1961-03-09; Clare Sentinel

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Established 1878
Ten Cents Copy
THE CLABE SENTINEL,: CLARE. MICHIG-AN
MARCH 9. 1961
Nev/ Series, Vol, 69, No. 26
■A   *•
Clare county's new Dairy Princess posing between the two leading members of
her court is Carol Ann Laughlin, chosen
Thursday at the 1961   Tri-Couniy Dairy
Day held in Clare. At left is Gail Beavers, and right is Louise Switzer, 3d and
2d place runners up in the judging.
Sentinel Photo
Sudden Winter Hits
With 8-Inch Snowfall
An old-fashioned winter blizzard that gathered a vast sky full of snow and dumped it on the
suddenly shivering midwest answered the question Wednesday, "where is our snow?" After an
entire season, spotted only with Spells of cold,
but with months of bare ground, fhe storm yesterday piled up four inches of the* white stuff in
the first two hours of the afternoon and continued to steadily make up for earlier mildness.
The March that pussyfooted in like a lamb
had turned to a vicious lion.        *
The suddenness of the choking snowfall was
evident in the countryside that was entirely bare
at 12 o'clock noon, and buried under drifts of
wet, packing snow before two o'clock.
Budding spring turned a
the stinging storm.
wet, cold back to
In the area schools closed and sent their bus
loads of students homeward at 2:00 in hurrying
need to beat drifting and slippery road condi-
Carol Laughlin Chosen
County Dairy Princess
Crowning of Carol Ann Laughlin as Clare County Dairy
Princess was the high point in.
an interesting and entertaining
program at tri-county Dairy
Day in Clare Thursday of last
week. The banquet and program
were held in the Oddfellow hall
with about 300 dairymen and
their families attending from
Clare, Isabella and Gladwin
counties.
Carol, a petite, dark haired 17
year-old is a senior at Marion
High School. She was chosen
from a group of nine candidates
for the title and the $25. prize
that goes with the honor. The
contest is sponsored by the Clare
County Farm Bureau.
Clare Extension Agent Richard
Schroeder, co-organizer with
Gladwin county agent Paul Pen-
nock for the event said that, "I
usually measure the success ot
these events by the amount ot
interest and requests for fai*rri
visits that result. Already several farm1 families have asked that
I *come and talk to them about
some program or improvement in
their  farming   operations".
"Waterworks" Program
Proposed To Give City
Iron Removal Plant
A public information campaign
with the goal of winning favor-
Her home is a rural residenc-'Y *"*-*-'le... v°tes  April 3 for Clare's
fit 11-2, Marion where her parents
the George Laughlins operate a
farm. At. home, Carol has a twin
brother Daryle, and one married
sister is Mrs. Karen Gerrtaat, of
Grand Rapids. She is a popular
student with interests in Future
Homemakers, the, organization of
a Youth For Chirst.; Bible ,club'
among schoolmates, and at home
she volunteers that .she" -is* .an
experienced tractor ihahcf ■ fr"<f"
quently called on to ' help'■"-jyitn"
work on the farm.
Winners of second and third
places in the Princess judging
were Louise Switzer of Gladwin,
daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Noel
Switzer, and Gail Ann Beavers of
Farwell, daughter of Mr. and
Mrs. Hobart Beavers. Other con*
testants were Janet Nevill, Clare;
Barbara Tews, Gladwin; Helen
Krawczynski, Harrison; Darlene
Weldon, Gladwin; Helen Mielke,
Farwell; Karol McKenna, Gladwin. - -
Princess Carol's crown was
placed on her head by last year's
Dairy Princess, Sharon Butcher
of Harrison.
On the program, speakers
Robert Maddex and George Parsons from Michigan State University discussed cattle housing
arrangements and herd health,
dairymen watched a timely motion picture, and a panel of five
£lare county farmers discussed
dairying topics.
Lunch for the crowd was furnished by Kraft Foods and there
were numerous door prizes.
