Too Long in the Wind

December 2009

Just wondering about the school

[December 31]   Roger Hanhardt of Hays has done much to keep our school spirit alive since the closing of the high school, which was sold to the city, sold to a private city citizen, taken by a bank, and now perhaps sold again. I acknowledge that the building doesn't belong to us anymore, but I think he raises a valid concern about a structure we're emotionally attached to.

"I was wondering like you what happened to the listing of this property. I am hoping against hope that the rumors I have heard for a couple of years about the bldg. being [stripped] of its copper is not true. That would truly be a shame, and make the bldg. unusable. I have my fingers crossed that did not happen. Rog"

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Andrew Hopkins has died

[December 31]   A correspondent has written with the news that a former resident of Pawnee Rock, Andrew Hopkins, has died.

Mr. Hopkins was 21 years old, lived in Larned, and worked for B&B Quality Meats. He is survived by brothers Anthony, Aaron, and Alex and his parents, Dewane and Lana Hopkins of Larned. His death came December 29.

His funeral will be Saturday afternoon at Morell Funeral Home in Larned, and he will be buried in the Larned Cemetery. (Obituary)

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Pawnee Rock and 2010 calendar

[December 30]   Back in July a call went out for all the 627 incorporated communities in Kansas to submit a photo of their city to the League of Kansas Municipalities for use in the organization's calendar. Perhaps you sent in a photo yourself.

I admit that I hadn't thought again of the calendar until Jim Dye reminded me yesterday. I followed my original link and eventually found this LKM order form (pdf).

Does anyone know which view of Pawnee Rock the organization used? I think it would be interesting to see our hometown illustrated in the calendar, even if it is only a small photo. Maybe the LKM will create a calendar for 2011 and give all the cities another chance at a month's of glory.

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James Ellis Sr. has died

[December 29]   Some of you may remember the James Ellis family, which lived northwest of Pawnee Rock in the late 1960s or early 1970s. James Ellis Sr. died December 26 in Hays. He had lived in Ness City and was married to Donna Ellis, who survives. He was 76.

Their children are Carla, James Jr., Brenda, and Kevin, who were in the Pawnee Rock classes of 1973, 1975, 1977, and 1979. Mr. Ellis worked in the oil field and Mrs. Ellis was a Girl Scout leader. (Obituary)

Thanks to Susan Unruh Ellis, who wrote to remind me of the family's history in Pawnee Rock.

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Has the school been sold?

[December 29]   A notice on an eBay sales page says the offering of the former Pawnee Rock school building has been pulled. I wonder whether that means Our School has been sold again, this time apparently for $4 a square foot.

If anyone has the details, please pass them along and I'll post them here.

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3 years longer than I expected

[December 29]   This past week marks the fourth anniversary of the launching of PawneeRock.org. I thought I'd run out of photographs three years ago, and at the time there wasn't this column so I had no fear of running out of things to write. Now we have 1,400 photos -- almost all of our hometown -- in the Gallery.

Thanks to all of you who come by regularly, and I'm always glad to hear from new readers. I deeply appreciate all the photos and tales contributed by readers. What you add makes the site immeasurably richer.

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Chemical reaction

[December 28]   I spent much of Sunday helping son Sam with his chemistry. Sam, I must say, has it great.

His home-schooling course provides a manual with 251 experiments in a progressive order -- each experiment builds like scaffolding on the one before it. The course also comes with a large box of gear -- test tubes, an alcohol burner, litmus paper, filter paper, other assorted gear, and about two dozen plastic tubes holding real chemicals.

That's what makes me jealous. As a kid, I thought I was pretty well off because my parents gave me a set of test tubes in a wooden rack, an Erlenmeyer flask, a beaker, a one-hole rubber stopper, and a glass tube. There may have been a petri dish as well. Furthermore, I had a microscope and a set of blank slides.

I kept the gear in a wooden cabinet in my basement bedroom. Because I didn't have access to chemicals (it was Pawnee Rock, after all) beyond household goods, my experiments were generally limited to vinegar's fizzy reaction when baking soda was poured into it. I'm surprised I didn't pass out from all the extra carbon dioxide I breathed -- but I still love the scent of vinegar because of those mad-scientist days.

