July 16, 2025
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Throwback Thursday

Eight returning letterwinners returned to the Creston volleyball team in 1994. They included, front row from left: Stacy Hightshoe, Kate Gammell, Cari Briley and Mandy Moffit. Back row: Nikki Crawford, Melissa Baker, Abby Jackson and Sarah Vicker. Head coach was Paul Jameson.

Today is Sept. 18, 2014, the 261st day of the year. There are 104 days left in 2014. Below are news items from the Creston News Advertiser for this week (Sept. 15-21) in history.

5 years ago

A three-day assessment of the Union County Jail determined the jail should remain open. Gerry Billy, consultant for the National Institute of Corrections, conducted the assessment at the request of the Union County Board of Supervisors and determined the facility should not be closed. The original request by the Supervisors was made because it was believed transferring inmates to a neighboring county would cut costs.

Southwestern Community College officials confirmed a student living in the residence halls had been diagnosed with a case of Influenza A. Further testing was done to see if the student had the H1N1 virus. The out-of-state student was advised to have no further contact with others on campus until 24 hours after fever symptoms subsided. All students and staff were asked to follow Centers for Disease Control and Prevention recommendations to stay home or in their residence until at least 24 hours after they no longer have a fever (100 degrees Fahrenheit) or signs of a fever (have chills, flushed appearance or sweating.)

10 years ago

Bob Deranleau won the at-large school board seat defeating Jason Osmun with a vote of 253 to 96. Deranleau replaced Dr. Robert Kuhl who had served on the board since 1986 and did not seek re-election.

Henry’s Skateland in Creston closed after 31 years of business. Owners John and Shirley Henry sold the building and retired. The Henrys opened the Creston rink after owning one in Mount Ayr. One of Skateland’s crowded nights was Halloween 1974 when more than 300 people came to skate. Unfortunately, skating was going out of style and a smaller population of children in Creston caused business to slow.

Iowa First Lady Christie Vilsack spoke at Southern Prairie YMCA in Creston on behalf of Democrat Steve Waterman who was running for Senate District 48 challenging incumbent Sen. Jeff Angelo, R-Creston. Vilsack also spoke on the importance of education and economic development.

20 years ago

Abbey DeBord, 4, daughter of Shawna DeBord and Robert DeBord of Creston, was one of 600 participants in the International Model Search held Aug. 6-7 in Chicago, Ill. She was one of 100 clients chosen to be interviewed by agents. Abbey was selected to work with Stewart Modeling Agents of Chicago, well-known in the Midwest for work with children in the catalog and advertising field.

During the 17th annual Creston Balloon Days, all three scheduled balloon flights happened. In 1993, all flights were grounded because of rain, and the last time all flights occurred was in the early 1980s. Thirty balloonists participated in 1994 and crowds of people came out to watch.

Creston/O-M football shutout Winterset 41-0. The team had 421 yards of offense including 24- and 52-yard scoring strikes from quarterback Kyle McCann to junior John David Weber. This was the Panthers second shutout of the year.

Susie Olesen, special education teacher at Greenfield Elementary for 19 years, received a $25,000 Milken Family Foundation National Educator Award. The award is intended for personal use. Olesen was surprised with the award presented by Dr. Al Ramirez, Iowa director of education, at the school. Olesen planned to use the money to buy a computer and start a college fund for her high school children.