Fireworks capped off a busy day at Sundown Salute Junction City on Thursday. They were preceeded by concerts by Change of Heart, The Zeppelin Project and Guns for Roses.

Police reported no problems occurred.

Earlier in the day crowds lined Eisenhower and 6th Streets to view the Sundown Salute parade entries, which ranged from 1st Infantry Division Soldiers and bands to motorcycles and horses, and of course the floats.

Rain caused a half-hour delay, moving the start time back to 10:30 but then the fun began. Law enforcement and fire fighters led the day followed by 1st Infantry Division Soldiers.

Immanuel Lutheran had the top parade entry with Calvary Baptist second and the Moms Demand Change Felix Snipes Foundation third.

Camel rides, goats at the petting zoo, barbecue, funnel cake, air brush tattos, carnival rides including the big ferris wheel and rock’n roll were all part of the opening night of Sundown Salute.

Mild weather greeted the crowd that took in the concerts, food and craft vendors and the Ottaway Amusement Carnival. Sundown Salute Committee member Terry Heldstab said the weather, crowd and music were all good. “I’m just really pleased with everything so far.

Old Number five, Almost Kiss and KC / DC performed on stage.

There are a wide variety of food vendors to serve the public everything from pulled pork and cheeseburgers to funnel cake.

No major problems were reported. Sundown Salute continues Thursday through Sunday.

One note: The church service scheduled Sunday at Sundown Salute is at 9:30 a.m. That’s a change from 10 a.m.

More than 50 vendors signed up for the Sundown Salute celebration in Junction City.

Vendor Coordinator Sam Niecymzk said a lot of craft people will be in attendance. “We have a lot of nonprofit this year. United Way will be here handing out information, the VFW is going to be here handing out information to veterans. We also have the Veterans Affairs that will be here.” Niecymzk added veterans can attend and obtain information to help them moving forward.

There are also numerous food vendors. Niecymzk said Greek to Me, JD with chicken on a stick and Macaroni and Cheese are all back. “Plus he’s brought a new trailer this year called Outlaw Fries. Basically it’s fries with any configuration you can imagine, he’s got them.”

Other popular vendors will range from JD Airbrush tattoos to clothing lines, jewelry and one vendor that does antiques and yard art.

Sundown Salute runs from Wednesday evening through Sunday in the downtown Junction City area.

 

 

Sundown Salute kicks off this ( Wednesday ) evening in Junction City and continues right on through Sunday with free concerts, a parade, fireworks, arts and craft vendors, food vendors, both 5K and 10K runs and the Ottaway Amusement Carnival.

The entire celebration is headquartered downtown around Heritage Park, with the concert stage set up on West 6th Street.

Set up was under way on Tuesday. Convention and Visitor’s Bureau Director Michelle Stimatze said the park will be full with many activities “We also will have the Hendricks Petting Zoo that will be open as well as the camel rides.” Those will be located in the parking lot in front of the Waters Hardware parking lot.

The theme this year is Tribute to America with a number of tribute bands performing on stage. The headliner will be Hairball, who will perform from 9-11 p.m. Friday.

Secretary of Agriculture Mike Beam has announced that Kelsey Olson has been named Assistant Secretary of Agriculture at the Kansas Department of Agriculture. Olson began serving in the new role this past Monday, July 1.

Olson will assist in leading the agency by serving as a liaison between the agency and industry stakeholder, assisting the Secretary with attendance and participation to meeting / event invitations, participating in regulatory and legislative police deliberations, and coordinating special projects and initiatives of KDA.

Olson has been Syngenta in Junction City since 2010, specializing in portfolio management, trend analysis, investing and sales within the agriculture industry. She also worked in the office of U.S. Congressman Jerry Moran as a district agricultural representative.

Olson grew up in Norton, Kansas, then attended Kansas State University where she earned a bachelor’s degree in interntational agribusiness and a master’s degree in agricultural economics. She resides in Manhattan with her husband, Casey, and their two children.