Davis Gets
Conference
Cage Berth
Norm Davis, Clare basketball
forward' who scored 251 points in
**s4xteen games this season to average 15.6 per game, won a place
on the All Conference second
team for Mid-Michigan B recognition.
With Jeff Raymond, Dave Turan, and Ray Murphy all teammates, on the Pioneer squad that
broke a four-year losing; streak
of 55 games and played a 500
percent season, Davis completed
a foresome named for conference
honors. The others were all named to honorable mention lists by
coaches and "sportswriters.
All are seniors at Clare except
Turan, a junior.
First team choices in the conference were Dave Petrosky and
.Jisloyd Tomcal of Chesaning, Phil
"Curtice from the championship
squad at Shepherd, Bob Wells at
Durapd, and Jerry McClihtic at
St, Louis,
wafer improvement program had
its beginning this week under
sponsorship of the city .government. The many sided effort is
to give wide circulation to listed
benefits that can be expected
from purer water and better circulation of existing supplies.
Proposed is a new "waterworks" plant .to filter rust and
iron out of water and etim"inati|>n
of.'bottlenecks in the distribution
of Water to users. . .
1 When the day comes next
rtionth to ballot on municipal
water Improvement financing, no
resident will be without information about the Commission's
recommendations and how the
service is expected to improve if
they are adopted.
Aiding in the compaign's direction is the consulting firm,
George Snyder Associates, employed by the city thirteen
mohths ago to map a course leading to more and better water
with more satisfactory service
for all users.
Ready for immediate employment in the publicity program
are newspaper advertisements
and informative articles, a printed brochure, booklets and leaflets
to reach voters by direct, mail,
downtown show-window posters,
and radio releases.
The public will be urged to get
out to vote and support the bor-
rowing plan to finance the water
program. An appeal for assistance in doorbell ringing and telephoning on election eve will be
taken to service clubs and interested citizens, Snyder said.
Before the voters for decision
on April 3 is a proposal calling
for a $150,000. general obligation
bond issue to finance a plant to
remove iron from city well water,
also extensive expansion of the
city's water main . circulation
system.
The printed brochure soon to
be mailed to residents states the
proposal    and    answers    many
questions most often asked about
the project.
Taxwise, the project is estimated to cost three mills. The brochure says that it will be necessary to increase city taxes up to
this amount to meet payments
on the estimated debt of $150,000.
For a taxpayer with $3,000. al
local assessment, the tax increase
will not exceed $9.00 per year for
no longer than 15 years.
The iron removal plant proposed for Clare under "the program is described as op'eraljlng
like a giant water filter -and soft-
.ener. One of the advantages
claimed for householders if the
plant is built is the reduced necessity for individual's home
water softeners.
Continued  on  page  6
Vandewarker
Hardware
Sold To 'Kens'
After 35 years in business,
Orval Vandewarker has sold his
hardware and supply retail business to his daughter and son-in-
law, Mr. and Mrs. Ken Martz.
Effective on March 1, Mr. and
Mrs. Martz began operation Under the name Ken's Hardware
and Supply. They plan to continue the business in much the
same operating manner as ,Mr.
Vandewar,ker.
The store, located north of
Statewide Real Estate offices on
North McEwan sells a complete
line of farm supplies, household
hardware and small appliances,
garden supplies and tools. A welcome is extended to all old and
new customers. "
Mr. Vandewarker plans to continue in the same location with
the J. I. Case heavy farm machinery Sales and service and otrier
farm equipment lines.
Mr. and' Mrs. Martz plan a
grand opening later in the spring
with full announcements to appear in The Sentinel.
Township
Zoning
Three Clare county townships
of Grant, Hamilton and Hatton
have all taken a renewed interest in their proposed zoning ordinances in the expressed belief
that orderly growth and development is necessary under public
controls. And a Clare County
Planning Commission under
leadership of Don Smith of Far
well, and Stuart Huntley of Harrison is gathering information
and ideas to be presented before
the county supervisors at their
next meeting.
