December 27, 2017 News

Birthdays: December 27, Jay Georg, Vickie Hampton, Tambra Pfeifer, Karen Casey; December 28, Linda Doerr Cook, Sally Irvin, Sarah Martin, John Doornbos, Jacob Showalter, Shianne Shelit; December 29, Hayley Higgins, Melanie Zeller, Patrick Murray; December 30, Velma Legleiter, Vicky Overley; December 31, Mary Beth Higgins, Aaron Wiebe, Jaden Jacobs, Michael Karlin, Stephanie Greenway, Emma Showalter;January 1, Nathan Anderson; January 2, Bill Greenway, DeAnna Bergquist, Julie McCormick, Lynette Guy, Braxton Bentham.

Anniversaries: December 27, Tom and Nettie Chestnut; December 28, Bob and Margaret Fear, Carl and Brenda Rosenlund; December 30, Don and Melody Casey; December 31, Arky and Diane McNair.

Rev. Dick Ogle, Hoisington, was visiting with us at the Senior Center in Great Bend. When Dean Misegadis was setting up the first cable system in McCracken he hired Dick to build the tower for the system. Dick put it together piece by piece. He was wondering who took it down.

We woke on Christmas eve morning to see snow on the ground. It was just enough to make us happy to see snow, but not a big accumulation. The sun came out so it melted quickly.

It was special to see the church at Liebenthal full for the Christmas eve services The angels put the baby Jesus in the crib before the mass began. The youngsters got a gift of candy from the parish.

This weekend Saturday,December 30, there will be mass at St. Mary's Catholic Church at 6:00 p.m. with Father Eric.

On the day Bill Zeller was buried all the flags were half-mast at the cemetery. Bill was the long time Master of Cermonies on Memorial Day.

McCracken Public Library held Santa reindeer tryouts December 20th after reading "The Great Reindeer Rebellion" by Lisa Trumbauer. Santa's reindeer went on strike so Clayton, Caelyn and Caleb Sewell tried out to be Santa's reindeer. To qualify they had to bear walk over a balance beam, reindeer have to have good balance, reindeer are also good jumpers so the applicants had to clear some high hurdles and the final test was tossing socks into a bucket, sometimes Santa forgets to take presents with him and the reindeer then have to toss them down the chimney. Needless to say Caleb, Caelyn and Caleb passed with flying colors.

McCracken Main Street Library Society met Tuesday, December 29 at the Jt. 4 Diner in LaCrosse for dinner and book exchange. Those attending were Anita Butler, Catherine Casey, Shirley Higgins and Calllie Weber.

Christmas Eve day Jeff and Anita Butler traveled to Belleville to visit Jeff's 101 year old Gram in her assisted living home. They enjoyed a nice visit over lunch and shared the exciting news of their daughter’s, Ursula's, engagement. They hope to visit again soon.

Christmas guests of Shirley were all the kids and grandkids, Jerry, Jodi, Tanner, Jenna, Chuck, Zach, Tammy, John, Kyra, Bryant, Cameron, Courtney, Elliott, Kayla, Dominic, Lindsey, Nicole and three dogs. Was a fun time.
Anita Butler enjoyed a quick trip to Salina to meet up with her zoo friends and do some last minute Christmas shopping. Several of the "old" Zoo Teens met Anita at Rolling Hills Zoo Friday afternoon where Anita's friend and animal curator took them on a tour in Big Bertha the big golf cart. They were treated to a behind the scenes giraffe feeding and the chimp keepers waited for them before giving the chimps a new toy to play with. All enjoyed Millie the chimp as she laughed with excitement with her new exercise ball. The tour concluded with viewing the new breeding tiger pair. They were stunning! Later all met for supper at Gutierrez and enjoyed sharing old memories.

