Gladbrook Museum volunteers Jeanne Paustian, left, and Terri Luehring pictured on Wednesday, March 8, as they work to place annuals of bound past issues of the Sun Courier and its predecessor newspapers into cupboards in City Centre for public viewing. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

After spending years in a back storage room at the Tama-Grundy Publishing office in downtown Tama, the Northern Sun-Print archives are back in the community of Gladbrook and open to the public.

In early October of last year, bound annuals of the Northern Sun-Print, Gladbrook Tama Northern, and Tama Northern newspapers – all predecessor papers to the current Sun Courier – were donated to the Gladbrook Museum by Ogden Newspapers and transported by truck from Tama back home courtesy of museum volunteers Jeanne Paustian and Terri Luehring.

At the same time, the Garwin Sun archives were transferred to the Garwin Public Library by Times-Republican/Sun Courier editor Rob Maharry.

Last week Wednesday, Paustian and Luehring along with Paustian’s husband Darrell Paustian – a Traer graduate – took the final step in bringing the Northern Sun-Print archives home by cleaning the annuals’ covers and tucking them inside custom built cupboards located on the top floor of Gladbrook City Centre.

Next to the cupboards, a viewing table large enough to accommodate the bulkiest of the annuals was also installed.

A stack of Northern Sun-Print annuals from the 1980s ready for cleaning and storage pictured on March 8 on the second floor of Gladbrook City Centre. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

Both the cupboards and the table were made possible through generous donations from the Gladbrook Foundation, the Gladbrook Museum, and the Gladbrook Corn Carnival Corp.

The 15 feet of cupboards were designed and built by Gladbrook resident Burnell Grimmius who donated both his time and labor to the project.

The cupboards will also soon house other memory books and annuals from the former Gladbrook Community School District which consolidated with Reinbeck in 1998 to form the Gladbrook-Reinbeck Community School District.

The former Gladbrook school buildings were demolished in 2022. No school buildings remain in the community.

Those interested in viewing the newspaper archives – which stretch back well over 100 years from the present day – are welcome to hop the elevator or take the stairs to the second floor of the Gladbrook City Center. A short walk to the back corner will lead patrons to the cupboards.

Gladbrook Museum volunteer Terri Luehring, left, accepts a cleaned annual from volunteer Darrell Paustian before placing it in a cupboard behind her on March 8 in Gladbrook City Centre. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

And while your thoughts – and nose – may be busy in one of the hefty annuals, be sure not to miss the framed photo collages of past Gladbrook High School classes that run along the top of the walls including above the cupboards.

In addition to the Gladbrook Museum, the Gladbrook City Centre is also home to Pat Acton’s Matchstick Marvels museum, Gladbrook City Hall, and the Gladbrook Theater.

City Hall’s public window is open Monday through Friday from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m. For more information about City Centre hours, contact city clerk Jackie Stephenson at 641-473-2582.

Paustian and Luehring wish to thank all those who donated – monetary or otherwise – to the preservation of the newspaper archives.

Traer Star-Clipper archives update

Bound annuals of past editions of the Sun Courier including from the Northern Sun-Print newspaper – one of the Sun Courier’s predecessors – line the shelves of cupboards on the second floor of Gladbrook City Centre. The archives are now open to the public thanks to the Gladbrook Museum and other generous donors. PHOTO BY RUBY F. MCALLISTER

The Traer Star-Clipper archives – one of two immediate predecessor newspapers to the current North Tama Telegraph – were also moved last fall from the Tama office. The set of annuals was donated to the Traer Historical Museum.

While the annuals themselves are not yet available for public viewing, the boards of the Traer Public Library and the Traer Historical Museum are combining resources to make digitized back issues of the Traer Star-Clipper more accessible to the public.

According to the museum’s most recent newsletter, due to copyright restrictions, the 1940s through 1975 newspaper editions must be viewed “in house.” Patrons can do so at the downtown museum or during library open hours where an attendant will assist with logging into an Advantage account to gain access and search the online database.

At this time the Traer Historical Museum is open by appointment only, while the library is open Mondays 1-7 p.m., Tuesdays and Fridays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., Wednesdays 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Saturdays 10 a.m. to noon.

According to Traer Library Director Diane Panfil, several people have already taken advantage of the library’s help in accessing the archives online.