125 YEARS AGO: 1896
Hundreds of citizens of McLeod County are disenfranchised by the constitutional amendment relating to the elective franchise adopted at the last election, and they must have their second papers before they can vote at the spring township elections. They must hold their second papers three months in order to become full-fledged citizens. If they do not secure these papers by Dec. 9, they cannot vote in the township elections and they cannot secure them by that time because there will be no session of district court until the first Monday in January when there will be a special term.
The rain, which froze on the roads and made them smooth as glass brought farmers into town by the hundreds and every one of them wanted his team shod at once, or sooner. Hutchinson blacksmiths were rushed as they they were never rushed with work before. Five men in McKenzie Swanson’s shop riveted shoes on nearly a hundred horses and other shops turned out their fair share. If you had listened, you might have heard the sound of the anvil mingled with the cuss words from a tired out vulcan who labored on the seventh day not for the love of the filthy lucre but to accommodate a friend.
100 YEARS AGO: 1921
There are 25 more males than females in this city, which makes a total population of 3,379 according to the census figures of 1920. The house shortage presents itself in these statistics, which show that there are only 769 dwellings for 816 families. Of the 695 foreign-born whites in Hutchinson, 599 are naturalized citizens, 296 of this number being males and 303 females. There is but one illiterate in this city, a foreign-born male, 21 years of age or older.
75 YEARS AGO: 1946
Mayor Warren Clay was one of the group of hunters who just missed being marooned on a deserted Lake of the Woods island when freezing temperatures struck suddenly the opening night of hunting season. Taken to safety in Canada, they had difficulty getting back over the border with their deer. Clay’s group went to Blackbird Island, which Clay described as just a rock with a cabin on it, making the trip on a mail boat, which plies its trade between Warroad, Minnesota, and Kenora, Ontario. They made the 40-mile trip without mishap the day before the season opened. On opening day, they shot five deer on a nearby island, where they went in outboard motor boats. When the temperature began to drop, the lake began to freeze over.
50 YEARS AGO: 1971
Ten inches of snow fell on Hutchinson during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend, meeting with mixed reactions from residents. Snowmobilers and skiers happily got in their licks of their winter sports and camera enthusiasts found plenty of scenic subjects as the heavy, wet snow stayed in trees and shrubbery.
25 YEARS AGO: 1996
Hutchinson merchants reported that the official opening weekend of the 1996 holiday shopping season left many of them feeling merry. Many managers and owners contacted said the less-than-ideal weather didn’t keep all the shoppers at home. “It was fabulous,” said Joanne Willmert, owner of The Village Shop in downtown Hutchinson. “We were very busy all weekend. There were lots of people from out of town. They like coming to this town, and the town looks so beautiful.”
If students were honest on a recent informal tobacco use survey, health teachers at Hutchinson Middle School are finding some unhealthy results. Out of 219 seventh-grade students, one-third have already tried smoking. Although Minnesota survey averages say about 5% of seventh-graders are smokers, the local survey found that 12% of Hutchinson students that age smoke at least once a week. According to health teacher Chris Sones, last year’s results showed that 4% of Hutchinson seventh-graders are weekly smokers. “The results are definitely worse than any previous time,” Sones said of the survey.
Jim Lyons, who took over as the new administrator at Hutchinson Medical Center in November, brings a strong background in accounting to his new position. In his previous position in Appleton, Wisconsin, Lyons was an accountant for a CPA firm that specialized in health care. “I have a CPA background,” said Lyons, who grew up in Osseo and graduated with management and accounting degrees from the University of Wisconsin at Madison. “My focus has always been on operations and efficiencies.”
