Robert Edgar Monday Jr., also known as Bob, was an Aviation Radioman First Class for the U.S. Navy during World War II.
A graduate of El Reno High School in 1936, he passed away on Nov. 11, 1944, due to a head injury sustained in an earlier incident while in the service.
He was 26 years old.
Monday was stationed on the battleship USS Nevada at the time of the Pearl Harbor attack on Dec. 7, 1941, where he was commended for bravery under fire.
A brisk north wind greeted the annual Christmas parade in downtown El Reno on Saturday.
People lined Rock Island and Bickford as the El Reno High School Marching Band and the Heritage Express Trolley led the colorful parade.
Floats representing church groups and businesses took part in the event, as well as the El Reno Fire Department, police and Canadian County Sheriff’s Office.
Also involved in the celebration were more than a dozen classic cars from the El Reno Cruisers.
El Reno High’s drama department turned the parking lot into its own Bedford Falls for a live radio broadcast of It’s a Wonderful Life last week.
City Manager Matt Sandidge called the latest housing permit numbers issued for El Reno “impressive.”
Community Development Director Shelly Dalla Rosa released the figures last week.
With one month left in 2021, El Reno so far has issued 147 permits for new housing.
In November, 20 housing permits were issued, making it the second highest monthly total for 2021. In March, El Reno issued 36 permits for new homes.
Only in September were no housing permits issued, the city information shows.
A new Canadian County district map has been finalized.
State law requires all counties in Oklahoma to be divided into three districts “as equal in population as practical,” according to an amended resolution approving county commissioner district boundaries.
Populations by district are: District 1 (51,403), District 2 (50,862) and District 3 (52,140).
Under the Voting Rights Act, county commissioner district populations must be within 5 percent of each other.
On Tuesday, hundreds of visitors from Oklahoma and across the United States gathered at the USS Oklahoma Memorial to commemorate the 80th anniversary of the Japanese attack at Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941.
When Japanese dive bombers descended over Pearl Harbor, the USS Oklahoma was among the first battleships to be attacked, taking eight torpedoes and sinking with 415 Sailors and 14 Marines aboard.
The loss of life was second only to the USS Arizona, which lost 1,177 Sailors and Marines.
Though you won’t be able to see them, dinosaurs will be walking the streets of El Reno.
Filming for a Lionsgate live-action movie titled “The Adventures of Jurassic Pets: The Lost Secrets” is set to begin in downtown El Reno and other locations around the city Dec. 18.
“This is actually a sequel to the first movie we did called ‘The Adventures of Jurassic Pets’ which was released in 2019. This movie will not have the same people but will take place in the same town.
Rev. Aaron Kotila arrived in El Reno in September of 2020.
The new pastor at Trinity Lutheran Church got here just in time to experience a crippling ice storm in October as well as the lingering and at times, devastating local effects of COVID-19.
Throw in the sub-arctic blast that arrived in February of this year and one can’t blame Kotila for wondering if he’d made the right decision to move from Illinois to El Reno.
“It’s all in God's hands,” Kotila said, laughing as he thought about his first year as a resident of Oklahoma.
Work on the new City of El Reno Christmas Tree shifted into high gear last week as well as work on all the holiday decorations around Petree Plaza.
The 23-foot pre-lit artificial tree was assembled off a base that is secured into the ground and can be taken down after the holidays.
Calumet cheerleaders wore pink shirts and used pink pom-poms, while players wore pink warm-up shirts. The district was taking part in the nationwide Coaches Versus Cancer Drive.
Through different fundraising events, Calumet schools raised $2,794.72 for the American Cancer Society, according to officials.
