Think Pink - Breast Cancer Awareness
By Jan Stephens
October is National Breast Cancer Awareness Month and to follow that a program “Think Pink and Tell a Friend: will be given at the WWW.Calm luncheon at the Sedan Christian Church on November 5. This program will discuss information on early detection and risk reduction of breast cancer.

A display table will be available from 11:30 during the lunch, and from 12:30-1 p.m., there will be a discussion and question and answer session. The discussion will be led by Stephanie Thompson, RN, of Early Detection Works and Jan Stephens, K-State Research and Extension multi-county specialist.

There will be educational handouts for all and doorprizes. The Think Pink and Tell a Friend program is sponsored by American Cancer Society, Early Detection Works, and K-State Research and Extension/Rolling Prairie Extension District.

By Nancy Floyd
This incredible fall season reminds me of coming to Sedan as a bride in October of 1959 and my mother-in-law, Louise Floyd Wall, taking me on tours around the countryside.

I was fascinated and saddened by abandoned farm houses. At some of the houses Louise could tell me who lived there and what happened to the family, while others I would create my own scenarios and almost feel their presence, children playing tag, clothes being hung on the clothesline, cows being milked in the barn, and more.

What Louise and I loved the most, however, was going to and wandering around the old Chautauqua Springs Resort area in Chautauqua. Ghosts of the past could definitely be felt, even I gather, President Teddy Roosevelt who came twice for the healing mineral waters. There were once three hotels plus log cabins at the Springs. Louise and I found a ruin of a log cabin. The Eagle Hotel was considered the finest in Chautauqua County.

Pauline Green, the mother of Sheriff Frank Green, bought the original spring house and 13 acres of Chautauqua Springs in 1968 and he started mowing there when he was 15. He lives in the spring house now and if you are lucky you can catch him mowing the grounds and he’ll fill you in with great stories of the past.

Nita Jones and I met Frank at Chautauqua Springs on Columbus Day. Frank showed us the sculpture of Chief Black Dog, and sculpted bear by Dinh Nguyen. We visited the bath area of the springs which produces 1.5 million gallons of water a year. Apparently the Indians were the first to come bathe to cure their ailments.

To see the springs turn east on Chautauqua street off south Highway 99 and drive until you see the tree sculptures and the springs. Park your car, have a picnic, wander around and feel the Ghosts of the Past.

Items for the Burden United Methodist Church Lord’s Acre event on Oct. 25 are shown by Maurine Smith and Joanne Black. Online bididng for the Walnut Valley Festival quilt can be made by going to http://pickersparadise.org.

The Country Store will be open from 4-7 p.m., with dinner from 5-7 p.m., and the auction following at 7 p.m. at the church.

Volunteers have been spending their available time repairing damage caused six weeks ago by vandals at the El Cado Cemetery located south of Peru and east of Chautauqua. County residents, neighbors, Chautauqua County employees and Chautauqua County Sheriff’s Department employees spent a recent afternoon helping to straighten the overturned tombstones and reset others. More than 40 stones received damage at that time. The investigation continues into the vandalism and there were clues left at the scene which law enforcement officers hope will lead to the arrest and prosecution of the offenders.

The Elk County Hazard Mitigation Planning Committee is sponsoring Disaster Planning Resource Fairs at public libraries and other public buildings in the county during the week of Nov. 3-8.

The purpose is to provide information to the public on ways to prevent damages as a result of natural disasters as well as gain public input on the Elk County Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan that is currently under development. Several FEMA publications will be available as well as a summary of planning efforts underway and a short questionnaire to capture public comments.

A planning committee composed of Elk County, the incorporated cities, school districts, other special districts, and private-non profit entities is currently developing a comprehensive Multi-Hazard Mitigation Plan to reduce the vulnerability of people and property in the county to the impacts of natural hazards and to become eligible for mitigation funding programs from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA). The plan will address a comprehensive list of natural hazards—ranging from flooding to tornados, severe winter weather, and drought—and will assess the likely impacts of these hazards to communities in Elk County.