Community News
White, Fix engagement
Bert and Joni White of Parsons announce the engagement of their daughter, Raven Whitney White, to Anthony Hyat Byington Fix, the son of Tony and Ruth Fix of Parsons. The couple plan a July 16 wedding.
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Hecks to celebrate 50th
In celebration of their 50th wedding anniversary, Louis and Barbara Heck, rural Thayer, will be honored from 2 to 4 p.m. June 18 at Thayer Senior Citizens Center. Louis and Barbara Heck were married on June 18, 1961, at Harrison Chapel, west of Thayer. He was born and raised in rural Thayer, and she was born raised in Independence. Their children, Steve Heck, Cheryl Studebaker and Mark Heck, all of Thayer, and their children's spouses will h...
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Dilldine, Cosby engagement
Jessica Dilldine and David Cosby, both of Altamont, announce their engagement. The bride-elect is a 1982 Labette County High School graduate. She graduated from Redlands Community College, El Reno, Okla., in 1997. She is a self-employed artist. The future groom also graduated from LCHS in 1982. He is owner/operator of L&L Construction. The couple plan a June 25 wedding in Altamont.
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Fowlers to celebrate 50th
Cheryl and Larry Fowler of Claremore, Okla., will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary at 2 p.m. June 26 at Tiawah Baptist Church, 24405 S. 4180 Road, Claremore. Cheryl Mitchell and Larry Fowler were married on June 23, 1961, at First Baptist Church in Oswego.  The Fowlers formerly lived in Altamont. Their children, David Fowler and his wife, Linda, and Melissa Stringfellow and her husband, Cameron, along with their two grandchildren, A...
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Gards honor 50th
John and Mavis Gard of rural Erie celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary on May 7 with a luncheon and reception at the Brickhaus in Erie hosted by their sons and families. The family also took pictures and had a barbecue at their home later in the evening. John Gard and Mavis Page were married on May 7, 1961, at Erie. They have resided in the rural Erie area since their marriage except for a short time. Mr. Gard retired as quarry forema...
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Hands-On Food Preservation Workshop
Two hands-on food preservation workshops are being offered by the Labette County and Montgomery County Family and consumer sciences agents, Kylie Ludwig and Barbara Ames. Water Bath Canning will be the topic in Labette County the evening of Thursday, June 23. The workshop is scheduled from 5:30 to 9 p.m. in the Labette County Extension Wyckoff Building, 524 Huston St, in Altamont. Participants will help prepare canned salsa as well as lear...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. June 10, 1971 An agreement with operating organizations and track improvements would speed the arrival of Katy Railroad freight trains in Tulsa by two hours, Reginald Whitman, the line’s president, announced. The ultimate result was likely to be an additional daily freight train between Parsons, a key Katy operating point, and Tulsa, Whitman said from his office in Dalla...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. June 9, 1971 A request that 10 acres of land allocated to the Parsons State Hospital and Training Center be made available as a site for a proposed nine-county Southeast Kansas juvenile detention center was on its way to Gov. Robert Docking. Recommendation that the facility be located in Parsons was included in a plan announced by the SEE-KAN Resource Conservation and Dev...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. June 8, 1971 The roofs of two downtown buildings in Parsons collapsed, and the wall of one of them, housing the Parsons News, also gave way. City officials investigated the cause of the collapse, but had not established it by early afternoon. The collapse was reported to police at 7:50 a.m. No one was in the buildings at the time. There were no injuries. The building occu...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. June 7, 1971 The award of a $25,000 contract to a Los Angeles firm for a recreation and tourism study of Southeast Kansas was announced by the Ozarks Regional Commission. Development Research Associates was awarded the contract. The study was expected to require seven to eight months. The Southeast Kansas Outdoor Recreation Association requested the study as a means of sp...
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O'Haras celebrate 50th anniversary
Mr. and Mrs. Mike O'Hara Mr. and Mrs. Mike O'Hara of Parsons will observe their 50th wedding anniversary with a family dinner. Mike O'Hara and Pat Finnerty were married June 10, 1961, at St. Mary's Catholic Church in Parsons by the Rev. Herbert Hertel. Mr. O'Hara worked for the Katy Railroad then the Union Pacific Railroad before retiring after 20 years of service. Mrs. O'Hara was the lunchroom cashier at Parsons Middle School for 22 years....
