Kasson Mantorville High School - Komet Yearbook (Kasson, MN)

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1965 March 4. K-M had four wrestlers in the state meet. They placed 11th in state. June 18-20. Kasson celebrates its 100th birthday. The man after whom the town of Kasson was named was of Irish origin, although his family had been in this country for many generations. Adam Kasson, great grandfather of Jabez Kasson, made the first spinning wheel in America. Jabez Hyde Kasson was born January 17,1820. He grew up on a farm and received a common school education. In 1856 he came to Mantorville Township and lo- cated. On February 4,1884, he was ap- pointed as postmaster in Kasson. He still gave attention to tillage of his farm. Soon after settling here, he became possessor of land on which a portion of Kasson now lies, and on the advent of the railroad in 1865, donated the station ground. With one or two others, he platted the town-site. In September, 1851, Mr. Kasson married Mrs. Jane Thayer, a native of Otsego County, New York. A son and daughter were born to them. Mr. Kasson died June 22, 1891 and was buried in Maplegrove Cemetery, Kasson. 1966 March 29. Burglars enter two K-M schools. This was the third time in the past six years that the vault has been broken into. $50. was taken. April 7. School was burglarized last week and the vault door was completely wreck- ed when the burglars broke into the vault. The burglars received only $50. for their efforts but damage to the door was about $500. May 19. Kasson Roller Mills will be torn down. 1967 January 19. Supt. E.L. Vitalis to retire after school year(August 1). He was here for nine years. March 30. K-M Board names Donald G. Carter as Supt. to replace E.L. Vitalis. June. K-M Exchange Club organized. November 23. Members of the Kasson Vil- lage Council were told of plans for the ex- tension of the four lane highway of high- way 14 from Byron to Kasson at a meet- ing held Tuesday evening at the Munici- pal building. 1968 January. Brewer Implement Co. is world’s oldest International Harvester dealer. It was started in 1868 when Daniel O. Brewer signed a contract with Cyrus H. McCor- mick, inventor of the reaper, and began selling horsedrawn machinery from a shop. March 4. Brewer Implement Co. sold to Charles Bishop and Charles Wachholz. April 25. State Representative Alfred M. Falkenhagen suffered a fatal heart attack. June 11. Many Kasson and Mantorville flags flew at half mast in the memory of Sen. Robert Ken- nedy who was assassinated. August 8. The old First Bap- tist Church is in the process of being torn down. October 31 .Governor Har- old LeVan der spoke at the State Grange convention held in Kasson. December 24. U.S.A. moon orbit. 1969 July 20. First moon landing for U.S.A. 1972 June 21. Don Carter resigns as Supt. of Schools. July 26. Sigurd J. Anderson accepts Supt. of Schools job. He replaces Don Carter. October 25. Sara Stucky was named the first Miss K-M. Jan Kyllo and Roberta Ncseth were named runners-up. 1973 January 27. Vietnam truce. March 21. K-M boys’ win runner-up Re- gion I crown in basketball. July. Marilyn Fredrickson and her art stu- dents painted an 8’ x 16’ mural in cele- bration of Dodge County Fair centennial. 1974 November 19. K-M girls’ win Region I crown in basketball (they won their first state game). Smiths displayed the official Minn. Bi- centennial covered wagon to students. centennial covered wagon train. The 50 covered wagons representing the states in the union arrived in Valley Forge, Pennsylvania on July 3. Formal education began in Kasson in a little log school house built on Mantor- ville Ave. It was not long before the need for a larger school was needed, and a new two-story school was erected, 30 by 40 feet. There were about sixty students in attendance under the direction of Mr. Hobart. Governor Wendell Anderson was in Man- torville to dedicate the new boardwalk and pound in his own board. He paid his own one dollar bill to have his name en- graved in on a wood plank. Gov. Ander- son was also in Mantorville to present the city with a check for $1,700. from the Department of Economic Develop- ment because of the efforts to preserve and restore the city. (Pictured below). 1975 July 23. Seig Wenzel replaces William Bentson who re- signed this spring. November 26. Kasson voters O.K. Medical Bond Issue by 98%. Mayo Clinic has agreed to staff the satellite clinic with permanently assigned family practice specialists. 1976 The nation celebrates the Bicentennial of its Indepen- dence throughout the year. Folkestad Chevrolet Garage at Kasson celebrates its 50th year of Chevrolet sales and service. April 12. Mr. Clarence Smith of Dodge Center and Mr. Richard Kvasnicka of Brownsdale represented Minnesota in the official Bi-

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April 21. Area children to receive polio shots. June 28. Albrights’ Circus appeared in Kasson. July 5. Ground breaking ceremonies for the new 4-H building on the Dodge County fair- grounds at Kasson was conducted. August 22. Leon Joyce and Co. moved their equipment in and started work on the K-M H.S. athletic filed located north of Kasson. School officials plan to have the field seeded this fall. The field is located on property pur- chased from Morris Smith and is one-mile north of Kasson on Highway 57. October 13. The annual free Pancake Day spon- sored by Kasson Commercial Club members. 