Looking Back
What Was Going On 14 Years Ago
A Phillipsburg teenager, Trenton Taylor Hoft, 15, was killed in a one-vehicle accident on Jan. 17, 2009, when the vehicle in which he was a passenger began to skid broadside and then rolled three or four times. In addition to Hoft, the driver and another occupant in the vehicle were all taken to Rooks County Health Center in Plainville. None of the occupants were wearing safety belts.
The 2009 Snoball Queen and King were crowned on January 10th. They were Natia Cruz and Alex Thornburg. Their royal court included Jacque Kollman, Julie Kollman, Ethan Kriley and Conrad Griebel.
Stockton D.A.R.E. graduation was held on Jan. 16. Stockton police and D.A.R.E. officer Adam Bryant conducted the classes every Friday during the first semester of school. Members of the class of 2000 were: Landon Becker, Andrea Buss, Daylan Carlson, KayCee Chesney, Allison Dix, Danielle Gallardo, Ciara Gibbs, Ethan Hamel, Alayne Harbison, Alicia Harbison, Braden Higdon, Jessica Johnston, Quintin Jones, Nolan Lowry, Tyler Morris, Megan Niblock, Shayla C. Palmer, Raeni Pasilas, Ragan Penrod, Donald Riffel, Gannan Spiess, Macey Strutt, Hope Turnbull, Shea Ward and Alexis Winklepleck.
J-Mart and Stockton National Bank donated two new scoreboards that were installed in the Stockton High School Auditorium Jan. 12, 2009. The system complements the newly-repainted gymnasium and will be used for basketball, wrestling and volleyball matches for years to come.
The Stockton Tiger Boys were defeated in overtime by Hill City, 63-71, in the feather-bracket game of the Mid-Continent League Basketball Tournament.
The Stockton Lady Tigers improved their record to 3-3 on the season following their 40-29 win over the visiting Victoria Knights. Juniors Hayley Strutt and Carlee Lindsey led Stockton in scoring with 13 and 12 points respectively.
Blaise Wilson, with a record of 4-0, wrestled his way to a first-place finish at 160 lbs. at the Russell Round Robin Wrestling Tournament held January 17, 2009 in Russell. Carlos Gallaway (2-1) and Tyler Johnston (4-1) placed second; Johnny Swaney (1-2), Josh Fielder (2-2) and Bryce Reichard (0-2) were third, and Jeremy Hrabe (0-3) and Ethan Morgan (1-3) were fourth. As a team, the Tigers finished fifth, scoring 74.5 points.
A “Retirement Party” was hosted the morning of Jan. 15, 2009 by Ron Gallaway and the staff at Smith Monuments, for fellow employee Janie Lowry. Janie had recently retired after nearly 20 years there. Enjoying cake and wishing Janie well were: Addie Foster, Tammy Devero, Cherie Garcia, Kellen Saunders, Sonny Ruff of Logan, and Ron Gallaway. Also attending but not pictured were Rick Lowry, Ruby Ruff of Logan, Cheryl Hrabe and Melva Vopat from the Hays office.
Obituaries were published for Marjorie G. Strutt (1918) and Charles “Mike” Ellsworth (1936).
Showing at the Nova Theatre was “Yes Man,” starring Jim Carrey as a depressed savings and loan officer who goes to some extremes to get out of his negative funk.
Looking Back 14 Years Ago (1995) — The school board race heated up as candidates filed for four at-large positions, making it necessary for a primary election. Construction was nearly complete on the offices at the new Wilkens building. A retirement open house was scheduled for Lloyd Creevan as he was retiring after 28 1/2 years of service with Farmers Union Coop. The Maris Store was having a Football Widow Sale on Sunday, January 29. An anonymous letter sent from Industry, Calif. to the Woodston coffee shop contained postcard pictures taken in 1910 of some Gager relatives and Jessie and Bessi Holloway children, Grace (Nowland) Gager, Gladys Nowland, and Lillian (Nowland) Snavely. Virgi Laska was fortunate to call in at the right time on a call-in show to ask Garth Brooks a question about his life. The show was taped for later broadcast, but sadly, Virgi’s question was not picked for the show. Char Heenan and her mother, Voncile Ostmeyer, spent five days in Purcell, Okla., where they helped their grandfather and father celebrate his 100th birthday.
