Remember When 11-22-2017

(Above) Loading ice - Pictured are workers loading ice into the ice house, which was located at the present day water treatment plant.  This photo and more can be found in Volume 1 of the “Remember When Clear Lake, Iowa” book.  The book can be purchased at the Clear Lake Mirror Reporter office, 12 N. 4th St..  -Photo courtesty of Fritz Opal

25 Years Ago

November 1992

The City of Clear Lake has put an offer on the table to increase wages for police department employees by 2 percent in the next contract year.  The proposal was the first offer made by the city since Teamsters Local 828, representing the police department, requested a 10 percent pay increase.

Clear Lake Mayor Lois Kotz will officially flip the switch to light the city’s Christmas Tree in City Park at 5:30 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 29, signaling a start to the holiday season here.  The public is invited to join the mayor and Clear Lake students, who will lead Christmas Carols.  Cocoa and carols are sponsored by Main Street Clear Lake.  Santa will arrive in town on Friday, Nov. 27 and will be greeting visitors at his City Park house.

The level of Clear Lake rose nearly one-inch to a new mark of 5.04” above the weir.

Emergency repairs to Main Ave. stifled a potential dangerous situation late Wednesday.  An excavation crew installing a new water main accidentally hit an old fitting on a game line, rupturing the line.  Natural gas was temporarily shut off to 180 customers in an effort to isolate the leak.

At its November 12 meeting, members of the Clear Lake Rotary Club paid tribute to life-long member and Clear Lake resident, John Perkins, as “Citizen of the Year” for 1992.

The Wan Tan Ye Club accepted the traveling trophy as winners of the annual Christmas Tree Contest sponsored by the Clear Lake Area Chamber of Commerce.  The tree, decorated with birds, crocheted ornaments and strings of knitted garland, was picked as the best of those decorated by organizations for display in downtown store windows.

The opening of the new Handicap Village General Store was celebrated with a ribbon cutting.

“Dance and Stay Young,” an old Surf Ballroom motto, is the working title of a documentary about the legendary ballroom which has received funding from Iowa Public Television.  IPTV signed a contract for preliminary writing and development of the documentary by former North Iowan Deborah Lass.  Lass already visited the Surf and has conducted interviews with ballroom patrons, as well as Surf managers Bruce and Sue Christensen.  More filming of the documentary is slated for the Buddy Holly Tribute ’93, Feb. 4-6, as well as the Surf’s 45th Anniversary Ball, July 1.

Airman Dana H. Addleman has graduated from Air Force basic training at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas.  He is the son of David Addleman, of Clear Lake, and is a 1992 graduate of Clear Lake High School.

The Ventura volleyball team placed three players on the All-North Star Conference team.  The Lady Vikings posted a 5-3 record in conference play. Good for a third place finish.  Senior Kim Meyer was a unanimous First Team selection.  Sophomore Sarah Hinrichs and Angie Bieber were Second Team selections.

Specials for the week at Easter’s Super Value include: Brawny Holiday Print Paper Towels, each, 99¢; Pabst Blue Ribbon Beer, 12-12 oz. cans, $3.79; Nabisco Snack Crackers, reg. boxes, 2/$3; Kraft Velveeta Cheese, 2 lb., $4.59; head lettuce, 59¢; 80% lean ground beef, lb., $1.38; and Flav-O-Rite self basting turkey, lb., 59¢.

50 Years Ago

November 1967

Norman Rutz, 28, Clear Lake head football coach since 1965, has resigned his grid post, but will continue as a mathematics instructor.

Retail sales were near the 14-million dollar mark during the fiscal year ending June 30, 1967, in Clear Lake.  This compares favorably with the report in 1966 at over 12-million dollars.

Billowing smoke and flames were visible from miles Tuesday night as fire destroyed two barns on the George Eichmeier farm four miles east of Clear Lake.  One barn held hay and the other machinery.  The fire apparently started in the hay barn and spread to the large shed, where a 300-gallon gas barrel ignited and sent fireballs whirling across the farmstead.

Grocery specials for the week at Jensen’s Super Market include: Hills Bros. Coffee, 2 lb., $1.19; Boone River Farms Wieners, 1 lb., 49¢; G&W Sugar, 5 lb., 39¢; green onions, bunch, 5¢; Del Monte Crushed Pineapple, 4/99¢; oven ready turkeys, lb., 27¢; and ground beef, lb., 49¢.

85 Years Ago

November 1932

Skaters and ice boaters made their appearance in large numbers Sunday, although the more daring ones had tried the ice a few days earlier.  Gilbert Jensen was the first skater to make the trip across the lake.

W.R. Hill is driving a new Rockne Coupe.

Art Abel’s little daughter fell from the piano bench and broke her shoulder blade.

Ted Wolfram has taken in 18,875 pounds of poultry the past few weeks.

The annual Thanksgiving feast was held at Wolfram’s store.  They served 960 sandwiches and 600 cups of coffee.  About 60 pounds of ham and 20 pounds of cheese were made into sandwiches and 50 pounds of cookies were used.

100 Years Ago

November 1917

Miss Laura Philips sponsored a group of high school members who enjoyed a wiener roast on the lake shore Monday evening.

The new Edison Diamond Disc is not a talking machine, but a music instrument with a soul.  Hear it at Etzel’s.

Phil Mench and L. Battspieler caught a coon at the head of the lake Tuesday.

Good line of fleeced materials for kimonos and dressing saques at Oluf T. Hansen & Co.

During Sunday service at the Congregational Church, eight of the choir boys bicycles received damage to their front tires.  The guilty person or persons should be severely dealt with if caught. We hope their conscious is getting the best of them

J.D. Minimum suffered a loss of over $1,500 when he shipped a large consignment of poultry to New York due to heat and slowness of express.