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Newspaper
Shafter Press
Location
Shafter, California, United States of America
Date
May 17, 1945
Page
1
PAUL NEWELL urges communities to support young veterans returning from war. He highlights letters from Ned Smith of Shafter describing a paratrooper wounded in France. The soldier lost a leg and endured 24 shrapnel wounds, expressing no self pity and seeking a civilian future.
Minnie Ratzlaff sister of Wirx John Koop and A F Werkeestiine of Shafter died at her home in Buller Kansas on Tuesday.
Shafter plans a May 27 dedication at the Legion Hall for the Honor Roll listing local youths in the armed forces. The event follows Poppy Day May 26 with Auxiliary poppy sales supporting disabled veterans and orphans, aided by Camp Fire Girls and local volunteers.
At a Tuesday night Legion Auxiliary meeting at the Legion Hall Nellie Lassiter was elected president and Clara Vandenberg 1st vice president Anna Raney 2nd vice president Gertrude Nay secretary and treasurer Eunice Hansen chaplain Alvina Enns sergeant at arms Thelma Guenther historian with Edith Hebel Lyle Comfort Grace Annis on the executive committee Poppy posters will appear in town windows and Campfire Girls will sell poppies May 25 26 Memorial Day weekend A booth for war bonds and stamps will be run Saturday afternoons during the 7th War Loan Drive The next meeting May 29 will install the new officers at the Legion Hall
The 20-30 Club held a pre harvest dance last Saturday with about two hundred couples. Ray Martinez orchestra provided jive music and merchants and produce dealers contributed generously. The event netted over two hundred dollars for the club’s Christmas fund. Sandy Anderson, dance chairman, thanks the public for support.
Lt Ben Kliewer, a Merchant Marine first engineer, and his sister Mrs F W Lueth of Hartford SD, arrived in Shafter on a surprise visit to their parents Mr and Mrs Dan Kliewer. He recently returned to New York from North Africa Southern France and Italy and is a veteran of the Anzio battle where his ship was attacked for 12 days and he shot down four Nazi planes. On a later Italy trip he visited Naples Rome Vatican City and Mt Vesuvius and brought home a transparent cylinder of Vesuvius ash rosin from the March 1944 eruption.
The Kern County High School principals held their quarterly meeting Tuesday at the Shafter Motel with Dr. A. G. Isle addressing economic postwar problems. Attending were Harold Olson Delano High Lester Smith Wasco H W Kelly Shafter K W Rich East Bakersfield L W Hedge Kern County Union H S Bird Bakersfield Junior College Gene Johnson Taft High and Junior College Lawrence Wiemers McFarland. Guests included Avery Allen Jack Hill Irving Lane Bakersfield Le E Abbey Delano and K C Skeen Taft.
When you want to buy something and can’t locate it a classified ad helps locate sellers. Readers place concise notices to reach buyers or sellers in the local paper. The feature highlights quick responses and broad reach for hard to find items.
A 1941 Chevrolet five passenger coupe stolen from Dr. Geo Todd of Lancaster was recovered last Friday near the Adventist Church by Constable Hanley Witcher. A second 1941 Chevrolet of the same model, belonging to Jack Fry, was stolen near the Adventist Church and found Tuesday near Porterville badly wrecked.
The Northern Selective Service Board releases a list of inductees including Tony Alvarado Donald Black Louie R Baugh Kenneth H Mc Cright Arthur G Kadel Archie E Ellebracht Candelario Mendez David L Johnson I B Thompson Leamon Jones Lewis W Harris Carl Fred Schroeder J Owens Guadalupe M Go on Roy Lee Montgomery Ray rr ris Herbert Frantz Raymond Lee Cox Geo Theodore Howard Ellie Joe Barnes for induction.
Shafter youths may register for YMCA camping at Portugese Meadows by contacting Jim Youell of Youell's Sheet Metal Works. Three boys camps run July 3 10 17 while two girls camps run July 25 August 1 and August 1 8. Fee is 15 dollars per camp period.
Thompson and Webb Garage opens this week at Five Points in Shafter. C. T. Thompson E. L. Thompson and E. O. Webb operate the new shop adjoining the Webb Service Station. The brothers are experienced car mechanics and welders and offer truck and car repairing and welding services.
