Time Capsule: From the archives of local weeklies

Mission Valley News, April 4, 1984

Thieves make off with prom dresses

Ronan — Talk about a teenage dilemma. What happens when a carefully chosen dress for the upcoming prom is stolen?

Upset young ladies make second choices, and in a hurry, that's what happens. The proms in both Ronan and St. Ignatius are on Saturday night.

The tragedy took shape late Thursday night when one or more o thieves broke a rear window in the St-Char-Ro Floral store on Ronan's Main St. and made off with an estimated $2,000 worth of prom and wedding dresses.

St-Char-Ro operator Janet Gardner reported that some of the dresses had already been purchased and were in the store awaiting pick up or alteration.

"All we could do is tell the girls whose dresses had been taken what happened," Mrs. Gardner said. She added that some of the sufferers have already picked up replacements from the store's remaining supply. One of the girls still going through the racks looking for something as nice as her first selection is Mrs. Gardner's own daughter, Connie.

"We still have 25-30 dresses left and can get more on overnight notice. But you can't help feeling sorry for the girls who had picked those first ones so carefully," the owner said. 

She reported that some of the dresses not stolen appeared to have been tried on by the apparently selective thieves, leading to the suspicion that girls may have been involved. Nothing else in the store except dresses was taken. The till had not been molested, Mrs. Gardner said.

Altogether 15 prom and two wedding dresses were reported missing. 

In a second theft in Ronan last week someone broke into the back of the 2nd Chance Saloon and stole as many bottles of beer as could be reached through the protective bars, Police Chief Allen Corneliusen reported.

Pinocchio auditions on Monday in Ronan

RONAN – Auditions will be held for the Missoula Children's Theatre Performance of Pinocchio at K. William Harvey Elementary Gym on April 9 at 4 p.m. Students (and/or adults) are encouraged to audition. 

Among the roles to be cast are the Blue Fairy, Jiminy Cricket, Candlewick, the Fox, the Cat, Candlewick's gang, the Pleasure Isle Kids and the Urchins.

Geppetto and Pinocchio are played by the Missoula Children's Theatre touring actor-directors. They will conduct rehearsals throughout the week with performances scheduled for April 14 at 7:30 p.m.

Gifted students take on street naming in Arlee

ARLEE – High school students in the Gifted/Talented program in Arlee have taken on the project of naming the eight streets in Arlee. Currently the streets are designated by letters and numbers.

The students want the streets to have names with historical significance. They are interviewing history teachers and longtime residents in their efforts to find suitable street names.

They will submit the street names to the Lake County Land Services Department by the end of May. The Land Services Department will have the signs made up and installed.

The Gifted/Talented Program students would like suggestions or information from Arlee residents on the street names.