Legion baseball: Iola Indians fall at state playoffs See B1
The Weekender Saturday, July 30, 2016
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COUPLES RECOUNT CLOSE CALLS ON INFAMOUS INLAND HURRICANE’S ANNIVERSARY
Storm still etched in memory, 30 years later By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
A
s with any strange twist of fate, a couple of seemingly innocuous decisions led to John Ellington and David Loomis becoming a part of Iola lore. And with Monday the 30th anniversary of Allen County’s notorious “inland hurricane,” the Register reached out to Loomis and to the Ellingtons this week to hear their recollections of being part of one of Iola’s most unexpected meteorological chapters. Ellington and wife Nancy, who now live in Yates Center, were married the night of the storm at Iola’s St. John’s Catholic Church. They were in the church as the winds began to howl outside. They emerged from taking pictures after the storm subsided to see the St. John’s steeple toppled. The metal cross perched atop the steeple pierced their car’s hood. Loomis, who continues to live on a farm a few miles north of Iola, and wife Phyllis were at Riverside Park when the storm hit, watching son Matt’s baseball game. They sought shelter by parking their car alongside the football stadium, only to be buried minutes later when the stadium’s old overhanging roof flipped over onto the car. No one was injured in the storm, and while memories of some minute details have faded, the events of the Aug. 1, 1986, storm remain seared in the Ellingtons and Loomises’ memories three decades later. “Yeah, we don’t forget our anniversary,” John Ellington laughed. THE DAY of the storm was like most any other late-summer Friday. The thick haze of 90-degree temperatures coupled with high humidity made outside work a chore. The Loomis children, Matt, Jana and Lisa, were headed with Phyllis to Riverside Park for Matt’s Little League baseball game.
Nancy and John Ellington
David and Phyllis Loomis David had other plans, at least at first. A mail carrier at the time, David had returned home and was eager to unload a trailer of hay into a shed on the farm’s outskirts. Phyllis cajoled him into hanging up his hay hooks — his pickup and trailer already were beneath the shed’s roof and seemingly safe from the elements — and joining the family for the ball game. First pitch was minutes away when police officers arrived at the park in a rush. The officers summoned coaches, umpires and others in the crowd to tell them a round of storms that had blasted through Burlington and was bearing down on Allen County. The players and their parents quickly scooped up their gear and raced home.
Almost immediately, a bustling area of activity was deserted. “It’s amazing how quickly that place emptied,” Loomis recalled. The Loomises, however, sensed trouble. David thought it would be foolhardy to attempt to drive through the storm, so he decided to wait it out at the park. “That’s when we saw a a small pickup pull up next to the stadium,” Loomis said. “That’s when I thought, ‘hey that’s a good idea.’” WITHIN MINUTES, that good idea backfired. “We saw what looked like tin blowing off the roof, and we could see the power lines whipping around on the poles,” Loomis said. Because of that, he ordered his family members to slunk
David and Phyllis Loomis and their children escaped injury when the old roof over the Riverside Park football stadium was blown off, trapping them in their vehicle on Aug. 1, 1986. COUR-
TESY PHOTO
Nancy Ellington still has a copy of the weathered Aug. 2, 1986 Iola Register recounting the infamous “inland hurricane” that struck one day earlier. down in their seats. They were so close to the stadium that they didn’t realize at first its roof was buckling in what officials determined was 115 mph winds — until it was too late. “It was like it was on a big hinge, just flipping over the back of the stadium,” Loomis recalled. The car, and the pickup in front of it, were crushed. The weight of the roof put a crease on the station wagon’s roof, and pushed the frame downward, to the point its bumper was touching the ground. But the Loomises were safe inside. “It blew out the windows, so we had glass all over us, but we were OK,” he said. “If you’ve ever been in anything, you can think of a million things, but I don’t remember
thinking anything like I was going to die. It happened pretty quickly. The children, predictably, were terrified. David and Phyllis did all they could to calm their children’s fears. They did in short order. “I knew the city would be down there soon to find us,” he said. Then came the silence. The roof insulated the Loomises from any outside noise, including the ongoing storm, which eventually dissipated and moved on after about 20 minutes. “I could see some puddles, but I also saw downed lines, so I didn’t want us to try to get out,” Loomis said. “So we waited.” They eventually heard See STORM | Page A6
Suspects appear in court By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Rhonda Jackson and James Myers, two of the five suspects accused of murdering Iolan Shawn Cook in March, had their first court appearances Friday in front of Allen County District Judge Daniel Creitz. Creitz set bond for both at $1 million and scheduled their cases for a status hearing at 1:30 p.m. Aug. 17. Allen County Attorney Jerry Hathaway filed the first-degree murder charges Wednesday against Jackson, Myers and Jessica Epting. Jackson and Myers were arrested without incident Wednesday. Epting remains at large. Hathaway previously filed first-degree murder charges against Amber
This is the view of G&W Grocery’s store motorists will see when approaching from the west on Madison Avenue. Rhonda Jackson
James Myers
Boeken and Joshua Knapp, who also remain in custody on $1 million bond. William Shane Adamson, an attorney in Parsons, was appointed to represent Jackson. Brian Duncan, an attorney in Yates Center, was appointed to represent Myers. Cook’s disappearance March 13 sparked a 16-day manhunt before his body was found along the bank of the Neosho Rivers in southSee SUSPECTS | Page A8
Quote of the day Vol. 118, No. 191
G&W store construction coming By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Rumors to the contrary are just that, G&W Grocery will start construction of a new store here later this year, David Toland, executive director of Thrive Allen County, told the Register Friday. A specific date has not been announced. “G&W is a large company with a lot of priorities,” Toland remarked, including
recent acquisition of additional stores in Fort Scott and Independence. When announcement of the Iola store was made in 2015, the two additional stores were not on G&W’s radar. “They anticipate opening the store here next spring.” The store will be constructed where the former Allen County Hospital was, and south of the 12-unit apartment completion that is being built.
“If you can dream it, you can do it.”
— Walt Disney 75 Cents
“I know a lot of people are impatient, including my wife (Beth), but they can rest assured the store will be built in Iola,” Toland said. Also, he said construction of a second apartment building, with eight units, would begin after the present one being built was completed. It will be directly to the east, where a construction trailer sits now. “Those apartments will probably be ready in the spring,” he said.
Hi: 84 Lo: 68 Iola, KS