| Summary: | In September Erickson Truck Lines were purchased by Gentzkow Trucking Service of LaMoure. The old Equity Elevator was moved to Oakes, N. D. Carl Fredrickson, who had been the Northern Pacific depot agent in Litchville for many years, retired from his job as NP agent in Valley City. Connie Olafson, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Leonard Olafson, was crowned North Dakota Dairy Princess. Norman Colebank became VFW district commander and an area pioneer, P. F. Satterlee, died December 26 at the age of 101. Tornadoes were reported in the summer of 1967 and one on the Sperger farm in Greenland Township rolled a combine into a ball shaped mass. The Litchville school library was opened one day a week in the summer for use by community residents and an independent kindergarten was started for six weeks in the spring. Although plans originally had been to organize the kindergarten as part of the federal Head Start project, the community decided to organize an independently administered local kindergarten. Hermanson Bull Riding Champ David Hermanson, son of Mr. and Mrs. Art Hermanson, brought distinction to the town in 1968 when he became the North Dakota Bull Riding Champion and competed in national contests. The litchville Trojans won both the Barnes County and district basketball championships and were the state Cross Country champs. Federal Home Administration approved funding of the Litchville Parklane Homes project, construction work started during the summer and an open house for the new development was held November 24. The Cities Service Station was closed in 1968 when Mack Bax died. J and H Farm Service and Supply construction began in November. Harold Kick was the manager. In other business news, Darrell Maasjo became the new mechanic at Strinden's and Jack Miller became the new litchville Elevator manager. Kendall Hansen bought the Litchville Bulletin in January and the litchville and Marion railway stations were combined with Norman Colebank as agent. The C. H. Carpenter lumber Co. did extensive office remodeling and built a new entry. Local politics found that the Litchville Bulletin, which had been the official Barnes County newspaper for two two-year terms, lost in its bid for a third term. Theron Strinden was elected state senator and Les Powers and Ernie Miedema were elected state representatives, all on the Republican ticket. In 1968, Litchville became a city rather than a village under a law passed by the state legislature. In the city election, Harlan Opdahl was elected mayor. New board members were Curt Flach and Wallace Hansen. R. E. Peterson and T. I. Strinden were other board members. Dennis Anderson was Justice of the Peace, Gary Justesen was elected treasurer and Henry Verduin was park commissioner. Federal Meat Inspection Fought Local and state farmers fought against imposition of federal inspection of meat in North Dakota in 1969. Theron Strinden was one of the local citizens leading the state fight. I.ocal constituents felt that federal inspection would make it impossible for local meat cutters and processors to stay in business because costs of remodeling to meet federal standards requiring stainless steel rooms and equipment would be prohibitive. Many local citizens felt that they would be better off buying local meat which was raised well by local farmers and having it processed by a local butcher. They were opposed to buying lesser quality meat whose origin they were not sure of. Many local farmers went back to butchering their own cattle in barns and outbuildings. The F'roemke Dairy discontinued milk routes in 1969 and sold bulk milk directly to a creamery. That winter 2000 bales of hay were destroyed in a fire at the dairy. The fire occurred during a blizzard and people worked throughout the night to contain the fire and prevent it from spreading to other farm buildings. The road had to be plowed out for the Litchville and Hastings Tire Departments answered the call despite the blizzard conditions. Major changes occurred in the Strinden corporation in June when Alfred and Cleone Strinden left Litchville to move to Grand Forks where Alf became manager of the Strinden store there. Theron Strinden became general manager of the Litchville store and Kenneth Hanson was made hardware manager at the local store. Otter Tail Power Company and Dickey Rural Telephone Company are using the same poles for their wires within the Litchville city limits to improve the appearance of the town by using fewer utility poles. Construction continued throughout the winter on the new J and H Farm Service and Supply and the grand opening of the new seed, feed and fertilizer facility was held in April. In March, Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Willason purchased the Litchville fxtunderama from Sig Henrikson. Mr. and Mrs. Kendall Hansen opened the Tasty-Treat Drive-in, June 2. The building, which had been unused for several years, and had originally housed Vic's Service Station, had been remodeled extensively. That fall two Litchville workers retired after over 30 years on the job. R. H. Beechie, who had been a rural mail carrier for 33 years, retired October 31. Melvin Rorvik also retired as assistant postmaster after 33years. Two new employees were Walter Kinshella, new manager at Litchville Elevator and Kenny Schiffner, new mechanic at Opdahl Motors. On July 22, Esther's Beauty Shop was opened in Litchville. This brought the number to three new businesses for the community in a year. Esther Olson operated it from her home. Mrs. Jacob DeVries worked as a hair dresser for several years in this busy place. The Litchville Trojans won the Barnes County championship and the District 4 title. Shannon, infant son of Mr. and Mrs. Jerry Englin, was the Barnes County New Year's Baby, born January 1. Dave Hermanson became the state Bull Riding Champion for the second consecutive year. Freight Service One Litchville business early day folks never dreamed of and for which they had no need was the Erickson Truck Line. Emil Erickson operated from 1938 until the early 1900's. He used Litchville as the base of his business. Oentzkow's Trucking of LaMoure has now taken over the business and serves the community's trucking and freight needs. Another new service to the community la the United Parcel service which Is similar to Parcel Post with the exception that delivery is made directly to one's door. Time was when the railroads were all-sufficient as carriers of the nation's many and varied commodities but that's an era that passed along with the horse and buggy. Now public highways are lanes along which trucks transport vast quantities of merchandise, a stream of traffic that is never still, night or day. Scanned with a Zeutschel Zeta book scanner at 300 dpi. Edited with Multi-Page TIFF Editor.
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