The high water at Milford Lake has created problems for the private business sector. That subject arose during a town hall meeting conducted by Senator Jerry Moran in Junction City Monday evening.

Geary County Commissioner Keith Ascher was among those in attendance. On the lake issue he noted there’s no help right now for private sector operations. “Some of your campgrounds are out of business right now. They expressed their concerns that they needed some to help to even reopen, if they can.”

Ascher said he felt the senator took the lake issue to heart because of the impact on a lot of lakes in Kansas.

The Corps of Engineers has had to hold water in reservoirs including Milford Lake in order to prevent downstream flooding.

The Geary USD 475 Board of Education has voted 6-0 to elect Rina Neal to serve as president and David Walker as vice president of the Board. The vote occurred Monday evening at the Devin Center. One board member, Anwar Khoury, was not in attendance at the meeting.

At the beginning of the agenda item, Tom Brungardt,  who was still serving at that time in the president’s role,  said the Board could elect officers at this meeting or wait until January. He added that no matter what was done last night the process will have to be repeated in January. “There was a consensus at the last meeting to just continue with the same officers, however the Board may want to change their mind. ”

Brungardt stated in order to keep the same officers the Board would have to adopt Resolution 2020-27. A motion was needed to do that but since none was made they proceeded with the election of new officers.

Sarah Talley nominated Rina Neal for president and LaDonna Junghans seconded the motion.  Jim Schmidt nominated David Walker for vice president and Sarah Talley seconded the motion. The votes were effective immediately. Tom Brungardt has been serving as president and Dr. Anwar Khoury as vice president of the school board, and both remain on the BOE.

By Dewey Terrill

JC Post

Liability concerns and lack of training have led Geary County officials to make a decision not to allow sheriff’s deputies to fight fires. They can still respond to help rescue someone, but the firefighting must be left up to certified volunteer firefighters.

Rural Fire Chief Garry Berges said initially the plan called for this change to be phased in slowly but because of the concerns the change was immediate for both on and off duty deputies responding to fire calls. “Unfortunately most of the time there was a fire the first couple of trucks out were being operated by deputies. That means our response time is going to be a lot longer, we’re going to request more trucks coming to the scene just so we have the volunteers responding. ” Berges added the Rural Fire Department was put in a situation where they’re trying to determine how to best take care of the problem.

Berges estimated the rural fire department now consists of about 60 people and lost about one-fourth of their workforce since more than 20 deputies were also considered firefighters. More volunteers will be needed. To become a volunteer firefighter you stop at or call the Geary County Emergency Management office for an application. Once it is filled out department officials will review it, call applicants in for an interview and then make a decision on possible hiring.

To be a volunteer firefighter you must be at least 18 years of age and have a driver’s license. Regular training sessions are held every month with volunteers training to the level of training they desire.

Berges noted the department needs volunteers because they are tasked with protecting residents and property outside city limits. There are 16 fire trucks at nine stations, volunteers carry pagers and are also notified of a fire via telephone, they have their own gear provided by the county and they are provided with a radio. March and April tend to be a peak period due to the burning of native grasses in the county.

The emergency management office is located at 236 East 8th Street and their telephone number is 238-1290.

The sheriff, county HR and county commission all agreed on the decision to discontinue the use of deputies to fight fires.

By Dewey Terrill

JC Post

Everything from helicopters landing on Rathert Field to old baseball teams that used to play at the 82-year old facility in Junction City were remembered by a group of local residents on Sunday at the Geary County Historical Museum. The occasion was a memories at the museum session where the information was recorded and videotaped for the museum archives.

Some of those who participated included the current general manager of the Junction City Brigade baseball team, Cecil Aska, plus Sonny Ehm who played and coached on teams, Ron Johnson, Terry Heldstab and Dewey Terrill who have all witnessed numerous games at the stadium.

Ehm remembered during his time coaching the Junction City Blues American Legion team the squad competed in a league with teams from other cities. The fans from the Kansas City area preferred to drive to Junction City to watch their teams play at Rathert Field.