I didn't learn a lot about chemistry from doing the experiments, but I absorbed some familiarity with the equipment and I thought about chemicals and their reactions. Having my own lab opened my mind to the polysyllabic world of carbonates, chlorides, and sulfates. I'm no chemistry genius, but I consider myself open to chemical understanding -- even to the point of figuring out the reactions and interactions as meat, vegetables, and starches change form in my saute pan.

Sam, in the eighth grade, is doing experiments beyond what I did at home (of course) and in my junior-year chemistry class. Maybe he's on his way to becoming a chemistry genius; at the least, his studies give him the opportunity to see the world at the molecular level. At his age, I learned "what" and "how," and he's learning "why."

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Nanook of the South

[December 24]   I moved back to Kansas in 1983 from Austin so I could work at the Wichita Eagle-Beacon. My job transition was in July, allowing me to shift from a steambath to a moderately dry sauna. I hardly felt the difference, except for when I got heatstroke from riding my bike along the river and didn't realize that I had dried out.

Autumn came with its lovely knives from the northwest. I trundled out to Sears in the Town West mall and bought myself a green coat packed with the miracle of Thinsulate, a microfiber. The salesman said it was a miracle product; I had been out of the winterwear market for several years and apparently was willing to believe anything.

I drove out to Liberal one November day to reacquaint myself with the wide open spaces, but mostly I was reminded of how barren southwestern Kansas is when the leaves are gone and there's nothing left but sticks and sparse red grass. And that was fine. I also learned that the wind laughs at Thinsulate packed into inexpensive Sears coats.

In January, winter arrived with a record snowstorm and very chilly temperatures. The thermometer on my rented house on Waco said it was zero degrees. I know, I know; in Pawnee Rock it gets much colder and there's nothing between the Yukon and Pawnee Rock but a couple of barbed-wire fences. I, however, thought I still had the thin blood pumped by Texans and imagined I was living a high adventure on North Waco Street two blocks from the Little Arkansas.

Winter, real winter! I found a flat shovel in the crawlspace and hacked away at the sidewalk and driveway. I laughed -- really -- at being able to dress against the cold and, in a very manly way, maintain the property.

I recently came across some photos I made that winter. A couple show the snow and the place where I lived. However, I am so embarrassed by the third photo that the only way to relieve my secret shame is to lay it before you.

It's a self-portrait I made in a medicine-chest mirror in my rental house. I am sporting my Thinsulate coat. I've wrapped an enormous, lush blue scarf around my yellow hooded sweatshirt, which covers my red polyester stocking cap. My precious hands are encased in polyester gloves -- the kind with ribbed wristbands -- that let in just enough cool air to remind me of high school football nights until they got wet, and then I was reminded of the worst part of my childhood winters.

Not everyone from Pawnee Rock is such a goof. I hope.

Today -- just in time for Christmas -- Pawnee Rock and the rest of central Kansas are getting a faceful of ice, snow, and wind fresh from Canada. The smart folks are in dressed in insulated clothing or sit at home with their feet next to the furnace vent.

Somewhere, though, there's another yahoo back up from the south who has forgotten his upbringing. He thinks he is dressed for winter, and he thinks he is stylish. Let him be.

He'll come to understand in a few years that the adventure was all in his head. He'll realize as well that he should let his wife dress him.

Maybe he'll move back south, where no one knows what 5-weight motor oil is, or perhaps he'll overcompensate by heading north beyond the curve of the earth.

One thing is certain. He'll never again bare his face to the winter wind in Wichita.

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Suited for the season

Elmer Kasselman and Mrs. Santa Claus prepare to hand out goodies at the Lions Club depot in Pawnee Rock on December 21, 1991. Elgie Unruh made this photo.

[December 23]   One thing I've always liked about our hometown is its affection for Christmas and Santa Claus. In a town where the past is often our proudest heritage, we do have a history of offering a few moments -- after days of anticipation -- of civic joy to the next generation.

In 1991, as they always have, the Lions gathered to put treats in paper sacks for Santa to hand out. Elmer Kasselman had the pleasure that year.

Santa may not have arrived on a fire truck, as he did when I was a kid, but it appears that in 1991 everyone still knew where to find him.

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Thanks for the names

[December 23]   Thanks to Leon Miller, class of 1951, for sending information to fill out the caption for the homecoming photos sent by our mystery correspondent, the youngster in the photos. See them now in the Gallery.

