Just me and a multi-millionaire in my compact rental car. His horse had once pulled off a Triple Crown upset. Wish I had asked him more. After last week’s introduction to this column, I did not expect to begin a nearly seven-decade remembrance of spectating with a sport about which I know little and with which I have little experience – horse racing. I have enjoyed a few days … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past: County commitment, caring couple create home, family for unfortunate
Last of two-part series This farmhouse was a residence to which few aspired. However, many unfortunate citizens were indeed fortunate to find a “home and family for 45 years” with Cyrilla and Valentine Esch at the Houston County Poor Farm. In 1901, the county decided to replace a condemned “poor house” near Hokah with a spacious replacement near Caledonia — built in 1903 with … [Read more...]
I am older than the 3-point basket, the 2-point conversion
Decades of sports, mostly spectating Lonnie Morken, Hall of Fame volleyball coach at Mabel-Can¬ton, once suggested I should write about all of this. I dis¬missed any c o n s i d e r ¬ation of add¬ing anything to an already c r o w d e d sports writ¬ing sched¬ule. But now - with high school sports interrupted by a pandemic - there is time to challenge my sports memory. If this … [Read more...]
2020 Caledonia/ Spring Grove/ Houston Soccer Preview
Soccer girls bring back the attack The Caledonia/Spring Grove/Houston soccer girls bring back seven starters among 14 letter winners. Both all-conference performers graduated, but senior forward Gabby Roble received honorable mention during the Warriors’ 3-14 campaign last autumn - the most wins in the last four seasons. Chris Jandt is back for his sixth season as head coach … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past; 1901: Houston County steps up, provides for the unfortunate
First of two parts “The present county poor-house is a very poor house indeed... a rickety old affair” said the Caledonia newspaper in 1892. Eighty-nine years later, the Houston County Poorhouse was described as a “model of beauty and utility” when nominated for the National Register of Historic Places. In between those two assessments, the county had decided to replace the … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past; Horse races, marching bands, “Lolita in the tank” entertained at the Houston County Fair
The last of a two-part series “The fair was earthy in the old days. It smelled of manure and cigars,” recalled Perk Steffen at the age of 86, in 1982, when talking to writer Ken Pritchard about the Houston County Fair. It may have began as a statehood celebration. After the first two identified fairs in 1858 and 1869, the county fair became an annual autumn harvest … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past: Epidemic of 2020 not the first to halt Houston County Fair
First of a two-part series. This summer of 2020 is not the first time for the Houston County Fair to be canceled. Health concerns have now caused three cancelations and a move to another city. The 1925 fair was not held due to a nationwide epidemic of infantile paralysis (polio), the same disease that caused cancelation in 1946. However, there were junior fairs held later … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past: Skeletons and gold characterize colorful yore of Yucatan
Skeletons, corn whiskey, Indian mounds and rumors of gold are colorful images of the past for a hamlet with a curious name. More recently known for a popular supper club, the village of Yucatan is on Highway 4 between Houston and Spring Grove in the picturesque Yucatan Valley below wooded bluffs and hills in Yucatan Township of western Houston County. Today in 2020, there … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past: Big Spring, Black Maria, Great Depression led to valley becoming state park
In the 1890s, Farmer Oseth made a daily trek from his homeplace down into the valley with a yoke and pails of milk and cream to the what became known as the Big Spring, where his wooden tank was used as a cooling system. Others, who came by horse-drawn vehicles down a rocky road, began using the tank to cool their butter, melons and beverages. The water of Big Spring maintains … [Read more...]
Peering at the Past: One small town, three bank heists, two criminal cases solved
Wearing masks in a bank may be common, even required, during a pandemic. Bank tellers may not be alarmed by mask-wearers on Halloween, but on October 31, 1986, at Eitzen State Bank, a rubber mask and a sawed-off shotgun had nothing to do with a holiday. Bank robbers have three times targeted that site. There was limited success during a 1964 burglary, but swift justice … [Read more...]