August 15, 2018 News

Birthdays: August 15, Brooke McClelland; August 16, Kari Groff, Ann Schutte, Tena Barber, Gary Anderson, Leslie Underwood, Hattie Enslow, Silas Albers; August 17, Megan Janke, Sharla Albers; August 18, Chuck Lamer; August 19, Ann Baus, Robin Pfannenstiel, Kerry Desbein, Samuel Hurt; August 20, Pam Seltman, Carl Rosenlund, Nicole Tacha; August 21, Angela Morgan, Ursula Butler, Brandt Rogers.

Anniversaries: August 15, Ron and Jani ce Rein; August 18, Kyan and Sarah Knight; August 19, Jake and Kathy Tomlinson.

The McCracken Jail/Museum has received a generous donation from the Bison State Bank.

Mark your calendar for Howard Barnard Day on Saturday, September 15 at the Museum Complex in LaCrosse. We will be there with Dr. Allen Miller's book about Mr. Barnard entitled “Yankee on the Prairie”

On Sunday morning the sun was red due to the forest fires in California. It was like a setting sun.

Kansas Fact:

Napoleon Boone was the first white child born in Kansas. His birthday was August 22, 1828. His father, Daniel Morgan Boone was the only farmer in Kansas. He had come to Kansas to teach Indians farming. The nearest neighbor was White Plume, chief of the Kanzas Indians. White Plume brought the baby a present of a buffalo robe, a necklace of elk's teeth and an eagle feather painted red. The buffalo robe was soft as chamois skin. His wife brought colored moccasins made of fawn's skin. Mr. Boone's house was made of logs plastered with lime. His fireplace was of stone. He built a rail fence around the farm. Mrs. Boone made clothing of wool. She spun the wool into cloth on her spinning wheel. Mr. Boones coat and trousers were made of deer skin.Candles were the only kind of lamps they had. Napoleon's grandfather was Daniel Boone, one of the first white men in Kentucky. He lived in Missouri and he and his sons came to Kansas to hunt and trap. Napoleon had many playmates for he he was the youngest of 12 children. The rest of the children had been born in Missouri. From “Early Days in Kansas” by Bliss Isely

Jeff and Anita Butler enjoyed their 3rd annual Thanksgiving at Lovewell Lake in July. Turkey, mashed potatoes, pumpkin bread, cantaloupe and watermelon was enjoyed on Saturday night. Cabins were rented, boating, swimming, yard games and of course fishing were on the agenda. Lovewell was chosen as the meeting place as Jeff and his brothers practically grew up there-always fun to hear them share their adventures. This year there were 19 adults and 8 kids (7 under the age of 4!) a good time for all. Everyone is already looking forward to next year.

Dennis Shell, Clinton Swan, John Upton and John Paulakovich, Kansas City, were week-end visitors at their home in McCracken playing golf and attending the Timken Firemen Picnic.

The McCracken Public Library had their Summer Reading drawing held July 31st, Camyrn Anderson was the winner of the Kindle Fire. Sadye Anderson, Owen Keener and Tenley Wittman, Bazine, were the winners of an Amazon gift card. Summer readers were given a reading log and for every 15 minutes they read they were entered in the drawing. A big thank you to the Dollar General Literacy Grant and Second Chance thrift shop for their support.

Sunday, August 19, beginning at 8:30 a.m. there will be a 3 person scramble, $75.00 per team held at the McCracken Golf Club. Weather permitting on all tournaments. We will make all weather decisions at the time of the tournament. $$Prizes on all tournaments, amount depends on number of golfers.

The Hoisington softball team of Zach, Danton, Kenton, Jordan, Brady, Bryant, Kyra, Marisa, Mykala, and Laura played in the Bazine Picnic softball tournament this weekend. There were 14 teams entered, I know the team of Chris Irvin was there from Scott City. The Hoisington team won 3 and lost 2. Chris Irvin’s team placed first. We would like to give a round of applause to the community of Bazine, they really know how to put on a picnic and their fireworks display was one to match those of larger communities. Talk about small home town entertainment, this one was number 1.

Alexander Volunteer Fire Department will sponsor a benefit golf tournament at the McCracken Golf Course, Sunday August 25 beginning at 9:30 a.m. with check in time at 9 a.m. The tournament is a 4 person scramble, $100 per team, house rules and prizes, a shot gun start. There will be door prizes, and a FREE WILL lunch will be served.

The Sons of the American Legion will hold a dinner at the American Legion Building, Sunday, August 25, beginning at 6:30 p.m.

