August 9, 2017 News

Birthdays: August 9, Cindy Walker Canatella, Brian Harp; August 10, Maribeth Casey; August 11, Garrison Herdman, Jim Rein; August 12, Melissa Lamer, Marsha Healy, Dennis Walker, Kara Norlin; August 13, Michael Morgan, Ashleigh Allen, Paytyn Dimick; August 14, Matt Pfannenstiel, Brian Legleiter, Katherine P Kerney; August 15, Brooke McClelland.

Anniversaries: August 9, Flynn and Audra Holland; August 10, Frank and Sarah Foster, Chad and Tammy McAllastar, Mitchell and Robin Pfannenstiel; August 11, Seth and Jami Albers; August 16, Kevin and Janet Miller, Martin and Mary Higgins; August 13, John and Janice Stull, Pat and Jackie Casey, Nathan and Michelle Swanson; August 15, John and Janice Rein.

Happy 60th anniversary to Pat and Betty Keener

The wooden picture of the Jail/Museum donated by local artist Eric Scriven was raffled off. It was given away on Saturday of Rodeo Week. The winner was Phyllis Conrad of McCracken.

Jail/Museum donations: Blue and Gold Club, Gloria Blackwell, Mike, Susan and Shannon Keith, Tim, Maddie and Lily Rues, Myron and Deb Schuckman,

Memberships: Patricia Petz, Pat Derr, Dave and Carolyn Davenport, Jametta Basgall, Gloria Blackwell, Mike, Susan and Shannon Keith, Dale Elias, Arlyn and Jan North, Adelaide Mills, Myron and Deb Schuckman, Roberta Wierman, Robert Cheney, Rich and Linda Conrad..

Memorials: Danny Petz from Patricia Petz; Al Rues and Machree Jones from Arline Rues; Celly and Lenora Stremel and Lyle and Marjorie Davenport from Dave and Carolyn Davenport; Terry Peters and Norma Jean Heiser from Jametta Basgall; Elmer and Philena Baus from Gloria Blackwell, Ben Thompson from Mike, Susan and Shannon Keith; Francis and Katy Klee from Adelaide Mills; Francis Wierman from Roberta Wierman

Donations: Patricia Petz, Robert Cheney.

The donation for mowing at the Ramsey Cemetery from Mary Ann Tanking in memory of the Oscar Lindblom family was sent by the Museum to Dwayne Richardson of Brownell.

Congratulations to Virgil Windholz, Ness City, who received an award “Keeping Seniors in the Game” at the National Baseball Congress World Series in Wichita on Friday night. He is the father of Amy Jacobs.

An urn of Ben Thompson's ashes were interred at Hope Cemetery in San Diego, California on Saturday, July 22. Those attending were Mike and Susan Keith, Judy Dennis and Carolyn Thompson along with Shannon Keith on her phone.

Addie Mills visited with Evelyn Horlick Nickel at Hays recently.

Mike Karlin and Andy Hansen met Grandma Addie Mills at McDonalds in Hays for lunch last Saturday. Addie also visited with Norris and Darlene Cole in route home.

Ryan and Sarah Mills, Ben and Jackson, and Sarah's son Andrew of Maryville, Missouri were weekend guest of Danny and Marilyn Mills at Gorham. They were joined by Brandon and Addie Mills and Marilyn's brothers, Gene and Lee Mick and sister Rite Moritz and family members for a third birthday party of Ben and Jackson. Their tee-shirts read “I am Wild and Three”. A good time was had by all.

From Lynn Kochenower. The McCracken Trail Ride on Saturday of Rodeo Week was awesome. They had a beautiful place to ride on a beautiful day. The Keith, Thompson and Hugh family provided the use of their family ranch and a history about the ranch. Koozies of Yawger ranch were given to all the participants. The ranch was founded in 1901. The Albers family rents the ranch and provided a Taco salad for the lunch. Cheryl Conard provided the cookies and Mike Miller the smoked meats. John and Deanne Ficken put a lot of effort into the Trail Ride. There were people on horseback and on mules along with gators/rangers. Plans are to have the Trail Ride at the Yawger Ranch again next year and others have offered their adjoining pastures for the 2018 ride in canyons, open ranch, come see deer, pheasants and rattlers. Lynn had as her guests Gary, Bessie and Tanner for the weekend and Garrett stopped by as well.

