Barnes County: A Moment in Time
1924 100 Years Ago...
Sanborn Dance Hall continues on,
despite rumors
Ralph Potter, the popular dance hall man at Sanborn, was a business visitor early this morning and called at the Times-Record office. Some one has started a rumor that Ralph’s Palace barn has been closed and naturally Ralph, being a believer in advertising, came to the Times-Record office to insert an ad advising the public to the contrary. Ralph says he is running bigger and better than ever.
New Road Under
Construction
Graveling of the new road which will lead out Front street, up Thirteenth avenue and then north under the highland viaduct and west on the Heimes road, was started at noon today and within a short time the entire road will be ready for use. Front street will be paved from Fifth to Thirteenth avenues which will offer motorists passing through Valley City one of the best stretches of roads in the state.
1949 75 Years Ago...
Salthammer of Litchville on duty in Japan
With the Eight Army in Nara, Japan, Recruit Arvid Salthammer of Litchville, North Dakota, in now on duty with the Eighth Field Artillery Battalion, which is stationed at Nara, Japan and is part of the Pacific famed 25th Infantry (Tropic Lightning) Division, commanded by Major General William B Kean.
His present duty is that of commander of Battery B.
Joining the Army on January 3, 1949, at Litchville, North Dakota, he was sent to Fargo, North Dakota, for his basic training. He arrived in Japan on April 13, 1949.
10-minute parking zones go in effect in downtown Valley City business section
A new 10-minute parking zone plan is now in effect in Valley City on several blocks in the downtown business section.
The plan is designated to improve the shopping situation, states Chief of Police Harold Stenshoel. Three parking stalls in the middle of each blacken area of fifth avenue and Main Street will be left open for these parking or shopping zones, and there will be two in front of the post office.
Chief Stenshoel also calls attention to other traffic changes on the downtown streets. No u-turn will be permitted at the intersection of fifth avenue and seventh street on corner. This all applies to intersections further down fifth avenue.
A stop sign has been placed on first street entering fifth avenue near the college footbridge. This is merely a safety move to protect children going to college training school and college students, Mr. Shenshoel said.
The stop signs on fifth avenue at the intersection of front street also have been reversed. That means that fifth avenue is now a through street, and that cars must come to a stop going east and west on front street (old No. 10) before entering fifth avenue.
1974 50 Years Ago...
Mark and Tim
Wagnar challenge the
Sheyenne
Two Valley City men recently challenged the Sheyenne River
and won
Last summer Mark Wagar, 28, and his brother Tim, 20, set out to travel on the river by canoe. But due to the dry summer, the river was too low, there was little current and canoe navigation was impossible.
So the men decided to try again this summer. They left Baldhill Dam at Lake Ashtabula on Sunday, June 2 and traveled over 300 miles to the Red River near Fargo, arriving there June 11.
Both men have interest in biology and found the trip fascinating. Mark teaches biology in Fargo and Tim is a biology major at Valley City State College. They said they were amazed at the number of different plant and animal species they cam upon on their voyage. In addition to the commonly seen animals, the brothers saw deer, mink, beaver, coyote, fox, egret, and blue heron.
“It was like experiencing an entirely different world… an environment in an environment,” Mark said.
The brothers traveled in a 17-foot canoe weighing about 100 pounds and carried about 100 pounds of gear. Most nights they camped out along the river eating canned stew and hash. They would launch each morning before 8, break for lunch at 1 and then resume their trip until about 8 p.m. when they would set up camp. Two nights they were forced to sleep under shelter. One night they stayed in a farm equipment shed and another night they slept in a basement.
“We were impressed with the hospitality of the people we met along the river,” Tim said.
The major obstacles along the way were the numerous log jams that the two encountered. In most instances, the men tried to walk on top of the logs, carrying their canoe and gear.
They took a camera along and shot dozens of pictures. But, as Mark said, “The pictures in our mind are the most memorable.”
The two plan to resume their journey next summer, beginning where they ended this year’s trip.
They hope to head north on the Red River and travel to the border. The following year they will again resume their journey. But for now, the men have plenty of memories about their 1974 voyage.
First patients moved into new
Mercy wing Mercy Hospital’s new wing was occupied by patients for the first time yesterday. David Besette of Tower City was the first of 22 patients transferred to new rooms on the wing’s second floor.
Each room is equipped with television and radio the patient can control from bed, a telephone with which the patient can contact nurses station from bed, and bathroom facilities.
In addition to private rooms, the second floor also has two coronary care units. Totally air conditioned and ventilated and the halls are carpeted.
According to Roland Gessner, assistant administrator at Mercy Hospital, more patients will be moved to the new wing when decorating is completed, in about three or four weeks.
1999 25 Years Ago...
He writes the songs Kathryn man has published several songs
Kathryn, N.D. - Many people in the Kathryn and Valley City area know Sanford “Sandy” Sivertson as the manager of Great Plains Lumber Yard in Kathryn, which he has been for nearly 30 years.
What they don’t know is Sivertson has many different talents such as song writing.
“It’s the best kept secret in Kathryn,” says Charlotte McKay of Valley City.
Sivertson has always enjoyed writing songs, but he just didn’t have the time to develop this gift.
“I started writing songs in about 1962,” Sivertson says. But, he put in long hours managing the lumber yard from 1956 until it closed in 1984 and put his song writing on the back burner for a number of years.
He’s had 36 traditional country songs published over the years and has 10 or 12 that are half done.
Sivertson didn’t know in the beginning that he should get a copyright on his songs and someone else in the music business stole some of his early songs.
“You get smarter,” he says of this experience.
Sivertson says one song he wrote (that was stolen) was made famous by a well-known country western singer. He says since he didn’t have a copyright on the song, they changed some of the lyrics and the title, but it was definitely Sivertson’s song.
That’s water over the bridge now, but Sivert