A stormy evening didn’t fluster the Humboldt school board Monday night as they calmly and quickly ticked off items on the agenda.
After a 45 minute executive session to discuss personnel matters, the board did not renew the contract of fourth grade teacher Jake Lawrence and accepted the resignation of Darcie Rodriguez as middle school assistant volleyball coach.
The 2010-2011 year contracts for certified staff were approved as written.
One bid was received for the USD 258 building trades home at 1220 Cherokee St. The winning bid, from Beverly Murrill, was for $100,750. A minimum bid of $90,871.26 was required.
USD 258 Superintendent Bob Heigele reported that Star Building, manufacturer of the school’s roof, inspected it last week and found problems in the way the roof had been installed that have led to leaking.
Weigel Construction of Overland Park did the installation work and will be scheduled to repair the mistakes.
HIGH SCHOOL journalism teacher Kim Isbell was lauded for the school’s receiving second place at a state journalism competition in Lawrence recently. Three students won individual state championships: Alexis Hosack, senior, editing; Brandi Malloy, junior, yearbook layout; and Cheyanna Colborn, sophomore, advertising.
High school FFA competed in Manhattan, placing seventh of 30 teams.
“We did well, I was proud of them,” said adviser Matt Kerr.
Junior Connor Stirewalt placed first in the state in proficiency in forest management for his post cutting business, Kerr noted.
Stirewalt began the business cutting and marketing fence posts last year, when he won at the district level, Kerr said. Stirewalt was required to submit a complete business plan with financial statements including earnings, equipment lists and goals, to the competition. He will take the plan to the national competition in Indianapolis in late October, Kerr said. Stirewalt will be honored for his achievement at the state FFA convention June 2-4 in Manhattan.
Kerr added that the FFA greenhouse is open for business, sporting bedding plants, hanging baskets and potted flowers. The greenhouse is open during regular school hours, 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. weekdays, and is located at 1020 New York St. Check in at the school front desk for service.
THIRD GRADE teacher Joyce Hellwig was recognized for 41 years of service with the district. She is retiring.
Also recognized was elementary teacher’s aide and crossing guard Mary Bonczkowski, retiring after 24 years.
Retiring from ANW Special Education Coop are elementary teacher Diana Pattinson, who worked primarily out of Chanute and was hired in 1978, and speech and language pathologist Julie Croisant, who served Humboldt and Iola for 19 years.
Croisant’s departure leaves a second speech and language pathologist position open. Don Hauser noted a current opening has remained unfilled for four years due to lack of qualified applicants.
A reception for Heigele, who is retiring at the end of the school year, will be from 3:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday at the superintendent’s office. All staff and community members are welcomed to the send off.
Sunday, July 11, 2010
Humboldt budget relatively static
HUMBOLDT — Humboldt’s City Council moved to save a Public Works position slated for the chopping block during a preliminary hearing on its fiscal year 2010 budget Monday night. Councilman Sean McReynolds can be credited with keeping the position intact.
At issue was whether or not the budget could support the job, and whether or not there was work enough warranting the position.
City Administrator Larry Tucker argued that “We have 10 people in public works and we can get by with nine. We’re not keeping them as busy as we should.”
McReynolds cited streets that need patching and substandard sidewalks around the city square as projects to be tackled. Plus, he offered a suggestion for funding materials to get the work done.
“There’s a sizable amount (of money) in the gas surplus fund,” he stated, noting close to $200,000 of unencumbered funds in that line item.
“I don’t know what kind of emergency we’re expecting that will cost $200,000,” he said. McReynolds suggested tapping the fund to keep the position in place and crews on the street.
“Let’s go through another year from now and look at it. If we can’t fund it then, we cut it,” he said of the proposed staff decrease.
The council agreed, and the budget will be published with the position intact.
Additional discussion centered on a 2 percent annual pay raise promised to staff, and whether the city should continue to pay 100 percent of full-time employees’ health insurance. Tucker said those benefits were a valuable recruiting tool, as well as “a good faith effort on the part of the city” to show it values its workers. The city has 28 full time employees and five part-time or seasonal staff.
“I believe it has helped (retain current staff) because employees know that they have a pay/salary plan,” that increases each year, Tucker said.
“I’m not in favor of this 2 percent increase if we pay 100 percent of their health insurance,” Mayor Bob Sharp said.
But Councilman Dan Julich voiced the majority viewpoint, saying, “I can’t see we’re in such dire straits that we can’t give 2 percent and insurance.” The perks stayed.
Nonetheless, all departments are facing slight reductions in their budgets.
Holding as close as possible to zero growth was the budgets’ goal, and Tucker said the sewer fee is the only utility being increased.
That department is under a “five-year transition to raise rates until it becomes self-sufficient,” Tucker said. The last two years saw 25 percent increases, while the 2010 increase will be 10 percent, he said. “That’s what it’s going to take for that fund,” Tucker said.
“The swimming pool will continue to get budget transfers until we can make that fund self-sufficient,” as well, Tucker said.
City water sales have been down 10 to 15 percent the past two years, Tucker noted. “I can’t really explain why,” he said.
“Like everything else,” Tucker said, “utility funds have to be operated like a business. We’ll need to reduce expenses in water and sewer to balance our budget for next year.”
A request by the library for a budget increase to raise salaries met with an impasse.
Tucker delineated city debt and lease options, including a street sweeper and police car, both scheduled for five year leases.
A large debt obligation came from the city’s contract to purchase the Emprise Bank building on the square for conversion to a new city hall. Purchase price, which the city is obligated to, is $351,000. Another $200,000 is requested for remodeling costs.
