125 Years Ago – 1896
The rains of last week brought corn planting to a halt. Much of the corn ground is not yet plowed.
The Central Co. workmen are excavating for a large water tank here.

110 Years Ago – 1901
Mr. and Mrs. Christ Johnson of Fielding are the parents of a daughter and Mr. and Mrs. Will Woodall, also have a daughter.
Marcus reports a lively building boom in town and country.
Charley Woodall, his wife and small child, are lucky to be alive. The child fell into a well with about 6 feet of water in it. Mrs. Woodall jumped in to save him and Charley had to jump in to save them. All survived, thanks to the arrival of W.E. Simons who had come to talk to Charlie.

105 Years Ago – 1916
School was dismissed early at Cleghorn last Thursday so people could attend the William J. Bryant speech in Marcus.
Mr. and Mrs. George Beaton are rejoicing over the birth of a 6 pound daughter born Monday, May 15.
We hope that Oswald Chase, who won the shetland pony,etc. at Tutt Hardware, is enjoying pleasant days with his prize.

95 Years Ago – 1926
Irene Harshbarger and Elaine Franck received their Palmer Method Writing pins at Marcus High SChool.
Betty Lou McGee was honored on her 4th birthday, May 1st. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Adelbert McGee.
The Free Evangelical Church in Liberty Township burned to the ground Monday. It was only 6 years old, built at a cost of $25,000.

90 Years Ago – 1931
Loren Willey and Ralph Slagter accompanied John Hamilton, a voice student at Morningside College, to Sioux City and spent the day with him.
Marcus High School will have 20 graduates Friday evening. Wilma Raetz was Valdictorian and Evelyn Collins was second high. There were 12 eighth grade graduates at Marcus Public.
Lawrence Welk and his orchestra will play at Fielding May 29.
85 Years Ago -1936
Marcus baseball team swamped the Paullina boys 16-5 on their field. Jim Knox had a home run, a triple and a single in 4 trips to the plate.
Miss Evelyn Rasmussen and Norman Peterson were married in the Little Brown Church in the Vale at Nashua, IA May 16th.
Miss Margaret Delaney and her cousin, Joe Kelly, hosted a Holy Name Senior Class party in the Delaney home, Tuesday evening. A three-course dinner was served and all attended a show in the Lyric Theatre.

80 Years Ago – 1941
Holy Name School held its annual May crowning outside with Bernice Galigan doing the crowning. Donald Tentinger read the Act of Consecration. All five senior girls and three little tots all wore long dresses. Father Leo McEvoy led the procession.
Twenty-seven seniors will receive diplomas at Marcus Public School. Their class motto is, “One step at a time but always forward.”
Ben Bleitz has been the care-taker of the Marcus-Amherst cemetery for 19 years.

75 Years Ago -1946
Earl Rae and John Apel will attend Boys’ State at Camp Dodge at Des Moines, June 2-9. This is the first time that two boys will be sent.
Betty Lou McGee was honored at a bridal shower held in the Methodist Church Wednesday afternoon. Betty Lou and Nelson Joyce will be married May 24 in the Methodist Church. She is a former Marcus resident and both are now residents of Madison, WI.
Leon Wallin is confined to his home with the mumps and will be unable to attend the graduation exercises of his 1946 graduating class.

70 Years Ago – 1951
Lorraine Collins was named valedictorian at Holy Name with Audrey Lauters, salutatorian. Fifteen seniors received diplomas at Holy Name. Lorraine is better known as “Bonnie” Means, now.
Chuck Beaton received a wheel chair for his birthday, a gift from his neighbors and friends.
Mr. and Mrs. John Sand attended the 16th birthday party of her niece, Donna Nicholson, at Struble. She is the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Don Nicholson.

65 Years Ago -1956
The Carl Klingborg crew is building an addition on the Charles Addy home on Sunset Hill. A new living room, utility room, and garage will be added and the kitchen enlarged
Patricia Drefke gave the Valedictorian address at Cleghorn graduation
Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Addy and sons departed Monday for Long Beach, Ca where they will make their home at 4433 Maury Beach, Long Beach.

60 Years Ago – 1961
Richard Booth, son of Mr. and Mrs. Forrest Booth of Marcus will receive his B.A. Degree in Education at Wayne State Teachers College, Wayne, NE.
The Grand Meadow High School senior class of 1961 will be the last graduating class as Grand Meadow has combined with Marcus and their high school students will attend Marcus next fall. The school opened for the first time January 29,1912.
Mr. and Mrs. Lee Nafziger of Cleghorn and Mary Scott of Marcus were Sunday dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. George Abels at their summer cottage at Lake Okoboji.

