By Elaine Rassel
School has started August 23 and already they were out one day for a few hours earlier due to the extreme heat. When the new school comes, hopefully air conditioning will be included. I don’t ever remember getting out of school earlier for heat when I was in school. Yes, that was a few years ago, but we never had air conditioning anywhere. Maybe our bodies were more conditioned to the hot and cold!
I called the school the other day about taking pictures for the newspaper. Last year I never went (and that was the first time in many years!) because of social distancing and wearing masks. This year I was still concerned about my being there when these kids weren’t vaccinated. I just didn’t want it said that I gave them something_even though I am feeling fine. I am having someone from the school take class pictures of the Begindergarten classes, K1, and Kindergarten (2 sections) and send them to the Marcus News. I appreciate this and THANK YOU for helping me in this matter. Hopefully next year will be different and I can come myself.
Amber and I went to the Historic Society meeting on Tuesday evening. They are supposed to be getting the “time capsule” that will be opened up 25 years from now. So, it will not be buried but rather left locked at the Historic Society building. As was said that most of us will not be here 25 years from now, it would sure be interesting to see how much different things have changed in those 25 years. Maybe they won’t even be using coins or bills for exchange but rather all credit cards. (Can you see the price of coins going up and coin collectors getting what they can?! A dime will be worth a lot more than 10 cents.)
I am still waiting for someone to send the results of the “BEARD CONTESTS” (and maybe some pictures) to the Marcus News. I have asked for 3 weeks and haven’t gotten any reply. I DO NOT know who would have these results. As fast as they were given out that Wednesday night, it was impossible to get any names. Is there anyone that could respond to this request? I sure would appreciate it so I can close the Wednesday night contests up.
Looking back at the winners of the beard contest in 1996 for the QQC (125th celebration of Marcus) there was a picture “This group of full bearded gentlemen are being given the once over from Collett Good Fun and Master of Ceremonies, mmmmm mmmmmmmmmmmm, Friday afternoon at the beard judging contest. There were so many full bearded gentlemen that they need three shifts to get them all paraded before the judges.”
“Beard Judging Contest” Judges for the Beard Judging contest were Fran Treinen, a cashier at Valley Bank & Trust; Jane Walter, Cherokee Airport Manager; and Kristin Mackey, a reporter/anchor for KCAU Channel 9. Jim Sunde of First Farmers Coop Elevator was responsible for recruiting the judges. Robert Engel reprised his role of Collett Goodfun and was present during the judging.
Goatee: 1st was Kevin Alesch; 2nd was Ron Rosewall. Abe Lincoln: 1st was Galen Ducommun; 2nd was Charlie Gipe; and 3rd was Don Willis. Full Beard: 1st was Jim Rassel; 2nd was Lorn Mohning; and 3rd was Jack Shea. Mustache: 1st was Dick Garvin; 2nd was T. Hogue, and 3rd was Wayne from the Stowater Clan. (A person from the Stowater’s says there never was a “Wayne” and wonders who he was supposed to be_there was not a picture of this “Wayne”! Best Overall went to Ray Wankum. Pictures of the men who came in FIRST were printed. (THIS IS WHAT I AM LOOKING FOR FROM THE BEARD CONTEST IN 2021!)
The kitten that got stuck in the fence last week, is doing much better. She is getting an antibiotic for a couple of weeks. The swelling on that leg is getting less and less each day. Bethany hopes “Pumpkin” has learned her lesson of going through the fence. There are four kittens looking for a good home. They have all had their shots “Pumpkin” is not one of these! I have told Bethany not to name them, but of course, she didn’t listen. Now she is attached to them. When they see her car pull in the driveway, they all come running to the gate. Of course, she takes time to play with them_so they are people friendly!
This humid weather has kept me inside as much as possible. When I did go outside on Friday, I couldn’t understand why a car was in line with my sidewalk and blocking the road. Further investigation showed the road was blocked as Linn Street, including the curve and part of Railroad Street is being fixed or blacktopped. No wonder that car was blocking the road!
Now that we have had much needed rain, the grass (and weeds) have grown. When it has been a possibility of mowing, here comes another shower of rain and everything is too wet. We shouldn’t complain as others around us have had hail and high winds where we lucked out.
In Sunday’s paper, there was almost 80 years before there was a closure on an Oto’s sailor that was killed at Pearl Harbor. Wesley Brown was on board the battleship USS Oklahoma during the December 7, 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor by Japan. He died on the eve of America’s entry into World War II. Brown enlisted in the Navy in 1939 and was 25 years old when he was among the 429 crewmen of the USS Oklahoma battleship that took multiple hits from Japanese torpedoes and capsized quickly, trapping dozens of men below deck.
Brown’s remains were finally recovered and listed as “unknown”. He was buried in Honolulu with other victims of the attack. He was disinterred in 2015 as part of a project since 2003 that has identified remains of more than 300 that were listed as unknown. It was January of 2020 that his family was notified of the identification. He could have been buried in Omaha National Cemetery, but family members decided he should have his final resting place in the Smithland Cemetery along side his mother and sister. Sailors, with a Navy funeral honors team, solemnly moved his casket to his final resting place while family members, community members, veterans, and people that didn’t even know him personally, solemnly stood as an American Legion honor guard fired 21 shots in salute to Brown and a lone butler played Taps. From thousands of miles from home when he died, to being known as an “unknown” buried in Hawaii, and now to a final resting place back home, Wesley Brown’s family finally had closure.
It has been reported that the Major League Baseball game between the Chicago White Sox and the New York Yankees; inspired by the 1989 “Field of Dreams” movie, generated nearly $5.8 million in economic benefits for the Dyersville and greater Dubuque region of northeast Iowa.
I was putting 1934 papers away when I ran across the following article of interest: January 8, 1934_“Mrs. Rollinger Misses Shot at Husband: Spends Day in Jail”. Missing three shots at her husband Friday about 11 a.m., Mrs. Bert Rollinger spent the rest of the day in the county jail. However, she was released in the evening when no one appeared to the file charges against her.
Rollinger called the police, saying his wife had shot at him, but missed him. The police rushed to the scene and found the wife walking along the road toward the Mark Rounds home, where she said she was going to seek protection. She said Rollinger was in the habit of beating her up, and that she had shot at him to protect herself. She admitted that her marksmanship was not of the best.
Rollinger insisted that she be placed under arrest, and she was taken to the county jail. Toward evening, he appeared and asked for her release, but she refused to come along saying she was plenty comfortable in the jail. Later, however, she was ushered out as Rollinger had not filed charges against her.
February 10, 1910 “Mayor’s Notice”. If the people of Marcus want to farm they must go into the country to do so. In many places in town the manure and rubbish has been allowed to accumulate during the winter until in some places it is almost impossible to drive through the alleys. There is an ordinance prohibiting such accumulations and right now is a good time to get rid of such offal (garbage) and refuse. I intend to perform my duty up to the last minute of my incumbency in office, and hereby give fair warning that if such matters are not attended to at once, I shall take measures to enforce the ordinance and will impose upon violators the largest fine which the law will permit. I mean business and it is up to you to get busy. Joseph Beck, Mayor
Remember to keep in your thoughts and prayers those who have recently lost loved ones to death, those with health problems, those who are struggling financially or are really trying to get their job back or even a job, and to those whose heart hasn’t softened enough to shorten the distance between friends/family. Count your blessings.
I will leave you with this quote from Norman Cousins (1915-1990), American author: “The eternal quest of the individual human being is to shatter his loneliness.”