First Farmers Market boasts of bounty

Written by Patty Decker Tuesday, 11 May 2010 18:35

Debbie McSweeney, foreground, and Doris Unruh, both of Peabody, were among the new vendors Thursday at the Farmers Market in Hillsboro. Cooler temperatures make all the difference when it comes to harvesting early spring vegetables, which was evident Thursday at the first Hillsboro Farmers Market of the season.

Now in its fifth year, organizers of the Farmers Market said they were pleased with how many vendors and buyers attended the first night of the season.

As for the abundance of produce available, Joni Calam, one of the initial organizers said, she was thrilled.

“It’s one of the market’s best years for produce on the first night,” she said, “and we also have new vendors.”

Beginning the first Thursday in May and continuing through the last Thursday in September, most years the first night has only a few vegetables and vendors.

“It was a good...

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Ramona rift draws media exposure

Written by Don Ratzlaff Tuesday, 11 May 2010 18:33

A political rift in the small Marion County community of Ramona became front-page news in a regional newspaper last week after word was spread that some residents had filed a petition to recall the mayor.

An extensive story on the petition to recall Mayor Pat Wick, as well as the issues surrounding the action, appeared on the front page of the Saturday issue of the Salina Journal.

Word about the recall petition, including its content, came to the Free Press last week by anonymous e-mail.

The petition listed four grounds for recall, alleging that Wick had violated a city ordinance by not paying sewer fees for one of the local properties she owns, violated the Kansas Open Meetings Act, was no longer representing the will of local...

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City hopes change in plan will reduce Main Street exposure

Written by Don Ratzlaff Tuesday, 11 May 2010 18:26

A sign of the times: Contractors were putting up “road closed” signs along North Ash Monday, marking the start of a two-month project that will renovate a little more than two blocks of the street, which is the major entry point off U.S. Highway 56. Hillsboro City Administra­tor Larry Paine expressed hope at the May 4 meeting of the city council that wear and tear on Main Street due to use by heavy grain trucks could be minimized during the upcoming wheat harvest season.

All traffic will be routed around two-plus blocks of North Ash, from First Street north, while that section of street is renovated, which could take around two months.

North Ash is the most direct approach to the Cooperative Grain & Supply elevator for producers north of town.

Paine said changing the order of project tasks could reduce the Main Street portion of the detour. He said he has been informed by the contractor that workers will remove and replace the concrete street between First and Second...

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Picked by ‘Pickers’

Written by Patty Decker Tuesday, 04 May 2010 19:07

Marion “Oggie” Ogden” (left) and Dennis Maggard watch camera man during filming of “American Pickers.” Mike Wolfe and Frank Fritz, stars of “American Pickers,” were invited to Marion by two local pickers who own Bearly Makin’ It Antiques.

Marion Ogden, 63, known to friends as “Oggie,” and Dennis Maggard, 61, are in the same business of collecting old relics, but just on a smaller scale.

While Fritz and Wolfe travel from coast to coast, Ogden and Maggard limit their travels to Kansas and to a three- to five-state radius.

At many of their stops, though, Wolfe and Fritz can usually find a lot of things to buy.

That wasn’t the case in Marion, though.

“It’s tough to pick from a picker,” Ogden said. “They don’t do anything different than we do.”

Yet the “American Pickers” duo didn’t go home...

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