125 YEARS AGO: 1896
From the Minneapolis Journal: The questions are: In the Republican party, "Who will get it?" In the Democratic party, "Who will get it in the neck?"
Seeding is hardly two-thirds finished.
The School Board of District 47, known as the Bear Lake District, has decided to add a story to its school house and will soon advertise for bids.
A. Amundson and Hans Hanson are having the foundation laid for a new two-story frame building on North Main Street, near the Huderle block. P.J. Klee, who is well known as a maker of fine cigars and proprietor of the flourishing Hutchinson concern, will occupy the first floor with his cigar factory and will put in a cigar and tobacco store, the first of its kind in Hutchinson. Mr. Hanson will use the second floor for living rooms.
100 YEARS AGO: 1921
The Hutchinson Hospital Building Committee must have more money before it can proceed much further with the plans for erecting a hospital building. Silas Jacobson of St. Paul, the architect, insists that a fireproof, 21-bed hospital cannot be built for less than $47,000 and there's the rub. The pledges now total $31,000 and the committee is not willing to go ahead with the work until enough money has been pledged to assure them that the necessary total will be reached.
75 YEARS AGO: 1946
A survivor of the history-making 15-day defense of Wake Island against overwhelming Japanese odds in December 1941 is visiting his sister in Hutchinson after partially regaining his strength lost during 45 months of Japanese imprisonment and hardship. He is Charles Fuller, brother of Mrs. Walter Henke of this city and Mrs. Fern Larson of Minneapolis. This was the first time in 16 years he had seen his sisters. They had been notified in 1943 by the Red Cross that he was dead, then a year later a letter from him told them he was still alive.
50 YEARS AGO: 1971
The Bridge, a gathering place for area teens and young adults, will open in Hutchinson. Located in the former National Foods building at the corner of Hassan Street and Washington Avenue, The Bridge will be open 7:30-9:30 p.m. Friday and Sunday.
25 YEARS AGO: 1996
Does freezing winter temperatures, water and open doors in Minnesota mix? That was one of the questions members of the Hutchinson Planning Commission had to wrestle with when they considered a request from Super Wash Car Wash for permits to build at the corner of State Highway 7 and Glen Street. Super Wash, a company based in Illinois, is proposing a five-stall facility without doors on a lot between Hardee's and Taco John's. The facility also would not have doors on its north side, the entrance side, and would rely on a heated floor to keep the bays from icing up during the winter. "Frankly, to me it seems that it is too big of a building on too small of a lot," said Bill Craig, the City Council member serving on the commission. Craig also questioned the potential heat loss of a building without doors.
Recreational travel in McLeod County may become easier over the next decade as Parks Director Al Koglin, along with the help of planning committee members, tries to coordinate a bike and walking trail plan with highway construction scheduled for the next few years. "We're trying to find how to build the best system with the least amount of taxpayer money," Koglin said.
People's Platform: Do you have any idea if I'm real dumb or just plain uneducated regarding the high school sports gender equality problem? Isn't it intuitively obvious that you should cut two girls fall sports, three boys winter sports and one boys spring sport? You could use the money to alleviate the budget problem and when it is back in control, you could add equality to both sides. That would take care of it nicely, wouldn't it?
Last year, approximately 750 young Hutchinson bikers and in-line skaters attended the community's first Bike & Blade Bonanza. Organizers of this year's event are hoping for a similar turnout. According to Dave Mueller, an officer with Hutchinson Police Department, this year there will be a special emphasis on in-line skating,
