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The Iola Register

Weekender Saturday, June 8, 2013

Locally owned since 1867

BASEBALL Iola AA Indians victorious See B1

www.iolaregister.com

Stories by Steven Schwartz

Kunkler’s ties cause her to volunteer

Hawk brings expertise to tornado victims

Thompson moved to help colleagues

Damaris Kunkler, program coordinator for Thrive Allen County, was one of the first to respond to victims of the Moore, Okla. tornadoes. She took to Facebook and placed a notice in The Register saying she was going to the Moore area and needed donated items. “I got exactly what I asked for,” Kunkler said. From the get-go donations, including water, Gatorade, snacks, work gloves, diapers and much more, were dropped off at the Thrive office; and before she knew it, her Yukon was filled to the brim for the trip. Kunkler has family and friends in Oklahoma (she moved to Iola from Norman, Okla., in 2009), many of whom were affected by

“Only a handful” of people came to help rebuild Bob Hawk’s father’s home when it was hit by a tornado in 1942. “I think that troubled him until the day he died,” Hawk said. “I don’t want anyone to have to go through that.” Hawk is no stranger to disaster areas, so when he was asked to respond to Oklahoma two days after the tornadoes hit, he was on his way. He, along with volunteers at Samaritan’s Purse — a disaster relief organization started by Billy Graham’s son, Franklin Graham — responded to Shawnee, Okla., on May 23. Tornadoes plowed through the area on May 20.

Grace Thompson couldn’t help but get emotional when she sat down in the manager’s office at Walmart on Tuesday afternoon. She, along with 85 associates from different stores across the area, had spent five days in the tornado-battered areas of central Oklahoma. Walmart manager Jeff Livingston asked Thompson to go on 24-hours’ notice, in order to fill in for associates who had been injured and/ or displaced by the storms. She spent May 19-24 working in the store in Moore, helping to put people’s lives back together. “It was quite an eye-opener,” Thompson said. “Of course, they didn’t have homes.”

See KUNKLER | Page A7

AT THE ZOO

See HAWK | Page A7

SAFE BASE kicks off summer camps By KAYLA BANZET kayla@iolaregister.com

Register/Kayla Banzet

Above, multiple groups observed the gorilla exhibit while exploring the Africa section of Sedgwick County Zoo on Thursday afternoon. Inset, Zareona Pulley (left) and Emma McBurney have a close encounter with a tiger.

See THOMPSON | Page A3

Lions, tigers and bears: Oh my! SAFE BASE kicked off its summer program Wednesday with students camping under the stars among animals at the Sedgwick County Zoo in Wichita. Each week during June SAFE BASE will take a trip to a different destination, made possible by a $100,000 grant received earlier this year. Students, third through eighth grade, gathered in Lincoln Elementary Wednesday afternoon to load two school buses and fill a trailer with camping gear and duffle bags. Students were divided into groups of three. For every three students there was an adult chaperone. Some were SAFE BASE veterans, and there was a smattering of new faces. “I hadn’t even heard about it before,” said Bailey Myers,

a SAFE BASE leader from Humboldt. “My boyfriend had told me about some of the kids he worked with in the past so I thought it sounded pretty cool.” Everyone headed west around 4 p.m. and after a pit stop in El Dorado, made it to the zoo a little after 6:30. Two zookeepers greeted the group. Several small groups immediately started to set up their tents next to giraffes, a chore they accomplished with ease. Gene Myrick, one of the leaders, had instructed the kids on how to set up tents days prior to the trip so they would be prepared. Myrick is retired military and is sold on SAFE BASE. “This program teaches these kids things like trust, honesty and discipline,” Myrick said. If one group was struggling See ZOO | Page A3

Biker killed on U. S. 169 Eugene C. Mouser III, 60, Olathe, died Friday morning in an accident on U.S. 169 southeast of Humboldt. Mouser was riding a motorcycle, which struck a part of the highway, in a construction zone, where pavement had been removed. He was ejected, and was pronounced dead at the scene.

Poetry in motion

Register/Steven Schwartz

Members of the Cooper Studios Dance Center rehearse for their showcase, which opened Friday at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center. The showcase, along with Kansas Youth Dance Studio’s “Newsboys,” concludes tonight. Doors open at 6:30 and the show starts at 7. Tickets are $10. More pictures are available via the photos link at iolaregister.com. Vol. 115, No. 158

75 Cents

Iola, KS


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