Five years ago

n About 15 entries comprised the first ?Holly Days? parade down?Main Street Hills?boro on Saturday afternoon of the Thanksgiving weekend.

n A crowd of several hundred people enjoyed a 90-minute walk back in time at ?HHS Musicals: 1981-2003,? Saturday night in the high school gymnasium. About 20 vocalists from 19 musicals presented during the tenure of Hillsboro High School vocal music instructor Dave Clark sang familiar tunes from those shows.

n The Peabody?Historical Society is planning a tour of four historic homes on Saturday. Opening their homes are Ross Baker, 701 N. Walnut; Greg and Debi Stoner, 305 N.?Maple; Darren and Annette Weems, 306 Sycamore; and Alan and Diane Yock.

n The Schaeffler Open House drew about 100 guests to the historic Hillsboro home at Grand and Jefferson streets.

n Hillsboro High School basketball coaches Darrel Knoll and Becky Carlson were featured in the Free Press?s Winter Sports Spotlight issue. The pair create an unusual situation in Kansas high school sports: Both coaches have won 300 games at the same school. Knoll has 312 wins through 16 years at HHS and Carlson has 318 wins over 20 years. Each coach has taken a team to state 10 times.

Ten years ago

n Eighty-three riders and drivers?62 motorcycles, 21 cars?participated in the sixth Marion County Toy Run on Friday. The toys that were collected will go to deserving families in the county. A chili feed and auction at the Ameri?can Legion in Hillsboro after the run raised an additional $2,564.

n Well over 500 people turned out for a benefit supper for Shawn Winter of Hillsboro, who underwent brain surgery a month ago.

n Hillsboro and Marion high schools will have separate wrestling programs this winter after four years of having a united one. Last season, the combined program qualified eight athletes for state.

n The Hillsboro High School boys? and girls? teams were selected by league coaches to win their respective divisions in the Mid-Central Activities Association. Senior Tyson Ratzlaff and junior Grant Brubacher are expected to lead the boys, while Angela Kroeker and Heather Matz are returning starters for the girls.

n Marion was one of six sites around the country to host a regional competition under the True Valley/Jimmy Dean Country Showdown banner. A country band from El Dorado won the top prize and will proceed to the next level of competition.