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A kiss that's still a kiss

[December 22]   Our mystery correspondent sent the photos on today's homepage -- because he's in them.

• "My First" basketball game at Pawnee Rock
• "My First" First Grade, at Pawnee Rock
• "My First" Sunday Clothes at Pawnee Rock
• "My First" exposure to Kings & Queens at Pawnee Rock

Our correspondent identified the folks in the photo. He added:

"I knew of kings & queens in the Bible times (at that age) but surely didn't understand royalty in this setting. I had never been to a basketball game, and had never been in the high school. That was my first suit.

On the kissing picture, I'm sorta holding my tongue between my teeth; all giddy! On the back of the pictures was the inscription '1948.'"

Can you identify the correspondent? Be the first . . .

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Dalton Keener, Santa

[December 22]   Last month Dalton Keener wrote, and I got distracted and didn't post what he wrote. I was really glad to hear from Dalton, who lived a short distance from me when we grew up in Pawnee Rock. During those days, I didn't get to know him very well. He ran with an older crowd. His sister Paula, however, was in the class after mine.

Here's what Dalton had to say:

"Hey Leon, really enjoy reading this. Brings back some old and creates some new. I know you will remember me from when we were kids in Pawnee Rock. Dalton Keener. Right now I am in Cary, N.C., portraying Santa in a mall. I make my home north of Pawnee Rock but nowhere near as far North as you."

He invited me to look him up on Facebook, where I saw a photo of a man next to a strapping fellow and a youngster. I asked whether that was Dalton, a son, and a grandchild.

"LOL that is actually a photo of me and my Dad about 33 years ago. I had never seen it till my younger half sister posted it. Makes a guy pine for the old days and missing loved ones something fierce!"

Dalton wrote that he had performed as Santa for a breakfast in Pawnee Rock. I think that was a very nice thing to do -- there's nothing better than trying to make children happy.

I gathered from Dalton's message that parts of his life have been difficult. Still, Dalton writes how he appreciates each day's beauty, and when you come down to it, that's the spirit that gets us through the winter.

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Photographs that last

The Pawnee Rock Christian Church burns on December 19, 1991. Elgie Unruh made this photo.

[December 21]   There was fresh snow when Paul Schmidt made the 1950s photograph on today's homepage. I doubt that he came to town to photograph the Zieber home, but there he was with his camera.

Eighteen years ago this past weekend, the Christian Church caught fire and sustained quite a bit of smoke and water damage. Elgie Unruh, who kept his camera in the car or pickup he used on the mail route, used it to record the day's excitement.

Now, you and I won't find a church fire or a big snow every day -- although Pawnee Rock is supposed to have snow on Christmas Eve -- but it can't hurt to be prepared.

Photograph everything! Your family, your dog, your book collection, your car, your backyard grill, your neighbors, your street, your grocery store, your coworkers, your favorite trees.

Think about the photos you've enjoyed most on PawneeRock.org. Almost all of them have been informal photos, snapshots of the way we used to live.

Think about photos that your kids and grandkids and great-grandkids will want to see. How did you live? How did you look when you went fishing? How tall were you? What did your neighborhood look like? What exciting things happened in your life?

So go out and take pictures this week and next year. Put some effort into it. Make it a point to photograph something every week.

And -- this is important -- label your photos.

Life happens. Your life. Be there with your camera.

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When Fido became a felon

[December 18]   In the spring of 1983, Pawnee Rock became no place to be a dog with wanderlust.

Certainly, our town had declared limited war on dogs before. I know this because the city warehoused one stray in a wire cage behind the firehouse, only a short bark from my bedroom window.

A couple of brief stories in the Great Bend Tribune recounted the canine tale of woe -- and hinted at eventual fines for the dogs' owners and earnest promises from little boys to never let Brownie run lose again.

Council hires animal warden

April 4 -- The Pawnee Rock City Council Monday night hired Judy Kappler of rural Pawnee Rock as animal warden to help alleviate the community's stray dog problem.

The council's action, at a relatively short regular meeting, authorizes the woman to pick up dogs, issue tickets and impound dogs temporarily. She will be paid $4 per hour, and will be on call, City Clerk LaWanda Hendricks said.