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Rileys honor 50th wedding anniversary
Mr. and Mrs. Marvin Riley Marvin and Louise Riley of Edna will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with a reception from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 12, at Edna United Methodist Church. The Rileys were married June 10, 1961, at Miami, Okla. The couple have five children, Melvin and his wife, Sharon, of rural Galesburg, Darrell and his wife, Andrea, of South Coffeyville, Okla., Craig and his wife, Connie, of rural Edna, Brenda and her husba...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun's editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. June 4-5, 1971 Diverse heritages, their social development and their artistic endeavors would be examined at Parsons High School in the fall because of a $141,500 federal grant the school received. A new course in clultural understanding, first of its kind in Kansas, would be offered to incoming sophomores, Henry Norris, school superintendent, said. Six teachers working a...
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O'Haras honor 50th anniversary
Mr. and Mrs. Mike O’Hara of Parsons will observe their 50th wedding anniversary with a family dinner. Mike O’Hara and Pat Finnerty were married June 10, 1961, at St. Mary’s Catholic Church in Parsons by the Rev. Herbert Hertel. Mr. O’Hara worked for the Katy Railroad then the Union Pacific Railroad before retiring after 20 years of service. Mrs. O’Hara was the lunchroom cashier at Parsons Middle School for 22 years. The couple have five childr...
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Rileys celebrate their 50th
Marvin and Louise Riley of Edna will celebrate their 50th wedding anniversary with a reception from 2 to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 12, at Edna United Methodist Church. The Rileys were married June 10, 1961, at Miami, Okla. The couple have five children, Melvin and his wife, Sharon, of rural Galesburg, Darrell and his wife, Andrea, of South Coffeyville, Okla., Craig and his wife, Connie, of rural Edna, Brenda and her husband, Mike Carnes, of rural Co...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. June 3, 1971 A new business — R&F Farm Supply — 13 miles north of Parsons would have a formal grand opening. Mr. and Mrs. Frank Harris of Erie were owners and operators of the business. The location was three miles south of Erie on U.S. 59/K-57 and five miles west of St. Paul. Harris would be manager of the store and Mrs. Harris would be office manager. Harris had dispose...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun's editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. June 2, 1971 The I.M.I. Inc. plant in Parsons was experimenting with a four-day work week, believed to be the first of its kind in Parsons. Since May 1, employees had been working Monday through Thursday, except in holiday weeks when they worked Tuesday through Friday in producing business forms. Bill Lawrence, general manager of the plant, said the schedule had worked we...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun's editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. June 1, 1971 A long-familiar building in Parsons, the old Katy Railroad freight station at 20th and Crawford was about to disappear. Clearance of the frame structure, rated as a fire hazard, was nearly complete, J.J. Scaletty, executive assistant for Parsons Urban Renewal Agency, said. The agency's demolition contractor, Bob Madget Inc., St. Joseph's, Mo., was clearing th...
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Abell, VanLeeuwen engagement
Dennis and Patti Abell of Jonesboro, Ark., announce the engagement of their daughter, Emily Abell of Olathe, to Jeremy VanLeeuwen of Olathe. He is the son of Keith and Elaine VanLeeuwen of St. Paul. The bride-elect is a 1999 graduate of Jonesboro High School in Jonesboro, Ark. She received a bachelor’s degree in psychology in 2003 from the University of Arkansas-Fayetteville. She received a master’s degree in 2005 and a doctorate in 2007, both...
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Redmans to observe 65th anniversary
Mr. and Mrs. Dale Redman of Parsons observed their 65th wedding anniversary with a family dinner. Dale Redman and Mary Ann Lassen were married May 25, 1946, at the Presbyterian Church parsonage in Oswego. The Redmans are both retired. The couple have three daughters, Edith Boss of Pittsburg, Calif., Connie and Larry Smith and Kathy and Jerry Hardman, all of Parsons. They also have five grandchildren and 11 great-grandchildren.
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