40 years ago

june 6, 1979

Five Marion High School students, Debbie Rittgers, Kelly Blackman, Julie Hett, Cindee Miesse, and Pat Fruechting, will join 245 students from Kansas, Nebraska, Missouri, and Colorado when the Mid-America Band and Chorus stages five performances in Europe this summer.

This week’s Personality Profile by Ruth Meyer features C.H. “Bud” Seibel, farmer, builder, and auctioneer, who also is involved in real estate and other business interests.

Frank and Lorraine Havlik who own the Mainliner Motel, 1305 E. Main, have decided to retire and have sold the business to David and Janet Longhofer.

Marion girls Tammy Harris, Nancy Kline, Brenda Silhan, and Tracy Burkholder, students at Florence Middle School, entered the McPherson Regional Olympics Saturday in the 440 Relay event and placed sixth in a field of 15 teams.

Kline, Silhan, Burkholder, and Angela Helmer (of Hillsboro) broke a meet record in the 880-yard medley relay, qualifying them to enter state competition at Manhattan Saturday.

The last, and final, county census indicates Marion County has lost another 311 in population during the past year. The 1979 loss follows a 299 loss in 1978—610 people in two years. Total head count is 15,908