This Day in History

Compiled by Jean Lundquist

Waseca County man identified as ghoul

Nov. 1, 1962

A grave in Rosehill Cemetery in Wells was desecrated in early September. A 23-year-old man from Waseca County was determined to have uncovered the grave when fibers from his coat, gloves and impressions of footprints at the site were identified.

Suspicions were raised when the man began asking questions about a story in the local newspapers. The police chief was called to the Wells drug store on a report of a man who “had gone berserk, and was bothering customers.”

The man was confined to the Rochester State Mental Hospital rather than arrested and was not identified. This confinement in a mental hospital was not his first, according to authorities.

Cranberry sales suffer in Mankato

Nov. 10, 1959

Right before Thanksgiving — and before meals that almost all featured cranberry sauce — a scare went out about cranberries.

Red Owl and Super Valu stores in the Twin Cities area had all been told to remove cranberries from store shelves by noon. Apparently, several large fields had mistakenly been sprayed with weed killer, and the berries were unsafe for human consumption.

No such directive had been issued locally to any of the four grocery stores in Mankato and North Mankato, so store owners told customers to get their cranberries while supplies were still “safe.”

Vi Schulz voted top Amboy Farm Wife

Nov. 20, 1980

Vi Schulz claimed she had received the honor of Farm Wife of the Year, “’Cause I’ve got a big mouth. I’m sure not worthy.”

But 250 people at a banquet in her honor disagreed. In the early years of her marriage, Vi plowed with three horses and a single plow to help out. She also cultivated with two horses and a single row cultivator.

She detasseled corn during the depression “so the children would have school clothes.” Later, she worked at a turkey factory in Madelia. She worked the corn and bean packs at Winnebago.

She worked at the Amboy grocery store, and at Norman’s Café. There was also a stint at a poultry processing plant in Fairmont. She went on to arrange bus trips from Amboy to New England to see fall foliage. “I’m not a person to sit and knit,” she said.

Mankato Food Co-op seeks new members

Nov. 6, 2009

There was no building yet, but the legal paperwork had been done to create a new nonprofit in Minnesota.

To local organizers, it appeared the new Mankato Food Co-op was a “go.” Spokesperson Greg Lesard said there was overwhelming support for a Mankato Food Co-op.

According to the polling done by the organization, people would shop there weekly, looking for vegetarian fare and baked-from-scratch goods. Until people actually signed on as members, money would be an issue. Without money, there could be no physical store.

Lesard said the Mankato Food Co-op would be modeled after the St. Peter Food Co-p, available to members and non-members alike, and would be expected to open within a year

1750 Northway Drive • North Mankato, MN 56003 www.corpgraph.com 800-729-7575