April 11, 2018 News

Birthdays: April 11, Galen Oelkers; April12, Rose Diehl, Dave Albers, Dominic Weskamp; April13, Rachel Wills, Mike Legleiter, Tyler Chestnut, Tyler Timson; April 14, Trent Timson; April 15, Mary Zeller Higgins; April16, Jeanette Rogers, Kelsi Tomlinson; April 17,Jan North, Callin Nederland, Roberta Wierman, Diana Wheat.

Anniversaries: April 12, Randy and Sheri Mills; April13, Jared and Stacy Scheetz.

Roxene went to McPherson to bring June Bell to McCracken for Easter weekend. They attended church at the Methodist Church and in the afternoon held a reception for June at the church.

There are to be two very warm days this week. I hope the rain keeps coming but the cold can go away.

Carolyn attended mass in Topeka over the weekend. Who should stop by and say hello was Marilyn Sommers. She and George were at the same mass.

Our sympathy to Cathie, Lauren and Jessica Shapiro on the death of their husband and father, Martin Shapiro of Sacramento, California. Cathie and girls arrived “home” to McCracken Tuesday – Friday. No matter how small our village, it is always ‘home’.

Kaitlyn and Nettie Chestnut were house guests of Bruce and Ellen Kershner recently. They attended the McCracken Methodist Church on Sunday, visited with Bob House and Addie Mills Monday, also enjoyed meals with Cheryl and Allen Werth and family in Hays, Bruce and Sue Davis with Brian and Annabelle Davis, Ellen Kershner, Bob House and Addie Mills. Kaitlyn was on spring break from Auburn University.

Get your calendars out! The McCracken Public Library has a lot coming up. May 5th to celebrate Cinco de Mayo there will be a taco supper at the Community Building from 6-8 p.m. Libraries Rock! the summer reading program for kids will be held on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays, May 22,23,24 and May 29, 30, 31st 10:00-11:00 a.m. There will be games, crafts, snacks and prizes! June 30th will be the opening of a new traveling exhibit titled 'Trading on the Santa Fe Trail'.

Edris Purdue and granddaughter Chiloe, Christenberg, VA were house guests this week of Addie Mills. Edris is a sister of Erik Gifford who was Addie’s son in law. They visited the zoo in Wichita, Quivera Wildlife Refuge, Cheyenne Bottoms, Boot Hill Museum and all the old time sites in Dodge City.

Gary and Susan Rebel arrived home the coldest day of ‘winter’, Friday, April 6. It is good to have our ‘fearless’ leader back for book club.

Book Club is up and going again. Always a good way to discover new books and authors. Meetings are every Tuesday night at 7:00. Coffee Chat is a great time to see old and new friends on the 2nd Monday at 2:00. The public is always welcome to the library's board meetings the 3rd Monday of each month at 7:00. Kids, don't forget, Cat has the video games up and running came in and play, or kick back and watch a movie!

Jerry recorded an alumni basketball game in 1985 at the McCracken gym, both youngsters and old timers. The one we watched was the youngsters....Players were Mark Baus, Joe Conner, Lonnie Irvin, Jerry Higgins, Mike Stull, Mark McCKormick, Les Rogers, Chad Herdman, Dale Swindler, John brack, Neil Jacobs, Shawn Baus, Layne Morgan, Chris Jones, Kellye Irvin, Doug Elias and Chuck Higgins. They were divided into the Blue team and White team. Jimmy Cole was the announcer and reported there was a capacity crowd of 2,198 spectators. The alumni band played but the camera did show who. Referees were Terry Musil and Jeff McCormick. Dave Davenport and Harold Herdman were score keepers.

The McCracken Public Library is currently looking for sponsors to support a family friendly program presented by Priscilla Howe, professional storyteller/puppeteer, from Lawrence; following the program an ice cream sundae party is planned. Donations may be sent to the McCracken Public Library at P.O. Box 125 McCracken. Thank you for your support.

The David Osborne Trio performed at the Golden Belt Community Concert Ass’n Saturday evening in Great Bend. Those enjoying the concert were Pat and Terry Miller, Shirley Higgins, Jean Oelkers, Pat and Fred Lohrey, Paul and Dorothy Moran. David is a native of Miami, OK, began playing by ear at the age of four in church and in his grandmother’s house. He continues his eighteen-year run on the Vegas Strip.Carolyn and I heard from our friend, Mary Jane Kamieniecki from Manning, Canada, she and her husband are farmers and are struggling as we are. It is dry, barley was $4 and wheat $6, she hoped the grasshoppers did not come this year. She goes to a heart specialist doctor and they drive 8-9 hours for the checkup. They have to watch the roads carefully for a moose or deer near the highway. Sounds familiar.

