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60 YEARS AGO

February 27, 1948 — Continuous winds throughout Traill County and the Red River Valley during the past week kept all county and side roads blocked, marooning travelers at farm houses and reducing business and social activities to a standstill. After a blizzard with 70 mph winds, snow removal crews had just cleared roads when a heavy wet snow fell, followed by freezing rain that turned highways into skating rinks. Ten travelers tried to follow a snowplow from Mayville to Hillsboro Sunday but were stranded at a farm until Tuesday afternoon.

Mile 26 Air Field in Alaska was renamed in memory of Hatton-born pilot-explorer Col. Carl Ben Eielsen.

50 YEARS AGO

February 27, 1958 — “Unusual” winter weather continued as temperatures topped 65 degrees for a record high in February.

The education building at Our Savior’s Lutheran Church in Hillsboro got its first use when basement overflow space was needed to accommodate the more than 200 guests at the annual Father-Son Banquet.

40 YEARS AGO

February 28, 1968 — The City of Hillsboro advertised for bids for several improvement projects, including paving all streets, installing new curbs, gutters and sidewalk and revamping street lighting.

Holly Sugar announced that it would begin work on its new sugarbeet processing plant near Harwood, N.D. in the spring of 1968 and be ready for production in 1970. Holly had signed up 150,000 acres of sugarbeets in the valley but only had capacity to process half that amount. The company planned to select growers using on-farm surveys and indicated it would “experiment” in 1968 and 1969 with a number of 20-acre test plots on the “dry land” of the Red River Valley.

30 YEARS AGO

March 2, 1978 — More candidates announced plans to run for city boards. Sylvia Hansen, Vernon Olsen and Rick Weigelt began circulating petitions to run for two open seats on the park board. Incumbent Fred Peerson and challengers Mike Sampson and Roger Meier were running for two city commission seats. Winston Marsden was running unopposed for commission president.

Halverson Furniture moved to a new location on Hwy. 81 in Hillsboro. The large commercial building had been home to Ashland Implement, which moved into temporary quarters a block south in the old Skelly station at the corner of Hwy. 81 and Caledonia Ave. Ashland Impl. had plans for a new building near I-29 north of the Henn farm.

Jim and Shirley Wells opened “James for Men,” a men’s clothing store in Hillsboro.

20 YEARS AGO

February 29, 1988 — Bret Letzring was hired as the new Hillsboro city auditor.

Mother Nature cooperated for the first annual winter carnival in Hillsboro’s Woodland Park. Horse-drawn sleigh rides, ice skating, cross-country skiing, snow sculpture building, broomball and hockey kept people busy most of Sunday afternoon.

10 YEARS AGO

February 28, 1998 — Hillsboro Burro Chris Mueller won the 135-lb. championship at the N.D. state wrestling tournament.

Harold Rachow announced he would not run for re-election to the Hillsboro city commission after 18 years on the board.
— compiled by Michelle McLean