December 2023

Jett Mueggenborg popped off a season-high 31 points as Okarche High School’s boys basketball team posted its best offensive night of the season to close out 2023.

The Warriors, ranked fifth in Class A, moved to 6-2 on the season with a 97-32 win over Watonga. It was Okarche’s highest point total of the season but the fifth game with more than 70 points and the second over 90 points.

The 65-point winning margin was the widest of the season, surpassing the 57-point decision (74-17) over Coyle and the 52-point win over Lomega (95-43).

Southwest

Colsen Girty was smiling down from heaven over the weekend as one of his dreams became reality.

With the help of his mother, Whitney Sides, the El Reno Fraternal Order of Police Lodge 151 was able to provide 45 area children with a brighter holiday season through the 16th Annual Christmas With a Cop.

Girty was killed in a car accident in 2021 at the age of 10, but his mother said one of his dreams was to give Christmas presents to children in El Reno. In his memory, Sides created a trust to honor that wish and funded it with a charity event earlier this year.

El Reno city leaders officially celebrated the beginning of the municipal Internet system being created by lighting up a sign outside of City Hall.

Mayor Steve Jensen turned on the lighted sign promoting the infrastructure project as council members, city staff and the crew working to build out the system applauded.

Known as El Reno Fast Connect, the more than $3 million city-owned Internet system is now available to some 270 homes. Assistant City Manager Tim Young said four businesses along Country Club have also signed on to the system.

Note: Knowing Jolly Old St. Nicholas is a subscriber and reads the El Reno Tribune each edition, the staff decided to help him out and deliver local children’s Letters to Santa in print. Letters will appear over the next few editions but in time for his Christmas Eve flight from the North Pole.

A property at 1508 S. Choctaw was condemned last week by the El Reno City Council. The action was one of several items tackled by the elected leaders.

City Manager Matt Sandidge said the property on South Choctaw has been in a “dilapidated condition for some time.” The owner of the property is deceased and relatives have no interest in the structure.

The city plans to demolish the structure after the first of the year.

Pursuing a college degree can be challenging and overwhelming, especially for students whose parents didn’t take the same path.

To support and encourage these students, Redlands Community College hosted a panel of first-generation students and graduates, including members of the college’s faculty and staff.

“We appreciate and understand how difficult and lonely college can be for first-generation students, grappling with an unfamiliar experience and limited guidance,” said Redlands President Jena Marr.

Come join us, one and all, for the 40th Annual Community Christmas Dinner.

We will be serving at 11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 23. A big thank you to Wesley United Methodist Church for allowing us to use the Family Center at the church, 115 S. Barker.

If you would like to come and help, all hands are greatly appreciated. We could use greeters, servers, cooks, prep help, cleanup help and anything else you might feel compelled to chip in with.

We could use some donations. If you would like to pitch in, we have set up an account at MidFirst Bank in downtown El Reno.

Deanna Thompson was born Feb. 15, 1962, in Carson City, Calif., to Lloyd and DeReba Lembke. She spent her early childhood in Lynwood, Calif., before the family relocated to El Reno in 1972. Deanna graduated from El Reno High School in 1980 where she had formed many close, long-term friendships.

As a young adult she went to work for the state of Oklahoma where she remained for many years before moving to Roll, Okla., in 2006 to live with her stepmother after the passing of her father.

Linda Fay Shumate died Dec. 12, 2023, at her home in Oklahoma City.

She was born May 19, 1948, in El Reno and graduated from El Reno High School.

Linda worked for the Oklahoma State Board of Education for 10 years, the Sheraton Hotel in their leasing office for 10 years, and as a secretary in the Department of Surgery at OU Health Science Center.

Her parents, Lyman and Georgia (Ballenger) Shumate, preceded her in death.