A glance in the rearview mirror for the month of: February
25 years ago this month
• The Stockbridge High School ice fishing team qualified for the Class B State Fishing Championship that was to be held on February 4, 1995. To qualify, they finished second at the MHSAA regional competition. Per the Town Crier, “The Panthers hooked a school record 52 fish, including 16 by senior angler Wally ‘Walleye’ Jefferies.” Care to guess the coach’s name? If you guessed Bobby Troutman, you’d be right!
• On a more serious note, the Town Crier reported two fires were fought on the weekend of February 4, 1995—a Portage Lake single-story home and a barn fire on Catholic Church Rd.
50 years ago this month
• In February 1970, the Town Crier reported that Barb Glover, a Stockbridge High School senior was selected to qualify for the State Betty Crocker Homemaker of Tomorrow Scholarship. To qualify, Glover participated in a written and attitude test on homemaking.
• Beginning the week of February 16, 1970, mailings would be going out to residents to share the detailed fallout shelter plan that included where to go and what to do in the event of a nuclear attack.
• In February 1970, residents in seven Ingham County communities, including Stockbridge, began benefiting from extended mail delivery, meaning they could now begin receiving home-delivered mail if they lived more than a quarter mile but less than a half mile from a post office.
• How times have changed! Below is a Want Ad posted in the Town Crier, February 18, 1970:
WANTED:
Young Good Looking Housekeeper
Wages negotiable. Good fringe benefits.
100 years ago this month
• W.C. Cage recently received a pair of Japanese sandals as a Christmas present from his sister in Honolulu (as reported in February 1920 issue of the Stockbridge Brief-Sun).
• Officers of the Michigan Seating Co. of Jackson, MI, visited the area to look over their new branch factory. According to the Brief-Sun, the officers were more than pleased with the way things were going and with the interest showed by people here. At that time, about 50 people were employed at the factory.
• In February 1920, along with the Livestock Notes and the Market for Black Walnuts reported in the Brief-Sun, one could learn that the Millville school was closed for another week on account of the flu epidemic.
• Back-to-back issues of the Brief Sun ran installments of the story titled, “Tarzan and the Jewels of Opar” by Edgar Rice Burroughs.
• Dollars and cents in 1920: Following are the Saturday Specials listed by EH Applegate in the Brief-Sun:
Pancake Flour: 10¢
24½ pounds universal flour: $1.60
1 lb. coffee: 50¢
