(Taken from the archives at the Then & Now Historical Library in downtown Dorr)
25 Years Ago — Sept. 8, 1997
Joel Moore of Dorr won the U.S. Open Division, beating 17 other drivers in the bicycle moto-cross (BMX) nationals competition in Louisville.
The Reith-Riley construction firm kept its promise by patching up and making repairs to Wayland city streets, most notably North Main.
Officials at the Dorr Township Library say they don’t know what in the water at the facility and will use bottled water in the meantime.
Area citizens are being warned that if more volunteers don’t step up, the annual Gun Lake Winterfest celebration will be just a memory.
Levels of E. coli are regarded as still too high, but health officials say they think they’re getting closer to the source of the problem near the Cuddy Drain.
Sue Rietman of Moline penned a letter to the editor suggesting the Dorr Township Board have the old library at the corner of 142nd Avenue and 18th Street remodeled instead of building a new facility.
Betty Flock, a longtime teacher in the Hopkins School District wrote a letter saying the community now should come together after passage of a bond issue in the past year.
Watson Township has formed a special committee to handle issues regarding lot splits.
Kevin G. Hall of Martin was presented a check for $25,500 as winner of the Island Drawing at the Marathon gas station at Exit No. 55 of the U.S.-131 expressway.
Michelle Buskirk and Stacey Hildebrand led Martin to a season-opening victory over Wyoming Lee.
Wildcat ace cross-country runner Jason Moore was individual winner of the Wayland Invitational and Wayland girls took first.
Seniors Zeke Fletcher and Nate Adamczyk lead an optimistic Wayland golf team this fall.
Casey Scully scored 17 points and the Merchant sisters, Nicki and Jessie, added 14 apiece as Wayland bounced back from a season debut loss to East Kentwood.
Coach Mark Austin’s Hopkins girls also bounced back from a season-opening loss to hammer Fennville, 75-33. Stacey Stachowicz and Alissa Johnson shared scoring honors with 16 points.
50 Years Ago — Sept. 6, 1972
Popular Wayland High School science and history teacher and coach Harry Multer died at his Gun Lake area home of a heart attack. He was 51. The annual WHS Multer Award for outstanding female athlete is named after him.
Further delay in the bond sale is expected to halt the City of Wayland’s water project. The plan calls for new water mains and extension of existing mains for $325,000.
Three Martin area young men, Gerald Snyder, 21, Dewey Lyons, 24, and Chris Zwiers, 20, were killed in a car crash near Plainwell when an automobile missed a curve and hit a tree.
Several area residents have received their master’s degrees from Western Michigan University, including Mrs. Walter Adrian of Shelbyville, Lorraine Koloseik and Doyle Disbrow of Wayland, and Robert Iciek.
Wayland Union Schools Supt. James Thomas, in the “Your School Operation” column outlined progress in construction of the new Wayland High School and asked parents for patience with plans to accommodate overcrowded classrooms.
Mr. and Mrs. Larry Amborski and family flew to England to visit the Eugene Moore family stationed there with the Air Force.
The Wayland varsity football team will open its at home against Muskegon Oakridge Sept. 13.
The Globe published a photo of Gov. William Milliken viewing a Hopkins FFA display, overseen by Brad Kern and Scott Miller, at the Michigan State Fair in Detroit.
The calf born with a misplaced heart at the Hopkins farm of Orvil Miller has died and it will be made available for research.
75 Years Ago — Sept. 12, 1947
Editor-Publisher Rollo G. Mosher bemoaned brewery companies introducing throw-away bottles of the frothy substance, which he predicted will be found too often along the side of the roads in Michigan.
Mosher also called attention to the huge crowds he saw taking in bathing, swimming, picnic and camping opportunities at Gun Lake over the Labor Day weekend.
Excavation has begun for the local dry cleaning business of Fred Greenawalt on Pine Street, directly in back of the Delp Building at the corner of Main and Pine.
Former Wayland and Martin teachers Ethel Deardorf, Bertha Fox and Hulda Vander Kolk are car pooling to Godwin Heights every weekday to teach at that school district.
Fund-raising efforts have led to the contribution of $5,300 to the drive for a Wayland Memorial Athletic Field, including baseball and softball diamonds off Sycamore Street.
Professional pianist James Sherrill will perform works by Mozart, Bach, Brahms, Chopin and Debussy at the United Methodist Church Sept. 16.
Total school enrollment at Wayland this fall is 702, showing a steady increase since the new high school was built in 1941. Senior class president is Norman Bredeweg, for juniors it’s Mildred Konecny, sophomores James McElwee and freshmen Evelyn Boggs.
New buildings are going up on Superior Street, including Schafer & Zumbrink and Wayland Bakery.
Alto Garden Club members plan to visit the Dahlia Gardens and members of the Ant-Can’t Club intend to serve them lunch.
Dorr has taken over possession of first place in the Wayland Recreation League standings, one full game ahead of Eding’s.
The Wayland baseball All-Stars defeated the Grand Rapids East Side Boosters, 12-6.
Esther Reuhle of Hopkins will leave to do nursing missionary work in China.
Now showing at the Wayland Theatre:
• Roy Rogers and Trigger in “Springtime in the Sierras.”
• Elizabeth Taylor, George Murphy and Mary Astor in “Cynthia.”
• Betty Hutton and John Lund in “The Perils of Pauline.”
100 Years Ago — Sept. 11, 1922
All Odd Fellows who plan to attend the initiation ceremony in Moline are asked to bring their cars if they have them to provide others with transportation.
The lecturer of the Wayland Grange announced he wasn’t able to prepare a program, for the next meeting and asked others to bring material for the lecture hour.
“The Old Nest,” hailed as the best all-American picture yet produced, will be shown at the Regent Theatre downtown. The film, written by Rupert Hughes, is about a mother who has to bid good-bye to her six children one by one. Also showing this week — “Isobel.”
Peter Alman, born in the Netherlands in 1851 and who emigrated to America in 1877, died at his home near Moline. He was a trustee of the First Congregational Church.
The Barry County Day and Night Fair will be held Sept. 5-8 in Hastings. Featured will be auto and motorcycle races.
The Wayland Chautauqua closed last Monday, but plans for a return next year are still up in the air because the amount of subscribers did not meet requirements. Pledge cards are available at Wayland State Bank. It was reported there were more than 400 automobiles parked near the tent.
After a long spell of dry weather, a terrible thunderstorm did considerable damage in the area. Lightning struck the Methodist Church and a similar strike at the McConnell farm barn destroyed the building.
Village streets are showing decided improvement because of a cleanup crew. West Superior Street east of the railroad tracks was getting gravel.
David A. Stockdale completed his 30th year as mail messenger in the village, a time during which he has made only two mistakes.
The Wayland All-Stars and Leighton will play what promises to be a “fast” baseball game and amusements, food and the Moline Band will accompany the occasion.
George Morred, who came to Monterey Township from Ohio as a 5-year-old, died at age 72 at his farm in Moline.
A special meeting is being planned to discuss provided a new building for Wayland school because of overcrowding problems. Guert Fales is superintendent and Dacie Haines principal.