4-H School
A Clare county 4-H Awards
committee numbering Del Butcher, chairman and Leone Dunkle,-
Grace Coats, Basil Cole, Inez
Pudvay, met recently to- make
recommendations to the 4-H
Council concerning delegates to
a leadership school in Washington, D.C. Present at the meeting
were Clare County Extension Director Richard Schroeder and
Miss Norleen Ackerman, Home
■Extension Club Agent.
The committee also explored
more effective methods of selecting delegates to all county and
state award trips, Schroeder said.
JC Honors
Dinner Is
Tonight
Clare Junior Chamber of Commerce men will turn out tonight
for one of the most important
and looked-forward-to events on
their year's calendar, — Bosses-
Night. With dinner and a program at Barnes' Town and
Country in Clare, the club members will .treat "The Chief",
listen to speeches, and pass out
awards to a list of fellow citizens
selected for honors.
The JayCee awards for the
1961 Distinguished Service A-
ward, and one for the community's Outstanding Young Farmer
head a list that also includes recognition for four other noteworthy achievements on the .part
of friends and supporters of the
aims of the organization.
Identity of the two to receive
top honors will be kept secret
until the moment when the
awards are announced tonight.
Most recent recipients of the
Distinguished Service, and Outstanding Young Farmer citations were Alan Ott, cashier at
the Citizens State Bank ih. Clare,
and Robert Clute, Grant township farm operator. They were
named,in 1959. and no event was
held in' I960:   ;
Main speaker on tonight's' program is to be Harry Densmore,
past president of the Mt. Pleasant
JayCees, and Isabella county
agricultural agent. He is a candidate for the office of Michigan
State JayCee vice president.
The Selection of the men for
special awards tonight has been
a climax after eliminations from
among a group of candidates for
both titles. (To be considered for
the year's Outstanding Young
Man, a candidate -must have
shown special ability in civic
leadership and must have contributed to the betterment of the
community. .Nominees for the
Young Farmer of the Year recognition must have exhibited
special talents and success in the
operation of his farm operation,
and earned the endorsement oi
experts in farm management.
Both winners will be selected
from the age group between 21
and 35 years.
A.A. Sold
The Ann Arbor Railroad Com
pany, a wholly owned Subsidiary
of the Wabash Railroad will be
sold to the Detroit. Tolec(D and
Ironton Railroad Company for
$3.0. million, it was jointly announced recently by the Presidents of the two roads, Herman
H. Pevler of the Wabash, and
David E. Smucker of the D.T.&I.
at Dearborn, Michigan.
The Boards of Directors of
both railroads have approved the
sale and the transaction will be
presented to the Interstate Commerce Commission for approval
in the near future. .
CMC Classes
Persons interested in future
classes offered at Clare by Central Michigan University are invited to attend a discussion of
future course offerings at 4:30
p.m. March 20 at the high school.
A. T. Rolph, assistant director
of field services, will be present
to help in planning courses. All
persons interested in future
courses are invited to attend,
even though they may not be
currently enrolled.
A grass and brush fire Thursday of last
week that started a mile east of the city
t ajrport raced voyer a mile-long strip of
fields and* threatened the horhd bf Axel
Johnson on the Tobacco river bank before ii was subdued by Clare Firemen
and a large crew of volunteers and Consumers Power company crewmen. Here.
BB Shoot
Entries
Top Record
Clare JayCee sponsors of the
B-B Gun Shoot for boys said
this week that entries in the Saturday competition have passed
125 boys and youths, and may be
swelled by another 25 or 30 contestants by the Friday deadline
for entering tomorrow. It will be
the largest such contest in the
series conducted here under
sponsorship of the organization.
The contest will be held this
coming Saturday afternoon in
the Clare Elementary School
gym since the large number of
entries made it impractical to
run off the shooting in the forenoon.
