A Look Back At The Times

10 YEARS AGO
April 14, 2016
The Turtle Lake Fire Department received a call of a barn fire at 338 Hwy. 8, three miles west of Turtle Lake Saturday evening, April 9. The call came in a 6:31 p.m. of the fire and the caller indicated some of the sheep housed in the barn were rescued by passer-bys,
however some ran back into the barn and were unable to be saved. Wind aided the blaze and black smoke could be seen rising from the flames for miles around. The Apple River Fire Department was summoned to assist and the Amery Fire Department also responded. The barn, along with some sheep and ewes, hay and feed were destroyed in the fire. The barn was a total loss but outbuilding adjacent to the barn were saved. The cause of the fire was unknown at the time.
Statewide, Ted Cruz defeated Donald Trump on the Republican side and Bernie Sanders defeated Hillary Clinton on the Democratic side of last Tuesday’s Wisconsin Primary election. Locally, Donald Trump defeated Ted Cruz, 4217 to 3558 within Bar- ron County. Bernie Sanders came out on top county-wide over Hillary Clinton, 2960 to 2570.
Team “We Dig” took home the title at the 6th annual Turtle Lake Alumni Volleyball Tournament. Team “We Dig” went 9-3 for the day to win the tournament. Team members were Jamie Hubbard, Jill Quade, Krista Klingelhoets and Kristen Pabst.
Lahti’s came out on top in this year’s Alumni Basketball Tournament. This year’s tournament featured five teams and was held Saturday, April 2. The day got started off with Tarman’s coming out on top of Nordquist. Lahti’s followed that up with a win over Herzan’s. Tarman’s then faced off against the Teachers and came out with a 70-42 win. In the championship game Lahti’s outlasted Tarman’s, 66-61, to become this year’s winners. Team members were Andrew Davis, Carter Kindschy, Bryan Catlin, Mike Stauner, Tanner Arnold, John Lahti and Kyle Steffen.

20 YEARS AGO
April 13, 2006
About a dozen residents attended the Planning Commission meeting held Monday evening at the Village Hall to voice their concerns over consideration of a conditional use permit requested by Gary Swagger of Newlite, Inc. If recommended for approval by the Commission to the Village Board, and then approved by the Board, the conditional use permit would allow Mr. Swagger to sell a pair of newly constructed homes with rental options in the lower level to owners who would wish to rent out the one-bedroom space.
The results of this year’s Eau Claire Leader “Design An Ad” contest were published in this past weekend’s Sunday paper. There were two winners from Turtle Lake! Earning themselves a $15.00 check for their clever advertising were Collin Orf, grade 7, and Casey Catlin, grade 5. There were 3500 participants overall, but Turtle Lake only entered 30.
The annual Turtle Lake Alumni Basketball Tournament was held Saturday, April 8th and new champions were crowned. The Gores team upset the defending Tarman team 61-56 to gain the crown.
The Turtle Lake/Clayton junior high wrestlers traveled to Spooner last Tuesday and came away with twenty-four wins, against five losses. Leading the way were Austin Winger and Mitchel Wanner, each with three wins and no defeats. David Benitez was 4-1 while Brent Johnvin, Nate Thornwall, Craig Lansley, Hunter Cardinal and Landon Burhop were all 2-0.

30 YEARS AGO
April 4, 1996
Associates at Hartzell Manufacturing in Turtle Lake are busy preparing for an Open House, to be held Saturday, April 13, from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Hartzell Manufacturing produces high-tech plastic injection molded parts and aluminum die castings. The company, with headquarters in St. Paul, MN, employs approximately 400 associates tin production, support and management.
Jeff Becker and Pat Wick, of the Turtle Lake Community Club, drew the names of the two Easter Ham winners in the drawing sponsored by the Community Club. The drawing was held at Becker’s Super Valu on Monday. The winners are Mary Halverson of Almena and Kim Moravitz of Turtle Lake.
It may look like winter outside, but inside the Turtle Lake High School gymnasium the sounds of bats hitting balls is trying to melt the ice and snow. The 1996 baseball season is in full swing under second year coach, Jim Ellis. Last year the Lakers tried Summer Baseball and fell upon hard times due to a shortage of players. The Lakers finished the season with a disappointing record of 2-14.
The 4th grade students at Turtle Lake have been working on a three-week project. They have been learning and studying about famous people in the world. Each student picked out a book about a famous person they would like to portray. The students then read the book and wrote a report about their famous person. From this the students condensed the reports into a 3-5 minute speech about their person.

40 YEARS AGO
April 3, 1986
Elections of a Barron County Circuit Court judge and local municipal and school board officials provided voter interest and resulted in a good turnout for the Spring Election on Tuesday. In the race for a position on the Turtle Lake school board, the unofficial tally, with the Townships of Clinton and Clayton unavailable at this time, David Frandrup led Donovan Niemann 282 to 240. Incumbent Dennis Zemke did not seek re-election.
Barron is the Turkey Capital. Cumberland is the Rutabaga Capital. Almena is the . . .? The Almena Community Women are sponsoring a slogan contest to identify Almena. A $30 prize is being offered to the person with the best slogan.
The Missionaires Quartet from Clear Lake will present a concert of gospel music at the Comstock Alliance Church on Sunday, April 13, 1986 at 8:00 p.m. The Missionaires are a group of four dedicated laymen who seek to present Christ in word and in song. Two of the group have been singing together for over thirty years. Members include Alvin Paulson, Kevin Monson, Paul Hedstrom, Alger Monson and Nancy Bergmann.
The Turtle Lake 6th grade boys Community Education basketball team completed their 1985-86 season with a very successful 21-5 record. They competed in six weekend tournaments and brought home two firsts, two seconds and two consolation trophies. Members of the team were Jared Yeske, Brian Thill, Kurt Molls, Tim Gillette, Scott Strenke, Chris Warland, Jim Hacken and Coach Al Thill.

50 YEARS AGO
April 8, 1976
A near capacity crowd gathered in the Turtle Lake High School gymnasium Tuesday evening, April 6 for the annual Athletic Recognition Banquet honoring the young men and women that represent Turtle Lake at the various athletic events throughout the year. Upon completion of the meal the group adjourned to the auditorium where the guest speaker, Mr. Don Page, Athletic Director at UW-River Falls, was introduced.
A large number of voters turned out at the polls Tuesday, April 6 for the Spring Election which featured a number of closely contested local races, the Presidential Primary, a State Judicial contest and a statewide referendum.
Four first place ratings and one third place rating were earned by Turtle Lake music students at the annual Spring Concert Music Contest at Bruce Saturday, April 3. Over 160 students from grades six through twelve participated. In addition, five senior high students, along with seventeen other students from eleven other schools, auditioned to be one of ten winners of a $75.00 music scholarship. Turtle Lake had two winners: Shari McCann, vocal solo and Chris Rischette, piano solo.
The Turtle Lake elementary basketball season came to an end on Wednesday, March 31 as the Cletics defeated the Lakers 22-13 in the championship game. In consolation play, the Bucks squeezed by the Bulls 28-24.
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