Another gremlin is at work at the Stockton Sentinel because there is no 2009 December issue to be found to get information for this week’s “14 Years Ago” article. Hopefully, these gremlins are done messing with us for the rest of the year! And remember, there is no “98 Years Ago” column for the rest of the year!

(The following article is from the December 23rd, 1973 edition of the Hays Daily News. Hrabe's daughter, Dorrine Dix of Stockton, gave the article to the Stockton Sentinel in 2009 for republication, and we have reprinted it for our reader's enjoyment. Merry Christmas!) Frank Hrabe, Stockton, remembers when he first donned his Santa Claus suit, drove his pickup to the children-filled house of a good friend, hid his transportation in the trees, and walked in to deliver his famous one-liner: 'Ho, Ho, Ho!'

What Was Going On 14 Years Ago • For December 14th • The annual Parade of Christmas Trees celebrated its 25th year at the Stockton Public Library. A weather system holding heavy snow and frigid cold had taken over the area, and when it finally stopped snowing, there was a total of 11 inches of snow accumulation.

SPOTLIGHTING THE YEAR…1967 * And So They Say: Mrs. Paul Marshall: “The kids, I think it was Pam Miller, have renamed Main Street Sugar Plum Drag.” Clara Mullen: “I’m certainly glad that Matt got his deer the first day as he said we weren’t going to start our trip until he had bagged one.” Bill Gouldman: “Someone should ask Chuck Ostmeyer if he ever got stuck in a snow drift.” Chuck Waller: ”I have three solutions for the post office corner mailbox parking problem—move the box 15 inches closer to the curb, put it in the middle of the street; or provide arm extensions.”

THE 1991 EIGHTH-GRADE STOCKTON JUNIOR HIGH VOLLEYBALL TEAM.

Janel Odle won the Farmers Union Elevator contest by guessing the closest to how many bushels of milo the facility took in during the harvest season. Janel’s guess was 136,492 bushes, with the correct number 140,878 bushels.

There are no Rooks County Record newspapers for the last few weeks of 1925, so there will not be a “98 Years Ago” column for the remainder of the year. We hope to start up again in January..

Tom McCue had a little experience with a misbehaving car last Friday that gave him a thrill, with plenty of fright. Mr. McCue, who had other passengers in the car, his wife and three grandchildren, were returning home from Stockton, and at the Ustel Hubbel corner, the car skidded due to the snowy conditions of the road, and it overturned in a ditch. Oscar and Albert Albright, who were nearby, assisted in rescuing the passengers from the car and getting the machine back to the roadway. Neither the McCues nor their grandchildren were injured save being badly shocked. The windshield suffered destruction, as did the car top.

* And So They Say: Doc Mason: “No kidding, I feel like a grandpa today.” Howard Wanamaker (Monday): “I got my first Christmas card today and I think that’s plenty early.” Don Riffel: “The day after my wreck, I found out I had joints I never knew about before.” Dode Morrissey: “I just spent the busiest weekend of my life. Charlie Baxter lost November 31st and I spent three days trying to help him find it.” Cole McClellan: “I know why the United States is so anxious to land a man on the moon. We want to see if they need any foreign aid.”

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