To celebrate the holiday and show appreciation for all members of the “Big
Red One” family, the 1st Infantry Division and Fort Riley are offering
Thanksgiving meals Nov. 22-23 at two of the post’s dining facilities. In
addition to serving world-class meals, food service Soldiers at the Devil’s
Den and Demon Diner dining facilities are competing to win the Commander’s
Best Thanksgiving Dining Facility Competition.

In keeping with the Army tradition, leaders from throughout the Big Red One
– including Maj. Gen. Joseph M. Martin, 1st Inf. Div. and Fort Riley
commanding general, and Command Sgt. Maj. Joseph Cornelison, the division’s
senior noncommissioned officer – will serve Thanksgiving meals to their
Soldiers.

The Thanksgiving meals are open to all Soldiers, Department of Defense
civilians, contractors and their guests. The standard meal price is $9.05
with a discounted rate of $6.80 offered to family members of Soldiers ranked
specialist and below. Only cash will be accepted for these meals; however,
an ATM is located outside of each dining facility.

The Thanksgiving meal at Demon Diner, 694 Huebner Road, on Nov. 22 will be
served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The menu will include rotisserie turkey,
seared duck breast, baked ham, steamed crab legs, baked lobster tails, green
bean casserole, candied yams, savory bread and sausage stuffing, fresh
mashed potatoes and collard greens. Desserts will include sugar cookies,
cheesecake, German chocolate cake, banana pudding, chocolate truffles,
eggnog milkshakes, assorted pies and pumpkin and maple bourbon ice cream.

The Thanksgiving meal at Devil’s Den, 7011 Siebert St., also on Nov. 22 will
be served from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. The menu will include shrimp cocktails,
roast turkey, steamship round of beef with au jus gravy, butterflied lobster
tails, seasoned crab legs, candied sweet potatoes, macaroni and cheese,
carrots almandine, bacon wrapped asparagus, buttered corn on the cob and
more. Deserts include assorted cakes, pies and cookies.

Devil’s Den will also serve a Thanksgiving meal on Nov. 23 from 11 a.m. to 2
p.m. That menu will include roast turkey, baked ham with brown sugar glaze,
stuffed baked fish, mashed potatoes, savory stuffing, sautéed summer squash,
honey-glazed carrots and assorted sides and deserts. Devil’s Den will remain
open for regular weekend/holiday hours Nov. 24-26.

This has become a tradition at Junction City Middle School….the Holiday Market.

The fundraiser event on Saturday drew a steady stream of visitors to the school for a pancake feed and the opportunity to shop for gifts and Christmas items. It raised funds for the Renaissance program for students at the middle school.

JCMS Principal Mary Wright said the program is a recognition program for students who attend school every day. “And work on their academics, make good grades, show good character, citizenship, just do the right thing every day. So if they do that they can earn a Renaissance card each six weeks, and with that Renaissance card comes lots of perks.”

Wright stated a trip to Worlds of Fun in Kansas City is one of the big perks at the end of the annual program. “We do a semester incentive where they get t-shirts, we do a night of the stars at the end, but along the way we give Wildcat spirit items to kids who are doing all the right things.”

By mid-morning Saturday Wright noted approximately 250 to 300 meals had already been served at the pancake feed portion of the event.

There is less than one week remaining until the 22nd annual Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce Christmas Parade on Friday, November 24th.

The entry deadline is Monday. You can find a registration form at the Chamber website. Mail the registration form to Eagle Communications, P.O. Box 789, Junction City, Kansas 66441. The telephone number is 785-762-5525, fax number 785=762-5387 or you can email: mark.ediger@eagleradio.net.

The parade will be broadcast on 1420 KJCK AM beginning at 5:30 p.m. on the 24th.

A Kansas 4-H outstanding lifetime volunteer award was presented.

“It is my pleasure to announce that one of our very own Geary County 4-H volunteers has been selected as the Kansas 4-H outstanding lifetime volunteer,” said Extension Agent Ginger Kopfer. “This year’s recipient is Diana Gauntt.”

Gaunt has been volunteering for 4-H since her daughter joined in 1988.

“I like working with kids,” Gauntt said. “I work with kids from all over the state. I took 15 kids to Indianapolis a month ago for a rabbit contest and things. They did great. It’s just working with kids that’s the big reason.”

Only one outstanding lifetime volunteer aware is presented each year.

The Mitch and Jenna Langvardt Family have been involved in Geary County 4-H for many years. They were honored Thursday evening at the annual Extension Council meeting with the 2017 Geary County Extension Appreciation Award.

4-H officials reported that Mitch was a Geary County 4-H member as a youth and served as a Geary County 4-H King. Jenna’s father was a long time director of Rock Springs 4-H Camp. After college Mitch worked as a county extension agent in Ellsworth County before returning to Geary County to work in the family business at JC Livestock Sales. Their children Trent, Kyler and Macey were also life-long 4-H members in Geary County.

