Our Yesterdays

Jack Mills, son of Mr. and Mrs. Adrian Bottorff, Richland, was master of ceremonies at the All-Star Revue in Des Moines when the State Teacher’s Convention opened.

The Nordyke Stockyards at Richland, owned by Aaron and Myra Nordyke has been sold to the Rath Packing Co., of Waterloo. The present business has operated since 1947 as the A.W. Nordyke Stockyards. Previous to this and since 1930 it was W.D. Nordyke and Son. The business was first started by W. D. in 1903 at Rubio when the Chicago, Milwaukee and St. Paul Railroad was established through this territory. Delivery of hogs to packing plants was by railroad until 1932 when the first truck was purchased from Shultz Motor Co. of Richland.

Taken from an article by Loree Roach: A little house died here in Richland. It was reported to be the oldest in town and had been sick a long time. It was the parsonage of the Christian Church, located in the north part of town across from the Derby Orchard. Its first occupants saw the mud puddle in the center of town become the park. An early map which is in the museum at Pella shows only three towns in Iowa, Richland and two others, so the house had to be very old. The earliest owners of the little house that present citizens remember were Riley and Pop Coble. Oddly enough, Pop was the lady of the house and Riley was the man. Nobody remembers if Pop had another name or if it was a nickname. It well may have been as she smoked short-stemmed clay pipes.

The Cobles were members of the Christian Church and willed the little house to the church, suggesting that it never be sold. In 1933 the house was in need of repair and the renters moved out. My dad was preaching for the Christian Church, and when the church offered us the parsonage rent-free, we moved in. Our household included my parents, my mother’s brother, Uncle Dick; Everett Redlinger, the linotypist at the Clarion, which my parents operated; Maxine Van Dyke Eaton, and me. Gradually, the years took their toll on the little house which must have been built around 1838. My parents moved out in 1950 and the last tenants left about five years ago. This spring part of the living room fell into the cellar and the little house was done for. The Richland Development Corp. bought the lot and the little house was burned down. Now the little house is dead and a newer house is going to be built on the site.

1949, 74 years ago

The Ollie Cross Country squad traveled to Iowa City and came home with the Cross Country Championship in Class C. Our congratulations to you boys who make up the cross country team: Captain Eugene Kessel, Neal Bottger, Charles Scearcy, Jim Daly, and Forrest Christner.

Only nine boys and girls made up the Ollie class of 1945, and one of them, Eloise Sheely, didn’t finish the year at Ollie. Dorothy Morris, ’45 valedictorian, now lives at Stockport, where she is known as Mrs. Bob Pool. She has twins, a boy and a girl. Darlene Weber, Mrs. Phil Morris, is living in an apartment in Keota. Jack Schreiner is farming on a farm northeast of Ollie. He is married to Phyllis Day. Donald Shy is farming on a farm east of Ollie. He is married to Thelma Reinier. Gordon Day is employed by the county, maintaining roads. He married Leora Ash of Richland, and they live in Ollie. Kaye Cleavenger is an airplane mechanic at Iowa Falls. Roy McCracken, after being in the Army and attending Parsons is now farming with his parents. Merilyn Winn is working at an airport in Washington. He recently purchased a plane.

Friends and neighbors in the Woolson and Clay communities came to the farm of Albert Spangler who had been in the hospital. With a group of six mechanical pickers and two elevators going with plenty of men and wagons to haul the corn to do the work, by 3:30 p.m. 45 acres of corn had been cleared from the field and put in cribs.