1964: Man injured during storm

75 Years Ago - Aug. 18, 1949 RANDOLPH – The community parade, planned for the 1949 Junior Fair to add interest to the day’s entertainment, drew a larger crowd than in previous years, and to give added appeal to the Junior Fair for more classes of people, turned out to be the best supported community projects here in many years.

The public wholeheartedly endorsed the project as they crowded Randolph streets to witness the parade through the down town section, while 700 people were in the grandstand at the park to watch the parade there.

The parade, led by two color guards and the Randolph band included an official car, saddle horses and thirty-nine floats to make it one of the most colorful spectacles and most enthusiastically received projects here in many years. *** RANDOLPH – The three-man judging team of Cedar county inspected the leading contenders from the 46 farms recently nominated as Pierce county’s leader in applied soil conservation. For the Sioux City “Permanent Agriculture” contest, the farms of Byron Wattier of Randolph, Pete Hoffman of Pierce, and Roy Norman of Wausa were selected.

For the Omaha World-Herald contest, the three farms which will represent the county in area competition are Byron Wattier’s, Pete Hoffmans and the farm of Fred and Don Hoffart of Osmond.

The judges were Bob Wier of the Cedar County Extension Service, Leonard Miller and Robert Chilvers of the Soil Conservation Service at Hartington. *** RANDOLPH – Mr. and Mrs. Otto Miller and their three children, Eva 11, Lena 8 and Peder 5, have come from Esbjerg, Denmark, to make their home in the United States expecting to settle in the Randolph vicinity.

They arrived Saturday at the A.R. Bacon home. Mr. Miller came to the United States in 1916 and was employed by Mr. Bacon on the farm until 1932 when he returned to Denmark. He has been a prosperous merchant at Esbjerg, near Copenhagen.

Mr. and Mrs. Miller both speak English. They intend to buy a farm in this locality.

60 Years Ago - Aug. 13, 1964 RANDOLPH – Supt. Fred M. Pokorney announced this week that the new Randolph Public School building is nearly completed and is scheduled for use when the fall term opens here Monday, August 24.

Classroom furniture was moved from the old building into the new structure Monday. The new building will house the kindergarten class and the first six grades.

The new structure also houses a kitchen and dining room area where noon lunches will be offered to Randolph Public School students for the first time.

*** RANDOLPH – Bill Schutt is a patient in the St. Joseph hospital in Sioux City, Ia. where he was taken after being injured during the storm Monday afternoon.

Mr. Schutt was on his way to the cave at his farm home east of Sholes when a tree limb fell on him. His left leg was broken in three places below the knee. He also sustained a cut below one of his eyes, which required stitches to close, and injury to his left shoulder, extent of which is unknown as yet.

Mr. Schutt was treated by a Randolph physician and then taken to the Sioux City hospital. *** RANDOLPH – Severe weather struck in the Randolph vicinity shortly after four o’clock Monday afternoon in the form of a wind, hail and rain storm. In a matter of minutes the combination of the three elements inflicted extensive damage to farm crops, buildings and machinery. The windstorm also was the cause of personal injury in one instance.

The severe area of the storm started abut 1 1/2 miles south of Randolph, the approximately 2 1/2 mile wide path extending beyond the east and west edges of this territory. Corn crops on some farms in the path sustained nearly 100% loss from the hailstorm, which was aided by a vicious wind. Other cornfields suffered damage in varying degrees. It is believed that 150 is a conservative estimate of the number of farms that felt the effects of crop damage.

Rainfall in the area amounted to as much as 1 1/2 to nearly two inches.

50 Years Ago - Aug. 15, 1974 RANDOLPH – The Board of Education adopted a total General Budget of expenditures in the amount of $790,086.00 Monday evening, August 12 following the regular hearing. The amount includes transfer funds totaling $64,200.00 which are federally funded programs. The actual local cash budget totals $725,886.00, this compares to a cash budget of $685,008.00 last year. The $40,878.00 increase is almost entirely salary related and is slightly under a 6% increase in expense.

Bond Fund requirements will total $88,887.00.

