(Taken from the archives at the Then & Now Historical Library in downtown Dorr)
25 Years Ago — Nov. 8, 1995
Wayland High School senior Jody Carlon has been selected to appear in the halftime show of the Citrus Bowl. She was spotted during her participation in a summer drum major camp at the University of Illinois.
Sally Truax wrote a letter to the editor opposing the practice of having sixth-graders take part in dances during school hours.
Editor Nila Aamoth, in the Soapbox, insisted Wayland and other rural communities cannot legislate against urban sprawl, much like putting up “keep out” signs.
Wayland Union Schools has decided to implement a fiber optics system for data communications, television, media and telephone connections.
An ordinance banning leaf burning in the city limits is being crafted by city officials. Violations will be regarded as misdemeanors for the rest of the year, but next year will be civil infractions.
A representative of Camp Blodgett has asked the Watson Township Board of Appeals to approve a variance for the property near 18th Street and 122nd Avenue to establish a camp for children.
Scott Sullivan wrote a feature story with photos about Silver Kennels owner Aaron Silver of Dorr and his former life in Kenya.
The Wayland High School girls’ basketball team now is 14-4 overall and 10-4 in the O-K Gold Conference. Balanced scoring is headed up by all-state candidate Angie Farmer and Jessie McEwen, Marge Reurink and Carly McCully.
The Martin girls now own a 17-2 overall record and they are looking forward to perhaps a rubber match in the district finals against Lawrence, the only team to beat them this season.
The Hopkins football team improved to 10-0 with a 28-12 victory over Niles Brandywine in the opening round of the Class CC playoffs. The Vikings Saturday afternoon will meet up with a 10-0 Union City Chargers opponent. Leading the way in the historical playoff win were quarterback Tim Kisner, Jerry Funk and defensive wizards Bill Griffey, Matt Hazen and Jared Vogt.
The Hopkins girls’ basketball squad is 11-8 overall after a tough 56-46 loss to Martin. The Lady Vikings, coached by Tracy Iciek, are 6-3 in the O-K Silver Conference.
Brian Swanson set the school five-kilometer record in cross-country by finishing in 16:13, good for 16th place in the state meet. Teammate Jason Moore checked in at 16:27 for 22nd.
Christopher Stehouwer, son of Wayland High School graduate and former Pittsburgh Steelers’ lineman Ron Stehouwer, died in an accident in Bryan, Texas. He was a sophomore at Texas A & M University.
50 Years Ago — Nov. 4, 1970
The controversial liquor by the glass proposal in the city passed 433 to 281. The also controversial Proposal C against aid to private schools saw a mixed bag locally but passed statewide.
The Wayland Police Department is promising round-the-clock coverage this week in the wake of reports of increases of vandalism. Officers Eldon Millheim and Ralph Efner will work evenings and night while Chief Forest Reichenbach will work days.
Steve Brouard, 19, and Klaus (Eddie) Tanis, 17, both of Martin, were electrocuted in a farm accident. The two were loading grain into a bin at the Tanis farm when they came into contact with high tension wires.
Tom Latondress, a 1970 Wayland High School graduate, has won the Outstanding Freshman Boy award at Oakland University for outstanding character and academics.
Between 600 and 700 were in attendance for a Halloween night part at the city park, sponsored by local officers with the Fraternal Order of Police.
Kathy Lucke, 22, daughter of Michigan Propance Gas Corp. President Robert Lucke, is recovering from injuries she sustained in an auto accident near Paw Paw. She is a first-year teacher at Vicksburg schools.
Wayland State Bank has discontinued the sale of food stamps as one of its banking services, so the nearest outlet is being handled by the Department of Social Services in Allegan.
Ann Schumaker of Dorr wrote a letter to the editor taking Wayland Board of Education members to task for declining to take a stand on Proposal C, which would prohibit financial aid to private schools.
Superintendent James Thomas, in the Know Your Schools column, noted the student population for Wayland schools was 1,262 in the fall of 1963, but nearly double at 2,248 at the start of the 1970-71 academic year, which was one of the biggest reasons for plans to build a new high school.
Now showing at the Wayland Theatre: “Bob, Carol, Ted and Alice,” starring Elliott Gould, Dyan Cannon, Robert Culp and Natalie Wood.
The Wayland varsity football team tied Middleville 20-20. Quarterback Mike Longstreet tossed a couple of TD passes to Mark Schipper and hit Larry Lawrence with a crucial two-point conversion pass. Dan Hall came up with 13 tackles on defense.
The Girls’ Athletic Association took in a production of “Mame” and had a bowling tournament won by Terry Dewey and Mary Brower.
