a look back at events that occurred as far back as 80 years ago
Bennett County News – 80 Years Ago January 27, 1944 Worst Storm in Years Hits County Wednesday - Thurs. The fiercest blizzard that has been experienced in this territory for a good many years descended upon us last Wednesday and continued all day Thursday and part of the night. Main and side roads are blocked and there is about two feet of snow on the level with drifts five and six feet deep in places. There was no mail on Thursday on account of the impassable roads.
Bennett County Booster II – 70 Years Ago January 21, 1954 Escapes Injury as Car Breaks Through Ice at Pool No. 10 Tex Estes narrowly escaped injury Monday about noon when the car he was driving on an ice fishing trip broke through the ice at pool No. 10 of the Lacreek Refuge and settled to the bottom of the lake about 75 yards from the shore line.
Estes’s care had apparently come upon a spot where underwater pressure made the ice too thin to support the weight of the car. The water was only about 4.5 feet deep at the point the car sank which left the windows and the top of the car above the waterline. The hood of the car was submerged.
Bennett County Booster II – 60 Years Ago January 23, 1964 Fire Destroys Hay at Long Valley Farm Martin volunteer firemen answered two simultaneous calls Saturday afternoon. One was for a fire est of the city dump and the other was a fire on the Donald Handcock farm north of Long Valley.
The fire at the city dump burned about 20 acres of grass about 100 yards east of the city dump property. However, firemen soon had the blaze under control. When they returned from that fire they left for Long Valley where they assisted Kadoka firemen for about four hours before the fire was brought under control.
About 2,000 tons of silage, stacked on a 130-foot cement platform was burning. The area was surrounded by 12 to 15 haystacks which were also burned.
Bennett County Booster II – 50 Years Ago January 24, 1974 German TV Here Filming Documentary Patricia Naggiar and a crew of three cameramen from Mainz, West Germany, representing German National television are in Martin this week doing filming for a one-half hour documentary on South Dakota including the Indian population of the state. They are staying at Harold’s Motel.
The crew has been in South Dakota for about the past 10 days, some of which was spent on the Rosebud reservation.
The documentary, when shown in Germany, will have an estimated audience of 20 million people.
Bennett County Booster II – 40 Years Ago January 26, 1984 Sheriff’s Office Is Burglarized The Bennett County sheriff’s office was burglarized while court was in session Wednesday, January 18.
Over $100 cash was removed from a desk drawer in the sheriff’s office while the sheriff and deputy were in the court room.
The sheriff believed entry was gained through a court house hall door (adjacent to the public entrance) that is normally locked.
There are suspects and a witness. The suspects have not been seen in Martin since the alleged burglary.
Bennett County Booster II – 30 Years Ago January 26, 1994 Stockmen’s Bank Announces Intent to Purchase Blackpipe Stockmen’s Management Company of Rushville, Neb., announces this week that it has entered into an agreement to purchase Blackpipe State Bank. Blackpipe State Bank has been in business more than 75 years under the ownership and management of the Hodson family.
Bennett County Booster II – 20 Years Ago January 21, 2004 City Getting Dog Gone Tough On Loose Dogs Citing a concern that Martin is going to the dogs, the Martin City Council decided to advertise for a part-time animal control officer.
At a special meeting Jan. 14, the council told Janet Speidel to run the ordinance in the Booster, notifying and reminding people of what the City regulations are.
Councilman Todd Alexander said we have a major dog problem saying one person had their cow-dog in the back of their pickup and nine dogs were chasing his pickup down a City street. Bennett County Booster II – 10 Years Ago January 22, 2014 New track off and running as school board accepts bid Dig out your jogging gear because the Bennett County School Board accepted a bid of $538,138 for a new track at the football stadium Monday night at their January board meeting.
After hearing only positive comments and support for a new track from the community during the meeting, the board commented they had mostly all positive comments about a track also. There were 15 people at the meeting in support of the track.