Hendricks said the city will furnish some of the equipment and dog food, while Kappler will furnish other equipment, including dog pens on her property.

Pawnee Rock goes after dogs

April 11 -- The governing body of Pawnee Rock has ordered Ordinance 170 regarding dogs will be enforced starting Monday.

Starting on that date, tickets will be issued for dogs running at large or any other violation of the ordinance.

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Pennies for my thoughts

[December 17]   When I was 10 or so I asked my dad what he and his friends used to do for fun when they were my age. He talked about baseball and bike riding and then laughed a little and said he and the guys had pitched pennies.

Well, now. That sounded like fun.

I had read about pitching pennies in some old stories set in the Depression, but I didn't know how it worked. Dad took me over to the wall and tossed a penny at the base, then offered me one to do the same. Bounce it off the wall, he said, and closest one to the wall wins.

And thus was I introduced to gambling.

Compared to playing a roulette wheel or a one-armed bandit, pitching pennies was a game of skill. Sadly, I think, it's a skill lost to the ages. When's the last time you saw kids or ne'er-do-wells tossing pennies down at the elevator or behind a grocery store?

I see that the Dodge City Casino and Resort has opened, and it looks like a very hospitable place for people who can't wait to trade their lunch money for a few hours of entertainment. If I lived near Dodge, I'd go try my own luck, even if there aren't any games there you can play with a handful of tarnished copper.

Until then, I'll be hanging around with my sons, letting them con me me out of my pennies until they get bored and drift off toward their video games.

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School is for sale again

Pawnee Rock school building in 2005, when it was the city building.

[December 16]   The Pawnee Rock school building is for sale on eBay again -- and this time the price is much lower.

The school -- given to the city for $1 when the school district was through with it -- was first put on the market about two and a half years ago for $350,000 because the city needed money, and the price was cut to $325,000 before a fellow from California bought it. After a few months, a bank took it off his hands.

Now our beloved 50,000-square-foot building and its 19 acres are on the market for $200,000. It's being offered through Mid West eServices, the Salina company that sold it the first time.

Sounds like a bargain to me. Here's the listing.

Thanks to Cheryl Unruh for passing along Ken Stromquist's question about it.

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From the desk of Doyle Mayse

[December 15]   Doyle Mayse, who in a previous life worked for KANS radio (AM and FM) in Larned, generously sent a souvenir of the days when he was the king of breaking news in Pawnee County. You might remember the station's motto: "When news occurs -- tell us -- so we can tell everyone."

I admit it -- I've been out of the news business for a whole six months and holding a reporter's news pad felt better than I expected.

I asked Doyle when the call letters for his station got switched to a broadcaster in Emporia.

"A number of years ago radio stations started playing musical call signs," he wrote back. "They would switch to something else then switch to something else, move here and there. It used to be when a station got a call sign, that was it for eternity. The bigger the area the more switching. The Emporia station that got KANS was owned one time by the same guy that owned the station here. He changed call signs and moved KANS FM call sign to Emporia. I think KANS AM is still available."

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Goodbye, armory

Kansas National Guard armory in Larned.

[December 14]   The Kansas National Guard announced late last week that it is closing 18 armories early next year, including the one on the east side of Larned.

We've all been to the armory, I suppose, for Boy Scout Jamborees and wedding dances and disaster drills -- three events for which I raise my hand -- as well as antique shows and maybe pet shows and who knows what else.

Now that the threat of heartland attack by communists has faded, maybe the need for an armory in every second county seat has faded as well. (Oh, no! Now it's the socialists after our guns and women and health insurance!) But the real need is having guardsmen with their equipment handy during the tornado season -- a period of true life-and-death situations for Kansans.

Anyway, I'd like to thank the members of the national guard for having me as a guest in the distant past. I wish the personnel well and hope my Kansas friends never need to see them in a professional role.

As for the future, if the building is to be sold we should expect the usual spate of ideas for civic profiteering: City recreation hall. Office building. Industrial site. Scout meeting hall. Skating rink. Private school. Karate gym. My money's not involved, of course, but I really do hope the building is put to an imaginative use. It has served us well and deserves a happy future. (Full story in the Tribune)

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Buy this property

[December 11]   If you were in the market to buy stuff out of the newspaper, Pawnee Rock was the place to be on December 17, 1983.

