1954-01-15; Clare Sentinel

              THE CLARE SENTINEL
Established 1878
Seven Cent* Copy
CLARE. mCWGM, mipm MOntiim; JANUABY IS, 1954
*50 Y«»* In Michigan
Farmer's Week Is A
Big Event of Year
Program Includes
Varied Farm Topics
The programs and attractions at
Farmers' Week, Michigan State
College, February 1 - 5, include outstanding speakers in th© nation.
Annual meetings of all state-wide
associations -will also be held during th© week.
The general program includes
appearances by folks of National
reputation.
The Tuesday session features
Dr. Wm- Alexander, pastor, First
Christian Church, Oklahoma City.
Wednesday's feature -will be an
address by John Davis, Assistant
Secretary of Agriculture, Washing'
ton, P.C,
Thursday will include addresses
by Gov. G. Mennen Williams and
John A. Hannah, President at
Michigan State College.
Friday will be "Dairy Day" and
will feature the Artificial Insemination program, talks by Lymon
McKee, Vice President of the
American Dairy Association and
Lester J, Will, General Manager,
A.D.A., Chicago,
Space does not permit a resume,
of all programs but remember,
that you will find displays, demonstrations, exhibits and meetings,
that will bring you up to date on
Agricultural developments and all
members of your family. You may
pick up a program covering the
week by stopping in the office or.
requesting one by telephone or
mail.
Sewer Funds May
Be Collected As
Fees In Future
Special accessories, Frank T. LaGoe and Clyde Harris have finished rolls on the sewer districts a-
building, or under consideration in
the City of Clare, and presented
the rolls to the City Commission.
The City Commission, which will
move ahead with plans to bond the
city for the improvements pending,
is considering a plan for taking
sewer building and maintenance
funds out of the tax structure, and
put ihem on a service charge in
the form of a fee instead.
New Series, Vol B2, No, 17
Joanne Is
Reed City
V
Well Yields
New Flow
May Mean Find
Of Deeper Pool
.Michigan's   petroleum,   industry
has perked up considerably in the
i last few weeks,  conservation de-
i partment geologists and state oil-
. men note.
After a long dry spell, several
new discoveries and additional
finds in oil fields have brightened
the state's petroleum scene quite a
bit.
Most recent find was in the Reed
City field, where recently the Pure
Oil Company deepened an old well
The Clare Ministerial Associa- about 1000 feet with the result that
tion met at the Methodist Church a pew flow of about 65 barrels per
parsonage, Thursday; January 7th. day was started.
The Rev. Leslie Nevins, the Rev.i The .significance here is that deep
Virgil Brinkman. and the Rev. Os- well exploration is being watched
car Olson were present. i carefully, and this find adds con-
Plans were begun for the Good siderably weight to the opinion
Friday interdenominational wor- that there is still much oil undis-
ship service to be held this year j covered deep In the state.
The Rev. Brinkman was asked' Strangely enough, the new find
from 1:30 to 2:45 p.m. in the Meth-, was made by deepening the ong-
odist Church sanctuary. "jal Reed <3ity discovery well from
to preach the sermon. 36£°,J0 46.65- ^f**   ■,,
The motion was made and pass- 10£his o^1?*-1 wjlwaj drilled.m
ed that the Clare Ministerial Asso- 1941 and had an imfaal ^ow ol 1900
Plans Begun
For Services
Good Friday
6iatlon *sfrntrib-nitre $100.00 to
"Church World Service" to send
powdered milk to needy persons
overseas. The cooperating churches of Clare had thus far contributed $100.00 for this purpose at the
Methodist Church Christmas Eve
candlelighting service. Although
this ?200.00 will be sent shortly
any further contributions will be
welcome.
Plans were then discussed for
increasing the fellowship to include all'interested church leaders
in the Clare area.
After a spontaneous and rewarding discussion of preaching techniques the meeting was adjourned.
barrels per ..day. Sine** .th?n, about
200 wells have been drilled' in the
Reed City pool, 155 are still producing, and to date about 40 million barrels of oil have been taken
from the field.
