Brings History Making
Blizzard
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Traffic
Tied Up, Vernon Center Haven For Travelers
Over Night, Schools Closed,
Farmers Suffer Heavy
Loss Of Livestock and Poultry, Snowplows
Kept Busy
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Council Minutes
 A regular meeting of the
village council was held at the council room on November 4, 1940. All members were present except
C.M. Banks.The meeting was called to order by president A.L. Kreuer.
The minutes of the last regular meeting held on October 7, 1940, were
read and approved.
A motion was made by Boutwell and seconded by Warren that the following
bills be paid. Motion carried.
| Carl Reich, Jr. first 1/2 of October salary |
$30.00 |
| Interstate Power Co., October light and power |
$69.14 |
| Arnold Reich, 8 hours work on water main |
$2.40 |
| Carl Reich, Jr., balance of October salary |
$30.00 |
| Henry Palmby, Hallowe'n nite watchman and use
of car |
$5.00 |
| Henry Thul, Hallowe'n nite watchman and
constables services |
$6.00 |
| M.C. Mattson, taking transient to Mankato
$2.00, freight 50c |
$2.50 |
| W.S. Darley Co., six clamps |
$4.08 |
| Hubbard & Palmer, coal for pump house |
$3.20 |
| E.T. Bailey, trucking and draying |
$19.95 |
| Clement Mertesdorf, toilet rental for October |
$12.50 |
| Clarence Banks, judge at general election |
$6.95 |
| Edwin Boutwell, judge of general election
$6.95, returning ballots $3.00 |
$9.95 |
| H.L. Burdick, clerk at general electin |
$6.95 |
| H.G. Thul, judge general election |
$6.95 |
| M.C. Mattson, clerk general election $6.95,
securing ballots $1.00 |
$7.95 |
Monday
evening, November 18, 1940 was the date set for auditing the
treasurers and recorders books.
The
president appointed the following to serve on the annual election board,
election to be held
December 3, 1940, between the hours of nine in the
morning and five in the evening:
Judges:
C.M. Warren and J.L. Halverson; clerks, Edwin Boutwell and Rev. E.F.
Lorenz. A
motion was made to adjourn. M.C.
Mattson, Recorder
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On Monday the northwest was the
scene of one of the worst winter snow storms we have ever witnessed, and
Vernon Center got its share. Rain fell Sunday evening, and as the
thermometer began to drop, the rain turned to snow. By Monday
morning the wind had begun to blow, and with the snow still falling
roads were soon blocked and traffic was at a stand still. Not as
much snow fell here as was received in some places, but it pilled up and
drifted badly. Several drifts in town measured eight to ten feet
high.
The wind blew at a velocity of 49 miles per hour, and did
considerable damage. Visibility during the storm was nil. A
large plate glass window at the undertaking parlors was blown in, and
also one of the large glass windows at the meat market. Several
trees were blown down.
Mr. Average Citizen, who had been bragging about Minnesota's
Indian summer lasting "until anyway December" soon changed his
mind when, early Tuesday morning, he found himself in the midst of a
night mare, hunting out his overshoes and sheep lined coat, searching
for fuel, digging snow and getting on storm windows and doors in zero
weather in another good old Minnesota winter.
No school was held in the local school on Monday, and as
all the side roads have not been cleared, it doesn't look as though they
will call school at all this week. School was held in Garden City
Monday morning, but the pupils were dismissed at about ten
o'clock. On the way home, "Pete's" bus, hauling the
local high school pupils, collided with Dr. J.E. Haes' Mercury car near
the Bert Hanson home. Nobody was injured, but the doctor's care
was quite badly dented up. One of the Garden
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City school buses was
unable to make the complete round, and the driver and his passengers
spent the night at the Lee Fleming home.
The highway department started to clear off the roads
early Tuesday forenoon, but the snow was so hard and deep in spots that
it was a slow job. By late afternoon a one way track on the
pavement had been cleared from Winnebago to Vernon Center, and many
cars, trying to get to their northern destination, had followed the snow
plow into town. Drifts on the pavement between Garden City and
Vernon Center were so deep and frequent that it looked like an
impossible job to clear it off before morning. Consequently, over
50 cars and trucks and well over 100 people were planning on spending
the night in our village. Many local residents opened their homes
to transients, and provided for as many as eight persons fo rthe
night. All the meat in the meat shop was sold, and there were no
bread trucks or grocery trucks traveling, and farmers couldn't even get
to town with milk or cream and it looked as though the town was on the
verge of a food shortage. By eleven o'clock the roads were opened
to Mankato and many drove on.
Local
farmers are reported to have lost cattle, sheep, horses, many chickens
and turkeys. One farmer is reported o have lost over 4,000
turkeys, which represents quite a financial loss.
Ye
old pioneer, with his stories of those snow storms years ago, now has a
new one to tell, and for the rst of us, this storm furnishes proof that
maybe "that blizzard way back then" could have happened.
November 11, 1940, will go down in history as the date of perhaps the
worst early winter storm ever to take place in these parts.
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