:quality(70)/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/shawmedia/EPWLFHH3EQSLEK2UZKDTM5I46I.jpg)
Today is Nov. 5, the 310th day of the year. There are 56 days left in 2020. Below are news items from the Creston News Advertiser for this week (Nov. 2-6) in history.
5 years ago
Thankfully, no injuries were reported after a weekend plane accident at Creston Municipal Airport. Larry West, then manager at the airport, said the incident occured when a pilot from Fort Dodge attempted to land his 1950s-era Piper Colt airplane in windy conditions. “He landed the plane,” West said, “but the crosswind on the runway can cause problems for an inexperienced pilot. It flipped on its top and rolled out a long ways.” He said that in his 12 years as manager there, there had been six other plane incidents due to a combination of high winds and lightweight airplanes.
Gary Lybarger, who served on the Creston City Council, was elected as Creston mayor in 2015, defeating incumbent Warren Woods unofficially by 45 votes in an election that had a 16% voter turnout. In a close race, Lybarger garnered 384 total votes, Woods had 339 and Laryl VandenBerg earned 67. It would be the second time Lybarger and Woods locked horns running for mayor. Lybarger was also Creston’s city building inspector for 12 years.
The restoration of the 114-year-old water fountain at Rainbow Park was finally completed, and it was announced that the fountain will be turned on for the first time in three years in spring of 2015. “It’s too nice of a monument not to be working,” said John Kawa, then chairman of the Creston Parks and Recreation Board. “The fountain is unique. You can go all over Iowa, and you won’t see many like it.” The issue with the 20-foot high fountain was significant leaking, which caused the water bill to triple and forced the Creston Parks and Recreation Board to keep the fountain turned off.
15 years ago
Chuck Spindler, pastor of Crest Baptist Church since 1994, was named Outstanding Pastor of the Year for 2005 by the Baptist Convention of Iowa. The award is made annually to a pastor of an Iowa congregation who shows growth, commitment and diligence in leadership.
Dr. Robert Kuhl was selected as Creston’s 2005’s Citizen of the Year. Kuhl was active as a Creston School Board member, coached youth sports, was involved in numerous community groups, was a CHS Hall of Fame honorary member and he’s a busy surgeon. Marcella Howe was selected as Volunteer of the Year and was very involved in Union County Historical Society. Andy Jennett was picked as Youth of the Year and was a 4.0 grade point average student, busy with sports, band, FFA and college courses.
25 years ago
Larry Wynn, owner of F&M Body Shop, was back to work as usual after winning the election for Creston’s mayor. He replaced Terry Donahue who left after serving as mayor for 14 years.
Creston High School’s paper “The Arrow” had a fall sports wrap up featuring the cross country district meet in Atlantic with the Pantherettes placing 11th and the Panthers 13th. The volleyball team ended its season with a win at Adel and an overall record of 8-16-1. The football team ended its regular season with a 8-1 record but a disappointing loss against Pella. Next up would be the first round of class 3A playoffs against Harlan.
50 years ago
Five new polling ward boundaries were established a few weeks prior to the 1965 municipal election by the city council. The ward changes were imposed in an effort to better distribute the areas by population between the wards.
Sunday night Halloween antics went “too far,” with several acts of vandalism; obscenities spray-painted on houses and garages along Division Street, eggs thrown at parked cars and spray-painted, with the worst — and most potentially dangerous — shenanigans of the night being five opened fire hydrants with 250,000 gallons of water running out until waterworks technicians noticed the pressure levels dramatically drop about a foot in the city’s water tower in the early hours of Monday. About one-half of the capacity was lost by the escapade, and it was by sheer luck no major fires broke out, or else it could have caused a major disaster.
A sportsmen’s cabin was built by the 1965 Creston High School graduates John Parkins, Keith Kinkade, Mike Potts, Gary Peterson and David McCay to enjoy hunting, camping and other outdoor sports. They built the log cabin in timberland owned by Charles Wimmer north east of Creston. The 15 by 25 foot cabin had a tin roof and was built entirely of logs, twine and rope.
An ad from Creston Mutual Telephone Company featured a teenage girl holding a phone receiver with the caption “her privacy costs so little — means so much” and mentioned how installing a separate line into “Miss Teen’s” room can “do wonders for everyone in the family. Use direct distance dialing (DDD) and save money.”