Check It Out

2019 3rd quarter images including Old Settlers Day Photos

Shaffer, R. M. Pioneer of Elk City, Kansas

2019 Old Settlers Day Fair

The 2019 Elk City Old Settlers Day Fair was held September 6 and 7th. The festivities began with the Queen, Prince and Princess coronation Friday Evening followed by the annual pie auction. The Elk City Friendly Quilters pieced together a beautiful quilt and donated it to the fair. It was auctioned off at the pie auction and brought a nice donation. Following the pie auction was the popular cake walk.
Saturday morning started with Biscuits and Gravy served by the First Christian Church. The monthly recycling door was opened to accept recyclables from 8:30 till 10. Parade began at 10, lots of floats, bands, cars and horses people lined the street. It was an exceptional parade this year with 23 entries. The day was a beautiful sunny morning and all the floats, bands, vehicles and horses all made for a great parade. The Senior Community Center was full of beautiful old and new quilts. I understand there were 125 quilts, wall hangings, and table runners on display. Quilt show was sponsored by the Friendly quilters, some real talent in those ladies.
After noon got a bit hot, sun still shinning bright but the festivities began at the ball field. The kids races, horse shoes, basketball free throw, volleyball and all the other festivities during the afternoon.
The Wayne Johnson Memorial car show was held on Montgomery Street up town. A lot of old and refurbished cars lined the street.
This year a few new fair items were added. Vendors and crafts were on the street by the ball field. Cookies, canned goods, pies, jewelry among others. Among the vendors was a lady who sewed lots of items with a Singer Treadle Sewing Machine in her bare feet. She said she could not sew with shoes on so always went barefooted. She could make the old time machine hum.
Another new entry was the building of a scarecrow, had a few interesting entries. The winner received a homemade wooden plaque.
Power of the Past displayed equipment from yesteryear and sponsored a lawnmower tractor pull, that pulled a great big grader.
Men were chewing the fat while getting the big pots of beans heated up, ready to add ham and beans for the big free bean feed that evening.
Entertainment before and after the bean feed was excellent and very much enjoyed. Ending the fair was the annual dance under the pavilion by Outlaw Souls.

2019 3rd quarter images including Old Settlers Day Photos

Elk City PRIDE Organization

Barbara Anderson, S.E. Kansas Regional Project Manager Business and Community Development Division Kansas Department of Commerce, was present at the July PRIDE meeting. She presented the group with the Community of Excellence sign. Becoming a Community of Excellence Community provided us with means to apply for grants to improve our community. The PRIDE members and City Council members were present for the presentation. It was a great honor for Elk City to receive this award.

Recycling is still going strong, collecting the first Saturday of each month.The Yard of the Month signs are showing up the first of each month. We appreciate everyone who is taking good card of their yard to help improve Elk City.

The PRIDE committee had a Community of Excellence Float in the Old Settlers Day Parade in September.

See pictures of Old Settlers Day

Around Town

Everyone is working hard on Elk City Fair Days the 6th and 7th of September. Takes a lot of help to make the fair a success.

Commodities are handed out by the First Christian Church

The Elk City Quilty Friends will host a quilt show Friday September 6 and Saturday , Sept. 7. Invited are New and old Entries. They also offered a quilt to be auctioned at the Elk City Fair Pie Auction.

The Elk City Senior Community Center Building is usable but has a few tweaks to fix yet. The library part of the building has shelves ready and it has books being put on shelves. The building is handicap accessible, has new lighting, heating and air and all in all is very nice.

October 27th will be the last 4th Sunday breakfast of the season. Carson Masonic Lodge Will start serving breakfast again in March 2020.

Has anybody heard of the Casino Cafe in Yesteryear here in Elk City

Church News

The Missourians Gospel singing group was in Concert at the First Christian Church of Elk City in September. A nice luncheon followed.

Tid Bits by Jane

July

There was a large gathering at the park on July 1st at the Freedom Sunday celebration to enjoy games, hot dogs, ice cream and fireworks. Thank you Tuck family for another wonderful fourth of July fireworks celebration! Also thank you to the churches that helped get this organized! It was great to see the community come together. God bless you all.

