Page 18 Akron’s 125th Supplement to The Akron Hometowner August 1, 2007

pastpast&presentpresent

We have been proud to serve the Akron Area for

84 years and look forward to the future of our town.

celebratingcelebrating

www.dirksmotor.com(712) 568-2431

Curt Harris251 Reed St. • Akron, IA 51001

Proudly serving the members of the Akron

Community

Congratulations as you celebrate

your 125th Birthday!

20052005

JULY 20First National Bank robbed

at 9:07 a.m.

AUGUST 6Girls softball wins state

championship in Class 2A

and repeat in 2006 in

Class 1A

OCTOBER

First spec house in Port-

landville Heights put up

by the Akron Development

Corp, and Akron Housing

Committee sells it to Holly

and Shane Kutz. More

specs are built and sold

20062006FEBRUARY 7

National Hockey League’s

Stanley Cup makes once-in-

a-lifetime stop in Akron

MARCH 2Announcement made

ethanol plant is coming

to Akron by Little Sioux

Processors of Marcus. Then

March 21 announcement is

made that a biodiesel plant

will be coming to Akron

MAY 21Highway 3 dedicated with

Blue Star Marker to honor

veterans

Akron sees many changes in business during the last 25 yearsby Dodie Hook Many businesses have come and gone and many have stayed during the last 25 years. This a compiling of most of the businesses we could fi nd that have changed since the Centennial cel-ebration in 1982. • Nov. 29, 1982 - Jon Chicoine opens chiroprac-tic clinic at 232 Reed St. In March of 1985 he closed it and moved to Louisiana. • Oct. 1982 - Double D Sales opens, a wholesale fresh produce outlet at Heyl Truck Lines. • Jan. 1983 - Jay Dirks joins his dad, John , at Dirks Hardware. • Oct. 17, 1983 - O’Keefe Law Offi ce opens, Robert O’Keefe, attorney. • Jan. 23, 1984 - Plue-ger’s Coop opens. Randy Plueger purchases Nielsen Coop Service from Roger Nielsen. • Arlene’s Gift Gal-lery opens, owner Arlene Klemme. • April 1984 - Work begins to combine Arvin Finzen Standard Oil and Wally’s Jack & Jill into new concept of marketing food and gasoline. The Amoco station was torn down and in Sept. of 1984 the remod-eling was complete for the one stop convenience facil-ity. • April 1984 - Center for Management Systems, oper-ated by John and Marianne Siefer, relocates to former Akron Savings Bank build-ing. They later relocate to the Professional Building. • Sept, 8, 1984 - T’s Catering owned by Thea Leekley opens.

• Oct. 1984 - R ‘n D Variety opens owned by Darlis and Roger Nielsen. Nov. 1984 - Barb Hem-mingson purchases Ed’s Barber Shop and renames it to Barb’s Barber and Style Shop. • March 29-30,1985 - Open house held for Carol’s Country Ceramics, a new business owned by Carol Kroksh. • April, 1985 - Centen-nial Toys and Gifts by Dave Morin holds grand opening for his new and larger loca-tion in the Opera House building. • April 12, 1985 - Akron Chiropractic opens, Dr. Tim Allard, owner. • June 1985 - Ron Wilmot and Brian Osterbuhr open I/Owest, a computer programming business in the historical granite build-ing on Reed St. • July 1985 - CJ and Jeanne Hinrichsen sell GW Market to the Brteks of Nor-folk, NE, and it is renamed Akron Supermarket with managers Dave and Patsy Jasa. • July 30, 1985 - Victo-rian restaurant opens owned by Dorothy Ruby and Hal Shoemaker of Hawarden. • August 1985 - Grand opening held at Lou’s, Inc. in Akron. Jim and Ann McLaughlin of Beresford purchased the business in May. • Aug. 6, 1985 - B&J’s Pizza ‘n Stuff opens, oper-ated by Brenda and Jody Mitchell. • Aug. 1985 - Bob and Harriet Tucker sell Akron Lumber Co. to Brad and Marjorie Kraft and Tim

and Valorie Philips. June 2, 1991, Tim and Val become sole owners. • Jan. 1986 - Akron Feed Bin, Inc. is purchased by Jerry Johnson of Akron along with three men from Alcester. Jerry is named the manager. • Oct. 1986 - Larry’s Fitness Center owned by Larry Tentinger opens in the former Westside Church of Christ building. • Oct. 19, 1987 - The Beauty Boutique is pur-chased by Linda Tillman of Akron from Valerie Appley. • Nov. 15, 1987 - Elvin and Charlotte Hopp sell E-Z Do Laundromat to Charles and Frances McMahon and Steve McMahon of Westfi eld. • March 1988 - Akron Clinic, owned by Dr. Joseph Torbert, was purchased by Floyd Valley Hospital of Le Mars. • May 1988 - Brown Insurance Services, owned by Wayne Brown and brother, Bill Brown, open a new offi ce in Akron. In March of 1993 the business was sold to First National Insurance Agency. • Aug. 4, 1988 - Double D Spreader restaurant at 223 Reed St. opens, owned by Don and Deb Feauto. • Aug. 15, 1988 - May-nard’s Food Center opens, replaces Akron Supermar-ket, owners are Larry Larson of Hendricks, MN and May-nard Kramer of Elton, SD. Manager is Jim Bundy. • July 1989 - Siouxland Propane opens in Akron and

