The Great Plains Theatre continues its 22nd seasson with “Lost in Yonkers,” by playwright, Neil Simon.
The play will run July 8 through July 17.
The production is directed by Great Plains Theatre’s Artistic Director, Randal West. Follow3ing the opening night production on July 8th, there will be a catered Afterglow to give the audience pastrons a chance to meet and greet the actors.
Are you tough enough to wear pink?
The Kaw Valley Rodeo Association’s 10th annual Tough Enough to Wear Pink Rodeo will be at8 p.m. Friday, July 22, at Wells Arena in Manhattan’s CiCo Park. The event honors cancer survivors and raises awareness and funds for Kansas State University’s 
Johnson Cancer Research Center.
The Tough Enough to Wear Pink Rodeo is part of the three-day Kaw Valley PRCA Rodeo, July 21-23. The rodeo is in conjunction with the Riley County Fair, July 21-25. A portion of Friday night’s rodeo ticket sales will go to the cancer research center.
“We want rodeo fans to pack the arena with pink July 22,” said Gene Klingler, a local physician and chairman of the rodeo association’s Pink Committee. “This event serves as a reminder that cowboys and cowgirls are tough, but cancer survivors are even tougher.”
Pink T-shirts, hats, bandanas and more will be available for purchase at the rodeo and throughout July, with all proceeds supporting cancer research and education programs at Kansas State University.
“The pink rodeo is a touching and exciting event, and a huge undertaking. We thank the Kaw Valley Rodeo Association, sponsors and volunteers for putting it on, as well as all the spectators who support it,” said Rob Denell, director of the Johnson Cancer Research Center.
Cox Bros. BBQ, 223 McCall Road, Manhattan, will support the rodeo association’s Tough Enough to Wear Pink efforts with a fundraiser Sunday, July 10. The restaurant will donate 10 percent of the day’s profits to the cause. The event will feature a carved meat buffet from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. for $12.95 and $2 sliders all day. Advance tickets for the buffet can be purchased for $10 from the Johnson Cancer Research Center, 1 Chalmers Hall, 1711 Claflin Road, or by contacting cancerresearch@k-state.edu or 785-532-6705.
Sponsors are still being sought for the Tough Enough to Wear Pink Rodeo. Sponsors are listed on the cancer research center’s website and recognized in a variety of other ways. People interested in sponsoring should contact Klingler at 785-532-9203.
SALINE COUNTY – A Riley County woman and child were injured in an accident just before 8a.m. on Tuesday in Saline County.
The Kansas Highway Patrol reported a 2015 Mazda passenger car driven by Irene Booth, 51, Ogden, was westbound on Interstate 70 two miles east of the Ohio Street exit.
The driver swerved to miss a deer and overcorrected. The vehicle entered the north ditch, hit a fence and a tree.
Booth and a passenger Angel Booth, 9, were transported to Salina Regional Medical Center.
They were both properly restrained at the time of the accident, according to the KHP.
The annual Veterans Ceremony was a part of the activities Monday at Sundown Salute.
Major General Wayne Grigsby Jr. served as the keynote speaker during the event, which also included the presentation of Quilts of Valor to Clinton Clark, Allan Rothlisberg, and Henry Martinez.
There was also the presentation of a wreath during the ceremony held in front of the Vietnam Veterans Memorial.
The Manhattan Fire Department responded to 100 Dix Drive at 3:28 a.m. Monday for a fire at a one-story residential structure.
The Fire Department reported that there was heavy fire showing from the roof. The fire reached a second alarm before it was contained within 30 minutes.
All three occupants of the residence were able to exit the structure without injury prior to the arrival of firefighters. The occupants removed one dog as they exited and the fire department was able to remove the other.
The loss has been estimated at $40,000 to the contents and $80,000 to the structure, along with $5,000 damage to two vehicles. The owner is listed as David and Joni Braddock at 100 Dix Drive. The preliminary cause of the fire has been determined as fireworks.
A total of 17 firefighters and seven fire trucks responded to the blaze.
The fireworks show at Sundown Salute Monday night in Junction City came to an abrupt end when an accident occurred about four-fifths of the way through the show.
According to Sundown Salute Coordinator Sharon Glessner the owner of the company providing the fireworks show, Roger Bennett , Junction City, was injured by an errant fireworks shell.
Glessner stated, “We were doing great and then one of the shells kind of exploded on the owner’s ankle kind of, so Roger has second degree burns on his ankle. But he refused transport ( to a hospital ). He’s going to be fine. He’ll be in pain for a couple of days but he’ll be okay.”
Glessner noted the accident occurred about 12-minutes into the 15-minute show.
Glessner noted it was scary. “We all ran really fast because we didn’t know what happened. We just heard that somebody got hurt and something blew up, so didn’t know what we were going to get. But he is fine.” An ambulance, fire truck, police and Glessner responded to the accident scene at the Sixth Street viaduct.
The large crowd in the Heritage Park and Sixth and Washington area downtown waited for a few minutes, but the fireworks did not resume. Eventually they gradually began to leave the downtown area.
The Sundown Salute annual Freedom Run is a long standing tradition that encompasses the meaning of “community”.
The heavy favorite in the men’s 5k race, Joe Moore, 32, of Keats, KS said that this is more about tradition than it is about winning.
“I’ve been coming to this race since I was probably a baby – my dad has done it almost every single Fourth of July since the early 80s. I remember running the one mile Fun Run back in the day…it’s a tradition for a lot of people, but especially me and my family to come to Junction City on the Fourth of July and do this race,” said Moore.