AT THE HEART of the budget cuts is the fact that the city is facing a 1.52 percent “reduction in valuation of property,” Tucker said. Due to that decrease, “the total amount of tax being requested is less this year” than in fiscal 2009, he noted.
Next year’s valuations are even less certain. “We don’ know what we’ll have for the future. We may have 20 families move out,” Julich said.
“We hope we can grow in housing in Humboldt,” Tucker said, “but that will take many years. Instead, he said, “we need to have a tool in place to promote business growth.”
“The future right now is to get businesses in town and get sales tax in town. As long as we have the same legislature that we have, we won’t get any damn money” from the state, Sharp opined.
“The legislature is tinkering with our ability to increase our levy,” Tucker explained. “Every time a business buys a new $100,000 piece of equipment, we can’t collect any more taxes, but we are expected to provide them with increased services” like police and fire protection, he said.
“You know what you need to do?” Sharp said to the council. “Stop putting those same people in office.”
At issue was whether or not the budget could support the job, and whether or not there was work enough warranting the position.
City Administrator Larry Tucker argued that “We have 10 people in public works and we can get by with nine. We’re not keeping them as busy as we should.”
McReynolds cited streets that need patching and substandard sidewalks around the city square as projects to be tackled. Plus, he offered a suggestion for funding materials to get the work done.
“There’s a sizable amount (of money) in the gas surplus fund,” he stated, noting close to $200,000 of unencumbered funds in that line item.
“I don’t know what kind of emergency we’re expecting that will cost $200,000,” he said. McReynolds suggested tapping the fund to keep the position in place and crews on the street.
“Let’s go through another year from now and look at it. If we can’t fund it then, we cut it,” he said of the proposed staff decrease.
The council agreed, and the budget will be published with the position intact.
Additional discussion centered on a 2 percent annual pay raise promised to staff, and whether the city should continue to pay 100 percent of full-time employees’ health insurance. Tucker said those benefits were a valuable recruiting tool, as well as “a good faith effort on the part of the city” to show it values its workers. The city has 28 full time employees and five part-time or seasonal staff.
“I believe it has helped (retain current staff) because employees know that they have a pay/salary plan,” that increases each year, Tucker said.
“I’m not in favor of this 2 percent increase if we pay 100 percent of their health insurance,” Mayor Bob Sharp said.
But Councilman Dan Julich voiced the majority viewpoint, saying, “I can’t see we’re in such dire straits that we can’t give 2 percent and insurance.” The perks stayed.
Nonetheless, all departments are facing slight reductions in their budgets.
Holding as close as possible to zero growth was the budgets’ goal, and Tucker said the sewer fee is the only utility being increased.
That department is under a “five-year transition to raise rates until it becomes self-sufficient,” Tucker said. The last two years saw 25 percent increases, while the 2010 increase will be 10 percent, he said. “That’s what it’s going to take for that fund,” Tucker said.
“The swimming pool will continue to get budget transfers until we can make that fund self-sufficient,” as well, Tucker said.
City water sales have been down 10 to 15 percent the past two years, Tucker noted. “I can’t really explain why,” he said.
“Like everything else,” Tucker said, “utility funds have to be operated like a business. We’ll need to reduce expenses in water and sewer to balance our budget for next year.”
A request by the library for a budget increase to raise salaries met with an impasse.
Tucker delineated city debt and lease options, including a street sweeper and police car, both scheduled for five year leases.
A large debt obligation came from the city’s contract to purchase the Emprise Bank building on the square for conversion to a new city hall. Purchase price, which the city is obligated to, is $351,000. Another $200,000 is requested for remodeling costs.
AT THE HEART of the budget cuts is the fact that the city is facing a 1.52 percent “reduction in valuation of property,” Tucker said. Due to that decrease, “the total amount of tax being requested is less this year” than in fiscal 2009, he noted.
Next year’s valuations are even less certain. “We don’ know what we’ll have for the future. We may have 20 families move out,” Julich said.
“We hope we can grow in housing in Humboldt,” Tucker said, “but that will take many years. Instead, he said, “we need to have a tool in place to promote business growth.”
“The future right now is to get businesses in town and get sales tax in town. As long as we have the same legislature that we have, we won’t get any damn money” from the state, Sharp opined.
“The legislature is tinkering with our ability to increase our levy,” Tucker explained. “Every time a business buys a new $100,000 piece of equipment, we can’t collect any more taxes, but we are expected to provide them with increased services” like police and fire protection, he said.
“You know what you need to do?” Sharp said to the council. “Stop putting those same people in office.”
Winding road led Miniefee to Iola
Ward Chapel African Methodist Episcopal Church has stood in Iola since 1873, and “We’ll be here until there aren’t but four or five of us left,” stated 55-year member Helen Ambler.
That day may be coming.
Ward Chapel has seen its membership decline rapidly the last seven years.
In 2003, the church celebrated its 130th anniversary. At the time, there were about 25 active members. In the past few years, about half a dozen have died, Ambler said.
Ward Chapel now counts 17 members; their average age is 70.
Its pastor, the Rev. Barbara J. Miniefee, comes on Sundays from Kansas City to tend the flock.
Sunday school runs for an hour before services, from 10 to 11 a.m. Services follow for about an hour and a half, Ambler said.
“Most of us are retired. What difference does it make if we stay a little longer” at church, she asked.
Miniefee appreciates her congregation’s devotion.
“They are very good people,” she said. “They not only love their church, they love the Lord.”
Miniefee said the tiny congregation “has a sense of family; I see how they take care of each other.” If she had her druthers, she’d be here more often to assist.
“I would love to live there, quite frankly,” Miniefee said of Iola.