is managed by Marlin Oster-buhr. • July 1990 - Pizza Ranch opens in Akron at 223 Reed St. replacing Double D Spreader. Owners are Bruce Koele of Akron and Darrell Westra of Hawarden. • Aug. 1, 1990 - The Battery Barn begins opera-tion along Highway 12 south. Owners are Donald and Linda McCollam of Cherokee. They were also the fi rst recipients of the Akron Gold Rush program and received $1,000 for locating in Akron. • Aug. 20, 1990 - Akron Children’s Center opens in the Wesley United Method-ist Church education wing. In 2004 they move to their brand new facility located near the park. • Sept. 1990 - Cy Larsen retires from his Akron New York Life Insurance Agency, LaNay Welch of Westfi eld and Terry Meekma of Orange City take over oper-ation of the agency. • Feb. 11, 1991 - J&S Plumbing & Heating opens owned by John and Sandy Koch. • April 7, 1991 - Akron Health Club opens by the golf course. It was built from a concept by Bob Klemme, Doug Manley, and Gary Horton. • April 1991 - Center for Management Systems, located in the Professional Building and owned by John and Marianne Siefer, was sold to Aspen Publishing, Inc. of Gaithersburg, MD. • July 1991 - Don and

Deb Feauto, and Jim Feauto establish Feauto Real Estate & Auction Service. • Oct. 1, 1991 - Pronto, owned by Nancy and Ken Engle of Le Mars, is sold to Wayne and Joyce Sands of Moville. • Nov. 1, 1991- Dennis Henrich, DDS, opens full time dental offi ce in Akron. • June 1992 - Attorney Darin Raymond opens Ray-mond Law Offi ce in Akron. • Aug. 10, 1992 - Akron Floral Shop opens in histori-cal granite building on Reed St. and is owned by Robin Smith. • Sept. 1992 - Holiday Crafts in Akron changes name to Lavender Blue owned by Mary Lou Klemme. • May 1993 - Mike’s Tankwagon expands to include Coop gas and prod-ucts. The pumps are now available 24 hours with a Mike’s gas card. • Aug. 1993 - Construc-tion begins on a new build-ing being erected by Wilcox Electric. The building also houses Everett Williams’ dental practice. • Aug. 1993 - CJ & Jeanne Hinrichsen open Wildfl ower Log Cabin Bed & Breakfast. • Feb. 1994 - Don and Deb Feauto purchase the Car Wash and E-Z Do Laun-dromat. • May 1994 - First Bap-tist Church dedicates new facility at 300 Country Club Lane. The old facility was torn down and later a build-ing with four apartments

was built by Harold Higman on the lot. • July 1995 - Dr. Warren Thompson purchases Boyd Veterinary Clinic and changes name to Akron Vet-erinary Clinic. • Sept. 1995 - City employees settle into their new offi ces at 220 Reed St. (former Akron Savings Bank building). • Sept. 1995 - Old Depot turned into a dance studio by Tim and Val Philips. • Oct. 1995 - Former Victorian is purchased by Tracy Fritz and Troy Henry of Sioux City and turned into Birdie’s Feed Lot and Bar. Grand opening was held March 15-17, 1996. • Nov. 1995 - Heyl Truck Lines holds open house for their new offi ce building which houses the executive offi ces, transportation, and accounting department for 25 employees. • March 1, 1996 - Bruce and Susan Odson and Mrs. Urban Odson of Sioux Falls purchase the Akron Reg-ister-Tribune from Good News, Inc. • April 1996 - Remodel-ing complete at Akron Pizza Ranch under manager Mike Houston. • April 23, 1996 - Farm-ers Coop purchases Akron Thermogas plant. Coop now offers liquid fertilizer and propane. • May 11, 1996 - Open house held at new Portland-ville Guest House, Con-dominium, Hotel room, and apartment. Owners are David and Rosanne Moffatt of Aurora, CO.

Five States Engineering

Happy 125th Akron!

Would like to Congratulate

Akron

on 125 years of success!

We look forward

to watching the

community

continue to

grow and succeed.

Elliot Waddell, Westfi eld, IA 568-2162