Marion County RECORD

Child learns to swing

Wearing a smile that stretched from ear to ear, Elijah Klenda of Pilsen grabbed his mother by the sleeve and ran toward the swing set. “I’m going to fly like a bird,” the 4-year-old said. “I love to swing. It is the best thing ever.”

Joint chamber plans prosperity

For communities to prosper — which should be the goal of economic development — they have to make a serious long-term commitment to growth, said Don Macke of the Center for Rural Entrepreneurship. “This is a long game,” he said Monday. “This is a marathon.”

Jumps coach wins top award

To Deanna Thierolf, the jumps are like music and she is their conductor. Brady Hudson remembers Thierolf’s constant chorus at Marion High School practices, calling out the beat for each jump.

Lincolnville seeks donations for park trail

Lincolnville City Council Parks and Recreation Chairman Sherri Pankratz is spearheading an effort to build a “fit trail” in the city park. The trail would consist of a six-foot-wide concrete walkway that would be an eighth- or quarter- mile long, depending on how much money can be raised to build it.

Remodel restores love of cars

Rodney Williams has never entered his 1927 Buick into a car show and driven back to his Florence home without a prize. It’s easy to see why it’s won at shows in Marion, Florence, and Burns. It’s a boxy, black and blue beauty. Its honeycombed grill, circular cursive drawn Buick logo, varnished wooden wheel spokes, and wooden steering wheel beckon the viewer back to a time when there were way more dirt roads than paved roads in Kansas — and a trip to Kansas City took six hours.

Dream 1931 Chevy Coup emerges

“Bub” Lovelady wanted nothing more than to purchase his dream car — a 1931 Chevy Coupe. There was just one problem: they sell like hot cakes. “I couldn’t get to them fast enough,” he said. “I would go to look at one and someone would have already bought it. It seemed like an unending battle.”

Marion Auto Supply deals U-Haul

Doug Regnier became a U-Haul dealer last November with one goal in mind: to bring rentable moving equipment available to Marion residents once again. “The town needs to have a dealership,” the co-owner of Marion Auto Supply said. “When the local hardware store closed, it took away the U-Haul rental place as well. People had to go all the way to McPherson to rent one.”

Tire expert values relationships

Misalignment can cause uneven wear. Tread depths are measured in 32nds. In addition, if steel belts are showing, it is time to get new tires! Rod Koons’ life seems to revolve around tires. In a typical 5-minute whirl of shop activity on Monday, he measured tread depth, explained brand differences, itemized a billing, and recommended safety changes. However, Koons of Rod’s Tire and Service in Hillsboro said building relationships was the most important part of his job.

Ellen Hein

Ellen Hein, 73, of Roseburg, Ore., died Jan. 8 at Middlefield Oaks Assisted Living in Cottage Grove, Ore. She was born March 10, 1939, in Florence to Otto and Irene (Poland) Goddard. She is survived by her husband, Vernon Hein; and two children, Charles Hamm and Debbie Hamm.

Dean Carl Hiebert

Dean Carl Hiebert, 86, retired Texaco Refinery Unit Operator, of Newton and formerly of Towanda, passed away Tuesday, Jan. 22, 2013. He was born in Tampa, Kan., to Abraham Peter Hiebert and Minnie Wilelmina (Kohlman) Hiebert. Dean attended and graduated from Peabody High School with the class of 1945.

Fred William Putroff Sr.

Fred William Puttroff Sr., 86, of Newton died Friday at Via Christi Regional Medical Center-St. Francis Campus in Wichita. He was born Dec. 13, 1926, in Newton to Fred Merrill and Lucille Marie Blevins Puttroff. He attended Newton schools and graduated in 1943. He worked for the Santa Fe Railroad before joining the U.S. Army. After his discharge from the military, he resumed working for the railroad.

Jerry Lee Webster

Former Peabody High School principal Jerry Webster, 74, died Jan. 23 at his home in Independence. He was born March 24, 1938, near Mulvane to Harold and Gladys Webster.