But Miniefee’s husband is an over-the -road trucker, based out of Kansas City, she said.
“I’ve stayed overnight about three times,” Miniefee said. “When I was there I felt that sense of warmth, of connection — I’ve missed that. People are so distant now,” she said.
Miniefee took over leadership at Ward Chapel in September.
“I have been blessed,” she said of receiving the pastorship here. “You never know when you go into a church what you will be faced with.”
Still, even Iola has its issues.
“One of the challenges I face is the age of the congregants,” Miniefee said. “I hate to think of losing the church. Hopefully, God will send some younger people (to us). I would like to think there would be times I would do weddings, not just end of life” celebrations, she noted.
Miniefee puts her hope in the Lord. “Jesus said, ‘If I be lifted up, I will bring all people to me.’ That’s what I’m hoping for.”
Although she lives two hours away, Miniefee is passionate about serving Ward Chapel.
“I try to make sure when someone is in the hospital or at home, that I go by and see them or cal them during the week,” she said.
“I want people to ... leave each Sunday with a message they can use intheir lives; so that when they meet people, people can see Jesus in them because they’re so busy living it.”
The approach must work.
Ward Chapel has picked up one new member since Miniefee came on board, and another man has begun attending regularly, she said.
“He tells me he can follow my sermons,” she said.
To further expand, and better serve Iola, Miniefee would like to “become part of the community, maybe do some workshops,” she said. “I want to do a series on Revelations. I want to do something on angels, letting them understand how Satan works in our lives.
“I want our church to stand our at as one that’s really walking the talk,” she said.
Ward Chapel is an African Methodist Episcopal denomination, but all are welcome, she said.
The AME church was founded in the late 1700s when two brothers, members of St. George’s Methodist Church in Pennsylvania, were denied communion with white congregants. Richard Allen, one of the brothers, left that church, purchased a blacksmith shop and founded the first African Methodist Episcopal congregation, Miniefee said.
“The Episcopal is how we are governed,” she explained. Methodist is the philosophy, based upon “John Wesley’s 25 Articles of Religion; the Apostle’s Creed is a summary of the 25 articles,” she noted.
Miniefee’s own journey to the church began long ago.
“I grew up in the Baptist church,” she said. “I realized I was called very early in my life, probably at about 15,” the 66-year-old noted. “But women were not in leadership in the Baptist Church, so I thought I must have had it wrong.”
Miniefee went on the receive a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and master’s in education, hoping to squelch the urge to speak about God.
“I had something inside of me, I almost couldn’t contain it,” she said. “It was like a fire shut up inside my bones. I just felt I had to say something about God.”
Miniefee noted, “My per group wondered what was wrong with me, talking about God and reading the Bible. I thought once I became a speech pathologist that feeling would leave me, but no, it got stronger.”
After receiving her master’s, Miniefeesaid, “thought once I was teaching in the classroom (the need to preach) would leave me, but it got worse and worse. I preached at my house to the walls” Miniefee admitted. “I just had to.”
In 2004, Miniefee decided to ask the Holy Sprit “where He wanted me to preach. He led me over to the AME church,” she noted.
Miniefee was living in Ann Arbor, Mich., at the time, and began attending Bethel AME Church.
She spoke to the pastor there about her desire and “he told me, if God has been speaking to me all these years, I had to honor that.”
She referred back to her Baptist pastor, who told her she must be mistaken in her desires.
The answer, she said, was clear.
“I started the process” to become a pastor, she said. “In the AME Church, you go through a five-year program.”
Within a week of being ordained, she was assigned to Iola’s Ward Chapel.
“I thought, Oh my God, I’m going to preach? I’m a pastor? I never even heard of Iola.”
Miniefee found not only her voice through the AME, she found her husband, Danny.
“He’s got family that goes to Bethel,” she said. They had been repeatedly asking her to dinner, she said, “and I really didn’t want to go, but they kept on.”
The day she acquiesced, Danny was visiting from Kansas City. “We shook hands and we both knew, this is the person I am going to marry.”
Their romance was fast. “We’d talk regularly on the phone for 3 or 4 hours.”
Miniefee took vacation time to visist Danny in Kansas City “to see if it was a good idea.” The two spent the entire visit talking, she said.
“I visited again for nine days — that’s when we decided to get married,” she said.
Danny is supportive of her pastoring, she said, and has also joined the AME church.
Miniefee begins preparing her sermons the Sunday before they are to be given.
“I’ve never really counted the hours,” she said of the time she puts in. “I try to get to (teh sermons) as early in the week as possible so I can get them in my spirit,” she said.
Minifee doesn’t follow a church calendar in preparing her talks. “It’s whatever God gives me,” she said.
“I think prayer is the root of Godliness. It’s how we are transformed. It’s the direction God gives us. We communicate with God through prayer and He communicates with us through His word. It’s central.
“Prayer should be a regular part of your life,” Miniefeee said. “It should be done throughout the day.”
Miniefee has been well-received in Iola, Ambler noted.
“She speaks directly from the Bible. She’s more of a teacher than a preacher,” Ambler said.
“People tell me they discuss my sermon during the week and if somebody is not there (on Sunday), they tell them what the sermon was about,” Miniefeee noted.
That speaks to the congregation’s commitment, Miniefeee said.
“Even though they are a small group, they are big in spirit. I don’t mind mind driving down — I almost can’t wait to go” each Sunday, she said.
“Every tine I go down to teach and preach I feel so good about it. I have peace now because I’m doing what God created me to do.”
That day may be coming.
Ward Chapel has seen its membership decline rapidly the last seven years.
In 2003, the church celebrated its 130th anniversary. At the time, there were about 25 active members. In the past few years, about half a dozen have died, Ambler said.
