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Today is Dec. 24, the 358th day of the year. There are 7 days left in 2015. Below are news items from the Creston News Advertiser for this week (Dec. 21-27) in history:
10 years ago
Two young soldiers from Creston felt fortunate to be alive after vehicles in which they were riding in Iraq were struck by roadside bombs. Sgt. Chass Ossian, 24, son of Jan and Robert Cottrell, was set to begin his journey home in January after serving his second tour of duty as a military policeman. His wife Tiffany (Ostroski) was counting the days. Spec. Ben Davis, 21, son of Joy and Wayne Davis, had just returned to Iowa after serving in Iraq with the Army National Guard 224th engineering battalion.
Members of the 2005-06 Creston High School freshman girls basketball team included Aubreeanna Winners, Kristin Shaw, Megan Birchard, Nicole Hunter, Aubrey Pendegraft, Ayla Peppmeier, Liz Beatty, Emerald Gwinner, Jenna Johnson and Morgan Evans with Ryan McKim as coach.
20 years ago
The adult competitive recreation volleyball league announced their championship teams. Cromwell Tap captured the men's league with members Greg Bailey, Larry Bailey, Ron Skarda, Gary Bailey, Clint Baker, Don Krings, Jon Carroll and Tim Loudon. The women's team was Max Smith Construction and included Sharon McKinney, Tracey Evans, Donna Dickinson, Wendy McKinney, Kristen Smith, Patty Weinkotz, Robin Clark, Rhonda Piel-Campbell and Julie Burrell.
Creston police officer Duane Osmun, a National Guard member, had been called to active duty for nine months to aid the Bosnian peace effort where his unit filled in as military police.
Some of the top stories of 1995 included OJ Simpson's acquittal of murdering his estranged wife Nicole Brown Simpson and her friend Ronald Goldman; the homegrown bombing terrorism in Oklahoma City caused by Timothy McVeigh and Terry Nichols where 169 were left dead and more than 500 injured; and the court decision to sentence Susan Smith to life in prison instead of the death penalty for strapping her two little boys in their car seats and rolling her car into a South Carolina lake for them to drown.
50 years ago
Franklin Kinkade, operator of the Kinkade Underground Construction Company, spoke to Creston Rotarians about the renewed interest in his new tile laying machine, which he had been in the process of designing the three previous years. The machine was able to smooth out and lay heavy tile in a ditch as deep as 20 feet without a man having to get down in it. He had been testing a working model and it had attracted considerable heavy machine companies interest. The complex machine would probably be sold at around $15,000.
Movies taken during the Crestubilee prom night party in May for CHS juniors and seniors were to be shown at the high school auditorium in color. Graduates home from college for Christmas would be able to attend and watch the activities recorded throughout prom night.
Iowa State University reported its enrollment was 13,592 (10,246 were men and 3,346 were women), an increase of 1,338 from the previous year and a new record for the fifth consecutive year.
CHS teachers were looking forward to Christmas vacation. The following teachers were interviewed by Creston News Advertiser "Who's Where at Christmas?" – Edward Anderson, mathematics; Alice Ahlschwede, social studies; William Baldwin, geometry; Don Butler, industrial arts; Patricia Dearduff, English and history; Hallie Ekblad, art; Richard Engleson, biology; Robert Evans, physics; Lionel Foley, instrumental music; Martha Geist, American literature; Darline Green, English and journalism; Martin Hintz, vocational ag; Joseph Hying, Latin; Jerome Hruska, industrial arts; Gary King, chemistry; Larry Jannings, US history; David Koos, algebra; Shirley Lischer, English; Angelica Lissarragu, Spanish; and Robert Newell, drivers ed.