For sale by owner. Pawnee Rock. Large older four bedroom home, two bathrooms. Hot water heat with woodburning fireplace, car garage, $26,000.00. Call 982-xxxx.

NOTE: Elgie Unruh wrote on the clipping: "Jim Clawson home to old Hickman home or D.R. Logan home."

Shop in Pawnee Rock. Metal building with sliding door and cement floor. Great for car repair or farm machinery.

Pawnee Rock. Beat the cost of living. $15,000.00 nice house on west Bismark or $25,000 house on S. Barton. Make an offer.

Elgie's note: Walter Meyers home and shop. Madge Meyers home.

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All your farming needs

[December 11]   The Pawnee Rock Farmers Grain, Fuel & Livestock Company newsletter of December 1, 1983, was full of good cheer and money-saving deals in December 1983.

Happy Holiday season from the staff at Farmers Grain. We have our calendars in so come in and get your 1984 calendar.

Fall Harvest

The fall season is over and the crops are in the elevator. The fall crops were disappointing yield wise in this area as well as throughout the nation. Farmers Grain had receipts of 160,000 bushels of milo and 42,000 bushels of soybeans, which represented 65% of last fall's receipts. With the small fall harvest, space was not the problem as it has been in years past. Now the question remains on what is the crops worth and when to sell.

Store Specials: 20% savings on all tools in stock. 10% discount on all gloves in stock.

Help Wanted: We are needing someone to work every other Saturday from 8 a.m to 1 p.m. This is a part-time position.

Fuel Prices

Station Pumps: We are offering a 4 cent discount for self service and 4 cent per gallon discount for cash. For Self Service Cash, you receive a total of 8 cents per gallon off the pump price.

Bulk Fuel: We have a special fillup program for gasoline and diesel. Order diesel and receive price protection of up to 5 cents/gallon if the price goes down. Check with Howard for details.

Service Station Specials: Get Your Vehicle Ready for the Holiday -- 10% discount on oil and Lube service. Check with Howard on your tire needs.

Feed: Clayton Akers is now in charge of the Feed Department. Check with Clayton for your feed needs.

Fertilizer: Contact Clay for your fertilizer needs. He will take soil samples for you and figure a complete program for you.

(Signed)

Clay (Schmidt)
HWB (Howard Bowman)
Lyman
Clayton (Akers)
Vera (Schmidt)

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Jack Frost nips at PR's nose

[December 10]   My new town, Fairbanks, is famous -- notorious -- for its brisk winter weather. Just ask any veteran who has spent the dark months at Fort Wainwright or Eielson Air Force Base.

But on Wednesday night we Alaskans had nothing on Barton County.

At midnight, coming into today, it was minus 8 at the Great Bend airport a few miles from Pawnee Rock, and the wind chill was minus 17 with the wind blowing across the fresh snow.

At the same moment, 9 p.m. in Fairbanks, it was a balmy minus 7 degrees, and we had no wind.

Pawnee Rock may not sit at the end of civilization, but on an evening like last night the Arctic doesn't seem very far away.

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Christmas guests

[December 9]   Christmas 1982 was busy in Pawnee Rock, according to Mrs. Henry Kurtz, who recorded it for the Larned paper early the next month.

Mr. and Mrs. Roy Bauer attended a family dinner on Christmas day at the home of their son, Mr. and Mrs. Roy Bauer Jr.

Major and Mrs. Robert Dunavan and family of Ft. Riley and Mr. and Mrs. Dan Dunavan and family of Cape Girardeau, Mo., spent Christmas with their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Ira Dunavan.

Mr. and Mrs. Alvin Carris hosted a dinner on Christmas day for Mr. and Mrs. Melvin Stout and family of Alden, Mr. and Mrs. Glen Carris and Tina Tatro.

Thirty-two family members attended a dinner at the home of Mr. and Mrs. A.J. Wilson of rural Ellinwood on Christmas day. Among those attending were Mr. and Mrs. Henry Kurtz and Roger Kurtz, Mr. and Mrs. Fred Barker and Nathan of Larned, Mr. and Mrs. John Stella of Dodge City and Steven Kurtz of Great Bend. On Sunday, Roger Kutz was host to a carry-in dinner at his home in Pawnee Rock for the Kurtz family.

