Marion County residents had a potpourri of Labor Day events to choose from over the weekend. On Sunday, a concert by rising country music star Candy Coburn (left) capped a day of family activities, fireworks and food at the Marion County Fire Chiefs Association fundraiser at Marion County Lake. About 600 people came to the concert, which included a preliminary performance by the band Justus. Ben Steketee, Hillsboro fire chief, said the concerts and the overall event was well received, but did not draw the size of crowd the organization had hoped.
Florence Labor Day Celebration drew people again for its weekend of activities. In the left photo below, the Wichita Caledonian Pipes and Drums Corps marches in the parade on Monday morning before giving an hour-long concert to several hundred listeners gathered across from the stage in front of Cottonwood Valley Bank. In the right photo, Donna McClure of the “Pretty Damn Tasty” barbecue team checks on the brisket cooking in a smoker designed by Burns resident Ron Goodwin during Monday’s competition. The McClures have attended the Florence event every year since its inception, and have been bringing their savory stylings to such gatherings since 1982.
A picture-perfect weekend contributed to a picture-perfect 40th Kansas Mennonite Relief Sale with early sales equaling $406,500 at the Kansas State Fairgrounds in Hutchinson.
Mayor Delores Dalke accepts the plaque recognizing Hillsboro as a “Tree City USA” from Ray Aslin, state forester with the Kansas Forest Service. The presentation was made by the KFS and the National Arbor Day Foundation March 26 in Manhattan.
Attempts by the Central Kansas Conservancy to explain its positions Monday at a Marion County Commission meeting ended with the commissioners coming down on the side of land owners opposed to rails to trails development passing through their property where railroad tracks have been removed.
Sheldon Wiens, 14, son of Jane and Brad Wiens of rural Hillsboro, was diagnosed with autism at age 3. (From left) Sheldon, Natalie, Jane and Brad and (front) Brooklyn, have replaced the intensity of the early years of diagnosis with a sense of normalcy.
Sheldon Wiens, son of Brad and Jane Wiens of rural Hillsboro, was diagnosed with autism, a brain disorder that affects a person’s ability to communicate, relate to others and interact with surroundings, when he was 3 years old.
