1961-12-28; Clare Sentinel

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Tea Cents Copy
THE CLAEE SENTINEL, CLARE, MICHIGAN
DECEMBER 28, 1981
New Series,     Vol. 71, No. 16
s
preacmig town
Cause Land-Use Concern
In the urban-suburban fringe
areas, the wise use of land ovej*
a long period of time is a matte?
of concern to conservationists.
"They have four important ot.
ject ives with respect to land use
in these areas", says William B,.
Heneberry, Michigan State Un.
iversity specialist in agriculture
economics.
"1. An orderly flow of land re-
sources out of agriculture and in>
to nonfarm uses as the neefl
arises for conversion of farm
land to a 'higher and better use*.
"2, The preservation of Space
for recreational areas.
A444^*t?
You can say this for Lou Gee,
U. S, Postmaster at Farwell, —'
he knows how to arouse your
curiosity!   Just listen to this.
We received a letter in a kind
of fat envelope a while ago when
the Christmas card flood was;
climbing toward its peak, it was;
postmarked December 16 in fact,
and the note inside said:
Deck,
"Better investigate mystery at
Clare P.O. Somebody is working;
too fast, 39 inclosed shows,
Lou.
p.s.   Merry   Christmas."
Out of the folded note fell two
ends of a dull red necktie
obviously snipped off while the
wearer was still inside the cravat,
Well, we felt like a television
"private eye" poking a nose into
the beginning of a whodunit, until Mrs. Gee helped unravel the
mystery.
Harold Schaeffer at the Clare
postoffice, hurriedly "_ying,,out".
bundles of hiait lor delivef^ to
Farwell  was   bending  over the
"3, The maintenance of highly
productive lands in agricultural
Use arid diversion of the less pro
ductive into other uses.
"4. On lands lef tin agriculture,
to 'use each acre of land'.within
its capabilities and to treat each
acre of land according to its
needs for protection and improvement'."
Conservation problems in the
urban fringe area are also ag«
grayated by taxes, Heneberry
says. Farmers feel the pressure
of higher, taxes rather quickly,
when suburban expansion takes
place.
Assessed valuations increase
when high "asking prices" lot
surrounding land result from
high prices paid' for land: to be,
subdivided, TRate" increases ar,e
caused by the .demand foy serv
vices, most of which* are support*
ed largely from property tast
revenues.   .   • '
Increasing taxes aggravate con:
servation problems by increasing
costs and decreasing the profits
that are necessary for investment in conservation measures.
Investments in permanent im.
■provements may add to the.
assessed valuation of the farm;
yet may not increase its market
value appreciably.
This may .lead to the farmers
resorting to a system of farming that causes depletion and d&
Continued on Page 8
Council To
Tour Jail
The Isabella County Safety
Council will meet Tuesday eve-
ning, January 2, at 8 o'clock in
the Squad Room in the new isa'
belja County Jail, After the meeting, coffee will be served and
Sheriff Henry Craven will con-
■ duct a tour of the jail for those
persons who were unable to attend a previous open house.
Dr.  Leroy   Sterling,   program
chairman, • will show a film on
-freeway Driving. *   'r
 u         A Good Driver will be honored*
work counter and wrapping twine jThe public is cordially invited.
on the mail when his tie ends became caught in the handful of
letters and he tied them fast with
the mail!
With his dacron neckpiece tied
in the  bundle,  and more  mail
piling up on the counter in the
growing   flood   of  work,  there
was nothing for his friends to do
but "help" by clipping him free.   '■
That they did.
So   the   Farwell   mail   went
through on time With tie, twine,
Christmas   cards   and   all.   Lou
should be comforted now that his
wife helped solve the riddle.    '"
I guess it goes to show that he
has time for a little fun, even in
the rush of getting your Tula
greetings delivered on time!
We join men and women of good will everywhere in the prayer that 1962 will see the
dawn of a just and lasting peace throughout
the world. And to our friends, and all we send
a wish for joy to you and yours.
