Marion County PAT
plans Santa visit
Everyone is invited to attend “Cookies with Santa” from 10-11 a.m. Saturday, Dec. 10, at the Florence Library, 324 Main St.
Santa is asking all reading and cookie lovers to join him in an old-fashioned story time at the library.
The event is sponsored by Marion County Parents as Teachers.
HCF seeking 2017 grant applications
The Hillsboro Community Foundation is accepting applications for grant funds to be distributed in 2017 from the Hillsboro Area Impact Fund.
Organizations may apply that are exempt from federal income tax under Section 501(c)(3) and serve Hillsboro and surrounding communities.
Application forms can be downloaded from hillsborofreepress.com or cityofhillsboro.net. The deadline for submission is 5 p.m. Jan. 5.
The Impact Fund is an unrestricted grant fund created by the generosity of individuals who have contributed to this endowment. Grants will not be limited to a particular issue or target population.
Successful applications assist the foundation in fulfilling its mission to improve the quality of life for the Hillsboro area.
For more information about the Impact Fund and other non-profit funding opportunities, contact HCF director Cynthia Fleming at 620-382-5550 or by email at director@hcfoundationks.org.
The application is available at hcfoundationks.org.
‘Night in the Barn’ set for Dec. 17, 18
The Tabor Mennonite Youth Fellowship will host its annual living nativity, “Night in the Barn,” from 6-8 p.m. Dec. 17 and 18 in the barn of Maynard Knepp and Carol Duerksen between Goessel and Hillsboro.
The story this year will be from the perspective of a sheep that witnessed the first Christmas, and is from a new book by Kim Funk titled “Christmas at the Stable.”
The come-and-go event includes Christmas carols around a bonfire, hot drinks and snacks and friendly animals. Admission is free and donations to the youth group will be accepted.
To find “Night in the Barn” from Goessel, go three miles north on Kansas Highway 15, four miles east on 150th, three-quarter mile north on Falcon.
From Hillsboro, go four miles south on Indigo, three west on 150th and three-quarter mile north on Falcon.
From McPherson, take U.S. Highway 56 to Kansas Highway 15 south, five miles on K-15 to 150th, four miles east on 150th and three-quarter mile north on Falcon.
For more information, call 620-386-0709.
Hillsboro church to host music event
An evening of holiday music will feature Music On Site’s performance of Benjamin Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols” and a reading by Don Owens at 7 p.m. Friday, Dec. 16, at First Mennonite Church, located at Grand Avenue and Ash Street in Hillsboro.
In addition to audience participation carol singing, Music On Site’s founding members Emily Sternfeld-Dunn, Jen Stephenson and J. Bradley Baker will be joined by Holly Swartzendruber to present Britten’s “Ceremony of Carols,” and Owens will read a holiday favorite, “The Tale of Three Trees.”
This event is free to the public; an offering will be collected with proceeds to benefit Music On Site’s spring production.
Music On Site Inc. is a non-profit organization based in central Kansas with a mission of increasing the accessibility of music throughout Kansas by producing engaging performances in unique spaces.
Brass choir to play at Alexanderwohl
The McPherson Community Brass Choir, under the direction of Jerry Toews, will present the annual All Brass Christmas Concert at 7 p.m. Sunday, Dec. 11. in the historic Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church.
The 16-member choir, in its 43rd year of performing in central Kansas, will play Christmas music, from traditional to pop. The Goessel High School Elbiata Singers, under the direction of Andrew Voth, will perform the interlude.
Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church is located one mile north of Goessel on Kansas Highway 15.
Free screening in Florence Dec. 13
Marion County Early Intervention Services is offering a free screening for children birth through 5 years old Tuesday, Dec. 13, in Florence.
Appointments will be available from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m.. At the screening, development will be checked in the areas of cognitive, motor, speech and language, and social and emotional. Vision and hearing also will be screened.
This process usually takes at least one hour for a child to complete. All children are welcomed, but an appointment is necessary. Call 620-382-2858 to make one.
HUMC plans child’s program Dec. 11
The Hillsboro United Methodist Church, 905 E. D St. will present a children’s Christmas program Dec. 11.
For more information, call HUMC at 620-947-5643.
