:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/4KTPLDZ6X5VPBICWGKU2UDHOFA.jpg)
Today is Sept. 29, the 273rd day of the year. It’s a leap year. So, there are 93 days left in 2016. Below are news items from the Creston News Advertiser for this week (Sept. 26-Oct. 2) in history:
10 years ago
In just about three to four years, Creston High School (CHS) could look very different as the board looked into the future. In regard to change, CHS Principal Todd Wolverton believed “everything was on the table.” Some of the possible changes, from current projects to plans that were down the road, were flipping the freshman and senior year to ease loads for new students while challenging soon-to-be graduates, seminars would have more emphasis on studies, struggling students would go from seminars to special classes where they would get more attention and assistance, integrating new technologies, building relationships with local businesses so students could have on-the-job training in their interest area, structuring the entire day differently and no free blocks for seniors.
20 years ago
Jeff Finn, Creston High School senior, recounted his experiences from Aug 1 to 31 in Nicaragua as a Witness for Peace delegate. Nicaragua was a war-torn Central American country of four million people, half of them under the age of 16. Finn’s older brother, Scott, of West Virginia, was also a delegate. “I was to find that ‘street children’ were thick like flies in a landfill. Unemployment was at 60 percent, leaving thousands of skilled men and women on the streets selling goods and begging alongside little children,” Jeff said. “The entire city was in ruins from an earthquake that hit some 18 years ago. Most lived in small, poorly constructed shacks with tin roofs, dirt floors and no electricity or running water.”
A revised building plan for the Gibson Memorial Library remodeling and addition project was approved by the library’s board of trustees members, Loy Christensen, Kris Kerrigan, Ann Coulter and Don Hall. Changes included elimination of a wall to the computer room, a $9,000 security system, reduction of windows and light fixtures and other structural modifications. Between $58,000 and $79,000 in cuts were made and approved, leaving construction costs between $875,000 and $890,000.
50 years ago
Midge Sears of Creston was elected president of the sophomore class at Southwestern Community College in the class election. She defeated Allen Webb, also of Creston. Mrs. Sears was to be inaugurated on Oct. 7 when an inaugural parade was held. She gave an inaugural address on the steps of the college building following the parade. A ball was planned for the next evening. Other officers elected were Dan Follman of Massena, vice president; Kathy Sychia of Prescott, secretary; Lyle Coleman of Leon, treasurer; Dave Chapman of Creston, sergeant-at-arms; and John F. Thompson of Creston, public relations officer.
Lt. Walter Cunningham, who was born in Creston, was named as one of three astronauts for the second Apollo space mission. The 14-day space trip was scheduled for the following spring. Cunningham, son of Mr. and Mrs. Walter Cunningham who lived in California, had moved from Creston when he was about one year old. Cunningham joined the Navy in 1951 and learned to fly. After active duty, he kept flying in the Marine Corps Reserves and was selected as an astronaut in October 1963.