Christmas Eve dinner guests of Mr. and Mrs. Virgil Smith were Mr. and Mrs. Rob Smith and family of Great Bend and Jared Smith of Wichita.

A Christmas dinner was held on Sunday, Dec. 19, at the home of Mr. and Mrs. Fred Schmidt. Guests were Mr. and Mrs. Jarold Schmidt, Clay, Curtis and Trent, Chrystal Davidson, Tedd and Kenda Schmidt and Tarrah of Larned, Mr. and Mrs. John Schaefer, Peggy and David of Roeland Park and Mr. and Mrs. Sandy Schmidt, Kevin, Darin, Kent and Derek of Pawnee Rock.

Dale Unruh of Norton, Benita Unruh of Manhattan, and Mr. and Mrs. Steve Unruh and family of Cimarron were holiday weekend guests of their parents, Mr. and Mrs. Olin Unruh.

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Football players recognized

[December 8]   Ron Douglas wrote with good news about Paul Schmidt's photos of Pawnee Rock High School football players:

"A few days ago you posted a picture of a PRHS football team from the '50s. I know two of the players because they are cousins of mine. One of them is Jack Bowman (#50), and another is Larry Harper (front row on the left). I'm guessing that the picture is from 1952 or 1953."

Thanks, Ron!

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More about A.B. Clawson

[December 8]   A.B. Clawson's obituary in today's Great Bend Tribune was more complete than the one this past weekend in the Hutch News. Add this to what I wrote yesterday about Mr. Clawson's life to draw a fuller description:

Mr. Clawson was a graduate of Great Bend High School. He worked for Pleasant Grove Township in Pawnee County, where he maintained the roads. He also worked for Bob Reiter Chevrolet, and he was the owner operator of the Pawnee Garage in Pawnee Rock. He enjoyed working on cars, especially racecars.

Survivors include his long time companion Billie Jo Mcvey; two daughters Norma Clawson Stoudt and husband James of Bella Vista, Ark.; Janice JoAnn Clawson Prill and husband Ray, of Helena, Mont. He was a father figure to Jeff Lee Mcvey and wife Cathy as well as countless others. He had eight grandchildren and five great-grandchildren. He was preceded in death by his parents; five brothers, Ben, Joe, Earl, Virgil, and Edward; two sisters, Ruth Dicks and Carolyn Fairchild; and his son, Jimmy Ray Clawson, and a daughter, Joy Dianne Clawson Wilkie.

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It's good for the wheat

[December 8]   Snow moved in on Pawnee Rock about 8 p.m. Monday. A couple of inches were expected, plus 3 to 5 more inches today as well as freezing rain. It wasn't necessary to do so, but the newspapers warned that it would be windy. High temperatures were expected today in the low 20s.

The weather snapshot, from Weather Underground, shows the radar return at 8:20 p.m. last night.

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A.B. Clawson dies

The Pawnee Garage stands along U.S. 56 in Pawnee Rock.

The A.B. Clawson family lived in this home just east of and across the alley from the Pawnee Garage.

[December 4]   A.B. Clawson, who ran the Pawnee Garage for many years, died December 4 in Great Bend.

Mr. Clawson's full name was Arnold Burnett Clawson Jr., but I never heard anyone call him anything but A.B. He was the son of Arnold Burnett and Leta Hazel Ross Clawson of Great Bend, and he was 82 years old when he died.

Mr. Clawson and his wife, Doris Miller Clawson, had three daughters: Norma Stoudt, Jan Prill, and Dianne Clawson-Wilkie, who died in 2005. In his later years, Mr. Clawson companion was Billie Joe Mcvey, and they had one son, Jeff.

A.B. Clawson will be buried in Great Bend. (Full obituary)

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Pawnee Rock school newsletter, 1983

[December 4]   The January 1983 newsletter of the Pawnee Rock school contained these tidbits. Elgie Unruh kept this for us.

Note that this was when the school said goodbye to some long-time rivals:

League notes: During the meeting of November 10, 1982, the league voted to allow Utica and Healy into the league. During the same meeting, Pawnee Heights withdrew from the league so that they could join a junior high/high school league to their south. Because of the lengthy mileage which would exist with the present "Big Six League," a letter was sent to the league president stating that Pawnee Rock would withdraw at the end of the 1982-83 school year. An independent schedule has been organized for the 1983-84 school year.

