From Our Files
1946: Gathman pitches well for Yale University
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• July 11, 1946
William Gathman, son of Mr. and Mrs. R.H. Gathman, of Hartley, pitched successfully for Yale University, winning all the games he had worked during the 1946 season. He was to be discharged from the Marines but would be ineligible for college ball as he had signed a Boston Red Sox contract after graduation from Everly High School in 1942. Gathman had also played for the Hartley Junior Legion team.
August Zinn, one of the oldest residents of O’Brien County and the last charter member of St. Paul’s Lutheran Church in Hartley, was called to eternal rest. He was born in Germany in 1850 and died 23 days before his 96th birthday.
A fire caused considerable damage to the Strayer residence. The fire had a good start before it was noticed by neighbors. It was believed that the fire started at the outlet of the refrigerator, as the damage in that part of the kitchen was the most extensive.
• July 8, 1971
Amos and Thelma Wiese announced the sale of the Coast-to-Coast store to Carroll and Ramona Dass. Mr. and Mrs. Wiese planned to raise feeder pigs on a farm near Hartley.
Mrs. Harry (Betty) Eeten presented a scrapbook to the Hartley Public Library in remembrance of her uncle, Roscoe Patch. The book was a history of Roscoe’s career in vaudeville and show business, and was an interesting documentary of a long and varied life.
The Hartley school board, town council and Verlyn Jipson met to discuss the idea of naming the baseball field “Jim Fanning Field” in honor of Fanning’s many years of work with baseball and his interest in the youth of the community. The Baseball Friends of Jim Fanning had undertaken the construction of an archway to the entrance of the field to recognize his contributions.
• July 11, 1996
Ernest and Sandi Verdoes, of Fremont, Calif., and Virginia Strayer, of Ceylon, Minn., donated a bench that was placed on the west side of Central Avenue, in front of the building where their mother, Elsie Verdoes, had operated Verdoes Beauty Shop for many years. The bench traveled approximately 4,000 miles before reaching its new home. Sometime before her death, Elsie had indicated she would have liked to have a bench on which to sit when she went uptown because it was too far for her to walk without a resting place.
The Hartley city crew was busy restoring power after electrical service was lost to the east side of the business district for approximately one hour and 20 minutes. The west side only lost power for about 10 minutes. Superintendent of Utilities Bryan Gerritson said the failure was caused by a previous lightning strike that damaged the high voltage elbow in the business district junction box.
“From Our Files” is compiled by Sentinel-News sports editor/staff writer Mike Petersen.
