A Look Back at THE TIMES

10 YEARS AGO
February 18, 2016
The Turtle Lake Village Board was more than happy to hear the conclusions and recommendations of a Phase II site assessment from the DNR Monday night. The clean-up process of this piece of property has been like a rash, it never seemed to go away.
“Hello, my name is Colleen Stanley, the 2015-16 Turtle Lake Queen of the Lakes and Snows. On January 28-31 I had the opportunity to attend and participate in many of the St. Paul Winter Carnival events. This has been one of my best life experiences. I was able to meet many Queens from Minnesota, as well as the surrounding communities. Many new friendships were made and I was amazed how many knew where Turtle Lake was.”
For seniors Taylor Schneider, Kelly Catlin, Jackie Lee and Colleen Stanley, their high school basketball career is nearing completion, and the four were honored last Friday night during Senior Night. In addition the four were able to notch another win as the Lakers rolled to a 60-53 win. Taylor Schneider led all scorers for the Lakers with 28. Mariah Capra added 16 and Makayla Fagerlin chipped in 11.
The Lakers struggled last week against the Luck Cardinals on the road and a home game with the Prairie Farm Panthers, losing both contests by double digits. The Lakers lost 75-60 to the Cardinals and 90-70 to the Panthers. Caden Torgerson led the Lakers against Luck with 17 points. Cole Herzan had 16 and Jonah Kahl chipped in 13. Against Prairie Farm it was Cole Herzan leading the way with 20. Caden Torgerson added 15.
Tyler Quade placed second 113 lbs. and Morgan Vennie placed second at 152 lbs. at the Cumberland Regional last Saturday to qualify for sectional tournament this coming Saturday at Osseo-Fairchild High School. Chandler Galatowitsch finished third, one win away from a trip to sectionals. Other TC placewinners included Brendan Swagger – fourth at 195, Jordan Rouzer – fourth at 285, Brandon Hansen – fifth at 160, and Kevin Prinsen – fifth at 182.

20 YEARS AGO
February 23, 2006
One of the mainstay businesses of Turtle Lake has been the lumber yard. Laamperts is in it’s 39th year of business and is the main supplier of building materials in town. Lamperts was purchased from Olcott Lumber January 1, 1967 and has operated in the same location ever since, at 232 Willow Street South, just east of Maple Street, in downtown Turtle Lake.
A conditional use permit for Budget Home and
auto drew the largest discussion at the regular board meeting held Monday evening at the Village Hall. Administrator Bill Bell informed the board the pending variance applications and conditional use application were discussed at a Planning Commission meeting. Administrator Bell said he had inspected the property and some progress had been made. Fire lanes were cleared, the property was being cleaned up and some of the trailers had been moved.
The Turtle Lake/Clayton wrestlers went into the Ladysmith Sectional with five wrestlers and came out with two state qualifiers – both of them champions. Lance Hougdahl won the sectional title at 140 lbs. and Gabe Stoppelmoor won the champiosnhip at 152 lbs. Patrick O’Connell (171 lbs.), Mike ones (189 lbs.) and Chaz Dayton (160 lbs.) also competed for the Lakers. Patrick placed 4th, one spot away from a trip to the state tournament.
The Lakers rebounded from three quarters of deficits to tie the game up in the final seconds of the fourth, only to be outscored 10-7 in the overtime stanza, dropping a 59-56 non-conference loss to the Siren Dragons Tuesday, February 14, on the home floor. Kyle Stalpes and Kyle Wick scored 18 points apiece for the Lakers.
The Laker gals had an interesting week and a half of basketball recently. It all began with a forfeit win over New Auburn when the Trojans sent the boys team up instead of the girls. Then on Valentine’s Day the girls were rewarded with their first victory of the year, a 49-46 win over the Prairie Farm Panthers at Prairie Farm. The Lakers closed out their regular season play with a home contest against Shell Lake, but didn’t fare too well as Shell Lake ran away with a 45-27 win Friday, February 17. Adrienne Raffesberger paced the Lakers with 8. Courtney Colburn chipped in 6.

