1957-01-24; Clare Sentinel

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THE GLARE SENTINEL
Established 1878
$2,50 Year in Clare, Isabella Counties
CLAR& MICHIGAN; fiW^PAY JANUA-RY 27*1957
Ten Cents Copy
Ne# Series, Vol, 65, Ho, 19
'Three jfft. Pleasant,women, were
arrested Monday and charged with
looting, after they were found taking, toys and other merchandise
from the rear of the burned out
Western Auto^Store, .
: Mrs. E'riija Mary JacPb^vfS; her
daughter, Carol Ann, 18; and Mrs.
Nbra" R- 'Gilbert, 3S, all of R-5 Mt.
Pleasant told police that they had
been informed the iteihs could be
talifen by-anyone who wanted them.
The three women had taken one
load of goods to Mt. Pleasant, and
were collecting-a second when they
were apprehhended at about 10;30
a.m.   Monday.       ,    ,
Xll of the goods were recovered.
The women are scheduled to appear In Clare Municipal Court this
morning at 10 a.m. for a hearing.
'A fourth Mt. Pleasant person
also was found in possession of
toys identified aa missing from
Western Auto Store. No complaint
has been signed against -the individual and disposition of the case
is^ pending.
', .Sugar, put in the gas tank of a
dlftre school faculty member's car
is/being investigated by Clare Police this week.
,Owner of the car, William Grier,
told   police  he  thought  it   might
have-been put in at Halloween. He
discovered   it   when   the   vehicle
.developed motor troubles.
Chief William Cook and Officer
William Bell worked all day Thursday on the regular day shift, and
were still on duty Thursday night
when the alram for downtown fire
came, so they stuck to their posts.
They had been joined earlier iu
the evening by Officers Ray Shoe
and Jim Davis coming on duty at
7 p.m and all four police officers
worked all night, controlling traffic
and crowds during the fire fighting
operation.
Then Chief Cook spent all day
Friday on the job.
This week he offered his grateful
thanks to Sheriff Jim Darling, of
Clare County, Mt. Pleasant Police
Chief Vernell Davis and his men,
Isabella county sheriff's representatives, Chief Don Lloyd of Farwell,
Coleman police officers, Army reserve and Michigan State troopers
from three posts who gave such
Willing help to Chief Cook and his
men in policing the disaster area
Thursday night and ear.ly Friday.
$!&¥&-
Bud Anderson added a note
of solemn, appreciation -after
the Thursday Might downtown
fire when he told how he wished he could thank an unidentified stranger who saved him
from falling while sparks were
being extinguished on the roofs
of stores. Anderson said he
nearly slipped on a ladder but
that he was grabbed by someone .who hung on -until the ladder was righted once more.
The risky rescue undoubtedly
saved him from an icy fall.   .
* * *
For every news picture that appears in the Sentinel somewhere
there is an original photograph
that accompanies it. Sometimes
the owners pick these up. but more
often they don't and so there is a
big box of pictures at the Sentinel, of engagements, weddings, and
anniversaries of local people.
They can be claimed by owners.
5 Stores Leveled
As Fire Disaster
Dramatic
A dramatic pattern is made as firemen are
silhouetted against the awesome flames.
Moments after this picture was inade, ihe walls
warped   in   the
pavement below.
heat    and   crashed   to    the
Photo by Lee Sowle
St. Louis
hve lakes
'Casper' Home
By Pioneer Staff Writers
. Ths. Clare Pioneer cagers came
out on the short end of a 49-47
score last Friday night in a hard
fought battle with St. Louis
Grimsor* Tide on the down-staters
home court.
The Pioneers also lost possession
of Casper, the Goat, who goes to
the victor in matches between the
two schools.
Coach George Perry's quintet
was unable to find the basket in
the first half and they were trailing 20 to 26, when the horn blew.
In the third quarter, the Pioneers
rallied all their forces as they tied
the score 30 and 30.
In the final quarter, a rash ot
fouls called on the Clare team
lost the game for them.
During the game John Miller accounted for 15 points. Bernie
Longstreth, 11; Dick Roe. 6; Guy
HaneckowS and Dave Moffitt 2.
The Little Pioneers of Clare
High also went down in defeat
against tlie Crimson Tide of St,
Louis on the sasne evening.
The Pioneers trailing 4.5 to 36 at
the "end of the third quarter madp
a tremendous effort to win the
game as they out-scored their opponents 10 to 2 in the fourth
quarter. As the final horn sounded
the scoreboard showed St. Louis
48, Pioneers 47.
