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The Weekender Saturday, September 21, 2013
House seat will be filled
Members of the Stand Up! group perform for middle school students at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center Thursday. REGISTER/KAYLA BANZET
Committee to recommend Bideau successor By BOB JOHNSON bob@iolaregister.com
A convention to nominate a candidate to fill the Ninth District seat in the Kansas House of Representatives will occur the afternoon of Sept. 29 in Allen County Courthouse’s assembly room. Sixty precinct men and women, including 34 from Allen County, will decide the nominee, whose name then will be forwarded to Gov. Sam Brownback who will make the appointment. The seat opened when Ed Bideau, elected in 2012, died Sept. 6. Bideau also served in the House from 1985-88. He was an attorney in Chanute and had been Neosho County attorney. Several people have indicated interest in succeeding Bideau through appointSee HOUSE | Page A5
Stand Up! for what’s right By KAYLA BANZET kayla@iolaregister.com
Teen pregnancy, physical violence, hate crimes and bullying were just a few of the topics covered through the musical, “Stand up! Change Teen Statistics” on Thursday. The show was on the Bowlus Fine Arts stage for the second year in a row. Cast members performed for local area middle school students from Iola, Yates Center, Marmaton Valley and Crest.
The musical integrates teen statistics into the show while delivering a powerful message. Actors performed scenes that included everything from the effects of drug use to the consequences of unprotected sex. Statistics are recited to the audience and each statistic relates to a scene. For example, one character was dealing with depression, noting suicide is the third leading cause of teen death. See STAND UP | Page A5
PTO carnival on tap The Jefferson Elementary PTO is gearing up for its largest fundraising event of the year, with hopes to make it bigger and better than ever. Lisa Dunne, Jefferson Parent Teacher Organization secretary, outlined what is in store for this year’s carnival on Friday. The group has planned the event since January, in efforts to coordinate between football schedules and any other school events in the community. “They (the PTO) actually have a pretty good system,” Dunne said. “But they still need a lot of volunteers.” This year’s carnival will be in Riverside Park’s Community Building from 5 to 8 p.m. Attractions will include inflatables, games, a drawing for prizes, Kiwanis train, face painting and much more. Dunne said the chicken and noodle dinners will be back again this year, always a crowd favorite. “Everybody loves the chicken and noodles,” she See CARNIVAL | Page A5
Monforts look ahead in Red Barn By BOB JOHNSON bob@iolaregister.com
At a time when many folks are thinking about easing into retirement, Dr. Darrell Monfort expanded his Red Barn veterinary clinic just northwest of Iola to accommodate a staff of eight, including two other veterinarians. At age 60, Monfort’s rationale is that when “you’re part of a community, I think you need to make an investment or there won’t be a community down the road.” His and wife Kathy’s investment was to build a new 4,400-square-foot clinic to serve owners of small animals, mainly dogs and cats, and an adjoining structure of the same size where horses
and cows may be quartered while being treated. He and his crew are working from the new quarters while Andy Beatty, and his crew, finish up construction. In addition to Monfort, Drs. Belinda Garten and Leann Flowers work from the clinic, meaning it will have a full-time vet’s coverage five days a week 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Saturday’s 8 a.m. to noon. Also, Monfort, as has been the case for years, will respond to emergencies during off-hours. The two other docs find three-days-a-week shifts compatible. Garten lives south of Erie and her husband, Cody, is a U.S. Department of Agriculture veterinarian; Flowers lives in Chanute, where her husband, Lon, is a bank-
er. Other staff members are Diane LaGalle, office manager; Amanda Taylor, receptionist; Andi DePriest, technician; and Veronica Complido, who has worked as a technician for the Monforts 3½ years and is attending school in Independence to become a veterinary technician. “I’m the comptroller,” said Kathy; and computer tech, as well as girl Friday and whatever else needs done, said Monfort. Monfort said with the second two vets on board, he intended to spend more of his time with large animals, including weekly journeys to help with livestock sales in See RED BARN | Page A5
Calvin Parker stands in front of a hoop house at his garden north of Humboldt. REGISTER/STEVEN SCHWARTZ
Re-inventing the season By BOB JOHNSON bob@iolaregister.com
In a space about the size of backyard garden, Calvin Parker raises vegetables he sells at Allen County Farmers Market, including this year about 2,000 pounds of tomatoes, 250 heads of cabbage and “I don’t know how much broccoli.” Parker discussed the market — he sells there weekly — and how he expanded the local growing season with a hoop house, one of the Obama administration’s ways of feeding the hungry through giving them the means to be producers. Parker gave assessment of
the market and his role to Iola Rotarians Thursday. Grants made available through the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Natural Resources Conservation Service led to about 2,500 of the 48-by30-foot structures going up throughout the nation, including on Parker’s spread just north of Humboldt Hill along old U.S. 169. “They have one in the White House garden, where vegetables are grown and used by the president’s chef,” Parker noted, as well as about 25 in the Kansas City area. One situated on asphalt, with raised growing beds, provides See GARDEN | Page A5
Quote of the day Vol. 115, No.231
Brand-spankin’ new The Humboldt Cubs played their first-ever game in the new USD 258 sports complex Friday. While the complex is not fully completed, the football field was ready for the Cubs’ win over Neodesha, 40-21. Full details are on Page B1. REGISTER/BOB JOHNSON
“It is only possible to live happily ever after on a day-today basis.” — Margaret Bonnano, American writer 75 Cents
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