15 YEARS AGO
For the second consecutive year, International Falls trapper Jim Rognerud has won the Eastern Canadian Open Beaver Skinning Competition conducted at the Fur Harvesters Auction in North Bay, Ontario, earlier this month. In just a little more than 14 minutes, Rognerud skinned a beaver and stretched its hide in front of an audience of about 3,200 trappers and their families from across Canada and the United States. Rognerud got his start in trapping weasels and muskrats in his high school years.
25 YEARS AGO
Team Dinosaur Cycling Club is offering a bicycle maintenance workshop this week at Rainy River Community College. Adjustments, lubrication, tire repair, and knowing when to replace worn parts will be among the topics covered. Team Dinosaur is a cycling club that promotes cycling for fun, fitness, and transportation in the International Falls area.
40 YEARS AGO
Falls freshmen posted five new meet records at a freshmen track meet conducted in Bemidji over the weekend. Burt Roberts tossed the discus 145 feet, 5 inches for a new meet record; teammate Kent Johnson also topped the old record with a throw of 143 feet, four inches. Andy Kochaniuk was third with a 137-foot throw. All three shot putters bested the old meet record while Jeff Schulz set the new mark at 46 feet, 7 ½ inches. Kochaniuk was second, and Roberts was third. The Falls also set two new records in relay events. The foursome of Jeff Burns, Brad Brown, Kent Johnson and Alan Covel finished first in the 440 relay with a time of 47.9. The medley relay team of Joe Potter, Burns, Roberts and Mark Johnson set a new mark of 4:08.4.
50 YEARS AGO
Koochiching County Red Cross Chairman Rev. Vergil Anderson received a $30 donation for Biafran Relief from Danny Anderson, Jim Lucachick, Danny Ganter and David Kraske. The boys represent the fourth grade, Room 202, Alexander Baker School. One-half of the $30 was taken from the room’s Good Citizens Club and the other $15 was from direct contributions from the students. Their teacher is Mrs. Helen Robinson.
60 YEARS AGO
Dr. C.C. Craig, 719 Fifth Ave., visited with an old friend he hadn’t seen in 57 years recently when the pair met in Spooner, Wis. Dave Tozier, 93, learned of Dr. Craig’s whereabouts in newspaper accounts of the doctor’s 80th birthday several years ago. An invitation extended in January of this year was accepted by Dr. Craig. Before his career in medicine, Craig was a timber cruiser. He worked with Tozier in the woods in the Kelliher area.
70 YEARS AGO
Though she isn’t the oldest resident of Koochiching County, Mrs. Nellie M. Doane, Second Avenue East, is near the top of the list of those contending for longevity honors in the border area. May 1, Mrs. Doane will be celebrating her 92nd birthday. Her son, D.C. Tyson, with whom she makes her home, reports that a small family party is planned because the guest of honor isn’t moving around quite as fast as she did a few years ago. Born at Austin, Minn., May 1, 1857, Mrs. Doane has lived the life of a typical Minnesota pioneer woman – including the role of homesteader. The only resident of the Falls area who is older than Mrs. Doane is Eugene L. Gray, who will be 93 next Oct. 27.
Compiled by Catherine Crawford
and Marge Veeder
