Commentary

Don’t forget. The Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter will go to press early again next week so employees can have extra time off with their families. That means we need ads and editorial copy by noon Thursday. I personally would appreciate sooner, if possible. Send information to indy@eaglecom.net or 304 N. Douglas Ave., Ellsworth, Kan. 67439. Call me at (785) 472-5085 if you have questions.

LMD

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Almost every year, we get together with several family members and friends to attend Kansas State University football games and cheer on our Wildcats. These are trips we all enjoy and remember from the time our kids could barely walk to now, when they have children of their own.

The one exception comes on the Saturday when the university salutes the military. Soldiers from nearby Fort Riley fill the stadium, planes fly overhead and spectators stand and cheer and applaud for those whose job it is to defend the United States.

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Christmas is a special time of year for many of us. This weekend was especially fun as we gathered with family for the annual Denning Christmas breakfast before spending Saturday night with friends on our annual tour of Salina Christmas lights.

Note to others taking the tour: Our favorite house this year was on Overhill Road near the former Marymount College. The large brick home on the old hill is ablaze with holiday lights.

Another reason to remember this past weekend was the open house in Salina to celebrate Dale Grothusen’s 100th birthday. Great crowd. Great event. Great guy.

LMD

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In those days a decree went out from Caesar Augustus that all the world should be registered. This was the first registration when Quirinius was governor of Syria. And all went to be registered, each to his own town. And Joseph also went up from Galilee, from the town of Nazareth, to Judea, to the city of David, which is called Bethlehem, because he was of the house and lineage of David, to be registered with Mary, his betrothed, who was with child. And while they were there, the time came for her to give birth. And she gave birth to her firstborn son and wrapped him in swaddling cloths and laid him in a manger, because there was no place for them in the inn.

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Caldwell assistant city marshal Ben Wheeler was called to a disturbance the evening of Dec. 15, 1883, to a saloon, “a few doors north of the post office”. A Texas gambler had used a knife to whittle away on both a soldier and a saloon keeper. Wheeler found his man, took the knife away and told him to go home. The gambler, Newt Boyce, unfortunately didn’t have the good sense to do as he was told.

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I stumbled across the above photo of daughter Allie and Bill Self as I was writing the editorial on the Ellsworth Childcare and Learning Center and thought it would be appropriate to publish it as a reminder of the center’s beginnings. Self and Frank Martin, who was then head coach at Kansas State, spent an evening in Ellsworth, helping to raise money for the center. Ellsworth’s American Legion building was packed with supporters, most of them hoping to have their photographs taken with one or both of the coaches.

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Several years ago, the community came together to open the Ellsworth Childcare and Learning Center. It’s time to come together again, this time to save the non-profit center that fills the needs of dozens of area families.

A little background:

This past week, the center’s board of directors confirmed what has been rumored for sometime — the center is in financial difficulty. There are many reasons for the condition, including suspected theft by a former employee; however, even then “the center has never been a profitable venture with the expenses far outweighing the income on a monthly basis,” according to a board statement.

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I see that some downtown retailers (in Ellsworth) have suggestion boxes on their counters which were put there by a group of young women who are seeking comments on what we have to be thankful for. Good question, for which I have a good answer.

As Americans we have a lot to be thankful for (No, I am neither ashamed of being an American, nor am I ashamed of having a lot to be thankful for), but high on that list of things to be thankful for should be the fact that our form of government allows for more freedom and opportunity than any other form of government currently in use on the planet. Our form of government, democratic republic with an amendable constitution, was designed by brilliant men (and underwritten and superintended by God) at great personal risk.

Ellsworth County has been without a real winter for so long that it’s difficult to remember how complicated life can be when the snow is flying and you’re expected to be at work.

Residents received a brutal reminder this past weekend.

About six inches of snow fell across the county. That normally is not enough to shut down the streets and highways, but this snow was accompanied by wind gusts of more than 50 miles per hour — a real blizzard.

“It’s a mess out there,” was the way the folks at the Hays-based Midwest Energy put it in a Sunday Facebook post to their customers without power.

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One of the true measures of a community’s character is the safety net it weaves for its most vulnerable residents — and its reaction to the occasional stranger who finds themselves in need of help.

In that spirit, this year’s holiday season editions of the Ellsworth County Independent-Reporter will focus on those who count on the generosity of others and the volunteers that go the extra mile. Some donate their time to the Ellsworth County Historical Society in an effort to preserve our history.

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