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75 Years Ago - April 27, 1950
RANDOLPH – G.W. Woolley, 63, Osmond marshal, was fatally injured, two other Osmond men, Phil Beckwith and Meade Larson, were seriously injured and a score of persons suffered minor injuries and burns late Saturday afternoon in an explosion of a tank containing fuel during a fire at the Will Timmerman farm six miles west and one mile north of Randolph.
The explosion occurred just as Mr. Woolley lifted a rifle to his shoulder preparing to shoot holes in the tank, which was a former pressure heavy guage still riveted tank containing an estimated 500 gallons of fuel oil at the outset of the fire. The shattering blast, which rocked the countryside, sent a large piece of boiler plate weighing several hundred pounds hurtling through the air and striking Mr. Woolley, who was about 100 feet away.
He suffered a fractured back and internal injuries and died Sunday evening in an Osmond hospital. Mr. Beckwith, Osmond lumberman, and Mr. Larson, Osmond creamery man, were the most seriously burned, but over a score of others were treated for burns, most of them of first and second degree. Joe Schmitt, Randolph fire marshal, suffered burns on the back of his head. *** RANDOLPH – Vernon Allen Frary, Jr., 20, of Dayton, Ohio, was found guilty by a federal district court jury Friday of kidnapping and interstate transportation of stolen cars.
Fray and Estelle B. Buck, 17, also of Dayton, were charged with having abducted James Kuhl, 18, of Randolph in February of 1949 when they forced him at gunpoint to drive them 17 miles north of Yankton. He was robbed and forced from the car. The two youths were captured after he had given the alarm and road blocks were set up in South Dakota.
Buck pleaded guilty and is now serving a ten-year sentence. He was brought back to testify in the Fray case. *** RANDOLPH – A private flying club has been organized in Randolph. Organizers are Everett Burley, V.C. Havorka Jr., and Robert Holmes, who are at this time the only members.
The club has leased from Ernest Witte three acres of ground in a field three miles east of Randolph near Highway 20. It is planned by the club to erect a two-plane hangar as soon as the weather permits.
While the field will not meet specifications of a municipal airport, it will be a private landing strip which will be shown on all air maps.
60 Years Ago - April 22, 1965
RANDOLPH – It was announced this week that the Veterans of Foreign Wars and Randolph Community club have jointly purchased a total of 60 United States flags and welcome flags which will be flown from the downtown street light poles on appropriate occasions.
The Community Club purchased 30 welcome flags and the VFW bought 30 United States flags.
A special ceremony will be held here May 1, Loyalty Day, at which time the flags officially will be made available to the city. The flags will be displayed for the first time that day. *** RANDOLPH – Clarence Schrad passed away Wednesday after he sustained serious burns in a mishap which occurred at his farm south of Randolph about one o’clock Monday afternoon.
Mr. Schrad has filled a tractor with diesel fuel and some of the fuel apparently spilled on his clothing. His clothing caught fire when fumes ignited as he lit a cigarette about fifteen minutes after filling the tractor.
He jumped into a nearby stock tank to extinguish his flaming clothing. *** RANDOLPH – Leon D. Phillips, son of Mr. and Mrs. Dallas Phillips, has been commissioned as lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force upon graduation from Officer Training School at Lackland AFB, Tex.
Lt. Phillips, selected for OTS through competitive examination, is assigned to an Air Training Command unit at Amarillo AFB, Tex. for training as a supply officer. He entered service the first part of January.
At the completion of his present training, he will be sent to Madera, Calif.
50 Years Ago - April 24, 1975
RANDOLPH – A strange appearing object has been erected by the City of Randolph near the water tower. A second whistle was installed recently and is now in use for the resident’s protection and convenience. The old whistle located at the city light plant is still in use and now the entire community should be able to hear warnings of fire, etc., and convenience whistles. *** RANDOLPH – Marvin Taylor, chairman of the youth activities committee of the Randolph Community Club, announced this week that Doug Eddie has been hired as the director of the summer youth activities program in Randolph.
Eddie will handle the entire program including boys and girls from pee wee age through the midget and legion baseball program. *** RANDOLPH – Old, wooden light poles were removed in the downtown business district in Randolph Monday afternoon and replaced with metal poles purchased recently with revenue sharing money. The cost of the 20 poles was $3,210.30. The light fixtures that were on the old poles will be mounted on the new poles.