The order of events at the
shoot will feature a lecture and
demonstration on gun safety by
sportsmen, and by members of
the Clare unit of* the U.S. Army
Reserve. Rod and Gun Club
members and Army Reservists
have been asked to aid JayCees
in conducting the firing.
Air guns and official targets
are furnished by the Daisy Air
Gun company.
Winners of 1st and 2nd places
in three age groups will be eligible to compete in a state match^
to be held later this spring. Boys
as young as eight years may enter.
Hot dogs and bottled pop for
all shooters will be furnished by
the JayCees,
Fashion Show
A Farwfell Women's Club
Spring Fashion Show 'scheduled
for. Friday evening, March If at
the Farwell school gym has
nearly completed plans 'for exhibitors and special showings.
•Mrs. William Dodge, .general
chairman for the event and Mrs.
Donald Pitchford in charge of
ticket sales report that admissions may be bought from club
members and many other sources *in Farwell. High school students there are also selling tickets.
In its first year of promotion,
the event may be included on
the club's calendar as a regular
annual event- ;
j
the crackling flames reach So. Cornwell
Road after autos had been hastily
, ^esRacuated. Conservation officers and
firemen remind all residents to be specially careful with outdoors fires through
the dry spring and summer season.
Sentinel photo
tions- After winterlong escape from lost days on
account of weather, Wednesday 'was the second
day this week that transportation was risky enough to close classrooms. - "       '   -
On Monday schools in Clare county and elsewhere couldn't send-buses out because of freezing rain that was icing roads, and schools in
Clare, Farwell and Harrison remained closed all
day. More. than 3580 students attend schools in
the county,
The first two games of the
District Basketball Tournaments,
scheduled to be played at Harrison on Wednesday night were
postponed because of difficult
traveling conditions.
At the Harrison school, a
spokesman said that the contests would be played tonight
with Farwell meeting Harrison
at 7:00, and Clare vs. Beaverton
at 8:30 in the Harrison gym.
Second-round eliminations will
be played as originally scheduled
on Friday.
At the county highway garage
in Clare, reports were that
country road conditions were
very severe.
There was a struggle to free
halted traffic near James Hill
six miles north of Clare and at
"bottlenecks" both north and
south of the Randall corner
three miles north of the city on
US-27.
Every available plow and road
scraper was on the clearing job
within minutes after the storm
hit, and sanding crews with
trucks stood by at 3:30 waiting
the word to follow scrapers on
the worst stretches of slippery
road.
A Greyhound bus in Clare was
delayed part of the afternoon .in
its scheduled' takeoff' ori'a noruv.
bound run. It was being held
while waiting word of clearing
operations On US-27.
At the height of the storm,
thick snow and whipping wind
closed visibility down to just
scant yards and autoists drove at
a creeping pace with full headlights on. A county Highway Department driver reported that
he was on the road an hour driving five miles from Farwell to
Clare on US-10.
Fund Raising
Glad Auction
Date Is Set
A social club for single -men
and women over the age of 35 is
in the process of organization
for membership in the area.
With headquarters in Harrison,
the prospective charter members
believe that meetings could be
held in various locations where
there are facilities for dancing,
dining and social entertainment.
Men and women interested in
belonging to the club are asked
to write to "Single Club" (Davison), Harrison P.O. Box 67 and
give a name and address where
a notice of club meetings can be
sent.
