Looking Back

75 Years Ago—1950

Miss Marie Moore directed a sacred musical program by the third and fourth grades of Concordia schools, presented in connection with Holy Week… three thousand orchids, sent from their native Hawaii, would please 3,000 women who visited Danenbargers for the weekend  “grand opening” of a furniture department…  members of the Concordia loop unit boxing league who would appear in the ring at Washington grade school, fighting ring aspirants from Nebraska and other towns in this area, were Cowboy Gagno, 116-pound bantamweight; Gene Logan, 141 pounds; John Trost, Concordia’s undefeated middleweight; Merle Civet, making his first ring appearance; Corky Widen, Concordia’s rugged light-heavyweight; Bob Lindsey, promising middleweight; and Frank Edwards, on whom local promoters were depending for heavyweight honors. Bill Brownell was sidelined because of suffering an attack of the flu… Troop 3 of the Girl Scouts met with Mrs. Carl James and learned how to hem dish towels and skirts…  the first rural high school election was held in Clyde and those elected to serve on the new school board were Grant Buckley, director; Roy Pearson, clerk; and Clair Anderson, treasurer… 

60 Years Ago—1965

At the FFA Parent-Son banquet at the Concordia high school, K. L. Carlson received awards for dairy farming and crops farming and was named Star Chapter Farmer of the Concordia FFA chapter; Loren Swenson received the Farm Mechanics award; Ray Mason received the Livestock Farming award; and Dennis Burt, Star Greenhand award…  Bob Charbonneau, chemistry student at Notre Dame high school, was treated for minor cuts and burns at St. Joseph hospital after chemicals in a test tube with which he was working exploded… Mr. and Mrs. LaVern Brown gave a surprise ninth birthday party for their son, James. Guests were members of Den 3, Pack 32 Cub Scouts: Mark Breault, Greg Hamel, Dennis Alderson, James Charbonneau and Bruce Nobert… Miss Diana Reeves had been chosen as a candidate for Law School Queen at Washburn university… Concordia high school students Jane McConahey, Connie Lathrop, Cathy Worley, Nina Gray, Kathy Cory, Craig Saindon, Steven Harris, Merle Ramsey, Dale Nicholas, Loren Swenson and Larry Ostrom left for an Easter Week tour of Chicago, Ill., Washington, D.C., and the United Nations and New York City… Marcia Walker and Cindy Gennette went to Topeka and served as pages for Pep. Ross Doyen…  Mrs. Warren Green landed a 10-pound channel cat at Price’s pond, using a worm, No. 3 hook and six-pound test line…

50 Years Ago—1975

Troy Harris had been hired as an instructor in the agri-business department at Cloud County Community College… dedication and mortgage-burning ceremonies were held by members of the First United Methodist Church in Concordia on Sunday, April 6… Marine PFC, Dennis Anderson was promoted to his present rank while serving with the 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing at the Marine Corps Air Station, Yuma, Ariz. …  Denise Stangel led the Concordia High girls track team to a a first place win at the Mankato Invitation track meet with a first-place win the 880-yard run and a second in the mile, with times of 2:53.1 in the half and 6:21.4 in the mile…  a daughter was born to Mr. and Mrs. Ernest Haist, Concordia, on April 2 at St. Joseph hospital… champion spellers in the Concordia Junior High Spelling Bee were Laura Schleuder, Annette Anderson, Angela Buoy, Joni Nuss, Jennifer Ostrom, eighth graders; and Carol Brummer, a seventh grader… after three years of planning, the Concordia Babe Ruth League got off the ground and would involve 13- to 15-year-old boys from the USD 333 area on five teams… Barleen Mobile won the team championship in the annual city women’s bowling tournament at Hillcrest Lanes with a 2907 series. Members were Theresa Peltier, Jackie Baker, Karen Barleen, Avis Crawford and Pat Dwerlkotte… the public was invited to play golf at the Concordia Country Club until April 30 with green fees of $3 weekdays and $4 weekends… 

25 Years Ago—2000

The Concordia City Commission approved the issuance of industrial revenue bonds to finance the construction of the Marquis Place assisted care facility… Mildred and Floyd Snavely celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary… Dancz Zone Studio of Concordia went to its first competition in Lincoln where receiving third place trophies for duets were Jordan Mastin and Ashley Thoman and Destiny Breault and Stacie LeClair…   Richard Palmquist had been named Sunset Home employee of the month for April… Concordia High School senior Amy Anderson signed a basketball letter-of-intent with Sterling College… Janice and Dennis Burdick, Clyde, announced the engagement of their daughter, Molly Kathleen Burdick, to Joshua Evan Skocny, son of Carolyn and Randy Skocny, Cuba… Peggy Lervold, a two-time state qualifier for CHS, signed to play tennis at Cloud County Community College… Amber Kindel, Kyle Stacken, Summer Champlin, Sarah Cibolski, Shelby Brownell, Amanda Baumann, JaLynn Renz, Latisha Deaver, Sheena Eubanks, and Amy Smithy, Concordia Middle School fifth graders, were the classroom winners in the 2000 Tar Wars Poster Contest…

10 Years Ago—2015

The Concordia Fire Department (firefighters/EMTs: John Christensen, Tim Stangel, Jim Menard, Rick Knutson; Fire Chief Eric Voss) was presented an Outstanding Service Award from Kansas Emergency Medical Technicians Association…  Zoe Walsh had been selected as the Concordia High School Student of the Month for April… Carolyn Halferty and Jolene Clark, 2015 retirees, were honored at the Cloud County Community College employee recognition dinner…  Charles Johnson retired from the Concordia City Commission… Matt Farmer, assistant manager of the Jamestown and Lovewell Wildlife areas, received the 2014 Kansas Wetlands Manager of the Year Award… Miranda Mansfield, senior at CHS, signed a letter-of-intent to dance at Cloud County Community College… the Honor Flight benefit dinner and dance featured the original Outback musicians, with special guests Tim Halfhide and Kenny Jones…

5 Years Ago—2020

The Cloud County Health Department had received notice on April 1 of the first positive case of Covid-19 in Cloud County… the Blade-Empire newspaper made the difficult decision to reduce the number of days it would be published each week, going from five days a week to three… the Scott Specialties facility in Concordia was producing masks to help meet the critical shortages in the healthcare field because of the Covid-19 pandemic… Lee Gale spent a week in New York City, a virus epicenter, shuttling doctors and nurses to a hospital… Macy McMillan had been selected as the Concordia High School Student of the Month for April…  Mr. and Mrs. Max (Alice Hejny) Copple celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary… Karlee Wahlmeier had been selected as the recipient of the Paul Kohn Outstanding Senior Girls Basketball Player Award…