25 Years Ago - 1985

Next fall Jim Hofer, director of Woodland Cooperative plans to join Staples and Parkers Prairie schools in an existing low power television system and offer classes to students via television.

Christmas is the tentative deadline for completion of remodeling the Main Campus o f the A V T I into a newer high school for Staples.

This week the Staples Theatre will feature “Porky’s Revenge.”

Excerpt from Looking Back to 1935: “Work on the new post office building was started Monday morning when a crew began excavation for the basement of the building on the corner of 3rd Avenue and 4th Street.” - “The City Council was informed by telegram within the last few days that the Public Works Administration has passed favorably upon a grant that will insure the city of Staples a hospital, providing the city decides at an election that a hospital is wanted.”

50 Years Ago - 1960

Terry Kurpius and Sandra Klos have been selected to play the leading roles in the senior class presentation “Everyone Today” by Walter Sorell. The play will be presented on May 19, for the students of Staples High School and on May 2, for the public. Other seniors selected to complete the cast are Robert Manning, David Haugen, Ronald Walker, Dennis Bienusa, Ronald Sellnow, Lonny Thelen, Patricia Ward, Ernest Junker, Jeanette Kivisto, Gwen Young and Barbara Dyer.

Visiting at Staples High School today are many students from rural schools throughout the community who will be attending school in Staples for the first time next fall. The purpose of the visit is to orient and familiarize the students with the facilities and courses available to them upon entering Staples High School.

The WRC (Womens Relief Corps) Jr., girls had their monthly party at the Mary Rondorf Home on Friday, April 22 with the help of Circle 13 of Sacred Heart Church. Games were played and prizes awarded. Those helping were: Mrs. Ruth Nurnberger, Mrs. Edith Petree, Mrs. James Voelk, Mrs. Joan Wilkowski, Mrs. Dolores Marden,Mrs. Pat Olstead, Mrs. Babs Anglin and Mrs. Iris Jarew. - Helen Finn, Press Correspondent.

REMINISCENCES: Today I found myself thinking about Glorene Schroeder’s chocolate chip cookies. To say they could melt in your mouth is perfectly true. They also had large chunks of walnuts in them. Memories of her cookies brought back other memories until I just gave up and decided to write about food.

Along with Mrs. Schroeder’s cookies, an annual birthday treat brought by her son Keith to Lincoln School, we also had nectar. Perhaps I should say Nectar because when we had it, it was always orange flavored. I thought Kool Aid was a drink that was every other flavor except orange. Strangely, my cousin Joan Wicht Clark set me straight last November when she explained “Nectar” was a brand name of a drink mix just like Kool Aid. So I guess then that when I was young, people had Nectar a lot.

Back in my day in elementary school, parents could make treats at home and send treats to school for the whole class on their birthdays. For end of the year school picnics, parents not only made the food at home but brought and served it at their child’s event. Thinking back, I remember certain treats I looked forward to from my classmate’s parents. For instance, Judy Brill’s mother made the best dill pickles I’ve ever eaten. Rita Cleveland’s mom made the best cupcakes, she liked to make white cupcakes with chocolate frosting. Sharon Cizek’s mom put coconut on top of her’s - they were chocolate cake with sevenminute frosting and coconut, very good. My sister Kitt told me once that her favorite was Becky and Maureen Heaver’s mom’s sloppy Joes. She was able to get the recipe from Bonnie Heaver Thompson and was thrilled silly.

My mother’s treats were good too but I was always embarrassed because my mother believed in healthy food and very few sweets. One year she sent buns with bologna and cheese and celery sticks on the side. We had to order an extra bottle of white milk for each student as she didn’t like the sugar in Kool Aid. I was apparently pretty thankless as a kid or maybe it just took getting older to appreciate what she did. Can you imagine being embarrassed by homemade yeast bread rolls shaped like hamburger buns for a whole class. She didn’t use American cheese either, she used Longhorn and the celery sticks were filled with Cheese Whiz and Philadelphia Cream Cheese. Imagine the work she did that was unappreciated by me. On the other hand, I’m wondering what the calorie count of her snack would compare with a cookie and a Dixie Cup worth of Nectar.

I hope she knows somehow that I’d give a lot for just one more slice of her homemade bread - handed to me by her.