*   *   *
Sentinel readers came across a
couple of interesting items recently having to do- with days
long gone by. Mrs. Harold Murphy found some relics in\a .partition of her home east of Clare
on Old US-10. The house was
once the Vernon postoffice and
was moved from the original location south of-town on the Earl
Beatty property. An old postcard (possibly nevered delivered)
was addressed to Jacob Mason,
Esq. in June of 1881 and bore a
message from an- M. C. Parkinson jn Evart* The Mason to
whom the card is • addressed was
the "grandfather of Mrs. Kenneth
Ritter of Clare, ■' i. ■ ■ ■
.    *   * • *•
Recounting some of the worst
escapades of lumbering-days bad
men in Harrison and Clare county, a clipping from a. newspaper
attracted the** interest of another
reader because of a paragraph
describing the last days of a
saloon keeper named Cany
Back in the late . 1870s and
eary '80s, Harrison, today a
peaceful hamlet, thronged with
winter sports enthusiasts, was -a
rip-roaring lumbering center
with '22 saloons and five hotels
in addition to numerous business
places. Fistic battles were so
frequent they, were accepted as
commonplace events — like sunrise and sunset. Some of Michigan's heartiest fighting men
swaggered down Harrison's muddy, streets.
Continued on Page 6
Jim Start, president of the
Mid-Michigan Gladiolus Society
announced today that plans for
the fourth annual gladiolus auction are complete.
The Society membership, at an
earlier meeting, decided to hold
this event Sunday afternoon,
March 19, from 1:00 to 6:00. The
basement parlors of the Presbyterian Church, 1310 South Watson Road, Mt. Pleasant, were
chosen for the site of the auction
by the committee in charge.
Judge Barney Wendrow, Auction Committee chairman, has
several hundreds of bulbs to be
bid in by gladiolus fanciers at
prices not to exceed 80% of catalogue value.
This big auction Will have
many unique features for those
in attendance, including grab
bags, containing at least a dollar value of newer introduction
bulbs for 25c, free bulbs to new
members, also free coffee and
snacks.
Attendance by glad enthusiasts from many areas of the
state is expected. Among these
will be backyard hobbyists, exhibition specialists and commercial growers.
The Mid-Michigan Society depends upon the income received
from this auction to finance its
summer show — this year to be
held at .Clare, August 12 and 13.
Plans for the forthcoming event
wili be announced at a future
date.   -
The Society, its president and
board of directors, wish to invite all people interested 'in
gladiolus to attend. Remember
—- there is no admission charge.
Grange Meet"
Mt. Vernon Grange at their
next regular meeting to be on
March 13 will have a pie and
cake party open,to the public.
Bob Clute will attend the second
meeting of the month- on.March
27 to show his film slide series
on his trip last year to the
USSR and tell- of his experiences
there. This will also be an open
meeting with pot luck dinner and
the members will celebrate Birthday Night*
A serious collision involving
two trucks caused more than
$3,000 worth of damage to the
vehicles and injured three people
when storm conditions impeded
visibility and the trucks met at
the corner of US-27 and Beaverton Road north of Clare,
A Rice Furniture company
truck approaching US-27 from
the east and a large semi partly
loaded with deliveries from
Builders and Plumbers Supply of
Grand Rapids were both towed
away with $1,500 damage to
each.
Thomas J. Mathews, 21 of
Gladwin, driver of the furniture
truck received lacerations of the
scalp, but his passenger, Lester
Smith, 21 of Beaverton was
pinned in the cab and later found
to be suffering from scalp lacerations and internal injuries.
Driver of the other truck was
Lawrence Steffes, 28 of Wyoming township near Grand Rapids.
He escaped with only a bruised
arm and was soon released from
Clare General Hospital toytake a
bus home.
Numerous other accidents and
traffic mishaps were keeping
wrecker drivers busy, but police
were sO busy late Wednesday *
many reports were not in the
form of complete records. Mrs.
Alma Clute at Clute's AAA Service garage in Clare said that
trouble calls were filling a sheet
"as long as your arm."
Honors Day
Central Michigan University
will sponsor its third annual
high school honors day March
11-
Invitations have been sent to
high schools throughout the
NOrth-Centrai part of the state. ',
Students selected by the high
schools to attend the event will
be seniors in the upper five per
cent of their graduating class.
Each school is limited to five
students.
Purpose of the day is to Jion-
or high school students for
academic achievement.
A full day of activities has
been planned for the students
including tours of the campus,
talks, a luncheon, musical entertainment, and a. student panel on "Life at a University."