"• '• ; • THE CLARE* SENTINEL    '     ~ *
Dairy Producers
Seven Michigan dairy herds
averaged over 600 pounds of
butterf at in 1961 according to the
annual DHIA report recently
issued by the Michigan State University dairy department, Among
them were outstanding records
by dairy herd managers Norman
Gross of Weidman and William
Block of Mt. Pleasant whose
dairy production figures placed
them in the select group reported for the year.
The Ionia State'Hospital herd
averaged 643 pounds of butter-
fat and 17,239 pounds of milk,
This was the only 600 pound
herd which is milked three times
daily.
Norman Gross has a herd
average of 637 pounds of butter-
fat and 16,491 pounds of milk.
H. R. Worth, Athens, had a
herd that averaged 619 pounds
of butterfat and 16,454 pounds of
milk.
William Gnossen, Falmouth,
averaged 618 pounds of butter-
fat and 17,598 pounds of milk
with his herd.
Hubert Long, Woodland, had
a herd.average of 614 pounds of
butterfat and 16,506 pounds of
milk.
Dolon Sweeney, Ubly, averaged 602 pounds of butterfat and
16,385 pounds of milk.
William Block averaged 601
pounds of butterfat and 16,091
pounds of milk.
1961 marks the second straight
year that • Worth, Long and
Sweeney have had herd averages
above the 600 pound butterfat
average.
The high cow for milk pro
duction in the state was a reg
istered Holstein owned by
Charles Rogers of Plymouth. She
produced 26,786 pounds of milk
in 305 days. This is more than
twice the production average of
all cows on DHIA test.
A grade Holstein cow owned
by Ernest Shaw of Okemos was
the high cow for butterfat production in the state. She produced 952 pounds of butterfat in
305 days as an aged cow. The
average butterfat production for
DHIA cows was- 419 pounds for
1961.
on the
which
Was Year Too Eventful
Calendar
Toward
impatiently
exit waiting;
Bus Danger
Report Was
Exaggerated
Coleman School Superintendent Clarence Mason flashed a
distress signal Friday of last
week after misunderstanding of
an incident involving a school bus
and railroad engine caused unwarranted news sensations about
the affair. No accident Was involved, he emphasized, and no
reason for sensation.
A Coleman School bus loaded
with students on their way to
classes Thursday morning frightened a C. and O. train crew when
they though it was headed for an
accident, and their report of the
happening set off a chain of reports that apparently distorted
the incident past its importance.
The bus driver, Alva Nester
entered Coleman from the southwest and stopped before crossing
the tracks, As a rear-view mirror
interferred With his complete
vision ahd he failed to see an
approaching railroad engine, he
began to move across the railroad spur tracks near the main
line there. But he and several of
his student passengers saw the
train immediately and he stopped
the bus about 20 feet short of
the track carrying the train.
The train fireman and .engineer, nervous because the bus had
started to move toward their
path made a proper report of the
Incident to,their Saginaw office
by telephone. But When State
Police were asked to investigate
and make certain it was a harmless incident, some first daily
news reports concluded that a
"close escape" had threatened
the students' safety.
Mr. Mason said his concern in
correcting the story was to relieve any parents of worry, and
to cjear the experienced driver of
any fault.
As we hover
around the grand
for old 1961 to depart from the
scene, .it must seem to many of
us that the old year is about to
slip away and leave many
questions unanswered, — many
issiiss Unsolved. True, we will
■remember the accomplishments
of 1961! But there will be plenty
of concern for the little New Year
1962 and the unfinished business
ready to weigh upon his shoulders at the stroke of midnight
Sunday.
In a manner of thinking, it is
rather proper that the'new year
begins fresh on the dawn of a
Monday morning. The fact symbolizes a new start in time a recharge toward progress in our
history, both private and of a
broader nature.
To recall the happenings of
1961, it might be entertaining to
go backwards .through the calendar and try a prediction here
and there in forecasting what
next year will bring.
IN DECEMBER just past The
Sentinel reported endings of two
of the biggest stories of the year
with opening of new US-10 Freeway to Clare from the east, and
the election of Harold B. Hughes
of this city to the Michigan
Senate,
The highway opening capped a
program of several years interest because.of the statewide "impact of freeway building and the
local interest' from two major
routes here and land purchasing
for right-of-way. Local economy
has been deeply affected by, both
land purchasing and the location
of several highway. and .bridge
contracting headquarters' in or
near Clare.
