Gertrude “Trudy” E. Durgans, age 83, died Wednesday, Dec. 2, at Friends Care Community in Yellow Springs. She was born Dec. 7, 1925, in Chicago, Ill., the daughter of the late William Henry Sr., and Cleola Rodgers Durgans.

Playing mostly for the fun of the game in their season opener on Friday, Dec. 4, the Bulldog boys basketball team mowed down the Mechanicsburg Indians 61–48. The home crowd cheered on this year’s team, which includes eight seniors, six of them returning, whose bulk and spirit promise a competitive and entertaining winter on the court.

Yellow Springs High School students Will Turner and Sady Sparks, left, cut down the last tree of the School Forest camp-out weekend for Sady’s mom, Sarah Strong, on Sunday, Dec. 6. This year’s foresters sold nearly 140 5–9-foot scotch pines and grossed over $4,000, more than the group has ever made on the weekend. The School Forest program started raising evergreen saplings in the spring of 1947 and began selling Christmas trees to the community in the winter of 1948.

Copies of this and other photographs may be purchased from the News; please contact us via e-mail at ysnews@ysnews.com, or by phone, between 9:30 a.m. and 5: 30 p.m., Mon.–Fri.

William Michael Traylor died Sunday, Nov. 22. He was 26 years of age.

Born at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, he was the eldest son of Latondra Traylor and William Milton Clay. He was the first grandchild in his family to graduate with a bachelors degree, which he received in May from Central State University, magna cum laude.

Deborah Lee Benning of Yellow Springs died Nov. 24, after a courageous battle with cancer, surrounded by her family. She was 62.

Deborah was born Sep. 12, 1947. She was a fixture in the community and an active participant in a number of civic activities. She was clerk for the Yellow Springs Council for 17 years. Deborah’s tenure at the Village completes 200 years of service by the Benning family, who first arrived in Yellow Springs in 1864.

Yellow Springs resident Carolion died peacefully in her home on Wednesday, Nov. 18. She was 62. Born Caroline Elizabeth Welton April 24, 1947 in Cambridge, Mass., she was the second of four children by Jean and Theodore Welton. Carolion spent her childhood in Oak Ridge, Tenn. where she developed her skills as a young musician […]

Basketball begins: the Bulldog basketball program will host “Meet the Teams Night” this Saturday, Nov. 28, at 6 p.m. in the Yellow Springs High School gym. Alumni open basketball tourney: the annual Yellow Springs High School alumni basketball tournament will take place Saturday and Sunday, Dec. 26 and 27, at the high school.

A service in memory of Jim Kitzmiller will be held on Sunday, Dec. 6, from 2–4 p.m. at Clifton Reserve Lodge on South River Road.

The memorial service for Melvin Fine will be held Monday, Nov. 23 at 7 p.m. in the Glen Helen Building.