
Both Allegan and Barry counties will have to change the boundaries and the number of districts for county-level elections. A special panel with Prosecutor Fred Anderson, Treasurer Fulton Sheen, Clerk-Register of Deeds Joyce Watts, Democratic Chairman Terry Delp and Republican Chair Dar VanderArk will decide numbers and boundaries.
The 2000 U.S. census has revealed that all jurisdictions in Allegan County have seen an increase in population, from 1.1 percent in Martin Township to 43% in the City of Wayland. Yankee Springs saw a 41.7% jump.
Jeff McElwee, vice chairman of the Allegan County Board of Commissioners, has tendered his resignation from the board, citing lack of time to do the job properly.
Kandy Brandt of Salem Township has survived two apparent attempts on her life by her husband, Timothy, who was jailed and held on $250,000 bond.
Leighton Township Clerk Mary Lou Niewenhuis reported the 2001-02 budget’s biggest expense is nearly $200,000 for police and fire protection.
A survey at Gun Lake showed about 75 percent approval for a casino proposed by the Gun Lake Band of Potawatomis.
Even with a 3% increase for township officials’ pay, the Watson Township Board’s budget is for less than it was the year before.
A feature story about Walnutdale Farms in Dorr Township was the first in a series by the Globe, describing the modern challenges of agriculture.
Anthony Michael Moore, 17, of Wayland, was lodged in a juvenile justice facility in Montana after finally being apprehended for a high-speed chase in multiple states. He was arrested near Yellowstone National Park.
Heather Houseman is a four-year starting pitcher for the Hopkins softball team and coach Mick Francis expects big things from his Viking outfit this season. Her battery mate, Linsey Perkowski returns to the team as a .400 hitter.
Martin also starts the softball season with optimism, seeking a repeat of its district championship and perhaps more, led by ace pitcher Ashley Willover.’
Edmund Gulch died at a veterans’ home in Grand Rapids. A World War II veteran and member of the Dorr American Legion, he was 77 years old.
50 Years Ago — April 6, 1976
Gun Lake will get a mechanical type sewage treatment system as opposed to a pond-style service, it was determined at a Yankee Springs Township Board meeting.
Wayland City incumbents, including Mayor Marshall Towne and council members Ted Green, Marie Hall and William Hooker, all were re-elected to their posts in the annual spring election.
Wayland City Manager Carl Fockler told the City Council that the city, did not violate CETA regulations in the discharge of former employee Edward Hackett.
Allegan County Probate Judge Dwight Cheever announced plans to retire after serving for 11 years.’
The Wayland High School band earned a “superior” rating at the state solo and ensemble festival at Vicksburg High School. Director Steve Working noted the group won similar honors at local and district festivals.
The Wayland Board of Education announced the layoff of swim instructor and coach Bill Fritz and the hiring of Gordon Moeler as social worker for the Wayland and Martin school districts.
A fire extensively damaged the Allegan County Road Commission garage at the corner of Railroad and Cherry streets in Wayland. No decision has been made as to whether the structure will be razed or remodeled.
The Globe published a photo of the wedding in 1906 of Leroy Fear and Edna Marion Gibson. Fear and his wife began duties later that year as teachers in the Hopkins school system.
State aid payments to school districts continue to decline. For example, Wayland’s went down from $374,000 in October to $317,800 in April. Officials explain that the payment declines reflect the state-wide economic troubles.
Francis Stahlhood of Martin remains in the intensive care unit at Bronson Hospital in Kalamazoo after suffering burns while taking down an antenna for a citizen’s band radio.
Eleven members of the O-K Blue Conference champion wrestling team served as escorts for the state baton twirling pageant directed by Lynn Freeman of Wayland.
Wayland High School alum Fred Clack will debut his planetarium program at Adrian College, where he is currently a sophomore.
The Globe published photos and stories about spring sports prospects at Wayland, Hopkins and Martin, including track, baseball and tennis.
Wayland eighth-grader Kevin Acton qualified for the state and national kids’ freestyle wrestling tournament by placing second at a competition at Ottawa Hills High School in Grand Rapids.
Wayland High School students Roger Mynatt and Cliff Holbrook will take part in a cross-country bicycle trip from Seattle, Wash., to Washington D.C.
Winning awards from Hopkins at the State FFA Convention in East Lansing were Bruce Brenner, Doug Steffens, Jeff Lenhart, Chuck Wamhoff, Burton Brenner and John Watson.
The Globe began a weekly series of publishing old photos of the Wayland area in honor of the celebrations of the nation’s bicentennial.
Area officials reported they were disappointed in the low turnout at annual meetings of area township boards. State Rep. Wayne Sackett was a special guest at the Wayland Township Board meeting.
