Community News
Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. April 16, 1970 Wilbur Bradshaw, an Oswego businessman, announced his candidacy for state representative from the 2nd District. The district included 11 townships in southern Labette County, four townships in eastern Montgomery County and three townships across the upper part of Cherokee County. Bradshaw, 47, was co-owner of Atlas Industries Inc., a steel building manufac...
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CRP burning extension
MANHATTAN — Adrian J. Polansky, state executive director of USDA’s Farm Service Agency in Kansas, announces a temporary extension to the Conservation Reserve Program (CRP) burning period in the eastern half of Kansas, from Jewell to Harper County and all counties east. CRP participants in these counties now have until April 30 to complete required burning. This extension will assist CRP participants by providing greater flexibility in plann...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. April 15, 1970 Demolition of the 67-year-old Parsons YMCA building was scheduled to begin in the afternoon, although it could be delayed until the following day because of weather. The Parsons Urban Renewal Agency completed purchase of the aged structure, rated as a major fire hazard, the previous week. The building and the land it occupied at 2006 Broadway were owned by...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. April 14, 1970 The Katy Railroad’s 100th birthday would be celebrated at a civic dinner in Parsons on May 23. The railroad was incorporated on that date in 1870. The dinner would mark the formal launching of its centennial year. Two prominent figures accepted invitations to speak at the dinner. George Stafford, chairman of the Interstate Commerce Commission, would be the...
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Red Cross campaign reaches 49 percent of goal
The countywide fund campaign to benefit the Labette County Chapter of the American Red Cross has reached 49 percent of its goal of $40,300 with events planned in Mound Valley and Dennis. Campaigns Goals Total % Goal Parsons 26,500 14,324 54% Oswego 4,900 2,028 41% Chetopa 2,900 2,910 100% Altamont 2,650 300 11% Bartlett 900 100 11% Dennis 750 40 5% Edna 825 70 8% Mound Valley 875 45 5% Total: 40,300 19817 49% NOTES: 6th, 7th and 8t...
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Author at Murphy’s in Stark Friday
Kansas author Deborah Vogts will be signing copies of her novel “Snow Melts in Spring” from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. Friday at Murphy’s Mercantile & Café, 101 W. Main, in Stark. The novel, published by Zondervan in July 2009, is the first installment to The Seasons of the Tallgrass series and features ordinary people who live and find love in the Flint Hills of Kansas — one of the last tallgrass prairie regions in the world. The novel features M...
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A worthy cause
The Labette County Chapter of the American Red Cross is getting closer to reaching its fundraising goal of $40,300 through community campaigns. A recent note from the Red Cross shows the organization has reached 49 percent of its goal as of Friday. That’s impressive. The local campaign works on the people-to-people connection, neighbors asking neighbors to donate small amounts to the organization. The campaign is working, because Parsons has r...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. April 13, 1970 Lowell Huckstead scored the city’s second reported hole-in-one at the Parsons Country Club. The Princess Homes Co. president stroked his tee shot on the 139-yard fourth hole with a six-iron. The ball hooked onto the green about six feet from the cup and rolled in. Huckstead’s ace came during his third tour of the nine-hole layout on April 11. His playing p...
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Carell, Fey make 'Date Night' funny
Steve Carell and Tina Fey are both excellent comedic actors, but their presence in a movie doesn’t ensure quality. “Evan Almighty,” anyone? “Baby Mama”? When these two appear in a film together, one has to wonder if this is going to be something truly memorable and funny or simply another stupid movie done for a paycheck. When said collaboration is directed by Shawn Levy, who has brought us such unfunny fare as “What Happens in Vegas” and “Ju...
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Phillips, Grillot wedding
Diserae Ashley Phillips and Tanner Michael Grillot were married in a March 27 double-ring ceremony in Sasebo, Japan. The bride is the daughter of Darrin Slayton Phillips of Ventura, Calif., and Brandy O’Neal of Redlands, Calif. The groom is the son of Diana and Alan Turner of Overland Park and Robert Grillot of St. Paul. The bride graduated from Buena Vista High School, Corona, Calif., in 2005. She is a corpsman in the U.S. Navy. The groom is ...
