Tuesday, May 24, 2011

Worth County History -- May 23rd, 1945

World War II was still in progress. Germany and Italy had surrendered, but Japan was fighting on.
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Dr. John Andrews, prominent local doctor and businessman, died. He was born in 1865 and died in 1946. He was the son of Hiram and Sarah Andrews and grew up in the Prairie Star School. He maintained a medical office on the west side of the square. He also owned the Andrews Hardware store from 1926-1943 and built the current Andrews Funeral Home on the site of the old Grant City Presbyterian Church.
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Roger Sherman was the director of the Worth County Soil District with the goal of helping farmers with conservation practices. Mr. Sherman noted that even George Washington had concerned himself with conservation.
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Wilmer Aldrich was wounded in action.
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Harold Downing was serving with the Pacific Fleet.
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Ed Girling received a Purple Heart for wounds received in Germany on April 8th, 1945.
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Food was still being rationed.
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Memorial services were a much bigger deal than they are now. Major services were held at Union Memorial Cemetery and Honey Grove Cemetery, among other places.
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Cleaning up Grant City was nothing new. Editor Charlie McGlaughlin (Charlie Mac) took up the cudgel for cleaning up the town.
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Phone numbers used to be three digits -- the number for the Oil & Supply business was 453.
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Back in 1910, the main topic of debate in Grant City was whether the boardwalks should stay or go after the city figured out they had the legal authority to remove them. They went and as Charlie Mac recounted, they were not missed the year after they went.
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The N&C Drug Store, Dr. Bentley Neal and Mary Combs, sold Dr. Salisbury's Den-o-Sal's protection against Cecal Coccidiosis in chickens.
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Over 9 clubs sent in meeting reports -- United Neighbors, Friendship, Merry Makers, LCSC, Order of the Eastern Star, Pleasant Valley, Amity Ladies Farm Club, Irena Willing Workers, and the Couples Club.
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The 4-H had a farm machinery project for all kids ages 10-21 at the Courthouse.
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Pfc. Donald Riley of Sheridan received a letter of commendation along with the rest of his unit of 47. They crossed glaciers and climbed an 11,400 foot mountain in Alaska to recover the victims of a plane that crashed so that the bodies could be properly buried. They did so in the face of low temperatures, winter storms, and dangerous terrain -- think of conditions much worse than the recent ice storm. The letter stated that Riley and his unit acted "in keeping with the finest traditions of the Army Air Force."
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Both Prugh and Andrews Funeral Homes offered ambulance services.
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Memorial Day used to be called "Decoration Day."
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Prices at local grocery stores -- Supply Store; Fresh tomatoes, 20 cents/lb. Cheddar cheese, 38 cents/lb. A tall can of silver cow mile, 10 cents. Esterkyn Bros.; 3 loaves of bread cost 25 cents; aprons were 59 cents each; pineapples were 40 cents each.

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