TOP PHOTOS OF 2015
This year was full of interesting photos, including Bernie Sanders paying Creston a visit during the Fourth of July parade. See this year’s top photos on page 16A of today’s paper. >>
CHRISTMAS BASKET
This year’s Christmas Basket Fund has fallen $3,541 short of its $19,000 goal. Last year, 550 baskets serving more than 1,200 people were distributed. More on page 2A of today’s paper.
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Top stories of 2015 Creston man killed at GV Chemical plant Jan. 9
A Creston man was killed the morning of Jan. 8 following an explosion at Green Valley Chemical in Creston. The accident happened outside the plant at approximately 11 a.m. when a 4-inch pipe exploded, killing 71-year-old Eldon Ray of Creston. Bill Clem, plant manager of Green Valley Chemical in Creston, said the explosion also injured at least two people. He called those injuries non-life-threatening, but he did not elaborate. It was unknown exactly what caused the pipe to burst. Cold weather conditions may have played a role in the explosion. No chemicals were released during the explosion. Green Valley Chemical is located north of Creston at 1284 Cherry Street Road and produces agricultural fertilizer and anhydrous ammonia.
a family of nine siblings, none of whom ever married or had children. The siblings lived on the family farm and regularly volunteered at the parish and St. Malachy School. When the final sibling, Irene Pesik, died in September 2012 at age 93, the parish received two parcels of land through the family’s will. The sale, which took place Jan. 24, grossed $3,095,618. “We’ve sold other pieces of land,” said the Rev. Ken Halbur, pastor at Holy Spirit Parish. “For my time here, this is by far the biggest.” What exactly does a parish do with $3 million? A committee representing both the parish and the St. Malachy Foundation, which provides funding to St. Malachy School, met to decide. The committee agreed to split the sale of the land equally between the two. It also decided to invest the money, with the goal of only drawing from the interest each year. “We wanted it to be a long-term legacy,” Halbur said. “We’re not going to touch the principal.” To commemorate the Pesiks’ ministry to the parish, plaques of honor were installed at both the church and St. Malachy School.
cue basket. “He was shaking pretty good, but was happy to see us and be out of the water,” Krantz said. Firefighters Ott, Thompson, Morey and Blazek pulled their fellow firefighters and Charlie to shoreline. Charlie was taken immediately to Creston Veterinary Clinic by Jared Knutstrom where doctors there started him on an IV full of warm saline, covered him in blankets and warmed him with a heating lamp. Charlie’s owners — Jennie and Ryan Samo — were at a late family Christmas dinner in Lenox and were unaware the dogs got loose and were unaware of the rescue. They were contacted and met Charlie at the vet clinic. “He looked so sad and weak and had the biggest puppy dog eyes,” Jennie said. “Seeing him like that made me start to cry.” Jennie said the vet clinic kept Charlie overnight to monitor his body temperature. He was released Sunday morning and Jennie said he and his brother Bruiser were back to normal by Sunday afternoon playing together at their residence in West Des Moines. “I just want to thank everyone involved,” Jennie said. “A family Christmas really turned into quite a weekend adventure for everyone. Again, we are so appreciative of everyone’s help. They saved Charlie’s life. The vet told us he wouldn’t have made it out there in the water much longer.”
Three Creston men dead after ice fishing incident March 9
Contributed photo by CINDY YOUNG
Lee Freeman of Creston Fire Department lifts 3-year-old yellow lab Charlie out of the freezing water in January.
Saving Charlie
• Creston residents and Creston Fire Department work together to save a 3-year-old yellow lab during rescue at Summit Lake Jan. 17
Creston firefighters saved the life of a 3-year-old yellow lab named Charlie in mid-January. The rescue occurred around 2 p.m. Jan. 17 at Summit Lake after Charlie and his brother Bruiser — a chocolate lab — got loose from a local residence in Creston and ventured to the lake where Charlie apparently ran onto the ice to chase some geese and fell into the freezing water. Bruiser and Charlie — treading in the freezing water — began to bark, which got the attention of Greg Driskell who was grilling on his back patio at his house. Greg told his wife Merry about the situation and she called the Creston Fire Department directly. “It didn’t take them long to get there,” Greg said. Responding were Creston firefighters Lee Freeman, Kyle Krantz, Gary Thompson, Ray Ott, Taner Morey and Cheryl Blazek. Krantz and Freeman put on ice rescue suits and together crawled on their stomachs across the ice (estimated at 5 inches in depth) for about 300 feet before getting to Charlie who had been treading in freezing water for approximately 40 minutes. Freeman lifted the 95-pound dog out of water and into a Stokes res-
CNA file photo
Chris Leonard, athletic trainer at Creston High School, stands with Tayler Pettit at the wrestling team’s end-of-the-year banquet.