The Wayland cross-country team finished third in the O-K Blue Conference meet. Elwyn Powers was second, Chuck Wright seventh and Brent Irwin eighth.
75 Years Ago — Nov. 9, 1945
The first winter storm of the season came to town, but “It melted soon, leaving only a taste of what is to come later.”
Dr. A.L. Larson, Harold Calkins, John Miles and Edmund Beaver have left town on a moose hunting trip to Canada.
Fire destroyed a barn at the Ed Vandenberg farm southeast of Wayland, “supposedly caused by spontaneous combustion.”
Mr. and Mrs. Clayton Smith were hosts for a special dinner to honor their son, James E. Carpenter, who arrived the week before after being a prisoner of war on a Japanese island for three years. He also was scheduled to be guest of honor at the Servicemen’s Wives special potluck dinner at the Wayland High School cafeteria.
Harris Geary has arrived home after serving more than two years as an infantryman in the Army in Germany.
The Wayland High School senior play, “Campus Quarantine,” a three-act comedy, will be performed two nights. It is under the direction of Miss Betty Kiefer, English and Latin teacher.
Pfc. William McElwee has been released from a hospital in Cleveland, where he was recovering from wounds he sustained in action at Okinawa.
Fred DeYoung of Grandville has purchased the A-G Store from Harold Koster, who is switching careers to join Reuben Hoover Real Estate Agency.
Geta M. Smith, 59, died of a sudden stroke at her home. Born in Hopkins Township in 1885, she married Claud Smith and taught school for three years after earning certification from Ypsilanti Normal.
Now showing at the Wayland Theatre:
- Chester Morris and Victor McLaglen in “Rough, Tough and Ready.”
- Jane Frazee and Brad Taylor in “Swinging on a Rainbow.”
- Jane Powell and Ralph Bellamy in “Delighgtfully Dangerous.”
- Humphrey Bogart, Alexis Smith and Sydney Greenstreet in Conflict.”
100 Years Ago — Nov. 5, 1920
Republican Warren G. Harding cruised to an easy victory in the election for presidents. Locally, he picked 454 votes to Democrat James Cox’s 112.
Wayland High School girls put together a fund-raising race to finish off the bill for the piano at the school. Ethel Williamson’s team won the competition. The losers had to throw a party for the winners.
Raymond Fox has been appointed librarian for the school’s academic year.
Myron Wilde, who has been idled by an accident since September, finally joined his classmates in the ninth grade.
The high school now includes 37 boys and 43 girls.
The election year parochial school aid amendment proposal was passed here 259-202, but was rejected by a 2-to-1 margin statewide.
The Wayland Farm Bureau Cooperative now owns the H.W. Lentz property. F.D. Cutler, president of the Wayland Cooperative Association, quoted the slogan, “Every farmer a member, every member a booster.”
Howard Clack has received a thoroughbred Airdale from his brother who lives in Ohio.
The next meeting of the Dorr Farmers Club will be held at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Glen Gilbert.
“We have been getting all of the rain we needed the first part of this week, making the streets of the village streets a sea of mud,” observed Editor-Publisher Rollo G. Mosher.
The Allegan County Board of Supervisors has approved a request from Hopkins to incorporate as a village, but first the voters must concur in a special election.
The Allegan post of the American Legion is planning a “monster celebration” of Armistice Day Nov. 11, with sports games and a luncheon.
The Wayland chapter of teh Ladies Library Club’s next meeting will include a discussion about a woman’s duty as a voter.
The title of the comedy is “Campus Quarantine,” a college farce in three acts. It was written by Robert Ray and first published in 1935 by the Northwestern Press in Minneapolis, Minnesota…. This comedy is a story of a group of boys and girls at a sorority house where one girl is taken down with chicken pox. Through many wise cracks and comedy
scenes comes a funny climax terminating in a happy ending. The cast consists of 12 characters, six boys and six girls. The characters in the cast are: Gloria Smith, a Kanna Jamma sorority girl; Mrs. Smith, her aunt and the house mother; Beryl Shephard, who caused all the trouble; Edythe Rhodes, another sorority girl; Deborah Mercer, who tries to have a romance; Lela Dunn, a nurse; Dr. Leon Atwell, meek and milk; Gordon Dunn, who loves to run things; Ronald Steele, his worry pal; Elliot Maxim, from the Etta Pi fraternity; Finlay Carruthers, his conceited roommate; Howard Ross, from a rival school.
From a review of the play in the Calexico (CA) Chronicle on 1/7/1938.