Ward Chapel now counts 17 members; their average age is 70.
Its pastor, the Rev. Barbara J. Miniefee, comes on Sundays from Kansas City to tend the flock.
Sunday school runs for an hour before services, from 10 to 11 a.m. Services follow for about an hour and a half, Ambler said.
“Most of us are retired. What difference does it make if we stay a little longer” at church, she asked.
Miniefee appreciates her congregation’s devotion.
“They are very good people,” she said. “They not only love their church, they love the Lord.”
Miniefee said the tiny congregation “has a sense of family; I see how they take care of each other.” If she had her druthers, she’d be here more often to assist.
“I would love to live there, quite frankly,” Miniefee said of Iola.
But Miniefee’s husband is an over-the -road trucker, based out of Kansas City, she said.
“I’ve stayed overnight about three times,” Miniefee said. “When I was there I felt that sense of warmth, of connection — I’ve missed that. People are so distant now,” she said.
Miniefee took over leadership at Ward Chapel in September.
“I have been blessed,” she said of receiving the pastorship here. “You never know when you go into a church what you will be faced with.”
Still, even Iola has its issues.
“One of the challenges I face is the age of the congregants,” Miniefee said. “I hate to think of losing the church. Hopefully, God will send some younger people (to us). I would like to think there would be times I would do weddings, not just end of life” celebrations, she noted.
Miniefee puts her hope in the Lord. “Jesus said, ‘If I be lifted up, I will bring all people to me.’ That’s what I’m hoping for.”
Although she lives two hours away, Miniefee is passionate about serving Ward Chapel.
“I try to make sure when someone is in the hospital or at home, that I go by and see them or cal them during the week,” she said.
“I want people to ... leave each Sunday with a message they can use intheir lives; so that when they meet people, people can see Jesus in them because they’re so busy living it.”
The approach must work.
Ward Chapel has picked up one new member since Miniefee came on board, and another man has begun attending regularly, she said.
“He tells me he can follow my sermons,” she said.
To further expand, and better serve Iola, Miniefee would like to “become part of the community, maybe do some workshops,” she said. “I want to do a series on Revelations. I want to do something on angels, letting them understand how Satan works in our lives.
“I want our church to stand our at as one that’s really walking the talk,” she said.
Ward Chapel is an African Methodist Episcopal denomination, but all are welcome, she said.
The AME church was founded in the late 1700s when two brothers, members of St. George’s Methodist Church in Pennsylvania, were denied communion with white congregants. Richard Allen, one of the brothers, left that church, purchased a blacksmith shop and founded the first African Methodist Episcopal congregation, Miniefee said.
“The Episcopal is how we are governed,” she explained. Methodist is the philosophy, based upon “John Wesley’s 25 Articles of Religion; the Apostle’s Creed is a summary of the 25 articles,” she noted.
Miniefee’s own journey to the church began long ago.
“I grew up in the Baptist church,” she said. “I realized I was called very early in my life, probably at about 15,” the 66-year-old noted. “But women were not in leadership in the Baptist Church, so I thought I must have had it wrong.”
Miniefee went on the receive a bachelor’s degree in speech pathology and master’s in education, hoping to squelch the urge to speak about God.
“I had something inside of me, I almost couldn’t contain it,” she said. “It was like a fire shut up inside my bones. I just felt I had to say something about God.”
Miniefee noted, “My per group wondered what was wrong with me, talking about God and reading the Bible. I thought once I became a speech pathologist that feeling would leave me, but no, it got stronger.”
After receiving her master’s, Miniefeesaid, “thought once I was teaching in the classroom (the need to preach) would leave me, but it got worse and worse. I preached at my house to the walls” Miniefee admitted. “I just had to.”
In 2004, Miniefee decided to ask the Holy Sprit “where He wanted me to preach. He led me over to the AME church,” she noted.
Miniefee was living in Ann Arbor, Mich., at the time, and began attending Bethel AME Church.
She spoke to the pastor there about her desire and “he told me, if God has been speaking to me all these years, I had to honor that.”
She referred back to her Baptist pastor, who told her she must be mistaken in her desires.
The answer, she said, was clear.
“I started the process” to become a pastor, she said. “In the AME Church, you go through a five-year program.”
Within a week of being ordained, she was assigned to Iola’s Ward Chapel.
“I thought, Oh my God, I’m going to preach? I’m a pastor? I never even heard of Iola.”
Miniefee found not only her voice through the AME, she found her husband, Danny.
“He’s got family that goes to Bethel,” she said. They had been repeatedly asking her to dinner, she said, “and I really didn’t want to go, but they kept on.”
The day she acquiesced, Danny was visiting from Kansas City. “We shook hands and we both knew, this is the person I am going to marry.”
Their romance was fast. “We’d talk regularly on the phone for 3 or 4 hours.”
Miniefee took vacation time to visist Danny in Kansas City “to see if it was a good idea.” The two spent the entire visit talking, she said.
“I visited again for nine days — that’s when we decided to get married,” she said.
Danny is supportive of her pastoring, she said, and has also joined the AME church.
Miniefee begins preparing her sermons the Sunday before they are to be given.
“I’ve never really counted the hours,” she said of the time she puts in. “I try to get to (teh sermons) as early in the week as possible so I can get them in my spirit,” she said.
Minifee doesn’t follow a church calendar in preparing her talks. “It’s whatever God gives me,” she said.
“I think prayer is the root of Godliness. It’s how we are transformed. It’s the direction God gives us. We communicate with God through prayer and He communicates with us through His word. It’s central.
“Prayer should be a regular part of your life,” Miniefeee said. “It should be done throughout the day.”