Panther wrestler collapses at state dual match Feb. 19
DES MOINES — Moments after the Creston/Orient-Macksburg wrestling team suffered its first defeat of the season Feb. 18 at the Dual Team Wrestling Championships, team member Tayler Pettit was suddenly in a fight for his life. The incident began after Pettit wrestled up a weight at 182 against Union’s Tanner Shirk. Pettit complained of some discomfort in his midsection, leading trainers to investigate the possibility of a rib cage injury, after he was pinned in the second period. “They think something may have happened in about the first 10 seconds of his match, an impact to his chest that could have possibly thrown his heart rhythm off at the time,” Panther coach Darrell Frain said later Feb. 18. “Our trainer, Chris Leonard, saw him on the edge of the mat looking like he was about to pass out,” Frain added. “He said he had trouble breathing. They took care
CNA file photo by TRESA ANDREASEN
A violent EF1 tornado swirls debris near Sharon Walter’s farmstead in Williamson Aug. 2. The twister traveled 4 miles with a peak wind gust of 100 mph.
of him and then when the dual was over, he got up to join us in shaking hands and he couldn’t make it through and basically passed out. Then he went into seizures.” That’s when Leonard, the Iowa State University training staff that includes former Panther wrestler Jordan Hayes, and Dr. Dennis Zachary went into action to revive Pettit, who had lost consciousness with a fading pulse. Zachary told reporters that CPR and the use of automatic defibrillators likely saved Pettit’s life. Those resuscitation efforts were ongoing as Pettit was taken by stretcher to the ambulance for transport to Mercy Medical Center. Officials said Pettit was in “stable but critical condition” at the hospital later that night. Pettit underwent several tests and it was discovered he had an extra electrical pathway in his heart that caused a rapid heart rate (Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome). Pettit underwent a surgical heart procedure Feb. 18 and was released from the hospital Feb. 20.
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The paramedics, who had seconds to save his life, and emergency medical workers were honored in a ceremony that weekend at the state tournament. Among those honored were Creston athletic trainer Chris Leonard, the first person to notice the Panther wrestler was having distressed breathing; and tournament physician Dr. Dennis Zachary, who correctly surmised Pettit might be having an episode related to Wolff-Parkinson-White Syndrome.
Pesik family leaves $3 million in farmland to Holy Spirit Parish Feb. 20
When 440 acres of farmland sold for more than $3 million in January, a family with a legacy of giving had made its final contribution to Holy Spirit Parish and the St. Malachy Foundation. The land, located northwest of Creston, belonged to the Pesiks,
Three Creston men died following an ice fishing incident March 7 at a farm pond north of Creston. Earl R. Burkhalter, 71, Charles W. Critz, 73, and James E. Oshel, 68, all of Creston, drowned in the incident and were later pronounced dead. According to a Creston Police and Union County Sheriff report, law enforcement received a report of a possible drowning 8:06 p.m. March 7. Upon arrival, it was determined the three men had gone ice fishing earlier in the afternoon and had failed to return. A large hole was discovered on a farm pond located on the Adair-Union county line in Union County. Creston and Afton fire departments, Greater Regional Medical Center ambulance service and Midwest Regional Dive Team responded to the pond. “Once we got all set up, the Creston ice rescue crew retrieved all three of them,” Jackson said. Of the three victims, two were retrieved from the water 20 minutes after rescue crews were on-scene, and the third was retrieved approximately a half-hour later. The victims had been approximately 20 feet from shore.
Williamson twister • Sharon Walter and eight children survived violent tornado that swept through her farmstead in Adams County Aug. 3
An EF1 tornado destroyed Sharon Walter’s farmstead and damaged several others near Williamson Aug. 2. National Weather Service declared the tornado touched down about 8 miles north northeast of Prescott at 6:25 p.m. that night and stayed on the ground for 25 2015 | 6A