(The following article is taken from the December 14th, 1922 edition of the Rooks County Record) Removing Landmarks Old Academy building to be razed/Stockton’s first house to stay The meeting that was called for Friday afternoon at the school auditorium for the purpose of disposing of the old Academy building and the McNulty log cabin, was rather poorly attended. However the keenest interest was shown in the matters presented by the board and a considerable part of the audience participated in the discussion of what to do with the tall building on the hill was first discussed.

THIS PICTURE was taken in December of 1994 when the churches in the community acted out Jesus’ life from His birth to His crucifixion. The Living Christmas Cards were set up in front of the school buildings for a one night showing so the public could view them from the sidewalk.

* And So They Say: Merton Van Eaton: “I never read my Christmas cards until after Christmas when I have time to enjoy them.” Ira Hazen: “When our daughter came home from Korea last week, she arrived in the States two hours before she left Korea.” Clark Stocking: “I guess beating Plainville Friday night eclipsed the eclipse of the moon.” Duffy Hindman: “Christmas came on too fast this year.” * From The Feminine

Roy Wyant told the barber shop the other evening how he was able to capture a mysterious egg thief, who had for some time taken all the eggs from two hens’ nests. He had made a nest egg of magnesia rock and the nocturnal marauder, a big bull snake, swallowed it whole as he had been wanting to do with the eggs. When he tried to crawl into his hole, it sat very hard on his stomach and he could not crush it, neither could he get into the hole, and when discovered, he paid with his life for his greediness.

This issue, dated December 21, 2006, featured the Sentinel’s gift to our readers: the Eleventh Annual Offering of Santa’s ‘Deer Ones, with 320 pictures inside! The Stockton Tigers hosted Norton on Saturday in Mid-Continent League basketball action. Stockton was swept by the Blue Jays in all three games.

* And So They Say: Leonard Dix: “I feel positively naked without that cast on my arm.” Bill Gouldman: “Right after Christmas, I have go to begin working on my annual birthday celebration.” Leighton Marshall: “Appraising wouldn’t be such a bad job if you didn’t meet me with a shotgun in a Main Street door.”

We were at the new school building on Monday afternoon and visited the auditorium. Here we found workmen installing the new moving picture apparatus and iron booth. The object of our visit was to see paintings executed by Rev. T. S. Hunter, who is an accomplished artist and decorator, as well as a profound pulpit orator. Mr. Hunter is adept at free hand drawing and never a copiest. His view of landscapes are from memory of the places he has been. He has painted two scenes of the river Jordan—one for the Baptistry of the Christian Church and the other for the Odd Fellow Lodge. We found him on the stage at the school auditorium commencing on a large interior scene. The drop curtain is on a grand scale, showing a lofty range of mountains, shrouded in mists, with lesser eminences near, and a river and woods in the foreground. The colorings and perspectives are natural. This is entirely his own conception. A street scene is painted from memory. It shows a short stretch of St. Charles Street, New Orleans, with an old French cathedral in the center. He is working now on a fine parlor scene and soon will paint an outdoor garden scene. When completed Stockton will have the finest stage settings to be found in any auditorium. All the curtains roll from the top and present a flat surface while ascending.

The Student Councils of Stockton High School and Grade School, under the supervision of their sponsors Jessica Billinger and Jana Griffin, had been very busy with several community projects, with the Angel Giving Tree their main focus for the Christmas season. They set a goal of $300, with the incentive being that high school principal, Mr. Keith Hall, and grade school principal, Mr. Elton Armbrister, would dress up like turkeys during an assembly if the students met their goal. The students not only met their goal but far exceeded it, raising a total of $973.72. No turkey costumes could be found, but the two principals owned up to the challenge, and each wore chicken costumes for the day, going so far as to perform their version of the “Chicken Dance” for an all-school assembly.

ROOKS COUNTY EMERGENCY PREPAREDNESS DIRECTOR DENZIL MCNEAL (left), dispatcher Jo Phlieger (center) and Rooks County Sheriff Dave Denton (right) were pictured beside the County’s new 9-1-1 system, which was installed in December of 1994 at a total cost of $109,845.71.

* And So They Say: Nellie Kern: “I wasn’t afraid to shoot a gun, but Vera gave Bill Gouldman his Christmas gift early. It was a lovely scope for his gun, but he missed a prairie dog mound so far, I was ashamed to let him know how well I could shoot.” Warren Harding: “I think it is certainly worthy of note that two of the nine 4-Hers from Kansas who won National Awards at the recent 4-H Club Congress in Chicago were from Rooks County—and from the smallest club at that, Bow Creek.” O. T. Meador: “I’m sort of like Santa Claus. I have a big heart and a hearty ho, ho, ho.”