Miniefee has been well-received in Iola, Ambler noted.
“She speaks directly from the Bible. She’s more of a teacher than a preacher,” Ambler said.
“People tell me they discuss my sermon during the week and if somebody is not there (on Sunday), they tell them what the sermon was about,” Miniefeee noted.
That speaks to the congregation’s commitment, Miniefeee said.
“Even though they are a small group, they are big in spirit. I don’t mind mind driving down — I almost can’t wait to go” each Sunday, she said.
“Every tine I go down to teach and preach I feel so good about it. I have peace now because I’m doing what God created me to do.”
More growth at garden
Elm Creek Community Garden has a few more boosters, said Carolyn McLean.
On Monday, Midwest fertilizer Company donated 12 plastic corn syrup containers which will be resized into container garden plots for use by SAFE BASE students in the 2010 garden season.
Russell Stover will also donate 12 of the containers to be used as beds for handicapped individuals.
Also, Diebolt Lumber of LaHarpe is donating labor to install two windows on the garden’s new storage shed, McLean said.
“Talk about a gift from God,” McLean said. “When we started we had zero money.”
The changes are part of an expansion at the community garden which will triple the number of plots available for public use.
The garden recently received almost $25,000 in grant funds from SEK-CAP to assist with that goal. In addition, the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City gave the garden $17,222 in July which allowed for purchase of a new tractor and hydrants to water the garden. The foundation will give ECCG another $13,287 in April to “help complete this project,” McLean said.
Thrive Allen County assisted ECCG in securing the foundation grant.
A MEMORY garden and shade shelters to be built at the garden will not be paid for with SEK-CAP funds as reported in the Register, McLean said. SEK-CAP money cannot be used to construct permanent structures, she said. Instead, family and friends of Jeanie Larson and Vicki Lucas have pledged funds to help construct the shelters. Anyone wishing to help with the memory garden can call McLean at 365-5577.
On Monday, Midwest fertilizer Company donated 12 plastic corn syrup containers which will be resized into container garden plots for use by SAFE BASE students in the 2010 garden season.
Russell Stover will also donate 12 of the containers to be used as beds for handicapped individuals.
Also, Diebolt Lumber of LaHarpe is donating labor to install two windows on the garden’s new storage shed, McLean said.
“Talk about a gift from God,” McLean said. “When we started we had zero money.”
The changes are part of an expansion at the community garden which will triple the number of plots available for public use.
The garden recently received almost $25,000 in grant funds from SEK-CAP to assist with that goal. In addition, the Health Care Foundation of Greater Kansas City gave the garden $17,222 in July which allowed for purchase of a new tractor and hydrants to water the garden. The foundation will give ECCG another $13,287 in April to “help complete this project,” McLean said.
Thrive Allen County assisted ECCG in securing the foundation grant.
A MEMORY garden and shade shelters to be built at the garden will not be paid for with SEK-CAP funds as reported in the Register, McLean said. SEK-CAP money cannot be used to construct permanent structures, she said. Instead, family and friends of Jeanie Larson and Vicki Lucas have pledged funds to help construct the shelters. Anyone wishing to help with the memory garden can call McLean at 365-5577.
Earth Day entertaining
There was no cake or ice cream, but the kids didn’t seem to mind. To celebrate Earth Day, fourth graders from Jefferson and McKinley Elementary schools spent the day at Allen County Community College’s farm north of Iola. They were treated to fun in the sun and a hot dog lunch by Allen County Farm Bureau, Allen County Conservation District, the collegiate chapter of the farm bureau and Marmanton Valley Future Farmers of America.
The students went from station to station, learniing about ecology and the environment.
They learned about water flow and erosion — how rivers form, and what can pollute them. They saw cows and pigs and a pony. They pretended to be quail and were chased by an orange-vested “hawk” who tried to swoop down on them as they attempted to reach a pile of candy at the far end of a field.
“I’ll give you a hint,” called out Dustin Mangolos of Kansas Wildlife and Parks. “If everyone goes at the same time, some of you will live. If you go alone, she’ll pick you off.”
At the riverine station, a model landscape depicted the merging of two streams into a single river. As the flow began to cut into the walls of the landscape, children excitedly pointed out eroding banks.
Probably the most interactive station was one on freshwater mussels.
Don George, district fisheries biologist with Kansas Wildlife and Parks, handed out shell after shell of local river mussels, and taught the students something about each. George showed how the musslels, which feed on plankton, nestle themselves in mud banks. Without feet, he said, they can move only a few feet in a few days using water propulsion. If farm pollution washes into streams, he said, they have no way of escaping and suffocate to death.
The kids were eager to fit their fingers into the mussell shells, each species with a different pattern of groves. They oohed over a heron skull and snapping turtle shell.
The day’s events were best summed up in a question by George.
“Isn’t biology the coolest thing?” he asked the youthful crowd. “Yes!” they all replied.
The students went from station to station, learniing about ecology and the environment.
They learned about water flow and erosion — how rivers form, and what can pollute them. They saw cows and pigs and a pony. They pretended to be quail and were chased by an orange-vested “hawk” who tried to swoop down on them as they attempted to reach a pile of candy at the far end of a field.
“I’ll give you a hint,” called out Dustin Mangolos of Kansas Wildlife and Parks. “If everyone goes at the same time, some of you will live. If you go alone, she’ll pick you off.”
At the riverine station, a model landscape depicted the merging of two streams into a single river. As the flow began to cut into the walls of the landscape, children excitedly pointed out eroding banks.
Probably the most interactive station was one on freshwater mussels.