Senator Hughes won a Republican, nomination for the senate
seat in a "sudden" primary election in November after an allow
ed campaign time of only a few
days, then went on to easily defeat his Democrat rival; in the
Special Election on December 11.
Glare High foootbafl players
Jim Perrine, Tom Kozicki and
Dan Green were named in, December to State honor team positions after CHS earned its best
record.in year, on the gridiron,
THE NOVEMBER MOVE by
The Citizens State Bank of Clare
into new quarters was One of the
most important local stories and
easily topped the news during
the latter part of the year. The
new building was Started in the
spring and when the move was
made to the corner of McEwan
and Seventh, it emptied an important downtown location that
will soon be occupied by the Clare
City Library.
During the month the Civitans
sponsored a Halloween window
painting contest in, downtown
Clare; schools throughout the
county observed Education Week
with annual open house; Rev.
Eugene Hamblin of Owosso was
called to the pulpit of the Clare
Church of the Nazarene. • ;
THE OCTOBER DEDICATION
of Clare's new airport improvement was a news headliner when
on the 5th, the $122,000. expansion and modernization of the
field was formally accepted by
the -city. Guests Were .here for
outdoor ceremonies and a luncheon program.
Clare High Schpol held a colorful homecoming on the weekend
of October 6 and the football
team'beat Durand; a dawn patrol
at Clare's newly enlarged airport
brought 90 planes here for daylong festivities; an auto accident
took the life of LaVern Bullard,
owner of the White Wagon
Restaurant in Rosebush.
. Willard Wedge, former Clare
city engineer was,appointed city
assessor; a roadside park at "the
spring" halfway .between Clare:
and Harrison was offered to the
county road commission for $1,60
by the-State Highway Department. ,
THIRTY. DAYS HATH SEPTEMBER and they were all buiiy
days with the interesting activity
of people On. the local scene;
After, the start of classes in the
Public* School the unofficial student count revealed a 30-member
Increase over the; start of the
previous year, — the equivalent
of one classroom ftill added.
Clare pajptists .dedicated their
imposing new place of worship
on Wil.ox Parkv.ay,'Jerry utley
from Winn was" killed'when he
was accidently struck by an auto
on Farwell's main street near the
end, of the annual Labor Day
celebration there. Fire destroyed
Point Clare restaurant. Elected
delegates to the Michigan Con
Con convention from this district
were Dr. Charles Anspach from
Mt. Pleasant, and Lewis Hubbs
from Gladwin.
Ground was broken for the
preparation of Shamrock Lake
marking an immensely important
milestone in the »17-year campaign to restore what was once
a millpond, and what is now designed to be a beautiful new
waterfront residential subdivision
in Clare's city limits. Riverside
Grange accepted a state award
for valuable community service.
IN AUGUST the midsummer
days were full of news that made
local headlines such as: The
Citizens State Bank building was
sold to Mammoth Oil Company
for that firm's new headquarters
location. The ground floor was
immediately leased back to the
City of Clare for the public library's new home. Sale of the
building on, Clare's principal
street corner came through negotiations between the bank and
Sam Garfield and. Mamoth President William C. Schultz.
John R. Hall, city assessor and
member of the County Board of
Supervisors died suddenly after
a 'heart attack. County Fairs
attracted peak crOWds in Harrison and Mt. Pleasant. In a re*
organization of county civilian
defen'se directorship, Mrs. Ina
Hammond became chairman.
REVEALED IN JULY was a
$158,000, program to improve
fishing on 207 miles of the Tobacco River system and watershed. Benfefits from the project
were expected to be near elimination of surplus "rough" fish
and improvement of game fish
habitat in the stream and Far-
well pond.
The Farwell Junior Chamber
of Commerce attained club
status When its first president.
Larry Laverty received the
'charter in special icer.emon.es.
Mrs, Wallace Johnson and Harold
Brooks were elected to the Clare
School Board upon the retirement
of Dr. C. B. Neff and Carl Gruno.
