Recently I came across a piece of unexpected local and state history. I?m talking about the personal book collection of Ray?mond F. Wiebe.
In it are some brand, spanking new books that are now in very short supply and available to you. One of the titles is a book he wrote about Hills?boro?s history: ?Hills?boro, Kansas: The City on the Prairie.?
These books originally were printed at the old MB?Publishing House in hard cover, and we have 10 copies that are in pristine condition as they are still new.
Included with this book is a list of corrections that Wiebe made about 10 years ago, plus a photo and paragraph about the author when we reprinted the soft-cover version. We printed 100 and they are all gone. So finding the new ones in hard cover is definitely big news.
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Also included in the find were two more brand new hard-cover books: ?Early Days in Kansas? and ?Grace Meadow: The Story of Gnadenau and its First Elder; Marion County, Kansas.?
The Kansas history book was first printed by the Wichita School Board in 1927, then reprinted by Eagle Printing in 1967?which is the version of the book that is for sale. It contains the story of Anna Barkman and the Turkey Red Wheat that was brought to the area in the late 1800s.
A third book is a soft-cover genealogy book about the Groening-Wiebe families through 1974. It was written by Joel A. Wiebe, Vernon R. Wiebe and Ray?mond F. Wiebe.
The book contains lots of family photos, plus a few of buildings and some maps.
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The aforementioned books are available in limited quantities from the Free Press online store or at the Free Press office.
The menu button for the online store is at the top of the home page.
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I thought it wasn?t supposed to get windy until March or April.
Anyway, last week I had been at the post office to put some money in our mailing account. I put the receipt in my coat pocket, then headed back to the office.
When I got to the office, the receipt was gone. I retraced my steps and saw the silly little piece of paper about a half block north.
I calmly walked toward it to pick it up when a gust of wind caught it from the south and moved it on down the sidewalk.
So now the chase was on. I took a few steps and the wind moved the receipt another 10 feet, and so on, until I finally caught up with it halfway down East Grand. It took two plants of my foot to finally capture it, and by then I was standing in the middle of the street.
I looked around to see if any one was watching. I think my secret is safe.
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Another quote I like: ?That endless?book, the newspaper, is our national glory.? ?Henry Ward Beecher
If you wish to share your comments or ideas, my e-mail address is joel@
hillsborofreepress.com
