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Today is Dec. 3, the 338th day of the year. There are 28 days left in 2020. Below are news items from the Creston News Advertiser for this week (Nov. 30 - Dec. 4) in history.
5 years ago
The sixth Habitat for Humanity three-bedroom house in Union County, located at 622 N. Birch St. was completed. President Charlie Westman stated that more than 125 volunteers were involved with the project, including Austin Berry, Bill Taylor, the Rev. Jim Morris, Randy Huewe, Linda Stream, Phyllis Allen, Bonnie Westman, Cindy Antisdel, Don Butler, Jeremy Rounds, Troy Petersen, Arlan Biere, Nancy James, Warren Woods and James Mansour.
The recipients of the home, the Whyte family, officially receive the keys after having completed a homeowner's class and 200 hours of sweat equity, which allowed them to purchase the house on a 20-year loan at 0% interest. Vanessa Whyte stated, "We're grateful for everything Habitat has done for our family. We were living in a one-bedroom rental before. It was cramped. This gives us a lot more space, and my son has his own room now. I can't tell you how much we appreciate this opportunity." High school students in the Southwestern Community College carpentry and trades class also helped in the construction.
Since 1999, members of the Creston Elks Lodge No. 605 volunteered to clean, salt and package deer hides donated by local hunters for the national leather program. Once the hides are salted and wrapped, they are eventually delivered to a tannery and processed into finished leather, made into craft kits and then donated to veterans. A donation of leather would allow a veteran in a wheelchair to receive fingerless sports gloves or provide someone in a veterans home or veterans hospital a craft project: a kit to make a leather wallet, belt or moccasins. John Miller, chaplain of Elks Lodge No. 290 in Waterloo stated, "We aren't in competition with hide buyers or anyone else; most deer hides, after they're skinned, are just thrown away. We can use those hides for veterans instead." Leather products put together using the prepared kits are sold, and revenue from sales would go directly back to the Veterans Association. "The veterans make some really neat stuff using the leather," said Dave Koets, leading knight of Creston Elks Lodge.
15 years ago
"Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire" was the movie playing at the Strand in Creston. The movie was in its third week at No. 1 with $20 million in sales.
The Afton community started a new campaign to finish funding a trail that would run from the city limits to East Union School and back. Several grants had been received, but more funds were needed with plans to complete the proposed .77 mile trail in 2006.
Orient Tour of Homes, sponsored by Friends of the Library, included homes of Bentley and Kari Nielsen, Wayne and Sylvia Hiland, Mark and Sandy Downing, Scott and Dixie Moore, John and Betty Downing and Pettigrew Farm — Don and Janice Ruhde. The community was told to watch for candy canes used to designate the correct locations.
25 years ago
The Rick Shelton family of Creston decorated their home and yard on South Park with a display that included life-size nativity figures and at least 5,000 lights. 40 dropcords, painted plywood cut-outs and 150-watt flood lights all contributed to the display that rivaled exhibits located in some public areas. Next door neighbor Ron Johnson got in on the action with a fully decked-out yard that served as a shrine to the holidays.
Wrestling head coach Rich Downing, assisted by Craig Taylor, Dennis Smith and Danny Hayes, was looking forward to the 1995-96 season, despite the loss of eight seniors which included four state qualifiers. Beau Hayes, Clint White, Jacob Stephens and Nathan Kuhns, along with Corey McKie. A large, talented freshman class was coming in with four freshman on the varsity lineup: Dylan Long, Charlie Tripp, Tyler Swoyer and Mike Taylor.
55 years ago
The Creston Junior Chamber of Commerce was selling Christmas trees during the 1965 holiday season, with profits being used to finance community service projects. The Norwegian pines were obtained in two trips to Earl, Wisconsin, and were on display at the A&W root beer stand which was located on South Elm and Highway 34. The group were also selling green light bulbs for decorating porches as well as other outdoor lighting options to carry out the Creston “Evergreen City” theme.
Lange's Grade A Dairy announced its purchase of the Home Dairy of Creston. They were also pleased to announce that they would keep Frank Jandrey as the local representative and routeman to preserve prompt, courteous, refrigerated delivery to local homes of ice cream, milk, orange and fruit drinks, cottage cheese, sour and whipping cream, chip dips and fresh sweet cream butter.
Astronauts Frank Borman and James A. Lovell Jr. squeezed into the cramped cabin of the Gemini 7 spacecraft as the time neared for them to embark on man’s longest space journey. Borman, an Air Force lieutenant colonel and Navy Commander Lovell were to spend 14 weightless days in the tiny capsule and hoped to rendezvous with the Gemini 6 astronauts on the ninth day.