Aska grew up in a house located  just beyond the right field fence of the ballpark for many years. He spent countless days and hours at the ballpark as a youth and now runs the successful summer collegiate basesball team.

There were memories of the two times helicopters were required at the ballpark during the Junction City Generals era. One was used to dry the infield area after rains, while the other was an emergency helicopter used to transport a crew member to a hospital after he was injured when he got too near a cannon being fired as part of a promotion.

Great players who performed at Rathert Field were remembered. Former Negro League star, Buck O’Neil, who played there as a young man, returned to the ballpark many years later to help rededicate the field after improvements were made to the facility including a new roof over the grandstand.

There were discussions about race relations in America over the years, but how baseball at Rathert Field rose above that.

Historical Society Director Katie Goerl noticed following the memories session that Rathert Field is a unique part of the community. “It has been for many years, and one of the unique aspects of it that remains is that it brings a whole bunch of people together in one place where we can all congregate and talk together like neighbors, the neighbors that we are. But today that doesn’t happen quite so much with social media.”

Today Rathert Field is home to the Junction City Blue Jays, Junction City Blues and the Junction City Brigade baseball teams but it also served another purpose over the years. The facility was host to livestock shows during the 4-H Fair. Mary Kay Munson remembered her family showing cattle there at the fair when it was located in that part of the city.

 

UPDATE:

A $50,000 donation by Central Charities could make it possible for construction of a stage or performance pavilion at the end of the walking trail in 5th Street Playground Park to occur much sooner than originally planned. Kendall Schoenrock, with the Quality Play for All Committee, said the project was part of a five year plan. It was phase five.” And this will allow us to move that build schedule up quite significantly. We are still immediately focused on phase two and our phase two upgrdades but with a major donation of $50,000 this certainly helps us achieve our five-year vision and plan for 5th Street Playground Park.”

Schoenrock said there need to be discussions with different builders and architects to ensure the plans for the pavilion are solid and that everyone is signed off on those, including feedback from the City. He added that there is a lot of additional planning and work to be done. There is not yet a definite timeline for the work.

Edward C. Rolfs, Chairman of the Board of Central National Bank, spoke about the donation, saying that they thought that the project was important. “As kids we all played here 50-60 years ago. ” Rolfs also noted. “And I’m excited to have the performance pavilion coming. I think that will add a whole lot for Junction City.”

Rolfs said his father, E.J. Rolfs, who started Central Charities Foundation, passed away last year. “He was very committed to the arts and performances, and we thought this would be a great way to honor his memory.”

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Quality Play for All Non-Profit, a committee focused on improving parks in Junction City, has secured a $50,000 donation from Central Charities to build a new performance stage at the 5th Street Playground Park.

“The Central Charities is passionate about our community and are very excited about the plan for upgrades at 5th Street Playground Park,” said Chris Munson, Chair of Central Charities. “The performance stage will provide another quality venue for outdoor entertainment at this new location and we are excited to support such an excellent cause.”

The performance stage was initially scheduled as a later upgrade in the five-year plan developed by the Quality Play for All committe. ” We may be in a position to move up the build schedule of the stage, and we are very grateful for the generous donation from Central Charities,” said Kendall Schoenrock a committee member with Quality Play for All. “This will allow us to continue our focus on the larger vision for this area and we appreciate the buy-in for this plan.”

Keith and Phyllis Fitzgerald have donated $1,000 toward the 5th Street Playground Park project.

LaDonna Junghans, an agent with State Farm, is also supporting the Quality Play for All Committee. State Farm has donated a number of children’s bike helmets as giveaways as well as a cash donation. “Geary County and Junction City is great place to live and grow our families,” said LaDonna. “I believe that Quality Play for All Committee, and now the PlayJC.org focus on youth sports activities, bring together a long-term plan to build healthy lifestyles for our youth. I am proud to e a part of this as physical activity builds healthy minds and bodies.

There has been increased activity at 5th Street Park on the recently completed Phase I playground equipment, proving that the community will use and appreciate updated outdoor park facilities.