February 13, 2019 News

Birthdays: February 13, Seth Albers; February 14, Kathleen Thomas; February 15, Jana Herdman; February 16, Adelaide Mills, Sheila Desbien, Katherine Casey, Alex Casey, Clayton Sewell, Charmaine Wolfe;February 17, Tom Rues, Abigail North; February 18, Carl Legleiter; February 19, Greg Buster, James Slemp, John Horesky
Anniversaries: February 14, Dave and Carolyn Davenport;; February 16, Bruce and Ellen Kershner; February 18, LeRoy and Jean Herdman.

Happy Valentine's Day, February 14. You've always been a friend so fine, Will you be my Valentine?.

Lucy and Julius Unrein hosted a dinner for friends on Sunday at their home in Hays. Guests were LeRoy Schuckman and Marge Rome of Hays, Pat Derr, Shirley Higgins, Babe and Arlene Gilbert and Carolyn Thompson of McCracken. After dinner they played the Nine Hole Golf card game.

Bleeding Kansas Program Series 2019 Sunday, February 24, at Lecompton will feature Dr. Carl Graves, historian and educator of “The Battle of Mine Creek, Border War Brutality” at 2.00 p.m

The crowd at the Death by Chocolate event at the City Building was enjoyed by all.

From the Early Day Kanas book by Bliss Isley there is a story of the little girl who saved the children of the Wichita Indians from smallpox. Nannie Hutchins was six years old when the Indians fell ill with smallpox. She had recently been vaccinated. A doctor came to her mother and asked if Nannie could go with him so he could use her vaccination to put on the arms of the Indian children. He begged her mother to let her go with him and she said “I will be glad to go; I do not want the little Indian children to die. Nannie stayed with the white people at the Indian Agency. Her return home was delayed because of raids, so they kept her for five weeks. She was treated each day with chocolate and the women made her rag dolls. In gratitude for saving the children the Wichitas and the Delawares would not fight against the white people

In a personal story, my grandmother Tracy and her sister Lydia went to a dance one Saturday night in Russell County. They danced with a fellow who came down with smallpox. They went immediately to the doctor and got vaccinated. My grandmother and her sister got into a tussle and she shoved Lydia into a barbed wire fence. It scratched her vaccination and it spread it down her arm. She had a scar from that the rest of her life.

The McCracken Library's Valentine Story Time will be held Saturday, Feb. 16th at 10 am. Be sure to join!

Thanks to everyone who came out filled up on spaghetti and chocolate at the McCracken Public Library's Death by Chocolate fundraiser. We could not have done it without all the great desserts community members brought. We served a little over 40 people and netted a little over $400. Thank you to those who were unable to attend but still dropped off a donation. Small community Big hearts! A HUGE shout out and thank you to Don Doornbos who stayed after and washed dishes!!

Fred Lohrey called Shirley Sunday and told her about the web site” Sew Loved Quilts,” Huck Boyd Institute for Rural Development presented the site. It features Ronn and Laura North Martin moving back to Elkhart, Kansas from the Dallas-Ft. Worth area. Laura is the daughter of Arlyn and Jan Eisenhour North. Please check out the web site.

Our sympathy to the family of James “Jim” Hanson who died February 6, 2019 at the Western Plains Medical Compex in Dodge City. He was born October 21, 1939 in McCracken, the son of John and Tacy (Moody) Hanson. He married Barbara Scott in 1965, she preceded him in death, April 23, 2008. He married Dorothy Raub October 15, 1916. Survivors are his wife, a son and daughter, two step children; a brother, six grandchildren and numerous step grandchildren.

James Kenyon, the author about school closings from Iowa formerly from Bogue, leaves for Alaska in 2 weeks to act as a veterinarian for the Iditarod 1000 mile dog race. This will be his seventh year to take on this volunteer gig.

History Notes:

February 1947: Rush County still has nearly two hundred men in uniform; McCracken Grade School Midgets won a game from Ransom with a score of 35-9; Schoenchen high school defeated McCracken 40-22 at Schoenchen, players were Jim Higgins, Don Greenway, Warren Irvin, John Elmore and Richard Shiney; MHS B team won over Alexander B Team 26-20. Players were Wayne Irvin, Tony Schlitter, William Spomer, Julius Unrein and Calvin Wilson; McCracken patrons voted for school board members Lloyd VanWinkle, Glen Gordon and Sylvester Scheideman; a budget calling for expenditures of $37,900 for operation of both grade and high school was adopted; Alexander High School won a baseball game from McCracken Friday, 3 to 1 in seven innings. Jim Higgins, McCracken pitcher struck out 11 and allowed five hits; Ural Thompson, pitcher for Alexander, struck out 11 and allowed two hits; 8th grade graduates from Thistle Grove School are Sylvester McCormick and Caroline Klee; A pot-luck supper honoring the 7th and 8th grade basketball team was held in the basement of the UB Church and was attended by the teachers, pupils and parents, around 80 in all.


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Patricia Petz:

I simply love watching movies in the evenings, however, on Monday nights, you won't find me watching anything else, but "America's Got Talent!" For the past five weeks, this show has had the most amazing talent presented from around the world. This coming Monday, the "Champion of Champions" will be picked and I can hardly wait to see who will be picked.  I can only imagine how difficult it will be for the judges to pick only one winner! 

The weather this week has been quite unreal, however I was able to make it to Hays and spend a delightful evening with two of my grandchildren, Kallynn and Kameron Petz on Tuesday evening.  The kids decided that they wanted to eat at Old Chicago and we each chose a different meal and we thought they were all very good. Then we were off to FHSU to be entertained by some very famous players.

Basketball is one of my favorite sports to watch.  Although I haven't been able to make it to too many local games this year, Kallynn, Kameron, and I were able to make it to the 2019 Fan Powered World Tour of the Harlem Globetrotters on Tuesday evening.  Abe Saperstein founded the team in 1926, and they played their first road game in Hinckley, Illinois on January 7, 1927.  Since then, the Globetrotters have entertained more than 148 million fans in 123 countries worldwide.  Many of their teammates have played for other national known teams.  Nathaniel "Sweetwater" Clifton became the first African-American player to sign an NBA contract, joining the famed New York Knicks in 1950.  Wilt Chamberlain also played for the team in 1958-59.  In 1985, Olympic Gold Medalist Lynette Woodard joined the Globetrotters, becoming the first female to ever play on a men's pro basketball team.  Former player Mannie Jackson purchased the team in 1993, becoming the first African-American to own a major international sports and entertainment organization.  The team confirmed their standing as one of the world's most influential basketball teams in 2002, receiving the sport's highest honor with induction into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. Today, the team is owned by the Herschend Family Entertainment, the largest family-owned attraction company in the U.S. What an evening of slam dunking, fast breaks, and unbelievable skills! 

Wednesday, February 7th, marked the fifth year of Danny's death.  It doesn't seem possible that he's been gone that long.  His children, family, friends, and I miss him very much. Maybe one day, our world will conquer the disease of cancer! 

Saturday evening the Mc Cracken Library sponsored a delicious spaghetti supper including many tables filled with chocolate deserts.  Everyone enjoyed the meal along with visiting  with many friends. 

Sunday's mass was in honor of Danny.  So, it was nice that many people were there to pray for him.  After church, I went to mom's house and took lunch along with me.  She is still not feeling well, so please say some prayers for her.  After lunch I went to Hays to pick up some things and then later went to Ellis to visit with my mother-in-law, Dolores Petz  to wish her an early Happy Valentine's Day. She is doing well and said to tell everyone hi.