Remember When?

70 YEARS AGO • JULY 1953

RECORD BREAKING 109 RECORDED HERE

People of Thompson Falls and the Clark Fork Valley had a perfect right to complain about the heat last Sunday, July 12. The official temperature according to U.S. Forest Service instruments was a sizzling 109 degrees. This reading was reached at 3 p.m. In recent times a record high of 107 degrees was recorded on August 11, 2018.

This reading as far as we know made Thompson Falls the hottest spot in the nation. According to Monday’s Missoulian it reached 105 there, being bettered only by Las Vegas, where a reading of 106 was recorded.

We are somewhat inclined to believe that those of us who were hoping for warm weather a few weeks ago were just a little bit too fervent in our hopes.

This extreme hot weather pushed the fire danger up in the Cabinet Forest. Twenty-five lookouts are manned in the forest on watch for blazes in the dry timber.

Eight small fires were reported on Martin Creek about 20 miles west of here near Trout Creek. They were started by a lightning storm that came up late in the evening. Smoke chasers and local loggers fought the flames to a standstill, it was reported.

JULY 29, 1953

LEDGER TO CHANGE HANDS

A new editor will greet you after the 15th of August. Air Force Major K.A. Eggensperger, stationed at Bellevue, Nebbraska, will be released from active duty August 1 and will arrive here soon afterward to take over the publishing and editing business from Mrs. W.G. Dunlap, which he will purchase.

Mr. Eggensperger’s experience includes eleven years in the weekly, daily, magazine and radio fields. He is thoroughly familiar with all phases of newspaper production except the Linotype. He has co-owned a weekly and operated another for an absentee owner.

Mr. Eggensperger has a wife, Gladys and three young sons, Jim, Jack and Tom. His wife’s home is in Bozeman, and he is a resident of Wyoming.

Johnny Baker, who has been employed as printer and Linotype operator by the present publisher since the death of her husband five and a half years ago, will continue on in the same capacity under the new management.

Mrs. Dunlap has no immediate plans except to remain in Thompson Falls where she still will maintain her residence and send her youngest son, Dennis, to school.

40 YEARS AGO • JUNE 30, 1983

WELCOME FUTURE OWNERS

This week we welcome our youngest son, Tom, and his wife, Bina, into the Ledger staff as future owners and publishers.

The changeover will be gradual to ease the strain on them and the shift for us. It was 30 years ago in August that Gladys and I arrived in Thompson Falls with our three preschool age sons to take over the Ledger from Irene Dunlap.

The years have been good to us. But, we feel we’ve worked for them - long hours - some stretching into midnight to report City Council and school board meetings.

Being a weekly owner is a demanding task. Publishing a newspaper in a small town is not an eight-hour job, nor a 40-hour week.

Now, we’d like to be a little freer on weekends to enjoy ourselves and to be less tied to deadlines.

Gladys and I expect to be around the Ledger much of the time and help out where needed and offer our guidance when desired.

In a way, we hope to keep a finger on the tiller to help guide the Ledger when needed.

As we said, the years have been good to us and we appreciate all the support and help given us over the years.

Incidentally, one assignment we’ll continue is a weekly column, as long as space exists for it.