• May 2, 1946

Dr. C.E. Radcliffe, who had been discharged from the Armed Forces after serving as a surgeon, was joining the staff of the Hand Hospital. His family would join him as soon as living quarters could be secured.

O.E. Lester officially tendered his resignation as superintendent of the Hartley Public Schools. He had headed the educational facilities of the community since 1941. He expressed a desire to locate in a drier climate because of his daughter’s health.

The federal works agency announced that $2,650 had been advanced to Hartley to finance plans for a $58,250 sanitary sewage treatment plant. The loan was to be repaid when construction began.

Superintendent E.L. Maas was hired by the Arnolds Park school board as superintendent for the coming year. He had been head of the Moneta school for five years. Clinton Lawver, of Liberty Consolidated School, was hired as Moneta’s superintendent.

• April 29, 1971

The staff of Community Memorial Hospital began a drive to raise funds for the purchase of an electric wheelchair for Buddy Arnold. Students of Hartley High School had begun to make collections and the drive had received commitments from several civic and church groups. Buddy was able to get about in a hand-operated chair with help from family and friends, but an electrically-operated chair would give him a semblance of independence.

Representatives of Spencer Foods, Inc. and union bargaining units at four of the firm’s plants were asked to meet at Omaha, Neb., in another attempt to settle a labor dispute. Employees of plants at Sioux Falls, S.D., Spencer and Hartley had been on strike since mid-January. A federal mediator said the union demands for a common contract expiration date was a major issue in the dispute.

• May 2, 1996

Lee Bruegmann and William Olhausen, members of Beacon Lodge 495 of Hartley, were presented their 50-year certificates, pins and dues cards from the Grand Lodge of Iowa. Master David Back presented each with a copy of the original petitions they completed when they petitioned Beacon Lodge 495. A potluck supper was held at the Hartley United Methodist Church to celebrate the occasion.

Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Elementary School was a regional winner in the 1995-96 Iowa FINE School Recognition Project. A committee of faculty, support staff and administration prepared the school’s application. The 29-page document provided complete information about the school’s educational mission, goals and objectives, student expectations and progress, extracurricular activities and school climate.

“From Our Files” is compiled by Sentinel-News sports editor/staff writer Mike Petersen.