From Our Files

• Sept. 13, 1945

The Frank Wille plumbing shop reopened for business. It had not been operating while Mr. Wille was doing war work in the West.

Another Hartley gas station which was closed during the war and gas rationing years was reopening for business. Arnold Krebs opened the Texaco station on Highway 18 and was again welcoming customers.

Cool weather, both unexpected and unseasonal, descended on Hartley, causing many local householders to fire up furnaces and start stoves. The lowest temperature officially recorded during the period was 41 degrees.

The Hartley Patriotic Chest drive was going along well with many contributors responding immediately to the quota cards sent to them. All work on the drive was voluntary.

• Sept. 10, 1970

A semi-trailer loaded with 38,000 pounds of dressed meat valued at $19,000 was stolen from the Spencer Foods plant in Hartley. A tractor stolen from Spencer and recovered near Everly was believed to have been used to move the semi-trailer.

A new art program was started in the Hartley schools to meet state certification and a desire that the community had often expressed. Miss Kathy Harrison taught two courses of art each day at the high school and met with each grade in the elementary school at least once a week.

A fire that destroyed a barn at the Gerrit Bos farm near May City was still burning a week later. Destroyed in the barn were 67 hogs, with only eight getting out alive, 8,000 bushels of corn and 1,000 bushels of beans. The farmstead was unoccupied.

• Sept. 14, 1995

Just over 150 votes were cast in the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn school election. Elected to three-year terms were Sherry Rosenberg in Director District 1 and Jean Snyder in Director District 2. Both ran unopposed and both received 142 votes. Votes cast by precinct were 59 in Hartley, 15 at Melvin and 73 at Sanborn. Six absentee ballots were also cast.

Optometrists Dr. Harlan Vander Griend and Dr. Delmar Spronk, both of Sheldon, participated in a free glaucoma and diabetes screening program for the Hartley Lions Club. There were 142 persons screened during the two-day program. Thirty-two were referred for further eye examinations and five for further diabetes testing. Although the examinations were free, donations totaling $320 were received.

“From Our Files” is compiled by Sentinel-News sports editor/staff writer Mike Petersen.