Accidents reported

Civil cases

County jail

Criminal cases

Deeds

Emergency dispatches

Hillsboro police

Marriage licenses

Offenses

Peabody police

Traffic cases

State requests county takeover

Kansas Department of Transportation wants Marion County to take over three “spur routes” (short state highways into towns) in return for a one-time payment; Joe Palic of KDOT floated a figure of $200,000 per mile on Monday. The three routes in question are K-215, about one-quarter mile from K-15 into Goessel; K-168, about one-half mile from U.S. 56 into Lehigh; and K-256, about five miles from U.S. 77, through Marion, and to U.S. 56.

An unwelcome burden

When Kansas Department of Transportation floated the idea Monday of Marion County taking over state highways into Marion, Goessel, and Lehigh, the county commissioners were rightly skeptical. The county has its hands full maintaining the blacktop roads it already has. Why would it want to add almost six miles more? KDOT’s initial suggestion was paying $200,000 per mile of road to the county in return for taking charge of these highways. For the simple roadways without any bridges, that would take care of maintenance for a little while, but chip sealing roads is expensive, and overlays are prohibitively expensive on the county’s budget.

Oh, Henry!

About a year ago, Kenny and I were walking into a Walmart store in Winfield. Outside the front door stood a man with two tiny little puppies bundled up in a blanket. I picked one up and it immediately snuggled it’s little head up against me. I looked at Kenny with my big sad eyes, and he returned the look with a “put- the-dog-back” look.

ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:

LETTERS:

Goessel clerk looks for improvement

Goessel City Clerk, Anita Goertzen, attended the 21st annual Retreat for Rural Leaders at the Barn-and-Breakfast Inn near Valley Falls. The retreat was attended by 24 civic leaders statewide and was organized by the Kansas Sampler Foundation. After the retreat, Goertzen has contemplated how to apply those experiences to Goessel.

USD 411 shares construction plans

The plans are out and Goessel City Council members saw in detail on Jan. 21 how USD 411 hopes to revitalize agriculture, science, and family studies facilities at the high school. Darcy Nickel and Tina Schrag, co-chairs of the KIDS (Keep Improving District Schools) committee, along with financial adviser Steve Shogren, and Goessel superintendent John Fast, presented packets of information to council members and answered questions about the new developments.

Foundation to give grants

The Goessel Community Foundation will award four grants on Feb. 1 between Goessel High School varsity games against Centre. The total amount to be given away is $1,100.

VFW to present essay winners

VFW Post 6958 and the Ladies Auxiliary Post 6958 will be presenting awards to the top finishers of the yearly Patriots Pen Program for area middle school participants. The Fourth District winner, Cade Harms of Lincolnville, went on to place second in the state contest. Other winners were Shelby Felvus, Devin Hamm, and Caleb Hett, all from Marion.

Stucky brings awareness to classsroom

When Brian Stucky of Goessel receives the “Teacher of the Year” award from Marion County Conservation District on Feb. 16, he might be more introspective about the way conservation played an important role in his life, than about the actual 34 years of conservation poster entries he has overseen as an art teacher. “I think conservation has always been important,” Stucky said. “But it seems to get more important every year.”

Free tax prep available

Mid-Kansas Community Action Program Inc. will be offering free basic tax preparation services to Marion County residents from Monday through March 29. To qualify, individuals must be residents of Marion County and must have made less than $51,000 in 2012. They will need to bring a Social Security card and tax form such as W-2s. If married, both spouses must sign before submission.

Davies to play in festival

Nicholas Davies of Marion will participate Saturday in a regional piano festival at Bethany College in Lindsborg. Nicholas is a student of Anita Hancock. His parents are Lloyd and Robin Davies.

Dalke named vice chair of foundation

Hillsboro Mayor Delores Dalke was named vice chair of the Central Kansas Community Foundation for 2013. Marion County Economic Development Director Teresa Huffman
also serves on the board.

BIRTHS:

CORRESONDENTS:

MEMORIES:

TEEN to hold meeting

The Technology
Excellence in Education Network will hold a special board meeting at
5 p.m. Thursday. It will be a phone conference originating at the Hillsboro District Office, 416 S. Date St., Hillsboro.

