This was THAT year, because THIS was the year that Taylor Swift was coming to town to perform at the Rooks County Free Fair on Friday, August 17, 2007! Jack Ingram was also scheduled to share the stage on concert night.

A summer tradition was being revived on Saturday, July 28, in Woodston when their Summer Picnic would again be held on Main Street. The special event was sponsored by Woodston Coop, Stockton National Bank, Kiser Ag, Dino Discount, Bar D Ranch LLC, Leo Walker, Peterson Hay and Taylor’s Supply.

The town of Stockton turned out on Saturday, July 14 to greet Father Duane Roy during his visit back to his hometown. Father Roy, a Benedictine priest, had spent the previous 36 years doing mission work in Brazil. Roy, along with a contingent of monks, priests and a nun, were in Stockton for a visit to his hometown as part of a month-long visit to Kansas in celebration of the 150th anniversary of the founding of St. Benedict’s Monastery in Atchison. Two trees on Main Street were planted in front of Nova Theatre in his honor, and a friendship tree presentation in front of the Rooks County Bakery during the morning hours.

Jake Brooke was the new Webster State Park Ranger, taking over for Zach Kesler who had been named the park’s manager. Jake’s duties out at the lake included maintenance, checking permits and law enforcement.

The “Know Your Neighbor” column, written by Linda Roy Cross, featured Pat Ballard, age 81. Having been born in a town called Paradise must have affected her outlook on life, because Pat found joy everywhere. When she was born, she said her parents received a gift of a pair of baby shoes that had “Pat” written on them. That friend always said that he named her. Wearing tennis shoes, purple kneelength shorts and a white embossed t-shirt that said, “Grandmas are God’s special gift to children,” Pat spoke of one humorous episode after another. “My favorite t-shirt says, ‘I don’t suffer from insanity. I enjoy every minute of it.’”

The Rooks County oil valuation for 2007 had been published at $38,829,518, still high when you consider the previous year’s $41.3 million valuation was the highest recorded since 1984. The 2007 figure is down $2,513,993 from 2006, or down 6%. The highest valuation ever recorded was $72 million in 1984 at the height of the Rooks County oil boom. The continued high price of oil was keeping the valuation up, along with the fact that there were 52 more wells producing in 2007 which added 147,390 barrels of oil to the mix.

Scheduled for completion in the summer of 2008, the new hospital was progressing despite bouts of wet weather. A Home and Garden Tour in and around Stockton was planned for July 1st, sponsored by the Sigma Phi ESA.

Scheduled for completion in the summer of 2008, the new hospital was progressing despite bouts of wet weather. A Home and Garden Tour in and around Stockton was planned for July 1st, sponsored by the Sigma Phi ESA.

Stockton, Kansas! Los Angeles, California! London, England! It makes no difference where you are, the Stockton Sentinel was soon to be available online, so that, regardless of where a subscriber lives, they would be able to view the Sentinel electronically on Wednesday mornings. The Sentinel had joined forces with ColorMax’s ArcaSearch and was the first Kansas newspaper to go online through ArcaSearch.

Dressed in full Scottish attire, bagpiper Paul MacDonald of Hays played for those in attendance at the Memorial Day Services at the cemeteries. Pastor Vince Williams gave the Invocation to begin the ceremony at Stockton City Cemetery on May 28, 2007 as VFW Post 8873 stood in silent tribute to their fallen comrades. Blake Armstrong played taps. VFW Post 8873 Quartermaster John Berkley delivered a moving address to the crowd.