Don George, district fisheries biologist with Kansas Wildlife and Parks, handed out shell after shell of local river mussels, and taught the students something about each. George showed how the musslels, which feed on plankton, nestle themselves in mud banks. Without feet, he said, they can move only a few feet in a few days using water propulsion. If farm pollution washes into streams, he said, they have no way of escaping and suffocate to death.
The kids were eager to fit their fingers into the mussell shells, each species with a different pattern of groves. They oohed over a heron skull and snapping turtle shell.
The day’s events were best summed up in a question by George.
“Isn’t biology the coolest thing?” he asked the youthful crowd. “Yes!” they all replied.
Home offers step back in time
Gail and Jon Dunbar have only lived in their home at 310 East St. for a year, but they have been restoring it for a year and a half.
The house is deceptive. From the street, it appears unassuming and almost puny compared to its monolithic neighbors. Once within, though, each doorway leads to a spacious, stately room warm with the glow of old oak and original Victorian features.
“One of the things about it is it’s so open and that’s very unusual in Victorian homes,” Dunbar said.
The 2,500 square foot house was built by Mary Northrup — “the widowed mother of the sons who built each of these houses,” Gail Dunbar said, referring to the prominent structures either side of her dwelling. The houses behind the East Street homes were also Northrup houses, built for children of the two sons, she added.
Dunbar’s home was built sometime between 1896 and 1903 and retains much of the original character.
Parquet parlors and an arched entry topped with original gingerbread work delight the eye upon first entering the home.
Hefty round-windowed oak doors lead to the front parlors from an original-tile work entryway.
“This tile floor is a feature that is very Victorian,” Dunbar said. “The fact that it’s in very good shape was a selling point for me.”
In the lady’s parlor, a petite brown graniteware tile fireplace rests in a corner. An oak stairway leads upstairs, to that part of the house not yet restored, Dunbar said. Her son and his family use the rooms when they visit. Eventually, she would like to have an exercise room upstairs as well.
“This is the third home that we’ve restored,” Dunbar said. “The first home we did we were able to get on the National Historic Register.”
The Northrup house should be no different.
“It was livable but dated when we got it,” Dunbar said. “They wallpapered all the walls in florals,” she said by way of example.
Now, those same walls have been redone with an English textured wallcovering painted muted earth tones. The colors, mellow and soothing, add to the elegance and refinement of the stately home.
Dunbar’s color choice “is the same as my house in Colony,” she said. Until recently, the couple lived in the burg 10 miles north of Iola.
She first saw Mary Northrup’s house on a tour five years ago when the home was still being used as a bed and breakfast.
“I thought, if I were going to move to Iola, this would be perfect.”
AFTER purchasing the home, the Dunbars gutted the kitchen and bath. “Everything in the kitchen is new.”
Nonetheless, the couple matched the spirit of the home with quiet cream cabinetry, a “Portofino gold” granite island that reflects colors in the fireplace tile and a leaded glass window “purchased at Architectural Salvage in Kansas City,” she said.
The vintage window looks like it was made for the house.
Dunbar favors the home’s original look, including the high ceilings. The main floor bathroom had been modernized, however, so her husband cut through the dropped ceiling to see, structurally, what could be done.
“He looked up there and said, ‘I think you’re going to want to take this ceiling out’.”
Above the tile was a two foot diameter plaster medallion and a curved wall/ceiling junction.
The couple also removed the floor to discover original hexagonal tile. Much of it was missing, however, so they replaced it with the closest modern replica they could find.
Despite the home’s size, “This is downsizing for us,” Dunbar said.
“We had a 3,600 square foot home in Colony plus a couple acres.
“It took me four hours on a riding lawn mower to mow the lawn,” she said.
“I don’t miss the mowing.”
But Dunbar did bring a bit of her country home with her. All the furniture in the house, and the color choices, came from her home in Colony, she said. They look perfectly placed on East Street.
Even her curtains fit the Northrup windows.
“It’s like it was meant to be,” she said.
The house is deceptive. From the street, it appears unassuming and almost puny compared to its monolithic neighbors. Once within, though, each doorway leads to a spacious, stately room warm with the glow of old oak and original Victorian features.
“One of the things about it is it’s so open and that’s very unusual in Victorian homes,” Dunbar said.
The 2,500 square foot house was built by Mary Northrup — “the widowed mother of the sons who built each of these houses,” Gail Dunbar said, referring to the prominent structures either side of her dwelling. The houses behind the East Street homes were also Northrup houses, built for children of the two sons, she added.
Dunbar’s home was built sometime between 1896 and 1903 and retains much of the original character.
Parquet parlors and an arched entry topped with original gingerbread work delight the eye upon first entering the home.
Hefty round-windowed oak doors lead to the front parlors from an original-tile work entryway.
“This tile floor is a feature that is very Victorian,” Dunbar said. “The fact that it’s in very good shape was a selling point for me.”
In the lady’s parlor, a petite brown graniteware tile fireplace rests in a corner. An oak stairway leads upstairs, to that part of the house not yet restored, Dunbar said. Her son and his family use the rooms when they visit. Eventually, she would like to have an exercise room upstairs as well.
“This is the third home that we’ve restored,” Dunbar said. “The first home we did we were able to get on the National Historic Register.”
The Northrup house should be no different.
“It was livable but dated when we got it,” Dunbar said. “They wallpapered all the walls in florals,” she said by way of example.
Now, those same walls have been redone with an English textured wallcovering painted muted earth tones. The colors, mellow and soothing, add to the elegance and refinement of the stately home.
Dunbar’s color choice “is the same as my house in Colony,” she said. Until recently, the couple lived in the burg 10 miles north of Iola.