1956 February 9. School board airs building plans. The building, which would be a U-shaped struc- ture, would include a new auditorium, agri- cultural shop, wood working shop, music rooms, community rooms and classrooms for 500 students. The building is designed so that classrooms could be added on both wings in the future if needed. The total cost of the school broken down would be about $785,000. for the building, $63,000. for the equipment and about $48,000. architect’s fees. Other costs involved would be water supply and sewage disposal for the school and site work around the building. 1957 Streets signs were voted for by the Kasson Council. May 23. Supt. Harold Grudem and Prin. John Morris of K-M both tendered their resigna- tions to the Board. July 11. K-M Board named W.H. Davidson, Superintendent. July 18. Cattle bam goes up at fairgrounds. July 18. Harold Haugo of Lake Mills, Iowa named high school principal. He has been teaching at Starbuck, Minn, for the past 10 years where he was coach and teacher 3 years and has been high school principal for the past 7 years. He is a 1947 graduate of Luther College in Decorah, Iowa and is married and has four children. 1958 January 23. Hubbell House damaged by fire Saturday evening when fire broke out in a third floor room. $10,000 damage was dis- covered about 7:45. March 6. Junior and Senior High School stu- dents completed their moving operations Tues- day from the Kasson and Mantorville buildings to the newly constructed Jr. and Sr. High School. Gasses were in full swing at the new school on Wednesday. April 24. New K-M School 204 dedicated Sunday afternoon, April 27,1958 at 2:30 p.m. Speaker for the program will be MJ. Haggerty from the Minnesota State Dept, of Ed. This will be followed by building construction re- marks which will be given by Hubert Swan- son, architect The program will close with the Benediction by the Rev. Gabriel Tweet. Construction was made possible by a $900,000 bond issue election held April 3,1956. Total cost of the building was $912,886.00. -construction $546,888 —plumbing and heat $137,775 -electrical $74,933 -temperature control $22,025 —miscellaneous $70,165 -site cost $14,000 -equipment $22,880 December. The Kasson Fire Department moved to its new modern quarters on Main and First Street N.E. The Fire Department was officially organized as early as 1898. Some of the major fires that the firemen battled were the following: the school house fire of 1917; the Brewer Implement Company in 1945; the grandstand at the Fairgrounds 1932,1959; and the Eleva- tor in 1949. 1959 January 15. Burglars broke into the K-M Jr. and Sr. High School office sometime Thursday night or Friday morning and made off with an estimated $ 1,700 in cash and checks from the school vault. The robbers gained entrance by breaking out a window in the front door and then break- ing the window in the office. They then proceeded to chop a hole in the side of the vault which was constructed of two brick walls. One of the men then crawled through the opening and took the money out of the cash box. October 13. Robbers broke into K-M School. They entered the building thru the Northeast corner in the hot lunch- room and knocked a hole in the safe in the Superintendent’s office. About $370 was taken. 1960 Class of 1960 gives sign at H.S. grounds. Kasson’s population is 1,713 and Mantor- ville has only 497 residents, according to the census. The total population of Dodge County is reported to be 13,087. 1961 The Kasson Post Office was built. May 11. New H.S. Band uniforms arrived. The royal blue and white uniforms have a coat that can be worn both open and closed, and shako hats with white plumes. July 13. Grandstand nears completion on the Dodge County Fairgrounds at Kasson. The grandstand will seat about 1200 people and is of concrete and steel construction. November. New robes were purchased for the Senior High Chorus. They are navy in color with a white stole to eliminate the need for identical blouses and shirts worn underneath. 1962 July 20. Burglars broke into the Dodge County Courthouse in Mantorville. October 13. Atty, Gen. Walter Mondale appeared at the Kasson-Mantorville H.S. at a potluck supper. Mr. Mondale’s father previously was pastor at the Kasson Meth- odist Church. March 15. KoMets capture District VIII crown. March 23. Burt P. Sorenson died at his home following a cerebral hemorrhage. Mr. Sorenson operated the Sorenson Mill- ing Co. in Kasson until November of 1959 when he sold the building to the Styline Corporation of Indiana and the milling equipment to the Kasson Elevator Co. May 24. Grand opening of new Erdman Super Market in Kasson. June 7. New Ben Franklin store holds Grand Opening. The store is located in the building formerly occupied by Erd- man’s Super Market. 1963 January 31. K-M High School’s new porta- ble band risers arrived at the school. The risers, which are in 28 sections, will be used for the band’s rehearsing and per- forming They were purchased from the Wenger company of Owatonna. June 6. Bob’s Drive-In, managed by Vern Huse, recruited Mrs. Gloria Engel and Mrs. Shirley Austin to be car-hops while the regular hops attended Baccalaureate Ser- vices at K-M recently. September 19. Plans are being made to restore District 38 school house-known as the Henslin School-erected in 1883 at the cost of $1,000. November 22. Flags were lowered when word was heard around the world that President John F. Kennedy was assassi- nated. 1964 Three voting machines were purchased at Kasson. City mail delivery for Kasson was approv- ed and authorized by the Postal Service Department (to begin May 23). The Municipal Building has been com- pletely remodeled inside and out. July 30. Sigurd Anderson hired as K-M principal. He replaces Harold Haugo, who will serve in the capacity of counselor for the coming year.

