Yesteryears
25 Years Ago
JANUARY 5, 1978
Members of the Florence 4-H club held their meeting at the Dewy Stevens home last Wednesday, Dec. 28, with President Karen Stevens presiding. Members responded to roll call by contributing a Christmas gift to be given to the Autumn Manor residents. Special recognition was awarded to Dale Peterson and John Goentzel for successfully completing their first year in 4-H. Dale and John both received pins for their achievements. Pins were given to beginning 4-H'ers. They were Larry, David, and Sarah Goodwin, Brian and Jill Dannenfelser, Brad Vannocker, Raquel and Lane Allison, and Kelly Linnens.
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Ludwig and daughters were New Year's Eve guests of Mr. and Mrs. George Frisbie of El Dorado. Others attending were Mr. and Mrs. Ken Karlowsky of Phoenix, Ariz., Mr. and Mrs. David Hertel and family of Omaha, Neb., and Sam Ludwig of Florence.
50 Years Ago
JANUARY 8, 1953
A couple of local dogs made their home in the stable of the Nativity scene during the time it was up and they looked much as those they were a part of it. The sheep are a little worse off for the wear as the dogs would scratch at them to see if they were real. This project and the many beautifully lighted homes brought many visitors to Florence and if this is enlarged upon should attract hundreds here next year.
K.H. Gaston is installing a new automatic dairy cup ice cream machine in the Mayflower snack bar on Wednesday, Jan. 14. Everyone who comes to the snack bar on that day from 2 to 10 p.m. will receive a dairy cup free.
75 Years Ago
January 5, 1928
"Mick" O'Brien, Florence's Irish postmaster, is authority for the statement that during the days previous to Christmas the Florence Post Office sent 60 sacks of mail per day. This probably explains to some why the boys at the post office were so busy. Sixty sacks of mail had to be weighed, marked, tied, and sacked each day for about 15 days, besides all the incoming mail that was distributed daily.
The driving wind of Friday night drifted snow on the east and west roads until it was packed four feet high in the center in many places. In some places a grader and tractor were attempting to remove the snow but it was of little use as a grader could not handle the huge drifts. But the huge snow plows with the tractor hooked behind them made short work in most cases and by Monday night all county roads were in good usable manner. But Monday night found another new low mark for the mercury with a drop to 16 degrees below zero.
106 Years Ago
JANUARY 8, 1897
The governor was given a ride in a horseless carriage the other day in Topeka and exclaimed: "What can we expect next?" The governor never was exactly epigrammatic.
A Cheney man was recently asked if he had ever heard a phonograph. He said he had not and somebody gave him a galvanic battery and told him to put both the handles in his ears. He did so and he can hear the buzzing yet.
