The following appeared in The Rock County Star-Herald on Jan. 26, 1950.
$15,000 Polio Fund Drive Starts
Nearly $22,000 Spent For Polio Care by Local Chapter the Past Year
Civic and social organizations have united to carry the March of Dimes campaign through its most crucial test, John Kurvink, county director, said this week.
Chairmen named to date for the various communities are as follows: Battle Plain, Walter Rolfs; Beaver Creek twp., Eldo Oehlerts; Denver, Leonard Arp; Kanaranzi, Eddie Hansen and Don Jackson; Luverne twp., Harry Beers; Magnolia, Lewis Boomgaarden; Martin and Hills, Ed Schellhouse; Mound, Ray Brandenburg; Rose Dell, Lloyal Fields; Springwater, Olaf Bakke; Vienna and Kenneth, Henry Nieuwboer; Beaver Creek, village, Don Sandstede; Steen, Lewis McEldowney; Magnolia, Herbert Cain; Hardwick, Alfred Staeffler.
The Luverne National guard unit was first to contribute toward the county’s $15,000 goal, giving $42.50 from its funds, and the members matching it with their own individual contributions, making a total donation of $85. Then, the American Legion Auxiliary last week voted to donate $50 from their treasury. Other organizations throughout the county are expected to follow suit.
First rural contribution directly to the county treasury was a $15 check from Ed De Groot, of Magnolia, Kurvink said.
A look at the Rock County Chapter’s balance sheet for the year 1949 gives a vivid picture of the scope of the organization’s activities on a local scale. Care of county polio patients amounted to $21,936.59, of which $19,798.14 was used for hospitalization, $1,948.50 for doctors’ fees, $130.00 for nursing and physiotherapists, and $59.95 for braces, special shoes, etc.
To defray these expenses, the local chapter drew on its $12,205.21 fund collected during the 1949 March of Dimes campaign in the county, and $13,400.00 advanced by the National Headquarters.
Donations to the Rock County Historical Society can be sent to the Rock County Historical Society, 312 E. Main Street, Luverne, MN 56156.
Mann welcomes correspondence sent to mannmade@iw.net.