55 Years Ago – 1966
The Meriden-Cleghorn Senior Class spent Friday and Saturday in Minneapolis where they toured the Ford Plant and saw “The Greatest Story Ever Told” in cinerama, and visited other points of interest.
Marty Anderson of Marcus and Gloria Welch of Charter Oak, IA were married Monday, May 2 in Omaha where they will reside.
Marcus High will present 59 seniors with their diplomas Wednesday evening, May 25. Wiley Mayne of Sioux City will give the address.

50 Years Ago – 1971
Mary F. Harder, daughter of Alice Harder of Marcus, received her Bachelor of Science Degree in Nursing from Mary of the Plains College.
Miss Kathy Sand and Ken Ogren were united in marriage May 1st in Grace Methodist Church. They will make their home in Marcus after a honeymoon in the Bahamas. Ken is employed in the Farmers State Bank in Marcus and Kathy is employed in the Orange City Municipal Hospital.
Mrs. Phyllis Ames hosted a 4th birthday party for her son, Todd Ames, Sunday afternoon.

45 Years Ago – 1976
Faith Johnson, daughter of Catherine Wendt, graduated from the Medical Assistant Receptionist course at Lakewood Medical-Dental Academy, Minneapolis, MN. She is serving an internship in Dr. Tim Gary’s office in Cherokee.
Rollie Hanson and Joe Galles will represent the Marcus Eagles at the State Meet in the Pole Vault Competition. Both are seniors.
Sheila Whealon and Larry Scaramella were married recently in San Diego, CA. Sheila graduated with the Class of 1967, Marcus Community High School and from Creighton University. They will make their home in San Diego, after a wedding trip to Lake Tahoe.

40 Years Ago – 1981
Marilyn Braun, Gina Busch, Julie Rosener and Jim Glackin, are the new Drama Club Officers at Marcus Community High School, with Mavis Diment as speech coach.
Mr. and Mrs. Chuck Schmillen of Marcus are the proud parents of an 8 lb. 7 oz. son, born Thursday, May 14, named Steven James. He has 2 brothers at home.
Gilbert Evans, 91, died Tuesday, May 12 in a Remsen nursing home. Survivors include his wife, a son and a daughter. Services were held in Holy Name Church with burial in the church cemetery.

35 Years Ago – 1986
Former Marcus resident, Gary Flanagan, and his wife, Debbie, are the parents of an 8 lb. 11 oz. son, born May12 and named Jonathan Merrit. They live in Omaha, NE.
Barb Burnham will retire after 28 years of teaching and Dorothy Dorrwll leave after 20 years of service in the Marcus school. Others, whose positions have been eliminated are Donna Dorr, Eleanor Dreckman, Nancy Dugan and Melinda Morris. All will be honored at a reception.
Rita Donaldson, Gladys Rupp and Sophie Baer of the Cleghorn American Legion Auxiliary have been appointed to plan a float for the Cleghorn Celebration June 14.

30 Years Ago – 1991
Barb Martin received a letter from Barbara Bush’s scheduling director, thanking her for the invitation to the “Barbara Party”, but it arrived too late to consider her atttendance.
Julie Spieler of Marcus and Jeffrey Frederick of Cleghorn were married recently in Marcus Holy Name Church. They are at home in Cleghorn. Both work in this area.
Ricki Updike, Brian Letsche and Chris Carey are pictured in the MMC Senior Spotlight. Brian and Chris plan further education and Ricki plans to enter the Marine Corps.

25 Years Ago – 1996
Percy Means had a hole -in-one on #4 at the Marcus golf course. It is 205 yards long. Steve Smith, Jim Alesch and Dr. Steve Schachterle were witnesses.
Cletus and Muriel Galles were married May 28th, 1946 in Holy Name Church in Marcus. Their families are having a card shower in their honor. They make their home in Schaller, IA.

20 Years Ago – 2001
A Quasquibicentennial will be held May 26, 27 and 28 in Marcus, Meriden and Cleghorn. Many events are scheduled in the three towns with Memorial Services scheduled the last day for Marcus- Amherst, Liberty, Meriden and Trinity Cemeteries. A horse shoe in the Marcus arena will close the event.