(Taken from the archives at the Then & Now Historical Library in downtown Dorr)
25 Years Ago — Sept. 14, 1998
Trucks and tractors strutted their stuff before an enthusiastic crowd in Dorr Township at a tractor pull on Bob Wagner’s property over Labor Day weekend.
Denise Grasmid and her 4-year-old son, Zachariah, were shown with pumpkins in a front page photo of this week’s edition of the Globe.
The Leighton Township Board is curbing some of the provisions of a site plan for a 98-acre subdivision at 146th Avenue and Kalamazoo Avenue.
Wayland girls’ varsity basketball coach Zack Moushegian recorded his 400th career victory in the season’s home opener, a 56-46 triumph over Hudsonville. Jennifer Sikkema scored 18 points and hauled down eight rebounds.
Yankee Springs Township has received word that it has earned a $250,000 Community Development Block Grant from the Michigan Jobs Commission.
Sissy Packer wrote a letter to the editor suggesting the Globe apologize for publishing a negative story about Fire Chief Bill Fifelski getting arrested for driving under the influence. Mike and Marilyn Thompson wrote in their letter that everybody’s entitled to make a mistake now and then.
Hopkins High School senior Tim Kiefer has returned from the annual Student Statesman ship Institute in Lansing. He is a peer counselor and a member of the Hopkins chapter of Students Against Drunk Driving (SADD).
Jean Bodo of Dorr was given an award by Country Peddlers & Co., a Christian in-home sales company.
Wayland Union Schools is having a bond proposal on the ballot to ask voters to approve a new building for the transportation department. Officials claim the current building is “bursting at the seams and (they) need a new and bigger place to operate.”
The band Daktal was granted permission to have its party on a parcel at 126th Avenue west of Patterson Road in Wayland Township if it didn’t charge for the celebration.
Kim Pearson of Gun Plains Township has been hired as gypsy moth czar for Allegan County, a job that includes 20 hours a week.
Jiten Shah, CEO of Advantage Housing, plans to build a “one stop shopping” housing developments west of 4th Street, a half mile north of 129th Avenue in Wayland Township.
Hopkins edged Ravenna 12-8, Martin defeated Climax-Scotts 27-10 and Wayland was blanked 27-0 by Byron Center in season opening gridiron action.
Senior Stacy Hildebrand scored 11 points and gathered 11 rebounds to pace Martin to a 34-24 win over Climax-Scotts and lift the Clippers’ record to 2-2.
Tammy Janose, 34, of Dorr, threw out the first ball at a Detroit Tigers’ baseball game for winning a Spartan Foods contest.
Hopkins point guard Alissa Johnson scored 24 points, including 16 or 18 free throws, to lead Hopkins girls to a 62-56 win over Godwin.
The Wayland boys’ varsity cross-country team lost on a sixth runner tie-breaker to Cedar Springs, after a 28-28 tie for the first five.
Bruce Patrick Evans, an Army veteran and longtime employee of Gordon Manufacturing, died at ge 53.
50 Years Ago — Sept. 11, 1973
Janet Lynne Crock, 19, of Otsego, a freshman at Olivet College, won the Miss Allegan County title and Miss Martin, Stella Bellgraph of Martin was second runner-up.
Leland Buck of Hopkins was chosen president of the Allegan County Easter Seal Society.
Members of the public came out in droves Monday night for a public hearing on how to spend federal revenue sharing funds for the City of Wayland. The $36,738 quarterly payment will be divided up with $6,000 going to the planning program, $6,000 for a new van for the fire department, $1500 for a new police radio, $20,000 for street repairs and city assessing update, $3,238.
The City Council offered $1,000 for a plan to upgrade the former dump site on 133rd Avenue to be used as a recreation site.
The Wayland Board of Education adopted a budget of more than $2 million.
Editor-Publisher Irvin P. Helmey reported that newsprint continues to be in short supply because of a railroad strike in Canada. The eight colored pages in the Globe were produced in house and hand wrapped.
Gov. Bill Milliken vetoed a bill that would have legalized gambling at the state fair and limited county fairs to offering only Bingo games.
Mrs. James Taylor of Wayland and Ray McConnon of Caledonia teamed up to win the Ladies’ Golf League at Briarwood Country Club.
Jack Nicolai recorded a hole in one at the Yankee Springs 165-yard hole No. 8 with a five-iron.
Wayland High School Patricia S. Slomski, was among 206 students at Michigan State University admitted to the Honors College summer term. She is the daughter of Globe “Helping Hand” columnist Doris Slomski.