The Little Pioneers were led by
the sharp shooting of Pat Crawford with 12, Bill Beemer with 10,
and the splendid ball han'flling ot
the freshman, Bill Legg. GaJe
Grant,
List Top Scholars
A t Half- Year Mark
Thirty five students at Clare
High School "finished the first half
of the scho.ol year with an all A
standing in. their classes.
The final standings are results
pf elasswork, midterm tests, and Semester examinations.   '"*
Freshman with an all A average
are; Sharon. Beemer, Donnell Bird-
sail, Joyce Dunkle. Ann Elden.
Judy Fancon, Janet Hanchett, Judy
Marotzke, Jim Norcutt, Gloria 01-
seu, Carron Randall, Carolyn Seibt,
Judy "Ulrich, Robert C. Walter.
Sandra Wentworth, Julie Wood,
and Karen Worstell.
10th   Grade,   Ralph   Baumgarth,
Plan New
Masonic
Temple
At a joint meeting held Thursday night, John Q. Look Masonic
Lodge and Zenobia Chapter OES
discussed plans for a new Masonic
Temple in Clare.
The buildings site is in the Van-
dewarker subdivision, on the new
Schoolcrest Street. Exqavating will
start early this spring.
The gi*oup enjoyed a potluck
dinner prior to the meeting. Another potluck dinner and open
meeting will be held February 28,
and building plans will come in
for further discussion at this
meeting. .
THE WEATHER:
Snow Flurries,
Continued Cold.
The Saginaw News
HOME
EDITION
SUi Mai, No. 217      Photis PL 2-7171
Saginaw, Michigan, Friday, January 18, 1957
36 Paget'
Prico Seven CenU.
ion Loss At Clare
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CLARE — The »iir-t hie in   ■•"■*• •"* "■*"■ Wf** «»*■ ■*  till pm the Io** »t  elwe to ■, ttrt*'**- *
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SB^^fasEE
George Davis, Becky Groves, Sharon Jackson, Ray Neff, James Seitor
Gloria Sickal and Barb Tubba,
llth Grade, Sharon Grimason.
Ann Jackson, Mary Maloney, Gail
Samborn.      _    ,   0 ^        4: . j-JL
12th Grade, Lydabelle Bickiiell,
Sharon Gaspeny, Kay Loomis, Martha-Lucy, Mary Tice, Roger Walter, Sally Walter
Those with a B or better avarage
for the past semester are, ninth
grade, Beverly Badgley,- Carolyn
Bauder, Darlean Gruno, Jack Bauder
Linda Blystone, Karen Bowers,
Sharon Brazie, Larry Calkins, Gay-
la Carrow, Rose Dole, Ron Dull,
Stuart Hampton, Margo Haring,
Vern Hart;
SharOn Jackson, Pain Koch, Bill
Legg, Tom Maloney, Leonard Mo-
James, Deb Nolan, Erna Northon,
Mary Presley, Frank Rowley, Ruth
Schroeder, Marilyn Smith, Vera
Smith, , Shirley Tice, Ttoger Wallace, John Zinser.
10th Grade, Silvia Ames, Evelyn
Archbold, Georgia Blackmore, Larry Cole, Edith Colmus, Bonnie
Comstock, Nancy Dailey, John
Freeman, William Gibis, Donna
Kegg, Eleanor Letson, Bonnie
Lloyd, Roger Lower, Marlene
Lower;
Donald Moore, Shirley Moore,
Neil Nevill, Carol Richardson, Barb
Scheer, John Seiter, Larry Stanley.
Ann Thayer, Douglas Walters, William Wilson, Bill Zinser
llth Grade, Joe Alletn, Jack Ba-
der, Carol Bauder, Joan Bennett,
Kay Blystone, Marilyn cBrown, Nancy Burton, Joyce Delamarter, Betty
Gordon, Junnell. Grinnell, Arlean
Hogue, Dick Roe, Sandy Russell,
Kathleen Thayer, Margaret Wad-
dington, Mary Walter, Judy White,
Jean Wood.
12th Grade, Dick Beery, Roy Bel-
tinck, Sandy Bergstrom, Jeannie
Bowler, Carol Bradley, George
Bradley, Judy Brown, Bill Carter,
Gary Davis, Veruette "Dunkle, Judy
Feeny, Judy Johnson, Ruth Kleiner, Carol .Kleinhardt, Larry Lang,
Sharon Lang, Joyce Miller;
Chuck Murphy, Nancy Neff, Ka>
Ritter, Jim Rodabaugh, Barb Van
Sicklen, Bob Warner, Elizabeth
Wentworth, Naomi Wichert, Sharon Zimmerman, Joyce Wilson, Wyman Smith.
