Yesteryear

* And So They Say: Doyal Cook: “It seems to me that Christmas comes too early nowadays.” Ethel Elliott: “I won a turkey out at Hoxie the other day, but I brought it back to Stockton to eat it.” Unknown voice over the telephone: “Oh, I must have the wrong channel.”

Well over 150 citizens from Rooks County were present for the Groundbreaking Ceremony at the site of the new Rooks County Health Center held on December 4, 2006.

The Midland Café will serve a fine chicken dinner on Thanksgiving.

THE STOCKTON KIDS who placed in the top three in their age group at the 1997 NFL/Gatorade Punt, Pass and Kick sectional competition held in Quinter were (from left: Sara Crosby, Heather McNulty, Alexa Rogers, Blaise Kriley and Tyler Bacon. (Not pictured were Logan Bennett and Austin Thayer.)

* And So They Say: Ira Smith: “I was 25 years old before I ever saw a stoplight.” Red Hagan: “I may be a little late in saying it, but I certainly did appreciate the nice way the teenagers behaved on Halloween night. There was scarcely any trouble.”

Santa Claus was pictured on the front page, holding five-week-old Deacon Creighton, dressed just like the elder Santa, at the Olde Tyme Christmas on Nov. 24.

The Central Branch passenger train crashed into a Ford coupe at the crossing just west of the Woodston Depot. Mrs. Roy Tipton received injuries about the head from which she died three days later.

An Alton landmark, Hartzler’s Store, burned to the ground Nov. 16, 2006. The cause of the fire had yet to be determined. The Stockton Fire Department was called to assist at around 6 a.m. that morning.

STOCKTON HAD LOST A LANDMARK in the Fall of 1997 when the liquor store located just south of the Stockton National Bank (where the marquee now stands) had been demolished. Margaret Kendall had operated it for years, but many may remember it being owned and operated by Pudy Larson.

* And So They Say: Jimmy James: “I would rather be in where it is warm than out in the cold trying to find pheasants.” Lawrence Conyac: “If the State will not declare an open season on deer, I think it should have to pay for the damage they do.”