What makes them so deserving of the award is the effort that the family maintains an ongoing involvement in 4-H work and in Extension in general. Mitch and Jenna have served as club leaders, the family as junior leaders and project leaders. For many years Mitch and Jenna organized the BBQ at the 4-H Fair. Mitch ensures that the sale barn is prepared and ready for the 4-H beef weigh-in and tagging each February, and both of them attend Extension meetings on occasion. Kyler has taken photos of the 4-H members involved in the Free Fair auction and their projects.  The family member’s willingness to help anywhere there is a need in the community was also cited.

The family was recognized as the Geary County 4-H Family of the Year in 2008 and Mitch as the Geary County Outstanding 4-H Project Leader in 2012.

 

 

Advanced Call Center Technologies in Junction City cut the ribbon Thursday morning at their 2031 South Spring Valley Road location,  signifying their reopening to the community.

ACT is a business process outsourcing company. In Junction City they provide inbound customer service for companies around the world in the financial services and telecommunication sectors. Executive Vice President for Sales Hunter Croft, said effectively immediately they hope to add approximately 200 jobs at the Junction City facility over the coming months, bringing them to more than 500 total jobs here at the end of the hiring process. “It’s a great opportunity for folks to come in and be a customer service advocate, but also we need leadership in the supervisor and manager ranks as well as potentially trainers and quality analysts.”

Community members toured the facility Thursday and attended the ribbon cutting.

Advanced Call Center Technologies has been in Junction City for about four years.

An Abilene business, Peterson Monuments & Design Inc., has come to the aid of Highland Cemetery in Junction City.

Vandals recently overturned and damaged some tombstones in the cemetery. Linn Peterson said some of the monuments that were tipped over were large, “weighed 2,500 – 3,000 pounds and needed special equipment and expertise.”

Peterson stated they considered themselves a long-time partner with the Junction City community. “We were able to go over the other day and set some of them up.” Peterson Monuments were happy to help. “Ironically it was on Veteran’s Day, and one of the first ones we put up was for a veteran that had passed away back in the 30’s, and he was a master sergeant. It just kind of seemed right to, being able to take care

of it at that time.”

Junction City police responded to the cemetery following the discovery of the overturned headstones to begin their investigation into the case. No arrests have been reported.

MANHATTAN — Classes were cancelled at Kansas State University Tuesday afternoon. A large crowd of students, faculty and staff wore purple and joined together for a unity walk and rally to reject discrimination on the university campus.

Watch replay of the event here.

Student body president Jack Ayres and Darrell Reese, president of the Black Student Union, hosted the event. University President Richard Myers discussed steps to help the community move forward and unite.

The event comes after a noose and racist flyers were found on the campus in recent months. Last month, a 21-year-old black man defaced his own car with racist graffiti in what he described as a Halloween prank that got out of hand.

FORT RILEY, Kan. – A wreath-laying ceremony for former German and Italian prisoners of war takes place at the Fort Riley cemetery Nov. 16 at 10 a.m.

The annual ceremony is held in remembrance of the POWs who lived and worked at Fort Riley between 1943 and 1946, specifically the 62 Germans and 11 Italians now buried here.

German Army Col. Carsten Döding and Italian Army Lt. Col. Antonio Laudando will be guest speakers at the event. Both officers are currently stationed at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.

In 1943, War Department officials established Fort Riley as one of 600 locations across the United States selected to house German, Italian and Japanese POWs. The camps became home for 350,000 prisoners—enough to man 35 German army divisions; approximately 4,500 were held at Fort Riley.

The POWs filled a labor void on area farms, working on roads, laundry and building maintenance projects. Prisoners earned about 80 cents a day. After the war, some of the POWs chose to stay in the local area to live and work.

The German and Italian Memorial Ceremony is open to the public.

The Geary USD 475 Board of Education has adopted a bond resolution which officials confirm will keep the local property tax levy from rising as the school district builds a new Junction City High School.

Public Finance Investment Banker Dustin Avey of Piper Jaffray & Co. said one of the biggest components of the bond project was no increase in the mill levy for the school district. A key part of that was locking in long term interest rates for USD 475. “The resolution approved this evening authorizes us to proceed with that process to secure interest rates. Interest rate volatility is certainly unknown but it is certainly out there. Rates are nearing historical lows of the last 30 years so there may not be a better time to put the district in a position to make sure those rates get locked in so we can meet its mill levy commitment.”

The plan is to lock in interest rates early next week for a 25-year period.

The bond resolution includes taxable bonds totaling $41.5 million, non-taxable funds of approximately $26 million, the state match with the non-taxed bonds for the high school project, and the refinancing of two earlier bond issues….series 2005 and 2007. Superintendent Dr. Corbin Witt stated all of that will ensure the property tax levy does not have to be raised for the new high school.

The Board of Education voted 5-1 for the bond resolution, but one member Dr. Anwar Khoury was opposed. He wanted another month to get a second opinion from another firm. But Board member Brian Field arguing in support of the resolution, noted if the BOE passed this resolution now they could keep their word on the property tax levy, and if they did not they would run the risk of not being able to do that.  The majority of the Board members agreed with the latter position.