From The Clarkston News archives

25 years ago – 1999
Fire and ice: A late night fire wiped out three apartments in a house on Pine Knob Lane on Saturday leaving 18 Independence Township residents homeless. Township firefighters received a call at 11:05 p.m. and arrived two minutes later, from Fire Station No. 3, to find the yellow two-story house on the corner of Pine Knob Lane and Sunnydale engulfed in flames. At the time of publication the cause of the fire was unknown.
Old Man Winter dumps 12 inches on Clarkston area: Old Man Winter finally arrived with one of the worst one-day storms of the latter part of the century. Significant snowfall combined with bitter cold temperatures made the Clarkston area one of the hardest hit in the Lower Peninsula. The area received around 12 inches of snow, there was a wind chill of 20-25 degrees below zero and temperatures in the teens.
Cobo good to Wolves again: The Clarkston Boys Varsity Basketball team had one of the worst practices head coach Dan Fife had seen in his 17 years on Dec. 27. They bounced back three days later and played their best game of the young season, defeating Detroit Denby, 67-50, at the Detroit Public Schools Superintendent’s Tip-Off Classic at Cobo Arena.

50 years ago – 1974
Aw, c’mon winter!: Christmas had been great for ten-year-old Mike Tower, who received a pair of red and black Bobby Orr hockey skates as a gift. But, what good were skates when there was just slush on the Mill Pond.
Airplane club denied permit: The Pontiac Model Airplane Club was denied permission to use an 80-acre field in the northeast portion of Independence Township. Members of the club were confronted by more than 25 opposing neighbors of the property when they appeared before the township zoning board of appeals to seek a special permit to use the site as a landing and take-off strip.
Springing up: Barbara and Rich Hammerstein of Springfield Township spent the weekend and New Year’s holiday with friends in Kalkaska, Michigan. Rich took the family snowmobile up with them.

75 years ago – 1949
New library opens in Clarkston: Mrs. Durand Ogden installed a circulating library in the basement of her home. There were recent best-seller books for anyone wishing to avail themselves of the opportunity. She planned to have the library open Mondays and Fridays.
Clarkston locals: New Year’s Day guests of Mr. and Mrs. R. D. Kelley were her brother-in-law and sister, Mr. and Mrs. Richard K. Portwood and their two daughters, Cheyrle DeNeice and Damaris Kay, of Williams Lake.
Girl Scout news: The Girl Scouts opened their program this week by having a business meeting. They passed out the new registration cards and made plans for the new year’s badge work. The girls in the first class group worked on illustrations of foreign lands for the elementary library.

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