The Wiltgen Hotel has installed an "iceless" refrigerator. Evidently this was the first mechanical refrigerator in Ossian.

John Staska swapped a piece of ground on Fisher Ave. (Brockman Ave.) to Wm. Mullaney for the old livery barn lot (lydia St.) . He will move his blacksmith shop from Main street to this site. The Bullard Brothers, Donald and Ralph, will construct a new 44' X 60', hollow tile, building on the Main street lot (presently Art Linderbaum's machine shop). L. 0. Lee, displaced by the new structure, will move his business next door; while N. E. Mehsling, the present occupant, will move his bakery to the old D. D. Rosa building on Lydia.

The Methodist Church was reorganized this year. It became the "Ossian Community Church", but retained its affiliation with the Upper Iowa Conference of the Methodist Episcopal Church.

The town's financial statement records that the municipality's debt has been reduced to $24,375.9 during the past 12 months.

The graduates from O.H.S. this year were: Viola Broghamer, Dorothy Johnson, Rolfe Kvamme, Marguerite Lynch, George Meyer, Esther Rogness and Doris Sobolik.

The graduating class at De Sales was composed of Harry Collins, Margaret Wolfe and Laura Heck.

THE AMERICAN LEGION POST

In May of 1920, all ex-servicemen were asked to meet for the purpose of organizing an American Legion Post. This branch, no. 503, was chartered on March 31, 1921. It was named the Brockman-Hammersland Post in honor of the memory of the two Military township soldiers killed in WWI.

The charter members of this Post were: Arthur S. Andreson, John L. Broghamer, Gilbert B. Elleson, Louis H. Frerich, Russel L. Gilbert, Christian Hanson, Hans T. Hanson, William Holzer, Henry K. Larson, Alfred B. Lofte, Alois G. Scheidel, Herman A. Schultz, Charles W. Schweinefus, Charles E. Ward and John J. Werner.

The officers elected in 1921 were: Robert Lusk, commander; Lawrence Grovdahl, vice commander; L. A. Klisart, adjutant; Arthur Andreson, finance officer; Edward Burton, historian; Glen Oyloe, chaplain; Otto Holder, athletic officer; and Louis Frerich, war risk officer. The executive committee included: C. R. Nicholson, E. R. McManus, Christian Hanson, Berner Nesvik and Martin Hauge.

A fund raising dance was held in the new Bullard garage building. Receipts totaled over $200.

A four day street carnival was promoted featuring a merry-go-round, a 40 foot ferris wheel and several side shows. Baseball games were played at Cornell Park each day with teams from Frankville, Castalia, Conover and Postville competing.

The Calmar Concert Band and the Ossian Liberty Band held evening concerts. An aeroplane was engaged to carry passengers on sight-seeing flights from Joseph Wiltgen's field, north of the depot.

Likely, these fund raising efforts were to finance the Post's recreational facilities at Cornell Park. The Park was leased for one year in May of 1921, with an option for renewal. The Legion's plans called for improving the ball diamond, constructing a swimming pool, building a grandstand and clearing a picnic area in the park's grove. A dance pavilion was also under consideration, but neither it or the grandstand were ever realized.

A swimming pond was excavated, lined with sand, and a diving board installed. The pool was filled by means of a hydraulic ram placed in the free-flowing spring below the pond. This machine's performance seemed almost magical to us youngsters; the pressure of the running water built until the mechanism was triggered, resulting in a piston thrust that would push the water uphill to the swimming hole This procedure was repeated every few seconds, resulting in an almost continuous flow of fresh spring water. It was the mechanical failure of this machine, and the functional problems of its replacement, that led to the demise of the pool.

The proposed fence to enclose this facility was never completed; the water became stagnant and polluted by my father's dairy herd's sharing of the bath.