Throwback Thursday

A fire in a boxcar loaded with shingles was discovered about 3 a.m. Sunday. The fire was inside the car, which was on a siding a short distance north of the Chicago and North Western Railroad depot at Lorimor. The fire burned all day and into the night, and was only a short distance from some tanks filled with oil.

Creston’s Peppy Stepper Club had their 10th year dance, where past presidents were honored and in attendance were: Mr. and Mrs. Don Lightner, Mr. and Mrs. George Foster, Mr. and Mrs. Bill Young, Mr. and Mrs. Murry Williams and Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Hosfield. The caller was Bud Conner and next dance caller was announced as Lowell Willetts.

The CHS Class of 1940 held its 30-year reunion with 49 present, at Berning Cafe. Following a social hour and dinner, table decorations were given as door prizes to: Mildred Clark Truman of California, who traveled the farthest; Lucille Kerns Bell of Osceola, for longest married; Geraldine Turner Allison of Blairstown for most grandchildren; and Betty Shope Gilman, as the youngest.

The WWI Barracks and Auxiliary in Creston met at Rainbow Park for a “Folks Picnic,” where 28 men and women were in attendance.

Wednesday July 29, 1970 was “Krazy Dayz” in Creston, when all local businesses had in-store and sidewalk sales, and some took out crazily-spelled ads in the Creston News Advertiser. For example, Brown’s Shoes (Brown’s Klowns) took an ad in Creston News Advertiser for their sale where all the words were spelled with a “Z” at the end. A&W of Creston sold “Beer” at 60c a gallon (root beer of course).

25 years ago

LaVonna Vaughan hosted the Jolly Neighbors Club July 26, 1995, with a ‘Dutch-treat’ luncheon at Bernings Motor Inn. Ten-point call partner pitch was played, and prizes were won by Marilyn Miller, high; and Thelma Bowerbank, low. Bonnie Gillispie won a hostess prize.

Tuesday, Aug. 1, Larry Peterson’s main story was “Road to Somewhere,” when access to farm fields and residences on one of the few east-west roads in the southwest corner of Union County was finally reopened for the first time since the flooding of 1993.

Greater Community Hospital Auxiliary awarded five scholarships totaling $2,500 to Wendy Giles of Creston, Rebecca McCann of Greenfield, Jill Evans of Corning, Cory Haag of Orient, and Carme Greenman of Mount Ayr, also in the nursing program at SWCC.

Hurricane Erin veered ashore near the panhandle city of Pensacola, pounding the state for a second time with 92 m.p.h. winds. On its earlier course from the Atlantic across the Florida peninsula, Erin sank two ships, left five people missing at sea, and cut off electricity to over 1 million before wreaking further havoc in the course of the storm.

Area veterinarians were the first to use ultrasound in Diagonal. Tri-County Veterinarian Services hooked up a computer and two monitors, using then state-of-the-art Aloka 500V ultrasound to pregnancy test more than 250 heifers at Doyle and Connie Richards’s farm near Diagonal.

15 years ago

HOA Club met July 21 at Creston Family Restaurant for breakfast, and later to Donna Swanson’s home at Regency Park for their business meeting, where she displayed the afghan she won on the 4th of July.

The CHS Class of 1946 met July 22 for their monthly luncheon. Those attending were Norma Jean Crago, Don Mullin, LuElla (Hansen) Pontier, Jean Richardson, Lucille Riley, Dorothy and Darrel Stevens and Liz Walsh.

In wrestling, Creston High School’s Andrew Long claimed his second title of the week at the Asics/Vaughan Cadet/Junior Nationals, in the 84-pound cadet division of freestyle. The previous Monday, he won his first title in the Greco-Roman national title.

Then 16-year-old singer Breezi Mayne of Afton was one of 17 semi-finalists chosen for the title of Iowa Idol, to be determined that year at the Iowa State Fair.

Then U.S. Sen. Tom Harkin visited Corning as part of a tour of eight communities that received Main Street Iowa program grants. During his visit, he met with city officials, business leaders and citizens at the Lauvstad Center, and later took a tour of the town’s historical buildings and the Corning Opera House with president Nancy Carmichael.

Thursday and Friday Aug. 4 and 5 were “Crazy Days” in Creston, with sales on at all Creston’s Maple Street businesses. They also enjoyed a sales tax holiday on the Friday of the two-day sale.

5 years ago

July 30, 2015: Greenfield resident Elaine Bohling was one of 10 award recipients to be recognized with her own day at the Iowa State Fair.

Creston’s Kadon Hulett was among the Iowa Baseball Coaches Association’s all-district players. First baseman Hulett was on the Class 3A West District second team as a pitcher, and finished 4-1 with a team-high 9 starts and a 1.59 ERA. In 48 innings pitched, he had 53 strikeouts, 15 walks and allowed only 30 hits. Hulett went nine innings in a 4-3 district final loss to state semifinalist Harlan in 12 innings. In that game, Hulett allowed 6 hits, 3 earned runs, walked 4 and struck out 10 against the Cyclones.

Iowa Games: The Creston Panthers 14U softball team competed in the Iowa Games fast pitch softball tournament July 18-19 in Ames. After going 0-3 in pool competition, Creston went 2-1 to place 3rd in the Bronze Division.

The 114-year-old fountain at Rainbow Park in Creston had been leaking and in need of repair for more than three years at the time. Work began on the fountain, including the installation of a filtration system.

In club news, Union County Genealogical Society met and welcomed David Hargrove, library director, who spoke briefly of his background and the role of the genealogical collection in the library. Kathy Parmenter organized all the geneological reference materials and notebooks containing research correspondence on the reference shelves in the library.

Creston senior Natalie Mostek finished her fourth season as varsity catcher for the Panthers by hitting .424 with 10 doubles and 28 RBI while catching two all-state catchers in her career: Madison Frain and Haylee LaMasters. She was named to the Iowa Girls Coaches Association all-state softball third team in Class 4A.

Then presidential hopefuls, former first lady and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and former Maryland Gov. Martin O’Malley visited Madison County Historical Complex on a Saturday evening, where they laid out their visions for the presidency.

Creston Library was awarded a $18,510 grant from DEKKO Foundation for the purchase of technology to create two “discovery and learning centers” within the library.

Greater Regional Medical Center announced Amy Rieck, SHRM-CP, PHR as their new human resources officer.