Are we all growing web feet and mermaid tails! This daily rain business is about enough. Out west of town we are switching to fish, ducks and pelicans on the farm ground, maybe we’ll get a better return with them! We’ve driven through more water to get to town this
year than all the years I remember since I’ve lived here! The gardens are struggling, although, my zucchini bugs don’t like the water, as I don’t have any compared to dry years? My cucs, zucs, tomatoes on high ground and green beans are doing great. The rest of garden is a disaster!! I haven’t had to water the flowers except a couple times. I don’t know what to do with my spare time. Not really, I still find things to do.

The poor farmers are having a time…. Ground not planted due to high lake water still, it’s been 2 months; but about mid month the corp opened the gates and the water went down most places, too late to plant though. Bean planting is over. They are either planted or never will be and if they are planted, will they survive all the rain, some fields the little plants are turning yellow. They need oxygen! Some farmers have replanted as much as 3 times and still the crop hasn’t sprouted and grown very well. They also need the over population of deer to stop eating them. The deer are being pushed from the refuge areas around the lake to higher ground. Some of the fields are disappearing from deer foraging rather than water damage! Now we have worms eating the little bean plants, so the spraying begins. Sure makes it hard to raise a crop. After experiencing 100 deg. days, so back to watering flowers and garden. Like always one paragraph is too much water and the next is needing rain, although some did receive rain the 22nd of July

Hope you all attended the Community U event on July 27th. They gave away backpacks and school supplies for area Elk City students. The Tyro Christian Church Unfinished Class also offered free clothing for anyone. And to top it off they served free ice cream. This is a great community outreach group and your support is needed for our community to continue in these types of projects.

We enjoyed a four day family weekend at Grand Lake with my brothers and their families. My daughter and friend flew in from St.
Pete, Fl. Always fun to see them!. She reports Fl. is very hot! Grand Lake is still high, but we were able to enjoy the water,
sun and family time.

What I learned this month: Communication is the key to any successful relationship. Keep the lines open!

August

Summer seems to have rushed by. If you’re getting ready for school with enrollment, school supplies and new clothes, you probably feel like summer is about over. Thanks to the Community U girls for sponsoring the back to school ice cream social. They were busy
handing out ice cream & school supplies on the 12th. All the first day of school pictures are fun to look at on the Facebook pages. Those were fun times when my kids were in school. Miss it, sometimes

Don’t forget to bid on the beautiful quilt the ladies have made, I’m sure for just a few dollars it can be yours! Well maybe more than a few! The hot weather in July was about too much and all of a sudden, we had rain showers and August felt like fall for a few days! Although the humidity did not! The change in weather helped the soybeans, the corn seems like it just gave up when it got hot and began dying and harvest started. Some of the farmers are busy with haying, others were spraying worms that were eating the soybean pods.

We went to the Coffeyville Fair and Rodeo Thursday night. Stephanie sang the National Anthem on Tuesday night at the Tractor Pull! Wonderful voice.

Seems like the news is humidity! I don’t remember feeling like I’m walking into a greenhouse for so many days in a row! The plants and lawns are loving the humidity! The political news is about as bad as the humidity, crazy! Then it rains 2-4” and the wind blows,
some areas more than others. People had extensive tree breakage. We had some, the most devastating was one falling on my flower garden arbor. It’s crumpled. Are you planting fall gardens? It’s about time. I planted some peppers last week, didn’t have much success in the spring! The tomatoes, they are about finished for the year.

And lastly, thanks to the cemetery workers! What hot conditions they work under, whether it be mowing or people’s comments! You do a wonderful job and you are appreciated. We should try to make your job easier. What I learned this month: If you need your trash
dumpster moved from the curb to the shed, the fire department will help. They are such nice people to help a lady in need. Lending a helping hand is a blessing.

September

Another successful Old Settler’s Days has come and gone. . It was a hot one on Saturday! It was nice to have the Nazarene Church take over the concession stand on Friday night. Thanks to my cookers, for the help in the stand on Saturday and my next generation helper.!

Corn Harvest is over, the farmers are thinking about getting seed wheat cleaned and planted. It sure was dry the end of September. The rain was welcomed. Dove season was the first of the month, heard reports of hunters limiting out early on the first morning and others weren’t so lucky.

October will be the last month until March for the Mason breakfast. They’ve had some rainy weather to contend with this year on Sundays for the motorcycles. It was about a year ago we found out we would be grandparents. What a joy Amelia Mae has been to all!

