( Photo courtesy of Junction Juneteenth Community Association Facebook )
The annual Juneteenth celebration in Junction City will be on Saturday, June 9th in Heritage Park.
This will be a multicultural community event that recognizes the time in 1865 when the slaves in Galveston, Texas learned about the Emancipation Proclamation issued by President Abraham Lincoln in 1863.
The coordinator of the celebration, Jim Sands, said on the 9th there will be an opening ceremony at 11 a.m. One of the highlights will be a performance by the show band, “Charisma” of Topeka. “They just want to play for our community. They want to play for the Soldiers, they want to play for Junction City. D.J. Hicks will handle the sound production for the event.
Sands reported there will be gospel music performers from local churches, a reading of the Emancipation of Proclamation, food in the park, and a car show. Expected to be in attendance for the car show is a Manhattan based club that is expected to bring approximately 50 vehicles.
The Junction City Police Department Community Involvement Unit will conduct a 2018 Law Enforcement Summer Camp. It will be June 11th through the 15th for youth entering the 7th grade or 8th grade this fall.
There are 25 available spots, and at this point six remain.
During the morning sessions at the camp activities will focus on law enforcement and emergency management related topics such as a SWAT demonstration and a tour of the Police Department. In the afternoon activities will range from a visit to the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center in Hutchinson to Spin City in Junction City.
The Junction City Brigade will host the Sabetha Lobos on Saturday, June 9th at 7 p.m.. A portion of the ticket sales will go to help support the Junction CIty – Geary County United Way.
Tickets can be purchased in advance from the United Way office at 139 E. 8th (785) 238-2117, or from one of the United Way board members. (Karen Jameson, Noel Park, Johna Ward, Tammy Paquette, Daphne Maxwell, Jim Germann, Shannon Rosauer, Christina Bloom, Wendy King-Luttman, Rojean Gager, or Kathy Tremont.)
Tickets will be $5 for adults and $3 for children. There will be a first pitch raffle.
During the event you can learn about the United Way and their partner agencies.
The victim in a Sunday drowning at Milford Lake has been identified by the Geary County Sheriff. The victim was Jonathan Rivera, 28, Grandview Plaza.
Sheriff Tony Wolf said Deputies responded to the dead end on the North Milford Lake Road for an individual yelling for help from the middle of the cove. Upon arrival it was determined an individual was trying to swim across the cove when he became exhausted and went under the water. The individual, now identified as Jonathan Rivera, never resurfaced. Other people nearby began searching for the victim.
The Geary County Sheriff’s Department, assisted by the Corps of Engineers, Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism, Geary County Fire Department and multiple civilians responded with side scan sonar equipment to search the area where the victim was last seen. Mission Township Fire provided a dive team to assist with the search. At approximately 12:45 a.m. Monday the Kansas Department of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism water patrol unit located the deceased victim. An autopsy will be scheduled for later this week.
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Authorities have confirmed the body of a drowning victim at Milford Lake has been recovered.
The name of the victim has not yet been released pending notification of next of kin. Sheriff Tony Wolf did confirm that the 28-year old man was a Grandview Plaza resident who had just gotten out of the military.
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There has been a drowning incident at Milford Lake.
Sunday afternoon authorities responded to the situation, which Geary County Sheriff Tony Wolf confirmed occurred at the south end of the lake and at the north end of Milford Lake Road. Wolf said the victim was a 28-year old man. His identity has not yet been released.
Kansas Wildlife, Parks and Tourism authorities were using boats Sunday evening to drag the lake to try to find the body of the victim.
Wolf said, “We received a 911 call of a subject out there swimming in the lake. He went down and they couldn’t find him anymore. When we got out there on scene, story was that he tried to swim across the cove and he was unable to make it, and he went down and they didn’t see him any more.”
Wolf reported that the water in the area where the incident occurred is about nine feet deep, but the water is muddy making the visibility about zero at that location.
Junction City Community Band performing at the Memorial Day Ceremony at the C.L. Hoover Opera House
Memorial Day was observed in Junction City and at Fort Riley in a number of ways ranging from the playing of taps, a 21-gun salute and the laying of wreaths to solemn comments by federal, state and local leaders.
At Fort Riley Kansas Governor Jeff Colyer said those attending the ceremony at the Post Cemetery would all be a part of the Memorial Day memory. “We will be remembering and thanking your families, your loved ones and all of those who have sacrificed to make America the greatest land on earth.” Colyer went on to say, “We see these tombstones. We’re humbled, we’re gratified, but we also know their meaning. Their meaning is that we may live and they expect us to do better every single day. They loved this country and
Fort Riley Garrison Commander Colonel John Lawrence
they loved this family and that is why they are so special.”
Fort Riley Garrison Commander Colonel John Lawrence stated the words loss, sacrifice, valor, bravery, and selfless were a few words being said at ceremonies around the country to describe Memorial Day. “They represent the actions of our heroic men and women of the armed services that gave their lives while defending our nation and our freedoms.”
Congressman Roger Marshall, and U.S. Secretary of Agriculture Sonny Perdue also spoke during the ceremony.
In Junction City there were two Memorial Day observances, including one sponsored by the Geary County Veterans Alliance at the C.L. Hoover Opera house and another sponsored by the Grand Commandery Knights Templar of Kansas in Heritage Park.
At the Opera House the Chairman of the Geary County Commission, Charles Stimatze, told the audience a famous
Geary County Commission Chairman Charles Stimatze
philosopher once stated that the bravest are those with the clearest vision of what is before them. “Glory and danger alike and yet notwithstanding go out and meet it. You’re here today to honor our heroes, to remember their achievements, their courage and their dedication, and to say thank you for their sacrifices.” Stimatze asked service members and veterans plus the family members of any service member to stand for recognition as they received a round of applause from the audience.
