Bill Edwards has never forgotten El Reno.

A 1954 graduate of El Reno High School, Edwards has lived for years in the small village of Whitesville, N.Y. He stays in touch with friends in El Reno and has on occasion penned a letter to the editor which has been published in the Tribune.

Edwards is a fan of El Reno’s onion-fried hamburgers. He’s actually a fan of all things El Reno.

He is especially fond of Marty Hall and the burgers Hall and his family create at their Sid’s Diner.

This week, we’re all going to get some much needed R and R.

In spirit, A Small Town Weekend is close to Burger Day. People from all over come to El Reno and enjoy the local hospitality, eating good food and sharing good stories.

They are both events that the whole community can get behind.

Unfortunately, Burger Day 2020 was canceled. It looked like that might happen with A Small Town Weekend as well — but the city gave the go-ahead at almost the last minute. The creators of the event, the El Reno Cruisers, had only a few weeks to get ready.

El Reno High School athletes returned to their venue of choice Monday morning, ending an 11-week hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

However, don’t expect to see the Indians playing head-to-head action with other schools anytime soon as the district has opted a phased approach to sports moving forward from the virus with caution.

“I want kids to be healthy come August so we can get school and our seasons started and have no delays. If we have to give up some summer league games to do that, we can make it work.

Like many, Jonathan Johnson survived to high school graduation. But his survival story is unlike most.

On a cold winter evening a few months ago, Johnson, 17, of Yukon, drove to visit his girlfriend and her family on their Missouri farm. Heavy rains soaked the state and flash flood alerts began blaring on Johnson’s cell phone.