Greeley County Republican

75¢ Single Copy

P.O. Box 610 • Tribune, Kansas 67879 • 620-376-4264 —12 Pages— Wednesday, October 5, 2011, Vol. 146. No. 40

Jan&

Dan

Our vision is a vibrant, friendly, innovative, well-planned community with your health and happiness in mind.

J — Good luck to the GCHS Varsity Tennis Team at Regionals this Friday and Saturday at WaKeeney!!

****J — I was watching an interesting PBS special on the history of Prohibition in the U.S. I did not realize that the Women’s Suffrage Move-ment was supported by pro-prohibition groups (such as the Ku Klux Klan and Anti-Saloon League) because women were likely to vote in favor of prohibition.

I was also interested to learn that the U.S. used alcohol taxes to fund the government. With the ratification of the income tax amendment in 1913, the federal government was no longer dependent on liquor taxes to fund its operations and the prohibition move-ment gained momentum.

****J — I think it is very

interesting news that people in various U.S. cities are protesting - “We are the 99% that will no longer tolerate the greed and corruption of the 1%,” referring to what is seen as a sharp divide between the wealthiest Americans and the rest of society. With so many people without jobs, homes and/or healthcare, it is not surprising to me.

****J — The Farmer’s Almanac

puts the average freeze date here at October 11. That is only a week away, and I hear lots of people talking about how many green tomatoes there still are on their vines.

Talking about freezes also means that Halloween is coming up soon. It falls on a Monday this year. If you don’t feel like dressing up, maybe you can dress your pet, like this pom in feathers!

D — “Thank God for these good people.” “It’s as good as it gets.” “Couldn’t ask for anything more.” I ran across the above three quotes this past week. The first was by Genia Tuttle thanking local farmers for planting wheat after the untimely death of her husband. The second was from a local farmer describing the results of this year’s wheat drilling. And the third was from the Extension Center agent describing the harvest of fall crops. “But 30 miles south the conditions are not the same,” was another quote that I heard. No, there is no certainty, but isn’t it wonderful how we can respond to the uncertainty and how we can acknowledge the abundance when it comes.

****D — “It will look good when it’s finished,” remarked an out-of-town instructor as she stood gazing at the Greeley County school buildings. “You have managed to keep the best of the old while adding the best of the new.”

****D — Jan and I wish to thank our contributors for adhering to our new schedule. It wasn’t a change of our choosing, but we will try to adapt. In the old schedule we could work into the night if we were late, now we have a fixed deadline and must be finished by 4:00 p.m. on Tuesday.

When I was very young the Eagle came through Horace at 9:28 p.m. every Thursday and we had to take papers to the train for the delivery to all of our out-of-county subscribers. I never remember missing the train, but I never remember being more than 20 minutes early. Deadlines do make a difference.

Math a favorite of GCHS teacher Todd Cooksey

Todd Cooksey, new teacher at Greeley County High School, is well acquainted with small-town life, having grown up in Quinter, Kansas, a town about the same size as Tribune. After graduating from the University of Kansas last year, he began in August teaching high school math in Tribune.

As a graduate of Quinter High School, Cooksey participated in lots of activities, including scholars’ bowl, forensics, track, football, baseball, vocal and instrumental music, the school play and musical, and is an Eagle Scout. He won two individual and three team state championships in forensics, which he will be coaching at Greeley County High School.

Pictures by Jarrod Schmidt

This was the response from our daughter, Sara, when I phoned that a group of friends and neighbors had pulled into our farmyard in preparation to plant our 2012 wheat crop. This great act of kindness was led and organized by Ron Lehman and Clark Harris. Ron headed to the field with our tractor and drill. Steve and Jarrod Schmidt brought their tandem truck, pickups, and auger. Mark and Stacy Cavenee planted with their tractor and drill. Danny and Chris Peter, with the help of Tomas Rodriquez and Samuel Ibarra, drove their two tractors and their drill, as well as a drill belonging to Mark Smith. Sergio Veleta operated Clark’s tractor and drill. Clark was the organizational genius in

charge of keeping the whole group fueled up, seeded up, and pointed to the right fields – with the assistance of Jarrod and Steve. Galen and Jeff Wilcox drove a tractor belonging to Marj Hornbaker with an implement brought by Scott Ricke and Joe Bauck Jr.

