Our Yesterdays

Mr. and Mrs. Raymond N. Weber were surprised Friday evening when relatives and friends came to help them celebrate their 36th wedding anniversary. Present were their sons and daughters-in-law, Mr. and Mrs. Gene Weber and family of Harper; Mr. and Mrs. Hubert Weber and family, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Weber, Jr. and family, all of Keota; Marty and Mary, at home; Mr. and Mrs. Adrine Kaska, Keota; Mr. and Mrs. Clarence Weber and three granddaughters; Mr. and Mrs. Dale Robison; and Mr. and Mrs. Bill Fritchen. Cards were played and lunch served.

The Cub Scout Blue and Gold Banquet was held Feb. 26 at the Lions Building in Richland with approximately 75 attending. A potluck supper was served, and special guests were Mr. and Mrs. Lloyd Botteroff and Mrs. And Mrs. John King, representatives of the Lions Club. Scoutmaster Leroy Robison presented awards to the following boys: Dwayne Blakely, Leon Connelly, Bryce Ulin, Troy Seivers, Jeff Weber, Alan Nordyke, Scott Horras, Patrick Elmore, Tony Bond, and Billy Newberry. Mr. and Mrs. Laverne Weber will host the next leaders meeting on March 13. The next Pack meeting will be March 26 at the Lions Building with Mr. and Mrs. Mel Maeder, Mr. and Mrs. Richard Bond, and Judy Hayden on the refreshment committee.

Mr. and Mrs. Forest Wolf of rural Packwood have returned after visiting the past few days with Mr. Wolf’s brother and wife, Mr. and Mrs. Rex Wolf of Diamond City, Arkansas, a resort community. One of the highlights of the visit was the celebration of Rex Wolfs’ 32nd wedding anniversary. The forest Wolfs honored them by taking them to the Country Club for dinner.

Word has been received here of the death of Mrs. Irene Purdy, former resident of this area and the wife of the late Charles Purdy, a former barber here. Mrs. Purdy passed away on March 1 in Tuscon, Arizona. She has been in a nursing home for the past few years. She has a son, Charles, who resides in Tuscon and also two other sons.

Captain and Mrs. Ronald Koontz and two children arrived to spend a week with Mrs. Koontz’ mother, Mrs. Virginia Carris and relatives. Capt. Koontz will go to Louisville, Kentucky, soon to be a recruit commander. He will undergo training in Chicago and Mrs. Koontz and children will spend some time here.

Andy Adam and Ross Wright shared the most valuable wrestler award, presented at the Pekin High School Wrestling banquet. Most of the 31 wrestlers and their parents attended the potluck dinner in recognition of the PHS grapplers who completed another successful season last week. Most school records were broken this year, according to Coach Bill Rex, who expressed disappointment that the season ended so abruptly in the district meet The matmen won their third consecutive Blackhawk conference title while also placing first in the sectional meet and Pekin Invitational. They tied with Solon at the Tri-County Invitational and were second in the Van Buren Invitational. Wright and Adam are two of the four graduating seniors who will be missed when next year rolls around. Wright had a career mark of 46-29-3 while Adam’s was 31-18. The other two seniors, Bruce Underwood and Vernon Reinier, closed their careers with 43-24 and 52-17-2 marks, respectively. Lynn Sieren was named the most valuable freshman wrestler and Dan Hadley received the “clown award” for contributing most to the enjoyment of the sport while still working hard, according to Coach Rex. Pat McHugh was recognized for going the furthest in the tournament, he was the only Panther to survive the first round of the district meet. Fifteen students were awarded varsity letters, according to Rex. They were Randy Reinier, Vernon Reinier, Mark Kurtz, Brent Underwood, Bruce Underwood, Ross Wright, Gary Kessel, Dan Hadley, Roger Wright, Andy Adam, Lewis Westercamp, Lynn Sieren, Brian Smith, Mitch Popejoy, and Pat McHugh. Other awards presented to the following varsity and junior varsity wrestlers were: best record, Mark Kurtz, 19-2; most falls, Andy Adam, 10, Pete Johansson, 3; quickest fall, Randy Reinier, 0:27, Richard Adam, 0:28; most near falls, Randy Reinier, 14; Brent Underwood, 9; most two-point near falls, Bruce Underwood, 12, Roger Mathias, 8; most take downs, Roger Wright, 23, Kim Reynolds, 5; most reversals, Ross Wright 25, Brent Underwood, 7; most individual points, Randy Reinier, 152, Brent Underwood, 57; fewest points given, Mark Kurtz, 36, D.A. Fye, 2; most team points, Pat McHugh, 113, Pete Johanson, 24; most escapes, Pat McHugh and Lewis Westercamp, 10, Greg Krewson, 6. Wrestlers undefeated in JV competition included D.A. Fye, Ken Adam, and Lynn Sieren, all 8-0; Brent Underwood and Mitch Popejoy, 6-0; Kim Reynolds, 5-0; Pete Johansson, 4-0; Gary Kessel, 3-0; and Dan Hadley, 1-0.