July 15, 1949
• Showing at Paramount Theatre: “Jungle Jim” and “Desert Vigilante” with Johnny Weissmuller; “The Walking Hills” with Randolph Scott; and “Date With Judy.”
• A motor in the Peck Elevator at Phelps City, Missouri, caught fire Friday morning. Men used an extinguisher on the blazing motor then removed it and threw it out of the window to the ground, saving the elevator. Had the upper part of the elevator caught fire, it would have been a difficult blaze to combat, as Phelps City has no water supply.
• A young woman garbed in a rubber slicker and a rubber cap came into the Opp Hotel Monday evening dripping wet during a rain storm, inquiring about accommodations. The hotel was full, so she inquired where the next town north was and was told Hamburg, Iowa. A traveling salesman remarked that she looked as if she’d been riding a motorcycle, to which she remarked, “I am.”
• A large neon sign suspended over the sidewalk in front of the Gildersleeve & Simon drug store broke from its moorings and crashed through the large plate glass window Thursday morning.
July 11, 1974
• The Rock Port Fire Department responded to a mobile home fire at Paul W. Mallory’s mobile home in Burke’s Trailer Court. The stove, cabinets, walls, and ceiling were badly damaged by fire with the rest receiving smoke damage.
• The Rock Port 4th of July activity winners included: Frog Jumping Contest, Jody Ellison, 1st, 13’ 1 1/2”; Water Fight, Lewis Township, Iowa, Team 1; and Greased Pig, 1st, Tim Minter, 7 & Under, 20 pound pig, and 1st, Steve Ellison, age 8 – high school, 55 pound pig.
• Near disaster struck Rock Port’s city water supply Monday at 3:45 p.m. when pressure blew an 8-inch line and 4-inch line inside the city water plant. No one was at the plant at the time, but Everett Shaw, who lives east of the plant, saw water gushing out the doors and called the city.
• The Department of Family Services, formerly the Atchison County Welfare Office, was renamed July 1 under the government state reorganization plan, according to Mrs. Martha Austin, the new county director. Mrs. Austin replaced Jack Emry who retired in May after 15 years of service.
• Mr. Herbert Townsend, 78, of Rock Port passed away July 7. Herbert enlisted in the U.S. Army at Jefferson Barracks and served during WWI in the United States and overseas. He returned to Rock Port following his service and ran a restaurant for a short time. He later dealt in the service station and trucking business.
July 8, 1999
• Katie Doyle and Doug Barr, members of the Timestep theatre group from Chicago, Illinois, presented a program to 65 children and their parents and caregivers Wednesday, June 30, at the Methodist Church. The program was sponsored by the Atchison County Library.
• A Shandy reunion was held July 2-4 at the original Shandy residence in Phelps City. Sixty relatives from coast to coast arrived, doubling the population of the town.
• Anne Reynolds of Rock Port won the McDonald’s Sub Regionals French fry competition and will compete in finals in Kansas City in August.
• An open house honoring Velma Hartman’s 95th birthday will be held Sunday, July 11, at the Watson Community Building in Watson, Missouri.
