Tuesday’s general election is now history and America has a new president and vice-president elect — Barack Obama and Joe Biden.
Voters in Labette County went for John McCain and Sarah Palin their balloting, 55% to 42% with the remaining three percent going to third party candidates.
U.S. Sen. Pat Roberts won re-election and he carried Labette County with 56% of the vote.
Labette County favored Republican Lynn Jenkins to replace Nancy Boyda as U.S. Congressman from the Second District, and Jenkins won the nod district-wide. She currently serves as state treasurer.
Republican Dwayne Umbarger was re-elected to the Kansas Senate over David Miller of Parsons.
The City Sales Tax Question in the city of Altamont was approved by voters 390 to 74.
The City Sales Tax Question in the city of Oswego also was approved, 454 to 200.
There were no contested county races so all incumbents and those who made it through the August primary were elected.
Elected were: Brian C. Kinzie, Second Dist. County Commissioner; Jack W. Martin, Third Dist. County Commissioner; County Clerk Linda Schreppel, County Treasurer Crystal Addis; Register of Deeds Donna Strickland; County Attorney Hillary Hass and County Sheriff Williams Blundell.
All judges on the ballot were approved for retention.

The Oswego Bible Holiness Church is celebrating one hundred years of worship and ministry in the same building, at the corner of  Second and Merchant, on Nov. 8 at 2 p.m. This is a major historical event. Refreshments will be provided after the service.
Accompanying the anniversary service is a weekend revival with Rev. Leroy Newport, General Superintendent of the Bible Holiness Church. Services are at 7 p.m. on Friday and Saturday, 10:45 a.m. and 6 p.m. on Sunday. Rev. Newport will giving some of the history of the general church and Rev. Lloyd Davolt will be giving the history of the building at this service.
Joe Davolt was named pastor of the church in June of this year. He and his wife, Martha, were married in August of this year. Joe is the grandson of Lloyd and Betty Davolt of Oswego who are long-time members. His great aunt, Irene Davolt, who now resides at The Home Place was the pianist for over 60 years at the church.

For the last two years Labette Avenue has spearheaded an Oswego Merchants’ Open House to lure patrons to shop locally in Oswego.
Last year there were 20 merchants who participated. The response was well received and many turned out to go into the businesses, visit with the owners and see the merchandise for sale. The merchants of Oswego had refreshments, sales, discounts, holiday decorations and good old-fashioned chatter with friends and neighbors in the area.
With the economy creating many doubts about retail and business growth, the staff of Labette Avenue wants to foster the same camaraderie this year.
“Last year, it started out as an open house for our newspaper,” said editor Rena Russell. “Then Marna Taylor started going up and down the streets and seeking others who might join us. It was a great success to see so many open houses on one day.”
Russell said even more business owners have joined the list to hold open houses on Friday, Nov. 14. Some of them will last all day long and others only a couple of hours. Regardless, it will be an opportunity for area shoppers and friends to walk through Oswego’s business district and stop by various businesses for their open houses. Many of them will offer special values on shopping or have sign-ups for drawings.
Marna Taylor said there is another twist for the Labette Avenue staff this year. The Taylor Newspaper Family is celebrating its tenth year owning the newspaper in Labette County. And, it will celebrate the first anniversary of Labette Avenue which is a continuation of our four small newspapers that previously served Oswego, Altamont, Chetopa and Edna.
“That makes it a special year for us,” said Marna who said tenth anniversaries have traditionally been celebrated by giving a gift of tin or aluminum. The modern version, however, has changed to diamond. “So, all of our patrons and neighbors remind us that they are as valuable as diamonds,” she said.
A complete list of open houses will be published in next week’s edition of Labette Avenue. As host of the event, Labette Avenue will provide complimentary promotion of the open houses.

