Years Gone By

5 years ago:

     • Monticello’s Brooke Stahlberg won fourth runner-up during the 2015 Miss Iowa USA pageant on Oct. 10. There were over 50 contestants. Stahlberg also took home the Spokesmodel Award. (10/14/2015)

10 years ago:

     • Dozens of people came out to celebrate the Maquoketa River Water Trail project on Oct. 9. The Jones County Conservation Board held two ribbon cuttings, one at Pictured Rocks and the other at Mon-Maq Dam, at the new boat ramps. (10/13/2010)

     • Monticello High School held its annual homecoming activities last week. Mike and Deb Bowman served as grand marshals for the homecoming parade. The Panthers celebrated a runaway victory over Jesup, 49-7, Friday at Dean Nelson Field. (10/13/2010)

20 years ago:

     • The Kiev Symphony Orchestra and Chorus performed a concert Oct. 9 in the Monticello High School gym. The orchestra is conducted by Roger McMurrin, a graduate of Monticello High School. The event was sponsored by the Monticello School Foundation. (10/11/2000)

50 years ago:

     • Monticello’s Black Panthers may not be the WaMaC leaders, but they can claim to be the best “record-breakers.” On Oct. 2, Monticello smashed the 25-game winning siege of the “terrible” Tipton Tigers. Friday night they gave Vinton the opportunity to end a 23-game losing streak, 14-0. Panther coach Dean Nelson said this is the first time in his 15 years at Monticello that Vinton has beaten his team. (10/15/1970)

100 years ago:

     • A carload of fish was put into the Maquoketa river at Monticello, last Saturday morning. The car was loaded with 30,000 game fish, which had been caught by the Iowa Fish Commission in the bayous of the Mississippi River. This will mean that in the course of time the local anglers will have a new variety of fish to bring home. (10/14/1920)

     • Some little excitement was caused, last Monday afternoon, when a spark from train No. 96 set fire to the grass on the right of way, two miles south of Monticello. The fire department was called out from Monticello, and fought the fire for an hour with wet sacks and buckets of water. When the fire was at its height, there was some danger of it crossing the road and burning the Ritmer buildings, but the timely assistance of willing hands, kept the buildings from harm. (10/14/1920)