September 2024

EDMOND – Freshman Ethan Brooks and the rest of the El Reno High School cross country teams got an early look at the competition for the upcoming regional and state meets.

Running in the Class 5A division of the Edmond Santa Fe Pre-State Meet, Brooks placed fifth overall and was one of two medalists for El Reno.

“He said early on that he was having a bad race. Still pretty good for a bad one,” said El Reno head coach Anthony Klipp.

The other medalist was senior Emmary Elizondo, placing 22nd overall. 

El Reno High School’s volleyball team will play its final five regular-season matches at home after wrapping up a grueling seven-match road swing with a 3-2 loss at Noble.

El Reno won the first (25-22) and third (25-17) games over the Bears but dropped the other three by a combined 13 points, including a 15-7 loss in the fifth set.

It was the second straight five-game loss for El Reno, which fell to 10-14 on the season and 1-6 on the recent road trip. The Indians slipped to 0-4 in the Suburban Conference standings with the Noble loss.

Redlands Community College women’s golf team opened up its fall schedule with a fifth-place effort in the 2024 Oklahoma Women’s Intercollegiate.

Played on the Lawton Country Club Course, Redlands carded a 638 (317-321) tally, which was 16 strokes back of the University of Texas at Dallas (622).

Cameron (593) won the event, followed by Angelo State (611) and Northwestern Oklahoma State (613).

Services for Levi Lesley Mitchell of Minco will be held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, Sept. 24 at Hazel Dell Baptist Church, with burial following at the Niles Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Huber-Reynolds Funeral Home.

Levi passed away Sept. 18, 2024, at Binger Nursing and Rehabilitation. He was born July 3, 1941, in Purdy, and was raised in the Minco community. He was a longtime truck driver.

Redlands was scheduled to open a three-match road swing Sunday at the University of Arkansas Rich Mountain.

Services for Joe “Tinker” Merritt of Minco will be held at 10 a.m. Wednesday, Sept. 25 at Minco First Baptist Church, with burial following at the Evergreen Cemetery. Services are under the direction of Huber-Reynolds Funeral Home.

Tinker passed away Sept. 18, 2024, at his home. He was born Sept. 4, 1933, in Minco and was raised in the Minco community, graduating from Minco High School in 1951. He was employed with Tinker Air Force Base, retiring in 1987 as an item manager. He was a member of Minco First Baptist Church.

People matter.

Their stories matter. 

That’s a major point of the lesson Brian Rukes set out to convey to his students as they embarked on a journey to recognize the El Reno men who gave their lives for this nation during a time of war. 

Along the way, the lesson adopted a code the El Reno High School English teacher and district historian strives to live by: “If not me, then who? And if not now, when?”

When Brian Rukes isn’t teaching English to El Reno High School students or working to build the Gold Star Plaza at Memorial Stadium, he spends his spare time taking EHS reunion groups on tours of the beloved high school. 

Rukes spent countless hours researching the early years of EHS, which started in 1892. Class photos of those early years have been created and in another research assignment, Rukes’ students took on the task of identifying the students.

A construction crew hired by Preservation El Reno is making steady progress to replace the roof at the historic Canadian County Jail.

The nonprofit is raising funds to make upgrades and repairs to the 117-year-old building, which they plan to turn into a museum and education center.

Amy Neathery, a member of the El Reno City Council and an attorney, serves as president of Preservation El Reno.

Last week she encouraged Canadian County officials to sign rafter boards before they are installed on the new roof.