A cooking contest will be held at Chetopa’s Pecan Fest this Nov. 15 at the Chetopa School Library. This is one adult category that includes cakes, pies, cookies, candies, and assorted entries. There are four categories for children which include cakes, pies, cookies and assorted entries.
The age divisions are 8 and under, 9-12, 13-16 and adult.
Ribbons will be given for each category and division. Special awards will be given for: Best in Show and Most Unusual Use of Pecans.
The entry time will be from 9 to 10 a.m. The judging time will be from 10 to 11:30 a.m. Winners will be announced at 12 noon and prizes awarded. All entries must be picked up by 12:30 p.m

This Veterans’ Day, Tuesday, Nov. 11, the Oswego FVS in conjunction with the Oswego Schools will present a Veterans’ Day Program in the Oswego High School Commons area at 1 p.m.
The program will feature KKOW’s Tom Watts as guest speaker with music being provided by the fourth and fifth grade choirs from Neosho Heights and the sixth, seventh and eighth and high school choirs from the Middle School and High School.
A power point collage featuring pictures and military career data of our local veterans will be displayed during part of the musical presentation. This collage is the result of work done by Roberta Brightman and the Middle School Gen-Y Class.
All veterans and family members are encouraged to attend this celebration of freedom to receive thanks to those who gave their time, energy, and, in some cases, their lives for our country and our freedom.––by Robert Harrison, music instructor.

A visit to the K-State pecan experiment station is entering another world. There are 80 acres at the research station.
Dr. William (Bill) Reid,  Kansas State Pecan Experiment Field, explains the difference between native pecans and planted pecans.
The native pecans are what this area is noted for producing. Reid mentioned squirrel established orchards. Native pecan orchards start with a forest of large trees which are capable of producing immediately. The undergrowth is cleaned and select trees are chosen to remain. These are the most economically producing trees. Over 95 percent of the acreage in the midwest has native pecan orchards.
Planted trees are in rows or are grafted. It takes seven years to start a new orchard and 13 years to break even with these.
When asked where pecans were grown in Kansas, Reid mentioned that they were anywhere up and down the Neosho River up to Erie. They are also found along the Verdigris River in Coffeyville, a few along the Caney River, and some along the Walnut River near Ark City which is the last river going west. Pecan trees like the black gumbo ground in river bottoms. North they go along the Marmaton, Osage and Marais de Cynes Rivers. Flood plain trees grow best in river bottoms. The pecans run out in Johnson County, skips over Kansas City, but some show up at Fort Leavenworth on the military base only. They are found in Kansas, Missouri, Illinois, the very southern part of Indiana, Kentucky and some parts of Ohio, Louisiana, Mississippi and Texas. They are not in Alabama however. They are only native to the central part of the Midwest.
There is a variety selection of native pecans which are light color, easy to shell and have good kernel quality in this area. There was a release from the Chetopa Experiment Station along with the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) of a selection called Kanza in 1995 or 1996. Last year there was a selection released called Lakota. The USDA names the specific selections after Indian Tribes. The 2007 selection was named after the Lakota tribe, a part of the Sioux Nation which was chosen by Dr. Reid.
Bill Reid is one of the foremost pecan researchers in the United States. He has received awards from the Kansas Nutgrowers Association, the Oklahoma Pecan Nutgrowers Association and from the Northern Nutgrowers Association.
Reid writes a column for the Northern Nutgrowers Association called Pecan South three times per year. The next issue will be due Nov. 12.
Reid picks up a pecan from a tree which has the selection name “Chetopa” and shows it to visitors. He has a love for his work which definitely shows as he tells about what he does. He quickly said that he got paid for doing his hobby.
K-State’s Pecan Experiment Field hosted a Pecan Harvest Tour on Tuesday, Oct. 14. Dr. Reid led this tour that featured the pecan cultivar trials at the research station and a discussion of the performance of each cultivar over the last few years.
Participants were able to see the effects of last year’s ice storm and saw how cultivars have reacted to this year’s pecan scab outbreak. Most pecan cultivars were fully ripe at this time and participants were able to see the quality of this year’s crop.
Participants met at the Pecan Experiment Field to take a tour, talk pecan cultivars, and share nut tree growing experiences.
This meeting was held at the Pecan Experiment Field. The field is located 2 miles east of Chetopa, on U.S. Highway 166, then three quarters of a mile south on 120th Street.
According to Reid, there will be a moderate crop this year on what is left of the pecan trees. The badly damaged trees were cut. Those that are left are branching out now, but it will take 4 to 5 years to grow and bear for the per acre yields it had before the ice storm.
There will be plenty of nuts for the people to buy this fall. The quality is good because there has been plenty of rain. The nuts are good-sized.
All in all the forecast is pretty good, Reid said.