PEABODY Gazette-Bulletin

SYMPHONY

Thousands expected in Florence for Prelude to Symphony
Security for Saturday evening’s Symphony in the Flint Hills already is tight. Personnel from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have been on hand since Monday, guarding the property 24 hours a day. A meteorologist is on site to monitor weather, and organizers have been staying in a vacant school building in Florence for several weeks.
Mills family prepares for Sympony
Security for Saturday evening’s Symphony in the Flint Hills already is tight. Personnel from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security have been on hand since Monday, guarding the property 24 hours a day. A meteorologist is on site to monitor weather, and organizers have been staying in a vacant school building in Florence for several weeks.
Performer has Florence connection
Among the performers Saturday at Prelude to the Symphony in Florence will be the reigning Miss Cherokee, a great-great-niece of a Florence resident. Feather Smith, 19, whose great-great-aunt is Kathleen Ludwig, will tell stories and demonstrate basket weaving, stickball, and the making of stickballs, blowguns, and clay bead necklaces.
Expect a shootout or three
If anyone hears gunfire Saturday during Prelude to the Symphony in the Flint Hills, it probably won’t be because of a dispute about Mozart. The Cowtown Cowboys of Wichita will present three gunfight re-enactments Saturday on Fifth Street between Marion and Main streets in Florence.
Florence was railroad hub for 66 years
Tens of thousands of visitors will converge on Florence June 12-13 for Prelude to the Symphony in the Flint Hills. They won’t be coming by train. Amtrak passenger trains pass through the town daily but do not stop. Local service was discontinued in 1971 when scheduled stops at small communities were eliminated.
A towering dream is fulfilled
Neva Robinson of Florence spent two years scouring microfilm of the Marion County Record, Peabody Gazette-Bulletin, and their predecessors, looking for information about the 120-year- old Florence water tower. She took notes and printed copies of pertinent articles. She gleaned information from the diary of T.P. Alexander, an early-day hardware store owner and Florence’s first mayor.

HEADLINES

Performance review scheduled for new city administrator
City administrator Mac Manning will have a 60-day evaluation before the Peabody City Council’s next meeting June 29. Council members approved an evaluation tool Monday night and asked that department heads also evaluate Manning.
July Fourth committee heads chosen
The Peabody Fourth Fest Celebration Society has selected committee heads. Brian McDowell will remain in charge of fireworks and be master of ceremonies for the fireworks show. He is hoping for additional help building set pieces (most Saturday and Sunday afternoons and evenings). Contact him at (620) 504-6261.
Hospital renovation plans taking shape
The board of directors of Hospital District 1 will take a couple of road trips this week to see architectural designs of two Kansas hospitals. The board has selected Health Facilities Group and Spangenberg Phillips Architecture, both Wichita firms, as finalists to design renovations to St. Luke Hospital and Living Center, Marion.
Cancer patient takes it one day at a time
“There’s always good that comes from bad.” That’s Dick Maggard’s attitude since being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer nearly two years ago.
Atrazine researcher to report on reservoir
A Kansas State University professor specializing in water quality will report on Marion Reservoir water quality at 7 p.m. June 18 in the Marion city building basement. Associate Professor Phil Barnes began monitoring water quality at the reservoir in 2008, watershed coordinator Peggy Blackman told Marion County commissioners Monday.
County wants to share cost of bridge
Marion and Chase County commissions discussed bud did not make a decision about replacing a county line bridge on Clover Road north of U.S.-50. Chase County expects traffic on the road to decrease because of another dilapidated bridge.

DEATHS

Lois Bailey
Lois Bailey, 75, died Sunday at Legacy Park, Peabody. Arrangements will be announced by Zeiner Funeral Home, Florence.
Mary Wallace
Graveside services for Mary Elizabeth (Grosse) Wallace will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Prairie Lawn Cemetery, Peabody. She died Sunday at Legacy Park Nursing Home, Peabody.
Howard Knaussman
Services for former Burns resident Howard L. Knaussman, 80, of El Dorado are scheduled for 11 a.m. today at First United Methodist Church, El Dorado. He died Friday at Via Christi Hospital in Wichita. Cremation will precede the services.

