Ark Valley News - Looking Back

Looking Back
Last Updated: October 25, 2018

55 years ago

God and Country awards were presented to three Boy Scouts at the First Methodist Church in Valley Center. The scouts honored were Bill ReQua, son of Mr. and Mrs. Riley ReQua; Terry Rogers, son of Mr. and Mrs. Louis Rogers; and Ronnie Symington, son of Mr. and Mrs. Robert Symington. According to the pastor, the Rev. James Gray, the boys were probably awarded the honor as much for the kind of boys they had become, as for what they had learned.

Mr. and Mrs. Lee Cassel and family and Raymond Lowe took their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Lowe, on a trip in honor of their birthdays. Kay Dellinger went with them. They went to Roaring River State Park in Missouri and visited Bentonville, Ark., and the buffalo ranch at Miami, Okla.

45 years ago

B & D Instruments opened in the 200 block of West Main. Owned by Howard Botts and Dave Dahl, it employed five people at the plant.

Mike Scriven and Wayne Slater, prior residents of Valley Center, played horns as part of the Wichita State "Shocker" Marching Band. Scriven was attending WSU on a music scholarship..

40 years ago

Groundbreaking for the branch office of the First Federal Savings and Loan of Newton was set. The ceremony was held at the office's site on the northeast corner of Main and Meridian in Valley Center.

David Orvis was crowned king and Tammy Wilber queen at homecoming festivities prior to the Augusta-Valley Center football game. Other candidates were Tracey Soule, Kim House, Erick Ammons, and Ron Cody.

35 years ago

Valley Center merchants and property owners decided to approach the city council to ask that a business improvement district be formed. The group, headed by pharmacist Paul Bryan, formed a seven-member committee to seek input from several architects on what could be done to improve the appearance of the downtown district. Other committee members were Denise Jones, Murray Dean, Randy Riley, Linda Moore, Marilyn Moeder, and Bob Vohs.

Kevin Pfeifer and his wife Laura were running Gambino's Pizza in the 200 block of East Main in downtown Valley Center. This was Pfeifer's first solo business venture after working for Godfathers and Big Cheese pizza.

30 years ago

Joe Witham, son of Don and Alla Witham, became a Shawnee County highway patrol trooper after graduating from the Highway Patrol Training Center. He was a 1984 graduate of Valley Center High School and attended Washburn University. He also worked as a paramedic for Sedgwick County Emergency Medical Services in Wichita.

State Sen. Norma Daniels of Valley Center received the Epilepsy Foundation of America's 1988 government service award, D.C. A two-term state senator, Daniels led the fight to create a task force to study epilepsy and seizure disorders. She was a member of the Epilepsy Kansas board of directors.

25 years ago

Pat Tetrick was sworn in as a Valley Center police officer. Tetrick grew up in Valley Center and lived here until 1978, when his father, Jerry Tetrick, a former Valley Center police officer, got a job in Great Bend. His aunt Terry Vaughn, his mother Cheryl Tetrick and his uncle Gary Vaughn were employed with the Valley Center police department as well.

While roasting hot dogs with friends and family at The Hollow, Bobbi Clum walked through the trees and bushes and decided to make it into a haunted forest. She and her husband, Larry, and property owner Dan Hirschler, teamed up with the Valley Center Jaycees and scared people for the next eight years at the Hollow.

20 years ago

As a member of the National Guard, Mickeal Blackburn of Valley Center helped haul hay to Texas for starving cattle. As a truck master, his responsibilities were to coordinate loads, routes, restaurant meals and motel accommodations. He had been a Valley Center resident for 20 years and a member of the National Guard for 24 years.

Herb Leeper, owner of North End Auto II repair shop in the former Shaw Oil station at Main and Meridian in Valley Center, reported he would close the business by the end of the month. He would still keep his business open at the original location in the 700 block of West 61st North.

15 years ago

Conrad Pierce, son of Randy and Carolyn Pierce of Valley Center, was home on a 10-day leave from Marine boot camp in San Diego. He planned to be a combat engineer. Pierce was a 2003 graduate of Valley Center High School.

Kristin McCormick, daughter of Mike and Phoebe McCormick, was performing in Music Theatre for Young People's "Fiddler on the Roof" at the Orpheum Theatre in Wichita.

10 years ago

Becky Thompson, the librarian at Abilene Elementary School in Valley Center, was presented a Golden Apple Award. The award recognizes Wichita-area teachers who go above and beyond the call of duty for their students. Thompson also received $250, which she said would be used to buy books for the library.

Kurt Stengel of Valley Center was among a dozen Kansans to complete the Kansas Partners in Policymaking training program. The program trained participants about analyzing disability issues and gave them the skills to influence legislation, create change and obtain supports and services for themselves, family members and other Kansans with disabilities.

5 years ago

Jamie Lewis, principal at Valley Center High School, was nominated for the Kansas Association of Secondary School Principals Area 4 high school principal of the year award. Lewis was nominated and selected by peer principals.

Valley Center's Jim Hollaway and Bill Black took an honor flight to Washington, D.C., along with 27 other World War II veterans. They visited the National World War II Memorial, the Vietnam Wall, the Smithsonian Air Museum, the 9/11 Memorial at the Pentagon, Arlington National Cemetery's Tomb of the Unknown Soldier, and other sights. Hollaway served in the U.S. Navy, and Black served in the U.S. Army.