May 20, 1949
• At least 400 people attended a homecoming supper and program at the Langdon school Wednesday evening of last week. Ralph Bennington acted as master of ceremonies. Mrs. Elizabeth Slemp, the Langdon teacher, was presented a double strand of pearls. The oldest former pupil of the Langdon district who was in attendance was Mrs. Lulu Miller.
• On May 22, 1858, the English Grove Presbyterian Church was founded. It is one of Atchison County’s oldest churches, located two miles west of Fairfax. Next Sunday, May 22, the church will celebrate its 91st anniversary.
• What was probably the largest crowd ever to attend the annual meeting of the Rock Port High School Alumni Association gathering was present at last Friday’s festivities at the Memorial Building. The crowd was estimated at close to 400. Mrs. Pete Hedgpeth, a member of the class of 1899, was present, wearing her graduate dress of 50 years ago.
May 16, 1974
• Tornadoes struck the Atchison County area Friday between 9:00 and 10:00 p.m. with a large loss of farm buildings and equipment, as well as some livestock. There were two, possibly four, small tornadoes involved crossing a path from south of Watson to northwest of the St. John’s Lutheran Church west of Westboro.
• The Rock Port Volunteer Fire Department responded to a vehicle fire at the Richard Zach farm north of Langdon. Linda Holmes, who lives on the property, had tried to start her car several times without any luck. She went into the house and then heard the horn honking. She went out to investigate and found the car on fire.
• The COE student of the week is Martin Schomburg. Martin is employed by James and Keith Ottmann of Ottmann Farms where he is a farm management trainee. He is learning the operation of various machines and equipment, cattle feeding, truck driving, crop and cattle production, and farm management.
• The most unique species of wildlife in Atchison County, the big elk, has returned to his usual haunts south of Rock Port. The only free roaming elk in the state, the big bull had disappeared for several months. He now carries over 1,000 pounds in weight and 24 pounds of antlers on his head. He was discovered in the county about four years ago.
May 13, 1999
• The 275 Conference Track Meet was held on Friday, May 7, at Blue Jay Stadium. Nine teams participated. Both the Rock Port boys’ and girls’ teams were named Conference champions.
• Five residents from Pleasant View Nursing Home participated in the MHCA Golden Age Games in St. Joseph, Missouri. They were Marie Scamman, Helen Winkler, Pearl Gayler, Deanie Ray, and Fern Fentiman. Events included frisbee throw, horseshoe pitching, bean bag toss, and wheelchair races.
• Marie Underwood not only makes the best “tea ring” in the world, but she also has a green thumb. Her yard was selected as the Yard of the Month.
• Young tyke Payton Lingerfelt, without the aid of a trained mushroom sniffing dog, came up with a huge prize winning mushroom. It must be his young, alert eyes.
