April 2020

MUNICIPAL COURT Della Paulette Roach, El Reno, speeding, $175. Oscar Castro, Oklahoma City, driving without license issued and speeding, $417. Joshua Michael Thomas, Corn, expired tag, $165. Amanda Brooke Denison, Oklahoma City, failure to stop at stop sign and no insurance verification, $460.

I left early that Easter morning. I had a two-day drive ahead of me. The wife at the time and our two children, Aliki and Jack, were already in London, Ontario. We were scheduled to baptize 5-month-old Jack the following Sunday at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Church.

Today a man making a delivery to Riverside School said, “I bet your teachers are happy about having a longer summer break.” My immediate response was no. Then I recommended that he not ask teachers that question. Some people just don’t get teachers.

Mary Bell, El Reno resident for 49 years, went to be with her Lord and Savior April 11, 2020, in Yukon. She was born July 3, 1935, in Bennington to Roy and Violet Whitmore. On Aug. 13, 1951, she married the love of her life and best friend, Vernon Bell.

Private services for Robert James “Lil Rocc” Meely will be held in the Concho Cemetery under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.    Lil Rocc died April 12, 2020, in El Reno. He was born Dec. 4, 1979, in Oklahoma City.

Metta Bernice Norton, 96, of Salida, Colo., passed away April 8, 2020, at Columbine Manor Care Center in Salida where she had resided the past year. Bernice was born Aug. 21, 1923, in El Reno.

Due to a higher demand for COVID-19 testing at the Yukon satellite office, the Canadian County Health Department will be holding a drive-up test location on Friday.

Downtown El Reno looks very different. Parking lots are empty, as are the sidewalks. Very few cars are parked on the streets in front of storefronts.

Turning 16 is a rite of passage. It’s supposed to be the day when teenagers get their driver’s license. However, for two El Reno High School students and best friends, turning 16 took on a different meaning last week courtesy of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Hundreds of vehicles took to cruising Route 66 last week as a show of unity in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. The event was set up on social media as a safe way to get out and see other citizens of El Reno but to keep the social distancing guidelines set forth during the COVID-19 pandemic.