Remember When Aug. 8, 2019

10 years ago (2009)
•The Luverne Community and the Blue Mounds State Park will be promoted in Minnesota during the upcoming airing of the new Ken Burns documentary, “The National Parks, America’s Next Idea.”
The six-part series, which starts in airing on public television nation-wide in September, will highlight the politics and construction of the national parks system in America.
 
25 years ago (1994)
•Up until last week, Rock County was the only county in the state that didn’t have public hunting grounds.
Now, thanks to the Rock County Pheasants Forever and the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources, more than 300 acres of land are set aside for local wildlife habitat and public hunting.
Pheasants Forever is a non-profit organization whose purpose is to protect and enhance pheasants and other wildlife populations through pubic awareness, education, habitat restora-tion, development and maintenance, and improve-ments in land and water management.
Pheasants Forever in Rock County started in 1983 with land enhancement projects such as planting trees, establishing food plots and feeding wildlife through winter months, according to Chapter President Steve Heitkamp, Luverne.
Last week, local Pheasants Forever mem-bers signed over 290 acres east of Luverne along County Road 9 and about 40 acres south of Luverne along County Road 16 for a wildlife management program through Reinvest in Minnesota.
 
50 years ago (1969)
•Joe Malone won the Luverne Country Club golf championship Sunday, downing Kenny Goebel 5 and 4 on 36 holes. Goebel was one-up at the end of 18, but was unable to maintain his lead in the afternoon rounds.
Malone was runner-up last year to George McDonald who was the 1968 champion.
In this year’s tourna-ment, Malone had defeated Mike Cleland and Tim Connell before meeting Goebel. Goebel made his way to the championship rounds by downing Scott Creeger and Marlin Spangrud.
Curt Laudon topped the President’s flight with a win over Jeff Eyberg, 3 and 2.
 
75 years ago (1944)
•Fire, which originated in the kitchen in the R. J. Littrel apartment above the Eberlein pool hall Thursday afternoon, momentarily threatened Luverne’s busi-ness district. Quick action on the part of the Luverne fire department, and a favorable wind made it possible to bring the blaze under control, but not until it had destroyed virtually all of the Littrel family’s personal belongings, and gutted the greater part of the second floor apartment.
The blaze originated in the kitchen, apparently from an oil stove which had been lighted about 15 minutes previous to the sounding of the fire alarm. According to Mr. Littrel, who has lived in Luverne since February, and who is employed as a butcher at the Worthington Creamery and Produce company, his wife had put a teakettle of water on the stove to boil, preparatory to serving an afternoon lunch. After doing so, she went into the living room and had been there but a short time when she smelled smoke.
Going into the kitchen to investigate, she found the paper on the walls and ceiling ablaze, and in going back into the other room, a piece of burning wallpaper dropped from the ceiling upon her head. In protecting herself, she sus-tained first degree burns on her hands and arms. …
Firemen who arrived on the scene in a matter of a few minutes after the alarm, began pouring water on the buildings from both sides – the rural fire came from the front, and the big pumper from the rear – and soon had the fire under control.
 
100 years ago (1919)
•Dr. Ralph K. Hawley, of St. Paul, a graduate of the college of dentistry of the Minnesota university, has leased the suite of rooms in the Arcade block formerly occupied by Dr. A. N. Rice, and has opened an office therein for the practice of his profession.
Until late last fall Dr. Hawley was in the govern-ment service, having been a member of the medical corps of the army when it invaded Mexico in 1916, and was later transferred to Fort Sheridan, Ill., where he remained until assigned as an instructor of S. A. T. C. at the state university.