105 Years Ago – May 12, 1921
N. Laine, who came here last week from Ironwood, MI, is getting his building ready for the opening of a pool hall.
The Home restaurant building was sold today to Mrs. Selma Allen of Rice Lake and Mrs. Helga Lange of this city.
95 Years Ago – May 7, 1931
One man is dead and another is in the Clark County Jail at Neillsville as the result of a fight which ensued on the George Engelbow farm near Riplinger on Sunday morning. Cullen Ayres, age 55, was killed and George Engelbow, age 46, is under arrest at Neillsville. Engelbow and Ayres were neighbors and although they had experienced some difficulties over roving horses and cattle, they had never previously engaged in an open quarrel.
A mass meeting was called for Monday night of this week, to get an opinion of the taxpayers and voters of the city, so that the Council members might have an idea as to their wishes, regarding the building of a new city hall and firehouse.
85 Years Ago – May 8, 1941
The Girl Scouts of Owen had a Treasure Hunt last Friday night at which prizes were given to the girls in the troop who returned first with the four hidden notes.
A fire alarm that shrieked out through the still of the night at 2:30 Friday morning aroused the citizenry of this community to help fight a fire which broke out in the Master Package plant. The fire which broke out in the southeast corner of the plant was noticed by policeman, Henry Reigel, as he was making his beat. It is believed that spontaneous combustion was the cause of the fire.
75 Years Ago – May 10, 1951
Harriet Plummer, daughter of Mrs. George Plummer, was named valedictorian of the class of 1951 of the Owen High School.
Delivery was made the latter part of last week of a new large International tractor known as the L-185 to Les Bowen who will use the tractor to pull the 34 foot trailer he put into use in his trucking business about three weeks ago.
A business deal that has been pending for several weeks was completed Thursday afternoon when Dr. B.H. Dike sold his medical practice in Owen to Dr. James Kock, of Marshfield.
65 Years Ago – May 11, 1961
Bids for construction of a new post office building at Curtiss are now being accepted by the Regional Post Office Department at Minneapolis, MN.
Mrs. A.M. Wilson, for the past 43 years, since coming to Owen in 1918, has devoted her time and effort deriving great pleasure in teaching more than 900 young people the piano.
55 Years Ago – May 13, 1971
Born to Mr. and Mrs. William Benzschawel, a daughter, Tina Marie, on May 5 at 11:10 p.m. At birth she weighed eight pounds and two and one half ounces and measured 21 inches.
45 Years Ago – May 7, 1981
Seventh District Congressman Dave Obey announced that the Environmental Protection Agency has awarded $62,025 to the city of Owen. The money is an amended Step 1 construction grant to be used for the wastewater treatment facility.
Gordon and Kathy Niemi have made a few changes at their new business, and because of the additions to their inventory they have changed the name of the store, the former Hardware Specialty, to Home, Farm and Field. To celebrate their new venture, they are holding a grand opening on May 8 at their Withee store.
35 Years Ago – May 9, 1991
Valley Sanitation’s recycling trailer located at Christensen’s Feed Mill parking lot in Owen will be available for recyclables beginning Saturday, May 11.
On May 24, when the last bell rings for the school year, it will also end a quarter of a century of dedication to the school and the students for Rose Hansen. After 25 years of working for the Owen-Withee School System, Rose will retire as Administrative Secretary.
Mr. and Mrs. Larry Herington of Owen are proud to announce the engagement of their daughter, Kari, to Michael Johnson, son of Melvin and Dorothy Johnson of Ellsworth. A July 20, 1991 wedding is planned at St. John’s Lutheran Church in Withee.
25 Years Ago – May 9, 2001
Holly Shattuck received a medal for her Science Fair Project on Voice Production.
Kayla Jalling won the 11th annual Clark County Historical Essay Contest. A total of 175 essays were submitted with a family story being related.
15 Years Ago – May 11, 2011
A great milestone birthday was celebrated Saturday afternoon at the Greenwood Galley & Pub by Frieda Thorson and family and friends. Frieda raised her family in Owen, where she worked at various bakeries in the area, retiring at age 70. The past 20 years, Mrs. Thorson has resided with her daughter and son-in-law in Greenwood.
The Withee Library was the recipient of an early literacy grant from the Target Foundation in the amount of $2,000. With some of this money, library personnel put together book bags containing a coloring book, a story book and a book for parents.