Time

100 Years Ago...

Worked in silk on a star of white, the name of North Dakota is speeding eastward, to take its place with forty-seven other stars on a silken flag that will eventually go as a gift to the capital of the World War, Paris. The silk of blue that forms each letter on the field of white was placed there by the wife of a man who was under a similar flag at Chaumont, where General Pershing had his headquarters. The flag upon which this embroidered star will be placed will cross the ocean in the name of Pershing to take its place in some age old building of the city that had a king a thousand years before the world war was fought.

The flag upon which the star of North Dakota will be placed is a gift to Paris by the LaFayette Birthday Association of America, of which J. Campbell Gilmore is president and Charles W. Alexander is secretary. The flag, which will be given in the name of General Pershing, will

follow a similar one, but with thirteen stars given five years ago in honor of Lafayette. The embroidering of the name was the work of Mrs. C. F. Mudgett of Valley City, whose husband was a lieutenant colonel under Pershing at G.H.Q. at Chaumont - Bismarck Tribune.

Vehicle Crashes North Entrance

Some person or persons unknown ran into the arch at the north entrance to the State Teachers College grounds last night and wrecked it badly. Evidently the party had been going south of fifth avenue and failed to make the turn at the foot of the street, jumping over the curb and crashing into the

entrance arch. One post of the arch is completely demolished and a part of the steel fence is torn up. Inquiry at the various garages in the city fails to give any clue as to the identify of the party responsible for the damage so the car evidently got off without much damage.

1947

75 Years Ago... ‘Secret’ Methods Air Local Trapper

“Ahhh, I wouldn’t tell anyone my secret for all the world,” Albert Grindler of Valley City twinkles as he proudly displays his record catch of 40 fox trapped in the hills near here in a period

of two weeks.

For nearly 30 years Grindler has been trapping fox, he reports, but it was not until this year that the wily creatures really became attracted to the Grindler traps and this is where the “trade

secret” comes in.

Grindler’s new success, he maintains, is the result of observation. After carefully watching the habits of the animals, the trapper hit upon a method of making the traps more alluring

- and since then very few fox have spurned his carefully laid plans.

Grindler has framed in the Rogers vicinity for many years. This winter he and his family are making their home

in Valley City but will return to the farm this spring.

Barnes County Servicemen Enjoy Christmas Together in Honolulu

Reminiscing past Yuletide seasons and many good times enjoyed in their home county, and an afternoon of sight-seeing and swimming completed the experiences of nine Barnes County servicemen spending Christmas Day together in Honolulu, Hawaii.

The picture (shown on page 2) was taken of the group in the patio of the Moana Hotel at Waikiki. All the boys except one, were in route to Yokochama, Japan, and their ship laid over in the Honolulu Harbor four days, leaving again Dec.27.

The servicemen as they appear above are left to right, standing Pvt. William Potzman, Valley City; Pvt. Russell McMillan, Wimbledon; T/5 Howard McMillan, Wimbledon; Pvt. Allan Joos, Wimbledon; Pvt. Gordon Sonsthagen, Litchville. Seated - Pvt. Forrest Brudevald, Page; Pvt. Jonas Sad, Dazey; Pvt. Morris Peterson, Hastings. All except T/5 Howard McMillan were Japan bound. He has been stationed on the Island

of Hawaii the past four months.

1972 50 Years Ago... Hospital restricts visiting

Mercy Hospital has limited visiting due to a flu epidemic, Hospital Administrator Robert L. Meuret said today. Only immmediate families will be permitted to visit patiencts until the epidemic threat is over, he said.

Dr. Clayton E. Jensen said the type of flu has not been isolated in Valley City. But it is probably the A-2 Asian strain that has hit other states, he said. Dr. Jensen said he has no idea how many flu cases there are in the city, but over the weekend he saw 15 to 20 cases himself.

Owners expand Oliver’s Chapel

The year 1971-72 has been a year of intense remodeling for the mortician firm of Oliver’s Chapel, co-owned by Ty Peterson and Lee Holm.

It was planned as a three-phase remodeling operation that will affect all parts of the funeral home at 251 Central Ave. South and result in a building offering a greater service potential to the area.

Phase One was completed

during the latter months of the summer and affected the exterior of the building, involving new siding, new roofing, and building of a portico on front and side.

A new entrance provides a foyer for the funeral home and an off the street entrance to the apartments on the second floor.

Work crews are engaged now in the second phase of the renovation, completing a new chapel to the rear of the building. Additional room has been provided through the erection of a 33-by 48-foot extension of the original building. The chapel that will be contained in the portion added will be of sufficient size to provide seating for 200.

Incorporated in the extension has been provision for a third stall in the enlarged garage.

The last phase, to be completed when the new chapel is ready for use is to redo the visitation room and the arrangements office at the front of the building. Work areas also will be updated in the new arrangement.

