25 Years Ago – 1986

Students of the Month for December at Mandan Junior High are eighth grader Dion Friesz, son of Mr. and Mrs. Don Friesz, and seventh grader Gina Weigel, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Tom Weigel, all of Mandan. Dion enjoys football, basketball and fishing; Gina’s outside interests include gymnastics, playing the piano and drawing.

Dennis Wannemacher, Mandan, has been named the grand prize winner of a Zenith VCR given away by Northwestern Federal Savings and Loan during the firm’s grand opening celebrating their three new drive-up windows. Winners of the Seven Seas Motor Inn weekends were Mrs. Rose Doernbrach, Anton Kalvoda Sr. and Sundra Geiss, all of Mandan. Citizens who opened an interest-bearing checking account received free calculators, while all customers coming through the drive-up windows received ballpoint pens as gifts.

 

50 Years Ago – 1961

Sandra Lee Sims, Mandan High School senior and daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Glenn Sims, is Morton County’s winner in the 1960-61 Awards Competition for Excellence in North Dakota History. Sandra will compete against winners from each of the 51 participating counties in a final essay exam at the University of North Dakota, Grand Forks. This is the seventh year for the “Know Your State” contest in North Dakota. All cash prizes will be awarded by the Masonic Grand Lodge of North Dakota.

Jack Steckler, of St. Anthony, has joined the sales staff of Chase Chevrolet Inc. of Mandan. Steckler operated Jack’s Service at St. Anthony for 14 years. He is a member of the Knights of Columbus, Brotherhood of St. Anthony and the St. Anthony Church.

Gene Berger, salesman for the Kennelly Furniture Co. since 1957, has been appointed store manager, according to owner John K. Kennelly. The Mandan native attended local schools and served with the U.S. Navy for four years. He is the son of Mr. and Mrs. Phil Berger, Mandan.

A colorful Hawaiian luau was enjoyed by members of the Presbyterian Couples Club on Sunday night in the church dining room, which was transformed into a Hawaiian setting with palm trees, fish nets, flowers, fruits and leis. Members of the serving committee for the potluck supper were in Hawaiian dress with the men wearing brightly colored shirts and the women in MuuMuus. Mr. and Mrs. Alloyd Nelson were in charge of the decorations, assisted by the serving committee which included the Herb Schaafs, the Mac Crawfords, the James Malmgrens and Rev. and Mrs. Ben Dove.

75 Years Ago – 1936

MHS junior Helen Farr has been crowned Mandan’s Basketball Queen, following a close contest with other class contenders. Miss Farr was named queen after compiling 1,551 votes, 77 more than runner-up, senior Helen June Pennington. The sophomore class candidate was Carlene Larson; Marion Lyman represented the freshman class. The contest was conducted as a feature of the annual sale of season tickets for the Braves basketball games. Members of all four high school classes sold tickets, with each $3 adult ticket counting as 25 votes and each $2 student ticket counting as 10 votes. Miss Farr was crowned by Lorraine Scothorn, president of the student council.

 

However, not even the inspiration of crowning the 1936 Basketball Queen, which was staged between halves of the game, could empower the inexperienced Braves to overcome the superiority of the Valley City Hi-Liners at the Training School gym. The Hi-Liners ran up the score to 7-1 by the end of the first quarter, and soundly trounced the Braves, 24-11, at game’s end. Scoring for Mandan were: Gordon Uhlman with four points, followed by Ray Toman, Bobby Friesz and Don Smith with two each and Ralph Riedinger, one.

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The mercury dived to near the season’s lowest level in Mandan this week, dropping to 25 below zero, the second lowest reading in the state. The state’s coldest temperature was claimed by Grand Forks, where the mercury sunk to 27 below. As of Jan. 21, Mandan’s “warmest” temperature for the month was just three below zero, recorded on Jan. 3.

