‘Years Ago’ is a compilation of newsy tidbits as published in the Crawford County Independent & Kickapoo Scout on this week ten, twenty, thirty, forty, fifty or sixty years ago.
TEN YEARS AGO
APRIL 1, 2010 – A grant for continued flood recovery efforts of over $4.3 million was recently awarded for the Village of Gays Mills by the Economic Development Administration of the U.S. Department of Commerce… Come to the Soldiers Grove Library on Saturday to learn how to care for your bicycle. Local bike enthusiast, Roger Christensen, is back by popular demand to discuss and demonstrate basic maintenance and repair geared for ages eight through adult.
TWENTY YEARS AGO
MARCH 30, 2000 – The valedictorian of this year’s Seneca High School graduating class is Mollie Fisher, daughter of Chuck and Barb Fisher of rural Eastman. The salutatorian is Travis Stuckey, son of Roger and Pam Stuckey of Steuben… The Seneca Brownie Troop #363 and Junior Troop #325 are asking the public for help with their spring service project. They will be collecting used softball equipment for donation to the Sharing Youth Center in Kampala, Uganda. The volunteers at the center started a co-ed league to teach the kids about teamwork, supporting each other, good competition and confidence.
THIRTY YEARS AGO
MARCH 1, 1990 – If all things come together as planned it appears the Wisconsin Conservation Corps will have a project in the Gays Mills/Soldiers Grove area starting this summer. Joe Brandt and Greg Patchak have been putting an application together and although they can’t guarantee it will be accepted, they remain optimistic. Some of the projects include opening up the Kickapoo River for canoeing, building pavilions and picnic tables for local communities and organizations, constructing an archery range in Soldiers Grove and more… Sponsored by the Prairie du Chien Committee for the Performing Arts, the internationally acclaimed Milwaukee Symphony will be in Prairie du Chien on Sunday, March 11 at Martin Luther Prep. Neal Gittleman, associate conductor, will lead the performance of Anton Dvorak’s New World Symphony No. 9 in E minor. Dvorak, a Bohemian, composed parts of the symphony while on vacation in Spillville, Iowa near Decorah, where there was a colony of Bohemian immigrants.
FORTY YEARS AGO
APRIL 3, 1980 – When John and Kathy DiPadova came to the Kickapoo Valley with their two children, Mike, 4, and Angie, 2, they were fresh from city life, but they found a home here, and they love it. Since starting his assignment last fall as North Crawford Junior High School Principal, DiPadova, has spent most of his spare moments remodeling their home. Located on County X near Highway 61, the building was once a schoolhouse. The DiPadovas have added an addition featuring an open living room with 42-feet from floor to ceiling with two 24- foot beams supporting two loft-type rooms upstairs.
FIFTY YEARS AGO
APRIL 1, 1970 – An alert passerby is credited with interrupting a robbery at the G-C Co-op in Gays Mills at 2:30 a.m. Sunday. Someone driving past the co-op saw a person carrying tires around the corner of the building. When he stopped to investigate, the intruder fled. The sheriff’s office was immediately notified and it was discovered that the thief had cut holes in several doors, but had gained entry through the front door. Some miscellaneous articles were missing. Tools and tires had been placed in several places outside the building. The person committing the theft had apparently planned to return and pick them up, had he not been frightened away.
SIXTY YEARS AGO
MARCH 31, 1960 – Mary Lou Smith, Gays Mills, has been chosen winner of four Mercury LP record albums for the favorite recipe she submitted in the $100,000 Kroger-Westinghouse search for the 1960 Junior Cook of the Year. Her award also means that the Gays Mills High School, where she is a home economics student, will receive a Westinghouse electric mixer for its home economics classroom. In addition, her teacher, Mrs. Leita Slayton, will receive a transistor radio. Mary’s winning recipe is named ‘Favorite Jelly Roll.’
