This young basketball player was sporting his Oklahoma City Thunder jersey at the recent El Reno High School Boys Youth Basketball Skills Camp.
The Thunder won the Western Conference title and will play for the NBA title starting Thursday.
Donna Lou Nelson, beloved mother, sister, grandmother and friend, passed away on May 23, 2025, at the age of 71.
Born in Mulberry, Ark., at Kirksey Hospital on Oct. 25, 1953, Donna lived a life marked by warmth, generosity, and a boundless love for the simple joys of life.
A proud retiree of Southwest Airlines, Donna brought a spirit of hospitality and kindness wherever she went. Her passions were many.
She had a keen eye for antiquing, a green thumb for gardening (especially her cherished flowers), a thirst for travel and a true talent for entertaining.
Three El Reno High School graduates are among the 10 area baseball players to pick up postseason awards, the most notable coming from the Oklahoma Baseball Coaches Association.
Gavin Tinsley, Davin Shamblin and Hernan Blanco were selected to the 2025 OBCA’s Class 5A All-Star by Class West squad. It was a prerequisite to be considered for a spot on one of the three All-State teams.
The El Reno trio were joined by Calumet graduates Kyler Thiessen, Brett Reed and Carson Cooper, who were named to the OBCA’s Class B All-Star by Class West squad.
Judith Wilma Clovis, born Jan. 2, 1942, was taken to heaven on the wings of angels on Sunday, May 18, 2025, at the age of 83.
Judy, as she was known, attended El Reno High School. She was an extremely hard worker and extraordinarily independent. She worked alongside her husband at a large nursery in El Reno for many years and was also a security guard at the Canadian Valley Barn in Calumet.
Judy was a devout Christian who was baptized at Ellison Avenue Methodist Church in El Reno and read her Bible daily. She was an excellent cook, especially her exceptional pies.
El Reno High School’s boys basketball team recently held its 2025 Youth Skills Camp inside Jenks Simmons Field House and Annex.
Forty-two campers spent three days learning offensive and defensive team fundamentals as well as individual skills on both ends of the floor. There were also challenges with awards presented at camp’s end.
Carolyn Sue Kennedy, born on May 27, 1941, to Albert and Della DeLaughter in El Reno, Oklahoma, peacefully entered the presence of her Savior on May 23, 2025, at the age of 83.
Services for Gary Irvin Penwright will be held at 10 a.m. Friday, May 30 at Huber-Benson Funeral Home.
Gary died May 23, 2025, at his home in Calumet.
Graveside services for Andrea Marie “Andi” Douglas of Minco will be held at 2 p.m. Friday, May 30 at the Evergreen Cemetery in Minco, under the direction of Huber-Reynolds Funeral Home.
Andi died May 26, 2025, in Oklahoma City. She was born Aug. 8, 1952, in Oklahoma City and was raised in the Yukon and Bethany areas.
She was a homemaker as well as an event planner and owner of a dress shop.
Recently I saw Congressman Frank Lucas in an interview with Oklahoma City television station KWTV. The topic was Fort Reno.
Long before Lucas was elected to Congress in the early 1990s, the Cheyenne and Arapaho people argued Fort Reno rightfully belongs to them.
Consider this quote from Old Crow, a Cheyenne leader as recorded in government transcripts in the 1890s and reported by Politico in 2014. “We look upon this land as a home and as our mother, and we don’t expect to sell it.”
The Cheyenne and Arapaho Tribes, a Native American nation in Oklahoma, is trying to negotiate with the Trump administration to see if it can help win back a piece of land that was taken over by the federal government more than 150 years ago.
The nearly 10,000-acre patch of land located near El Reno has been under federal government control since the 1800s and was once used for military purposes.