Ernest Sigler, a printer who worked for the Wayland Globe’s first owner, George Mosher, later for the Kalamazoo Gazette, died at his home in Allegan. He was 84.
75 Years Ago — April 13, 1951
Editor-Publisher Rollo G. Mosher, in his weekly column, noted he was “aghast” at President Harry Truman’s decision to relieve Gen. Doug MacArthur of his command in the Korean War.
Jack Gurney was elected new president of the Wayland Rotary Club.
The Trinity Lutheran Church on Church Street in Wayland was dedicated in a special Saturday service.
Sarah Harness, a member of the Methodist Church and resident of Wayland for the past 40 years, died of a heart attack at her home.
Maurice Barber of Coopersville, husband of the former Jo Delp of Wayland, has been appointed assistant attorney general in the revenue department.
Ashley Herrinton, a retired mail carrier, justice of the peace and member of the Wayland Township Board, died after an illness of 16 months. He was 81.
The Barlow Lake Improvement Association is conducting a membership drive.
The Wayland Television Sales business has moved from its location on East Superior Street to the Delp Building on South Main, one block south of the red light. Officials said 200 orchids will be given away at the store’s grand opening.
Mr. and Mrs. Oliver Knobloch have bought the Otis Parmalee farm, which was purchased in 1854 and remained in that family’s name until this year, nearly a century.
Dogs killed two turkeys at the J. Graczyk farm property in Dorr and a goose on the Charley Jacoboski farm.
Now showing at the Wayland Theatre:
- Roy Rogers and Trigger in “Trail of Robin Hood.”
- Double feature — “Father’s Wild Game.”
- Burt Lancaster in “Vengeance Valley.”
- Dean Martin and Jerry Lewis in “At War with the Army.”
100 Years Ago — April 9, 1926
Augustus R. Sooy, formerly of Wayland, died at his home in Glendale, Calif. A resident of Wayland for more than 40 years, he was a teacher. He taught the day he died after taking ill that evening, March 29.
Nearly 400 people turned out to vote at the polls Monday. The proposal for the village to buy the Stockdale law office was soundly rejected 311 to 64. Also defeated were questions about the county nurse and county demonstrator.
Editor-Publisher Rollo G. Mosher wrote, “Regardless of the fact that the town hall proposition was turned down by such a big vote, a great many voters expressed themselves as favoring the erection of a suitable building adjacent adjacent to the village hall.”
Frank A. Burlington’s fish hatchery is very busy in the hatching season. Eggs have come from as far away as Lawton to be hatched at the local plant. “Wayland is fast getting to be a poultry center and the local hatchery should prove to be a profitable industry.”
Highway overseers elected were Floyd Fales, John Woodward, John Howarth and Fred Johnson. Township officers elected were Supervisor Carl Warner, Clerk Samuel B. Smith, Treasurer John F. Stockade, Highway Commissioner William Button and Justice of the Peace Clyde Culver.
Sidney Brown, teacher at Chappell School, is sick with the flu and school has been closed all week.
Now showing at the Regent Theatre downtown: “The Goose Hangs High.” There will be an additional “Our Gang” comedy. Evelyn Brent in “Midnight Molly.”
The Regent will be host April 23, 24 and 25 for the acclaimed film “The Iron Horse.”
A number of Wayland bird friends put together a “bird feast in the woods in Wayland. The group included Fannie Hoyt, Mrs. Mack Short, Mrs. C.D. Averill, Mrs. Charles Tripod and son Herschel, Haven Tarnutzer, Phillip Reno, Ellis Tooker, Nelson Heydenberk and George Cozzens. They provided suet, bread crust, apples, rolled oats and nuts for the winged creatures.
Mrs. Walter Wolfe is spending time with her mother, who is hospitalized in Kalamazoo with ptomaine poisoning.
Lucille Sheldon, daughter of Mr. And Mrs. Burke Sheldon of Wayland was taken to Bronson Hospital with gangreenous appendix. She was in critical condition.
Niel Campbell, formerly of Martin, paid a fine of $25 and $15 in court costs on a charge of selling indecent pictures.
Sib Rumery announced again a $15 reward for information on who stole a spare tire off L.F. Smith’s Chevrolet Coach or Dr. Dunwell’s Ford Coupe. “The tire stealing business is getting to be a serious matter.”
The high school’s senior play, “The House Next Door,” will be performed during the second week of May.
The high school operetta “The Isle of Chance” is scheduled for April 16 and 17 at the Regent Theatre.
Miss Dora Culver had the misfortune to slip and fall on the ice and fractured the bone of her upper left arm. Dr. Bryson had her removed to Robinson Hospital in Allegan.
More snow has fallen this year in Grand Rapids since the U.S. Weather Bureau started measuring in 1893. Thus far, 88.3 inches have been recorded, with 10 inches in the first five days of April.
