THAT REMINDS ME with Marilyn Hagerty: Ski jumpers flew over Grand Forks park in 1936
Winter’s worst weather did not deter spectators who gathered at Lincoln Park. There were 60 contestants in the ski jumping competition.By: Marilyn Hagerty, Grand Forks Herald
On Feb. 16, 1936, a field of 60 outstanding riders from the Northwest gathered in Grand Forks to take part in the tourney sponsored by the Forx Ski Club.
Winter’s worst weather did not deter spectators who gathered at Lincoln Park. There were 60 contestants in the ski jumping competition.
Winter 1936 was as ugly as winter 2011 is turning out to be. But then as now, life went on in Grand Forks. The six-day Winter Carnival in the middle of February drew crowds of hearty people who braved the weather. Kenneth Wood was the general chairman. The event was sponsored by a Winter Carnival committee made up of Ira Gaulke, Lloyd Thompson, Milton Moskau and Kenneth Wood. The group had sponsored the Harvest Festival in the fall.
The Winter Sports Carnival also featured a dogsled derby, and children took part in skating races and a toboggan competition in Central Park.
February also was the month for the Shrine Circus. It came to the City Auditorium with 22 great acts, and there was free dancing nightly.
The American Legion rifle squad patrolled the city streets during the Policemen’s Ball, another February event.
Meanwhile, thousands of former North Dakota residents with friends and family gathered for the annual North Dakota Picnic in Los Angeles. Grand Forks residents made up most of the registration.
The speaker was Sam Clark, Minot, of Jim Jam Jem fame. He was a former mayor of Minot and publisher of independent newspapers at Glendale, Calif.
Fifteen men and women who received winter degrees at UND went out into the world reciting the following pledge with President John West:
“As I go out, I pledge myself to try to live up to the ideals of my university and to take my stand on the side of right with the best light I know.”
o o o
The way of life 75 years ago is reflected in the ads in the Grand Forks Herald:
The Forx theatre was showing “Sweet Music” with Rudy Vallee ... Thoms Florists was promoting Valentine’s Day ... And other businesses advertising in the Herald included Dunlevy Ice and Fuel, Odell’s department store, Rudh Bros. furniture, Bray’s fashion shop, Bridgeman-Russell Creamery and Panovitz Furniture and Carpet.
Wash frocks were on sale for $1 to $2.95 at M.D. Knox & Co. And you could get Prince Albert smoking tobacco in two-ounce tins that guaranteed 50 pipefuls of fragrant tobacco.
Ely Culbertson, “the bridge master of them all,” produced daily bridge articles and lessons for the Herald and other newspapers. The column was called, “According to Culbertson.”
Anne Morrow Lindbergh’s nonfiction book, “North to the Orient,” was by far the most popular book in the Grand Forks City Library. It had twice as many requests as the most popular fiction work, Harvey Allen’s “Anthony Adverse.”
Tags: that reminds me, op-ed columns, marilyn hagerty, ski jumping, opinion, history, columnslides
More from around the web
RSS Feeds