The Allegan County Intermediate School District Board is touring four prospective locations for a facility to house the physically and mentally handicapped.
The Stockdale Busy Builders will meet Sept. 19 at the United Church of Wayland.
The Wayland Mothers Club will meet at one of the temporary portable classrooms Sept. 20 with the goal of expanding its membership. Mrs. Mike Ellinger is president and Mrs. Arthur Gerlach vice president.
Former area educator Mrs. Frank Hollands died of cancer at Pipp Hospital in Plainwell. She was 84.
John J. Stora, who retired in 1968 from the Oldsmobile plant in Lansing, died of a heart attack at his Wayland home. He was 70.
75 Years Ago — Sept. 17, 1948
Rollo G. Mosher, in his weekly “Observations Here and There” column, opined, “Voters find fault about who picks the candidates on the ballot, yet very few turned out to vote Tuesday (in the primary).” The Globe noted only about 200 showed up at the polls county-wide
Mrs. Lucinda Hart, who owned 40 acres in Hopkins Township before selling to Mr. Stehouwer, died, with her service planned at the Watson Corners Church. She was the widow of Thomas Hart.
Elvon Taylor of Ravenna, former Wayland resident, was killed in a car-train accident near Muskegon. He was 50 years old.
About 100 people witnessed the laying and blessing of the cornerstone for the St. Therese Parish on South Main Street. Many Catholic dignitaries participated in the ceremony.
The 1948 Wayland Cowbell Carnival was attended by about 10,000 people, despite rainy weather. Mrs. Ervin Schafer won the electric vacuum sweeper, Gary Kerber the electric washer and Burdette Blair the electric stove.
Every voter in Hopkins is invited to a special program at Hopkins High School auditorium, with Rex Orton delivering a talk about the upcoming election.
The Lowell Garden Club took a chartered bus to Wayland to drop in as guests of the Wayland Garden Club and toured the Dahlia Gardens. The 40 members were served lunch by the Anti-Can’t Society.
Enrollment totals for Wayland Schools showed 234 students this fall. School bus drivers were Charles Ayers, Clell Bennett, Ed Staley, Elmer Kugelard, Ray Clack, Fred Buskirk, William Mauchmar and Norris Schuh.
Edings won the local World Series for the summer softball league title, winning two out of three games against the Vets.
Nine returning lettermen on the Wayland varsity football this season are Bill Mauchmar, Bill Dobson, Duane Doublestein, Jim Hageman, Ted Johnson, Bert Jager, Paul Manning, Wayne Martin and Bill Reurink.
Administrators at Hopkins Schools this fall are Supt. Gaylord Caszatt, former superintendent at Bridgeport, and High School Principal Albert Deal.
The Wayland Garden Club held a meeting in Hopkins at the modern and attractive home of Bessie Illiff. There were 37 women in attendance.
Now showing at the Wayland Theatre:
• “Rocky” Lane and Jack Holt in “Frontier the Wild.”
• William Lundigan and Jacqueline White in “Mystery in Mexico.”
• Dana Andrews and Jean Peters in “Deep Waters.”
• Van Johnson and June Allyson in “The Bride Goes Wild.”
100 Years Ago — Sept. 14, 1923
The community of Wayland is anticipating Ford Day and Dollar Day Saturday, featuring Yeakey Ford heading up a village parade. Dollar Day will include numerous specials offered by village merchants.
The Regent Theatre is installing a new metal front to the movie house on West Superior Street.
It is said that the Ku Klux Klan is organizing in Michigan with several hundred members in Allegan County.
Now showing at the Regent Theatre: Raymond Hatton and a big cast in “His Back gainst the Wall.” Wallace and Noah Berry in “Stormswept.”
Well known farmer and businessman Frank D. Cutler said it pays to advertise, as his sale of 65 head of cattle and cider vinegar went extremely well.
The Rev. Arthur T. Nielsen has been hired to preach in the Congregational Church.
School began Monday at District No. 8 in Bradley with Bertha Edwards in in the grammar room and Leila Rinehart in the primary room.
Miss Ruth Warner began teaching at the Gregg School. Miss Lillian Knapp returned to the Crittendon School and Starr Gilger to Blossom School.
Junior Endeavorers of Moline meet every Saturday at 2 p.m. They have ordered 10 copies of the Junior Endeavorer World.
Dr. Grant Ide, a Wayland High School graduate, died very suddenly Sunday morning at his home in Mattawan, Mich.
Paul Wing boasted that his speed boat can reach 22 mph when he sold it to a Pine Lake man.