August 2022

The Canadian County Free Fair is jazzing things up a bit this year with the addition of a cornhole tournament, said Fair Board Secretary Brad Tipton.

“We have a cornhole tournament that is open to the world. There will be piped-in music, a breeze and an asphalt-covered arena with wind blocks. People can bring their own chairs if they’d like.”

Bags will fly at 4 p.m. Aug. 27 in the Canadian County Expo Pavilion, 3001 Jensen Road East.

TW Shannon questions why some 87,000 new agents of the Internal Revenue Service are needed.

Shannon, former Oklahoma Speaker of the House, faces Congressman Markwayne Mullin in an Aug. 23 runoff election.

Shannon was in El Reno last week and met with supporters.

There are 729 billionaires living in the United States, Shannon said.

Canadian County commissioners have declined to renew membership in a regional economic development group.

The three-member board took no action last week on a request to pay $17,960 to the Oklahoma City Economic Development Foundation in fiscal year 2023 for the Greater OKC Partnership.

Neither District 2 Commissioner David Anderson nor District 1 Commissioner Marc Hader would second District 3 Commissioner Jack Stewart’s motion to continue Canadian County’s participation.

El Reno’s Centre Theatre will host the “Clean Jokes for Regular Folks” comedy tour.

The event will be at 7:30 p.m. Thursday, Aug. 18.

The show features the comedy of Edward Bell, Austin Black and Ben Dailey.

The show features only clean comedy, meaning no use of curse words or uncomfortable topics, according to information promoting the show.

The routines consist of “funny personal stories, interesting observations and silly thoughts that are entertaining.”

As other teams fine-tune their starting lineup ahead of season openers, El Reno High School’s volleyball team has been retooling its attack due to an untimely injury.

Three-year veteran and first-team All-Suburban Conference standout Bailey Denwalt suffered a torn labrum while playing for her club team.

The injury occurred during the first day of June’s national championship, according to El Reno head coach Kristen Koehler.

Members of El Reno High School Class of 1959 gathered recently for lunch.

Those attending included Richard Fogg, John Sedberry, Joe Whipple, Ronnie Atkinson, Gale Johnson, Marilyn Shaw Louton, Janice Wallace Southwick, Marvin Starkey, Dorothy Swingle Gourley, Bunny Laughlin Mathews, Barbara Maley O’Neal, Etta Tennery Goucher, Beverly Tate Faler, Judy Gholston Lopez, Kenneth Potts, Larry and Ida Stephens Wiggins, Connie Moyer Chitwood and Judy Remi Hedrick.

The group is planning another luncheon in the fall and the placing of a bench at the high school.

Union City pitcher Emily Griggs snagged a game-ending groundout with the tying run at second base as the Tigers opened up the fast-pitch softball season with a 7-6 win over Velma Alma.

The victory also served as Union City’s first-ever league game as the Tigers joined the Southern Plains Conference over the summer.

Griggs threw seven innings for the win with a line of six hits, six runs, six walks and five strikeouts. The right-hander had a .520 strike percentage as 64 of her 123 pitches found the zone.

Calumet High School’s baseball team cranked out its first double-digit hit total of the season last week en route to a 12-2 win over Hydro-Eakly.

The Chieftains improved to 2-0 on the season with the win.

Cody Thiessen’s team went 10-of-29 (.344) from the plate against the Bobcats, logging nine runs batted in and four walks against five strikeouts.

Kingston Arnold and Dalton Belcher added a double each.

Willene Padgett Walsh, 85, was born Sept. 2, 1936, in Anadarko to Bill and Ione (Reese) Padgett. She was called to glory on Monday, Aug. 8, 2022, in Cordell.

Willene grew up in the Scott community of the Binger and Hinton areas. She graduated from East Walnut High School and went on to study at Oklahoma A&M and graduated from one of the first classes of Oklahoma State University in 1958. While at OSU she met the love of her life, Walter Walsh, and they were married in May 1959.