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Kasson Schools r % In 1879, a new brick schoolhouse, 60’ by 80 feet, costing $15,000 was built. This was de- stroyed by fire in 1882. 1879, the School Board of Kasson awarded the contract for re- building the school to a firm in Winona. In 1895, a second story was added, together with a belfry. June 20,1917, this school (pictured top right) was destroyed by fire, which was be- lieved to have started when some boys threw a fire-cracker into the belfry that contained straw from birds nest. The school pictured to the right was com- pleted during 1917-18 to replace the one that burned. After consolidation of Kasson and Mantorville it is now used as the primary school for grades K-4. At the east end of the Kasson Park stands a square brick home. This is on the site of the former brick kiln. At one time, this was the home of Mr. Thurwachter, the Agricultural instructor in the high school. The land sur- rounding it was used for experimental crops. Below: Kasson’s second school building, con- structed in the late 1860’s. It is with a feeling of considerable pride and pleasure that the editor and adviser present this history to the people. The undertaking has not been an easy one and the difficulties have been many. This work would not have been possible without the financial backing of the generous contributors listed below. Also, to the following who helped in some way: Grace Fredrickson, Mr. and Mrs. Earl Bartel, Mrs. and Mrs. Richard Folkestad, Mr. Don Fiegel, Mr. Folmer Carlsen, Mr. and Mrs. Paul Leuthold. It has been our aim to select matter that is authentic, reliable and interesting to the people to hand down to future genera- tions. We are indebted to the following sources from which we recorded our in- formation: ♦Dodge County Independent news- paper files ♦Kasson Centennial booklet ♦History of Mantorville, Minnesota ♦History of Winona, Olmsted and Dodge Counties ♦Atlas of Dodge County Minnesota ♦Dodge County Profiles Clsruru C - c t A,' TpferM n' Trecfr cAso ?; $30.00 contributor Kasson State Bank $25.00 contributor The Relay Station $15.00 contributors Folkestad Chevrolet Garage Kasson Lumber Company K-M Telephone Company Stussy Construction Inc. $10.00 contributors Ben Franklin Store Bishop and Wachholz Burt’s Standard Station Daryl Graves Insurance Dibble Furniture Store Dodge County Independent Erdman’s Supermarket Friendly Tavern Gambles Greenway Coop Elevator Harold’s Welding Shop Harris Insurance Agency Kasson Karpet Mart Leutholds Kasson Parts and Supply Maxson Electric Miller’s Used Merchandise and Antiques Moorman Mfg.Co. 1-Stop Realty Inc. Prescher Electric Service Dr. M.L. Stucky Spillman’s Barber Shop Spilman’s Market Thompson Insurance Village Inn Zumbro Valley Golf Course $5.00 contributors Abel Signs and Decorating Center A1 Rud’s Auto Mart Bette’s Beauty Salon B G Auto Repair Bob Shadow Accounting and Tax Service Boston Cafe Charlie’s Hauling Service Chimney Cupboard El’s Texaco Erickson’s Hardware Frank’s Feed and Seed Gordy’s Body Shop, Inc. Greenway Coop Service Station Hubbell House John C. Banks Ins. Ag. John’s Radio and TV Inc. Johnson’s Mobil Service Kasson Ford, Inc. Kasson Krafts Kasson Lanes Kasson Speed Wash Komet Kleaners Marjorie’s Beauty Salon Patterson Motors and Implement Ron’s Barber Shop Rosemark Agency, Inc. Shoe Hospital Suzy’s Shoppe and Gallery Ted’s Mobil Service Zwemke Music Co. $2.00 contributor Morson Hardware