This new find follows closely a
discovery (made late in December
in southwestern Washtenaw county. That well has been shut in until tanks can be readied for production, but tests show it capable
of producing 1000 barrels of oil pet
day.
Also, several other lesser finds
in known petroleum areas have
beefed-up "the industry's enthusiasm and given a bright look to the
picture for 1954.
S. C. S. Members To Hear Talk
On Plant Relation To Soil
Pie Champ
Bakes Best Pie
In Isabella Co*
"Full Of pie", was the comment
of the judges of the Annual County Cherry Pie Bake Off to determine a County ChampiOn#ie baker, Twelve girls who bad ^previously won local contests prepared and
baked their pies in the kitchen of
the Mt. Pleasant office of the Consolidated Gas Company.
Joanne Curtiss was declared the
Winner when the final sampling
had been completed. This was Joanne's second year as a County
Champ and she will represent Isabella County in the State Contest
in Grand Rapids, the llth and 12th
of February. Joanne also received
$5.00 for her first place award from
the Mt. Pleasant Junior Chamber
of Commerce.
Sharon Fike of Coleman, was a
close second and received $3,00
from the Junior Chamber of Commerce and third place of $2.00 went
to Arlene Vinton, also of Shepherd.
Francis Weihl of Coleman, was
fourth.
Only 100 points out of a possible
4000 separated the top four places.
The following girls also competed in the contest and enjoyed a
delicious dinner at the Hotel Chieftain, sponsored by the Junior
Chamber of Commerce: Nancy Al-
bar; Carol Riley, Kay Allen, Lor-
etta Draves, Lois Nicholson, Joanne Weide, Noreen Abbey, and
Clara Nielson.   *
Judges for the contest were Mrs.
Emil Pfister and Mrs. George Wallace, former Home Economic Infractors, and Pat McCarthy, representing the Junior Chamber of
Commerce, also Bernie Mayhew,
The Clare County Soil Conservation District will hold its annual
meeting January 20 at 1:30 in the
V.F.W. hall in Harrison.
The meeting will consist of movies, speaker, election of a director, and after the meeting, refreshments will be served.
Mr. Jesse Huggett, County Agr'l
Agent"* of Gladwin county, will
speak on the relationship of
plants and animals to the soil.
Soil is basic and cannot be replaced,
Soil is like a bank- account in
that the more you put in and the
better you manage it the more you
get back with interest.
Another important part of the
annual meeting is the election of
directors.
Some of the duties of a S.C.S.
director are: conduct annual meetings, conduct surveys and investigations relating to soil erosion
prevention and control.
The directors knowing the local
problems guide the district so as
to help you work them out. To do
this they assist in setting up
demonstrations and tours.
•Any landowner or operator of 3
acres or more may vote for a director.
Paul Gibson, a firm believer in
soil conservation effectiveness says
"Some spring when the wife wants
a new washing machine and you
would like some more fertilizer, to
put on the wheat, she might let you
have your way, if she realizes that
in the fall from the increase in
crop return, she will get not only
a new washing machine but a dryer."
"So bring the ladies to the meeting and it may be easier to convince youfe wife to let you spend
some money for soil conserving
practices."
Lewis Infant
Passes Jan* 3
William Avery Lewis was born
July 12, 1953 at the Mt. Pleasant
Hospital and' passed away January 3, 1954. He leaves to mourn
their loss his parents, Mr. and
Mrs. Donald Lewis, two sisters,
Connie and Patricia and two brothers, Ted and Thomas.
Funeral services were held January 6 from the Thurston Funeral
Home with Rev. vTTSrihkman of-,
tficiating and 'burial was made in"
the Vernon cemetery. '
On Inside Pages   j
Harrison News
2-4
Farwell News
3
City Briefs
0
Society   .
7
This Week <ra TV
,S
Market Reports
'■8
Bowling Scores
8
School Corner
8
Lake News
6
Church News
-     4
Want Ads - Notices
12-13
Comics * Crossword
IS
Famed Play
Now at CMC
The gay comedy, "Annie Get
Your Gun," which was a long time
Broadway hit, is being presented
for its last two performances by;
the Central Michigan College class
in play production at 8:15 p.m.,
tonight and tomorrow night in the
college auditorium.
