April 2021

Former El Reno resident Mike Whinery died April 6, and was buried near Geary.

Mike was born in El Reno on Dec. 9, 1955. He was a graduate of El Reno High School and an accomplished trapshooter, having won numerous titles including Oklahoma Junior Champion. An avid outdoorsman, Mike farmed west of Geary.

He is survived by his wife, Debbie; daughter, Jordan Tramell; stepsons, Nick Leonard and Brandon Leonard; grandson, Blake Tramell; and his parents, Frank and Theresa Whinery.

Graveside services for Virginia Lee Hayes of Minco were held Monday at the Evergreen Cemetery under the direction of Huber-Reynolds Funeral Home.

Virginia passed away April 13, 2021, in Blanchard. She was born July 29, 1939, on the family farm in Minco. Virginia was raised in the Minco community, graduating from Minco High School in 1957.

She retired from Lucent Technologies in 1997 after 36 years.

The Canadian County Expo and Event Center will rope in some big-time tourism dollars for the area.

Nathan Smith, the director for the soon-to-be-opened multi-purpose center, has some proof to back up that prediction.

Scheduled to open in July, the new “fairgrounds” is already attracting customers from an array of events that promise, Smith said, to bring “a lot of people to the county.”

“We’re booked every weekend until the fair and then into 2022,” Smith said, referring to the 67th Annual Canadian County Free Fair set for late August.

El Reno Public Schools will join other districts across the state in a lawsuit against the Oklahoma State Board of Education over the shifting of funding methods in favor of charter schools.

During its April meeting, the El Reno Board of Education voted 5-0 to join the lawsuit,

In an effort he said to give the El Reno Board of Education ample time to find a successor, Craig McVay made it official last week by announcing his retirement as the district’s superintendent.

“I had not planned on announcing it just yet, but I wanted to end speculation and the rumors,” said McVay.

McVay said he’s heard rumors of being pushed out of the position by the school board and the rumors are totally false.

El Reno High School’s baseball team had its eight-game league win streak snapped last week as the Indians dropped a District 5A-2 twinbill to the Piedmont Wildcats.

Piedmont, one of the three unbeaten teams in the district along with Carl Albert, blanked El Reno 9-0 at the Hub Reed Complex. The Wildcats then won the home game with EHS by a 12-2 margin.

El Reno slipped to 12-12 on the season with the losses and 8-2 in the District 5A-2 standings, tied for third with Guthrie.

Sidewalks and scooters are coming to El Reno, but never the twain shall meet. At least that’s the plan.

In what is being called a “pilot project,” the city council last week agreed to allow Neutron Holdings, LLC, to place Lime Mobility Devices for use in the downtown area. The vote was 5-0.

In Oklahoma, the scooters can be found in Oklahoma City and Tulsa as well as Norman, Stillwater and Guthrie.

In El Reno, the scooters will be limited to the downtown area. Sidewalks are off limits to the scooters which are rented through Smart phone technology.

A federal inmate paid a visit to town after he apparently escaped from the El Reno Federal Correctional Institution, allegedly with the help of an Oklahoma City woman.

El Reno police said they received information on April 9 that an FCI escapee could be found at a local motel.

The man, Victor Quiros-Lozano, 29, from Ventura, Calif., was said to be in the company of Liliana Mendez-Bravo, 29. The pair was reportedly driving a dark Dodge Durango.

A rodeo is expected at the 67th Annual Canadian County Free Fair.

What group will stage the rodeo - or perhaps even a bull-riding competition - has not been determined.

The 2021 county fair will be held Aug. 23-28 at the new Canadian County Expo and Event Center, at the corner of Jensen and Alfadale roads.

“The rodeo brings out the crowd Friday night,” Canadian County Fair Board Secretary Brad Tipton told Fair Board members. “We don’t want to lose it.”

A tree at Lake El Reno is silhouetted as the sun begins to rise.