DOCKET

OPINION

Good reviews and a good project
Elsewhere on this page, you will find a couple of letters to the editor from people who were in town for some part of the Memorial Day weekend. Add these to the complimentary notes about our community and events in the past couple of editions of the Peabody Gazette-Bulletin. Memorial Day weekend in Peabody was a crowd pleaser. It has been several years since I wrote about the Avenue of Flags at Prairie Lawn Cemetery. The members of the American Legion and the Sons of the American Legion who make that happen every year need to be thanked repeatedly for the effort they make. It is one of the most moving sights you will ever see — especially at night. If you missed it this year, be sure to mark your calendar and make a pilgrimage to Prairie Lawn in 2010. You won’t be sorry.
Democracy: Publish or perish
In the old days, when bailouts were something only skydivers did, the government required each bank to publish in its local newspaper an annual report of its condition, including assets, liabilities, and capital reserves. Not everyone read the notices, of course, but a few sharp-eyed depositors, upon finding the reports in their newspapers, always took time to go over them and learn just how strong their banks were. The word spread from there.
Ignorance isn't bliss
There’s a saying, “Those who will not read are just as handicapped as those who cannot read.” I wrote it down and at times have re-read it.
What's in it for me?
We received a telephone call this past week from a reader who requested more information about the county’s recycling program. She said she was surprised that some did not recycle.
Letters: Avenue of Flags, Operation Celebration
Avenue of Flags appreciated The following letter was sent to the Peabody city office. To whom it may concern: I wasn’t sure who I needed to send this letter to, but thought I would send it to the City of Peabody and hopefully you will forward it to the right parties.

PEOPLE

Days of Yore
Peabody Community Living Center news—Vada Ann McPheeters came on Friday for a sing-a-long. We are so thankful for her devotion with this activity for so many years. The Scott Baker family came from Denver June 25 to visit in the Ross Baker home. Scott and Ann Robinson, Sarah and Adam arrived July 1 for the holiday weekend. Other visitors were Ross’s brothers Paul Jr. and Edie from Gulfbreeze, Fla., Hoyt and Joan Baker and Heath Baker from Belleville.
BIRTHS:
Zayden Ryker Janzen, Lily Anne Markley
CORRESPONDENTS:
Ammeter, Milton, Wonsevu

SCHOOL

Special education budget tight, but move is still on
State cuts may not be affecting Marion County Special Education Cooperative as much as school districts, but they still have an impact. Unlike school districts, the cooperative receives state money per teacher instead of per student.
Area college students recognized
Several college students from Marion County received honors that were announced this week. Kansas State University
3 receive medical scholarships
Colleen Tajchman and Camille Christensen of Marion and Seth Methvin of Peabody received $500 scholarships Thursday from St. Luke Hospital Auxiliary. Colleen works as a dietary aide at St. Luke Living Center and is planning to become a nurse.

PEABODY Gazette-Bulletin

If anyone hears gunfire Saturday during Prelude to the Symphony in the Flint Hills, it probably won’t be because of a dispute about Mozart. The Cowtown Cowboys of Wichita will present three gunfight re-enactments Saturday on Fifth Street between Marion and Main streets in Florence.

City administrator Mac Manning will have a 60-day evaluation before the Peabody City Council’s next meeting June 29. Council members approved an evaluation tool Monday night and asked that department heads also evaluate Manning.

“There’s always good that comes from bad.” That’s Dick Maggard’s attitude since being diagnosed with pancreatic cancer nearly two years ago.

Marion and Chase County commissions discussed bud did not make a decision about replacing a county line bridge on Clover Road north of U.S.-50. Chase County expects traffic on the road to decrease because of another dilapidated bridge.

Lois Bailey, 75, died Sunday at Legacy Park, Peabody. Arrangements will be announced by Zeiner Funeral Home, Florence.

Graveside services for Mary Elizabeth (Grosse) Wallace will be at 11 a.m. Saturday at Prairie Lawn Cemetery, Peabody. She died Sunday at Legacy Park Nursing Home, Peabody.

Services for former Burns resident Howard L. Knaussman, 80, of El Dorado are scheduled for 11 a.m. today at First United Methodist Church, El Dorado. He died Friday at Via Christi Hospital in Wichita. Cremation will precede the services.

There’s a saying, “Those who will not read are just as handicapped as those who cannot read.” I wrote it down and at times have re-read it.

We received a telephone call this past week from a reader who requested more information about the county’s recycling program. She said she was surprised that some did not recycle.

Avenue of Flags appreciated The following letter was sent to the Peabody city office. To whom it may concern: I wasn’t sure who I needed to send this letter to, but thought I would send it to the City of Peabody and hopefully you will forward it to the right parties.

BIRTHS:

CORRESPONDENTS:

State cuts may not be affecting Marion County Special Education Cooperative as much as school districts, but they still have an impact. Unlike school districts, the cooperative receives state money per teacher instead of per student.

Several college students from Marion County received honors that were announced this week. Kansas State University

Colleen Tajchman and Camille Christensen of Marion and Seth Methvin of Peabody received $500 scholarships Thursday from St. Luke Hospital Auxiliary. Colleen works as a dietary aide at St. Luke Living Center and is planning to become a nurse.