The soon-to-be-released SKT Telephone book will feature this photo on its cover following the announcement that Zack Fry of Howard had won the competition of submitted photos. Fry, who works for Mark Hall at Small Planet on Line, said he shot the picture west of Elk Falls on a country road. This isn’t the first photo by Fry to win a phone book cover competition — he took a picture of the falls near Elk Falls while he was still in high school and it became the cover art.
West Elk Play Productions, under the direction of Sedan resident Cristine Warring, will present the play “Scaramouche” on Friday and Saturday, Nov. 13 and 14, at 7 p.m. each evening in the West Elk High School Auditorium.
The public is invited to attend the presentation about the French Revolution that includes sword fights, love triangles, nobility verses commoners, and a scoundrel named Scaramouche.
Admission to the play will be $4 for adults and $2 for children ages 6-12. Set designers for the play are Dean Baum and Linda Shilts-Baum.
WEHS students in the cast are Read more
Bits and Pieces is a feature of the Prairie Star website that is a reflection of our printed “Notes from the Prairie” published each week. Upcoming meetings and notices are published here each week. These are updated on the website each week, just after publication. Read more
A local team of working cowboys will be heading to the national championship rodeo sponsored by the Working Ranch Cowboys Association, Nov. 12-15 in Amarillo, Texas.
From the Howard area is Bruce Beeman who lives at rural Howard and works for the Still Ranch located between Longton and Howard.
From the Latham area are team members Zack Blair, Gene Calvin and Keven Schouten, representing the Lazy B Ranch near Atlanta.
Another cowboy, Cliff Hall, resides near Bronson, Kan.
Together, they comprise the Broken H Ranch and Lazy B Bar C Ranch team.
The Broken H Ranch is located near Bronson and the Lazy B is located near Latham and Atlanta.
“We will be entering all events,” said Beeson. “We hit lots of ranch rodeos each year, probably 20 or 25 of them — and we all work as cowboys every day on area ranches.”
Three teams from Kansas qualified for the WRCA national event. Other teams will come from Strong City and the Hamilton-Emporia areas.
Another team from this region Read more
The 16th Annual Ol’ Time Chautauqua Hills Cowboy Poet Gathering is set for Saturday night, Nov. 7, at 7 p.m., at the Gregg Theater in Sedan. This year’s show will feature the story telling and singing of Jim Hoy and cowgirl Marty Sheets.
The audience will experience an art form that has found its way back into the mainstream of American consciousness: cowboy poetry and western music. What guests will see and hear is something that is one of a kind.
Those attending will hear Read more
Bill and Peggy Sproul of Sedan were recently awarded the Society for Range Management Excellence in Rangeland Management Award.
The purpose of this award is to recognize those who have demonstrated excellent skill and knowledge in practicing sound grazing management of their range and associated forage crops. Recognition is given by the Kansas Section of the Society for Range Management to rangeland operators for excellence in the application of grazing management, with due consideration to their knowledge and skill.
The Sproul Ranch has effectively implemented several range management practices that benefit the prairie resource as well as the wildlife that occupies their ranch. Bill and Peggy have implemented practices including clearing invasive trees, scouting for and treating sericea lespedeza, developing water to improve grazing opportunities as well as improve water quality, and implementing grazing systems that allow rest for the native plants and at the same time builds adequate fuel loads for effective prescribed burns.
They have implemented a monitoring program where forage production, plant species composition, and upland bird numbers are determined on key sites throughout the ranch to make sure implementation of other practices are meeting their desired goals for the ranch. Improving their knowledge of the range resource by attending range management schools and sharing that knowledge with others through field days and involvement with organizations is also very evident.
The Kansas Section of the Society for Range Management felt the Sproul Ranch was deserving of the Excellence in Rangeland Management Award in 2009.
Voters who reside in West Elk-282 will go to the polls next Tuesday, Nov. 3, to say “yes” or “no” to a $5.55 million proposal that will greatly impact the makeup of schools in the district.
The basic question will be whether to close elementary schools currently operated in Moline and Severy and construct a new elementary school on the campus where West Elk Junior/Senior High School and the district office are located, south of Howard.
In addition to building the new grade school, the current bus parking area and some utilities will be relocated, and improvements made to the bus lane, driveway and parking lot.
Those supporting the plan say a new facility configuration will provide Read more
Students from seven Kansas high schools were honored Wednesday, Oct. 14, by the University of Kansas Alumni Association and KU Endowment.
A total of 54 seniors from high schools in Chautauqua and Cowley counties were recognized for their academic achievements and named Kansas Honor Scholars at a dinner program at Cowley County Community College’s Brown Center in Arkansas City.
Honored from Sedan High School were Christie Loftin, Jolene Reed and Sarah Buck.
Honored students were guests of the KU Alumni Association and KU Endowment.
Tim Hills, Sedan, is Chautauqua County coordinator.
The Kansas Honors Program is made possible through the KU Endowment and proceeds from the Jayhawk License Plate program.
It’s a striking sight — the all metal hunting lodge that’s perched on a hillside two miles south of Sedan on the west side of Highway 99.
“Kansas Finest Outfitters” is now open to hunters who need a good place to stay, hunt and enjoy some good, home-cooked food.
Sam Moore has been in the outfitting business for the past 13 years, mostly in the state of Illinois, but he and his wife, Tammy, have turned their attention entirely to Kansas.
Chautauqua County, Kansas, specifically.
“You’ve got some of the best deer hunting in the country right here in Chautauqua and Elk counties,” he said while pointing to an array of stuffed deer heads and racks along a wall. “They may not be the biggest deer Read more