30 YEARS AGO
February 15, 1996
The Turtle Lake Police Department reports several snowmobiles have been stolen in the Village the past coule of weeks. William Scribner, of Turtle Lake, reported his 1993 Polaris had been stolen from Railroad Park, downtown Turtle Lake at approximately 9:30 p.m. on January 27, 1996. The snowmobile was recovered the next day near the Turtle Bakc Apartments on East Martin Avenue. The machine was not damaged.
Extremely icy roads were a contributing factor to a car vs semi accident at Turtle Lake School last Tuesday morning, February 6. The Turtle Lake Police Department responded to the call at 8:00 a.m. No one was injured in the mishap, but a torch was needed to cut the vehicle out from under the trailer.
Andy Koenig (130), Zach Hansen (152), and Troy Broker (189) won individual championships and Eric Tronrud (125), Ron Pich (135) and Nick Bylander (171) each placed second at the Regional Tournament held at Clear Lake last Saturday. The top two finishers in each weight class qualify for the sectional Tournament held next Saturday at Whitehall.
The Lakers played host to the Cameron Comets last Tuesday night and came away with a ten point, 46-36, win in a game that saw the Comets leading at halftime. Ryan Schradle led the Lakers with 12. Jeff Roff added 10.
The Laker gals traveled to the south a bit for their rematch with the Clayton Bears. This high powered Bear offense was too much for the young Lakers as the Bears ran away wit ha 71-31 win. Sam Koenig led the Lakers with 13. Michele Carlson also added 8.

40 YEARS AGO
February 13, 1986
The eight winners of the Turtle Lake Knights of Columbus Council 7848 Free Throw Contest competed in the District Contest on Saturday, February 8 and had a fine day. The local youth brought home three firsts, four second and one third. Placing first were Krista Thill in the 13-year old girls division; Jennifer Gillette in the 14-year girls division; and Mike Mumm in the 12-year old boys division.
The Turtle Lake Laker girls avenged their only West Lakeland Conference loss of the season Thursday night, running away from the Minong Evergreens, 43-25, to take sole possession of the conference lead. Joleyn Young led all scorers with 16 points with Sue Leschisin netting 13 and Melinda Hinck 8.
The Turtle Lake Lakers caught the “up” escalator and rode strong final period performances to two West Lakeland Conference basketball victories last week on their home floor. The wins over Clear Lake, 63-48, and Minong, 58-41, avenged earlier losses and pushed the Lakers into contention for a first-division finish with a 4-7 league record. Cory Kleinschmidt led the Lakers against Clear Lake with a game-high 27 points. Ron Hanson added 11 and Dave Anderson had 10. Dave Anderson and Cory Kleinschmidt led the Lakers against Minong with 14 each. Ron Hanson added 12.
Shawn Yeske, a senior wrestler in the 132-lbs. class led the Turtle Lake wrestling team to a 4th place finish in the Lakeland Conference Wrestling Tournament held at Turtle Lake last Saturday. Eight of the twelve Turtle Lake wrestlers placed 4th or higher and took home conference medals.
The Preschool Playhouse Child Care Center, located in St. Ann Center in Turtle Lake, will hold their Valentine Party on Thursday, February 13 from 9 – 11 a.m. If your child has never been at Preschool Playhouse before, this is the perfect time to join the fun.

50 YEARS AGO
February 19, 1976
On Monday, February 16, tentative agreement was reached on a master contract concerning the 197-76 and 1976-77 school years. The contract calls for a base salary for 1975-76 of $8415.00, an increase of $315.00 over 1974-75. In 1976-77 the base will be $8800.00. The school day for teachers will be from 8L00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. as it has been in the past.
An informational meeting regarding the proposed Turtle Lake Telephone Museum, “Telerama” will be held Monday, March 22 at 10:30 a.m. in the Hartzell Custom Products conference room. Walter Tetzlaf, Chief Economist on the Recrealtional Resources Center in Madison, will at this time present a detailed economic study of the project.
Turtle Lake advanced two wrestlers to the Sectional Wrestling Tournament to be held this Friday and Saturday, February 20 and 21 at Hudson. The Laker qualifiers from the St. Croix Falls Regional Tournament this past weekend were Gary Hoisington at 105 lbs. with wins over opponents from Northwestern at Maple and Unity, and Terry Willers at 167 lbs. who won both matches by pins over Shell Lake and Unity opponents.
The Turtle Lake Lakerettes traveled to Osceola Wednesday, February 11 to participate in the Girl’s Basketball Conference Tournament. Other schools participatng were Clear Lake, St. Croix Falls and Osceola. The Lakerettes met Osceola in the first round of games, losing 63-22. Mary Fredericks led the Lakers with 8 points. Tammy Kuhl had 6.
The Turtle Lake Lakers traveled to Clayton Thursday, February 121 for their next to the last conference game of the 1975-76 season. The Lakers were hoping to add to their five game winning streak and at the same time get revenge for their earlier season loss to the Bears in overtime. Marv Dietrich led the Lakers with 20 points in their 65-54 win. Joe Waldo and im Wick added 12 each.