Marion County RECORD

HEADLINES

No word yet on cause of Peabody fire
Fire departments from Peabody, Marion, and Hillsboro spent three hours early Sunday fighting a fire at Peabody’s Coneburg Grill and Pub. Firefighters were summoned at 4:46 a.m. After Fire Chief Colton Glenn released other firefighters and waited for a fire marshal to arrive, a piece of insulation rekindled, and he called other Peabody firefighters back.
Hit-and-run yields no tickets
The wife of a city council member was not ticketed after she drove her car into another in a hit-and-run accident Nov. 30. According to interim police chief Zach Hudlin’s report, the accident was caused by Keri Collett, 36, wife of Zach Collett, improperly backing into a parking stall.
Dogs back home after mauling calf in town
A pair of dogs attacked a calf Sunday in the 300 block of Burbridge St. in Marion. According to a report from Marion police, the dogs were returned to their owner in the 300 block of Grant St., and the incident remains under investigation.
'Wildcats' may soon go extinct as mascot
The Marion–Florence school district will consider dropping the “Wildcats” name for its middle school teams and instead use the high school’s “Warriors” moniker. “Wildcats” was Florence High School’s name before the school consolidated with Marion in 1971.
Christmas comes home to county
Christmas arrived 2½ weeks early Saturday in Hillsboro and Peabody. In Hillsboro, there were activities for children, a chili and cinnamon roll lunch, a plethora of holiday shopping opportunities, sales, and a visit from a jolly, red-clad man who bore a resemblance to Mayor Lou Thurston.
Boredom left you in a pickle? Sport finds a new home
The unmistakable Soon after, Jimmy Shipman, recreational director at Marion High School, began the city’s first pickleball league.

OTHER NEWS

Trash schedule unreadable
A trash pickup schedule sent to Marion residents in December utility bills is nearly impossible to understand. Schedules ordinarily are printed in color to make it easy to identify which parts of town will have trash pickups on which days.
Accident had different driver
The driver of a pickup that left a Peabody road Nov. 29, overturned, and burst into flames was misidentified in an article in the Dec. 4 edition of the The driver information in the article was based on Peabody Police Chief Phillip Crom’s description. An official accident report, requested by the
Road work planned
Work on portions of US-77 and US-50 in Marion County has been approved by Kansas Department of Transportation. An 8.3 mile milling and overlay project will be done from 0.14 mile north of the US-50/77 roundabout at Florence to 0.28 miles south of the US-56/K-150/US-77 roundabout east of Marion.
Hillsboro to spend for meters, bowling
A repaired water line, improved electric and water meters, and a rebranded Bluejay Lanes are all in store for citizens of Hillsboro. At a meeting last week, city council members approved a proposal from Ditch Diggers to replace a waterline on Adams St. at a cost of $256,272.
Losing long-living louvers
While Marion’s courthouse clock tower has been painstakingly repaired and maintained since its construction in 1906, some pieces of the tower are showing their age. Multiple wooden louvers — window slats which allow sound to escape — have broken off the west side of the tower in recent weeks.

DEATHS

Paula Rhodes
Services for Paula Rae (Irwin Duggan) Rhodes, 84, who died Friday in Oklahoma, will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church, Durham. Burial will be at College Hill Cemetery, Tampa. Visitation will be 5 to 7 tonight at Jost Funeral Home, Hillsboro.
Doris Crowther
Services for Doris Crowther, 97, Durham, who died Saturday at Lindsborg Hospital, will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Roxbury United Parish. Pastor Libby Themis will officiate. Burial will be 10 a.m. Saturday at Valley View Cemetery, rural Roxbury.
IN MEMORIAM:
Loren Hiebert
IN MEMORIAM:
Norman Schroeder

FARM

Repair business leaves farm for new building
The first seven days of being open at a new location were very busy for Mike Morales and his family-run implement and diesel repair shop. Longtime customers of his 5-year-old shop were aware that Morales and his wife were building a new shop in Hillsboro, and business has ticked along as usual since the move.

