At the December meeting of the Stockton Unified School District No. 271 Board of Education on Monday, December 13th, the board members and food program director Kay Whitney talked about the school lunch program. Before they began their discussion during Communications, Shannon Mongeau also addressed the school lunches. Mongeau presented the board with area lunch menus for comparison to Stockton’s. She stated that it would be nice if Stockton had more than one item for breakfasts, noting that the breakfasts are graband-go, and that some of the lunches are homemade and not all processed foods. She would also like to see at least two options for lunches stating that her boys often come home from school hungry. She noted that her family donates beef each year to the school through the Beef It Up program, and she would like to know how the beef is utilized for lunches and whether it is a benefit to the school.

Developmental Services of Northwest Kansas is proud to announce the receipt of a $12,000 grant from the Beach Edwards Family Foundation. Terry Edwards, daughter of Ross and Marianna Beach, continues their legacy with this grant award to support DSNWK’s efforts to replace the roof on DSN- WK’s Kid-Link office in Stockton.

The tough decision to start the transition to dissolve the County’s Home Health program was made at the Tuesday, December 14th meeting by the commissioners. County health nurse Lori Eichman was at the meeting to inform the commissioners of all the new state requirements coming for the program as well as the announcement of less funding. It was also noted that the program has lost money for the past several years even before the new changes. The dissolution of the program will begin soon with the commissioners stating it was a great service that the health department provided for many years and they should be proud of their work. Also during the meeting

Stockton got a taste of what the Dirty ‘30s were like on Wednesday, December 15th when the forecasted heavy winds blew into the area during the noon hour and remained constant until late into the evening. During that time the straight-line winds blew with hurricane force gusts of up to 70 mph. The dust kicked up by the winds darkened the skies with visibility no more than a few blocks. A smattering of rain during the afternoon hours did nothing more than cover vehicles with a coating of dust, but coincided with the fire calls in the area that hopefully helped to keep the flames at bay in Stockton and around Rooks County.

Stockton really lit up the town this holiday season with the many outdoor Christmas light displays, making it a real challenge to choose the top three for bragging rights throughout the coming year! Claiming first place are Layne and Sara Balthazor at 609 North First; second place went to Corey St. Clair and Stephanie Fitts at 111 South Pine; and third place went to Deb and Dale Boucher at 705 South Spruce.

This issue of the Stockton Sentinel features our twenty-fifth edition of our special holiday sections, “Santa’s ‘Deer Ones.” Our readers look forward to this special feature, containing children’s “Letters to Santa” from grades one through four, Christmas greeting ads from local merchants and sponsors, and all the 140 wonderful pictures which our readers have submitted. Last year’s offering of Santa’s ‘Deer Ones included 124 pictures, which is an increase of 16 pictures.

The Stockton Sentinel is always looking for pictures for our “Yesteryear” page. If you have a picture that you’d be willing to share with our readers (preferably at least 20 years old), send it to Stockton Sentinel, P.O. Box 521, Stockton, KS 67669, e-mail it to: stkpaper@ruraltel.net or bring it in to our office and we’ll be sure you get it back. What Stocktonites Were Doing 98 Years Ago

County appraiser Heather Poore was at the Rooks County Commission meeting held on Tuesday, December 7th to ask if one of her employees could work on Friday afternoons to make up her time when she was out of the office for doctor appointments. The office will still be closed to the public on Friday afternoons. The consensus of the commissioners was to allow her to work at that time. Poore also noted that there is no maternity leave in the County’s policy at this time.

Our much anticipated Christmas feature, including Santa’s ‘Deer Ones will be in next week’s issue. Don’t forget to stop in on Wednesday morning next week to pick up your copy! This is our 25th publishing of Santa’s Deer Ones, now a Christmas tradition for many families.