Barnes County: A Moment in Time
1922
100 Years Ago...
VC gets new ball park and play grounds
The new ball park and play grounds are about fixed and we want to say that Manager Sampson and his aides have fixed up one of the finest parks and play grounds in the state. These grounds are not to be used solely for the ball games but are to be used for all kinds of outdoor sports by the young folks. In other words, these grounds have been fixed up for the use of the city in general and will be a great asset to all concerned along these lines. Valley City has long needed just such a play ground and now they have them. This is a really good stunt and should be approved by the people of the city.
Hornbacher opens new grocery store
Phillip Hornbacher opened up his new grocery store this morning in the Elmora Flatts building. He has repainted his new quarters, installed new shelving and has a mighty neat looking place of business. He reports a very good business for the first day and feels that the service which he expects to give his customers will result in a continuation of the good patronage.
1947
75 Years Ago... Clark Sisters Here For ‘Gramp’s Birthday
Three melodious misses – the famed Clark Sisters trio, formerly with Tommy Dorsey’s orchestra and now making records in New York – are expected to arrive in Valley City this evening to add a few notes of happiness for their grandfather’s 93rd birthday observance Friday.
D. W. “Dad” Clark, still sprightly and chipper as a younger feller, is all excited about his approaching birthday. It’s not his age that astounds him, although he is perpetually surprised at the way the years keep quietly piling up on him. It’s the fact that, for the first time in quite a while, Dad will get the chance to pursue his favorite recreation – playing drums in the Clark band!
Ever since the children were little, the music-loving Clarks have had a family orchestra. Throughout the years there were additions to the group in the form of husbands and grandchildren until today it is a complete six-piece aggregation boasting five vocalists, two pianists and one who can double on the violin and clarinet. Composing the band tomorrow will be: first and foremost, Dad on the drums; Mrs. Clark and Mrs. Bob Rathje (Marguerite Clark) piano; son Louis Clark, cello; son-in-law Bob Rathje, violin; son Howard, violin and clarinet; grandson Richard, saxophone– and vocalists, son Bryan and daughter, Mrs. Elizabeth Worley, and the three famed granddaughters, Jean, Peggy, and Ann.
Also arriving sometime today is Richard Clark of Los Angeles, who is flying from California to be with his grandfather on his birthday. Richard plays the sax in the Clark band– a position for which he is well-qualified since his regular occupation in California is that of sax man with Billy Mill’s orchestra, commonly heard over Fibber McGee’s program.
Howard Clark of Valley City, who is a patient at Mercy hospital here, has been given permission by his physician to attend the celebration tomorrow. Mr. and Mrs. Rathje arrived earlier this week from Whitefish, Mont., as did Bryan Clark of Underwood Iowa, father of the Clark Sisters. “Dad” Clark was born in Bridgeport, Conn., coming to this state to homestead in Richland county in 1879. In 1881 he moved to Valley City, where he has made his home continually since that time. In good health, “Dad” is well-known to Valley City townspeople who stop to greet him as he takes his daily walk uptown and stops at the postoffice to get his mail and chat with friends.
Mrs. Clark, not far behind her husband, will mark her 93rd birthday on September 18.
Hi-Liner Herald, City High Newspaper, Receives Top Honors in National Rating
Colleen Toring, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. G. H. Toring of 914 Third avenue, received word today that the HiLiner Herald, Valley City high school newspaper of which she is the editor, received the All-American rating in the 36th All-American Critical Service of the National Scholastic Press Association located at the University of Minnesota.
This is the 12th consecutive year that the Hi-Liner Herald has received the All-American of the highest rating in this association. This year’s paper scored 1005 points out of a possible 1055 points giving it superior honors.
According to the judge the Hi-Liner Herald rates especially high in front page make-up, editing, creativeness, features, and printing. Special reference was made to the sports section which rated superior in coverage, writing, and display. The judge also commented, “Sports section is especially well-handled–good work!” Wesley Dibbern and Phyllis King, seniors, and Ronnie Roughton, junior, are the sports editors.
Five ratings are given by the National Scholastic Press Association– All-American or superior, limited to 10 per cent or less of the entries; first class or excellent; second class, good; third class, fair; and fourth class, no honors.
This year’s staff includes besides those already mentioned, Marilou Christofferson, Peggy Getchell, Gwenith McCoy, Beverly Leegard, Kae Ellingson, Robert Baarstad, Dorothy Ratzlaff, Billie Bechtle, Billie Elstrom, Shirley Fiola, Jeanette La Baron, Donna Lou Peterson, Peggy Ployhar, and Margaret Potter.
The Hi-Liner Herald is published 10 times a year, and printed commercially at the Times-Record. Miss Albertine Steinborn of the high school faculty is the advisor.
