75 Years Ago—1950
A housing tour of Cloud County for Farm Bureau units included the new home of Mr. and Mrs. Albert Larson of Jamestown; remodeled home of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Cool Jr., located east of Glasco; remodeled home of Mr. and Mrs. J. R. Hefner, southwest of Concordia on Hwy. 9; the new home of the Fay Blairs in Concordia; and the new home of the Glen Chartiers, south of Ames… the Organized Reserve Armory, located at Fifth and State streets in Concordia, held an open house on Armed Forces Day… at an impressive ceremony at Our Lady of Perpetual Help church, Verona Collette of Concordia was one of six girls who graduated from the St. Joseph school of nursing. The nurses were escorted by flower girls in pastel formals carrying nosegays of sweetpeas. Flower girls were Janice Joyce Gennette, Joan Tieking, Alberta Paquette, Mary Jane Saulnier, Dorothy Ann Vaughan and Judy Richard, all of Concordia… Mr. and Mrs. Brotherson of Kansas City, Kan., announced the engagement of their daughter, Ruth, to Mr. Delmer F. Harris, Concordia… Helen Hanson of Concordia, Floyd and Lloyd Huber of Ames, Arnold Laman of Rice and Laurence Pacy of Miltonvale were enrolled for summer session at Ft. Hays State college… graduates from St. Ann’s in Clyde were Robert Arpin, Rose Marie Deaver, Delores May Delude, Bernard Girard, Ernest J. Hamel, Gloria Ann Pelland, Sharon Pickerell, Shirley Ann Racette, Janice Elvina Watson… steel towers were erected in a number of locations in Cloud and surrounding counties by a United States Coast and Geodetic survey party in order to make a geographical survey of the area… Max Clayton, D. D. Lowell, Dick Ratliff, and Mickey Bethel competed in the state golf meet in Junction City… J. F. Swafford tendered his resignation from the city police department …
60 Years Ago—1965
A twenty-foot sign identifying Concordia to air traffic was painted on the building in north Concordia occupied by Concordia Drug and Housewares… A2c Larry K. Huffman of Concordia, who was in the 2140th Communications Squadron, Air Force, Athens, Greece, won second prize in oil figure painting for adults in an Arts and Crafts contest sponsored by the Air Force… Richard Cook of Concordia won the State Northern Zone 12-gauge Class A Skeet champion trophy at Fort Riley with a score of 98 out of 100… Notre Dame students Charles Tom Foster, Matt Schmitt, Steve Metro, Jerry Eubanks, Cynthia Desilet, Mary Frances Duncan, Mary Ann Peltier, Tom Tyler, Richard Gagnon, Susan Kennedy and Sheryl Fleming participated in a talent show at the high school. Susan Kennedy, singing “Hush Hush Sweet Charlotte,” accompanied by Sheryl Fleming, won first prize of $10… Loleta Ann Monty, third grader at Lincoln school reported that she found 38 four-leaf clovers and five 5-leaf clovers during recess periods at the school and brought them to the Blade office to prove her story… Aurora High School graduating class members were Eugene Letourneau, Dorothy Cote, Charlene Letourneau, Paul Saint, Anna Marie Kindel, Charlotte Regnier, Aldia Collins, Delores Weaver, Anna Vopat, Carolyn Begnoche, Donna L’Ecuyer, Paula L’Ecuyer… Jamestown 1965 High School graduating class: Terry Collins, Annaruth Jensen, John Rhodes, Tom Petersen, Janice Collins, Brenda Peterson, Carol Chitty, Karol Heaton, Gloria Bradshaw, Paul Turner, Nancy Swearington, Gerald Yoder… Ray Ruff and the Chekmates performed at the National Guard Armory…
50 Years Ago—1970
