ABILENE, Kan. – Join us for a brown bag lunch program with Rev. Donald Fox at the Eisenhower Presidential Library on Jan. 24, 2017, at noon in the Visitors Center Auditorium.

Fox’s father, the Rev. Dr. Frederic E. Fox, served as Staff Assistant to the President during the Eisenhower Administration. Growing up, Donald Fox spent time with his father Frederic at the White House. In addition to sharing from his recently published book “The Old Familiar Places, the Life and Letters of Frederic E. Fox,” Donald will share stories of his father’s relationship with Dwight Eisenhower.

As Staff Assistant to the President, Frederic Fox worked on a number of projects often working with Malcolm Moos assisting with speech writing and planning. A staff favorite document includes a memo to Mac Moos suggesting a re-reading of George Washington’s Farewell Address as they worked on a farewell message from Eisenhower toward the end of his administration. Dated April 5, 1960, Fox states “I was struck by its relevance to our day: the call for Constitutional obedience; the warnings about sectionalism; the dangers of ‘overgrown military establishments’…”

Rev. Donald Fox is currently the staff chaplain at Mayo Clinic Health System in La Crosse, Wis. He is a graduate of Rutgers University and Princeton Theological Seminary.

Friday, January 20th is the last day to register for the Junction City Area Chamber of Commerce Annual Dinner.

The dinner will be held on Thursday, January 26th at the Geary County Convention Center at 7:00 pm, with a social hour preceding dinner at 6:00 pm.

Individual tickets are $50; a table of eight is $400.

RSVP to the Chamber by calling 762-2632 before 5:00 pm on Friday, January 20th.

WASHINGTON – U.S. Senator Jerry Moran (R-Kan.) yesterday visited with members of the Fort Riley Commanding General’s Mounted Color Guard in the U.S. Capitol Rotunda. The soldiers – along with their horses – are in Washington to participate in the Inaugural Parade on Friday.

“I met with these Big Red One soldiers at the foot of the statue that commemorates our 34th President and a man who grew up just 30 miles from Fort Riley,” said Sen. Moran. “Over the years, Kansans like President and Five-star Army General have made quite a footprint in Washington, D.C., but it’s all in service to men and women like those in the Mounted Color Guard in places like Fort Riley. It was an honor to visit with them, and I know they’ll represent our state in a distinguished fashion on Friday.”

The color guard also participated in inaugural parades for Presidents George W. Bush and Barack Obama.

Five Junction City High School students are standing out in the community for their work in film and video.

The students are currently working on two projects – one a sports film, and the other a biography of sorts on various musical artists in the area.

The first film titled Numero Uno will debut on March 7th on Youtube.

“It’s not going to be so much a movie, it’s going to be a big blog type thing, we just want to help him get his name out..Lonnie doesn’t really have a story, but we’re going to do something for the fun of it,” said Auh’shay Sanchez.

Sanchez works as the Producer, Director, Editor, and Cameraman – to name a few of his many hats. You may know Sanchez’s name from his work on the film chronically the story of high school student Aryus Jones titled The Comeback Kid. His team includes Ben Dye, Jose Baquero, Owin Carreras, and Johnathan Hunter.

Ben Dye is one of the students featured in the music film titled Varsity Variety.

“I want to be a music producer when I grow up, and I’ve been pursuing this for two years now,” said Dye. Dye and Sanchez agree that the film showcasing the musical talents in the area was something much needed.

“We need to make a movie over people that do music, because there’s so many people that have talents here in Junction City,” said Sanchez.

Varsity Variety debuts on March 17th.

The students participated in a roundtable discussion; the full audio transcript can be accessed below.

MANHATTAN, Kan. — For the fifth time, Bayer Construction Co. Inc. located in Manhattan was awarded the 2016 Governor’s Mined Land Reclamation Award presented at the 2017 Kansas Aggregate Producers Association annual convention in Overland Park, Kan., on January 13. This award is presented by the Division of Conservation in the Kansas Department of Agriculture to recognize a company that demonstrated excellence in implementing mined land reclamation and conveying a positive image of mining in Kansas.

Bayer Construction’s Martin Quarry is located in Clay County and has been in operation since the 1950s. It has been the primary source of limestone aggregates for 10 north-central Kansas counties. The reclaimed area consists of 94 acres and was reclaimed in phases from 2011–2016. The reclamation plan developed with the landowner outlined how the property would be reclaimed into productive cropland. Bayer used heavy equipment to contour the land and spread stockpiled topsoil. To maintain productivity of the farmland, Bayer built a waterway to assist in proper drainage and reduce soil erosion. “Bayer Construction Company wants to be a strong partner in the community and holds itself to a high environmental stewardship standard,” said Stan Hambright, safety and environmental manager for Bayer Construction.

Bayer Construction was established in 1935. Primary services include civil site preparation, water and sewer line construction, heavy highway construction and crushed limestone. They operate several portable crushing plants and are an employee-owned company with 140 employees operating quarries throughout northeast and north-central Kansas.

The KDA’s Division of Conservation administers the Surface Mining Land Conservation and Reclamation Act as part of its mission to protect natural resources. It offers this annual award to raise the awareness and standards of reclaiming mined land and to recognize excellence.

For more information about the award or about mined land reclamation in Kansas, contact Scott Carlson with the DOC–KDA at 785-564-6618 or scott.carlson@ks.gov.

MANHATTAN — The iconic tale of “Cinderella,” the virtuous servant girl who, with the help of her fairy godmother, captures the heart of a prince, will be performed by the Russian National Ballet Theatre at 7:30 p.m. Saturday, Jan. 28, in Kansas State University’s McCain Auditorium.

This McCain Performance Series presentation is set to the music of Prokofiev and follows Cinderella as she is magically transformed and attends a royal ball where she finds her prince — all while dealing with her malevolent stepmother and comical stepsisters.

Tickets for “Cinderella” are available at the McCain Auditorium box office, by phone at 785-532-6428, or online at k-state.edu/mccain. Half-price tickets for most seats are available for K-State students and kids 18 and under.