FOR THE RECORD

OPINION

With the world watching, will we save democracy?
Like the world’s largest ball of twine in Cawker City or what’s wrongly billed as the world’s deepest hand-dug well in Greensburg, our little newspaper office in Marion has become a tourist attraction of sorts. We even seem to be surpassing the site of the world’s largest marshmallow roast at the county lake. This past week, we were visited by everyone imaginable — from members of an ultra-conservative group called the People’s Rights Network in central Oregon to what that group probably would regard as the ultra-liberal “Question Everything” broadcast from National Public Radio station KCRW in southern California.
ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:
Remembering Dick and Jane
LETTERS:
'Downright moron', Holiday feast

PEOPLE

Candy money to go to school project
Profits from this year’s Knights of Columbus Tootsie Roll sale will be used to help pay for communication devices at Marion Elementary School. When the organization found out the school was looking to install communication boards on the playground for nonverbal students, members thought it would be a good cause for Tootsie Roll profits, Knights member Tim Baxa said.
Grad wins national honor
Peabody native Max Caldwell, now an automotive technology instructor at Pratt Community College, has been named 2024 Master Automobile Technician of the Year by the National Institute for Automotive Service Excellence. Caldwell, who is working on a graduate degree in career and technical education at Pittsburg State University, was honored Nov. 20 during a ceremony in New Orleans.
Free government commodities offered
Free food will be available Dec. 18 to 21 for low-income residents age 60 and over. Recipients must have monthly household income of no more than $1,632 plus $583 for each household member after the first.
Student wins ag scholarship
Ashley Peters, daughter of Ryan and Jamie Peters of Lehigh, is one of six students statewide to receive a $1,000 “Youth in Agriculture” scholarship from Kansas Livestock Foundation. A co-valedictorian of the 2024 graduating class at Hillsboro High School, she is a freshman majoring in animal science at Butler Community College.
Living nativity planned
A live nativity will be presented from 5 to 7 p.m. Dec. 21 and 22 at a new location, Patchwork Farms, 372 70th Rd., a mile east of K-15 on the Marion / Harvey County line. A 20-minute walking tour with characters, animals, lights, and sounds will be presented by Tabor Mennonite’s youth group. Donations will be accepted.
School tech group to meet
Directors of Technology Excellence in Education Network, which provides online services to area schools, will meet at 6 p.m. Dec. 18 at the Hillsboro schools office, 416 S. Date St. More information is available from Lena Kleiner at (620) 877-0237.
Disability group to meet
Directors of Harvey-Marion County Developmental Disability Organization will meet at 4 p.m. Monday at 500 N. Main St., Newton. A video stream will be available. Information is at https://harveymarioncddo.com/meetings.
Centre superintendent to retire
Centre schools superintendent Larry Geist will retire at the end of the 2024-’25 school year. He has spent after 43 years in education, the last four years at Centre. “I’ve enjoyed my time here,” he said. The Centre school board met last week with a Kansas Association of School Boards representative to learn how to find a replacement. Geist has no definite plans for retirement but did say he recently obtained a doctorate in education and is exploring a possible role in higher education.
Senior center menus
MEMORIES:
15, 30, 45, 60, 75, 110, 145 years ago

SPORTS

Marion, Centre dominate in openers
Two of five county boys teams opened their seasons with victories Friday. Marion
State-ranked Trojans roll to easy victory
Hillsboro, the county’s only state-ranked team, scored an easy victory to open the season Friday as Marion outscored Goessel. Hillsboro
Hillsboro splits wrestling opener
The Trojans opened their season Thursday against Minneapolis and Halstead. Minneapolis defeated Hillsboro 39-27 before Trojans rebounded to beat Halstead 45-22.
Marion honors athletes of month
Gabrielle Stuchlik and Isaac Wesner have been named Marion High School’s Champions of Character for November. According to activity director Jason Hett, Stuchlik is a respectful student who works hard and is a great teammate.
Dye signs with Bethany
Marion High School senior Sophia Dye has signed a letter of intent to accept a track and field scholarship with Bethany College next year.

MORE…

HOVER OVER IMAGE TO ENLARGE IT

Before the Saturday night's performance of the "Nutcracker Suite" by Studio 23 in Hillsboro, performers dressed as the cutest mice you'll ever want to see and performed a song called "The Battle."

The "Fickle Pickles" take on the "Pickled Sisters" in a league match last Wednesday.

Marion's clock uses weights and pulleys, pictured here, to keep itself ticking.

The Marion bench stands up and cheers after an exciting play during a game Friday against Goessel. The Warriors won 45-33.