* Loss
Daily newspaper headlines'told Michigan Friday thai Clare was scarred
and suffered wiih-»her worst hurts sines fires in the I920fs took the school
and Davys' Department store.
Amateurs
Appearing
In Revue
Vocal and instrumental musical
numbers, dancing and acrobatics
will be on the program at the annual Amateur Show, Friday eve-
'ning, January 25, at Clare School
'Auditorium.
Over (thirty contestants, from
Mt Pleasant, Evart, and Bay City:
besides the Clare city and county
area, will be On hand to compete
lor a television appearance opportunity.    * 1
The winner Will- appear over.
WNEM-TV Bay City,
E, W, Laclde, Of. WNEM-TV,
Emil Bueholz of the Clare County
Cleaver, and Mrs.- Georgia Martin,
WCEN radio, will apt as' judges. «
DeMolay boys -are selling the
tickets.  '...■.
Owners Talk
Clean-Up
Of Fire Ruin
It was yet too early this week foi
-^(Inite rebuilding plans after the
fh*e which destroyed five Claie
business places last Thursday night
and Friday morning.
On Monday, Andrew Irwin, of the
Clare Odd Fellows, Kenneth
Barne3, Mrs. Ella Autry, Mr. .and
Mrs. Guiette met with Art Damoth
and representatives of the Chamber of Commerce to try to co-ordinate plans for cleaning away rubble.
Preparations for rebuilding were in
their minds
James Grove, Charles Hart, and
other property owners affected had
been invited to the meeting but
were unable to attend.
Joint efforts to contract for the
removal of debris were tentatively
begun.
A statement by Mr. Irwin indicated that the local Odd Fellow organization would seek consultation
with the State Lodge before planning their next steps. Offers to buy
the I. O. O. F, property have been
received.
Flans of Mr. Barnes are also indefinite. He said that he is presently considering several courses
open to him in re-establishing his
business..
Next May First would have been
celebrated as the 30th anniversary
of the start of tlie Barnes Cafe -business in Clare, and extensive remodelling Of the building interior
had only just been completed before fire struck.
Groves Brothers' store also had
been modernized and remodelled
recently and Mr. Grove watched
flames demolish all store improvements. Groves' valuable Old Firearms collection was saved.
Chuck Hart was not available foi
information   on  rebuilding.
Roy Beltinck, owner of the
Gamble Store became the first to
announce a special sale of merchandise damaged by smoke. A
firewall stopped the flames short
of his store, but much of the goods
on shelves and counters was stained or otherwise damaged by smoke
'ii..sale of bargain items begins next
week, and repair and reopening Of
the store will follftw later.
Wednesday, Fml Guiette asked
owners of destroyed buildings tc
hear what/ he had learned aboul
federal assistance from the Small
Business Administration. He said
that he would try to talk to interested property owners that afternoon.
Fire  of    disastrous    proportions
.brought   total    ruin to almost    a
whole city block in Clare's busi^
ness   section    Thursday    night  as
Bafnes Cafe and Bar,  Grove Brothers' 5c to $1 store, Guiette Paint'
and Wallpaper Store, the. Western;
Auto  Store, and   Chuck's',   Ta"veji.'n'
all burned to the   ground.   Severe:
damage -from smoke and. other ',ef■
fgcts'oi the fire were felt'also, toy;
the  Gamble Store  and  Mehtheri's
Cafe. . . ,  ('..''■■■
• Clare's firefighters assisted by'
men .and equipment from-seven;
neighboring cities and towns, put
strength arid nerve into a' ..ilv.e-*
hour battle in sub-2ero cold to'
control'the inferno. Blading rubble;
continued to cast a pall of smoke',
and ash over part of Clare through-
Friday. At the height of the fir-*'
Thursday night, eleven trucks Jarid
more than 100 men*' were in .tlie,
fight. ,     .
Only light personal injury, accompanied the disaster. K^Fireman-
Edward "Tex" Vernon of. the;
Clare FD sustained a back injury,
when he lost his footing on . icy
stairs and fell.^Mrs. Leta Bpoth,.
an upstairs tenant over • Barnes'
Cafe was overcome by smoke as
she escaped from her apartment,
Forced to flee from, other living
quarters in the path of the flames
were: Miss Kennctha Barnes, Bernard L. Sunday with his wife, six-
months-old son, and his mother
Mrs. Violet.'Sunday all of whom
iiv'ed in -Barnes' second-floor
apartments'. . Apartments over
Grove Brothers' "were occupied by
Mrs. . Kathryn Freeman, Claire
County. Nurse and hqr son -John,
•Charles. BJart and his mother lived
upstairs over Chuck's Tavern.
