March 1, 1946

• While working at the Buckham property late last week, helping Clyde Scamman with the changes which are to be made in the residence, Garwood Meyers ran across an issue of The Mail dated December 27, 1907. The paper, though yellowed with age, was in excellent condition. Four of the large advertisements in the paper were for public sales by A.J. Baxter, Elbert Good, L.L. Howard, and Matt Weisenbarger.

• Sam Wilson and Wakefield Hall engaged in a friendly contest in recent weeks to determine which could sell the greater number of tickets to the firemen’s ball, with the result that the two were responsible for the sale of 700 tickets. Wilson topped Hall by 30 sales, the former selling 365 tickets and the latter 335. The ball had one of the largest crowds that has attended a dance in the Memorial Building this winter. Although 1,150 tickets were sold, not everyone attended. If they had done so the building would not have accommodated all.

• One of the frame buildings on Watson’s Main Street, owned and occupied by Mr. and Mrs. Ed Hall, was destroyed by fire shortly before noon last Monday. Mr. Hall suffered severe burns in trying to put out the fire and save some of the family belongings.

March 4, 1971

• In the students’ “Bluejay Corner” of the newspaper: Principal For A Day by Edith Ann read, “When several high school students were asked what they would do if they were principal, some interesting ideas came up: Jan Jackson – ‘First, I’d quit’; Mike Phillips – ‘Hee, hee, hee’; Dave Gebhards – ‘Install a bowling alley in study hall’; Kenny Brown – ‘Have school once a week’…

• A new soil testing laboratory was completed last January at the Atchison County Extension Center. Farmers wanting soil tested should bring their samples in now to avoid the spring rush period.

• Mr. and Mrs. Keith Whigham received degrees from Iowa State University February 27 in Ames, Iowa, and will leave for Africa in six weeks. Mr. Whigham earned a Ph.D. in crop production and Mrs. Whigham received her M.S. degree in plant physiology. Whigham has accepted a position with the United States Department of Agriculture as Regional Field Trials Officer in Uganda, East Africa. Mrs. Whigham is the former Myrna Schnegelberger of Rock Port.

February 29, 1996

• Tim Fall, son of Jim and Jan Fall and grandson of the late Hippo and Gertrude Melvin, will be starring in a new television series, “Good Company.”  Tim plays a jingle-writing, guitar-playing character in the comedy series about the creative team at a New York advertising agency. Tim was in “Pig Sty” on the United Paramount Network last year and had a previous stint on CBS on “Bob” with Bob Newhart.

• Sam Lansdown bowled a 300 game twice in the last two months. Once was at the Southwest Iowa Bowling Tournament in Council Bluffs, Iowa, where he also received the high game trophy. The second time was at the Wednesday Night Men’s League at Blue Jay Bowl. He won the “pot” for achieving this feat. This “300” was a first time ever accomplishment at the Blue Jay Bowl.