1972
50 Years Ago... Appointment continues tradition
The Valley City commission Monday night appointed R. Jon Fitzner city attorney. Fitzner replaces his father, Roman Fitzner, who held the post for 18 years.
The law firm of Sproul, Fitzner, Lenaberg and Fitzner has handled the city’s legal business since 1928.
L. T. Sproul, who was first appointed to the post, was succeeded by Al Greffinius and Roman Fitzner. The elder Fitzner was appointed in 1950 and served 10 years. Greffinius held the post for four, until he left the state and Fitzner was reappointed.
Jon Fitzner appointed his father and Dean Lenaberg, also a member of the firm, assistant city attorneys.
Mrs. Etzell meets Bill Cody
To meet Bill Cody personally was a must for Mrs. Emma Etzell last week as the personality visited in the city. For as a little girl in 1897 she had sat on the lap of Bill’s grandfather, the real Buffalo Bill. She, her parents and three other children were moving in covered wagon from Hay Spring, Neb. to Minnesota and they had stopped for the night at Sarden, Neb. The famous Wild West Show was performing that same evening. While making camp, it was the children’s responsibility to care for the team of horses which meant watering them. With the loud noise, from the band and crowd, the large horse she was leading was ‘acting up’. The nineyear old girl secured her grip of the lead rope by wrapping it around her wrist. Buffalo Bill saw this and he gently took the rope from her, sat down with her on his lap and firmly told her the dangers of tying herself to the horse. This was a lesson and a personality never to be forgotten.
Mrs. Etzell resides north of Valley City. She has two sons Virgil and Donald and two daughters, Mrs. Bob Moore and Mrs. Harvey Ludwig living in the surrounding area.
1997
25 Years Ago...
Hobart Lake blows out of its banks By R. Duane Coates T-R Managing Editor
Wind and water have kept authorities busy the last two days where Hobart Lake meets Interstate 94.
High winds between 40 and 45 mph produced wave action which overtopped the dike along the road two miles west of the Oakes interchange, said John Thompson, district engineer for the N.D. Department of Transportation. He said not only did the water blow over the cement barricade, it also leaked through the barricade’s 4-inch joints eroding the dirt piled against it on the roadway side.
This brought about 4 to 5 inches of water onto both lanes of I-94 from about 9 a.m. until late Monday night.
the project employed about 12 people from the Department of Transportation, four or five from Hulstrand Construction of Lakota and one from Bluner Construction of Valley City with a bulldozer, Thompson said. They used three pumps which removed the water from the roadway back into the lake.
The crew sealed up the joints with sandbags provided by the city of Valley City, Thompson said, and replaced the dirt along one-half mile of roadway. Some were still working at 1 a.m. Tuesday, Thompson said.
“It was a slow process,” he said.
While these workers toiled, traffic backed up along the interstate for about two miles from about 1 p.m. until about 9 p.m. Monday, Thompson said. Traffic progressed through the water slowly, he said, except for two trucks which ended up in the median’s water. The first truck left the road Monday morning. It was pulled out, and another truck ended up in close to the same place a few hours later.
“I believe he was probably driving too fast,” Thompson said.
So this doesn’t happen again in the short run, Thompson said the sandbags will be replaced with metal plates to seal the cracks and Hulstrand Construction is working to widen the lower part of the road. Phase two of this project will raise the rest of the roadway out of the water, Thompson said. That is scheduled to be completed during the summer of 1998.
In a related incident Tuesday morning, a fertilizer truck from Harvest States Cooperative of Sanborn overturned in the water off a township road five miles south and one mile east of Sanborn. This accident spilled 20 gallons of diesel fuel into the water. At the time of the accident, the truck was carrying 6 tons of fertilizer.
Pomeroy will speak at VCSU commencenent
U.S. Congressman Earl Pomeroy, D-N.D., will be the speaker at the 1997 commencement exercises at Valley City State University on Saturday, May 10, at 10 a.m. in Vangstad auditorium.
Serving his third term in the U.S. House of Representatives, Pomeroy sits on the House Budget and Agriculture committees and is a member of the House Democratic Leadership Caucus.
Pomeroy attended VCSU before transferring to the University of North Dakota where he earned his bachelor of arts degree in political science in 1974 and his law degree in 1979. He undertook graduate research in legal history at the University of Durham in England.
Upon his graduation, Pomeroy returned to Valley City and practiced law for five years. He was elected to the state Legislature in 1980 and elected State Insurance Commissioner in 1984. He served as president of the National Association of Insurance Commissioners in 1990. He is married to Laurie Kirby, and they have two children, Kathryn and Scott.