From the pages of The Fennville Herald:
129 Years Ago
Saturday, May 25, 1895
Fennville Affairs
— A game of base ball is announced for this afternoon between the Fennville and Lee nines.
— The work of rebuilding the recently burned district began Thursday and will be continued until the whole block is finished. L.S. Dickinson has purchased F.S. Raymond’s interest in the lot where the hardware stood and will build his building 30 feet longer than before. The block will be similar to the one destroyed. …
— Three young men from Douglas paid fines and costs amounting to $23.80 before Justice Stedman Tuesday on their plea of guilty to the charge of disturbing a public gathering. The citizens of this village are tired of having this kind of people coming here to get drunk and create a disturbance and they intend to see that violators of the law are promptly dealt with.
Peaches Are All Right
A careful examination of all kinds of fruits shows that the severe frosts of the past few days have resulted in much less injury than at first feared.
While it is true that the grape crop is ruined and the strawberries are badly hurt, all other fruits in this locality show very few if any dead buds. Peaches show the least injury of any … Had the freeze come a little earlier or a little later, it would have been most disastrous. …
Our Neighbors’ Deeds
Lee
— The prize fight has developed in a two round contest before the Hard Knuckle Athletic Club. They had been at church Sunday night and laid their plans while the preacher was laying the rules of the Bible. They walked to the ring one mile from the church, pulled their coats and went at it. Lewis Gotham led with a stinging blow on his opponent’s eye right from the shoulder; Teddy led but fell short, then clinched; Time was called.
The next round was different. Teddy Lariway did all the fighting and forcing Lewis to the rope, then they clinched with Teddie on top. Lewis said he had enough, then they put on their coats, shook hands and went home with one eye. Watch for another.
— The Lee base ball club have new uniforms.
100 Years Ago
Friday, May 23, 1924
Rexall Store Purchased
Jas. Bale and Duncan Weaver have purchased the Rexall Drug Store of R. Theil and Co. and Mr. Weaver now holds a position in one of Muskegon’s finest drug stores, will soon be here to take personal charge of the store and business. … (Duncan) is a product of Fennville, a graduate of our high school and has lived here since childhood … Mr. Theil and family who have lived here for the past seven years have made the whole community their friends and they will be greatly missed when they go from us. But Mr. Theil had a fine business opening at Hibbing. …
Local Happenings
— Smallpox is so prevalent in Allegan that the health officer has advised general vaccination. A few cases of the disease have appeared at Bravo and as the warm vacation weather approaches with the attendant intermingling of people, there is a great danger of a further spread. It is the opinion of our health officer that the only preventative of the disease is vaccination. Dr. Bos is prepared to take care of all who wish to be vaccinated.
— M-89 Garage has just added a device to furnish free air and water to automobile drivers. The equipment is in the shape of a conical standard and is on the outside of the walk-in front of the garage.
— Our Village Marshall has called attention previously to the recently adopted ordinance governing automobile and other vehicle traffic on our streets. … It has been necessary to make a half-dozen arrests recently because the ordinance was not observed. The Marshall is simple doing his duty and to avoid conflicts the public must do its duty.
75 Years Ago
Thursday, May 26, 1949
New M-89 Bridge Over Kalamazoo River To Be Completed By Nov. 15
Bridge to carry M-89 relocation over the Kalamazoo River six miles east of Fennville in Allegan County. The bridge will be a rolled beam structure composed of six spans of 60-feet each and provide a 28-foot roadway with 18-inch safety curbs. Work will also include building of bridge approaches. L.W. Lamb, Holland, is the contractor and the contract price is $167,855.90. Completion date is Nov. 15, 1949.
50 Years Ago
Thursday, May 23, 1974
Area Girl Scouts Host Out-of-towners
Fennville Area Girl Scouts and Cadettes entertained a group of 22 Girl Scouts and two leaders from Sycamore, Illinois, over the weekend. The group arrived Friday night by bus and were served punch, cookies and coffee at the Fennville United Methodist Church. Each girl visited overnight in the home of her “pen pal,” with whom she had been corresponding during the winter. Saturday, the combined group visited the Tulip Festival in Holland. …
30 Years Ago
Thursday, May 26, 1994
City considers buying banners
Sally Cassell showed the Fennville City Commission a stock banner and also a color design of a customized banner for the City of Fennville Goose Festival at its regular meeting Monday, May 16. The banners cost a little more than expected, $249.78 each, and come with a three-year guarantee. …
The proposed park by the post office was discussed.
“We don’t need to spend a lot of money to make it look nice,” said (Mayor Mary Ann) Moeller.
Low maintenance is a priority, and so far the city plans to incorporate a lawn, trees and perhaps a couple of benches.
Jim Hayden is a Fennville resident and former editor of The Fennville Herald newspaper.
Follow Jim Hayden on Instagram leftyhayden66 or TikTok @leftyhayden.
Information from The Fennville Herald thanks to the Fennville District Library, 400 W. Main St.
Bicycle Base Fennville 