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Modicas to celebrate 60th
Jack and Pearl Modica of Walnut will celebrate their 60th wedding anniversary on Monday. Jack Modica and Pearl Shively were married on April 12, 1950, in the old St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Walnut by the Rev. Frank Baumstark. The couple have lived their entire married life on the family farm near Walnut. They have four children, Maggi Modica of Dallas, Shirley Johnson and her husband, Ken, of Parsons, Bill Modica of Beaumont, Texas, an...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. April 10-11, 1970 A vest pocket park in the Wye area of the city would be known as Lopez Park, after the name of the family on whose former land it was being built. Work had begun on the first of two such installations in Parsons, according to Arvon Phillips, city recreation superintendent. Land for Lopez Park was acquired from Mr. and Mrs. Matthew Lopez and Mary Lopez, ...
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Officers honored
Many of us take for granted those who protect this community, so it was good to see a Parsons police officer receive a Veterans of Foreign Wars National Law Enforcement Award for heroism. Officer Brian Harlow received the honor Monday at the Parsons City Commission meeting. The award was for Harlow’s efforts in a house fire last year when he pulled a 3-year-old child from a burning house. Harlow and officer Jeff Essig have been honored with ...
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LCMHS reaches out to students
From Labette Center for Mental Health Services Labette Center for Mental Health Services is putting its funding to use through an outreach program at Parsons High School and Parsons Middle School. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, 65.5 percent of high school seniors have used alcohol in the past 12 months, and 32.4 percent have used marijuana. With the outreach program, Mark Mikel, a certified substance abuse counselor, reaches ou...
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Walnut City Council meets
By Charlene Kirkpatrick Sun Correspondent The community is saddened at the death of Ted Noble. His wife Sandy, son Steve and daughters Vickie and Mary have been an asset to the community for many years. ——— Bobby Ledford is a patient at the Veterans Administration hospital in Topeka. We wish him a speedy recovery. ——— The Walnut City Council met at 7 p.m. Wednesday. The citywide cleanup will be May 1 and 2 if agreeable with the trash ser...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. April 9, 1970 Major parties in the strike that had crippled production at the Kansas Army Ammunition Plant east of Parsons since April 1 said, with qualifications, they were ready to resume negotiations for a settlement. No date was set or suggested for resumption of talks. The development represented a slight break in the impasse that had prevailed for more than a week ...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. April 8, 1970 An oral surgeon, Dr. James Lamb, would visit Parsons the following week to make arrangements to begin practice here, the administrator of the Labette County Medical Center, Jerry Lilley, said. Lamb would come here from Kerrville, Texas, and planned to start his practice as soon as possible. He had made tentative arrangements to occupy a suite in the new doc...
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Red Cross fundraiser reaches 39 percent of goal
The countywide fundraising campaign to benefit the Labette County Chapter of the American Red Cross has reached 39 percent of its goal of $40,300 with events planned in Mound Valley and Dennis. Parsons 10,415 39% Oswego 1,828 37 Chetopa 2,900 100 Altamont 270 10 Bartlett 0 0 Dennis 40 5 Edna 70 8 Mound Valley 10 1 Total: 15,533 39% Dennis will have a multi-event fundraiser on Saturday, June 5. Mound Valley sixth-, seventh- and eig...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. April 7, 1970 Parsons High School’s two-man golf team won its second title in two meets in Chanute. Louis Rapalino shot 41-36—77 and Jim Overby 44-39—83 for a six-stroke margin over Labette County High School. Rapalino was medalist for the second straight meet on the par-36, nine-hole Chanute Country Club course. Altamont’s Bruce Corey shot 38-40—78 and Mike Coysh 44-44—...
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PACA membership drive begins
The Parsons Area Concert Association has begun its 22nd annual membership campaign now through May14 for the 2010-2011 series. During the campaign, persons may purchase their season subscription and save $5 off an adult membership or $10 off a family membership. Anyone who purchases a new membership before May 7 may attend the Daniel Rodriguez concert, the finale of Parsons Area Concert Association’s 2009-2010 season. The 2010-2011 series li...
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