1999 – 10 YEARS AGO
• Richard Rogers has proven the naysayers wrong with a batch of Valiant grapes. Along with grapes, you can also find plums, apples and an assortment of flowers on his property. He also has an apricot tree, but it has yet to produce anything.
• In a sparse field with only 13 competitors, Blaine McKay won the junior club championship at the Stettler Golf & Country Club. McKay shot a six-over par 76 to win by two strokes over Brodie Meyer in the championship fight.
1989 – 20 YEARS AGO
• A charolias bull belonging to Gord Nitschke took an unscheduled stroll down Main Street Tuesday morning, prompting an hour-long roundup through the residential streets of Stettler.
• Mr. and Mrs. Gordon Ferris from Alliston, ON, spent two weeks visiting with Mrs. Mysie Dermott. While here, they all attended Mr. and Mrs. Wayne MaHargue’s 50th wedding anniversary held at Calmar.
1979 – 30 YEARS AGO
• A group of people closely connected with the history of Erskine post office presented the first register of births, deaths and marriages of the Erskine community to Kay Anderson, curator of Stettler Museum. The register has been kept at the post office since early times.
• Stettler Flying Club’s annual fly-in breakfast attracted its best response. About 75 aircraft flew in from various central Alberta centres and 500, most of them townspeople enjoyed the breakfast of pancakes, bacon, sausage and eggs.
1969 – 40 YEARS AGO
• Rain, driven by high winds, brought harvest operations to a halt, just as swathing was becoming general. The storm dumped 2.9 inches of rainfall on the town of Stettler, and some of the sewer lift pumps quit functioning, causing flooding in the Parkland area.
• At the Gadsby Decoration Day Memorial Service, Scott Rairdan of Stettler, son of the president of Stettler branch, Murray Rairdan, sounded the Last Post and Reveille on his trumpet and “Lament” was played by Piper Jim Wilson, Alliance, during the one-minute’s silence.
1959 – 50 YEARS AGO
• The Stettler Independent annual doll contest will begin Sept. 11. Successful candidates wn a beautiful 25-inch doll by selling 10 subscriptions. More than 150 dolls were distributed throughout the town and district in1958.
• Stettler and Game Association released around 350 pheasants from the Gordon Sorge and Ron Rouse farms at five points around Stettler.
1949 – 60 YEARS AGO
• School opened on Thursday, Sept. 1, with a staff of 17 teachers and with 68 pupils present in the primary grade. To keep the class all together the pupils were taken over to buildings across the street, and the two rooms are in charge of Miss Ferguson and Miss Petherbridge.
• Big Valley takes pride in announcing the opening of a modern new locker plant, featuring 336 large roomy lockers. Valley Locker Limited is owned and operated by C.A. Perkinson and N.E. Uttley.
1939 – 70 YEARS AGO
• War was made a reality when Britain declared war on Germany on Sunday, Sept 3 at 3 a.m. (Stettler time). That same day, seven hours later, the British Liner, Athenia, ws torpedoed and sunk with 1,400 persons aboard.
• The Alberta Women’s Track and Field Meet held in Stettler on Labour Day, Monday, Sept. 4, was one of the best held in the province since this annual event was inaugurated. No less than five provincial records were broken, one Dominion record equalled, and two provincial records equalled..
1929 – 80 YEARS AGO
• Mrs. Jas Brunton of Botha held her annual musical recital Friday night, and parents attending were very well pleased with the progress the pupils were making. Mrs. Brunton awarded prizes to Miss Avis Allenson and Miss Violet Parker, both of Red Willow.
• A former Stettler boy, Arnold Harold Prosser, 12-year-old son of Mr. and Mrs. J.R. Prosser, now of High River, prevented drowning casualty with the rescue of High River woman.
1919 – 90 YEARS AGO
• Mrs. N. Ruston is entertaining two visitors at present in the persons of her two sisters, Miss C. Youngson, of New ork and Mrs. P. Leach, of Winnipeg, MB. These ladies will visit in the district for one month before proceeding to California, where they will make their home for the winter.
• It is good news to all lovers of good music that Gadsby will have a visit from the Chautauqua Festival Company this fall. There will be six separate programs, and season tickets are only $1.75.
1909 - 100 YEARS AGO
• George Bigelow and party returned from several days in the east. They were ou in that new country called “Saskatchewan,” consisting of 32 townships, which will soon be opened up for homesteading..
• Louis Beck of Brownfield was in Stettler recently with 1,000 pounds of cucumbers, which he grew on an acre of his farm in Battle River Valley. He said he left another 1,000 pounds on the vine.