Thanks so much for your gifts to the Salvation Army this past Christmas season.

In addition to the newspaper inserts that people have used for several years to make donations, Marion County tried something new this year to help keep more money in the community-little red "Counter Kettles" (a non-bell ringing version of what you may have seen at Wal-Mart).

Kettles were placed at two dozen gracious businesses in both Marion and Hillsboro.

Kettles were given good visibility and people chose to give there as well as through the newspaper envelopes.

The advantage of the kettles over the newspaper envelope method is that using the kettles is free. While the newspaper inserts get into many homes, the cost of the inserts cuts into the monies that are given, which of course means less of the money actually gets to help hurting families.

As positive and cooperative as the newspapers organizations have been, we may reduce or eliminate the use of newspaper inserts next year so that more of the money given can go toward what it is given for-helping families in need.

We'll try the kettles again next year for sure. Perhaps we can even expand them into other towns around the county.

Again, thank you for your donations to Marion County's Salvation Army unit. Your generous gifts through the counter kettles will enable us to help additional families keep their lights on, and homes warm.

Stephen Humber

Marion County unit treasurer

Flint Hills group to interview for project

The Kansas Flint Hills, with their distinctive scenic landscape, have long harbored a unique and significant culture within the timeline of American history.

Preserving this nationally significant heritage through the collection and preservation of the Kansas Flint Hills' heritage stories and oral histories is a goal of the Flint Hills Heritage Task Force.

To that end, the Flint Hills Heritage Task Force-part of the 22-county Flint Hills Tourism Coalition-will conduct a workshop Wednesday, Jan. 17, to train potential interviewers for the Flint Hills Heritage Stories oral history project.

"We are very excited to get this Flint Hills Heritage Stories project underway because there are so many great stories of the Flint Hills we hear, but only a few have been captured and preserved for future generations," said Bill Smith, a member of the Flint Hills Heritage Task Force.

"Our goal is not only to record and preserve these stories but by using the latest technologies we will be able to share and make these stories available to a much broader audience, now and for the future."

Themes for interview subjects will include ranching, pioneer life, Native American and other ethnic history, ecology and geology of the Flint Hills, the impact of railroads and oil and gas exploration and extraction, and the impact of the Santa Fe Trail and other early trails through the area on life in the Kansas Flint Hills.

Participants at the Jan. 17 workshop will assist with the Heritage Stories project by helping to identify interview subjects and then actually doing the interviews, using the techniques ato be shared at the workshop.

Registration information is available at the CBED Workshop Web site at www.emporia.edu/ business/cbedworkshops.php

Registration by Jan. 10 is requested and there is a $5 fee for participants. The workshop will be held in the Roe Cross Conference Room, Cremer Hall on the ESU campus, from 1:30 to 4 p.m.