The firm is the continuation of the Holberg Funeral Home begun here in 1917. Oliver Peterson bought a share in the business in 1930 and operated it with Mrs. Holberg, widow of the original owner. In 1943 he purchased Holberg’s interest, making it a single ownership business.

Ty Peterson, and Lee Holm, present owners, purchased the business from Oliver Peterson in 1965. Ty Peterson is the son of Oliver and Lee a son-in-law.

The present owners plan an open house in the spring when all construction is completed.

1997 25 Years Ago...

TR presses headed for Texas marking end of a newspaper printing era in VC By R. Duane Coates TR Managing Editor

Four presses formerly used to print the TimesRecord are now headed for Del Rio, Texas.

It took a crane, frontend loader, forklift and several men working more than three days to get htem out of the Times-Records basement. But by Thursday afternoon, they were ready to be loaded on a truck and transported. Each unit weighs between 4,000 and 5,000 pounds.

Since September 1995, the Times-Record has been printed at the Jamestown Sun, which, along with the TimesRecord and the Del Rio Herald is owned by American Publishing Company.

John Quelle, a production consultant for American Publishing Management Service in Port Arthur, Texas, was one of the men who helped dismantle the Goss Community offset presses and prepare them for shipment. When they arrive in Del Rio, he will be on to overhaul the machines as well.

The unit which folds the pages at the end of the run will go to the Jamestown Sun.

Quelle was assisted by Max Talmamantes of Offset Web Sales in Seattle, personnel from the Jamestown Sun and a crew from Blumer Construction in Valley City.

Times-Record General Manager Patrick Kellar said, “This was a sad couple of days for several of the employees here. It was hard for those who have been here so many years to see part of that tradition physically leave the building.”

Kellar said the decision to shut down the press and move the printing to Jamestown was a matter of trying to solve an unhealthy business environment for the newspaper.

“From 1995 to 1996, our paper prices increased 30 to 45 percent, and our postage costs increased 35 percent,” Keller said. “Having a basement full of newspaper stock, ink and supplies ready to print a newspaper each day can really put a big strain on the viability of a smalltown newspaper. By printing in Jamestown, we avoid that expense and the additional costs associated with it.

“Looking at the financial statements from previous years, the writing was on the wall,” Kellar continued. “Something drastic needed to be done if the paper was to remain here as a viable business. Hopefully, as Valley City continues in the direction of growth and prosperity currently being witnessed the Times-Record too will also be a part of that growth and will continue to be an integral part of families and the community far into the future.

“There were some tough decisions that had to be made prior to my management,” Kellar said, “and I don’t envy

the person that had to make them. However, with those decision done and behind us, the newspaper is now a strong business capable of growing with Valley City and the Sheyenne Valley.”

Since the presses were located two levels below the ground, Quelle said, this is the most difficult job he’s done.

Also the ink and water pipes for the presses were grouted in, which means they were buried beneath a foundation cement keeping them from moving. Therefore a jackhammer was used to remove the cement. Also the crew cut a hole into a storage attic above the common area at the end of the pressroom where the presses were lifted onto the next level.

“I’ve never been any place where you had to go through all this rigamarole to get it out,” Quelle said. He said most of the most presses are located on ground level.

Quelle and Talamantes arrived just before and will leave just after the latest blizzard. Quelle drove from Port Arthur, Texas, starting Jan. 2. He was stranded in Watertown, SD, for two days last weekend waiting for Interstate 29 to open. Talamantes arrived by airplane.

Worst storm in 53 years

By R. Duane Coates TR Managing Editor

Pointing to a snowdrift that nearly dwarfs his house, 79-year-old James Hannig Sr., said he can’t remember a worse blizzard in 53 years of living northwest of Valley City.

He said it was worse than the famous blizzard of 1966. Drifts block access to the barn, the chicken house and the garage.

Hannig was snowbound in his farmhouse from Wednesday to Monday afternoon. His wife was staying in Valley City with relatives, but luckily his son Jim Jr., lives across the road. The Hannigs represent many of the Barnes County families who were stranded in their homes by the latest storm.

The younger Hannig said he walked to his dad’s place several times during the blizzard. His 16-year old son Troy walked over and spent Friday and Saturday nights with his grandfather. Then Jim Jr., started clearing snow Sunday. He said it took him all day.

The Noltimier Township road to the Hannig place was blocked by a drift about 8 feet high which was cleared with a rotary plow Monday morning just wide enough for a pickup to pass through. Even the Peak Road which passes through the township still had scattered patches of snow Monday afternoon, and the ditches were full of snow.

Unlike Valley City where the snow removal effort started Friday morning, the snow didn’t stop drifting in Hannig’s area until Monday, Jim Jr. said.

He said this blizzard is worse than he remembers in 1966, because that snow (30 inches or so) came in March and melted shortly after the storm. This snow will lay in the fields until spring where it is free to drift again.

The garage and other buildings at his father’s place will have to remain blocked until spring, he said because there is no place to put that snow even if a person could remove it.