95 Years Ago – February 13, 1930

Fred Radke had the misfortune to drop a large gear wheel on his right foot Wednesday and is now suffering with a broken bone of the foot.

While a severe blizzard was in progress in Clark County, fire broke out in the basement and in the walls of the Presbyterian church at Neillsville and although apprehended immediately, the fire spread rapidly and wiped out this old landmark which was constructed in 1874.

85 Years Ago – February 15, 1940

At a meeting of Republican senators, assemblymen, committeemen and county chairmen, held at Eau Claire Friday evening of last week, E.W. Kidd of this city was unanimously elected to the office of chairman of the Ninth Congressional District of Wisconsin which comprises 11 counties.

Harry Craig, fireman at the Western Condensing Company, is recuperating quite rapidly from severe face burns he received about his face a week ago this evening while working. He was about to clean out the fire pit and as he opened the door to the boiler flaming gas shot forth and caught him in the face.

75 Years Ago – February 16, 1950

The pressure of the acute coal shortage wasn’t felt in this community quite as early as elsewhere but nevertheless it eventually pried its way here through the railroads. As of Saturday of last week passenger and mail service coming into Owen has been reduced with the elimination of passenger trains Nos. 1 and 2 on the Soo Line railway operating between the Twin Cities and Chicago.

65 Years Ago – February 18, 1960

Fire chief Harry Dempsey says that spontaneous combustion was the cause of the fire checked a week ago last night at the Rudolph Mengel home in the town of Hoard. The fire started upstairs in an attic where some old clothes and rags were piled on top of a pile of lumber. Damage was set at $300.

Thorp’s request to the Post Office Department for city mail delivery service has been turned down by the postal authorities.

55 Years Ago – February 12, 1970

The value of the ambulance service rendered this community by the Owen Fire Department is pointed up in the annual report released this week by Assistant Fire Chief Ron Gehrke. During the past year the unit was called upon 142 times and covered a distance of 10,627 miles.

Did you know? The Lord’s Prayer has 56 words; Lincoln’s Gettysburg Address, 266; The Ten Commandments, 297; the Declaration of Independence, 300—but a recent government order on the price of cabbage contains 26,811 words.

At 12:15 a.m., December 15, Train 75 hit a snowmobile. The snowmobile operator, who was trying to pull the machine free of the tracks, was struck. The following day in a St. Paul hospital his right leg had to be removed. The accident happened only two days after the Soo had released a story to all the newspapers in its territory concerning the hazards of operating snowmobiles on the right of way.

45 Years Ago – February 14, 1980

Everett Lindgren, who has been a traffic officer on the Clark County Traffic Department for almost nine years has resigned to take a job with Northland Foods Cooperative in Owen.

There is a new hardware and bicycle, and bicycle repair store in the area which recently opened to the public for business in the rural area on the Frenchtown Road. Known as Hene Supply, the new business will be dealing in hardware, farm supplies of all kinds and bicycles, and a bicycle repair shop. Hene Supply, which opened just before the new year is a partnership with Harvey Weaver of Weaver’s Hardware Company of northeastern Pennsylvania being the senior partner, and his son, Noah, who has lived in Hixon Township for the past several years as the junior partner.

35 Years Ago – February 15, 1990

The Board of Directors of the Victory Memorial Hospital and Nursing Home have announced a first-time Capital Fund Drive Campaign. The purpose of the Fund Drive is to meet  the special needs of the “Gifts of Life Foundation,” which was established by the Board of Directors, to purchase life-saving equipment and fund new services, along with innovative programs, to better serve the people of our entire area.

25 Years Ago – February 16, 2000

The city of Owen and the village of Withee have reached a tentative agreement to build a joint interconnected water system that will benefit both communities. In a special meeting of the two governing bodies that was held at the Village Hall last Wednesday night, both boards agreed to the project that will cost over 2 million dollars total.

15 Years Ago – February 17, 2010

In 1958, Joe and Mary Frankewicz left Chicago to return to their former hometown of Withee to begin a business and raise their family. Joe started by selling bulk milk tanks and servicing refrigeration units. Joe’s Refrigeration has become high tech and is much more than the little business between Owen and Withee. They have a fleet of trucks, 22 employees, which includes an in-house engineer and controller. Their expansion has gone international.