10 years ago (2010)
•The Magnolia Steak House’s service has been staked on family ownership for 71 years.
Now called the Magnolia Restaurant and Bar, the dining facility will continue in the tradition with a new family.
Tim and Dawn Rohrbach purchased Magnolia Steak House from Brad and Amy VerSteeg on Friday, Nov. 13.
The VerSteegs previously took over the business from Amy’s parents, Tim and Sue Dispanet, in 2000.
About that time, the Rohrbachs had their first taste of Magnolia Steak House dining.
Living in Brandon, S.D., Tim and his family were looking for a place to eat, away from the busyness of Sioux Falls.
They had decided on Sharkee’s but stopped at the steak house out of curiosity.
A decade later, Tim is hoping more drivers off Interstate 90 can enjoy their full-service restaurant and bar.
25 years ago (1995)
•According to a study on government spending conducted by Minnesota Planning, St. Paul, law enforcement and correctional services cost the state nearly $800 million of the total justice bill in 1991.
The cost rose 21 percent between 1985 and 1991. Minnesota’s total justice price tag has surpassed the $1 billion mark and is expected to consume a growing portion of public resources, according to Minnesota Planning.
Since local govern-ments shoulder nearly three-quarters of the spending for the state justice system, local government agencies are experimenting with some programs designed to cut costs in the long run.
Considering today’s children are tomorrow’s leaders, Rock, Nobles and Pipestone counties recently completed a Family Intervention Program, which targets the families of problem adolescents and tries to fix small problems before they get bigger.
50 years ago (1970)
•”I couldn’t breathe — I thought I was going to die.”
That’s the way 18-year-old Bob Cook, son of Mr. and Mrs. Merle Cook, 726 N. Freeman, Luverne, described the sensation he felt when his car went off the bridge, and through the ice at the east edge of Luverne’s city limits on old U. S. 16 on New Year’s Day. …
Young Cook had taken his friend, Kenny Frey, who had stayed at the Cook home New Year’s eve, to his home, located about a mile east of Luverne. Bob was driving back into Luverne about 12:30 p.m. when the car skidded on the icy surface of the paving, caused by snow which had just fallen early that morning.
“I came around this slight curve, see,” said the youth. “I remember a car passed me and I looked at my speedometer and I was doing about 45. I turned the wheel a little as I came around the curve, but the car didn’t turn, it just skidded, and next thing I remember seeing what looked like the side of the bridge coming toward me. I remember hitting the bridge, and that must have knocked me out for a little while.
“When I came to, I couldn’t breathe, and there was water all around me, and it was pitch dark. I thought to myself, I’m going to die here. Then I started swimming around. I didn’t know what way was up even. Then, I felt the ice above me. I felt my way around, and found the edge, then got my head out of water.
“I tried to crawl up on the ice, but my legs were wedged between the car and the ice. Then, I felt the car start to sink, as it filled with water, and I was loose. I crawled out, and climbed the bank on the west side of the bridge and up on the road. Bub Walgrave just happened to be coming along and he picked me up.”
Now, as he looks back on the accident, he believes that the door on the driver’s side was torn off or broken off when the car hit the bridge. The impact changed the car’s direction and it nosed down to the ice in an overturned position. The fact that the door was off is believed to have made it possible for the youth to get out as fast as he did.
He was taken to the Community Hospital where he was confined overnight.
The car was demolished, and it took about two hours to pull it from the water. The door was not found.
He was released from the hospital in time so he could join his music group which played for a Jaycee dance at the Armory here on Friday evening.
75 years ago (1945)
•John Hagedorn, Hardwick fire chief, has nothing but praise for the members of his fire department, who fought a blaze that threatened his business establishment Friday afternoon.
He, together with most of the fire department members, had just come out of Hardwick hall where they had attended the Johansen memorial services before the alarm sounded. Dressed in their “Sunday best”, they soon had the Hardwick fire truck at the scene of the blaze. Wading around the premises in the icy slush was no sport for the busy firemen, some of whom were wearing low shoes and no overshoes, but because they put forth every ounce of effort they had, and used their equipment to the best advantage they saved the building and prevented what might have been one of Hardwick’s most disastrous fires.
Just what started the fire is not known, but when it was first noticed, smoke was rising from the rear porch of the Emil Hagedorn liquor store. From its point of origin, the fire had traveled to some cobs which were stored on the porch, and the conflagration was centered there. For a while, it appeared that the fire fighters might have difficulty in preventing flames from spreading, so the Luverne department was summoned to the scene, just in case additional help and equipment were needed. However, the Hardwick men brought it under control, saving the main part of the building, and preventing a serious loss.
There was considerable smoke and water damage, especially in the apartment, and minor damage by smoke and water to the interior of the liquor store below, but the stock was unharmed.
100 years ago (1920)
•The records in the office of Clerk of Court O E. Ferguson disclose that there was a total of ninety-seven marriage licenses issued during the year of 1919, which is forty-one more than were issued in 1918, and fifteen more than average for the previous twelve years.
In fact, the number of licenses issued during the past year is greater than during any previous year since 1907, with the exception of 1914, when there were 101 licenses taken out, and 1915, when all records were broken, 109 licenses being granted.
During 1919 December proved the most popular month for marriages, 15 licenses being issued; November and October came second, each with 13 licenses to their credit, and September held third place with 12 licenses.
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