The action of the three act play
is centered around Annie Oakley,
a sharp shooting rough- and tumble girl from the back woods, who
falls in love with another sharp
shoQter, Frank Butler.    "
Starring in the play are:"Frank
BUtler, played by Donald Kasper,
and Annie Oakley, played by an
Jah'Stobbart.
There will be an adfnission
charge of 50c and tickets may.be
purchased from persons in the
play production class or at the
door' on the nights of the performances. .
Don Harrison
Quits Police Post
Don Harrison, police chief for
Clare handed the City Commission
his resignation this Week after an
offer of another position was
made very attractive to him.
The Commission, with the application of one of its own members,
Charles Cooper, to fill the police
post, will meet next Monday evening and i^i expected to take appropriate, action to fill the position.
1-Act Play
On School
P-TA Program
The Dramatic Class of Clare
High. School will present a one-act
play, "Latties Of The Mop", after
the business session at the regular
monthly meeting of theXlare Parent-Teacher Association, Monday
evening, January 18th at eight
o'clock.
The characters in the play are
four scrub women: Mattie, played
by Alice Walters; Annie, Sally Gil-
lesipe; Hallie, Barbara Schunk,
and Bessie, Joyce Jones.
Rita Beck is student director.
In addition to the play there will
be special music from the grades
under the direction of Miss Nancy
Keller,
Due to the type of program being presented, the meeting is" to be
held in the school auditorium.
There is no admission and all
are invited.
A prize is offered for the school
room with the highest percentage
of attendance of parents.
Heesen A. Perry
Taken By Death
Heesen Alverson Perry was born
in Omra, Wisconsin, the elder son
of Richard E. and Emily Perry, November 23, 1867.
When he was four or five years
of age they moved to Hillsdale,
Michigan, where he grew to manhood.
September 22, 1891 he was united in marriage with Lettie E.
Barnes of Barry County. ,She preceded him in death June 12, 1940.
In March of 1894 they moved to
Gilmore where he has since resided. He served as township supervisor several years and also held
other township offices.
He obeyed his Lord in Christian
baptism over 20 years ago and remained faithful.
His sister died in infancy, his
only brother, Adna, preceded him
in death in September and his son,
Guy, April 24, 1947.
He leaves to mourn his passing,
a son, LaVerne, of Midland;
daughter, Grace Pitts, of Nottawa;
daughter-in-law, Alriia Perry, _of
Farwell and daughter, Lola Graham, of Gilmore. Twelve grandchildren and fifteen great grandchildren.    - •
Bible Study =•
Glass Proceeds
.The Bible Study Class being held
every Sunday evening at the Clare
Methodist Church, led by the pastor, L, J, Nevins, lg proving a
splendid success.
"Jeremiah, the Man and His
Book" is the subject being studied.
The lesson next Sunday evening
Will deal with the conditions that
inspired Jeremiah to prophesy and
to write his book,
The Class opens at 7:00 p.m. in
the parlor, It is to be followed by
the showing of the recent film,
"They Too Need Christ", Tbis film
will be of great interest to all who
may be studying the people of
Mexico and South America, It is a,
splendid film.
The public is invited*
ive
Set Back By
Shepherd
JV's Suffer Their
First Defeat
The Pioneers failed to get off on
the right foot for the new year and
tumbled to defeat under a flood
of accurate shots by Shepherd
Tuesday night by the score of
56-47.
The first quarter found two
evenly matched teams battling to
a first quarter tie at 11 all,"
In the second quarter Shepherd
put the clamps on and held Clare
to six points wb.il e dropping in
eight buckets to make the half
time score 27-17,
The green and white bounced
back after the half with 11 points
to narrow the score to 36-30, in
the . final period, Shepherd went
all out and racked up 20 points to
Clare's 16, which spelled defeat for
the Pioneers.
Brown and Kigar proved to be
the big guns of the game With 14
points each. Travis and Wehor
twinned for Shepherd with 13
each.
On the 19th and 22nd Clare will
play at St. Louis and Ithaca respectively.
JV's String Broken
Tuesday night at Shepherd the
Clare JV's saw their undefeated
string snap at four games, at the
hands of the Shepherd JV, by a
score of 44-38.
