Fotos from the Past

12-6-72

Two longtime Merrill businesses recently changed hands. On page two the new owners of the Pink Top, June Beltz and her husband John are pictured. They recently took over the former Dairy Delite at 105 E 1st Street. The drive in is open daily from 10:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., 11 p.m. on weekends. They offer up to three flavors of ice cream starting at 10 cents a cone. Lorraine and Paul Simon have taken over the ownership of Carl's Foodlane as of last Monday. The Simons have extensive grocery experience thanks to his work with the Midland food store chain, most recently at Wakefield, MI.

The earliest records of Lincoln County have been packed and shipped off to U. W. Steven's Point research center. The material, nearly all of it handwritten by county clerks, treasurers, registers of deeds and so forth were all packed into a panel truck and sent off to be researched and archived. The records included: The first official act of the county board of supervisors took placed in 1874 when they named the Village of Jenny county seat. In 1875 the county had prepared bids for a jail and registered 181 voters. The very first case to appear before the criminal courts was brought by Merrill Police Chief George Gibson against two people for running a "house of ill fame." The two defendants pleaded guilty and were each fined $10 plus court costs.

The Merrill Blue Jay basketball team is hoping to bounce back after losing to Rhinelander Friday night by a score of 55-54. The boys had a rough time on the floor hitting only 22 of 61 shots. Rhinelander had 25 turnovers in the game but the 14 Merrill committed resulted in eight essential points. The Jays will host Marshfield Friday. On the mats, Norris Hattlestad's wrestlers beat D. C. Everest last Thursday by four points and will host Rhinelander Thursday.

12-8-82

Mayor Holt was so upset during the recent City Council meeting he left his chair and took to the podium for public comment. At hand was the recent proposal from the mayor's reorganization committee to change the elected street commissioner, city clerk and city treasurer into combined and appointed positions. The committee recommended the change be decided upon by the voters but instead the city council rejected the ordinances outright. Alderman Ellsworth Plautz, Kenneth Plawman, Roger English, and Elmer Krueger all voted no. English and Plautz both stated on the council floor that their constituents had expressed discontent over the proposed changes and were displeased it was being pursued.

Merrill Police are working with three other law enforcement agencies in the state as they investigate perhaps one of the largest burglaries in the history of Merrill. Someone broke into Thelma's last weekend and stole between 500-600 coats with a total value between $50,000 to $100,000. Only the expensive fur, name brand fake fur, down, and wool coats were taken during the burglary. Similar burglaries were reported in Sun Prairie, Appleton and Medford.

Badger Evergreen has successfully denied predictions of the experts and are shipping out Fraser Christmas trees. The prediction was the trees which are native to the Smokey Mountain region would not grow in Wisconsin. The Fraser tree is noted for its perfect Christmas tree shape. Mike Van Der Geest is pictured loading a tree for shipment.

12-2-92

Deputy Fire Chief Bill Hass is reminding residents of winter heating safety tips after a large number of chimney fires. With one month to go in 1992 the fire department has already responded to more chimney fires than all of 1991. Hass also reminds residents to make sure your fire extinguisher is charged and to keep your fresh cut Christmas tree watered on a regular basis.

The Merrill Blue Jay girls' basketball team had an easy victory over the visiting Wisconsin Rapids team on Tuesday. Lisa Hoffman led the Jays with 18 points and 18 rebounds. Stacy Leider hit 10 points and Renee Ashbeck hit six. Coach Bob Yuska was pleased with the performance but notes valley favorite D. C. Everest will host the girls on Friday and Wausau West will come to Merrill on Tuesday. The boys' team traveled to Madison where they were downed by Madison East 74-72. Jay Jesperson led the team with 17 points.

Gleason's Chris Gennrich has been selected for the Wisconsin State University Football Team honorable mention. The redshirt junior started all nine games for UW Eau Claire as the Blugolds nose guard. He made 22 solo tackles including four sacks and seven for a loss. He also was given an assist on 32 tackles.