From Our Files

• Aug. 12, 1948

The executive committee of the American Legion voted to donate the use of the main floor of the Legion Hall to the Hartley Recreation Association. The space was used weekly as a youth center.

Approximately 15 area farmers were participating in the Iowa Master Soybean Contest. Measuring of the plots had started. The Hartley Chamber of Commerce was sponsoring the contest, and R.B. Mann, V.R. Jacobson and C.K. Ostrom were the committee in charge.

Preparation was being made for the opening of about 38 rural schools in O’Brien County. Since the previous school year, six rural schools had closed voluntarily by the vote of their board and five others had been closed because of a lack of teachers. A preliminary meeting for rural teachers was being held at Primghar.

• Aug. 9, 1973

A white orchid which was blooming for the second time with two blooms and four buds was the prize possession of Mr. and Mrs. Carl Hain, of Hartley. The orchid was planted in redwood chips and had never been in soil. Shipped from California, the plant was a gift of Mrs. Hain’s nephew, Richard Epping.

The Tritonia Junior Women’s Club again added to the play equipment at Neebel Park. A swing set with four swan swings was set up, and cement culverts were brought in so kids could crawl through or on them. The Hartley Kiwanis Club painted and installed the culverts.

The town council agreed to get a cost estimate for a 2,500-foot runway positioned closer to the hangers at the municipal airport. A final decision would be made as soon as figures were available.

• Aug. 13, 1998

Albert Roeder, age 101, and Dora Olhausen, age 100, were presented with certificates naming them members of the Iowa Elite Class of Centenarians. Both were residents of Community Memorial Health Center. Reinhard Hibbing, O’Brien County representative for Northwest Aging Association, presented the certificates.

Ellinor Hellmuth, of Denmark, visited with her American “family” in Hartley. Ellinor was an exchange student during the 1972-73 school year at Hartley High School and stayed with the family of Peder and Wanda Buck. She and her two children, Esben and Signe, came to Hartley for a visit and for Ellinor to attend the 25-year reunion of the Class of 1973. She was an obstetrician/gynecologist at the University Hospital in Copenhagen. They also visited other interesting sites during their two-week stay.

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