Manistee High School is bustling with activity this week as advance workers from Group Workcamp make the final preparation for next week’s Mission Manistee. Over 450 teenagers from all parts of the United States will be arriving in Manistee on July 14 for a week-long session of remodeling and repairing homes in the county.
40 YEARS AGO
Wittig wins contest
When the Housing Commission announced the Name the New Building contest in April of this year, open only to those 55 and older, 144 entries were submitted. Mary O’Brien, senior center director, handed the titles to a committee who chose Harbor View Apartments as the official name of the complex now being constructed near the Century Terrace Apartments. Anne Wittig had submitted the winning entry and won a $50 savings bond and a coffee mug.
Now playing
Now playing at the Vogue Theatre is Clint Eastwood in “Firefox.” Showtimes are 7 p.m. and 9 p.m. this week. Showing at the Chippewa Drive-In is “Poltergeist” and “For Your Eyes Only.” “Poltergeist” shows at 9:40 p.m. daily followed by “Eyes” at 11:55 p.m. “Poltergeist” is repeated on Friday and Saturday.
60 YEARS AGO
Forest fire reported
A forest fire, caused by lightning, burned 0.5 acre within a pine plantation in the Manistee National Forest yesterday afternoon. Lightning struck the top of a large white pine tree presumably during last Sunday’s storm. The fire smoldered down through the tree’s decayed center and then spread along the ground under the planted pine.
Pickers needed
Workers are urgently needed in cherry orchards in this area to help harvest this year’s cherry crop. Family groups as well as others having their own transportation, can be placed in orchards needing this help by applying at the Farm Labor trailer located 14 miles north of Manistee on U.S. 31, or 2 miles south of Bear Lake.
80 YEARS AGO
Orchard work appeal
The Manistee County Council of Civilian Defense today issued an appeal to all Manistee County residents willing to go into the orchards to aid in the harvesting of the fruit crop to register as soon as possible with either the local Civilian Defense Office or the local office of the U.S. Employment Service. While there is no shortage of orchard labor in Manistee as yet, officials announce there are serious shortages developing in the Grand Traverse and Oceana county regions.
Compiled by Mark Fedder at the Manistee County Historical Museum