On the morning after Halloween, people began asking whether an outhouse had been placed in downtown Marion. That had been the custom for years. Sure enough — the mystery people didn’t let us down. There it was in the middle of Main Street.

I heard that it is pretty hard to find one anymore. Every country school had two — one for the girls and one for the boys. Of course, we had one on the farm. How we dreaded a trip out to it in the cold, wintertime or watching out for spiders and wasps in the summer.

The paper used was Sears, Roebuck catalogs or something similar. There is a large outhouse on the Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve near Cottonwood Falls. It is very impressive — a three-holer. There is a smaller, low one for a child.

Did you know there is a tour of outhouses? It is at Elk Falls. The tour has been going on for 13 years. It is the week before Thanksgiving Day and well-attended. It is a part of our history and good for them.

I really need to write something about the fine culture to sort of balance things. I could brag about the Marion High School music department. They just put on a musical called “Grease” and did a great job. The director and helpers need a lot of praise. Those young people never missed a stop or a cue.

It seemed the whole community pitched in and helped put on the production. What a lot of planning and directing it must take. It is a great gift to the town. Many of us otherwise would never see such great entertainment. Congratulations to the backstage crew as well as other participants.

— norma hannafor