Kirkland honored at Ottawa

Iva M. Kirkland of Lost Springs was named to Ottawa University’s Fall 2012 Dean’s List on Thursday. To qualify for the Dean’s List, a student must be working on a degree, have earned a minimum of 24 credit hours over the previous two semesters, and earned a semester grade point average of 3.5 or better on a 4.0 scale.

Child screening is Feb. 12

A free screening for children birth through age five will be Feb. 12 at United Methodist church, 403 Sycamore St., Peabody. Appointments will be available from 12:30 to 3 p.m. At the screening, development will be checked in learning, motor, language, and social areas. Vision and hearing will also be screened. The process usually takes at least one hour for a child to complete. All children are welcome, but an appointment is necessary.

iPad Chefs show how to cook

Donning chefs’ hats and long-sleeved white T-shirts, a group of eight fourth- and fifth-graders at Centre Elementary School are gaining experience in demonstrating how they use iPads to create content and build skills on a daily basis. They made their debut a year ago at the 2012 Technology Excellence in Education Network conference. They are known as the iPad Chefs.

Students get K-State degrees

Several Marion County students received degrees from Kansas State University at the conclusion of the fall semester. Burns native Emily Burch earned a bachelor’s degree in education.

Janzen, Carroll win at Hoisington

Despite not taking a full team, the Marion High School Warriors wrestling team had two weight class champions and a runner-up Friday at the Hoisington Invitational. Beretta Janzen was 5-0 at 113 pounds to place first. He also defeated the only wrestler he lost to in the Halstead Invitational two weeks earlier.

Cold shooting hampers Warrior boys

The Council Grove Braves missed several shots right under the basket on Friday, but the Marion Warriors had shooting woes of their own that kept them from taking advantage. The Braves solved their problems in the second half, but the Warriors were unable to and lost, 54-49.

MHS girls can't keep up with Council Grove

The Marion Warriors girls’ basketball team went back-and-forth with the Council Grove Braves for the first quarter Friday night, but the Braves pulled away in the second quarter. Marion got an early 2-0 lead with a basket by Kaelyn Thierolf, but Council Grove answered with its own basket. Katey Ehrlich scored on a drive and Megan Richmond put back an offensive rebound to give Marion a 6-2 lead.

Marion boys blow out Canton-Galva

The Marion Warriors boys’ basketball team jumped out to a 17-0 lead against Canton-Galva on Tuesday on the way to a 54-point victory over the Eagles. On four consecutive possessions in that 17-0 run, the Warriors scored a layup after stealing the ball from Canton-Galva. The Eagles couldn’t handle the pressure by Marion, and Marion led 26-8 at the end of the first quarter. Jordan Hett had 10 points in the first 3 minutes, 23 seconds.

Centre girls add to win column

The Centre Lady Cougars played Wakefield Friday for the third time this season and won handily, 43-23. Playing on the road, they led 23-7 at halftime and went on to win by 20 points. Shelby Makovec and Cacey Simons each scored 13 points. Other scorers were Beka Basore, six; Brenna Shields, four; and Amy Makovec and Ellie Miller, two each.

Centre boys lose to Wakefield

After two victories over Wakefield earlier in the season, the Centre Cougars lost to the Bombers Friday on the road, 52-51. Centre shot 43 percent from beyond the arc but only 32 percent from two-point range.

Defense keys comeback for Marion girls

The Marion Warriors girls’ basketball team won a tight game at home against the Canton-Galva Eagles to match a close victory over them in December on the road. Marion led in the early going, 5-4, but wouldn’t lead again until late in the fourth quarter after falling behind 6-5. Marion trailed 10-5 at the end of the first quarter and 21-14 at halftime.

Finding a lasting love

After 66 years of marriage, Walter and Esther Kleinsasser of Hillsboro need not explain how commitment has kept them together, but the way their eyes sparkle and hands touch each other as they recall special times is evidence enough that they are happy, even after all those years. Now age 90 and 94, Walter and Esther still remember the day they met in Chicago, Ill., when he was 23 and she was 28.

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