2002 – 20 years ago
Unanimous school board vote elects Gene McDaniel President, Brad McDowell VP – By Neilla S. Banse The first order of business for the newly elected South O’Brien Community School District board of directors was administering the oath of office to the new board members. Sharla Rupert, the board secretary, swore in Bruce Billick, Alice Haht, Bill Johannsen, Laura Lundquist, and Phil Syndergaard. The new board elected Gene McDaniel as President and Brad McDowell as Vice-President. As his first order of business, McDaniel thanked outgoing board member John Friedrichsen for his service on behalf of the board. The board voted to keep their current committee assignments and insert Haht in place of Friedrichsen. They agreed to meet on the third Monday of the month at 7:00 p.m. from November through April and 7:30 from May through October utilizing Robert’s Rules of Order. The board voted to have O’Shillal Enterprises, Inc., owner and publisher of “The Paullina Times,” The Sutherland Courier,” and “The O’Brien County Bell,” as the official newspaper of the district.

Closed campus for South O’Brien freshmen and sophomores a parental concern – By Neilla S. Banse At the regular September Board of Education meeting, several parents were in attendance. These parents voiced concerns regarding the closed campus policy at the high school for freshmen and sophomores. A parent was concerned that their freshman was coming home from school hungry. The freshmen cannot leave the closed campus at lunchtime but eat last. High School Principal Paul Schaefer said that the school had actually run out of food once this school year, but that all other days, there has been food left for students to eat.

FIRE PREVENTION WEEK – Fire Prevention Week is October T through 13’”. The Fire Department will have a display in the lobby of Security State Bank. Register for a fire extinguisher and two smoke detectors.

1992 – 30 years ago
“Black Death” flag given new life – By Julie Aufdenkamp A large group of South O’Brien students, parents, and fans were present at the joint school board meeting Monday night in Sutherland to voice support of the Wolverine “Black Death” spirit flag. The flag, displayed at football games, has drawn significant criticism from opposing teams and spectators as well as local fans. There is concern that the black flag decorated with a skull and crossbones and the words “Black Death” might represent occult or devil worshipping concepts. Last year the flag drew criticism within the South O’Brien communities. Assistant football coach Dana Vige wrote a letter to the editor explaining the concept and true meaning of the flag. He noted that “Black . Death” has been the nickname for the defensive unit of South O’Brien’s football team for several years. He explained that the concept of “Black Death” comes from a period in history when millions of people perished as a result of a plague. He said that the South O’Brien defense “plagues” opposing offenses. “It’s good hard football,” Vige added. “No more, no less.”

TOPS TO HOLD MEETING MONDAY NIGHT – An area chapter of TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly), a nonprofit weight-loss organization with over 320,000 members worldwide, will hold meetings on Monday nights beginning at 6 p.m. at the Ohme Medical Clinic basement in Primghar. Women, men, teens, and preteens interested in losing weight are invited to attend. For more information contact Cheryl Koel, 757-0612.
4-H INFORMATIONAL MEETING THURSDAY EVENING – An informational meeting of the Waterman Achievers 4-H Club will be held Thursday evening, October 1 at 6:30 p.m. in the meeting room of the General N.B. Baker Library in Sutherland. Anyone interested in joining 4-H or learning more about it is invited to attend.
1982 – 40 years ago
City Council Discusses Sidewalk Project – The regular city council meeting was held Monday, October 4, 7:30 p.m. at the Mayor’s Office. All councilmen present. The main topic on the agenda for the evening was the sidewalk and street project. The City’s Engineer from Spencer was here to have the contract approved for them to go ahead, with the planned project even though the city has been turned down for a state grant. The City has decided to pick up 50% of the cost on the property owners involved. An Assessment will be done and the approximate cost of the project will be presented to the council hopefully at the November meeting. Following this meeting a hearing must be held so that all property owners involved can express their feelings on the subject, then the council’s next step is to open the project up to local and statewide contractors for bids. There were many different views expressed by the councilmen; some felt that the project would be too much of a financial burden on some of the property owners in such stressed economic times, while others felt that financially one time was like the next and if the city did not make the property owners put in new sidewalks and left it up to the individual the sidewalk would not be uniform and even some of the property owners wouldn’t replace there old walks at all. The sidewalk and street project should be under way with construction by the first of May and should be completed in plenty of time for the Centennial Celebration next September, by doing This reconstruction the town will have a much more attractive appearance for prospective new •business and will also make the walks mach safer to guard against falls and injuries from shoppers, which can involve _ law suits for the City. After much discussion the Councilmen voted to have the engineer’s go ahead with the assessment to put the project into full swing.
POST OFFICE TO BE CLOSED – The Sutherland and Calumet Post Offices will be closed on Monday, October 11, 1982 due to the Columbus Day Holiday. There will be no route deliveries on this day either.
Rummage and Bake Sale – St. Ann’s Guild will be holding a rummage and bake sale at the Sacred Heart Church Hall on Saturday, October 9 beginning at 9 a.m. Coffee and cookies will be served.