Remember When June 2023

10 years ago (2013)
•Workers removed the 1970s-era paneling covering the Power Fitness and Print Express buildings on Luverne’s Main Street Monday.
Luverne Economic Development Director Holly Sammons said part of establishing a historic district includes determining the historical status of various buildings.
Because these two buildings, along with the Creeger building, were covered up in the 1960s and 1970s it was impossible to determine their historical significance.
If the buildings are designed as historically significant, Sammons said improvements made to the facades by their owners will qualify for state and federal tax credits.
Until then, Sammons said the building owners are spending their own money for the visual improvement of Main Street.
 
25 years ago (1998)
•It’s a race against time for construction crews at the new Luverne Elementary School, with more than 80 people working at the site on a daily basis.
By all estimates, students will be able to attend classes in their new classrooms this fall, but construction manager Ron Domino isn’t making any promises. “We’re still on track,” is all he keeps saying.
At the Thursday, June 11, Luverne School Board meeting, Domino updated board members on construction progress. …
The link between the elementary and high school is now underway, and crews have started roof work on the gym.
 
50 years ago (1973)
•Mrs. Art Boeve of Steen is the 1973 Rock County Rural Homemaker. She represented the annual Rural Homemaker Day in Sioux City, Iowa, June 5.
Selection of the Rural Homemaker is based on her activities within the home and community — and this is where Mrs. Boeve really excels, according to her Extension Club members.
The Boeves are the parents of two daughters and a son — Anita (Mrs. Gregg Bosch) of Little Rock, Iowa, and Glen and Michelle at home. They moved to a farm near Steen 12 years ago from Iowa.
Mrs. Boeve is the president of her local Extension group — the Opportunity Club. She has been president of the Women’s Guild in the Reformed Church in Steen and has taught Sunday School and Daily Vacation Bible School.
 
75 years ago (1948)
•If all the people in the world were as honest as Mrs. Ella Hoffman, Luverne, there would be little need for police officers, said Officer Harry Schneekloth this week.
When Mrs. Hoffman was returning home from work at 6 a.m. Monday, she chanced to see a billfold lying in the street. She picked it up and carried it a few steps to where Officer Schneekloth happened to be standing, and handed it to him, telling him she’d just found it and didn’t know what was in it.
Officer Schneekloth opened it, and his hunch was right. It belonged to Clarence Thode, of near Luverne, who had reported it lost about 1 a.m. It contained not only valuable papers but also $69 in cash. It had been pressed flat, the police officer said, because it had been run over so much with automobile tires while lying in the street.
Thode rewarded Mrs. Hoffman with a $10 bill for her honesty.
 
100 years ago (1923)
•A deal for the purchase of the Luverne hospital property, which has bee pending for some time, was consummated this week, when Mrs. Alma Spalding and the other beneficiaries of the Dr. A. E. Spalding estate, sold the property to Drs. C. L. Sherman and C. O. Wright, each one purchasing a half interest.
Since April, 1921, the hospital has been conducted under a joint lease held by Drs. Wright, Sherman and Thorson, and the sale of property will therefore not occasion any pronounced change in the policies of the institution.
The new owners, however, will make a number of substantial improvements, including the refinishing of the interior of the building, and the installation of new furnishings and equipment, that will add greatly to the appearance and conveniences of the hospital.