125 YEARS AGO: 1895
Several cases of mumps exist in Hutchinson.
The City Council met and allowed the following bills: George Snell, street work, $3; Schuyler Billings, police, $40; and Magdanz Bros., carpenter work, $200. The council also decided to advertise for furnishing wood.
The income tax will not bother many citizens of McLeod County. If you have an income of $3,500 per annum, you are required to make a statement of the fact before April 15, but you will not have to pay an income tax unless your income is at least $4,000 per year.
100 YEARS AGO: 1920
Let us put in a few good words for Hutchinson Public Library. There are few cities the size of Hutchinson, which have as fine a library and as good books. In public opinion in the Leader, readers will remember a statement made by a former Hutchinson resident, who said, "There are as many but not as good books in the library in our new hometown."
While the real increase in the taxable value of real and personal property in Minnesota in 1919 over 1918, exclusive of the money and credit assessments is only 1.24 percent, taxes increased 35.52 percent in the year, according to a table recently compiled by the Minnesota Tax Commission.
75 YEARS AGO: 1945
The local hemp plant has closed down after almost a year of operations during which an average of 102 people drew a wage approximating $150 a month. Besides this, more than a quarter of a million dollars was paid out to growers in this immediate territory. Operations began June 6 and the production exceeded the hopes of producers, as most of the harvest laid under snow throughout the winter. Despite the bad start, 6,800 tons of the fiber plant was purchased from growers and 54 carloads of the processed fiber were shipped out during the year with six or seven cars still in the warehouse. About 2 million pounds of fiber, line and tow were milled.
50 YEARS AGO: 1970
Program changes are being planned for the 1970 McLeod County Fair according to secretary Frank Broderius. Professional wrestling will be off the program and instead will be an evening of country and western music by personalities from Nashville. A "hot rod" tractor feature will be added to the annual county tractor pulling contest as well as the other returning features: stock car racing, western-style horse show, horse races, harness racing and a demolition derby.
Births outnumbered deaths by a margin of 242 in McLeod County in 1969, according to statistics revealed by the office of Lloyd Lipke, clerk of court. Records show 560 births, 227 of which occurred in Glencoe. There were 318 deaths, 104 of which occurred in Hutchinson, and 198 marriages. Some 195 births occurred in Hutchinson and 104 at Winsted.
25 YEARS AGO: 1995
It was as silent as an empty gymnasium at the Hutchinson Board of Education meeting. Review of a working draft of Hutchinson's first-ever co-curricular handbook prompted Board Chair Doug Kenning to speak out strongly against how team athletics are run, in Hutchinson as well as other school districts. Kenning read a page-plus statement expressing his disgust. "I think we discourage kids from going out by accelerating them," he told the board prior to his statement. After years of questioning administration but not speaking out publicly, Kenning spoke out, and was received with silence. "I have heard some real horror stories, some of them I could not believe, some I hoped were not true," he read. Kenning said he wants a balance between the value of personal development and the value of winning and losing.
A decision made by the McLeod County Board of Commissioners could eventually make riding bikes a safer form of recreation throughout the county. The board directed County Parks Director Al Koglin to work with County Engineer Rick Kjonaas in forming a committee charged with developing a comprehensive county plan for bike routes. Also the board authorized Kjonaas to include paved shoulders when 3.1 miles of the newly aligned County Road 12, just north of Hutchinson, is paved. The shoulders, with only 3 inches of tar, will not withstand motorized vehicular traffic, but bicyclists will ride safer.
If the Zamboni didn't have to resurface the ice after the March 3 Section 6A finals, the Tigers might still be there skating around the rink celebrating. Hutchinson fought off a late Dragons' charge and held on to beat Litchfield/Dassel-Cokato 6-5 at the Bloomington Ice Gardens. With the win, Hutchinson earned its first-ever trip to the Minnesota State Hockey Tournament at the St. Paul Civic Center.