Dr. Neff was elected to a seat
on the Clare County Board of
Education. A 15-year-old DeWitt
youth, Larry Fisher was drowned
in Cedar Park swimming hole.
The Clare Church of God
pastorate was filled with the arrival of Rev. Harold Nesser. The
McKay brothers Joseph and Donald dropped plans for continued
legal action after a lengthy court
fight against Highway Department right-of-way condemnation
of part of their ranch land north
of Clare.
APPOINTMENT IN JUNE as
Clare's acting postmaster made
Laurence Jackson, Jr. the third
member of his family to hold the
post. His grandfather John A.
Jackson, and uncle Francis L.
Jackson were former postmasters.
Farwell's plan for a new
Senior-Junior High School went
down to defeat at an election proposing a bond issue to pay the
construction cost. Gerald Spence,
11-year old boy from near Lake
was the victim in a fatal swimming accident in Perch Lake
The 11 children of Mr,, and Mrs.
Dale Drake with all their families
were together for the very first
time for a Father's Day celebra-
tion with their parents.
Among the 1961 June brides
were Lucille Becker (now Mrs;
Roy Monzo), Joan Iserhoth (now
Mrs. Thomas Miller), Lois Miel-
ke (now Mrs. Thomas Garver),
Elaine LetsOn (now Mrs. Forest
Densmore), Louise Miller (now
Mrs. James Judd), Loretta Hess
(now Mrs, Kenneth Warner),
Carol Coe (now Mrs, Larry
Strouse), Joan. Bond (now Mrs.
Fred Miller Jr.), Patsy Brown
(now Mrs. Max Milholin), Judy
Presley (now Mrs. Dean Loomis),
Carolyn Shroyer (now Mrs, Dale
Brockway), SUsan Storrs (now
Mra Keith Welsh).
A class of 98 robed Clare High
seniors received their diplomas
in the annual commencement
exercises. Larry Kleinhardt was
elected regional vice president of
state Future Farmers of America.
MAY HEADLINES told of the
choice of Di. Robert Kring as
honorary "Citizen Of The Year"
at C of C recognition ceremonies
during Michigan Week.
Clare Cub Scouts of Pack 120
won the order's highest award at
the annual Scout Fair with their
booth exhibit and project exhibit
and project to make and give
away nearly 5,000 little paper
flowers to passers-by.
CLARE ELECTION IN APRIL
placed two newcomers on the
city commission with the election
of George Wisier and David Donovan. Elected with them for his
second term on the civic body
was Glen Cain while voters said
"No" to a proposal for a special
tax to finance water system improvements.
Township voters named the
Boards and township supervisors.
Hamilton's Walter Ehle was elected chairman of the County Board
of Supervisors. And the State
equalized valuation reached an
all-time high of $43,433,806. in
Clare county.
IN MARCH the Clare School
Board announced plans for half-
day school attendance in the
fourth' and fifth gra'des as the
answer to intolerable overcrowding in the elementary building.
A Farwell village election placed
Willard Strahota in the post of
village president.
The area was surprised on
March 8 with a sudden snow^
storm that dumped more than
eight inches of wet packing snow
on the land. It was a shocking
turnabout in the weather trend
that had seen, one of the barest,
open winters in many years.
Schools closed, State basketball
[tournament preliminaries were
postponed, idle road plowing
equipment was rushed into service, Clare county's 1961 Dairy
Princess was Carol Ann Laugh*
lin, 17 year-old from Marion,
• TIME OFF I& FEBRUARY for
Clare area farm folks to attend
Farmer's Week at Michigan State
University saw plenty of attendance from this locality at the
annual event there.
Scholarship markings at the
end of the first term gave honor
roll recognition to 105 students
in grades 6, % and 8. The finish
of the 1961 Clare Bowling Association tourney saw champions
crowned in all division of the
event. Four cows from the Harold Brooks herd south of Clare
strayed onto the US-27 highway
and were killed when a motorist
plowed through the animal group
in the darkness. Driver of the
car, John Price of Clio was injured.
FIRE IN JANUARY inflicted a
loss of more than $325,000.00
when Seiter Brothers' Lumber
Yard was completely destroyed.
