Looking Back: 1962 - 'Lovely queens' are highlight of 10th Trojan Relays

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One year ago

Two Worthington High School students — freshman Alicia Khatt and sophomore Larry Leovan — placed in the top 10 in their respective categories at the national Business Professionals of America competition last week in Washington, D.C.

Landwehr Construction Inc. of St. Cloud worked on demolishing the former New Vision Co-op elevator in Worthington Tuesday.

The Windom Area School District was offering a $500 reward for any information leading to the arrest and conviction of the persons involved in leaving two threatening notes at the Windom Area Middle/High School building on two consecutive days recently.

Local youths from seven Worthington churches worked together Saturday to plant vegetables in a community garden behind Viking Terrace Apartments. The produce was to eventually go to local food shelves.

Worthington native Noah Hoehn won a third prestigious McKnight Artist Fellowship, worth $25,000. Hoehn is a multi-talented musician who plays harmonica, marimba, percussion and sings. He is now based in the Twin Cities.

Five years ago

Twenty-six Worthington High School seniors received $18,000 in scholarships from the Worthington Dollars for Scholars chapter.

About 100 people gathered to observe the release of three trumpeter swans into the wild at Wolf Lake near Windom.

Bill Wurdeman opened Bill’s Hometown Market in Heron Lake. It was the first grocery store to open in Heron Lake in several years.

A new and improved outdoor public swimming pool in Lakefield was slated to open June 1. With a new bathhouse and a 155-foot waterslide, the facility cost about $1.5 million.

Greg Gillette of Lake Wilson was featured as Redbook’s 2007 “Hottest Husband” in the publication’s upcoming June edition. Gillette was nominated for the honor by his wife, Jodi Gillette.

10 years ago

A fundraising carnival at Worthington’s Prairie Elementary drew hundreds of people and utilized roughly 200 volunteers. The carnival aimed to raise money for additional new playground equipment.

The Fulda family of Kevin and Lori Beeck, with son Marshall, 1½, was the 2002 Southwest Prairie Ambassador Family for the March of Dimes. Marshall, now a happy, healthy toddler, had been born about three months premature. The Worthington WalkAmerica raised more than $26,000 for the March of Dimes.

Wayne Klumper celebrated his 25th anniversary as a Worthington YMCA employee.

It was the 50th anniversary of the Trojan Relays at the Worthington High School track; 16 teams competed in 17 different events, and local supporters Ken and Helen Thompson faithfully kept up their 50-year record of attendance at the relays despite inclement weather.

Former Daily Globe owner and publisher James Vance died Monday at the age of 74.

Worthington (and Lake Okabena) was chosen as the site for the 2003 U.S. Windsurfing Association National Championships.

25 years ago

The Worthington J.C. Penney store hosted its grand opening. The store anchored a new expansion of Northland Mall and included approximately 17,000 feet of retail space. Terry Trotter was the store manager.

Michael’s Restaurant of Worthington advertised a Mother’s Day Sunday buffet, priced at $6.95 for adults and $4.50 for children. Offerings included prime rib, walleye pike, roast sirloin, BBQ meatballs, French-fried chicken, ham, baked potatoes, German potato salad, soup and salad bar with fresh fruit, rolls, garlic toast and choice of sundaes or cake.

Darlene Lyons became the first woman top executive for the Worthington Area Chamber of Commerce. Her appointment was announced Friday by Dr. Ed McNiece, the organization’s president, and followed a three-month search to replace former director Ed Clark. Lyons had been the Chamber’s acting executive director for the past three months and for five years had served as the Chamber’s administrative assistant.

Playing this week at the Northland Cinema, Worthington, were “Crocodile Dundee,” “Field of Honor” and “Nightmare on Elm Street III.”

50 years ago

The Worthington Chiropractic Clinic sponsored a quarter-page ad in the Daily Globe for “Correct Posture Week,” which also discussed the importance of body balance. The ad said research showed that 75 percent of adults “operate the human body with imperfect distribution of weight between the right and left sides. Variations of from five to 25 pounds between the right and left halves of the body have been observed. Imperfect body balance is conducive to many nerve irritations…”

Mrs. Harold Koehn was the newly elected president of the Avoca Parents and Teachers Association. Other officers elected were Mrs. Lela Kelly, vice president; Mrs. Ralph Thedans, secretary; and Mrs. Donald Janke, treasurer.

Worthington Senior High School students danced, ate, bowled, played games, watched movies and ate still more in a nightlong round of events from Friday night through Saturday morning as part of the annual junior-senior prom.

A few of the advertised specials this week at Swanson’s grocery in Worthington were a can of Wilderness cherry pie mix, 25 cents; a can of Van Camp’s tuna fish, 19 cents; four dozen Grade “A” large eggs, $1; a two-pound can of coffee, $1.18; a gallon of Swanson’s ice cream, $1.15; and three “heaping pint boxes” of strawberries for $1.

Three “lovely queens” brought a beam of sunshine into the rain that poured out on the 10th annual Trojan Relays in Worthington. Events continued on schedule, in spite of the weather. The three queens present as the relays’ official greeters were Paula Anderson, Miss Worthington 1962; Norma Piel, Worthington Junior College Bluejay queen; and Donna Kruse, Worthington Senior High School Trojan queen.

75 years ago

Approximately 30 house trailers were being used in Worthington as residences, a local survey revealed. Where there were only five or six trailers last fall, there were now 30 or more, with more being added daily. They were parked on vacant lots, in back yards, many of them in out-of-the-way, seldom-seen places. Thus Worthington in the last few months had acquired a trailer population that is “without a doubt unequaled in any other southwestern Minnesota town or city. High rents, shortage of houses and apartments and the unsatisfactory condition of those available have driven family after family to the newest trend in American housing, the trailer.”

On May 7, the high temperature was 78 degrees — a new high for spring warmth, topping the preceding day’s high of 76 degrees.

Louis Wass, a farmer living 2½ miles north of Worthington, this week shipped 600 sheep and consequently proved there was money to be made in sheep raising. Wass sold shorn lambs on the market at $9.75 a hundred and sold the wool that he clipped from the flock for more than $1,500.

Playing this week at Worthington’s Grand Theater was “The Woman I Love” starring Miriam Hopkins and Paul Muni.

Tags: looking back, lifestyle, reminiscing, columns