You will enjoy reading the April 23rd edition of the Montgomery County Chronicle. Among the stories you will find . . .

• Wilbur Schwatken, coordinator of Montgomery County Rural Fire District #1, was dismissed from his job Monday by the Montgomery County Commission. We’ll have a reaction about the dismissal from the leader of the Montgomery County Rural Fire Board of Directors — a group that gave an overwhelming recommendation for Schwatken’s reappointment prior to Monday’s meeting.
Read more

CANEY — Calamity and hilarity will reign when the Caney Valley High School Playmakers present “Fully Committed” to the public for two performances: Friday and Saturday, April 24 and 25. The performances start at 7 p.m., in the CVHS Auditorium. Admission is $4 per person.

The play, written by Becky Mode, centers on the calamity and chaos surrounding out-of-work actor-turned-restaurant reservation taker Sam Peliczowski, who is played by CVHS senior Dalton Powell. As the head of reservations at the upscale Le Restaurant du Chef de Cuisine, Sam is responsible for getting the reservations in line for the snooty upper crust.

However, one day in the life of Sam’s frustrated world reveals an abundance of interruptions — dealing with peeved customers, cleaning dirty toilets, contending with odd family members, avoiding sensitive Chef Claude, and arguing with feisty senior citizens.

The fact that such imperfections can be found at a créme-de-la-créme cafe makes Sam’s situation even more bizarre . . . and riotous.

Amber Toth is the CVHS Playmakers advisor.

The public is invited to attend.

CANEY — The annual Caney Citywide Spring Clean-Up Week is scheduled for May 2-9, excluding, Sunday, May 3. The Caney City Landfill will be open each day from 8 a.m. to 7 p.m. for Caney residents to haul their own unwanted items and dispose of them.
Read more

Click on the photo to see a brief video scene from the Civil War encampment at the Brown Mansion in Coffeyville on Saturday, April 18.

BY ANDY TAYLOR
Montgomery County Chronicle

The chairman of the Montgomery County Rural Fire District’s board of directors says the Montgomery County Commission ignored a recommendation from the fire board calling for the reappointment of department coordinator Wilbur Schwatken.

County commissioners on Monday chose to not reappoint Schwatken to his role of rural fire department coordinator. Commissioner Larry McManus presented a motion to reappoint Schwatken, however his motion failed to garner any further support from commissioners Tony Fowler or Fred Brown, thereby resulting in a dead motion. Therefore, Schwatken’s reappointment automatically failed.

All other department chief reappointments were approved by the commission.

Read more

Montgomery County Commission chairman Tony Fowler on Wednesday would not provide details about the commission’s reason to not reappoint Wilbur Schwatken, rural fire district coordinator.

However, Fowler, who has been commissioner for two years and was named chairman in January, says the commission has new goals and vision for the rural fire director position.

Fowler said he could not talk specifically about Schwatken’s dismissal. However, he did refute claims that the commission did not consider the recommendation of the Montgomery County Rural Fire District board of directors, which voted unanimously to recommend Schwatken’s reappointment.

“As far as the firefighting side, we do listen to the fire board carefully and have never said “no” to any budget request,” said Fowler. “But as far as the administrative side, we feel that it’s something quite simply where the director position needs to be put in a different direction.”

Read more