This group ran like a well-oiled machine, planting over 17 quarters of wheat in just two days. These guys made what every farmer knows to be a tremendous effort look easy. This phrase is trite but true: Words really and truly cannot express the debt of gratitude we feel toward these wonderful friends for the help we so desperately needed after the loss of Linden.

Also important to our effort were Carol Bloesser,

Lesa Nolan and Jill Vazquez at First Tribune Insurance, who have gone above and beyond helping to organize paperwork, providing maps that were indispensable, and working through the process associated with Linden’s accident.

Many others offered their help, and every offer was greatly appreciated. It’s so easy in our everyday lives to fail to appreciate the truly good people we live amongst. Only when trouble arises and our friends are there with help and support can we truly comprehend what a wonderful group of people call Greeley County home. We are truly blessed.

My grateful thanks to you all!

— Genia Tuttle

Thank God for these good people

Chris Baber demonstrates CPR at the Progressive Ag Safety Day.

Students from Greeley County, Sharon Springs, Weskan, and Wichita County learned how to identify and deal with hazards on the farm on Wednesday, September 28. Santa Fe Trail’s Progressive Agriculture Safety Day drew 135 third through sixth grade students for a day-long session on how to take responsibility for their

own safety, respect parents’ safety rules, and share safety tips with their family and friends, said Malinda Lehman, coordinator of the event.

Hands-on experiences led by local community members and other area instructors taught safety day participants lifelong farm safety lessons. Over time, Lehman said she hopes that

by sharing and applying the lessons learned at the safety day, participants will help to reduce the number of rural children who are injured in farm incidents.

The Progressive Agriculture Safety Day was sponsored by the Progressive Agriculture Foundation and its sponsors, as well as generous support from the

Progressive Agriculture Safety Day draws 135 children to Tribune

(See Ag Safety...on Page 11)

“My high school math teacher was my inspiration for pursuing math,” said Cooksey. “Although I wasn’t great at it in junior high, my teacher pushed us to do as much as possible and I really started enjoying it in high school. I originally started in chemical engineering at KU, but then found I liked math so well that I came back to it.”

However, Cooksey didn’t think that he would be a math teacher until he took a job at KU teaching college algebra for two years and really liked it. “It was then that I decided to be a teacher,” he commented.

He graduated with a BS in Mathematics and a teaching certificate through

Public Square Communities, LLC is pleased to announce that Greeley County has achieved accreditation for the third time with the Public Square Communities organization.

Greeley County began the process in 2005 because of sustained loss of population, jobs, and services and the desire for a community based effort to revitalize via a county-wide, coordinated economic development. Community conversations are a vital key to this process. The site review team commended Greeley County on holding “courageous conversations concerning difficult, complex and controversial issues. They have used the community conversation model very effectively to engage a cross section of the county.”

Accredited communities undergo rigorous evaluation from a team of four contemporaries from other communities. Greeley County is one of 18 communities currently using the Public Square revitalization process, and one of only nine communities to gain accreditation. They include Humboldt, Chanute, Wallace County, Fort Scott, Decatur County, Chase County, Girard, and Elk Konnected, which bridges Elk and Greenwood Counties.

Initiated in 2007, this standard-setting certification enables high performing communities to market themselves to potential

residents, businesses, investors and visitors. The four sectors that constitute the Public Square must share leadership and funding for managing their development efforts. To be eligible to apply, a community must renew their vision and goals every two years, have at least three citizen teams implementing current goals, hold an annual regional conversation with a neighboring community, and provide leadership for the annual Communities Conference.

When asked to reflect upon Greeley County’s longevity in the Public Square process, Jan Epp, co-editor of the Greeley Republican, explained that community conversations and utilizing representation from the four sectors has become “a way of life; it’s how the community deals with issues.”

As an accredited community, Greeley County will continue to market its achievements on www. PublicSquareCommunities. com. To maintain accreditation, a community must reapply and undergo a peer review every two years.

Current board members of Greely County Community Development, Inc. are Stewart Whitham, Logan Davignon, Mike Mishler, Megan Reding, Dr. Shelia Scheffe, Shea Stewart, and Darrell Vandike. Christy Hopkins serves as Executive Director.

Greeley County achieves Public Square re-accreditation

(See Todd Cooksey...on Page 3)