This Day in History

What do Mother Nature & Corporate Graphics have in common?

Corporate GraphicsThey both producey GREAT GREAT COLOR! COLOR!

Compiled by Jean Lundquist

Full moon provides plenty of work

Oct. 27, 2005

Transitioning to long, dark and cold nights plus a full moon in October means more mental health issues, and a busy time for the LeSueur County Human Services Department, said director Sue Rynda. Add a full moon, and the need for services intensifies, she said.

She said it brings out more depression, anxiety, and aggressive behavior. She hypothesized it may be the amount of water in the human body and the forces of the waxing moon, but she said her 18 years in the business showed it comes around every fall. Rynda said in the lead up to the full moon, her department encountered more severe crises, along with an increased number of calls.

Local family a top popcorn producer

Oct. 18, 1989

Since 1933, Raymond Hanel had been growing popcorn on the family farm just west of Mankato. He planted about an acre, and harvested just enough to peddle around to the neighbors. By 1989, Ray had his son Harvey and their families operated about 500 acres, making their company one of the largest in the state.

Like regular field corn, popcorn doesn’t come out of the field ready to eat. It has to be dried to between 13% and 14.5% moisture, making it “daintier” than field corn. The popcorn market was expanding in 1989, due in no small part to the expanding microwave popcorn varieties.

“As snack foods go, it’s hard to beat popcorn,” Harvey Hanel said.

Nicollet man gets top prices for prize horses

Oct. 8, 1971

As a child of 11, William Gronholz raised canaries. He took them to shows, and increased his flock for 30 years, well into adulthood. Gronholz estimated he and his wife had more than 200 birds in their home east of Nicollet at any given time.

But all the while, he had horses on his mind. Arabian horses.

He wanted to be a top breeder of the animals. He fulfilled his wish, and raised and bred the horses. But a recurring leg ailment in 1971 forced him to sell his herd. He took them to the Hi-Fashion sale in St. Paul. His first two colts sold for $4,000 and $3,500. No other colt in the class sold for more than $675. He was offered $8,500 for the darling of the show, his sleek, gray mare.

He didn’t sell the mare that day, however, opting instead to give it to his 23-year old adopted son and his wife. People were amazed, Gronholz said, that a small-time breeder like himself could bring in never saddle-broke, trained or shown horses, and get top prices.

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