January 9, 1948
• Lee Crabtree, having operated the D-X service station at the intersection of North Main Street and Highway 275 for the past 18 or 19 years under a lease from John C. Graf, owner of the property, purchased the station recently. Crabtree holds the record for having been in longer continuous service station operation of any person in Rock Port.
• A baby born to Mr. and Mrs. Ople Thomas of Phelps City at the Hamburg hospital on New Year’s Day has been named Donald Paul. He has a sister who was born on January 3, 1947.
• Rock Port’s two banks – The Bank of Atchison County and Citizens’ Bank – had on deposit on December 31st the sum of $5,671,680.13.
• When motorists last weekend found it difficult to back out of their parking spaces on Rock Port’s Main Street because of deep snow, several businesses and city officials got busy and had much of the accumulated snow hauled away.
• Atchison County’s marriage license business has begun to show improvement. County Recorder Albert Kelly’s office reports that 97 licenses were issued in 1947. There were 49 issued in 1946 and 31 in 1945.
January 4, 1973
• Firemen were called to the second fire in 2 1/2 months in the same protein drying vat at the Cox Brothers Hide Plant in Phelps City. The protein vat inside the building is 20 feet high and 8 feet in diameter. The red hot fire had shot clear out of the vent stack on top of the building.
• Sergeant First Class Floyd I. Butts is a Pastor in the First Baptist Mission in Bamberg, Germany. The church building that he is preaching in is 501 years old. Sgt. Butts will have served in the Army for 20 years this May. He is retiring in July and returning to his wife and home in Rock Port.
• Mr. and Mrs. Seward Kish have purchased the home at 410 Rainbow Drive, formerly owned by the Mert Ingebritsons. The Kishes have made their home in Burke Apartments since their return to Rock Port from California.
January 1, 1998
• Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Bennington and Mr. and Mrs. Jack Martin announce the engagement and approaching marriage of their children, Staci Renee Bennington and Allen Reed Martin. The prospective groom is engaged in farming in the Watson, Missouri, area. The bride-to-be is a registered nurse at Community Hospital in Fairfax, Missouri.
• Moriah Elliott was the winner of the Huffy 16 inch girl’s bicycle. The bike was the prize awarded to the winner of the month-long coloring contest held by True Value promoting the story of “Santa Claus” that aired on television.
• At the Rock Port Market: 9 roll Charmin big squeeze bath tissue, $2.99; premium golden ripe Del Monte bananas, 5 lbs. for $1; lean boneless butterfly pork chops, $2.09 per lb.; and Covered Wagon sliced bacon, $1.39 per lb. Also at the Market – an ET Video Outlet – new release movies of “Men in Black,” “My Best Friend’s Wedding,” and “George of the Jungle.”
• Mitchell and Corbin Minter were the youngest bell ringers for the local Salvation Army this holiday season. A total of $3,336.38 was donated to be put to good use in Atchison County.
