December 2021

Edgar Eugene Douglas was born in El Reno on July 23, 1941, to Newton Edgar Douglas and Frances Marguerite Payne, both of whom preceded him in death.

Funeral services for Marshall Keith Black were held Thursday at the Concho Community Hall, with burial in the Concho Cemetery. Services were under the direction of Huber-Benson Funeral Home.

Funeral services for Richard Alan Putman of Minco were held Tuesday at Hazel Dell Baptist Church, under the direction of Huber-Reynolds Funeral Home.

Memorial services for Joanne Norma (Korom) Benoit of Minco will be set for a later date in Ohio.

Joanne died Dec. 21, 2021, at her home. She was born March 18, 1936, in Barberton, Ohio.

Oklahomans in rural areas and small towns are searching for funding to support water and wastewater infrastructure. According to Kevin Wagner, director of the Oklahoma Water Resources Center, more than $80 billion is needed to ensure the state has adequate drinking water and wastewater systems now and in the future.

While the All-State teams will not be decided until January, El Reno High School's football program should have several players in contention for Oklahoma's highest prep honor after a strong showing in recent voting for All-District.

El Reno had five seniors named to the All-District 5A-1 team, all first-team picks, following a season in which the Indians had to forfeit a pair of non-district games due to COVID-19.

The El Reno area emerged from a bitter cold and a COVID winter to find a spring that brought back some sense of normalcy. Graduations, festivals, proms and events were no longer considered among the untouchables.

The spring gave people time to breathe and for many, a time for reflection.

April

Scott Beard found the liquid covering the ground near his farm west of El Reno one recent Sunday morning. He knew it wasn't water.

Beard said a nearby Devon drilling operation had leaked the black solvent into a bar ditch that connects with a creek. The leak was so heavy it forced the solvent past two containment barriers, he said.

Other than a few years while living in Stillwater, Dwight Kennedy and his extended family have spent the past four decades spreading holiday cheer by feeding citizens of El Reno on Christmas Eve.

“Originally my wife (Diana) and I would get cases of corn, beans, bread and turkeys and we went all over town delivering to houses. We were going off the list given to us by the Department of Human Services but we found out that it was the same list that everyone else was using,” said Kennedy.

The new Canadian County fairgrounds complex needs more power.

Acting as the Canadian County Public Facilities Authority, the three county commissioners last week approved spending more than $9,000 to increase the power at the new center at 3001 Jensen Road East.

The Canadian County Expo and Event Center – featuring an indoor arena, open-air pavilion and large meeting hall – opened in July on the northwest corner of Jensen and Alfadale roads just south of Interstate 40.