(Taken from the archives at the Then & Now Historical Library in downtown Dorr)
25 Years Ago — Nov. 15, 1995
Matt Hazen scored the only touchdown in overtime of the Class CC football playoff game for Hopkins in a 6-3 victory at the frozen tundra at Union City. The Vikings, regional champions for the first time ever, will take on Detroit DePorres in the state semfinals at Marshall.
Dorr Township and Dorr Library Board members had a joint meeting to discuss options in the wake of the defeat of a request for 0.85 mill. Talks included prospects for building a new library facility and intentions to come back to the voters in November 1996.
The Hopkins Township Board plans to ask Watson and Monterey townships to help pay for a new $220,000 fire treuck.
Hopkins FFA members Randy Petroshus and Jake Schut earned special honors at the national convention in Kansas City, Mo. Petroshus was designated as an All-American Star Farmer and Schut was among four finalists for being the best in agricultural sales.
Yankee Springs area residents are being encouraged to sign a petition to reopen the trails, which were closed because of vandalism and recreational property damage.
Gwen Marie Damveld, a member of the family that owns and operates two Amoco gasoline stations, in Dorr and Wayland, died of cancer at age 43.
The Yankee Springs Township Board has voted against a five-year payment plan for residential sewer hookups, proposed by the Gun Lake Area Sewer Authority.
50 Years Ago — Nov. 11, 1970
The body of Pamela Jones, 18, of Grand Rapids, was found in a hayfield between 141st and 142nd Avenues in Leighton Township by a passing rider on horseback. The girl had been reported missing, but authorities said they found no evidence that she had suffered any violent trauma.
Sophomore Bob Grafford was the only Wayland High School student to achieve a perfect 4.0 grade point average for the first marking period. Three junior high students, Eileen Halloran, Karen Kleinbrink and Elizabeth Cody also earned all-As.
Lifelong farmer Nick Leep, representative from Martin and Watson township on the Allegan County Board of Supervisors, died during a hunting trip in Montana.
A meeting between parents and Wayland band director Steve Working was established to discuss possibilities of starting a fifth and sixth grade band program.
An explosion of student population at Wayland schools is complicating the need for additional space and building a new high school. Wayland Board of Education members were told by Principal JC Clyma that the high school is projecting 720 students during the 1971-72 academic year. Options discussed for the 1971-72 year included split sessions, with the high school attending from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. and the junior high from 1 to 6 p.m.
The Board of Education approved a request from female teachers for permission to wear pant suits in the classroom, but continued to reject women wearing slacks at school.
Gordon Andringa of Auburn Heights, a Wayland High School graduate, has been certified by the state as a registered architect.
Baker Elementary Principal Martha Japinga wrote a letter noting she was impressed by a presentation by Art Linkletter at a conference. The host of “People Are Funny” and “Kids Say the Darndest Things” spoke at length about drug abuse, having lost his daughter to the problem.
Editor-Publisher Irvin P. Helmey, in an editorial, called the recently passed Proposal C, “a horribly worded anti-parochial school proposal botched in collaboration by an inept committee.”
Hopkins High School graduate Robert Bosek has been promoted to sergeant as a mortar crewman for the U.S. Army in Vietnam.
Scott Chestnut, a 1967 Wayland High School graduate, has been promoted to specialist-5 while serving in Vietnam.
Caledonia defeated Wayland 22-14 to earn a share of the O-K Blue Conference championship with Hamilton. QB Mike Longstreet scored both touchdowns, one on a 50-yard punt return and another on a seven-yard run. A.J. Predum scored the two-point conversion.
75 Years Ago — Nov. 16, 1945
The four-man hunting party of Dr. A.L. Larson, Harold Calkins, John Miles and Ed Beaver has the community buzzing about bringing home a 1,500-pound, 56-inch antler span moose from Ontario, Canada.
About 20 neighbors of G.E. and H.H. Hendrick of Shelbyville gather at the farm for a corn husking bee. The two men recently had been idled by illness and injuries.
The local chapter of the Order of Eastern Star published a Resolution of Respect for Geta Smith, who died last month of a stroke at her home.
William Manning has been promoted to corporal while serving in the U.S. Army in Bremen, Germany, where he had been stationed since 1943.
Lt. Ted Willis in Okinawa and Ed Kaminski in Italy and North Africa have been given their honorable discharges from military service.
The Anti-Can’t Society’s annual chicken dinner will be held at the Congregational Church with a cost of 75 cents for adults and 35 cents for children under 12.
Daniel Harris, who owned and operated the general store in Shelbyville for more than 60 years, died at his home. He was 86.
A Feather Party, billed as “a chance to get a fine turkey, chicken, duck or eggs” is planned for later this month at Sts. Cyril & Methodius Church, Gun Lake.
Hopkins school district voters approved a request for five mills to build an addition to the consolidated school building.
There were many display ads for Ben-Gay in the Globe this week showing a menacing cartoon character “Peter Pain” attacking human victims.
Now showing at the Wayland Theatre:
- Pat O’Brien, George Murphy and Carol Landis in “Having a Wonderful Time.”
- Tom Tyler, Rosemary Lane and Slim Summerville in “Sing Me a Song of Texas.”
- Dorothy Lamour and Arturo deCordero in A Medal for Benny.”
- Van Johnson, Esther Williams and the Tommy Dorsey Orchestra in “Thrill of a Romance.”
100 Years Ago — Nov. 12, 1920
Wayland High School home economics students have cleaned their kitchen in preparation for winter, when they will be cooking hot meals for staff and students.
“It seems a shame that no hall is available for class parties. We have no auditorium in our school building.” “One of the teachers” wrote a letter defensing the senior class party being held in Bradley and insisted going out of town was not an excuse to “paint the town red” because teachers and chaperones were present.
Wayland High School students for the first time enjoyed the privilege of studying by electric lights on a dark afternoon during Election Day.
A meeting of women interested in forming their own Farm Bureau organization is planned for Nov. 18 in Wayland Township.
Levina Meyers Mauchmar, 46, died at her home, apparently of cancer. “She was always of a cheerful nature, and no one realized what suffering she had gone through during the past year.”
“A Citizen” wrote a letter maintain, “There are boys in our village who are possessed of a spirit of lawlessness. Their activities are not confined to legitimate pranks… Destruction of property and other indecencies enacted by them have reached a point beyond forbearance.”
Editor-Publisher Rollo G. Mosher concurred, saying, “Some have been very ill mannered on the street and property at the interurban has been destroyed.”
Milton Linsley had a serious injury to his arm while he was working in an area gravel pit.
Advertisement: “Which is the inferior sex? See the play Sunday at the Regent Theatre.”