40 Years Ago - April 25, 1985
RANDOLPH – Charles Keizer will be sworn in as Randolph’s Postmaster on Friday when appropriate ceremonies are held in the local office.
The new Randolph Postmaster brings with him to his new position experience he has gained since 1979 when he joined the postal service. Previous to joining the postal service Mr. Keizer lived int he Randolph-Coleridge communities for eight years of which four were spent teaching in the Randolph High School. Before being appointed postmaster at Randolph, Mr. Keizer served as Officer-in-Charge at both Carroll and Stanton and has worked as a clerk in the Wausa and Coleridge post offices and has been assigned to several special projects for the postal service.
Mr. Keizer succeeds Marvin Weber as postmaster here. Mr. Weber retired on November 2, 1984. *** RANDOLPH – Unofficial reports from residents in and around Randolph indicate that a total of more than 4 1/2 inches of rain has been received since Friday evening.
The biggest portion of the total rainfall arrived on Monday and overnight on Monday when at least 2 1/2 inches of rain was measured in several gauges.
The farming community which is right in the middle of planting crops, will undoubtedly be delayed in planting of corn with the recently arrived moisture. Most oats have probably been planted and before the storms over the weekend, area farmers were readying seed and machinery that was expected to be used the first part of the week or early next week.
30 Years Ago - April 26, 1995
RANDOLPH – School board members met Thursday evening, April 20, for a building project update which included deciding on lockers, demolition and asbestos removal discussion and a decision to purchase property.
Board members decided on 15” wide lockers with wider lockers in athletic locker rooms.
Superintendent Jim Troshynski said asbestos has been removed from the boiler room and part of the library of the existing high school building.
Following an executive session, board members decided to offer to purchase a house and lot owned by Ruby Cleveland located west of the west school for $19,750. *** RANDOLPH – 1995 Prom candidates include Angela Starkel, Molly Huff, Tracy Graf, Shilo Winkelbauer, Shane Lienemann, Jeremy Junck, Tom Backhaus and Randy Korth. Coronation will be Saturday evening at 11 p.m. *** HARTINGTON – In keeping with the time and technology, the Cedar County Commissioners agreed to have election commissioner Dave Dowling purchase an automatic ballot counting machine. The machine, from American Information Systems of Omaha, will be used for elections throughout the county, including any special elections held at various times.
20 Years Ago - April 27, 2005
RANDOLPH – Randolph High School held prom on Saturday, April 23. Crowned king was Ronnie Graf, son of Rich Graf and Lori Whalen. Reigning queen is Melissa Schmit, daughter of Paul and Corinne Schmit.
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RANDOLPH – Progress on the Randolph Public Library plans and preparations are moving along in 2005.
As of March 10, the library has received donations and in-kind contributions totaling over $278,000, said Peggy Leiting of the Library Building Committee.
The plans to acquire a new, larger, more modernized library building in Randolph started in 2011 when the Colonial Manor Stockholders made a donation to the Randolph Area Foundation.
10 Years Ago - April 29, 2015
RANDOLPH – Paul Leiting has stepped down as the Randolph Fire Chief after serving in the position for 14 years.
Leiting has served his community as a member of the Randolph Fire Dept. for 28 years. He was voted in as Fire Chief in 2001.
“I joined the fire department on Aug. 9, 1987. It was the best thing I ever did,” he said. “The camaraderie among this group is great.” *** RANDOLPH – Jim Scott, who has served close to 13 years with his local fire department, was voted in as the new fire chief at the Randolph Fire Department’s April meeting.
The decision on whether to accept the position as Fire Chief was not hard for Scott to make, saying he felt very honored.
The Randolph firemen are a close-knit group that trains together and responds to fires together. Scott considered the other firemen as close friends. *** RANDOLPH – Lavern “Scotty” Scott has lots of memories to share about the Randolph community and the local fire department.
Scotty, as everyone calls him, has several scrapbooks that are filled with pictures, news clippings and mementos that show what “life in Randolph” has been like through the years.
Scotty put in 42 years as a member of the Randolph Fire Department and served as the Fire Chief and Assistant Fie Chief for a large number of those years.