A car driven by Myron Annis ran out of control on Lerdo Road Sunday afternoon and plowed through a fence into Earl Weil’s bench near a picnic setup, narrowly missing a supper table as guests looked on.
Santa Fe Railroad announces new facilities in the Shafter Wasco region to speed potato harvests for this year. Upgrades include re laying 60 miles of rail to 112 pounds, a new mile long passing track with 100 car capacity, expanded telegraph and teletype systems, and multiple industrial spur and loading tracks at Shafter Wasco Wasco Elmo and Pond to handle increased acreage and traffic for West Coast ports.
James S. Albright 18 of Shafter receives promotion from Sergeant to Staff Sergeant at an Eighth Air Force Bomber Station in England. He serves as a waist gunner on a B 17 Flying Fortress with the 385th Bombardment Group and recently participated in bombing German targets. He is the son of Mrs. Annette Albright and attended Shafter High School before joining the Army Air Forces in December 1943.
Robert Neuman funds a barbecue pit in Mannell Park for Shafter residents with a second pit planned if well received. Shafter has raised less than 3 percent of its $430,000 Seventh War Loan Drive quota, while Delano-McFarland pacing the nation by exceeding its target.
A group of ten civic and service organizations in Shafter formed an interim recreation commission led by Mrs. J. W. Frizzell to plan a youth center and summer activities for grammar school children. A Tuesday meeting announced a May 24 session to finalize a constitution and enlist volunteers as an advisory council. Alec Smith, Kern County recreation director, briefed the group on regional efforts and offered guidance.
Yeeman 3/c C. A. Havins is on furlough in Shafter visiting his parents after 27 months in the Pacific area. He saw action at Iwo Jima Okinawa and participated in the first and second raids on Tokyo.
Five Shafter High School track stars leave Saturday on the Santa Fe Streamliner for Fresno to compete in the West Coast Relays. Coach Todd plans a sprint medley with George Smith in 440, Gene Harless and Dale Wiedmann in 220, Bob Devlin in 880, and Bob Mettler in shot put. Remaining lettermen Herbert Spitzer Elmer Mettler Max Wilcoxon Allan Mettler and Billy Grumbles plan to attend the big meet.
A sister in Shafter received a letter from Pvt. Joe Lanby dated April 27 describing his location in Germany. He said he was in a mansion amid devastation and noted the city ranked second only to Mannheim in destruction and that victory seemed near. Lanby has been overseas since September 1944.
The 1945 potato season begins in Shafter with seven car shipments from the Mann and Brown shed followed by openings of Malory Bryant and Hitchcock sheds. Early yields look below normal due to a cool spring and freezing in parts of the district, while an OPA price raise may accelerate shipments across Kern County.
Richland School dismissed for summer as 44 teachers wrap up the year. Twenty four left Shafter for homes in California, while others stay in town or depart to Colorado Utah Illinois Oregon and Texas. Addresses list teachers and their summer destinations including Los Angeles San Francisco San Jose Portland and San Antonio.
Mrs. Helene Hobson arrives back in Shafter after an extended trip through the eastern states with her daughter. She visited Buffalo and Chicago and Niagara Falls in New York and Washington, D. C. They left Shafter in March and returned Wednesday.
County engineers from Tulare Kern and Kings and Kern County Planning Commission members surveyed the Bakersfield to Hanford route ahead of a survey for a March highway association meeting in Corcoran. Delegates from Fresno Selma Chambers of Commerce join the Corcoran barbecue as plans for a tri county road district proceed.
A large audience attended Virgil the magician in a two hour magic show at the High School Gymnasium sponsored by the Shafter Kiwanis Club. The performance featured audience participation and a series of intriguing tricks that delighted all attendees.
Shafter City Council and Shafter Public Utility District voted the Kirschenmann tract into the city and utility district and the Meyers tract into the utility district at separate Monday meetings. Mayor H C Neufeld presided with councilmen Bill Lachenmaier J W Frizzell and Glenn O Nay present.
Bert Ware assistant manager of the Bank of America in Shafter was inducted into the Shafter Kiwanis Club at a Wednesday noon ceremony at the Shafter Motel. A J Hemingson led the induction and Earl Weil reported on ticket sales for a Wednesday magic show. Glen Putman presided with guests Sid Trainmaster and Maynard Sanders in charge of diversion for Santa Fe Railway.
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