The last Looking Back 50 Years

June 23, 2021 admin COMMUNITY 0

By Al Rabenold

Where were you the week of June 17, 1971? (#166)

This week is our last Looking Back column.  We hope our readers have enjoyed “Looking Back 50 Years Ago” over the past three years plus.  Thanks to the Poweshiek County Historical Society, Shirley Dunham, and Roger Allen for making this local historical column possible.  It started with the town’s 150th Celebration in the summer of 1968, followed by all 52 weeks in both 1969 & 1970 and halfway through the wonderful year of 1971.  In the future I may resurface with something new for The Record.

The American Legion Post 169 offered a $50 reward for the arrest and conviction of the person or persons who stole a number of American flags in Montezuma the night before Memorial Day. 

A letter to the editor requests the Montezuma Country Club to hire a full-time lifeguard at the swimming pool.

Senior-to-be Bill Van Cleave returned from spending a week at the University Dubuque basketball camp as a student counselor for junior high boys.

THE GRADUATING CLASS OF 1921 held their first class reunion 50 years later in 1971.  They enjoyed a meal at Malzuma (remember that place by the interstate just south of Malcom) and then a tour of the school with all its changes in the past five decades.  The twelve attendees are front row, left to right:  Ruth Sweney, Geraldean Horn, Homer Smith, Earl Duffus, Cecil Hall, Edna Morgan Christiansen.  Second row: Grace Cox Sharpe, Esther Fulton Gauley, Sylvia Smith Light, Margaret Gordon McNeil, Louise Gillis Monroe, and Jeanne Platt.
PHOTOS BY ROGER ALLEN

Nancy Lee Sanders became the bride of Bruce Dieleman at the first United Presbyterian Church in Montezuma on Saturday, June 12.

Rodney Ritchie and Rhonda Ritchie were two of the 35 children who attended a five-day Bible school at the Christian Church in Barnes City, June 7-11.

Chris Hall attended the National Science Foundation training program at Luther College.

The Montezuma City Council agrees to furnish men and equipment to help resurface the roads at Diamond Lake Park.

POE APPLIANCE & ANTENNA & APPLIANCE held their grand opening on the west side of the square 50 years ago.  Helen and Pearl Poe are shown here with one of their appliances.
PHOTOS BY ROGER ALLEN

Free doughnuts and door prizes highlight the grand opening of the newest business in town, Poe Antenna and Appliance.

Funeral services for Warren Byers were conducted by the Rev. Lester Hall on June 18 at the Steffy Funeral Home.

Arnold and Ronnie Tanke attended the two week Calvary Lutheran Church Bible School in Deep River, from June 1-11.