The school mill levy which is patently 46.1 mills (38.5 general and 7.6 bonds) will approximate 46 mills during the coming year. This is due to a slight increase in total valuation of the school district. The county board will set the levies on or about September 1. *** RANDOLPH – The Randolph baseball team’s hopes of gaining a spot in the Tri-County playoffs remained alive this week as they lost to Crofton 12 to 7 in a makeup game and defeated Orchard 8-4 in a playoff game for the fourth spot in the standings. By downing Orchard the local team earned the right to play Pierce for the only remaining game before the playoffs begin. The Randolph team was in a three way tie with Orchard and Pierce at the end of the regular season.

40 Years Ago - Aug. 16, 1984 RANDOLPH – The Randolph Park Board and Randolph Woman’s Club combined recently in a project that certainly is benefiting the children of the community and surrounding area with new playground equipment at the park. A covered slide and a mouse-shaped teetertotter have been installed near the shelter house in the area of the swimming pool park. Total cost of both playground items amounted to $2,188.69 of which the Randolph Woman’s Club donated $400. *** RANDOLPH – A visit from two representatives of Nebraska Public Power District at the Randolph City Council meeting on Tuesday evening, August 7, as well as work on the coming year’s budget took up the majority of the five-hour meeting.

John Hoebig and Gary Heimes from NPPD visited with the council and expressed concern over total ratchet dollars that Randolph has paid to their company over the last 17 months.

Mr. Hoebig passed out figures that showed that Randolph has paid a total of $39,193 to his company because of the ratchet charges that Randolph has been penalized. The two NPPD men explained that the peak demand in the summer sets the stage for just how much ratchet charges the city will pay during the next year. The highest demand for electricity in 1983, according to Mr. Hoebig’s figures was 1972 KW in August.

The city is required to purchase at least 65% of the peak demand the rest of the year, even if they do not resell that amount to users in Randolph. *** RANDOLPH – Regular classes for all students, K-12, begins on Monday August 27. The 1984-95 faculty includes Neil Kluver, Supt.

into the

Past

of Schools; Ron Iles, Sr. High Principal; Gary Speer, K-8 principal. Those at the Junior-Senior High are John Albers, Mark Anderson, Richard Babst, Dennis Bazata, Marvin Beardshear, George Bradley, Joe Groen, Betsy Waterman, Chris Hansen, Dorthy Jensen, Russell Jensen, Shirley Jensen, Marilyn Slandered, Dan List, Roxann List, Ken Morten, Lyle Nannen, Gary Osborn, James Rasmussen, Tom Rastede, Kim Romohr, Mary Sauser and Ray Schnell. Those at the elementary are Georgia Addison, Florence Anderson, Anita Casal, Deb Green, Tammy Hunke, Elzene Lundgren, Kathy Milander, Arlin Miller, Kathy Moore, Susan Repp, Robert Rissler, Vickie Robinson, David Steffen, Phyllis Thiamin, Kathy Wilke and Pam Schmit.

30 Years Ago - Aug. 17, 1994 RANDOLPH – School board members agreed on 1994-95 school year budget requirements, Monday, Aug. 15, east school with two citizens attending the hearing.

The board agreed upon a 2.34 percent increase in expenditures, however a 2.8 percent increase in tax asking can be expected. Tax asking will increase by an estimated $28,000.

A traditional $150,000 cash reserve is allotted. *** RANDOLPH – Brooks Anderson, legislative assistant to Amo Houghton (R) 31st District N.Y. was a guest of Roger and Roxanne Meyer over the weekend to acquaint himself with agricultural issues.

Host families “show and tell” what they do to produce crops and livestock, and how they are affected by state and federal regulations.

Not growing up on a farm, Anderson visits families like the Meyers to gain knowledge on agriculture issues.

“Reading a bunch of statistics does nothing for me, I need to see exactly what those statistics mean,” quotes Anderson. “Since I will be taking over agricultural issues soon, I need to know what I’m dealing with when these issues come to the floor.” *** RANDOLPH – Cathryn A. Hay, Ph.D., appeared in Randolph at the east school, Aug. 11-14, to test individuals for Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome.