(Melissa - Susan sent some pictures of the Trail Ride - did you get them?)

Anton Foust sang the National Anthem before the car races at the Rush County Fair on Friday. Mary Lovitt and Kelsey McCafferty, Wichita, spent Saturday/Sunday with Shirley Higgins.

Roy and Phyllis Conrad had received word that Agnes (Lillian Murphy) Chadwick had passed away on July 18, 2017 and was buried in Canon City, Colorado. She was born in Ellis, Kansas. She was a sister to Roy's Mom Mrs. Sylvester (Muriel) Conrad. She would have been 99 years old in September and when we talked to her some time ago; she told us that she was going to throw a big birthday party for her 100th. She will be celebrating her birthday with somebody else now.

Mitchell and Priscilla Jacobs motored to Wichita last weekend and visited with Jaden, Jenna and family in their new home in Cheney.

The Relay for Life dedicated The Rush County News and ‘Babe’ Gilbert at the softball tournament held in LaCrosse during the Fair. We all know the many things the News does for the county, ‘Babe’ played softball for State Farm Insurance. Those in attendance who played softball were Don Irvin, Dave Davenport, Kellye Irvin, Richard Showalter, Neal Jacobs, Les Rogers and bat boy, Brett Gilbert.

Jerry and Chuck Higgins attended funeral services for Jerry Sipes Friday in St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Kansas City, Kansas, returning home Saturday afternoon. They were guests of Jeff and Liz Jennings.

Brett Gilbert is a member of the softball traveling team ‘Gunny’s Gang’. They played in the Rush County Fair and were undefeated. They qualified to play at State in Hays.

1980 History Notes:

McCracken State Farm Insurance team participated in the USSSA Class D Invitational held in the Hutchinson this week. They lost their first game 5-2 and fought their way back through the loser’s bracket by winning their next eight games, earning them second place. In the tournament two players were honored, Don Irvin for tying for the most home runs and Jerry Higgins MVP. The McCracken Slo-pitch team entered the prestigious State tournament held in Hutchinson with a 14-2 record. They won the first three games, dropped the fourth, won the next two for the right to play in the championship game. They lost in the finals 14-3 which placed them second. Individual honors went to Les Rogers for tying for the most home runs. They finished the season with a 47-11 record, earning 8 trophies out of 8 attempts. Team members are Craig Cooper, Mike Conner, Steve Foreman, Chuck, Jerry, Rich and Doug Higgins, Don and Lonnie Irvin, Rod Taylor, Terry Peters, Ronnie Randa, Rich Showalter, Brad Lovitt, Dave Davenport and Jim Rein. Sponsor Diz Washaliski; The Foster Brothers Band furnished the music at the third annual McGaughey-Ryan-Zeller Pig Roast Sunday afternoon and evening. Members of the band are Bob Foster, Larry Fatchel, Kenneth and Frank Foster. Over 500 people attended the end of summer event which featured 4 barbecued pigs and the always popular beer truck. Money raised went toward muscular dystrophy; First grade class members are Gary Anderson, Jarrod Carr, Lanny Morgan, Mamie Rogers, Michael Seltmann, Todd Sewell; kindergarten Bobby Bearly, Rebecca Halbleib, Nathan Showalter, Matthew Seltmann and Brian Harp; MHS girls defeated Hanston, Ingalls and Jetmore on Saturday winning 4 matches in 8 games. High scorer was Janet Conner, leading spiker Sandy Taylor and designated setter Kayla Higgins.


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Patricia Petz

After a fun-filled week staying with Grandma Pat, it was time to take Drake Timson, my grandson, back to McPherson last Friday afternoon.  However, there was a lot of excitement in the air once we arrived, because we were headed to Branson, Missouri early Saturday morning.  Dan and I had purchased a timeshare a few years before he passed away, unfortunately, we were never able to use it.  So I decided that it was time to share it with my family.  The Timson's and I arrived at the Stormy Point Resort Saturday evening.  After we unloaded our things, we met up with some friends from McPherson at Branson Landing for supper. The light show at Branson Landing was amazing! 