The Clai*e team trailed the taller.
Shepherd team by 5 points at the
half, 21-16. In the second half, the
two teams swapped basket for basket, but Shepherd-picked up an extra free throw for their six point
margin.
Jay Lehr led Clare scorers with
16, points and was followed by Jerry Fullerton with eight.
Gelander of Shepherd topped all
scorers with 17 points.
Area Scouts
On Camp-Out
Ten Scouts from Farwell aud
Lake George jdined with 178
Scouts and Explorers of the Valley
Trails Council in the Annual Winter Camporee, At Camp Rotary,
January 9 and 10. "*
Scouts George Brown, Don
Brown, Richard Dent and Dick
Lloyd of Troop 115, and Scouts
Lounie Wymer, Edward Gackley,
Dick Mu'ssoh, Weudall Hpover,
John Warner and Dale Abbott, of
Troop 129, qualified for the Polar
Bear Award which is the hardest
or one of the 'hardest camping
awards to. receive.
80 Scouts of the 178 camping out
completed the Polar Bear requirement.
, Requirements for the Polar Bear
award include packing and "Pack-
in' In", gear and food a distance
of at least % mile; sleeping in an
improvised shelter, not a tent or
cabin, and live completely out of
doors for a period of 24 hours.
The several degrees of near zero
weather gaye these Scouts a severe test of camping ability.
Induct Two In
Kiwanis Club
Two new members became full-
fledged Kiwanians at the Club's
regular Wednesday meeting this
Week at the Doherty Hotel. Bill
Warner and' Roy Harter were inducted into the club by Past President Howard Everts.
Kiwanian Bill Harper reported
on the club's achievements for
1953, while Ralpb Cole gave the
club financial report.
President Dick Groves presided
at the meeting.   .
March Of
Dimes Fund
Drive Starts
Nat'l Foundation
Beady to Strike
Chairmen in charge of the various campaigns for Clare county's
1954 March of Dimes drive were
announced this week by Mrs.
Montze Gee,, of Farwell, County
Chairman of the campaign.
. Cecil Phillips heads the driv^ at
Harrison and Temple; Mrs. Catherine Graham is the Farwell leader; Mrs. John Lay ton is the Lake
George leader; Mrs. Stanley Oman
is the Lake leader; and Mrs.
Frank Hochstetler is the Clare
campaign leader.
The appeal this year is- centered
around the dramatic announcement
of the mass testing and innocula-
tions with vaccine and Gamma
Globulin, which means that polio
fighters are no longer on the defensive, but rather are pushing
the attack to crowd the disease
out of the realm of a threat against
humanity.
Added funds are asked from
each giver this year to carry on,
not only a campaign of relief for
victims of the polio, but also fin*
ish the Important research in the
field of prevention.
Cards are mailed and expected
back shortly, carrying their load
of dimes for the National Foundation's fund. Cannisters are on store
counters everywhere for the donations of pocket change.
County drive leaders,.are asking
for promptness and generosity In
responding to the 1954 appeal.
Gleaners To
Install Officers
AU Gleaners of Clare, Isabella
and surrounding counties, their
families and friends are invited to
attend the rally at the I.O.O.F.
Hall, Mt. Pleasant, on Friday night
January 15th, at 8:00.
District Manager William F.
Kleinhans of Mt. Pleasant will install this years officers.
A program of vocal and instrumental selections will be introduced by County Lecturer, Mrs. LaVern Rockett, of Clare.
There* will be orchestra music
for dancing for all ages and a pot
luck supper Will follow.
Here's How Townships
Fare Under New Tax
Equalization In County
State Recommended Plan
OK'd By Unanimous Vote;
Clare Increase Seen 19%
A two-rnillion-doUar boost in property valuations for tax'
purposes in Clare county was voted "Wednesday- by the
. county supervisors in their regular session/at Harrison,
The resolution to equalize county assessments in accord-
1 ance with Michigan State Tax Commission recommendations was introduced on rthe floor of the meeting after a
favorable report by the committee on County Tax Equalization headed by Lewis Kuttex.
