Days Gone By (May 6)
By: Pat Hunter, archivist, River Falls Journal
- Messy cleanup
- Arbor Day clean-up
- Peg Pechacek retires
About 100 students from Meyer Middle School combed the banks of the Kinnickinnic River between Division Street and the Dairy Queen, picking up trash as part of the school’s Arbor Day activities. Students from the 7-Gold House collected over 20 bags of trash.
The ladies of the women’s fellowship group at the Congregational Church were readying the church for the 50th annual Country Fair Festival and Sale.
Friday was Peg Pechacek’s last day on the job after 16 years with the River Falls Police Department. Her memories include babysitting a sleeping little neighbor boy who grew up to become Capt. John Stapleton, and hiring a teenage boy at hers and husband Gordy’s gas station who grew up to become head of the police investigative unit — Sgt. Jeff Linehan. Peg graduated from River Falls High School in 1956 and either worked at or owned various businesses downtown — from the Grimm Insurance Agency, the Ivy Shop, a car wash on North Main Street, the Deep Rock Gas Station, and the Falls Dairy (now Mainstreeter Bar & Grill).
Good news for Andersen employees in Bayport, Minn. They were going back to a five-day work week because of an increase in orders, but not enough to recall the 900 who were laid off.
Jack Oglesby was the new co-owner and manager of the Country Kitchen Restaurant here.
Tom Alton, an employee at Lund Hardware since 1984, was named Mason of the Year.
Grocery specials included sirloin steak at $2.39/pound; spareribs, 88 cents/pound; lettuce, 39 cents/head; and bananas, 27 cents/pound.
The town of Troy approved Sunday liquor sales with Kinnic Café and Lounge, Croix View Liquors and the Spielhaus all saying they will start staying open this Sunday.
During a four-hour meeting, the City Council voted to extend parallel parking to the remaining downtown Main Street area and to install parking meters, but put off making a final decision on the joint-venture multi-purpose arena proposed by the college. City portion would be 25% with a ceiling of $250,000 on the $800,000 project.
The 1960 census showed that River Falls had a population of 5,047. This represented a gain of 1,170 since 1950 and included nearly 1,000 students. Pierce County’s population had dropped nearly 3,000 and St. Croix gained about 3,000.
The South Fork School District voted to join the River Falls School District, making a total of eight districts, with only one left in this area that could possibly come in.
A. W. Lund Co., offered a “big 10.39-cubic foot, 28-inch wide, 363-pound capacity” Frigidaire freezer for $199.
Bruce Meents and Mary Doolittle led the annual junior-senior banquet and prom. The theme was “Blue Moon” and 185 guests were served a delicious dinner.
Falcon basketball star Newman Benson was drafted by the Minneapolis Lakers.
Specials at local grocery stores included a pound jar of peanut butter for 35 cents, two 1 1/2-pound loaves of bread for 33 cents, 19-ounce can of pie cherries for 21 cents, bacon at 39 cents/pound, and pork roast 33 cents/pound.
Mayor Herman T. Hagestad warned dog owners to take heed and avoid trouble by observing the law regarding dogs running loose in the city.
Editor’s note: Look for photos from this week in 2000 on the Journal’s website under “Days Gone By” in Lifestyles.
Tags: days gone by, river falls, local news, lifestylehistory
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