We wish Addie at KU in Lawrence; Emma at Emporia State in Emporia; and Lexi at Barton County Community College in Great Bend that their school year gets off to a great start.

Jerry and Jodi Higgins ‘ran into’ Steve and Nadine Foreman last Sunday and had a great visit of over an hour. It had been several years since they had seen one another.

History Notes: August 1989:

David Moran has accepted a Florence Pha Robinson scholarship from Ft. Hays State for the 1989-1990 academic year. He plans to major in pre-pharmacy; Earl Saunders Sr., died August 24th; Kayla Diane was born August 3rd to Kellye and Sandy Irvin; Janet Conner and Kevin Miller were united in marriage in St. Michaels Church August 12 in LaCrosse; September 1989: Henry Joseph Elias died September 13. He was the son of Charles and Amelia Adams Pugh Elias; Elmer Skillett died September 16. Sue Skillett Davis is a granddaughter; McCracken New Era Club members Drewie McGaughey, Jolene Brackney, Joy Hunter, Ruth Crawshaw, Charlotte Fluharty, Mamie Crawshaw, Addie Mills and Jeanette Rogers enjoyed a visit to the Cosmosphere in Hutchinson on Monday. Cecil A. Tomlinson died September 28. Survivors include sons Cecil (Tom) and Gerald (Jake) Tomlinson and daughter Marckette Piersall. October 1989: Avery and Lorraine Norlin returned home from a National Narrow Gauge meeting; fiber optic cable is being installed for the Golden Belt Telephone Company; John and Tammy Horesky are parents of a son, Cameron Charles born October 10, weighing 9lb-8oz.; Kayla Higgins and John Tacha were married October 14 in Hays with Fr. Brad Starrett officiating.


----------------------------

Patricia Petz:

I had planned to visit with my mother-in-law, Dolores Petz, on Wednesday morning.  Unfortunately when I arrived, she was planning to head to Hays for a Doctor's appointment.  So, we just got a little bit of visiting in before she needed to leave.  She was really looking well. 

My mom, Mary Steitz, and I headed to McPherson Thursday afternoon to watch Drake practice football for his new season.  Since school will be starting next week, Drake wanted to spend a few days on the farm with me.  So, we had an extra passenger on our return trip.  

Saturday was such a fun, but very long day.  In the morning, Kameron Petz, another grandson from Hays, joined us at the Precision Valley Putt-Putt Golf Course.  It started out being a very nice morning, but by the time we were finished, it had become very hot and humid with lots of sweat rolling down our faces.  If you have any boys, you know that they are constantly hungry!  So we enjoyed some pizza at Gambino's buffet.  I wanted to check out the Grand Opening of the new Dollar Store, but I must have been crazy!  I had to wait in line a whole hour before I finally got checked out!  Later, Drake and I went to one of his favorite places, the Sternberg Museum.  He was able to see the neat insect exhibit, the rattlesnake exhibit, play in the Fossil Dig and the Discovery Room, and of course see the dinosaur exhibits. Drake could spend the whole day at that museum.  We are so fortunate to have it so close to us!  

We didn't get to spend as much time at the museum because we needed to hurry back to La Crosse to pick up mom. We wanted to attend mass at Holy Trinity Church in Timken.  After mass, we proceeded to the park where the Timken Volunteer Fire Department hosted an Old Fashioned Picnic.  They served hamburgers and hot dogs along with baked beans, chips, and cucumber salad.  For desert you had your choice of any type of cake that your heart desired and home-made ice-cream.  It was an awesome meal!  Drake found some boys playing football and joined in on their fun.  Beautiful music was provided by "Off Duty." There was a large assortment of items that were raffled off and over 100 prizes were given out to the people who had purchased tickets.  It was a beautiful evening to spend with family and friends.  Thanks Timken volunteers! 

Since we didn't have to go to church on Sunday, Drake and I did a few things around the house and then that afternoon we decided to go swimming at the McCracken pool.  He had a fun time swimming and then we came home and barbecued some hot dogs for supper. I was able to share the fantasy world with Drake Sunday evening by watching a movie that was very popular when it was released 34 years ago.  How many of you remember the movie called "The NeverEnding Story?"  It was a hit with Drake!  Later we watched another favorite called "Flubber" starring Robin Williams.  He is an actor that I have greatly missed. After our movies, it was time to say good-night and head to bed.  We'll have to head back to McPherson on Monday because of his football practice.  It seems like summer was way to short this year!