25 Years Ago - 1984

Electrical power for a large area of the city of Staples will be interrupted for about four hours Friday morning as repairs are made in the city's main substation. Power will be off between 2 and 6 a.m.

Inter-City Gas Corporation, announced today that it has rec eived approval from the Minnesota Power Utilities Commission to refund $153,717 to their customers. This refund is being made directly to the customers by reducing their bills by $16.41 in October and November.

Staples firemen were called to the North Fourth Laundromat in Staples, Saturday, to extinguish a fire of unknown origin that apparently started in a refuse area.

50 Years Ago - 1959

"The Curious Savage," by John Patrick, a comedy of good standing having been very successful on Broadway, will be presented by the SHS Junior Class on November 12. It is concerned with the gentle inmates of the "Cloisters," a home for people with mental problems. The cast includes Julienne Wilhelmson, Richard Belling, Susan Reidel, Terry Erskine, Pat Oldenburg, Eugene Grossman, Jerry Holm, LaVyrle Kulick, Marilyn Martin, Mary Klose, Norbert Jay, Sandra Schafer and Clyde Japke. Mr. Peter Peterson is the director and will be assisted by student director John Grondahl and stage manager Gene Betts.

Crew members of the play are: Karen Coleman, Maureen Heaver, Elaine Lenk, John Fossum, Larry Wettstein, Nadine Patoxil, Carol Robinson, Sharon Chapin, Mona Weber, Carol Judd, Nancy Thorn, Doris Cross, Judy Peterson, Deloris Johnson, Janice Doud, Mary Morris, Sandy Ellyfson, Carol Messer, Joan Davidge, Larry Bryce and Bruce Johnson.

Beginning at 9:00 a.m. Friday, Milton Chapin of Chapin's Feed Store will welcome his many customers to the grand opening of his recently completed feed concern. The business is located in the former Produce Company building south of the railroad tracks.

REMINISCENCES: Looking back to my beginnings in the late 40's and early 50's I remember a few sights rarely seen today. I'm talking about a time when most of the roads weren't paved and many city streets weren't either. Back in the days when massive road graders worked the dirt roads and could be seen often. They were used throughout the county and city moving snow and dirt.

They scraped the roads off uncovering ruts and holes as they cleared away sand. They did smooth out the roads but I always thought of them as rock diggers as new little holes and "washboard" ruts would appear where the road graders had been. On rainy days you would have to walk with your head down to keep from stepping in a puddle (back in those days everyone walked or rode bike it seemed). If you were riding a bike you could tell when it was time for the grader to go through because the roads would have turned to sand and your bike tires would get stuck and pull you off the side of the road. We called it sugar sand.

I remember neighbors getting frustrated when forced to follow the grader

down the Dower Lake Road. You didn't dare pass on

such a narrow road and besides, you might get stuck in a ridge row down the center of the road if you tried to cross lanes.

In the late fall the rains came and started to freeze. It was great sport taking chances on the way to school to see if the puddle ahead had enough ice to hold you or if you would splash through a thin top sheet. Eventually the ground froze and the road graders were only seen when we had major snow falls. So too was it fun in spring, when you guessed if you could find mud under the ice as the roads gradually lost their ice cap. Do you suppose that is why people used to wear boots more than they do now? Maybe it just seems that way.

In 1973 - 74, I was working in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was a bad winter there by their local standards because it was colder than usual and they had snow that fell and accumulated - this never happened there and the city was a crippled mess. I can remember tearing over with pride when on Cincinnati TV News I watched train carloads of old road graders arriving from their graveyards in Minnesota to help save Cincinnati. You just have to love it, don't you? I'll bet some came from Staples.