Basketball scoreboard:   Congratulations on the fine effort displayed during the first half of the 1982-83 basketball season. The results are as follows:

B.C.C.C. enrollment:   B.C.C.C. will be conducting their enrollment for the spring semester on Tuesday, January 11, 1983, from 6:30 p.m. to 8:00 p.m. in the small auditorium. Classes will officially begin on January 18, 1983.

Reminder:   A total eclipse of the moon is predicted to occur at 2:51 a.m., Central Standard Time on December 30, 1982.

Brrr...   Since the thermostats have been lowered district wide, to insure your child's warmth while they are at school, please have them dress accordingly. Thermostats are set as follows:

Pep Club to Re-order T-shirts:   Numerous requests have been made for the Pawnee Rock Pep Club to re-order the short sleeve, light weight T-shirts which were recently sold. The Pep Club wishes to announce that such an order will be made prior to Christmas vacation. [Note that this is the January newsletter.]

All orders and monies should be turned in at the school office by December 21, 1982. Youth sizes are $3.60 each and adult sizes were $3.80.

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So long, Ron Stark

[December 3]   Ron Stark, a scoutmaster who took the boys of Troop 444 on adventures in the late 1960s and maybe the early 1970s, has died.

Ron once had been in the Seabees and served, I think, in Vietnam. He was a Marine and later in the Naval Reserve. He was from Hutchinson and worked as an electrician, which is what brought him to live in Pawnee Rock and work at the salt plant.

He lived on Houck Street in the middle of the block between Cunnife and Flora.

He was an unusual choice for scoutmaster, not having roots in Pawnee Rock, but he had one big qualification -- he was eager to do it when most of the local men weren't. He was also interested in us boys, perhaps because he enjoyed life and got a kick out of camping and rafting.

Ron told us jokes we wouldn't hear in church. He gave us survival tips and hints of military tactics. He got us a civic project (installing street signs) that paid for new camping equipment, and he acquired a Navy surplus raft and took the troop to Lake Wilson and down the Arkansas River. He took us on moonlight hikes on river sandbars and along Ash Creek; he helped us figure out that raccoons poop on tree branches. He encouraged us to get out and learn about our countryside and to test our mettle.

Ron had leukemia. When he died last Sunday in Hutchinson, he was 69 years old. (Full obituary)

•   In the face of danger
•   Street signs
•   Chef's surprise
•   The Navy surplus raft
•   Ron in Pawnee Rock

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Bite me, fish face

[December 2]   When I was a fishing-crazy boy in Pawnee Rock, I read in the state regulations that noodling -- catching fish by sticking your hand in their mouth underwater -- was illegal in Kansas.

That sounded reasonable to me. Catfish have bony mouths and spines near their gills, and anybody who has enough nerve to stick his hand too close to one deserves what he gets. Catfish are why fishlines and hooks were invented.

Last night I watched a PBS show on noodling for catfish in Oklahoma. These weren't the forearm-size channel cats we knew in the Arkansas River -- these were the 50-pound yellow cats whose cousins' heads we see stuck like Lord of the Flies trophies on fenceposts near Kansas' largest and warmest lakes.

Having never seen noodlers in person, I was eager to see how it is done. Men of a certain age waded into flooding rivers and felt around in holes until they found a catfish in whose mouth they could stick their hand until the fish latched on while they grabbed the jaw and pulled the fish to the surface.

It's probably good that someone keeps the sport of catfish wrestling alive in case we someday return to the Stone Age. I'm glad the guardians are just one state away. I, however, intend to keep my fingers.

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The story of Albert and Pawnee Rock

[December 1]   Roger Hanhardt of Hays wrote:

I was thinking about your story about Albert. The town. And thinking how you must be about 20 years younger than I. It was the comment about not interacting much with Albert kids. It wasn't always like that for Pawnee Rock.

Although the town of Albert was in the Otis school district, many kids went to Pawnee Rock. PR's district ran two miles south of Albert to Heizer as one boundary. I graduated from Albert Grade School in '60 in a class of 13. SIx went to Otis, 5 to Pawnee Rock, and 2 to Great Bend to high school. I believe that was fairly typical. My brother went to Otis. That also happened a lot, where one sibling went to one, and the other to the "enemy."

