From Our Files

• June 20, 1946

A swarm of bees invaded Hartley’s business district and settled in the Knapp building just above Nott’s electrical shop. They were very much in evidence which caused many pedestrians to make a wide detour of that area. Rain caused the bees to disappear, but it was believed they were holing up for another attack somewhere within the recesses of Knapp’s corner building.

A Sioux Center woman received minor cuts when she ran into the rope that had been put across the main street of Hartley while the street department was painting the parking spaces. She was treated at the Hand Hospital.

Lee Gordon, son of Mose Rasmussen of Hartley, discontinued working at the Spencer radio station and took up a job at the Spencer Times. He was a part-time reporter and also helped publish the paper.

• June 17, 1971

Playground equipment purchased by the Tritonia Junior Federated Women’s Club was installed by city employees at the Ten Acre Park. The equipment consisted of a jungle gym with the face of a moon on it and two cows on heavy springs. The theme of the equipment was “The Cow Jumped over the Moon.”

Although there was poor attendance, the CIP youth met to plan many improvement projects for the community. The main project discussed was a barrel painting contest. A prize would be given to the best and “maddest” painted barrel. The barrels would be placed in the parks and anywhere else trash cans were needed.

A temporary restraining order limiting the number of pickets at entrances to the Spencer Foods, Inc. plant in Spencer was issued by a district court judge. The order came after a series of incidents at the strike-bound plant, which involved the dynamiting of the firm’s office building and a fire at its printing plant.

• June 20, 1996

Timothy Olson, a mathematics instructor and coach at Boone, was offered a contract to serve as principal at Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn High School. Olson’s wife, Michelle, accepted a part-time music teaching position at H-M-S Middle School.

The “Reflections” quilt that was to be raffled at the Hartley Threshing Bee featured 2,320 fabric pieces which were sewn together by Linda Salter. The quilting was done by several ladies of the community. Pillow shams to match the quilt were also made.

The H-M-S school board allocated up to $10,000 for the purpose of creating additional parking spaces at the high school. The proposal called for laying asphalt along the south fence of the softball/baseball complex, which would provide 27 additional spaces to alleviate the parking shortage at the school.

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