The keynote speakers for the next three Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce Military Affairs Council breakfasts in Junction City have been scheduled.

They include Rick Dykstra from the Geary County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau on the great outdoors in Geary County on March 28th, Gary Lagrange on S.A.V.E. Farm, which is Service member Agricultural Vocation Education in April and the incoming superintendent of schools for Geary USD 475 Dr. Reginald Eggleston in May.

MAC breakfasts are held on the fourth Thursday of each month. The speaker announcements were made during the MAC Advisory Committee meeting on Thursday.

KANSAS CITY — Bill Snyder was in attendance to root on the Wildcats as they opened Big 12 basketball tourney play Thursday in Kansas City.

The Sprint Center fans showed their support of the recently retired college football coaching legend when he was shown on the scoreboard at halftime.

The United Way of Junction City is seeking allocation volunteers.

Volunteers would donate one hour for review of panel member materials, four to five hours for site visits and panel review, and additional time for evaluation.

You would need to commit to a total of five different panel visit dates to participate in the process, and panel chairs would meet one more time at the end of the panel visits.

Dates for allocation panel sessions are March 25th, March 27th, March 29th, April 1st and April 3rd. Panel chairs will also meet on April 5th.

You can contact United Way at ( 785 ) 238-2117 or at director@unitedwayjcgc.org.

The Board of Directors of the Geary Community Healthcare Foundation have announced that there will be an informal reception to honor and thank Jolana Montgomery-Matney for her 23 years of service as executive director of the Foundation. She is planning to retire on April 1st.

The informal reception will be held Tuesday, March 26th from 5-7 p.m. with remarks at 6 p.m. The event will be held at the Courtyard by Marriott Geary County Convention Center in Ballroom C.

UPDATE:

Geary County Rural Fire Chief Garry Berges has confirmed the cause of the fire that destroyed a hay barn and approximately 150 large hay bales on the east side of the City of Milford has been ruled as an arson fire. That determination followed an investigation by Fire Investigators with the Geary County Fire Department. An investigation is continuing by the Geary County Fire Department and Geary County Sheriff’s Department.

Firefighters responded to the fire at 5:48 .m. Wednesday. Milford City Fire and Geary County Fire responded to the scene and Fort Riley Fire was asked to assist at the fire scene with water support since there were no fire hydrants in the immediate area.

The barn was filled with large bales of hay and alfalfa that were on fire when units arrived on scene. Firefighters and others were able to remove a tractor and implement away from the open sided building. There were seven other out buildings in the immediate area that were endangered due to embers from the fire being blown.

The fire was brought under control about 8:30 p.m. Milford firefighters remained on scene throughout the evening, and additional units were called back to the scene about 11:30 p.m. due to embers starting one of the out buildings on fire. That blaze was extinguished with minor damage reported. Fire units remained on scene until 9 a.m. Thursday.

Damage estimates are still being determined. The property was owned by Gabe Shandy of Milford.

—-

Geary County, Fort Riley and Milford firefighters responded to a fire about 5:50 p.m. Wednesday on the east side of Milford.

According to Geary County Rural Fire Chief Garry Berges the blaze involved a hay barn containing approximately 150 large hay bales. There were no injuries.The cause and damage estimate are not yet known. The property was owned by Gabe Shandy.

Milford firefighters remained on scene through the night monitoring the situation. Most units left about 10 p.m. but some had to return about 11:30 p.m. after a nearby small shed caught on fire. Berges indicated there was minor damage to that building.

The fire occurred as gusty winds swept across the county.

Former Junction City Blue Jay and current member of the Kansas City Royals organization, Nick Heath, has received the Willie Wilson Baserunner of the Year award for a second time. He was honored at spring training in Surprise, Arizona Wednesday.

Heath played in 90 games last season, with those games split between Class A Advanced Wilmington and Northwest Arkansas. He led Royals farmhands with a career high 39 stolen bases.

This ( Thursday ) is National Agriculture Day.

The purpose is to celebrate the abundance of agriculture in our nation. According to the Geary County Farm Bureau, agriculture is producing food and fiber for our everyday lives.

Each American farmer feeds more than 165 people.

Agriculture provides almost everything we eat and wear on a daily basis, but too few people truly understand this contribution.

This celebration has been occurring for 46 years. Thank a farmer today!

60%

Windy. Much colder. Cloudy. Chance of rain in the morning, then rain likely in the afternoon. Near steady temperature in the upper 30s. West winds 20 to 35 mph. Chance of rain 60 percent.