Ten individuals were rechecked for the syndrome and 10 individuals were tested for the first time, according to Mary Sauser, certified scotopic screener.

Sauser said she primarily screens to see if the individual is having problems which could be attributed to scotopic sensitivity syndrome such as eye strain, stomach aches, distorted vision or grades going down.

20 Years Ago - Aug. 18, 2004 RANDOLPH – This school year, Randolph will be welcoming a familiar face into the English department.

Peggy Lackas will be teaching high school English. She will have two sophomore English classes, two College Prep English classes, one Senior English class, a new writing class, and a journalism class. She will also be taking over the supervisory duties involved with the yearbook, and sponsoring the speech and drama clubs.

Marcia Wakeley will be taking over the guidance duties at the elementary and high schools in Randolph this school year, and Rita Sukup is this year’s new Family and Consumer Science teacher at Randolph High School. *** MAGNET – The old grocery store building on Main Street in Magnet was destroyed by fire early Tuesday morning.

According to Wausa Fire Chief Dave Carlson, the Wausa Fire Dept. received a call at approximately 11:50 p.m. for assistance in controlling a fire in downtown Magnet. The Magnet Fire Dept. was already on the scene battling the fire, preventing it from moving to adjoining buildings. According to Randolph Fire Chief Paul Letting, the Randolph Fire Dept. was called in at 12:01 a.m. to assist.

Despite the efforts of the three departments, the building was a total loss. The building on both sides of the fire received damage, the extent of which is unknown at this time. The case of the fire is under investigation. *** RANDOLPH – Two arrests were made in relation to the recent break in at the Randolph High School.

The arrests of Gabriel Backer, 22, Randolph, and Michael Smith, 20, Randolph were made following an investigation by the Randolph Police Department and The Cedar County Sheriff’s department.

On Aug. 8 at 2:39 a.m., the Cedar County Sheriff’s Dept. received a call reporting someone on the roof of the Randolph High school. The Randolph Police Department and the Cedar County Sheriff’s department responded to the call.

Damage to the high school was estimated at $1,030 including a broken skylight and an empty fire extinguisher found on the roof.

10 Years Ago - Aug. 20, 2014 RANDOLPH – At the regular monthly meeting held Aug. 18, the Randolph Board of Education reviewed fund balances and transferred monies in preparation for the upcoming fiscal year, while the administration reported a successful start to the school year.

Superintendent Jeff Housing said the bond fund is healthy and, by May 2015, in preparation of the summer roofing project, the building fund should be solvent enough to pay those expenses.

Board members voted to approve the transfer of $100,000 from the general fund to the depreciation fund, bringing the latter fund to just under $400,000. Hoesing said when money is not spent in the general fund during a budget year, ti can be transferred to the depreciation fund and used for expenses on things that depreciate, such as equipment, vehicles, and building improvements. This transfer is earmarked for building improvements and vehicle replacement, but it could also be used for equipment, if necessary. The board discussed the possible need for a new or used route bus. *** RANDOLPH – Schmit Home Solutions is framing up plans to answer area housing needs.

Tim Schmit, one of the owners, was stunned by a recent visit to the Norfolk Economic Development Office.

“They told me Norfolk had calculated in 2010 the need for over 140 hours each year to keep up with demand then. Homebuilders could only construct 40 homes per year for lack of labor and subcontractors,” Tim said. “In 2014 more demand is predicted from the announcement of factories creating 500-600 jobs in the next few years. *** RANDOLPH – Ask Herb Sack what he likes best about life in Randolph and he’s back with the quick reply, “Everyone in town is a neighbor.”

Originally from the Eagle, Neb., area, Sack naturally enjoys small town life, though he admits it’s getting hard to find.

But something different happened in Randolph that never took place in the other communities he has been stationed.

“Folks were more friendly here than anywhere else I’ve ever worked,” said Sack, 58. “So I bought a home for the first time in a town I plan to base out of in the future.”

Sack pointed out that while his job will keep him traveling from time to time, he plans to call Randolph his home.