Excerpts from past Tracy newspapers
Feb. 9, 1956 — The current gas war in Tracy contiuned to bring broad smiles to motorists this week as gas took another two-cent drop. Last week, the gas war brouight prices down from around 30 cents to 22.9 cents. This week, with the addidional two-cent drop, gas was being sold for 20.9 cents regular and 25.9 cents for ethel, with one independent sporting prices one cent lower than these. No immedaite end to the war was seen by dealers this week, and “fill ‘er up” continued to be the gleeful battlecry of local motorists.
Obituaries: Lewis Pederson
Feb. 10, 1966 — Swen Swenson. 74, was killed almost instantly at 2:35 Tuesday afternoon at a railroad crossing in his home community of Walnut Grove when his car was hit by a C&NW freight engine as the train traveled east through town. The mishap occurred at the Eighth street crossing in Walnut Grove, between the Masterson and Farmers elevators. It is presumed the victim did not hear the approaching train, see the flashing signal, or observe that another car had stopped on the other side of the crossing. Swenson was thrown from his car when it was hit by the engine. The demolished vehicle was pushed to the side about 30 feet from the crossing. Swenson was headed south.
Obituaries: Clinton Beebout
Feb. 5, 1976 — Dale Hatch, who for the last 14 years guided Tracy High School basketball teams establishing himself as one of the most successful Scrapper coaches and as a veteran among coaches in District 9 and Region 3, dramatically resigned from that position last week. Hatch. 48, first announced his resignation following last Tuesday night’s game at Tyler. He telephoned THS Athletic Director Leo (Gabby) Sebastian that evening, then followed with a written resignation the next morning.
Obituaries: Edith Blanchette
Feb. 11, 1986 — Four Tracy High School students have qualified for the state Office Education Association (OEA) contest. Lisa Towne, Deb Pool, Nancy Surprenant and Missy Polzine earned the honor by placing high in the regional OEA competition last week at Southwest State University. Three of the students won first places. Pool was first in Letterwriting 1. Surprenant took her first place in Prepared Verbal 1. Missy Polzine finished first in Business Proofreading. Lisa Towne was third in Computer Literacy.
Obituaries: Margethe Helgeson, Carl Reinholdt, Clifford Strand
Feb. 7, 1996 — A Spanishspeaking Pentecostal congregation is still looking for a home in Tracy. Plans to renovate the former Ohman Furniture into a church building have been abandoned by the Iglesia Pentccostes Salem Church. The current owner of the building, Thad Lessman, says the building is again for sale. “The deal fell through. The congregation had enough money to buy the building, but they did not think they could come up with enough money to make it handicapped accessible,” said Lessman. “The deal was supposed to be finalized Feb. 1. The building is for sale.”
Obituaries: Charlotte Saxhaug, Simon Sanderson
Feb. 8, 2006 — For months, the sign has said “coming soon.” This week the wait was over as the long-awaited Shetek Bend Banquet, Bar & Grill opened its doors to the public. Shetek Bend officially opened on Monday. The restaurant offered two “soft openings” last week, said Neil Daniels, Shetek Bend president. One of the openings was for the people who worked to make the restaurant ready for its opening, and the other was for Shetek Bend investors. The purpose of the soft openings, said Daniels, was to find out what worked and what didn’t before opening to the public.
Obituaries: Barbara DeSmet, Robert Staeffler, Leon Vandendriessche
Feb. 10, 2016 — City of Tracy and District 2904 school officials continue to exchange ideas for a joint plan to improve the Veterans’ Memorial Center athletic arena. On Jan. 25, the Tracy Public Schools Board of Education gave their blessings to a plan for the school district to pay for a new wood sports floor, replace the west bleachers with new seating, install new acoustical panels, and paint interior VMC walls. In exchange, the school district requested the use of the gym rent-free for 10 years.
Obituaries: Leo “Mick” Hansen, George R. Zender, Mary LeClaire