The whole day of Sunday was spent at Silver Dollar City.  Everyone, especially the boys had a fun time on the rides.  That evening Silver Dollar City had their last fireworks display for the month of July and it was amazing!  Needless to say it was very late when we arrived back to our cottage.  

Most of Monday was spent on a pontoon boat and tubing on Table Rock Lake.  Trent was very lucky getting a boat, because there a cancellation just as he was requesting a boat.  Believe it or not, I even tried tubing for the first time in my life.  It was a lot of fun, but I got tired of holding on very quickly.  That evening, the boys were ready for some more rides so we got tickets for "The Track" Family Fun Parks. Everyone had a fun time on the go-carts and the bumper boats. 

The highlight of Tuesday was the Showboat Branson Belle Cruise. The "ShowMen and Cassandre'" took to the stage with songs and dancing while the footwork of "Rhythm" entertained us with the fastest feet west of the Mississippi River. During our three-course meal there was a magical comedy presentation by Christopher James.  During the intermission, we were able to enjoy the beautiful Ozark mountains as we traveled along the waters of Table Rock Lake.  

Of course we had to return to "The Track" Tuesday evening.  There were many more rides that the kids wanted to ride on, especially the Lumber Jack Wooden Track, and the Wild Woody Wooden track; however the ride that I wanted to go on was the Branson Ferris Wheel.  It stood 150 feet tall, had 40 gondolas, and was equipped with 16,000 LED lights and in the evening it was synchronized to music.  It was just beautiful to see the city from way up high. 

We had a refreshing and relaxing day on Wednesday as we traveled to "White Water," a 13-acre water park filled with exciting things to do throughout the park.  I enjoyed grabbing a tube on the Aloha River while it twisted and turned you through a tropical ride.  The "Wave" was another fun pool that held a half-million gallon pool of water with periodic waves sending you on a splash of fun!  Wednesday evening we attended the well known "Dixie Stampede."

The excitement began as we strolled the beautiful Horse Walk to see the beautiful variety of horse breeds. As we stepped inside the 35,000 sq. ft. arena, we enjoyed a delicious four course meal as we watched the wagon trains of high-spirited settlers, saw buffalo stampede, and witnessed Native American legends as they came to life in an aerial exhibition of skill and daring. Dolly Parton sure does know how to through a fun evening of entertainment! To my amazement, my grandson, Tyler who is 17, had no idea who Dolly Parton was!  Ouch! 

Since we had a three-day pass, we were able to go back to "White Water" for some more fun in the water Thursday morning and afternoon.  That evening we attended the "Hamner's Unbelievable Variety Show.  This show featured amazing feats of magic, edge-of-your-seat acrobatics, an aerialist, dancers, and vocalists.  Hamner, an illusionist, suspended his wife 15 feet above a table of deadly spikes, as we all watched in astonishment.  A very good show to see. My grandson, Drake, thinks it would be awesome to be a magician, so he bought a magic kit to start  practicing with. 

Friday was our last day and probably the most exciting day in Branson.  In the afternoon we went to "Professor Hacker's Lost Treasure Golf." We had a fun time playing 18 holes of miniature golf through a treasure mine.  Next, we went to the beautiful production of "Moses."  This production is like none other that you will ever see.  The cast was spectacular, the sound effects and the staging was unbelievable. The panoramic stage is filled with amazing sets, and live animals circulate throughout the performance on stage as well as down the aisles.  The story begins as Moses is set adrift as a baby and continues to the depths of the Red Sea to the mountaintop where Moses receives the 10 Commandments.  This production is well worth seeing the next time you plan a trip to Branson. Later that evening, we attended the "Incredible Acrobats of China" at the Yakov's theatre.  These young people performed many daring feats of human strength and beauty.  There was jumping through hoops, juggling with straw hats, balancing and catching bowls on a unicycle, aerialists, tumbling, and gymnastics that was unbelievable. A unique production to end our trip on. 

I must say that this was one of the nicest trips to Branson that I have been on.  The shows were outstanding, the weather was awesome, and being with part of the family was something that I will always treasure!