a look back into our archives
10 YEARS AGO
On the week of June 22, 2011, three Woodward men were charged with second degree murder in connection to the September, 2010, death of 20 year old Jon Micheal Watkins. The trio faced charges for allegedly kicking Watkins in and around the face and head, resulting in fatal brain injuries and trauma.
Meghan Foust, age 16, was critically injured in a one-vehicle accident. According to the Oklahoma Highway Patrol, Foust was traveling west in a 2001 Chevy Blazer when the vehicle departed the roadway to the right. The vehicle was then overcorrected to the left back onto the roadway, overcorrected back to the right departing the roadway, and then overcorrected to the left. The vehicle then entered a broad slide and rolled twice, eventually coming to rest on its wheels in the south ditch. Foust was ejected ten feet from the vehicle. The vehicle was equipped with seatbelts, but they were not in use by the driver.
Cordell letter carriers received a sweet treat for their efforts toward the food drive. Thanks to the letter carriers and Cordell residents, over 3,500 pounds of food was donated to the Judah House. As a reward, the carriers received a catered breakfast and an award.
20 YEARS AGO
On the week of June 13, 2001, county elevators took precautions against karnal bunt disease to protect the year’s harvest. While no signs of the disease had been spotted in Oklahoma at the time, elevator operators took time to check the logbooks of drivers to ensure that no trucks from the four infected counties in texas made drop offs here.
The Cordell public pool lifeguards for the 2001 season were Debra Eskew, Mark Stowers, Megan Gerlach, Maghin Merrill, and Afton Cunningham. These lifeguards, along with manager George Roper and assistant manager Susan Boese made the pool a safe place for the community to cool off during the summer of 2001.
Jimmy Hardin had been busy during this week applying the identifying decals onto Cordell Police Department Vehicles. Each decal took anywhere from two to four hours to apply, and required a great deal of patience.
Main Street Cordell presented seven awards to eight individuals at their annual meeting. The awards presented were as follows; Kim Britton - Membership Team Member of the Year, Tiffany Bishop - Marketing Team Member of the Year, Sherrill Morris - Design Team Member of the Year, Bob Adams - Economic Restructuring Team Member of the Year, Terry Price - Main Street Volunteer of the Year, Bob and Nancy Koehn - Vision Award, and the Western Oklahoma Development Authority won the Friend of Main Street Award.
40 YEARS AGO
On the week of June 17, in 1981 county retail sales showed a healthy gain, benefitting all communities in Washita County.
The county wheat harvest was nearing 75 percent completion, with 3,706,441 bushels of wheat in the county’s eight elevators.
A storage issue plagued the elevators the week prior until rains gave the operators a chance to ship some of the wheat out to make room for the remainder of the crop.
The groundbreaking ceremony for the new Cordell Public Library was announced. The ceremony would be held the following Tuesday at 10 a.m and open to the public.
The closing of Andy’s Cafe marked the end of an era for Cordell. The restaurant was open for 32 years under Lavena Strutton and her late husband Andy, who took over the business from Andy’s mother, Delia Hicklin. The cafe only had 12 stools, three booths, and two tables, bringing their seating capacity to 30. The cafe operated five days a week from 4 a.m to 2 p.m, offering home cooked meals and a friendly atmosphere.
Cordell memorial hospital proudly announced that its room rates were the lowest in the area. The hospital offered semi private rooms for $100 a day, and $108 per day for private rooms.
1987