May 1, 2019 News

Birthdays: May 1, Steve Sloan; May 2, Bill Baus, Brenda Legleiter; May 3 Lauren Sewell; May 4, Carolyn Davenport, Edgar Schadel, Susan Walker, Quade Keener, Reese Higgins; May 5, Michelle Yohe, Janice McCloy, Brandi LaFond, Kate Rues; May 6, Rianne Showalter; May 7, Reed Blackwell, Maggie Showalter.

No Anniversaries.

Aubrey Cook, soprano, presented her Senior Recital at the University United Methodist Church in Salina, Kansas, on Sunday afternoon April 28. She is graduating from Kansas Wesleyan University in May. A reception followed the recital. Friends attending were Roxie Thornburg, Carolyn Thompson, Mike and Susan Keith and Shannon Keith and Brett Christianson

TRIVIA; The Bald Eagle migrate from Canada to Kansas during the winter. They soar on their 6-8 foot wing span at a cruise rate of 20-40 mph They can dive at a speed of 100 mph.

The red-tailed Hawk is found extensively throughout the State of Kansas.

The Flint Hills is an area about 50 miles wide. It is the only extensive unplowed tract of bluestem or true prairie remaining in the United States.

The pawpaw tree was called “assimin” by the Plains Indians. They ate its fruit which was similar to a banana. It's tough and fibrous bark was used for making cloth and cord.

Bob and Marlene Funk hosted the Wilson Easter on a beautiful Sunday. After attending church the Funk girls, spouses and grandkids had to find their Easter baskets. Those attending were Shari Funk, Jeff and Anita Butler, Ursula Pohlman, Mike and Kelly Weber with Mason, Levi White and girlfriend Rachel Harris, Mike's mom Judy Weber, Brandt, Haily and Cal Rogers, Verlene Wilson, Bryan and Treva Bergquist, Babe and Arlene Gilbert, and Brett Gilbert. All agreed it was a nice relaxing day.

I won a KAKE TV umbrella this past week. The nice thing about it.....I received a phone call from my cousin, Pat McGuigan Clements, Wichita. Tammy sent in my name, she won a KAKE umbrella a couple of weeks ago.

Celebrate Cinco de Mayo a day early with the McCracken Public Library May 4th at 6 pm in the City Building. We'll be serving hard and soft tacos and more. Desserts too!! Free Will offering.

Zach Higgins and the rest of his bowling crew bowled in a tournament in Lawrence and Topeka, they didn’t bowl so well but had a GREAT time!!!

Kids, mark your calendars for McCracken Summer Reading A Universe of Stories May 21-23rd and 28th-30 10 am at the library. We'll be exploring the constellations and the legends behind them. pam from the Kansas Wetlands Education Center will be back Thursday the 30th-you don't want to miss her!

Anita Butler recently attended the K-96 Corridor Meeting in Scott City. This is an ad hoc committee consisting of representatives from Lane, Ness, Wichita, Rush, Greeley and Scott counties. Members include those in economic development, chamber of commerce, law enforcement, city council , business people and a representative from Senator Jerry Moran's office. Many topics are discussed and shared: quality of life, grant opportunities, workforce, community growth, and safety. The April 22nd meeting consisted of guest speaker, Jennifer White from Wichita representing ICT SOS End Human Trafficking. She was extremely informative. One of the things that struck a note with many was the average age of trafficked people is 12! Jennifer stressed teaching internet safety as we would drivers ed. She went on to say that 13% of 2nd and 3rd graders had communicated with strangers on- line. Popular games kids play on line like Fortnite and Roadblock have messaging capability. However kids can also play an important role in slowing down and possibly capturing online predators by simply hitting the Report button when messaged by a stranger. Currently people holding CDLs, hotel/motel employees and travel center employees are trained in spotting and reporting human trafficking. If you think you know or have seen a suspicious activity/relationship you can call the national hotline 1-888-373-7888 to report. Rush county is in need of 2 more representatives, meetings are held every 3 months with the next one being in Dighton in July. If you are interested in learning more about the K-96 Corridor Committee contact Kara Jecha at Golden Belt Telephone 785-372-4236 or email kjecha@gbtlive.com.

History Notes:

June 1951: The Cedar Bluff Dam dedication will be held Sunday with boat races, speeches by visiting dignitaries, banquets, band music and a dance are all on the program for the dedication Saturday and Sunday. More than 40,000 people are expected to attend the celebration. Construction started April 1, 1949. The dam is full of water. It is an earth-fill structure 12,560 feet long, rises 134 feet above the streambed and is 202 feet above its lowest foundation. Total capacity of the reservoir is 373,850 acre-feet; congratulations to Mr. and Mrs. Wilfrid Higgins on the birth of a son born June 11, 1951 at St. Anthony’s in Hays. His name is Richard Allen; rural grade school teachers are needed for next year at Brown School, located 10 miles northeast of Mc on sanded and hard surfaced roads, modern building, 7 to 10 pupils; teachers may board in community, salary $250 to $300 per month;Pleasant Point, Located six miles south of Nekoma, 7 to 10 pupils, salary the same as Brown School; Green Valley, located one mile south of Liebenthal, 7 to 10 pupils, salary the same as Brown and Pleasant Point; Mr. and Mrs. Sylvester Scheideman and daughters, LuAnne and Karen left Saturday evening for Colorado Springs where they will make their home, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Black and Mrs. Faye Edwards have moved into the house vacated by the Scheideman’s (now owned by the Zeller family).

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Patricia Petz:

Tuesday evening was AMAZING!  Students from La Crosse High School received so many honors and awards at their special 2019 Awards ceremony. The sixth annual Danny J. Petz FFA Memorial Scholarship was presented to Garrison Herdman, son of Trenton and Jana Herdman of Rush Center. He is planning on attending Pratt Community College and major in Automotive Power Technology.  Later, he wants to open his own mechanic shop and help serve the people of Rush county. The second annual Patricia Petz Teacher Educator's Scholarship was given to Garrett Holopirek, son of Jay and Heidi Holopirek of La Crosse.  Garrett plans to attend Kansas University and major in the medical field working in pediatrics.  As a back up plan he wants to become a teacher for residents wanting to become doctors or a high school or college professor.  I'm wishing the best to both of these fine young men.  

Wednesday was a fun day subbing at the High School in the Art department.  Most of the students were finishing up their final projects for the end of the year. 

I left late Thursday afternoon for Lyons where I set up for the Great Plains Women's Expo at the Community Center.  What a fantastic building to have events held in.  After setting up, I headed to McPherson to stay with my daughter's family. I was able to visit and play with my grandchildren, Drake and Grant, before we settled in for the night. 

I needed to leave early Friday morning for the event in Lyons.  That evening I returned to McPherson to help my daughter.  They are moving into a home
in the country, so the overwhelming task of loading and unloading will be taking place for the next couple of weeks. 

I left McPherson early on Saturday morning to head back to Lyons.  After the show I returned home really exhausted.

Sunday morning, mom and I attended mass at St. Michael's and then we had lunch in Hays at JD's.  Our mission for the afternoon was to see the movie, "Breakthrough." It was an extremely emotional movie, but a very good one to remind everyone that God does exist and that miracles do happen. This is a movie that I would highly recommend for everyone to see, but be sure to take along a lot of tissues!