And Albert was also in Barton County, like Pawnee Rock; not Rush as Otis is. In 1962 and 1963, we defeated Otis' undefeated basketball teams, and after that second one, they stopped our bus from coming into Albert. We then had to drive to Eddie Miller's farm, two miles south, to catch the bus.

When I did the Pawnee Rock High history book, I noticed many kids from Albert attending Pawnee Rock in the 40's and 50's, and I talked to a lady in Albert recently about why some of those kids went to PR instead of Otis, and she said because Pawnee Rock ran a bus and Otis didn't.

So you see, Albert the town played a very integral part in Pawnee Rock High. And most of the country kids from Albert south to 10th street had Albert addresses.

What a great shool we had at Pawnee Rock. Great kids, teachers, patrons, and the best physical plant in the state for a small school. I will always cherish my memories of that place.

Rog

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Home is where the sunflower blooms

[December 1]   Ray Randolph, a Hoisington boy transplanted in Indianapolis, wrote:

Regarding your latest blog entry. Simply out: If your heart is in Kansas, it doesn't make any difference at all where your head and the rest of your body is. I've been in Indiana just about twice as long as I was in Kansas -- 44 vs. 22 years -- but while most of me is here in Indiana, my heart is still in Kansas and while I possibly may be 1% Hoosier (by simple osmosis), I'm 99% Helianthus Jayhawk. And that's the way it is.

Ray

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Catching up with Linda Deckert

[December 1]   Linda Deckert of Manhattan wrote a very informative letter:

Wonderful writing, Leon! I appreciated the connections with my life in PR that you mentioned. John Foster was my uncle (I often called him "my funny uncle," but with the original meaning of that word. He was fun. My Dad's sister, Mary Ellen, was married to him. Barbara Ater was one of my many cousins from the area. Not first cousins, but I was never sure how "removed" they were. I called them third cousins since our parents were cousins. It often seemed that either my Mother, Phyllis Bowman, or my Dad, J. Wendell Smith, were related to most of the old settlers of the town. And, I got to have their 1st cousins for teachers, bus drivers, beauticians, etc., and those people's children for my classmates. Thank you for your wonderful web-site.

We are making great progress with contacting our classmates for our 50th reunion next summer! Only 4 more to hear from. And, we think we have the correct addresses for those. When we've made sure they are all correct, we'll send you our list.

My husband, Andy Deckert, and I have had dinner with Keith Wilson, who lives in Wichita and is retired from Boeing. On a trip to the west coast to see his daughter, Andy was picked up at the airport in Seattle by another classmate he hadn't seen for 49 years, Larry Schmidt. They had lunch and a nice visit too.

I'm in contact by e-mail with Judy Smith Ogle, Vallene Oetken Immenschuh, Sandra Freeburg Darcey (our class secretary, and organizer of all the reunions we've ever had), Evelyn Bristor Mead and Bill Mead, Sharon Stewart Rolo, Bob Dunavan, Vera Moore Schmidt and Sandy Schmidt, and our Valedictorian Bob Delaplane, who has lived in Sweden for most of his life. He taught physics and chemistry at a Swedish university, and married a Swedish lady, Lena!

It's all been so interesting! And, wonderful to hear from all these old friends! Oh, and we just heard from a really nice guy, Phil Anderson, who lives in Douglass, KS. I heard he has also been mayor there. I'm waiting to get the correct e-mail address for Delaine Levingston; he goes by Joe now, and lives in GB. He ended up not getting his degree (someone wasn't watching out for him), but he was part of our class, and we include him.

Now, we need to hear from Faye Wilson Steffen in Sterling, she's been teaching at Sterling College there for most of the time since we graduated; Jeanette Franklin Frederick, who lives in Bryant, Ark.; Beverly Ukens Juergensen (GB), and Sondra Ritchie Seeley (Wichita), and then we will be in contact with all living classmates. We've lost two: Patricia Nielan and Hal Hays. Your web-site has been a great help to us.

Do you yet know if there will be another all-school reunion on the third Saturday of next August? If so, we'd like to help with it, if we may. Whom do I contact?

Linda (Smith Kruckenberg) Deckert (and Andy . . . who's supposed to be our senior class president. . . . He's getting more involved every week.though.)

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