The motion to afssess on the
basis of new valuation figures
was adopted unanimously
with no roll-call.
Most of the increase in assessments will be on property
in the city of Clare as recommended in the equalization
study prepared and introduced by the Tax Commission
after a 1953 "spot check"
throughout the county.
Several members of the Commission's field staff spent the whole
day Monday with the supervisors
to explain their findings and
answer questions. They were queried on their methods, or "system"
used to arrive at what the Commission regards as true value of
property. One member remained
until Tuesday to iron out details
with members of the supervisor
body.
Enroll For
Adult Classes
An important little column of
figures on the Michigan Tax Commission study on equalization in
Clare county is labeled, "Percent
of County, Total". It tells what
each township and1 each city aud
ward amounts to in percentages,
toward the sum of total county
valuation.
Thirteen townships are in positions of comparisons with the
county total which indicate that
their property is equalized fairly,
—at the full figure, or above.
Three townships and the whole
cities of Clare and Harrison are
below par in the equalized ratio
of comparison to the county total
and   will   be   raised   accordingly.
Ski-Time
That, in brief was the purpetse Of
the resolution passed by the Clare
County Board of Supervisors in
Wednesday's session at Harrison.
The percentages of increase
necessary to bring these townships
and cities up to a level with their
neighbors are given on the STC
study sheet as follows:
Frost township values indicate
a needed raise by 18%; Garfield
township values to raise by 14%;
Hayes township values to raise by
11%.-   .
The city of Clare total values to
raise by 19%; Harrison first ward
values to raise by 22%; Harrison
second ward to raise by 17%; Harrison third ward to raise by 16%.
On the other side of the ledger,
with a given percentage figure of
50 to be used as a goal, the following townships compared as follows:
Arthur, Franklin, Hamilton, and
Lincoln, are listed as "on the
mark" with township valuations
almost exactly at the desired figure.
Only slightly under the 50* mark
are Grant and Hattori^ while. Sheridan and Surrey townships are
somewhat lower although not indicated as marked for raises. ,
Freeman township leads the list
of those already over the "50
mark", and is followed by Summer-
field, Redding, Greenwood, and
Winterfield in leading positions as
highly assessed townships in the
county totals.
Here a youngster gets some expert instruction from an old hand
before starting a run down one of the hills at Porcupine Mountains
state park recently. The, popular upper peninsula ski area sees
heavy use during each skiing season,
Banks Recognize
Human Relations
Course Lessons
About twenty graduates of a
course in "Human Relations" were
honored by their employers at an
achievement dinner served Monday evening, January 4, in the
Wedgewood Room of the Hotel
Doherty.
Sponsored by the Citizens State
Bank, The Rosebush State Bank,
and the Gladwin County Bank at
Beaverton, the course taught important lessons in meeting the public and "putting over" best points
of personality and friendliness in
business.
Instructor of the course was
Emil Pfister, of CMC in Mt. Pleasant.
Mr. ' Pfister told the group,
"People who attend Human Relation courses are those who need
the instruction the least, but nevertheless, the knowledge gained
makes us better able to serve our
fellow men."
Certificates were awarded members of the staffs of the three
banks who finished the ;COiu'se.
Enrollment for the adult evening
education classes will be held at
the public school multi-purpose
room, Tuesday night between the
hours of 6:30 and 8:00. Enrollments by phone will be taken at
the same time. %
Classes will begin on Thursday
night at 7:30 at the school to organize, select the time and night
of their regular meetings, and begin their work on the ten-week
course.
Individual class sessions are two
hours in length and meet once a
week.
If enrollment for a class falls
under 10 persons, the course if/ill
be withdrawn.
.All courses are non-credit, and
offered purely for purposes of self-
improvement and added enjoyment
to living. Persons, enrolling; for
courses have two obligations. They
must pay the small fee charged,
and must in cases other than illness, attend the regular meetings
of the class.
The course offered in- slipcover
and drapery techniques will be Offered in two 5 week sessions, the
fii*st five meetings concerned with
slipcovering and the second five
weeks spent on drapery work.
