News Fifty Years Ago
January, 1978 started the year with temperatures between 20 and 40 degrees, followed by snow, rain, and sleet on January 3. Editor Howard Cochran produced a newspaper of 8 to 10 pages covering business, city, school, and social events.[1]
Twenty-one Windsor merchants provided gifts for the winner of the First Baby Contest. Duane Dale Meyerdirk, Jr., the son of Mr. and Mrs. Duane Meyerdirk, was the firsts baby born on January 3, 1975, at the Windsor Community Hospital, weighing 6 pounds, 5 ounces.
Three new businesses started in Windsor in the new year of 1975. Larry Kehl opened a new music store located at the Windsor Grain and Feed Elevator which his father, Jack Kehl, had recently purchased. Larry had experience in stores in Warrensburg and Sedalia and most recently in Versailles. The music store planned to offer guitars, band instruments, drum equipment, and many musical accessories.
Ed and Carey Walden announced the opening of C & N Body Shop at 201 E. Benton, specializing in auto body repair and glass replacement. The father-son business team had a total of 28 years in the auto repair business.
Dr. Robert Hess, opened his newly constructed Hess Veterinary Clinic building at 409 N. Main. He had the 68 x 32 ft. structure built on the six-acre tract to accommodate larger animals along with kennels for small animals. The new building also includes rooms for examinations, laboratory work, and surgery. Dr. Hess had been in Windsor for the past 10 years, and he had previously had his veterinary office located at his personal home residence.
George and Louise Zimmerman retired from their city and school positions on January 10, 1975. Mrs. Zimmerman had begun her first teaching position at Liberty Rural School, followed by teaching at Garden City and Pacific, MO. After she was married and had one son, Robert Zimmerman, she returned to teaching business courses at Windsor High School in 1950. She retired after teaching at Windsor for 24 years and 42 total years teaching.
George Zimmerman began as Windsor City Clerk in 1962, serving under five different mayors. He recalled that when he began, City of Windsor had only one checking account and one bank. When he retired on January 10, the city had 14 different accounts. He commented that the state and federals forms took a larger percentage of his clerk duties. Mr. Zimmerman noted that in his 12 ½ years, the city had added additional sewer and water lines, drilled a new city well, and constructed the new swimming pool. Frances Nations was appointed to the City Clerk position following George Zimerman’s retirement.
The January 9, 1975 front page featured Fay Call’s nursing career. She is the wife of Glen Call and the mother of four children, Coyita, Janice, Jerry, and Connie. Mrs. Call was presently on staff at Westwood Nursing Home in Clinton. She had begun her employment in the nursing field in 1958 when Lakeview Nursing Home in Windsor called her to “help out. Fay Call received her first nursing training from Mrs. Betty Jones, R.N. at Resthaven, and she has completed practical nursing courses in Clinton and at State Fair Community College in Sedalia, with 50 hours of practice work at Bothwell Hospital. Born the daughter of a Christian minister, Fay Call and her family have a strong call to their Christian faith. Mrs. Call’s hobbies are cooking, canning, and flower gardening.
The Windsor High School Greyhounds won first place in the Windsor Invitational Basketball Tournament on January 4. Scores by Windsor players were: Chris Mitchell, 13; Darrell Sypes, 13; Tim Craig, 12; David Hutson, 10; Joe Whitworth, 4; and Greg Walthall, 1.
Wyley Gray retired after 25 years as a meat cutter for Kroger. Wyley worked for about a year at Kroger’s in Clinton before being transferred to the Windsor store on the corner of Florence and Main St. in 1951.
The Windsor Kroger store moved to its location on S. Main St. in 1967. His wife, Anna Ruth Gray, had worked in the meat department since 1955, and she would be the new manager of the meat department at the Kroger store in Windsor. Mrs. Gray would be the first woman to head any meat department for the Kroger company.
Sources: The Windsor Review, (Jan. 9, 1975; Jan. 16, 1975; Jan, 23, 1975; & Jan. 30, 1975).
