Sports: All-State players named See B1
The Weekender Saturday, June 7, 2014
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Family learns inner strength Uplifting journey
Gas couple found enchantment and inspiration in Holy Land
By KAREN INGRAM The Iola Register
I
t had been a difficult pregnancy, marked by periodic bouts of heavy, unexplained bleeding. At 22 weeks and one day, Keely Harles began to have contractions and was rushed to Overland Park Regional Medical Center by her husband, Stan. The doctors did an ultrasound and gave the worst news a mother can hear. “Hunter no longer had a heartbeat,” Harles said. “We lost him.” She delivered her dead son, eight ounces and 18 weeks premature. They all waited for more bad news. Then something amazing happened. The contractions stopped. Hunter’s twin brother, Hudson, was still alive. EIGHT weeks earlier, Harles was driving home to Moran from Spirit Nation, the dance studio she owns and operates in Iola. She had moved to the area only a year before. Harles, a former soldier in the Army, is originally from New Mexico. “We have the same tornadoes, but it’s not as green,” she joked. They came this way because it was home for her husband. Stan had graduated from Marmaton Valley in 1996 and now See HUDSON | Page A3
By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
A 10-day journey to Israel in late May was filled with awe and emotion for Larry and Shirley Robertson, Gas. “It was the trip of a lifetime to go where Christianity started and walk where Jesus walked,” Larry Robertson said. “It was mindboggling.” “I know now I’ll connect better with the Scriptures,” wife Shirley said. They were in a party of 18 hosted by the Rev. Trudy Kenyon-Anderson, pastor of Wesley United Methodist Church, and her husband, Russ Anderson. For Larry Robertson the experience had strong impact from two perspectives. He has spent a lifetime working as a mason, and to see structures built centuries ago that have withstood the ravages of time, was amazing. “The Romans were brutal, but they also were fantastic builders,” employing extraordinary means without advantage of today’s machines and technology. Robertson said he was
Hudson and Keely Harles pose for a “selfie” on Tuesday. He now weighs 2 pounds and is growing stronger every day. COURTESY PHOTO
flabbergasted at how large stones weighing hundreds of pounds were moved from quarry to building site. “They used two wheels with the stone they were transporting being the axle,” he said. “It was ingenious.” He also marveled at how bathhouses and other structures were heated. Hot air from a fire built in a vessel outdoors was directed though structures in hollow tiles in floors and walls. “It also was interesting how they bathed,” he said. “They didn’t have soap, so they used oil and then scraped it off with a sharp object.” Little rainfall prompted a proliferation of cisterns across the country. “They were very efficient,” directing 90 to 95 percent of rainfall to cisterns through trenches, he said. “One day, we went down 183 steps to reach a tunnel that led to a spring.” BETHLEHEM, Jerusalem, Caesarea, where Paul was imprisoned, the Jordan River and many other landSee ISRAEL | Page A4
Johnson beefs up portfolio By KAYLA BANZET The Iola Register
Cheyanna Colborn hugs some of her students in Guatemala. Colborn taught English to children and used the opportunity to learn Spanish. COURTESY PHOTO
South of Moran on his family’s farm Trent Johnson stands in front of two steers. A smile comes across his face as he explains his daily duties with the cattle. Beef production is a family affair for the Johnsons. “You can’t beat being around cattle,” Johnson said. “I’ve always grown up around it. My great-grandpa, grandpa and dad all raised them.” Johnson’s hard work has recently earned him the State Beef Award for Kansas 4-H. Johnson will be a senior at Marmaton Valley next year and is president of the Prairie Rose 4-H Club. He
When I was growing up I used to look at the winners in the 4-H magazine. It doesn’t seem real that I won. — Trent Johnson, State Beef award winner
has been active in the club with his beef project for many years. He feeds the cattle, gives them shots, grooms them and practices walking them around the ring for fairs. “The shows are won at home,” Johnson explained. “You work really hard with them at home and then the work pays off in the ring.”
Achieving the state award is something he has aspired to do since a young age. Johnson was working on the corral with his father, Jeff, when his mother, Laura, brought him the letter notifying him of his award. Once he read the words “congratulations,” the realization sunk in. See BEEF | Page A4
Mission trip takes Iolan far from home By KAREN INGRAM The Iola Register
There are many paths one must choose throughout their life. Sometimes the paths we choose are not the ones we end up taking. As one young Iola woman recently learned, sometimes God chooses a completely different path and it can be more adventurous and fulfill-
ing than can be imagined. Cheyanna Colborn grew up in Iola and graduated from Humboldt in 2012. She then went on to Kansas State University to study public relations and dreamed of studying abroad. “I had been planning on studying abroad in Germany because I am taking German and wanted to improve my See COLBORN | Page A4
Quote of the day Vol. 116, No. 156
Trent Johnson stands with his cattle on his family’s farm south of Moran. Johnson won the State Beef award for Kansas 4-H. He received his medal this week in Manhattan at the 4-H Emerald Circle Banquet. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET
“The price of hating other human beings is loving oneself less.” — Eldridge Cleaver, political activist 75 Cents
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