In Heritage Park the Sir Knight Clarence E. Arens, U.S. Navy ( Retired ) said those present were there to honor and respect the men whose names are on the Kansas Vietnam Veterans Memorial in the park but also all brothers in arms and shipmates from the entire nation that shared their fate.
Sir Knight Clarence E. Arens
Speaking about the Vietnam war he stated, “There was a total of over 2,100,000 military men and women who served in Vietnam over the course of the war. ” The U.S. Army lost 38,179 Soldiers, the U.S. Marine Corps lost 14,836 men, 25% of all deaths but it was five percent of their total force. U.S. Navy lost 2,556 killed and the U.S. Air Force lost a similar number with 2,580 combat losses.”
Arens said in War in Vietnam 766 Americans are known to have been prisoners of war, with 114 of those dying in captivity. Some POW’s were held for more than seven years.
Arens also reported that more than 1,800 men are still unaccounted for from the Vietnam War.
He stated that we should always remember those who perished, respect the unselfish and noble sacrifices of those men and women in the cause against the spread of Communism, and reverence to the men whose names are inscribed on the Kansas Vietnam Veterans Memorial and what it means. “May the spirits of these fine men dwell where no bullets fly and where peace eternally prevails.”
The laying of a wreath at the Grand Commandery Knights Templar of Kansas
1st District Congressman Roger Marshall
U,S, Agriculture Secretary Sonny Perdue
( Information and photos contributed by Fort Riley Facebook and Nita Miller )
WABAUNSEE COUNTY —One person died in an accident just after 5:30p.m. Sunday in Wabaunsee County.
A group of individuals were having a holiday gathering and were riding various types of all terrain and off-road vehicles on private rural property west of Alma near west Spring Creek and Panther Roads, according to the Wabaunsee County Sheriff. One of the vehicles overturned on a rider and he was reported to be injured.
Members of the Alma Fire Department; A.M.R. and Wabaunsee County Sheriff’s Office responded to the scene.
The injured man identified as Jordan Lee Miller, 27, McFarland, Kansas, was transported by ambulance to Stormont Vail Hospital in Topeka where died from his injuries, according to the sheriff’s department.
The accident is being investigated by the Wabaunsee County Sheriff’s Office.
Abilene, May 28 – The Arthurian legend arrives in Abilene on June 8th, and audiences will not want to miss this unique opportunity to experience a centuries old story in a brand-new way. While this is the Kansas premier of the David Lee adaptation, this production began in Amana, Iowa, as Great Plains Theatre and the Old Creamery Theatre Company partnered together to curate their new Camelot.
The performances in Amana received rave reviews from newspapers and audience members alike. Diana Nollen of The Gazette, a newspaper from Cedar Rapids, IA, notes that Matthew Aaron “brings such heart to Arthur. He’s playful and awkward in a chance meeting with Guinevere…then grows tender and loving as their love blossoms.”
While the villain of the piece remains Mordred, portrayed by Matthew Blake Johnson who filled the role with such sinister charm you can hardly begrudge the knights for eschewing those Seven Deadly Virtues, the catalyst of Camelot’s destruction is the charismatic, and often irritatingly pious, Lancelot played by Perry Sook. Sook was in the original cast of the David Lee adaptation, though in a different role. In this production he commands the stage as the man who wished to be the best of knights, and breaks hearts as the audience falls in love with the “idealistic Lancelot who seeks to elevate the King’s Court only to be its downfall.”
Meg Sharp, playing Guinevere, delivers a powerful performance, reminding audiences that Guinevere is so much more than just a love interest. The Amana Society Bulletin writes, “Her lovely voice, her delightfully girlish yet somehow queenly interactions with Arthur, her desire to be of real use to Camelot, her chilly and even a little cruel initial reception of the prim and proper Lancelot, her growing love for the brave Knight and her ultimate betrayal and repentance is something to see. Sharp brings it all and more to the stage. Her performance along with that of Sook and Aaron make for spell binding theatre.”
Artistic Director for Great Plains Theatre, and director for this production, Randal K. West interviewed various cast members to get their take on this new version of the story and Perry Sook remarked, “You may think you know Camelot, but you don’t know this Camelot.” Season tickets are still available for this enchanting year filled with adventure, intrigue, love, and magic, and Camelot is an experience not to be missed. Claim your seat at the legendary round table via box office phone at 785.263.4574, going online to greatplainstheatre.com, or stop by the box office at 401 Cottage Ave, Abilene. Great Plains Theatre, together we are more!
RILEY COUNTY — Four people were injured in an accident just after 11:30p.m. Sunday in Riley County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2010 Volo passenger car driven by Michael S. Shivers, 39, Clay Center, was westbound on U.S. 24.
The Volo collided with an eastbound 2008 Nissan Pathfinder driven by Maria A. Gallegos Torrez, 42, Manhattan, that was turning left from U.S. 24 onto Kansas 13.
Gallegos Torrez, and passengers in the Nissan Salvatore Moreno-Fabela, 45; Alexandra Moreno, 15 and Chavita Moreno, 5, all of Manhattan, were transported to Via Christi in Manhattan.
Shivers, an adult and two children in the Volo were possibly injured. The KHP did not indicate they were transported for treatment.
The KHP reported they did not know if Gallegos Torrez was wearing a seat belt. All the others were properly restrained at the time of the accident.
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