APRIL 12
20 years ago (2002)
College students from around the world will soon arrive in Brainerd to work at area resorts. But there will be fewer this year as resorts have found it easier to find more local help. For example, Ruttger's on Bay Lake will employ 11 foreign students this year compared to the usual 20.
30 years ago (1992)
The death penalty should be brought back to Minnesota and term limits should be instituted for elected officials, according to a poll conducted by the Dispatch at the Commerce and Industry show over the weekend. The margin favoring the death penalty was 3-to-1 and for term limits it was 4-to-1.
40 years ago (1982)
Motley Police Chief Larry Converse can attest that in moments of danger your life flashes before your eyes. Answering a call that a husband had been drinking and threatened his wife with a gun, he knocked on the door and had a rifle shoved into his chest. He escaped, but the man started firing at him through a window. When the man fell asleep, they captured him.
60 years ago (1962)
Of the 325 employees at the NP Railroad shops, 220 have been idled by a layoff that began on March 26. J.C. Bekemans, shops supt., says that men could start being called back as early as next week. Reason for the layoff is the lack of materials for fabricating boxcars.
80 years ago (1942)
Officials say it may be months before the fate of the 33,000 American-Filipino troops from the Bataan Peninsula is known. The gallant men surrendered only after 98 days of enduring hunger, fever and exhaustion, and a blazing final stand of 15 days and nights without rest against thousands of new Japanese troops.
100 years ago (1922)
Famed sportswriter Grantland Rice says that the Yankees, with Babe Ruth absent until late May, will have to rely on their pitching staff, and one of their aces is the newly acquired Joe Bush (Brainerd boy). Manager Miller Huggins has enough good pitching to call on a good one every day.
28/50: People in the Northern Pacific Railroad depot waiting area, circa 1910. Source: 'Out of the Woods, A Pictorial History of The Brainerd Lakes Area', Published by The Brainerd Daily Dispatch. Copyright 1994.
29/50: Chicago Tavern on Gilbert Lake circa 1938-1943. Dancing and food. Al LaBarre was the owner. Source: 'Out of the Woods, A Pictorial History of The Brainerd Lakes Area' published by The Brainerd Daily Dispatch. Copyright 1994.
30/50: State Champion was this Brainerd amateur baseball team of 1894, which later saw two of those players advance to the major leagues. Pictured here are (front row) Frary, catcher; Phyle, rf-pit.; Howe, pit., rf; C. McCarthy, 1st; (middle row) Burgum, shortstop, W.P. Buckley, manager; Hill; 3rd; (back row) W. McCarthy, cf; Blandy, lf; Warner, 2nd. Source: 'Brainerd Minnesota 1871 - 1971'. Reproduced from the Centennial Edition of the Brainerd Daily Dispatch. Copyright 1971.
37/50: Brainerd Fire Department. Dispatch archives
38/50: W.E. Lively, the hustling Maxwell auto dealer, has sold a Maxwell to Joseph Johnson. Pictured is a Maxwell Mascotte Touring 1911 by Lars-Göran Lindgren Sweden - Own work, CC BY-SA 3.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=1526033
39/50: This truck belonged to Silas Hall's Transfer Line just after World War I. It was used for hauling freight from the NP (Northern Pacific Railroad) depot to stores around town as well as for other kinds of moving. The picture was taken in front of the railroad freight office. Before the truck, Silas Hal used teams of horses and wagons which he kept at 415 Main (now Washington Street). Source: Brainerd Minnesota 1871 - 1971. Reproduced from the Centennial Edition of the Brainerd Daily Dispatch.
40/50: The 1916 Brainerd police force, pictured here, included the following men: The plain clothes men at either end were Jack Brandt (left) and Ted Nesheim; (front row, left to right) Charles Varner, chief, and Tom Templeton. (Rear, left to right) Erick Graff, Hans Saude and August Swanson. Source: Brainerd Minnesota 1871 - 1971. Reproduced from the Centennial Edition of the Brainerd Daily Dispatch.
41/50: This building at Seventh and Laurel, still a well-known landmark in Brainerd, was the home of the Citizen's State Bank, from 1909 to 1927, when the bank then moved to quarters across the street. This picture was taken in 1913. Source: Brainerd Minnesota 1871 - 1971. Reproduced from the Centennial Edition of the Brainerd Daily Dispatch.
42/50: The "fill" grounds skating rink, located near Franklin Junior High School, winter of 1938-39. Source: 'Out of the Woods, A Pictorial History of The Brainerd Lakes Area', Published by The Brainerd Daily Dispatch. Copyright 1994.
43/50: People in the Northern Pacific Railroad depot waiting area, circa 1910. Source: 'Out of the Woods, A Pictorial History of The Brainerd Lakes Area', Published by The Brainerd Daily Dispatch. Copyright 1994.
44/50: 60 years ago (1959) (Photo) Robert Dobson, 15, is interested in how long he can keep a kite aloft. He launched a kite at 3 p.m. yesterday near the court house and it's still flying despite a near disaster when a truck caught the kite string. The weatherman says it will remain windy today. Photo illustration, Metro Creative Graphics, Inc.
45/50: Brainerd Dispatch archives
46/50: The state hospital campus on Highway 18.
47/50: Santa takes a ride during a Christmas parade in downtown Brainerd.
48/50: Children crowd around Santa during downtown Brainerd Christmas festivities.
50/50: Brainerd Dispatch archives
