Glance Back

(From The Washington Evening Journal, Friday, Oct. 1, 2004)

10 YEARS AGO

URBANDALE ? Caryl Leopold Smith, Brighton, has been named an Iowa Master Farm Homemaker by Wallace?s Farmer magazine. She joined three other farm homemakers who were recognized during ceremonies in Des Moines earlier this month.

Smith is a niece of Aldo Leopold, the father of natural resource conservation in this country. With a land ethic ingrained in her genes, Smith has been farming Springtown Ranch for 42 years. It?s a unique farm overlooking the Skunk River Valley north of Brighton.

Even though Washington City councilwoman Sandra Johnson knew the council was going to participate in a Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) simulation and that no one would get hurt, she said she was ?unnerved? at the conclusion of the simulation.

RIVERSIDE ? ?There is no movie,? actor William Shatner told some 600 people in Riverside?s Hall Park, Tuesday night.

Instead, the weeklong filming in the town was a carefully crafted hoax that will lead to eight weeks of reality programs on Spike TV early next year. Shatner then followed the disclosure about the deception with a $100,000 check for the city of Riverside and its residents ?for being such good sports.?

20 YEARS AGO

Katie Graber, of Iowa Mennonite School, has been named a Commended Student in the 1995 National Merit Scholarship program. She was honored for her exceptional academic promise, placing among the top 5 percent of more than 1 million students who entered the 1995 Merit program, by taking the 1993 Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test. She is the daughter of Myron and Martha Graber, Washington.

Back when Rita Sojka joined the county public health department, back in 1971 there was one full-time nurse on the staff and her, a part-timer. Back then, public heath nursing cared for the poor, or at least that was the perception.

In fact ?we?ve cared for anybody and everybody as long as I?ve been there,? Sojka, now the department head, said.

Charles Lucas knows his birds, whether it?s seagulls, doves, loons or quail. He knows their habitats, their distinguishable markings, their size and their origin.

It?s that comprehension that makes Lucas?s working decoys authentic and believable.

30 YEARS AGO

A rural Washington couple, Wayne and Julie Zieser, won Washington?s Tall Corn Contest with a corn stalk measuring 19 feet, 7 ½ inches tall.

Winning tall corn competitions is a family tradition for Julie Zieser, whose father, Don Radda, consistently won such contests during the late 1930s, 1940s and 1950s. Radda is well known for growing the ?World?s Tallest Corn? in 1946. It measured 31 feet, 7/8 inch. He held world records from 1929 to 1950 for tallest corn grown.

Layne Twinam, 18, son of Charles and Janice Twinam of Crawfordsville, earned the 1984 Iowa 4-H Swine Award. Larrette Sexton, 18, daughter of Larry and Carol Sexton of Ainsworth, was named winner of the 1984 Iowa 4-H Ag Career Award. As recipients, they will travel to the National 4-H Congress in Chicago Nov. 24-29.

40 YEARS AGO

The Washington area community center building will be erected on a plot of ground west of the National Guard Armory building, facing on Old Highway 92. The north end of the plot has been donated for use by Leroy Jugenheimer.

Daniel Simmering has just completed a four-year tour of duty with the Navy. He plans to work and attend Olympia College, Bremerton, Wash. Simmering, son of the Ervin Simmerings of Washington, is a 1966 graduate of Washington High School and holds a B.A. degree from William Penn College, Oskaloosa.

50 YEARS AGO

Dean Luers was elected president and Carl Dallmeyer vice president at the reorganizational meeting of the Washington Community School board Monday.

Glenn Dinkheller, son of Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Dinkheller, has enlisted in the Air Force and is now stationed at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. Glenn is a 1964 graduate of Washington High School.

Edward A. Peiffer left by plane Monday from Cedar Rapids for the 34th Division tour of Europe. He will be gone three weeks.