With band in place, Chingawassa Days ready to (rock and) roll

Written by Patty Decker Tuesday, 01 June 2010 18:56

Courtesy photo<p>The band 38 Special will be making its return to Chingawassa Days for the featured Saturday night concert in Marion’s Central Park. They first performed in 2002.  



After months of preparation and thousands of dollars spent on new, wider sidewalks, electrical upgrades and other improvements at Marion’s Central Park, the stage is set for Chingawassa Days starting Friday.

In addition to making sure the park would be shipshape in time for the three-day festival, Margo Yates, executive director of the Marion Chamber of Commerce, which sponsors the event, told city council members at a recent meeting that she needed to call in a big favor.

Yates said the group that was booked as the main entertainment notified the committee it was unable to appear.

Remembering that 38 Special, a rock band performing at Chingawassa Days in 2002, had once told Yates, and other organizers, that if they should...

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Model T hobbyists enjoy local sites and hospitality

Written by Patty Decker Tuesday, 25 May 2010 19:29

Ed Hall, 90, of Prairie Village, stands beside his 1927 Model T Touring car Friday in Hillsboro. The four-cylinder engine is original, he said. The average cost of a black, non-brass Model T ranges from $8,000 to $12,000. In brass, the price goes up to $12,000 to $20,000. “It’s a lot cheaper than some hobbies,” Hall said. Sixteen Model T Fords, from Kansas and Missouri car clubs, rolled into Hillsboro Friday as part of a three-day historical tour that included the Santa Fe Trail.

Gary Hylton of Prairie Village, trip organizer and member of the Kansas City Chuggers Club, said the group left Thursday morning from Olathe, stayed overnight in Council Grove and spent Friday touring.

“We got as close as we could to the trail,” he said, “traveling from Lost Springs to the Cotton­wood River Crossing.”

Hylton said he was grateful to Steve Schmidt with the Cotton­wood Crossing Chapter and Glenn Shields, Sana Fe Trail Association, in making the trip enjoyable for everyone.

“We ate at Main Street Cafe in Durham and many of us have been at Little...

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Huffman resigns as chair of troubled MCEDC

Written by Patty Decker Tuesday, 25 May 2010 19:28

The future of the Marion County Economic Development Council is in limbo following news that the chair, one of its members and possibly others were stepping down after Wednes­day’s meeting in Marion.

Teresa Huffman, the county’s economic development director, said at the meeting that she will continue in that capacity, but will no longer be involved with the council as its chair or liaison between the council and commissioners.

In addition, Cheri Bentz, representing Tampa, said she is leaving because she thinks the group has lost its direction and deteriorated to the point of bickering about who is right and who is wrong as it relates to the council’s mission.

The resignations, along with pending action by the commissioners to...

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Bookless ready for change at ministry

Written by Patty Decker Tuesday, 25 May 2010 19:26

Lillian Bookless (right) receives ahug from Pat Bartel, rural Hills -boro, during a farewell party for her Sunday. After more than 11 years at Main Street Ministries in Hills­boro, Lillian Bookless, facility director, said it’s time for her to step aside and make room for all the good changes coming.

Even though she said it is hard to leave, she knows it is time for new blood.

 

“God is still interested in Main Street Ministries and I am at ease with letting go,” she said Friday.

Bookless said part of the plan for MSM is to become even more of a community, with families moving ahead as a team and feeling common bonds.

For example, women with children can talk about the decisions they made and learn from one another.

It would be difficult for a single person without children to relate to those kinds of problems, she said.

“We keep...

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