Here are highlights in history for Dec. 23, gleaned from the files of the Albert Lea Tribune:
1989 — Students at Southwest Junior High School collected 13,628 units of food and more than $500 for the Albert Lea Salvation Army.
1979 — Lorny Stotts retired after 23 years as custodian at Hayward Elementary School. To celebrate this occasion, students named him “King for a Day.”
1949 — About 600 people attended three one-act plays at the Walters School. Funds from the admissions went to a fund to redecorate the school.