Throwback Thursday

Today is April 29, the 119th day of the year. There are 246 days left in 2021. Below are news items from the Creston News Advertiser for this week in history.

5 years ago

A Ladies’ May Day three-course English afternoon tea was held in Corning at the The French Icarian Colony Foundation village in honor of their neighbors of English, Irish, Scottish and Welsh ancestry who pioneered Adams County in the 1800s. Hats and gloves were encouraged, but not required and a competition was held for the most unique, whimsical and fanciest hats.

Lon Grail of Afton said he played the same set of lucky numbers — 5-10-14-28-29 and 32 — for about a decade until a few months prior, when he decided to just let the computer randomly pick his numbers instead. It turns out “easy picks” were the way to go for him, as he won $250,000 in a Saturday drawing. Grail, a retired railroad worker, said he bought his winning ticket at Casey’s, 501 N. Douglas St. in Afton.

An attempt in the Iowa Legislature to expand access to medical marijuana reached its end with a 31-63 failed vote in the House. Members of the Republican-controlled chamber said that the proposal would have expanded state law, allowing potential partnerships with producing states. Altoona Republican Rep. Zach Nunn cited financial challenges, with House Democrats also citing legal implications with out-of-state partnerships, saying it would not make it any easier for Iowans to access the amount of cannabis oil allowed under law.

15 years ago

Angela Kenyon Davis, daughter of Arnold “Skip” and Mary Ann Kenyon, was a Creston native with big-time talent and musical aspirations. She released a single that reached No. 30 on the New Artist Radio Top 40 Countdown chart. Not only was Kenyon a talented vocalist and songwriter, the Creston High School graduate was also the founder and choreographer of White Lion Productions, with her successful dance crew appearing on NBC and ABC television programs.

The Highway 34 construction project had begun with machinery in place and the bridge over Grand River set up as one lane with stoplights to control traffic. Henningson Construction of Atlantic was doing the work to resurface the highway from Thayer to Creston and had installed a large asphalt plant near the intersections of Highway 34 and 169.

25 years ago

Demolition of the old McKinley Park swimming pool proved to be a very difficult task. Bulldozers were no match for the 50-year-old seemingly indestructible construct comprised of cement made with river rock and reinforced with lots of re-bar. The exhausting effort forced Mark Huff, park and recreation director, to arrange for a wrecking ball to be brought in to finish the job.

Creston native and Union County Deputy Chad Briley resumed his duties after graduating from the Iowa Law Enforcement Academy. Briley, 24, was hired Dec. 4, 1995, as a full-time deputy. He was a graduate of Drake University, where he majored in sociology and earned all-conference honors as a member of the football team. He and his wife, Treana, resided in Creston with their 2-year-old daughter, Katlin.

Dee Ann Stults of Creston developed a “Learner’s Guide for Intermediate Algebra,” that was planning to be sold at the SWCC bookstore for $10. Stults announced that any proceeds from the publication would go to setting up a scholarship fund. At the time, Stults had been a math instructor at SWCC for 25 years.

55 years ago

About 75 women attended an opening coffee and style show at Crestmoor Golf Club. Mrs. E.C. (Bill) Garrett was the narrator for the style show. Models were Mrs. J. Howard Brown, Mrs. Frank Steele, Mrs. Larry Goetz, Mrs. Lou Palm, Mrs. Ray Cederburg, Mrs. Lloyd Hicks, Mrs. Harold Drake, Mrs. David Rissler, Mrs. Phil Tyler, Mrs. Gene Cozad, Mrs. Clair Smith, Mrs. Richard (Butch) Miller, Mrs. R. W. Robertson and Mrs. Don Mosman.

The Area 14 junior college and vocational-technical school board met with the board of education of Creston community school district to discuss the transfer of Creston community college from the Creston district to Area 14. Plans were to take over the college July 1 and Creston district board told the area board it would cooperate in every way possible to get the area school started. The current building and equipment would be made available to the area board at a nominal rental.

Mike Henry, son of Mr. and Mrs. Joe Henry, was presented the Arion Award, the highest honor for a Creston High School band member, at the fourth annual band recognition dinner and program. Robert Beecher, president of Creston Rotary Club which sponsors the award, made the presentation. Henry had played trombone in the band for three years.