. Clare- Oddfellows and Rebekahs,
owners of the. Guiette and Western
Auto places, lost' their meeting
hall, located upstairs over' those
stores. *    . .■•;.   .     ,'■■:
The ruinous Uoll of the fire was
estimated at pearly $1 million, but
later figures placed the amount a.,
between .$300,000 and $300,500.
However, "guesses at cost of replacing the .buildings ran much
higher. "
. Clare Fire Chief Stanley Parish coordinated efforts of firefighters aiid equipment from Cadillac, Mt. Pleasant Harrison,. Coleman, Beaverton, Farwell and
Rosebush' .with Clare's Fire Department,-in the all-night battle tc
halt .the blaze.
The fire, "which was discovered
at about lO:30 p.m. started in the
rear    basement   of   the   Western
1 v5.?s»i "VV t-°: '
■. .wy^vwJ- IteZSSkJ.
Snow
Show
These Ski Patrol troop;, are coming io Clare's
Winter Festival to display their skill in
maneuvers on skis* snow shoes, and with
weapons. Ji is io be part of the attraction
Friday and Saturday during the celebration.
U. S. Army Photo
Sixty Biddy
Cagers Qut
For Practice
By Judy Brown
Of the Pioneei* Staff
Biddy Basketball is off with' a
bang with . sixty youngsters out
for practice. Tournament pi&y begins next week.
The people who are making all
this possible are Coaches Joe
Johnston, Dale Miller, Homex
O'Dell and Stuart Kinde. They
have been giving tip their Saturdays to help the boys.
- There is ,still time for more boys
to come to practice. Four to sixth
graders  are invited'.
Nd SNQW. BUT SHOW MUST GO Oti
Festival to Present
Best Program Ever
Martha Luoy, senior at Clare
High School, was chosen Saturday
afternoon, January 19, to represent
Clare in the Miss Clare County
Winter ..Sports Contest Queen at the
Queen's Ball this Saturday evening,
January 26.
To start off Clare county's annua*
Winter 'Festival weekend, a group
of sixteen U .S. Army ski troopers,
from Camp Hale, Colorado, will
arrive in Clare Friday, at 11:00
a.m.
They arc part of a U. S. Army.
Cold Weather Training Command
and aremakdng a 20-day skiing exhibition tour through Michigan.
Sponsors of this annual Festival
continue to cast anxious eyes, skyward iu hope that new snow will
fall to make skiing'possible. ThaAv-
ing which began Sunday, has bareti
slopes and ski runs which are the
only sites foi* the outdoor parts ol'
the week end spectacle.  -    ■
Clare's Chamber of Commerce ■
staging tho affair with Ken Barnes
heading' promotion activity. Saturday banquet tickets are $2.75, admission to the Queen's Ball is fre"
to all who wear a little lapel-souv'
nil* of the event, "$1.00*rA big color
TV set is the prize'" in a drawing
also held by the Clare C of C.
Here are the> highlight's of th<l
.■Schedule: planned for the weekend,
FRIDAY, 11 a.m>--1Ski troops arrive' in Clare. They will be welcomed by the, mayor, City officials,
Chamber of Commerce committee
anc} color guard frdm the U,S. Army Reserve post in Clare,
■FRIDAY^ i p.m;-!-The troopers
will give 'a demonstration Ort the
ice of Budd Lake , at Harrison
Skiing wjith a tow rope from Court
Batierfe plane is planned.
SATURDAY   afternoon—Back  ai
Stiow Snake. Mt. 9 miles north df
Clare, the ski troops will give ex-
(ContinW on Page 8)"    *  «
Scout Execs
Study Finance
Goa! Failure   ,
'The Clare BOy Scout, and Girl
Scout Finance Committee met
Saturday at the Hotel Doherty in
Glare to consider the shortage
encountered in their 1957 goaL
It   is  estimated   the Shortage it
the gbal will amount to about 17,
to.--19 hundred dollars.
• • Joe Grigware,  Clare County Finance    Chairman,    Dr.  G-.    B.orn,
Clare   chairman,   Harold    Hughes.
Robert   Campbell,   Gordon    Mcintosh   and   Jack    Scheall,    District
Scout Executive attempted to firid
a method to gain the shortage in
the Boy Scout budget.
