Throwback Thursday

Today is Feb. 11, the 42nd day of the year. There are 323 days left in 2021. Below are news items from the Creston News Advertiser for this week in history.

5 years ago

The Creston News Advertiser won six awards in the Iowa Newspaper Association’s 2016 Better Newspaper Contests. The advertising department won first place in a “best web advertisement” category for an ad which was designed for Creston’s Stalker Chevrolet by then IT Manager Dorine Peterson. The department also won third place in three other categories. The editorial staff picked up a second place award for a special section 2015 Progress edition, Larry Peterson placed third in the best sports story category for his coverage of the state semifinalists Creston softball team, Kyle Wilson and Amy Hansen took second place in the best breaking news story category for coverage of a 2015 Osceola farm and home fire and CNA’s sister paper, the Osceola Sentinel-Tribune, won two circulation awards and won first place for the best ad, designed by Kayla Mensing, featuring grocery, food or entertainment.

The staff at Clearview Home in Clearfield spent the month of October 2015 selling t-shirts and gathering donations for their second annual Taylor County Pink Out, raising $2,700 for Greater Regional Healthcare Foundation and the Greater Regional Cancer Center.

Do you ever wonder how much pain a woman is in when she is in labor? Many staff members at Greater Regional Medical Center certainly did, so they decided to make plans to begin offering epidurals. A labor epidural is a pain management option for women who are in the throes of labor. A catheter is put in the spine in the epidural space outside the dura mater, a membrane to help protect the spinal cord. The catheter stays there and allows a continuous flow of pain medication to the birthing mother. Labor epidurals were not offered in the past because of the amount of manpower needed to create a safe enough environment for the process. However, due to the increase of anesthetists, obstetrical and gynecological staff at Greater Regional they could offer the service.

15 years ago

Representatives of Iowa Department of Transportation attended a Creston City Council meeting, along with representatives of Creston’s “Highway 34 corridor” businesses. A discussion was had about converting Highway 34 through Creston from four lanes to three, with the final decision being left to the city. Ellen Gerharz of the Creston Chamber of Commerce raised concerns that due to so many businesses along the highway, increased right-hand turns could be very problematic. Denny Foglesong, manager of The Pier, agreed and thought that three lanes could create back-up situations. Council members tabled the decision until the next meeting.

Vice President Dick Cheney accidentally shot a 78-year-old hunting companion during a quail hunting trip, hitting him with birdshot. The accident was not reported publicly for nearly 24 hours, with the vice president’s office saying they were waiting for the ranch owner to announce what happened on her property.

25 years ago

Demolition had begun on the former Creston High School from the inside. Salvaging operations for wood, scrap metal, iron and copper wiring were started by the contractors. Creston residents were given one day to salvage what they could. Dean Thatcher was taking oak trim from classroom doors to use in his rental properties. Al Gates and family were prying up wood flooring to use in a home remodeling project. Wayne Huber had been hired for demolition work and was busy breaking up seats in the auditorium balcony with a sledgehammer. Dell Shimer stopped by for some final pictures of the inside before walls were demolished.

Iowa was preparing for the 1996 caucus with nine Republican candidates. They included Steve Forbes, Robert Dornan, Bob Dole, Richard Lugar, Lamar Alexander, Pat Buchanan, Morry Taylor, Alan Keyes and William Gramm.

More than 400 students from Burton R. Jones Middle School helped move library materials as Gibson Memorial Library prepared to operate temporarily at 124 N. Maple St. The library was to undergo $700,000 in renovations and expansion. About a dozen volunteers joined the students to make 10 two-block trips transporting 25,000 books. Char Hudson, the library assistant director, thought the move went smoothly with only furniture remaining to be moved.

55 years ago

Scoutmaster of Explorer Troop No. 312 Butch Eaton announced two Creston High School young men were to receive the Eagle Scout award in a ceremony at First Methodist Church. Senior Duane Osmun, son of Mr. and Mrs. Cecil Osmun, and junior Jim Repplinger, son of Mr. and Mrs. Herman Repplinger, were honored in the special ceremony.

An automobile owned by Mr. and Mrs. Frank Higgins of Creston was taken from the First Christian Church parking lot and returned to the same parking space while Mrs. Higgins attended church. When it was returned, it had been extensively damaged in a collision. Higgins had forgotten and left the keys in the car. While police were investigating her report, the operator of the city water plant at Summit Lake called and reported seeing several young people in a car on the east side of the plant skid sideways some distance and hit a tree. Although damaged, the car was driven away, but he had written down the license number, and it was the Higgins auto.