Visiting local newspaper archives
Compiled By John Faucher
It is a leap year in 2024.
In recognition of this calendar event, the New London Press Star looks back through its pages and those of its predecessors to find some history flashbacks.
In an article published in The New London Daily Press, Feb. 15, 1956, Dr. Paul Herget, University of Cincinnati astronomer, provided an explanation of leap year.
Herget said that Pope Gregory in 1582 proclaimed a calendar now in general use to handle the oversight of nature – the earth’s rotation does not match its movement around the sun.
Herget used an example of a musical top spinning (like earth on its axis) on top of a merry-go-round that is also spinning but at a different speed.
The earth spins (like a top) on its axis once a 24-hour day. However, it does not quite get around the sun once every 365 days.
“In fact, there are 365.2422 days in a year. To handle this an extra day is added every fourth year to handle the accumulation of .2422 days accumulating annually,” Herget said.
He explained that because .2422 is not .25, leap year gives the world more minutes than are needed—mounting up to nearly three extra days in 400 years.
“To handle this there are no leap years in century years not divisible by 400. Thus, there are no leap years in 1900, 1800, or 1700.”
The most recent century leap year was 2000.
“Even with all this adjusting,” said Herget. “There is an error of one extra day in 3,300 years.”
But that he said is a problem for the calendar makers of 4882 to worry about.
January 1956
From the Jan. 3, 1956 New London Daily Press. The doctors at Community Hospital presented the sisters of Community Hospital with a brand new Pontiac 4-door sedan in memory of the late Dr. C.P. Arnoldussen of Fremont. Dr. F.J. Pfeifer, dean of staff, made the presentation to Sister Superior Hughes.
An advertisement from First State Bank offered installment bank loans of $1,000 at around 5.7% interest. The equivalent of $1,000 in 1956 is $11,074 today.
January 1960
The first 1960 baby born at Community Hospital was 7-pound, 2-ounce Elizabeth Jean Hooyman, daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Alex Hooyman. She was born at 3:05 a.m. Sunday, New Years day.
Classes began at the newly built Most Precious Blood Catholic School building on Washington Street. Final additions for the exterior of the new building were still in progress and a dedication ceremony would occur later in the year.
A Jan. 7, 1960 IGA Foodliner advertisement features a poem dedicated to the “Lady who pushes the cart.” Frozen French fries are on sale, 10-9oz PKGS for $1, Pork Roast is 29 cents per pound and bacon is on sale for 33 cents/lb. Idaho Potatoes are 69 cents for a 10 lb. mesh bag. Flour is $2.99 for 50lbs and strained baby food is 29 cents for six jars while frozen pies are 39 cents each. Doughnuts are 29 cents per dozen.
Three Standard Service Stations joined in an advertisement promoting Standard’s “Million Dollar” protection DE-ICER blend of gas. A line in the ad read, “Standard Gasolines, the fast starting gasoline that gives bonus miles.” Your Standard Service at the corner of S. Pearl and Beacon was listed as phone number 279, with Lee, Bob and Harry at your service. Dick’s Standard at the intersection of Hwy.45 and State 54. Elwood Mathewson Standard Distributor and Tank Wagon Service also sponsored the ad.
January 1974
Hortonville school board granted approval to erect two vending machines in the High School lobby near the office. Student council members Mary Kay Smith and Mike Breyer attended the Jan. 14 board meeting and made the appeal to the board.
The vending machines would offer dairy products to students who do not eat lunch at all or to those who want a snack when they stay after school.
•Hortonville teachers were picketing the school Monday Jan. 21 in an effort to arouse public sympathy for their stand on wage negotiations.
After meeting until almost 3 a.m. the school board and teachers agreed to meet again at 8 p.m. Wednesday and resume talks.
At issue is the 1973-74 teaching contract that has been disputed since spring.
January 1984
A sub-zero cold snap that lingered through Christmas and into the New Yew that had local service garages and towing centers backlogged with work. Bob Ebben reported they had more than 60 calls for help on peak days of the cold snap. Coyle’s Tire and Auto reported their business increased more than 50 percent overall with frozen gas lines being the largest culprit.
New London City Council approved a one-year contract for its street division workers. They approved a 7.5 percent hourly wage increase and agreed to reduce workers hours from 43 hours per week to 41 hours per week.
The New London Chamber of Commerce cancelled the annual Miss New London Scholarship pageant due to the lack of participants and the resignation of Carol Groeschel, former vice president of the chamber and organizer of the event.
January 2004
The Mukwa First Responders voted to continue operating volunteer EMS services despite some political turmoil resulting from the town’s vote to disband and discontinue its Fire Department services as of Jan. 1, 2004.
Rylie Deschler was the first baby born in New London on Jan. 5 at 2:46 a.m. Her parents are Laura and Chad Deschler of Waupaca. In the early 2000s’and previous decades, the newspaper worked with the local hospital and New London area businesses to offer gifts and supplies to the winner of the “First Baby of the New Year” contest. A monthly page featuring the area’s newborn was a popular page among readers.
Hortonville Police solved a burglary case in which several juvenile males tunneled into the Hortonville High School Safe over the holiday break and took $1,600 cash. Then principal Sharon Becker discovered the crime on Jan. 5. Police investigated and identified the perpetrators by month’s end. The juveniles were referred to Outagamie County Circuit Court.
The Wolf River Area Health Care Foundation announced its first annual fundraising banquet in support of New London’s hospital and regional healthcare initiatives.
Mike Coppersmith was elected to First State Bank’s Board of Directors at the bank’s annual stockholders meeting on Jan. 13, 2004.