She first saw Mary Northrup’s house on a tour five years ago when the home was still being used as a bed and breakfast.
“I thought, if I were going to move to Iola, this would be perfect.”
AFTER purchasing the home, the Dunbars gutted the kitchen and bath. “Everything in the kitchen is new.”
Nonetheless, the couple matched the spirit of the home with quiet cream cabinetry, a “Portofino gold” granite island that reflects colors in the fireplace tile and a leaded glass window “purchased at Architectural Salvage in Kansas City,” she said.
The vintage window looks like it was made for the house.
Dunbar favors the home’s original look, including the high ceilings. The main floor bathroom had been modernized, however, so her husband cut through the dropped ceiling to see, structurally, what could be done.
“He looked up there and said, ‘I think you’re going to want to take this ceiling out’.”
Above the tile was a two foot diameter plaster medallion and a curved wall/ceiling junction.
The couple also removed the floor to discover original hexagonal tile. Much of it was missing, however, so they replaced it with the closest modern replica they could find.
Despite the home’s size, “This is downsizing for us,” Dunbar said.
“We had a 3,600 square foot home in Colony plus a couple acres.
“It took me four hours on a riding lawn mower to mow the lawn,” she said.
“I don’t miss the mowing.”
But Dunbar did bring a bit of her country home with her. All the furniture in the house, and the color choices, came from her home in Colony, she said. They look perfectly placed on East Street.
Even her curtains fit the Northrup windows.
“It’s like it was meant to be,” she said.
With each dress, a story
When Donna Houser came across a 100-year-old wedding dress in the collection at Allen County Historical Museum, she instantly wanted to put together a display of other such dresses. Unsure if she could find many of that age, she asked fellow docents Naida House and Amy Specht if they still had their dresses. They did.
The result is a four dress display of gowns dating from 1959 and back.
Each dress has a story.
Donna Houser’s dress is now a tawny gold. Pearls across the bodice are brown. When she first saw the wedding dress in a window of Lewin’s Department Store in Wichita in 1959, the dress was pure white.
Seven layers of lace beneath the overskirt poofed the dress out. A bone and five-tiered hoop under the skirt helped also. Houser, then Donna Snyder, was smitten.
The price tag was $250, Houser said. “That was too expensive.”
Undeterred, she found a way to pay for gown and garter and veil, then, after her picture perfect affair, “lent out the whole shebang, including the garter, to about 20 friends, so I feel I got my money’s worth,” Houser said.
She ponders why the dress has gone so dark over the years.
“It wasn’t the lending out. I had it dry cleaned and they were supposed to preserve it,” she noted.
One note only those at Houser’s wedding had before known was that she wore no shoes in her ceremony.
“I hate heels,” the 5’ 7” Houser said. “The train was so full no one knew.” In addition, she said, nylons bother her skin, so she was bare-legged as well as barefooted.
“When I went to show off my garter at the reception, everyone found out,” she laughed. What could have been seen as scandalous was instead taken in good fun. “They all laughed,” Houser recalled.
IT’S NOT likely the same would have happened for Naida House.
“I went to a store called Wurzburg’s,” House said, beginning the tale of her dress. “It had a lace bodice that needed alteration.”
Her mother hadn’t been along for the purchase, but accompanied her to the fitting.
“She vetoed the lace. She said emphatically ‘no,’” House said.
House’s mother was “raised in a church just a little less conservative than the Amish,” she noted. “Everything had to be simple.”
Even though wedding dresses of that era — House was married in 1948 — were typically bedecked in lace and pearls, House’s mother, Ella Bradley, wouldn’t allow it.
Bradley found a dress of simple satin, cut straight with long concealing sleeves. The only concession to fashion was princess seaming and a jewel neckline tiered with transparent and satin ribbon: the look recalls the ornate striped collars of ancient Egypt.
Keeping with her mother’s preference, “I wore no jewelry,” House recalled.
There was still a problem, House explained.
“My train had these puckers in it.” The puckers were also too flashy for the Church of the Brethren, so “in the dressing room, they kept ironing it until it was smooth,” House said.
The puckering in the train, Houser explained, was another classic wedding gown feature. It was caused by loops sewn onto the train so it could easily be lifted when a bride was dancing. Typically, she said, such puckering would be integrated into the design on satin trains, or lost in the ruffles if lace.
No matter. There was no dancing at House’s wedding, she said. Dancing, also, was not allowed by the church.
Despite it not being her original choice, House saved the dress and all its accoutrement so it could be worn by her daughter some day. When Kim Kristalyn was married, however, it was at a Sunday service — and in her church, trains — even simple ones — weren’t allowed.
When House remarried in 1971, she wore a different dress — but church rules again dictated her wedding.
“We were married in the Lutheran Church and Lutherans are not allowed to marry during Lent, so we waited until after Easter,” she said.
One notable difference to this wedding was that, this time, House herself wanted to keep it simple.
“I said we were just going to have family and friends there.” To her amusement, “we had over 100 people come.”
The couple were happily married for 14 years, until husband Leon’s death in 1985.
AMARYLLIS Specht had church constraints on her wedding, as well, but if she lays any blame, it’s on the U.S. Army.
Her fiance Arch was not allowed leave for their planned November 1951 wedding, so the couple postponed the date until he was allowed time off — for Christmas.
“I had all my invitations sent out, so I had to notify everyone” of the new date, she said. “A lot of the out-of-town people couln’t come” for the rescheduled date, she said.
The couple married just three days before Christmas, and could have neither band nor dancing at their party because of that proximity.
Specht met hubby-to-be when the Piqua farm boy came to Iola for high school. It was her good fortune that she found herself sitting before him in her high school English class, she said. The two became friends, then sweethearts.
