• Dec. 12, 1946

A quartette from Rust College in Mississippi entertained the Hartley student body for 45 minutes. They sang several songs including spirituals. Prof. Davis and Jerry McKinney told about their school between songs. The students especially enjoyed Jess Bennett and his giggles.

Plans were in progress for the installation of two new boys’ 4-H clubs in O’Brien County. Lincoln Township already had enough members that a meeting was planned at the home of E.B. Peterson. Plans in Union Township had also progressed so that a meeting was tentatively scheduled.

Charles Cooper, uncle of Clinton Cooper, and his nephew Dick Ginger returned from Montana where each bagged a buck. The men were gone for six weeks on a hunting trip near Kalispell. Mr. Cooper was 84 years old and had made the hunting trip 22 times.

• Dec, 9, 1971

Because of the difficulty of getting a Christmas program to include 475 children into a different arrangement than had been traditionally used, there would be no program for Hartley elementary students. Instead, each grade would be featured in their own presentation of a couple of Christmas songs along with a summary of what was being done in music in the elementary grades.

Efforts to obtain a motorized wheelchair with funds obtained through the “Operation Buddy Arnold” fundraiser were not successful. Contacts were made with companies to obtain a chair but they could not supply one. An alternative was to obtain a non-motorized chair to replace the almost worn-out one that Buddy was using.

The Hartley town council set a two-hour parking limit on Central Avenue from the stoplights south to the Milwaukee railroad tracks, from 8 a.m.-6 p.m. weekdays until Christmas.

• Dec. 12, 1996

Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn school board members again rejected portable classrooms as a way to address the space shortage at the high school. That decision was complicated because of the possibility of connecting to the Iowa Communications Network a year earlier. The board felt the opportunity should be pursued; however, it meant a classroom dedicated to the ICN and an equipment area had to be ready by the 1998-99 school year.

Outstanding debt for government entities in O’Brien County as of June 30, 1996 was $12.8 million. The City of Hartley’s debt was $1.4 million and the debt owed by the Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn Community School was $735,000. The two entities with the largest outstanding debts were the City of Sheldon at $5.4 million and the Sheldon Community School at $1.9 million.

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