Cathie, Lauren and Jessica Shapiro, Roxene Fletcher and Shirley Higgins motored to Great Bend and Ellinwood Thursday where they had lunch at the Kiowa Kitchen, toured Ellinwood where they saw the house where Martin Shapiro lived and the hospital while ‘doctoring’ in Ellinwood, went to the library where they looked at micro-film and read where Martin came to Ellinwood to be their doctor, toured the Wolfe Hotel, the rooms for rent and the underground tunnel. Friday morning Shirley opened the museum for Cathie, Lauren and Jessica. They really enjoyed all the pictures and write ups of the “Boys of Summer.”


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Patricia Petz:

Brrr!  Even though it's suppose to be spring, it definitely feels like winter is hanging on longer than it should.  This past week has been cold, windy, snowy, and has given us even a dash of rainfall!  We still need lots of moisture for the crops, but the rest of the weather can turn into spring any time, as far as I am concerned!  

Monday afternoon, Vicky Foos, Mary Steitz, and I made a trip to Hays to see "I Can Only Imagine" at the AMC Theatre.  The film is based on the untold true story of the multi-platinum song that has inspired millions.  It brings to life the story behind the song of ultimate hope.  "I Can Only Imagine" shares a  transformed relationship with his father (Dennis Quaid) inspired Burt Millard (J. Michael Finley), the lead singer of the Christian band "Mercy Me," to write what is now the most-played radio single in Christian music history.  The story beautifully illustrates that nobody is ever too far from God's love - or too far from an eternal home in Heaven.  If you have not seen this movie, we would highly recommend it.  After the movie, we went to Applebee's for a nice supper before returning home. 

I have had an amazing week!  My days were filled with subbing at the Elementary building on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday and I was blessed to have many enjoyable evenings of entertainment.  Wednesday evening, mom and I attended the Divine Mercy rosary at St. Michael's Church and then we listened to a presentation on the history of the Divine Mercy picture and the "Chaplet of the Divine Mercy" prayer by Judy Hoffman at the Parish Center.  

On April 5th, 1995, Dan and I were blessed with our first grandchild, Nicholas Petz.  I had to wish him a very "Happy Birthday" first thing on Thursday as he turned 23 years old.  After subbing with the second grade, mom and I headed to Hays to have some delicious fried chicken at JD's.  Then we were off to FHSU to watch the production of "William Shakespeare's Long Lost First Play."  The whole performance was completed by three men who did an outstanding job in performing their parts, their costuming, and their jokes.  

Most generally, I always wanted to take the day off on my birthday, however, it was fun to sub on Friday and receive all of the birthday greetings from my former students.  Usually, they would always ask how old I was, but they didn't this year, so I'll just have to have you guess my age!  After school, I had to pick up my tax forms (that most of us dread having to do), and then I picked up my mom and we were off to Dodge City.  Dan and I had always enjoyed watching the ventriloquist and comedian, Jeff Dunham on T.V.,  and so I decided to purchase some tickets at the United Wireless Arena, for my birthday present.  It appeared to be a packed house to the "Jeff Dunham Passively Aggressive" performance.   The show began with the hilarious "Peanut" puppet and continued with Bubba J, Walter, Achmed the Dead Terrorist, Jose Jalapeno on a Stick, and his new political puppet.  The night was filled with fun and laughter.  After that awesome performance, mom and I had to spend a little time at the Boot Hill Casino. Neither of us are very lucky when it comes to gambling, so after a few spins we were off to the Hotel.  

We were definitely tired, so a little bit of extra sleep came in handy Saturday morning.  Mom loves pancakes so we had brunch at the I-Hop.  We made a call to wish my Godmother, Rita Liggett, a very "Happy Birthday."  Then we had just enough time to make it to Hays to listen to the "50th Anniversary Show" of the Hays High Plains Barbershop Chorus and Quartets held at the Beech-Schmidt Performing Arts Center. Also performing were "Vocal Spectrum,"  2006 International Quartet Champions, and "Instant Classic," 2015 International Quartet Champions.  These men are outstanding singers and presented an excellent performance to the audience.  After the show, mom and I did a small amount of shopping and then ended our evening at the Pizza Hut. 

Sunday, was very hard to get out of bed, as both mom and I were extremely tired!  But, off to church we went.  After church we had lunch at Tracy's and then I was off to the farm.  Later that afternoon, I visited with Dolores Petz, my mother-in-law.  We had a nice visit and the rest of my evening was spent making more rosaries as we will be meeting next week!  Again, I had an exciting week, as I celebrated my birthday.  I hope all of you enjoy this next week to the fullest!