A business transaction that created some little surprise in Stockton business circles this weekend happened when George G. Hamilton sold his drug store to O. S. Ellvin, the contract being signed Saturday evening. Mr. Hamilton came here a little over nine years ago and bought the store. During those years he has prospered— continually adding in equipment and stock until he now has one of the best stores in this section of the state. Mr. Hamilton is a live businessman, alert in drug ideas and very agreeable. The sale was so unexpected with him that he has not formulated any future plans. He states that he expects to rest up a few weeks and later will re-enter the business in some other location. Mr. Ellvin needs no introduction. He has lived here for the past five years, and for three years owned the store, now owned by Roy C. Snyder. He is very pleasant and a good mixer. Mr. Ellvin is one of the oldest registered pharmacists in Kansas—not in years, but in registration numbers. He will retrain Mrs. Drumm as his assistant and she is very efficient. Good luck to Mr. Ellvin and we say goodbye to Mr. Hamilton.

* And So They Say: Robert Sooby: “I was looking through some old newspaper files in the Courthouse and found an ad in one of the 50 Years Ago which advertised a patent medicine guaranteed to cure any pain. An advertisement to that effect would not be allowed today, which shows that the world is improving in some ways.” Winton Sheffer: “There is one thing for certain—the farmers just can’t work fast enough to keep up with the weeds.” Francis Eshler: “One good thing about the new math is that the parents won’t be expected to help their kids with their homework.”

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.’”

Jack Glynn of the Glynn Detective Agency of Leavenworth with one of his assistants, county attorney Farrish and county sheriff Gilbert held an investigation in Plainville in which sixteen parties were questioned concerning the death of George Bedard. The Glynn Detective Agency has had several of its best detectives working on this case for over three weeks, and the investigation held last week brought out a chain of events which brought considerable light upon what so far has been a deep mystery. The Glynn Detective Agency will continue working on the case as it develops. During the investigation there were several new parties who were withholding information relative to the whereabouts of George Bedard on the afternoon and evening of the day he was killed.

IT’S HARVEST TIME IN KANSAS and this picture, taken 75 years ago in 1946, brings back memories from years gone by. Ivan Burgess, father of Eleanor (Burgess) Buss, was 31 years old at the time. The Case pull combine was purchased during WWII, and Ivan was not very happy with it since he said it was very flimsy. His words were to the effect that it was tobacco can quality (Prince Albert style). The Klewers, who lived in the Ozarks but owned the land Ivan farmed southeast of the Acheson place when the Burgesses lived in Graham County, spent that summer in Kansas so they could witness a wheat harvest in action. Even though it was hot, dusty, sweaty and itchy, they were elated and intrigued to be able to ride the combine and experience it for themselves. They sent this picture back to Ivan and Ruby when they returned home, along with a little toy bird for Eleanor and a tiny gunboat made of Missouri wood for her brother Dale. The Burgesses had grown up in Rooks County and, after farming in Graham County until the 1950s, they moved back to Rooks County and lived southeast of Palco for the remainder of their lives. Ivan sold the combine prior to moving back, but kept the JD tractor, a 1941 Model D, until 1960.

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.

The forty-sixth wedding anniversary of Mr. and Mrs. Perrine Kincaid was celebrated by a good number of friends and neighbors coming to their home bringing well-filled baskets. Dinner was served under the old apple trees in the front of their home.

THE WHEAT TRUCKS were lined up at the Coop Elevator in the middle of June 1994, with the crop looking very promising for the area farmers..

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.

* And So They Say: Red Hagan: “I don’t feel so good since my fivemile Boy Scout hike.” Don Grieve: “I was the first customer to go in the front door of the new bank building on Monday morning.” Mrs. Lloyd Baughman: “My grandson, Barney Chapel, was so excited about his new baby that when he sent the cable from Germany he forgot to say whether it was a boy or a girl.” Bob Norton: “I think every married couple needs one weekend a year away from their kids.”