“Salt Creek” trio, Terry Baxa, Ed Glenn and Guy Cuezik, won the competition in the KNCK Grand Ole Opry talent search stage show, and the group donated its $75 prize to the Brown Grand Opera House restoration project… Candice Jean Larson was named valedictorian of the Jamestown High School, and Gail Lynn Spear was named salutatorian… named to student leadership positions at Cloud County Community College were Steven Ensign, elected state president of Phi Theta Kappa, national junior college honor society; Randy Lagasse, elected president of Student Senate at the college; Gerald Mosher, elected Student Senate vice president… Judge Marvin O. Brummett received a golf bag at a retirement party given in his honor at the courthouse… Concordia High School junior Susan Koehn was bound for state after tossing the discus 106-9 and leaping 4-10 in the high jump at the regional track meet… Gerald Sorell, Doug Johnson, Joel Davenport and Norman Clark received recognition at the CHS Spring Sports Awards Ceremony… Concordia Camp Fire Girls Sharon Pearce and Kathy Seim received their Marian Medal, the highest church award given Camp Fire Girls… Concordia FFA chapter officers for the upcoming year: Dan Whitney, reporter; Randy Johnson, treasurer; Kelly Lewis, secretary; Dan Marcotte, sentinel; Dan Kearns, president; Bob Ramsey, historian; Charles Hanson, vice president… a son was born to Mr. and Mrs. Elton Anderson of Concordia on Monday, May 19… Mr. and Mrs. Odette were the winners of the ALCO fishing contest with a 17.5 lb., 32” channel cat they caught in a farm pond… the Aurora Inn served a special dinner in honor of Mother’s Day…
25 Years Ago—2000
After a 42-year career in the food industry as a wholesaler and a retailer, Larry Letourneau began a new career when he was ordained as a Catholic priest at Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church in Concordia… Spencer Farha had been selected as the May Student of the Month at Concordia High School… members of the Rotary International District 2810 Group Study Exchange team from Japan attended the Mother’s Day Tea at Concordia Elementary School, where they gave an origami demonstration… Concordia Middle School fifth graders Ali Watson, first place; Natalie Elliott, second place; Larissa Brum, third place, had the top posters in the Concordia Music Club’s poster contest to promote National Music Week. Honorable mention winners were Corinna Hood, Alicia McKenna, Dustin Mendenhall and Sarah Cibolski… CHS senior Kellen Bombardier qualified for the state tennis tournament for a fourth consecutive year… retiring USD 333 teachers, Jerry Kinser, Peg Loveland, Ron Shipman and Bernard Newell, were honored by the North Cloud Education Association… John and Beth Miller, Concordia, announced the birth of their son, Matthew Michael, born May 1…
10 Years Ago—2015
Sixty-nine students received their diplomas during Concordia High School Commencement Exercises. Robin Daniels was valedictorian and Julie Gross was salutatorian… Stormie Hittle became the first student at CHS to receive diplomas from both CHS and Cloud County Community College in the same year… at the invitation of Kansas Gov. Sam Brownback, Robin Daniels, CHS senior, had been selected to attend the 32nd Annual Governor’s Scholar Awards Program in Topeka… Ted Schmitz, women’s track coach at Cloud County Community College for 34 years, had been named NJCAA Division. I Coach of the Year for the central region… William and Charity (Trost) Brown celebrated their 25th wedding anniversary… Beau Bonebrake (javelin) and Ryan Lee (800-meter) established new school records in recording first-place finishes for the Concordia eighth grade boys track and field team in the NCKL meet in Abilene. Timmy Lambert also placed first, and established a new league record in the eighth grade boys 75-meter hurdles…
5 Years Ago—2020
While the Covid-19 pandemic delayed commencement for 63 Concordia High School seniors, Macy McMillan was named valedictorian for the Class of 2020 and Jacob Willams was the salutatorian… the Concordia Rotary Club honored the Concordia High School seniors who were recipients of the C. Carl Cunningham Scholarship: Austin Kaufmann, Ciara Kearn, and Taegen Larsen… Girl Scout Troop 20881 of Concordia members Nicole Ashland, Lucina Eubanks, Hannah Dibbell, Pricilla Eubanks and Kaiya Dibble presented a $300 donation to the Cloud County Resource Center… Joan Demanette celebrated her 90th birthday… CHS senior Chloe Beims had been named the recipient of the Gwen Fletcher Scholarship by the high school English/language arts teachers…