A full tirfie executive is being
maintained in the district and, it
will; be ■necessary to raise the entire budget in 1957. Several _, possible solutions were discussed. The
full''time executive1 Was employed
mid-y956 and the Scouting picture
in general showed great improve-
riferit and a modest gain in membership, It is felt that continued
progress can be, made during 1957.
j  On Inside Pages   |
,  Harrison News 2
City Briefs ts>         3
Society   News 7 .*
; . Lake New?     " 9
'Farwell News 10
.; Fat-m News 12    •
Want Ads -Notices 14-16
Rosebush News ,        10,
Auto Store. John "Freeman who
lived in an upstairs apartment
with his mother, Mrs, Kathryn
Freeman, turned in the alarm.
Chief Parish agreed that the fire
may have gained a smoldering
start in the auto supply store" duc-
ing Thursday afternoon hours
while the place was closed., When
firemen were forced t<$ open the
building's basement to get at the
smoke source, the blaze suddenly
erupted through basements, avails
and attics of the entire area, Lack
of firewall protection invited
spread of the flames,'   :,-V    '':
The most recently built jbf.vtho
burned buildings is sixty yearS,.or
more old according. to memory -of
Cl;<re    residents and it   has    long
been  known aud feared  that fire
in the- block would be difficult to
control because of unimpeded. "air
draft space in the attic and- wails.
A   Santhwest   breeze   spread
the flames   rapidly j-iid   Chief
I'arish called for help through
Michigan State Police from *Uic
Mt Pleasant post
A track-mounted aerial laid.-,
der from the Cadillac fire, department, rushed here under
escort, by Michigan State to-
licc of the Cadillac post, was
credited with halting the fire
at the Gamble Store, and saying that and Witbeck's IGA
bupermarlset, both in , Immediate danger fr'oin the fire';. ,
• During    early,   hours of   rising
danger with the fire, yet out of
control, sparks and flaming- embers were wind-swept across IJc-
Ewan street to roofs all the way*
from Northland Hardware to Anderson's Drug store • halfway
through the next block northward,.
Volunteers took to the rooftops to
stamp out threatening, spread of
the-firrj; '--- * ■ .*■;■ ■■* ,; <(«*
'$teady wind direction from .the
southwest eased the dang'ar to* Hie
Fourth street block Where Seiter
Brothers 'Lumber Company and
the ' Clare Inn are the Iarge**rt-'
buildings. .     **
Explosions of ammunition stores
at the Western Auto buildnig, and
lacquer and paint supplies„at Culottes hampered firemen. * streets
and alleys becoming . quickly
glazed with ice in Thurs'day
night's zero temperatures were an
added hazard.
Many volunteers worked side by
side with regular firernen -to halt
the flames. William H.' Bieknell
and Co. store opened its doors and
handed out gloves and boots to
firefighters.
Members of the Glare Masonic
Lodge and O.E.S, Chapter were on
the job all night, serving hot coffee and soup to weary firemen.
Clare City Police, assisted by
Michigan State Troopers from
Mt. Pleasant, Cadillac and
IIougMon Lake Posts dctoured
traffic around the burning
area and controlled crowds of
spectators that lined sidewalks'
into tlie early hours Friday.
Clare County Sheriff' James
Darling, deputies from the Isabella County Sheriff's department, Mt. Pleasant City Police,
Army reserves from the Clare
armory, and Midland Fire
Chief Earl Eftgwis also' rushed
to the scene to offer assistance.
Michigan Consolidated Gas employees,- headed by John Roden-
beck, area manager, from Mt.
Pleasant, pounded through the
pavement with air-hammers at
Fourth and McEwan streets to
reach gas mains ahd cut-off gas*
supplies  to the burning buildings.
The climax came at shortly after 1 a.m. Friday when the roof
and walls of the buildings collapsed.
At the south end ot the block,
Menthen's Cafe, somewhat damaged but safe, the Diohese Tavcfh,
and Irwins, Barber shop were Still
standing.    " . .,
At the north end of the block,
the Gamble Store and WitbeclCs
IGA, still seriously ' threatened,
were protected by a steady deluge
of water pouring "from Cadillac'^
$40,000 aerial' ladder unit.    '
By    daylight Friday,    heavy
clouds of smoke,   still   billowed
from, the ice-coated ruins, and "
small fires blazed out intterinlt-    .
tently here   and there in   the   >
razed area,  Curious  sightseers,
formed a Steady march past the
area throughout    the weekend
and into Monday. Auto traffic
snarled.
Firemen and pumper -trucks
were 'on duty all day Friday, feeding steady streams of water into
the  smoldering rubble; '
•As late as Saturday morning,
stationary hoses were still spraying water into the area, both ''%}
the frpnt and back,    ,
Sgt Glenroy Walker, district fite
marshal frtjm, the Roeklerd Post
oi: the Michigan. State pQlicO, was
here Friday seeking to learn -the
cause of >the catastrophe