“After high school, he and his older brother went to Parsons and worked for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad,” Specht said. Then he was drafted into the army.
She and Arch became engaged, and she went to Kansas City to hunt a wedding dress, she said.
“I figured I was working, it was my duty” to purchase her own gown, she said. Her dress cost $125.
“I had a blue garter that one of my friend’s made. I borrowed my sister’s veil.”
Specht saw her husband only on weekends their first few months of marriage. Then the army sent him to Washington state for 18 months.
The distance didn’t damage their relationship, she said.
“We still put up with each other,” she laughed. “I guess he likes me, still, because he hasn’t gotten rid of me,” even after almost 59 years, she said. “He’s a jewel.”
Specht saved her gown and two of her four daughters, Lisa in 1981 and Nancy in 1985, wore it for their weddings.
The result is a four dress display of gowns dating from 1959 and back.
Each dress has a story.
Donna Houser’s dress is now a tawny gold. Pearls across the bodice are brown. When she first saw the wedding dress in a window of Lewin’s Department Store in Wichita in 1959, the dress was pure white.
Seven layers of lace beneath the overskirt poofed the dress out. A bone and five-tiered hoop under the skirt helped also. Houser, then Donna Snyder, was smitten.
The price tag was $250, Houser said. “That was too expensive.”
Undeterred, she found a way to pay for gown and garter and veil, then, after her picture perfect affair, “lent out the whole shebang, including the garter, to about 20 friends, so I feel I got my money’s worth,” Houser said.
She ponders why the dress has gone so dark over the years.
“It wasn’t the lending out. I had it dry cleaned and they were supposed to preserve it,” she noted.
One note only those at Houser’s wedding had before known was that she wore no shoes in her ceremony.
“I hate heels,” the 5’ 7” Houser said. “The train was so full no one knew.” In addition, she said, nylons bother her skin, so she was bare-legged as well as barefooted.
“When I went to show off my garter at the reception, everyone found out,” she laughed. What could have been seen as scandalous was instead taken in good fun. “They all laughed,” Houser recalled.
IT’S NOT likely the same would have happened for Naida House.
“I went to a store called Wurzburg’s,” House said, beginning the tale of her dress. “It had a lace bodice that needed alteration.”
Her mother hadn’t been along for the purchase, but accompanied her to the fitting.
“She vetoed the lace. She said emphatically ‘no,’” House said.
House’s mother was “raised in a church just a little less conservative than the Amish,” she noted. “Everything had to be simple.”
Even though wedding dresses of that era — House was married in 1948 — were typically bedecked in lace and pearls, House’s mother, Ella Bradley, wouldn’t allow it.
Bradley found a dress of simple satin, cut straight with long concealing sleeves. The only concession to fashion was princess seaming and a jewel neckline tiered with transparent and satin ribbon: the look recalls the ornate striped collars of ancient Egypt.
Keeping with her mother’s preference, “I wore no jewelry,” House recalled.
There was still a problem, House explained.
“My train had these puckers in it.” The puckers were also too flashy for the Church of the Brethren, so “in the dressing room, they kept ironing it until it was smooth,” House said.
The puckering in the train, Houser explained, was another classic wedding gown feature. It was caused by loops sewn onto the train so it could easily be lifted when a bride was dancing. Typically, she said, such puckering would be integrated into the design on satin trains, or lost in the ruffles if lace.
No matter. There was no dancing at House’s wedding, she said. Dancing, also, was not allowed by the church.
Despite it not being her original choice, House saved the dress and all its accoutrement so it could be worn by her daughter some day. When Kim Kristalyn was married, however, it was at a Sunday service — and in her church, trains — even simple ones — weren’t allowed.
When House remarried in 1971, she wore a different dress — but church rules again dictated her wedding.
“We were married in the Lutheran Church and Lutherans are not allowed to marry during Lent, so we waited until after Easter,” she said.
One notable difference to this wedding was that, this time, House herself wanted to keep it simple.
“I said we were just going to have family and friends there.” To her amusement, “we had over 100 people come.”
The couple were happily married for 14 years, until husband Leon’s death in 1985.
AMARYLLIS Specht had church constraints on her wedding, as well, but if she lays any blame, it’s on the U.S. Army.
Her fiance Arch was not allowed leave for their planned November 1951 wedding, so the couple postponed the date until he was allowed time off — for Christmas.
“I had all my invitations sent out, so I had to notify everyone” of the new date, she said. “A lot of the out-of-town people couln’t come” for the rescheduled date, she said.
The couple married just three days before Christmas, and could have neither band nor dancing at their party because of that proximity.
Specht met hubby-to-be when the Piqua farm boy came to Iola for high school. It was her good fortune that she found herself sitting before him in her high school English class, she said. The two became friends, then sweethearts.
“After high school, he and his older brother went to Parsons and worked for the Missouri-Kansas-Texas Railroad,” Specht said. Then he was drafted into the army.
She and Arch became engaged, and she went to Kansas City to hunt a wedding dress, she said.
“I figured I was working, it was my duty” to purchase her own gown, she said. Her dress cost $125.
“I had a blue garter that one of my friend’s made. I borrowed my sister’s veil.”
Specht saw her husband only on weekends their first few months of marriage. Then the army sent him to Washington state for 18 months.
The distance didn’t damage their relationship, she said.
“We still put up with each other,” she laughed. “I guess he likes me, still, because he hasn’t gotten rid of me,” even after almost 59 years, she said. “He’s a jewel.”
Specht saved her gown and two of her four daughters, Lisa in 1981 and Nancy in 1985, wore it for their weddings.
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