Over the Years

50 YEARS AGO
January 24, 1957 — Hillsboro city commissioners learned that the federal government was adopting a standardized plan for all future National Guard armories. Architects hired by the city to design the city’s new armory told commissioners that the standardized plan would speed up the construction process since approval of the blueprints would be automatic rather than require months of review.
Traill County commissioners called for bids to demolish the old jail. The sheriff had moved into the new jail in the fall of 1956 and fixtures and furniture from the old jail were later sold at auction.
Banner editor Bill Kramer offered this bit of business advice in his column: “Doing business without advertising is like winking at a girl in the dark. You know what you’re doing but no one else does.” (more…)

50 YEARS AGO
January 17, 1957 — Hillsboro’s National Guard unit celebrated a “mission accomplished.” The local unit staged a month-long recruitment campaign to enlist enough new members to be at 50-percent strength. By upping its roster from 30 to 72 men, the unit answered the ultimatum issued by the Guard’s adjutant general and did its part to ensure a new armory would be built in Hillsboro.
Twice as many births as deaths were recorded in Traill County in 1956, according to clerk of court John Cole. His offce counted 198 births compared to 87 deaths. The annual statistics also listed 54 marriages in the county.

40 YEARS AGO
January 18, 1967 — A two-day blizzard closed schools and businesses in the area. Just two inches of snow fell but strong winds reduced visibility to zero. Bitter cold air dropped temps to 23 below.
Ole Aarsvold, a former Blanchard resident, was named Outstanding Young Educator of the Year at Cooperstown, N.D. Aarsvold was principal at the school.
The previously unbeaten Burros lost a road game, 60-54 at Grandin. The loss dropped the Burros out of the top 10 state rankings, where they had been picked as the No. 5 Class B boys basketball team.

30 YEARS AGO
January 20, 1977 — Hillsboro’s water tower froze up Sunday morning, resulting in low water pressure for the entire city. A cold wind chill and limited usage overnight caused the freeze-up. The ice would take two to three days to thaw using a steam pipe, officials said.
Icy road conditions caused about 15 car accidents in the city in the past month, according to Hillsboro police chief Art Thompson. A complete listing of the fender-benders printed in the Banner included the estimated damages, which ranged from $235 to $1,000.
Eleanor Seim retired from Northwestern State Bank, where she had worked for 25 years. She held the position of cashier upon her retirement. At the bank’s annual shareholders’ meeting, president Harry Eisenbeis reported bank deposits of $18.4 million.

20 YEARS AGO
January 19, 1987 — In the face of a state-wide budget crisis, N.D. Gov. George Sinner ordered the state to withhold one-half of student aid payments due school districts. The scaled-back payments could “kill” schools, warned Central Valley supt. Dale Duggan. An income tax referral drive threatened to cut school funding even further. Locally, payments were reduced $10,000 to $35,000 for Hillsboro, CVN, CV and Clifford-Galesburg. Sinner had also proposed future foundation aid be trimmed from $1,370 to $800 per student per year. Local administrators said with reduced state aid, school budgets would need to be cut by $100,000 to $200,000 and local property taxes would likely be increased to cover the shortfalls.

10 YEARS AGO
January 20, 1997 — Thanks to a presidential disaster declaration, federal and state aid were on the way to help Traill County dig out from several feet of snow. The county road department cited 83 trouble spots where snow piled along the road was two to five feet above the roadway. Some township roads had been abandoned because snow removal costs were too burdensome. Intersections of city streets were difficult to navigate because of snow piled high on boulevards.

— compiled by Michelle McLean

50 YEARS AGO
January 17, 1957 — Hillsboro’s National Guard unit celebrated a “mission accomplished.” The local unit staged a month-long recruitment campaign to enlist enough new members to be at 50-percent strength. By upping its roster from 30 to 72 men, the unit met the ultimatum issued by the Guard’s adjutant general and did its part to ensure a new armory would be built in Hillsboro.
Twice as many births as deaths were recorded in Traill County in 1956, according to clerk of court John Cole. His offce counted 198 births compared to 87 births. The annual statistics also listed 54 marriages in the county. (more…)

50 YEARS AGO
January 3, 1957 — The Hillsboro National Guard and the Hillsboro Civic and Commerce Association initiated an aggressive campaign to recruit new members for the local unit of the North Dakota National Guard. A maximum three-year term of enlistment was encouraged. The local unit needed to reach 50-percent strength soon for state and federal officials to authorize the construction of a new armory in Hillsboro. (more…)