January 2023

The first El Reno Now breakfast of 2023 featured some new hosts, but continued with the familiar theme of promoting all that is good about El Reno.

Mayor Steve Jensen, along with School Superintendent Matt Goucher and City Manager Matt Sandidge served as hosts for the event.

El Reno Now was created in 2018 as a monthly event by former Mayor Matt White and now retired Superintendent Craig McVay.

The format has been adjusted to a quarterly get-together and several businesses have been added as breakfast sponsors.

The vice president of Economic Development for the Greater Oklahoma City Chamber of Commerce said El Reno and Canadian County should be prepared to see more growth in the coming years.

Jeff Seymour spoke at last week’s El Reno Now breakfast. He said Canadian County is one of the fastest, if not the fastest-growing counties in the United States.

Seymour said the I-35 corridor stretching from Texas through Oklahoma and to Kansas City is the fastest-growing area in the nation in terms of job creation and population expansion.

El Reno’s Merritt Dotson pushes the accelerator handles all the way forward on her sitting electric three-wheeled scooter over the weekend at Rinehart Park.

Temperatures were in the mid-60s on Saturday but dropped into the 20s on Sunday as the city braced for its second round of winter weather.

A wake for Elliott Henry “Big Tass” Tasso Jr. will be held from 7 p.m. to 9 p.m. Thursday, with funeral services set for 1 p.m. Friday. Both services will be at Huber-Benson Funeral Home with Rev. Gerald Panana officiating. Burial will follow at the Concho Cemetery.

Big Tass died Jan. 27, 2023, at St. Anthony Hospital in Oklahoma City. He was born July 19, 1949, in Clinton. He was an intake specialist for the Cheyenne-Arapaho Tribes and a member of the Native American Church.

He is survived by his wife, Frances Hadley of the home.

Banner School’s basketball teams recently competed in the Middleberg Invitational.

CALUMET – Calumet High School’s boys basketball team features a roster of several players who can flip the script on any opponent at a moment’s notice, and last week it was guard Hunter Arnold’s turn.

Tied with Hydro-Eakly at 8-all with two minutes left in the first period, the junior turned back-to-back steals into uncontested layups and a four-point lead. He added a third steal and a basket less than a minute later as the Chieftains never trailed again in a 64-34 win over the Bobcats.