Today is March 21, the 80th day of the year. So, there are 285 days left in 2019. Below are news items from the Creston News Advertiser for this week (March 18-24) in history:
10 years ago
Union County Sheriff Rick Piel was dealing with additional budget cuts to his department. More than $65,000 had been cut in the previous two fiscal years. The board of supervisors discussed alternatives for prisoners, including working with Clarke County to see if there would be cost savings.
Progress stories: Bob and Jean Guikemas celebrating 25 years running Greenfield Lumber with a “mom-and-pop” attitude, and Mary Lou and John Judd and Delores Doench opened Cromwell Tea and Gardens which was “off the beaten path, but worth the trip.”
20 years ago
A unique city-school partnership was to provide a public library and technology center at O-M Elementary School in Orient. A new addition would house a spacious library with eight new computers and more on the way. By summer, it would also be the public library with public access to computers connected to the internet. A community group, with the help of a $15,000 grant from W.K. Kellogg Foundation, made the project possible.
A new 60-by-120 feet 4-H building was under construction at Adair County Fairgrounds in Greenfield. Cost for the project was $175,000 with much of the labor donated.
Randi Needham, an East Union senior and daughter of Randy and Shelly Needham, was given a special program to finish one final class to graduate. She maintained a job as a page to the chief clerk in the Iowa House of Representatives four days a week. The internet classes allowed her to get credit she needed to finish economics with the use of emails four days a week and one-on-one teaching one day each week with teacher James Hardy.
A controlled burn at Green Valley State Park was conducted to bring diversity to the park and to “enhance the prairie, rather than lose it,” according to Mark Sedlmayr, park ranger. He briefed a crowd of more than 50 on the importance of the burn and used a drip torch along the shore of the lake to start the fire.
50 years ago
In bits of Creston history: In 1882, J.H. Patt erected an opera house on Adams Street, west of Summit House. The building, capable of seating 1,000 people, contained an auditorium on the second floor and a large gallery. During the early days, it was thought to be the finest opera house between Chicago and Denver.
Display Sales Co. of Minneapolis, Minnesota, was designated by the Crestennial Association to help the community design and build floats for the upcoming parade.
An eight-ton weight limit for vehicles traveling north Cherry Street Road from the city limits was put into effect by the Union County Board of Supervisors for 90 days. It was necessary to prevent damage during the spring to the asphalt paved road.
Ground breaking ceremonies for the start of construction in the Three-Mile Creek water shed project was planned. The ceremony was on the William McKee farm, 1 1/2 miles southeast of Orient and 8 1/2 miles northeast of Creston. Congressman John Kyl planned on attending.
The new Creston Post Office sectional center was to be built in the square block bounded by South Elm, Clark, Oak and Lucas streets. The official selection of the site was announced in Washington, D.C. Other sites had been considered, but more area was needed due to the addition of the sectional center.
Union County Neighborhood Service Center, an agency of MATURA, had served 900 people since it was established Aug. 1, 1967. Of those served, 210 used its employment service, and 60 percent found employment.