Marion County RECORD

The wife of a city council member was not ticketed after she drove her car into another in a hit-and-run accident Nov. 30. According to interim police chief Zach Hudlin’s report, the accident was caused by Keri Collett, 36, wife of Zach Collett, improperly backing into a parking stall.

A pair of dogs attacked a calf Sunday in the 300 block of Burbridge St. in Marion. According to a report from Marion police, the dogs were returned to their owner in the 300 block of Grant St., and the incident remains under investigation.

The Marion–Florence school district will consider dropping the “Wildcats” name for its middle school teams and instead use the high school’s “Warriors” moniker. “Wildcats” was Florence High School’s name before the school consolidated with Marion in 1971.

Christmas arrived 2½ weeks early Saturday in Hillsboro and Peabody. In Hillsboro, there were activities for children, a chili and cinnamon roll lunch, a plethora of holiday shopping opportunities, sales, and a visit from a jolly, red-clad man who bore a resemblance to Mayor Lou Thurston.

The unmistakable Soon after, Jimmy Shipman, recreational director at Marion High School, began the city’s first pickleball league.

A trash pickup schedule sent to Marion residents in December utility bills is nearly impossible to understand. Schedules ordinarily are printed in color to make it easy to identify which parts of town will have trash pickups on which days.

The driver of a pickup that left a Peabody road Nov. 29, overturned, and burst into flames was misidentified in an article in the Dec. 4 edition of the The driver information in the article was based on Peabody Police Chief Phillip Crom’s description. An official accident report, requested by the

Work on portions of US-77 and US-50 in Marion County has been approved by Kansas Department of Transportation. An 8.3 mile milling and overlay project will be done from 0.14 mile north of the US-50/77 roundabout at Florence to 0.28 miles south of the US-56/K-150/US-77 roundabout east of Marion.

A repaired water line, improved electric and water meters, and a rebranded Bluejay Lanes are all in store for citizens of Hillsboro. At a meeting last week, city council members approved a proposal from Ditch Diggers to replace a waterline on Adams St. at a cost of $256,272.

While Marion’s courthouse clock tower has been painstakingly repaired and maintained since its construction in 1906, some pieces of the tower are showing their age. Multiple wooden louvers — window slats which allow sound to escape — have broken off the west side of the tower in recent weeks.

Services for Paula Rae (Irwin Duggan) Rhodes, 84, who died Friday in Oklahoma, will be 10:30 a.m. Thursday at First Baptist Church, Durham. Burial will be at College Hill Cemetery, Tampa. Visitation will be 5 to 7 tonight at Jost Funeral Home, Hillsboro.

Services for Doris Crowther, 97, Durham, who died Saturday at Lindsborg Hospital, will be 11 a.m. Saturday at Roxbury United Parish. Pastor Libby Themis will officiate. Burial will be 10 a.m. Saturday at Valley View Cemetery, rural Roxbury.

IN MEMORIAM:

IN MEMORIAM:

ANOTHER DAY IN THE COUNTRY:

LETTERS:

Free food will be available Dec. 18 to 21 for low-income residents age 60 and over. Recipients must have monthly household income of no more than $1,632 plus $583 for each household member after the first.

Directors of Technology Excellence in Education Network, which provides online services to area schools, will meet at 6 p.m. Dec. 18 at the Hillsboro schools office, 416 S. Date St. More information is available from Lena Kleiner at (620) 877-0237.

Directors of Harvey-Marion County Developmental Disability Organization will meet at 4 p.m. Monday at 500 N. Main St., Newton. A video stream will be available. Information is at https://harveymarioncddo.com/meetings.

MEMORIES:

Two of five county boys teams opened their seasons with victories Friday. Marion

Hillsboro, the county’s only state-ranked team, scored an easy victory to open the season Friday as Marion outscored Goessel. Hillsboro

The Trojans opened their season Thursday against Minneapolis and Halstead. Minneapolis defeated Hillsboro 39-27 before Trojans rebounded to beat Halstead 45-22.

Gabrielle Stuchlik and Isaac Wesner have been named Marion High School’s Champions of Character for November. According to activity director Jason Hett, Stuchlik is a respectful student who works hard and is a great teammate.

Marion High School senior Sophia Dye has signed a letter of intent to accept a track and field scholarship with Bethany College next year.