FFA group gets a boost for national convention trip

Written by Hillsboro Free Press Tuesday, 30 November 2010 16:22

Hillsboro High FFA group on site at the national convention in October. Just when it seemed like budget constraints were going to keep the Hillsboro High School FFA from going to the national FFA convention in Indianapolis, Ind., the group was notified it was selected as the winner of a $2,500 donation through the America’s Farmers Grow Communities project.

In the program, sponsored by the Monsanto Fund, farmers in rural counties in 38 states across the country could sign up for the chance to win $2,500 to donate to their favorite nonprofit.

Hillsboro farming couple Warren and Anita Unruh, alumni of the high school, were drawn as the winners for Marion County. They designated the $2,500 donation to the Hillsboro FFA chapter.

As a bonus, the group got to tour Monsanto’s research and development...

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Against all odds

Written by Don Ratzlaff Tuesday, 23 November 2010 15:29

Leann and Wenxi Funk enjoy a moment of affection at a home they share with her parents, Don and Gladys Funk. When Leann Funk and her extended family sit down to Thanksgiving dinner this week, the newest member of the clan likely will want rice instead of the traditional mashed potatoes.

After waiting and praying so long for his arrival, family members won’t mind in the least. Six-year-old Wenxi Daniel Funk has found his seat at the table as Leann’s adopted son.

Mother and son arrived from China for the first time earlier this month. All it took for it to happen were six years and a bushel of miracles.

• • •

The first miracle may be that Wenxi (pronounced wun-see) has survived at all. Born with spina bifida in the hill country of northern China, Wenxi was fortunate to have a special biological mother. She could have discarded...

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Local history back in print

Written by Don Ratzlaff Tuesday, 23 November 2010 15:28

Raymond Wiebe holds up a copy of his recently reprinted history, “Hillsboro, Kansas: The City on the Prairie.” Wiebe will be at Thee Bookstore in Hillsboro Saturday morning to sign copies of the book, which came out in 1985. A Hillsboro historical treasure is back in print, and no one is happier than the man who wrote and published it 25 years ago.

When Raymond Wiebe released “Hillsboro, Kansas: The City on the Prairie” on the heels of the city’s 1984 centennial celebration, his supply of 300 hard-cover copies and 770 soft-cover copies were all but sold out within 21?2 years.

The 190-page chronicle of the city’s founding and first 100 years was sponsored by the Hillsboro Centennial Commis­sion and Centennial Publication Committee, but Wiebe produced it with his own funds. He didn’t think he could afford a second printing.

“I’m pleased and humbled that somebody thought it was worth doing,” Wiebe said.

The reprint of the book was...

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Lost dog becomes an inter-state ordeal for family

Written by Patty Decker Tuesday, 23 November 2010 15:27

Lacey and Sheldon in happier times. For one Hillsboro family, finding their lost dog was as much a nightmare as when they first discovered her missing.

Even though Lacey, a 7-year-old Golden Retriever, has since been found and identified by her owners, Brad and Jane Wiens, rural Hillsboro, they still cannot bring her home. In fact, they may never be able to.

Not only is Lacey a good farm dog, Jane Wiens said, but when she went missing in mid-Septem­ber, her son, Sheldon, 17, was heartbroken.

“We did everything we could think of to find her,” she said.

The police, area veterinarians, neighbors and Caring Hands Humane Society in Newton were all contacted during the search.

When she first called the Newton shelter, Wiens was told that a dog was picked up in North...

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