Moore finished first overall in the 5k with a time of 16:30, roughly a 5:19 mile pace.
The Melgares family from Manhattan, KS won big at the Freedom Run with top finishers in every division in which they competed.
Chris Melgares, 20, a student-athelete at Kansas Univeristy won the 10k in a time of 31:18, or 5:03 mile pace.
Little brother Michael, 19, was the 2nd overall finisher in the 5k with a time of 16:48, or 5:25 mile pace; and seventeen year old younger sister Cara was the first female finisher in the 5k race in a time of 20:37, or 6:38 mile pace.
Mama Melgares – Susan, 49 – was the 2nd overall female finisher in the 5k with a time of 23:19, or 7:31 mile pace.
Susan said that she is very proud of all her children, but this was more about having fun as a family than winning.
“It’s just a really fun family tradition coming over here and regardless of where people place, it’s nice to see their hard work pay off; but the better thing is [that] it is something we can all do together and enjoy together,” said Susan Melgares.
Echoing the sense of community was 50 year old Betty Sunnenberg who completed her 5k with her fitness goals in mind.
“It was amazing,” Sunnenberg began recalling hearing everyone cheer her along the race and as she came up the home stretch. “It was a lot of support, I belong to Audiofit (fitness group based out of Manhattan) and they all came out to support me…It just means a lot, it’s a lot of encouragement to keep going on my journey.”
Sunnenberg finished her 5k in a time of 56:13 as she continues to muster toward her weight loss and fitness goals.
Thirty nine year old Jamie Jones says that this 5k was a good starting point for her on her fitness journey.
“That was a great feeling,” said Jones speaking on the way everyone cheered her to the finish. “I’ve never run a marathon before so I decided that this could be my first attempt at trying something like this, and the other part of this was a personal goal to just get out there and see what I can do.”
Ella Moloney, 69, also felt the sense of community during her 5k run.
“It was awesome, I mean really awesome to run down the street and have people cheer you on,” said Moloney.
Moloney’s daughters and grandchildren also ran as 45 members of her family cheered her on.
The unique thing about Junction City is that when you are a part of anything that takes place in town, you too, become a part of the community.
On this Fourth of July Monday – a celebration of our Independence and sovereignty – the love of community, something that the National news will tell you we are lacking, was on a magnificient display at the 2016 Freedom Run.
Entries ranging from 1st Infantry Division Soldiers including the Fort Riley Color Guard to Harley Davidson motorcycles, cars, law enforcement vehicles, Boy Scouts and Cub Scouts to a contingent of Vietnam Veterans….members of the 137th Engineer Company, marched in the parade.
Entries in the parade were up and the big crowd lined all of Sixth Street on the parade route.
The top judged entries included:
–Exchange Bank, first place
–Bluffs – Patriot Pointe
–and Vietnam Veterans 137th Engineer Company.
The American flag was prominent in the parade with the theme, “Remembering Old Glory.”
Sundown Salute 2016 will forever be remembered as an epic night of rock and roll.
The 1st Infantry Division Rock band opened the evening at 6:00 pm, followed by Cimino rocking the stage at 7:30 pm.
The crowd began thickening around 7:00pm and reached record breaking proportions during Bret Michael’s performan
ce at 9:00pm.
Sundown Salute Director Sharon Glessner estimated the crowd size Saturday evening.
“It was definetely over 20,000 with it being a record crowd,” said Glessner.
Cool temperatures with a gloomy overcast threatened to halt the Sundown Salute festivities, but nothing was going to stop the many devoted Bret Michaels fans from having a good time.
“That’s crazy on july 3rd [for temperatures to be] 70 degrees, but we’ll take it, anything, just no rain,” said Glessner.
During his performance, Michaels mentioned returning to Junction City for next year’s Fourth of July celebrations.
After the concert, Bret Michaels spoke exclusively with JC Post.
“First of all, Junction City rocked – I’ve had one of the best days of my life…It was an amazing crowd, we would be proud to be back here next year,” said Michaels.
Glessner said she was thrilled beyond words.
“[That] was awesom
e; I kind of choked a little bit. We would love to have him back; he loved it here, he loves the military, the soldiers…he’s a great supporter of all of this and he loves Kansas too,” said Glessner.
Michaels rocked out to fan favorites as the enormous crowd in Heritage Park in downtown Junction City sang along.
“It was an awesome night…It was three generations of people just partying,” said Michaels.
Michaels comes from a family legacy of military service members and he loved Junction City’s connection to the armed forces.
“I was overseas, [we] were over in Iraq, Afghanistan and Kuwait with a lot of the men and women that were here [tonight] so it made it really special for me,” said Michaels.
During his performance, Michaels invited Major General Wayne W. Grigsby Jr, Command Sergeant Major Joseph Cornelison and the 1st Infantry Division Rock Band on stage for a special tribute.
“It was just a great time for everybody, I can’t imagine anybody that didn’t have a good time,” said Glessner.
Immediately after the concert, Junction City Interim Police Chief Dan Breci said despite the large number in attendance there were no reported incidents.
“It’s been a great night, no incidents in the park and everybody’s behaving; you wouldn’t think you could fit 20,000 people in our park,” said Breci.
Two things are certain about July 3, 2016: 1. Bret Michaels rocked Junction City with record breaking crowds; 2. we can look forward to next year being just as awesome.
“I’m here next year, they won’t be able to keep us away and I hope it’s on Fourth of July week – but I’m coming back,” said Michaels