Readers Write

Howdy:

I thought I’d ought to renew my Sentinel subscription so I can keep the information and all the entertainment coming my way. I sure enjoy your paper. Keep up the good work and thank you so much.

Dale L. Anderson

Stockton

Hello:

Hello to all at the office!

I’m ordering the Sentinel for another year. We are “tied down” here, but know it’s for our own good and know “it too shall pass!” Hopefully soon.

It’s quite hard to be lonely with all your friends lonely, too. Run out of things to do! Looking forward to open doors and windows!

Stay safe!

Vula Roy-Gager

Plainville

(The following letter is taken in part from an email the Sentinel received from Lynne McKinnis Shinohara, who is looking for information about the Spanish Flu Outbreak in the early 1900s.)

Hi, I am Lynne McKinnis Shinohara from Dublin, CA.

My paternal grandmother was Lillian (Coolbaugh) McKinnis, who was the daughter of Morris and Lemira Coolbaugh. She was married to Gordon McKinnis. Their graves are next to each other in the Stockton City Cemetery.

My folks are Gordon Craig and Janice (Wanamaker) McKinnis of San Diego, CA. Janice is the daughter of Howard and Grace Wanamaker, who were teachers before the GI Bill, and also owned the dry cleaners in Stockton for many years.

I remember my Grandma Lillian telling us stories about the Spanish Flu Outbreak when she was young, when she would watch us kids when my parents, and Aunt Ruth and Uncle Dick McKinnis would go on vacation. They usually went to Las Vegas to enjoy a show starring the Rat Pack.

My grandma, who was born in 1908, remembers going to school when she was in the third grade and losing classmates day after day. She said the students would go to school and when a classmate was absent, they usually would never see them again. She lost nine of her classmates during that time.

Does the Rooks County Record or your museum have any diaries of this time period of the Spanish Flu Outbreak? If so, how can we see this information?

Many thanks, Lynne