The Hudson Hall on Main Street was transformed into a gaily decorated ballroom last week as Mandan and Bismarck Knights of Columbus and their ladies frolicked at the first annual New Year’s ball to be given by the Thomas More Council No. 2760. Orange and blue streamers formed a false ceiling for the occasion, attended by 65 Knights and their ladies. In charge of arrangements for the event were S.M. Culbertson, Edward Steinbrueck, John Mushik and L.F. Froelke.

At a 7 a.m. nuptial mass, officiated by Rev. Father Hildebrand Eickhoff, at St. Joseph Catholic Church, Miss Monica Wirtz, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Nick Wirtz, became the bride of Frank Ressler, son of Mrs. Anna Ressler. For her wedding, the bride wore a white satin ankle length dress and net veil and carried a white prayer book and rosary. Miss Magdalene Ressler, sister of the bridegroom, acted as bridesmaid and was attired in an ankle length blue silk dress. Best man was Fred Wirtz, brother of the bride. A wedding dance was held that evening in St. Joseph’s Verein Hall.

100 Years Ago – 1911

“One of the most rousing receptions ever given a citizen of Mandan was tendered to the Honorable James M. Hanley, the Speaker of the State House of Representatives, at the Hotel Nigey on Tuesday evening at a banquet given by the Mandan Commercial Club and the Morton County Bar Association. Over eighty-seven guests, of every political faith known to North Dakota politics, were seated at the banquet table.

“When the doors to the banquet hall were opened, the guest of honor and the speakers of the evening led the way to the bountifully laden tables. Following the blessing given by Dr. Thomas A. McCurdy of the Presbyterian Church, the guests seated themselves to the sumptuous feast provided by Host Nigey. After the inner man was satisfied, toastmaster B.W. Shaw arose and introduced the speakers, the first being E. A. Tostevin, editor of the Mandan Pioneer. After several rounds of toasts, Mr. Shaw introduced Mr. Hanley who thanked his supporters and said, ‘Whatever I do as Speaker, it shall ever be my endeavor to do nothing that shall bring discredit to myself or my city.’

“During the evening music was furnished by the Mandan Musical Club orchestra which played a variety of pieces. The music was well rendered and greatly enjoyed as was evidenced by the frequent applause from the banquet tables.”

125 Years Ago – 1886    

The village of Mandan was nearly five years old in January 1886 with a population at nearly 2,500.

Main Street businesses included ten saloons and boarding houses, six restaurants, four grocery/dry goods stores, three doctors, two pharmacies, a Chinese laundry, a tailor and dressmaker’s shop, several livery stables, two banks, four churches, two schoolhouses, a lumberyard, a brickyard, an opera house, a flour mill, a train depot and freight house, a hotel, post office, courthouse and jail, a racetrack, two four-page weekly newspapers and an undertaker. All depended on the Northern Pacific Railway for their livelihoods. Without the railroad, Mandan could not have existed.

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January 21, 1886: “On Friday at 3:30 p.m. the thermometer stood at 28 degrees below zero.

“The train from the east was two hours late today.

“Tomorrow afternoon and evening, the Stark Avenue roller rink will be open. Prices will be as usual. There should be a large attendance.

“Coal men are charmed with the weather, but the men who haul and shovel the coal, like it a good deal less.

“There is reason to believe that the usual number of women will die in 1886 from wearing shoes too thin for the weather, while warmly and properly clad otherwise.

“There came over from Bismarck today, a pair of interlocked deer horns, belonging to Frank B. Allen. They will be mounted by our Mr. Allen, the taxidermist. Mr. Allen says that a hunter found one of the deer alive and the one, with which its horns were locked, was dead. He shot the live one and secured the horns. They are interlocked as firmly as a rock.”

More Burma Shave jingles…

You could be a Senior Citizen if you remember the Burma Shave signs. In 1926 Allen Odell and his father’s Burma Shave Company launched an ad campaign to introduce a new brushless shaving cream by placing a series of five red and white placards, with catchy jingles, on eight-ft. high posts, along the nation’s highways. Here is this week’s jingle-

“You’ll love your wife,

You’ll love her Pa,

You’ll even love

The mother-in-law!

Burma Shave!”

(To contact Diane, email mandan-news.com)