The Missourians were in charge of the service on September 15th at the First Christian Church. AWESOME MUSIC! We went to Branson with a group from the 1st Christian Church, with Pastor Randy as the leader of the pack. We stopped at Lamberts for lunch on the way
down, saw the production of Sampson, Presley’s show, dining and shopping and general tourism! Good times! What I learned this month: I really don’t like rattlesnakes! Especially when coiled up in my path !

Obituaries

Newton, Roger Lee "Newt" passed away August 3rd. He graduated from Elk City High School

Osburn, Norman L. age 82 Passed away on September 19, burial in Oak Hill Cemetery

Kimzey, Elaine Kay age 59 Kansas passed August 31

Hogan, Mary Ann age 80 died September 16,

BryantBasil E. “Gene” age 81, on August 20, graduate of Elk City High School, burial in Oak Hill Cemetery

JordanJames (Jimmy) Bowman, age 77, passed away on September 11, burial in Oak Hill Cemetery

Wise,Katherine L. aged 83, passed away September 16, graduated Elk City High School, burial in Oak Hill Cemetery

Alumni Minutes

Elk City High School Alumni Minutes for 1954

The Elk City Alumni Association held its annual banquet on May 29th 1954, at 7:30 P.M. There were over 190 members and guests present

The dinner was served by the In-As-Much Class of the Christian Church. While the guests were being seated, Marilyn White Inlow played several piano selections. Following the invocation by Mrs. L. W. Davis, Bob Slater lead in group singing with Marilyn Inlow, accompanist. Mrs. Ellen E. Smoot, president, called the meeting to order, extending greetings from E.C.H.S., and recognized the various committees that helped with the banquet. Mrs. Myrtle Flesher was given special mention for the lovely table decorations which consisted of letters E., C., H., S., 1954, in snapdragons on the five center tables. Other cut flowers were used on the remaining tables. Mrs. Smoot introduced the toastmaster, Mrs. Myrtle Cox. Carmen Wassom, representative of the Senior Class of 54, gave a humorous reading. The roll call of classes provided the main program of the evening. Everyone was asked to stand, introduce themselves and their guests, then give a few comments on school life as it was when they were in school. Each member also told his or her occupation. Mr. S. A. Davis of class 1892, and Mr. L. W. Davis, class of 1903 were called upon for special comments. Remarks from all were enjoyed during the evening.

The nominating committee composed of Susie Rankin and Pearl Denbo presented the following officers for next year. Mrs. Willa Widick President, Mrs. Susie Rankin, Vice President, Mrs. Phyllis Newkirk, Sec/Trea., A social hour followed adjournment.

Those present who graduated 50 years or more were: S. A. Davis - 1892, May Harmon Cox - 1893, Frank Quigg - 1899, Maude Clingon and Clara McKenzie - 1900,, Edna Owen - 1901, Ethel Gillespie Jones and L. W Davis - 1902.

Good Old Days

Some articles found in the Elk City Paper for Halloween

The Elk City Enterprise dated Nov. 2, 1889

The imps of Halloween were out in goodly numbers Thursday night, judging from the looks of things Friday morning. We are glad to say that no damaging pranks were indulged in, and barring a little trouble to owners of gates, signs, etc. no one was seriously inconvenienced.

the Star dated Nov. 7, 1884
A brief sketch in regard to the mode of celebrating, as practiced in some parts of sunny Kansas.

Some of the young gentlemen of Independence have been enjoying Halloween, and we clip the following from the Tribune in regard to their mode of celebrating.

The old custom of celebrating Halloween was considerably distorted on Friday evening. Numerous gates were removed, wagons taken apart, shrubbery broken down and to cap the climax a horse was led on top of the foundry. Fun is fun, but when property is damaged it is not surprising that some people resort to stern measures of retaliation, and often innocent parties get caught.

And such is often the case, but we are happy to say, that no such report can go forth in regard to the youths of Elk City, for they all celebrated Halloween by going to church.

Elk City Sun dated Oct. 30, 1914

Any one found moving any implements, wagons, buggies or any kind of machinery or any public or private property of any kind or defacing public or private property in the City of Elk City, Kansas on Halloween night Oct. 31, 1914 will be prosecuted to the full extent of the law.

by order of Mayor and Council