25 Years – 1998

The contributions of four longtime community residents were celebrated in laughter and tears by a crowd of 500 at Cannon Falls Elementary School on Thursday evening. “A celebration of community and place” used the life history of the four, Ag Lundberg, John Burch, Marie Hernke, and Al Roiger, as a kick-off point for appreciating local Cannon Falls history and sense of community. Troubadour Larry Long and elementary students presented four songs they had written together about each life, including pianist/organist Lundburg, postmaster and baseball player Burch, expert pie baker, and mayor Roiger. This was the 10th community Long has visited through the Center for School Change.

The 1998 Dakota County River Friendly Farms were selected by a representative group of their peers. Ray and Ken Taylor, John Ista, and Ed and David Terry will be recognized as the 1998 River Friendly Farms in March. To be named a River Friendly Farmer, farmers had to satisfy 10 criteria applicable to their operations. Criteria covered include residue coverage on cropland, soil loss on highly erodible land and fertilizer application rates based on testing and yield goals. 

50 Years – 1973

The Mississippi is expected to crest at 13 feet – one foot below flood stage – by Wednesday, according to Joe Strub, chief meteorologist for the weather service at Minneapolis. The river should crest Monday at Wabasha 2½ feet above flood stage, Strub predicted. “This year is different,” John Graff, assistant meteorologist, pointed out, “in the respect that 90 percent of the snow is gone. So, all we’re talking about is current rains. We really don’t have a winter flood-type situation.” This spring has been a real weirdo because of light snowfall, warm temperatures, and rainfall. 

Quick action by Goodhue and Dakota County highway maintenance crews Thursday night was needed to control Cannon River floodwaters that threatened Lake Byllesby dam. Highway crews were notified that water had undermined a retention wall in the dam’s spillway. They tried to control erosion by dumping quarry rock and concrete chunks behind the wall to hold back the river. Highway officials said if the concrete retention wall had broken, several hundred feet of dirt on the Goodhue County side of the dam could have been washed downstream and the dam may not have been able to survive the turbulent waters.

100 Years – 1923

Surely the political pot is boiling some. The new system adopted for municipal elections is an invitation to any man or woman who wishes to serve the community to file his or her candidacy with the city clerk. Thus far the women to file have been decidedly in the minority – only one of them – and this is probably to be expected until the fairer sex has gained that confidence that will be necessary before women care to enter seriously into competition with men for public office. The probability is, of course, that women will never be so keen in this direction as men because of the fact that women are home bodies and feel it their duty to stay home and care for their families in a domestic way.

Arguments for and against the temporary injunction, sought by a citizens’ committee, against city officials to prevent any further move toward the erection of a municipal lighting plant, were completed late Monday afternoon in district court. All the evidence is now in the hand of Judge Albert Johnson, who issued the restraining order, holding up any action until he had made a decision on the plea for a temporary injection. His decision is expected within a few days.