The disaster also took the Packing House Market and "two
homes, all either on Clare's
Fourth street or on the edge of
the C. and O. Railroad property.
Updrafts carried burning debris
onto the roofs of business buildings throughout the main business district and endangered the
entire center of town. Sellers
announced plans to rebuild at a
new location on West Fifth
street.
Miss Judy Ulrich won the title,
"Miss Clare" in preliminaries before the annual Winter Sports
Festival and the contest to name
Miss Clare County Winter Sports.
The weekend attraction needed
only srtow to attract skiers and
other outdoor enthusiasts for the
entertainment. Three hundred
youngsters were invited to attend
the Shrine Circus at Saginaw,
— treat on the North Central
Shrine Club.
School district voters were
notified that the Clare-Isabella
School District No. 8 had become
a "registration district" and in
the future registration was necessary to qualify as an elector.
The Sentinel and other Michigan
weekly newspapers began another year of planned advertising
to inform the public Of this
State's, attractions for industry
and population.
A renewed demand for reforms
in tax assessment aims and
methods was voiced by the State
Tax Commission after jecogni.
ing again that there was wide'
spread and undesirable variation
in evaluating similar properties
in different townships or communities.
There were 160 herds
DHIA testing program
averaged between 500 and 599
pounds of butterfat. This compared with 199 herds which had
this average during 1960.
For counties with ten or more
DHIA herds on test, Mason
county had the high county
average with 454 pounds of
butterfat.
Close behind was Ionia county
with a 453 pound average, Ottawa county with 451 pounds, and
Isabella with 448 pounds.
Missaukee, county averaged
447 pounds and Cass averaged
446 pounds of butterfat per herd.
Bell Had
Year
Expansion
The Michigan Bell Telephone
Company expended $87,500,000
for expansion and improvement
of its facilities during 1961 — the
fourth largest construction program in the company's history,
Frederick R. Eckley, vice president and general manager, said
the program "accomplished under ■
serious difficulties, serves as
evidence of our firm conviction
that Michigan's economy is headed for continued growth in which
the telephone industry will make
a substantial contribution. We
look forward to the New Year
with   optimism".
Construction expenditures during the year, Eckley said, were
made in virtually every section
of the state served by Michigan
Bell.
Highlight- of 1961 for Michigan
Bell, Eckley said, included installation of the company's 3,000,-
000th telephone in September.
The company gained a total of
55,000 telephones during the
year.
Eckley also pointed to the completion of five new buildings and
11 additions, and the start of construction on five other buildings.
In addition, new central offices
were placed into service in West
Bloomfield, Roseville, Utica, Kee-
go Harbor, and Marysville.
Another highlight was the introduction of Direct Distance
Dialing (DDD) in June to 145,000
customers in 38 communities in
the Saginaw Valley area.
During 1961, Michigan Bell also introduced a new communications system for farm customers, The system, called the
Farm Interphone, combines the
telephone's traditional role of
handling outside calls with the
capacity to provide intercommunications service around the farm.
The conversion of the Charlotte exchange from manual to
dial operation this year brought
the number of Michigan Bell
customers now served by dial
telephones to nearly 99 per cent,
Eckley   pointed   out.
Park, Now
Property Of
Commission
The deed to a Michigan State
Highway Department Roadside
Park on old US-27 near here has
been presented to the Clare
County  Road  Commission.
The park, nearly one acre in
size, is about seven miles north
of here near the intersection of
old US-27 and Hatton Rd.
It was acquired by the Clare
County Road Commission for $1
under a policy recently announced by State Highway Commissioner John C. Maekie,
County road commissions are
offered roadside parks on highways that have been replaced by
freeways if they agree to operate
them as free parks or Use them
for county road commission
purposes.
About 15 roadside parks will be
made available to various county
road commissions for $1' each
during the next two years.
The Clare County park 1_ the
fifth bought by county road cOmv.
missions.
Guts Driving
I Recently completed construction of additional four-lane highway in Alabama is cutting travel
time from Michigan to Florida by
several hours, reports Jerry E.
Fisher, Auto Club touring man-
u B ■ ■ ■- wan.-.
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