History Notes

baseball 1949 Little did anyone know at the time, but it would be the last year of the WCKL. The curtain would close on one of the best and longest running semi-pro baseball leagues in the country. McCracken fielded teams in 1961 and 1963. The WCKL was renamed the Inter-County League. In the summer of 1961 McCracken finished in third place with a record of 10-9. Glenn Conner finished the year with a batting average of .344, securing 7th place on the league’s list. He was also name to the All-Star Team. 1963 would be the final year for the Inter-County League, McCracken finished last with aa 2-10 record. All- Stars were chosen by sports editor, Jay Schlyer, of the Hays Daily News. Vic Higgins, (centerfield), Bill Lovitt (utility) and Joe Maska (pitcher) were chosen as All-Stars. Amateur baseball definitely left its mark on McCracken, even after it stopped being played. In June, 1977, a “Hall of Fame” program was announced for McCracken baseball sports personalities. The winners in the first “Oldtimers Divisiion” were; Wilbur Hawley, Forrest Ramsey, Bob Lovitt, Freddie Foster, Chet Irvin and Frank McGaughey.


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Patricia Petz (December 25):

Whoever came up with the quote that Christmas was the busiest time of the year certainly knew what they were talking about! I felt like I couldn't have been any busier than I was during this past week!  I began preparing early on Monday by helping out at the La Crosse High School Resource Room.  Afterwards, I had some last minute Christmas shopping to do in La Crosse and then I stopped by to pick up my mom and we headed to Tracy's to meet up with my brother, De. Wayne and sister-in-law, Vicky Foos.  We had our pre-Christmas supper and then met at mom's to have some fun, open our presents, and have a nice relaxing evening together.  

Since I had had so many problems with my car tires this past week, I decided that I needed to have a new set of tires put on my Camry. I headed to Hays right after lunch on Tuesday to have them installed.  It definitely was not what I wanted to buy myself for Christmas, but I'm sure I'll be a lot safer on the roads.  After my tires were installed, I headed to La Crosse to deliver a few presents to friends and then I stopped by to say hi to my mom, I picked up a few things at Great Bend, and then I headed to McPherson. 

I was invited to a special breakfast Wednesday morning at the McPherson Lincoln Elementary School. Grant's pre-school was having a reindeer pancake breakfast. Angie and I had so much fun watching the children mix their pancake batter, and then decorate their reindeers with bacon for antlers, blueberries for their eyes, and raspberries for their noses.  Needless to say the reindeer pancakes were a BIG hit for everyone involved.  After breakfast, the pre-schoolers  put on a delightful musical performance.  Drake thought that it was about time that I visited his classroom, so after the caroling, I proceeded to the second grade classroom and watched movies and played with him at recess.  I had to pick up Grant from his classroom at 11:15 and then we picked up our lunch at Mc Donald's.  Angie was home by 1:30 and we headed to Mt. Hope.  The boys and Angie had appointments with their dentist and I was brought along to supervise.  When we returned, the boys and I had fun at home working on a Christmas project.  Angie had to return to work, but when she returned home, Trent, Tyler, Drake, Grant, and I headed to Salina to celebrate her 40th birthday.  Angie's birthday really was not until Friday, the 22nd, but I wanted to help her celebrate.  We ate at Red Lobster and when we returned home, (although we were stuffed) we had a small bite of Dairy Queen ice-cream cake while she opened presents from me.  

I was planning on returning early Thursday morning, however, Grant's baby-sitter was having problems and couldn't take care of him until later that morning, so I stayed until she was available.  It was around 11:00 before I reached Great Bend and then I had to pick up some more things before I headed home so I could prepare for my early Christmas with the kids on Saturday.  

Friday was very hectic as I had many gifts yet to wrap, a house to finish cleaning, and then food to prepare.  Needless to say I was exhausted when Angie and her family arrived shortly before midnight!  

Saturday was so much fun as I was able to celebrate Christmas with my family.  I had my children and their spouses, my grandchildren, my great-grandson, and my wonderful mother to join in on our celebration.  I had a total of 14 people at my home.  The day was filled with lots of food, fun, and laughter.  

Sunday evening was spent in La Crosse at St. Michael's Church as we attended the Christmas Eve mass to celebrate the birth of our Lord.  The church was decorated beautifully and it was so nice to see many families gather together.  After mass, Angie's family and I met at mom's to eat supper. Although, we celebrated Christmas early this year, it was a very nice time at the farm.  May the gift of joy and the blessing of peace be yours this Christmas and in the New Year!  I hope you all have a Blessed Christmas!