16 years ago

HASTINGS STARGAZETTE

June 29, 2006 Recognized in an article by Bonnie St. James, 38year education professional Vickie Davis recounted a time in her life when things hadn’t gone so well.

“I was standing by my locker in seventh grade,” she told a crowd gathered in her honor at Hastings High. “I’d been suspended.” Angry at what had happened, she overheard talking from the male teachers’ lounge.

“What do you expect,” she heard them say. “Look who her father is.” Initially thinking to slam her locker, go in and tell them off, Davis realized what they said was true.

“All the way home I thought about that,” she said. “That day was a revelation to me. I decided I needed to change. And I did.” Becoming the first girl to play Little League baseball in Minnesota, then turning her life around and using her experiences to help students like her at Hastings High, the St. Peter native had gone from outcast to standout student, with sports playing a prominent roll in the transformation.

“I became a fixture in St. Peter sports,” Davis said of the turnaround which saw her keep statistics, manage, and help out with the boy’s football, basketball, and baseball team. Recognition took time, as it was initially considered verboten by the coaches to mention her name as assistant at the sports banquet, due to being “a girl.”

Nevertheless recognition did come, in the end.

31 years ago

HASTINGS STARGAZETTE

June 13, 1991 Following a letter to the Soviet embassy and six months before the fall of the Soviet Union, a group of Hastings Middle School students is given a trip to the country. “We’re doing it the Soviet way, which is also the long way, which is also a learning experience,” middle school principal Leonard Schwartz says of the trip that would see students visit Kalingrad without fundraisers, costing a $250 deposit and with all expenses once in the Union paid by a Soviet school which the social studies teacher Earl Stockman had been corresponding with.

June 6, 1991

Donald Marier, age 55, disappears after dropping his uncle Mike Korneski off at home in Hastings. The two had reportedly been bar hopping in St. Paul Park and Hastings.

46 years ago HASTINGS GAZETTE June 3, 1976 Young people seeking jobs without a social security card number, are encouraged to obtain one through the Social Security Administration, with applications all passing through Baltimore as central office to avoid issuance of more than one number per person.

Looking to fight disease, an Immunization Clinic is held at Rose of Sharon Lutheran Church in Cottage Grove.

All Washington County Residents are eligible for the immunizations costing $1 “for all able to pay.” The health initiative includes protective measures against diphtheria, pertussis (whooping cough), German measles, polio, tetanus, and measles. A mumps vaccine is also available for $3.60 per immunization, from Latin for “unburdening.” A test for tuberculosis is also available at the June 9 event.

61 years ago HASTINGS GAZETTE June 1, 1961 Minnesota’s lieutenant governor Karl Rolvaag throws the first pitch as Miesvile dedicates a new ballpark. The day ends in a win against “archrival” Hampton 4 – 3, after a superior hitting game from the latter meets catching skill by the Mudhens.

157 graduate from Hastings High School 16yearold Evelyn Wasick of St. Paul dies after a boat in which she was riding overturns near the Trudell dike.

Though from Saint Paul, Wasick had been living with her father Edward Wasick “on the old Doener place” located near where she lost her life. Part of a threeperson fishing trip, the boat carrying Wasick had proceeded towards the dam despite warnings from those on shore, its motor failing.

Mr. Wasick and 18yearold LeRoy Orris of St. Paul were rescued from the overturned boat by LeRoy Reinardy of Hastings, who was fishing nearby when he heard the girl’s screams and ran to the dam. Reinardy told the boy and father to hold on to tree branches, while the overturned fishing boat with stalled motor was soon sucked under a log.

76 years ago HASTINGS GAZETTE May 31, 1946 Some 62 students graduate from Hastings High, 30 students from the Guardian Angels school, and 34 in the Class of 1946 at St. Boniface school.

The King Midas Mill at Hastings is threatened with shutdown due to wheat shortage.

Mrs. Frances Dezell, widow of Joseph Dezell, dies at 623 Tyler Street aged 69 years old. Burial in Lakeside Cemetery with Memorial ID 89284558 at Find a Grave. Two children named Fanny and Alfred listed at Find A Grave, with the Gazette in contrast reporting that “one daughter, Grace (Mrs. R. L. Lovejoy), survives the death of the mother.”

Born Frances Ruff on December 19, 1860 at Waterloo, Iowa, Ms. Ruff became Mrs. Dezell upon marrying Joseph Dezell in 1878, the husband preceding his wife in death by ten years, per Find A Grave. “a woman of many sterling qualities, Mrs. Dezell led an exemplary life of happiness and sorrow. Her cozy home and her garden of vegetables and flowers occupied much of her time; and she enjoyed her neighbors, who came to know Mrs. Dezell for her friendship and devotion throughout the years.”

May 24, 1946

Hastings Girls Graduate as Nurses Three Hastings girls (Elizabeth Hunter, Margaret Knotz, and Virginia Williams) graduated as nurses from the Department of Nursing of the College of St. Catherine, in St. Paul, at Commencement Exercises Monay May 12, at the Jeanne D’Arc auditorium. Elizabeth Hunter is the daughter of Mr. Mary Hunter, Margaret Knotz the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Ray Knotz, and Virginia Williams the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Williams.

115 Years Ago CANNON FALLS BEACON June 28, 1907 BolandHartrey James Hartrey of this city and Miss Minnie Boland, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. James Boland of Welch were united in marriage Tuesday morning at 9:00 o’clock in the Miesville church; Rev. Fr. Meis officiating. Miss Anna Cunningham was bridesmaid and Dan Boland was best man. After the service a wedding breakfast was served to guests at the home of the bride. Mr. and Mrs. Hartrey left in the evening for a brief wedding trip. The bride is a highly esteemed young lady and Mr. Hartrey enjoys a wide acquaintance in Goodhue County where for many years he has conducted a well drilling business.