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

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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

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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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CHAPTER II Our school story begins in 1776, the year of our in- dependence. In reality, however, it began more than a century earlier—shortly after the Pilgrims landed at Plymouth Rock. That’s when the first American schools were started. The Puritans were practical people, you see, and they felt that their ability to conquer the wilderness lay in their children’s state of preparation. Only through edu- cation could they attain the knowledge they needed to “confound Satan.” First, these children of the Puritans needed desper- ately to learn to read—English in order to master busi- ness and the law and Latin in order to understand im- portant religious materials. (Massachusetts passed a com- pulsory education law in 1642. Later, the state made provisions for each town of 60 families to provide an elementary teacher; a town of 100 families or more had to maintain a suitable Latin grammar school in addition to the elementary teacher.) Books and classroom materials? They were neither varied nor sophisticated. The Bay Psalm Book, the Bible and the Catechism were at the top of the recommended reading list. Supplementary classroom aids were in the form of oral tales and allegories to teach moral lessons of the day. There was a hornbook of ABC’s for teaching the vernacular. Colonial charters of the Dutch colonies—Pennsylvania, etc.—also provided for government-established schools. The middle colonies had difficulties. Varied as to religion and heritage, there was dissension among the people on educational issues. In short, each religion insisted that its children receive educational training in keeping with its creed. The South’s problems were different, too. Because of the rural nature of the population, centralized schools were impractical. As a result, wealthy planters employed tutors and set up schoolhouses on their lands. Their children as well as the children of their less well-to-do neighbors received instruction from the tutors. By 1776, both the curriculum and teaching methods had progressed considerably from the earlier days. In keeping with European tradition, vocational studies and applied sciences had largely been omitted from the early 18th century curricula in favor of the classics—Cato, Virgil and Cicero. But, America was born at a time when science and rationalism were challenging the validity of many traditions. The students benefited. Science, math, writing, astronomy, etc., were added to the school-day agenda. And, there was more of a choice in schools themselves. Although the Latin grammar schools still flourished as prep schools for the Harvards and Yales, private English schools had been introduced to better prepare middle class students for the business world and for the task of governing themselves. (Some private schools even agreed to admit girls alongside the boys, though most offered special classes for females—classes emphasizing sewing, music, art, reading and penmanship.) Even then, however, it was impossible to please all of the people all of the time or even most of the people at a single instance. Just as some had though the Latin schools too restrictive, others felt that the private English schools lacked discipline. 23