Other courses being offered this
year include ceramics, typing,
bookkeeping, welding, physical education for men, a home mechanics course for women, interior
decorating, a review English course
covering written expression and
grammar, child psychology, square
and folk dancing, photography, and
driver training. A more, detailed
account of courses .offered appeared in last week's Sentinel.
A late addition t.o the list of
courses in Dress Designing, offered
for those with some knowledge of
sewing.
The classes are for adults and
out of school youth, high school
and full-time college students cannot enroll.
Rotarians Hear
Report From
Mary Nevins
Meriibers of the Clare Rotary
Club were treated Wednesday to a
report from abroad from MisS
Mary Nevins, daughter of Rev. L.
J. Nevins, who is studying in
Switzerland on a Fellowship plan
sponsored by Rotary International.
Mr. Nevins read ^portions of his
daughter's interesting letter* in
Which she described traveling conditions itt Switzerland,, and skiing
on slopes in the Swiss and Austrian Alps.
A classification talk was presented on the program by Dex El-
deu, publisher of the Sentinel.
Leon Dull was program chairman.
Guests present at the noon meeting included, Bud Lee, Rotarian
from Mt. Pleasant and Bob Lodes,
and Cliff Dhul, from Tawas • City.
Also Ben Nelson of Detroit, with
Warren McGuire; Carl Foss of
East Lansing, with Frank LaGoe;
Ted Pixley, with Fred Guiette.
Fire Levels
Tavern At
Fife Lake
The Lakeside Tavern at Fife
Lake, owned by Mae McCon and
Irwin Church, of Farwell, burned
down early Tuesday morning, January G with a complete Joss according to Mrs. McCon. a
The loss, partially covered By-
insurance was the result of the
fire thought to have had its start
in defective wiring.
The partners plan to rebuild and
Occupy a new building by April
first.
As understood by members of
the county governing body, The
State Tax Commission finds:
1.) Thirteen townships aret presently taxed on a, hasis of Tjaiuatioas
higher, in. ftttie than the rest of the*
county.
2.) Assessments on property in
Frost, Garfield, and Hayes townships, and in the cities of Clare
and Harrison should be increase'd
to- bring them Up to fair equality
with the thirteen townships which
are established at their proper
value.
3.) A large share of the added
values to be placed on the rolls
of Clare and Harrison, should be
charged to business and industry
to correct faulty "undervaluing" of
such commercial property.
4.) The method of determining
the value* of real estate and other
property is heavily dependent upon what the property could bring
in a "forced sale" transaction.
The supervisors are thinking in
terms -of tax roll assessments at
roughly 50 percent of what the
State has; declared to he the actual
value of property.
•Shocked surprise was 'shown by
many of the supervisors When the
sheets of figures representing the
findings of the study were passed
around at the Harrison meeting on
Monday. ,
A common opinion held by niany
was that the cities of Clare and
Harrison were burdened With the
heaviest assessments, and carried
a top-heavy share of the county's
tax load.
Dan Holcomb, a member qf the
Board of Supervisors for 'many
years said, "the figures gave me
quite a jolt, I could hardly believe
the proportions."
Laurenee Seiter, of Clare said*
"I'd always heard it said that the
townships got by without toe-
heavy a share of assessment, iiow\
this study finds, just the opposite."
Other opinion was much the
same. All seemed to agreet however,, that a fair system of equalization was the only course to follow.
Earl Morgan, plant manager-at
Clare Manufacturing, said that his
company had furnished Tax Commission men with honest figures
of real and personal values and, aa
in the cases of former valuation
raises, comment would be reserved
until more time.^r Btudy of the
equalization measure had been
taken.
In real estate classifications
other than business and industry,
home owners seemed to be in' a
rather , gOod position to escape
sharp hikes in their assessments.
Improved residential property was
found tp be on the rolls at nearly
the. percentage to be accepted' aa
equalized.
Landlords and home owners on
fixed incomes might suffer slightly with any raise'at all, but for the
most part, the STC study forecast
no trouble for residential property
owners. Jj
With many of the townships -sow,
valued at close to the mark of 50% ~~"
of the State figures, Clare city was
listed at 30.89%, or Some 19% below the goal necessary to reach.
Harrison is nearly in identical position, was listed at 31.07% of the
figure to be attained.