Still running: Allen cross country team preview See B1
The Weekender Saturday, August 13, 2016
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Kansas exporting college grads
Donna Houser and Iola High football coach Doug Kerr stand outside the Riverside Park football stadium’s dressing room, dubbed “The Mustang Stables.” A new entrance, preventing the dressing rooms from flooding, was added over the summer. An open house is scheduled from 8 a.m. to noon next Saturday to show improvements. REGISTER/RICHARD LUKEN
Restoring a landmark’s luster By RICHARD LUKEN The Iola Register
Iola High School Football Stadium Locker rooms
I
ola’s Riverside Park football stadium was built to last, like so many other Works Progress Administration structures erected in the 1930s. The stadium’s thick concrete skeleton “was almost built too well,” noted Iolan Donna Houser, whose late husband, Ray, was a long-time football, basketball and golf coach and Iola Middle School teacher. “You can’t do anything with it, it was built so well.” And through the years, while structurally sound, the old monolith began to show its age. Its iconic overhanging
Open House
You are cordially invited to see how your donation has made an impact
Saturday, August 20th 8 a.m. – noon IHS Football Stadium in Riverside Park Join us for an Open House unveiling the newly remodeled locker rooms
roof was blown away in the infamous 1986 “inland hurricane.” It twice was under several feet of water from the floods of 1951 and 2007. And since a football sta-
dium is used sparingly compared to other facilities in town, city and school officials usually were unable or unwilling to spare much expense for its upkeep. Ray Houser was instru-
mental in the early ’70s with construction of the “Mustang Stables,” the nickname he gave the stadium’s dressing rooms. Before then, players had See STADIUM | Page A6
WICHITA, Kan. (AP) — Kansas is facing the prospect of a “brain drain” as fewer people who graduate from an in-state college or university choose to stay in the state, according to Board of Regents President Blake Flanders. It’s unclear whether people are leaving because the higher education system is failing to align itself with the Kansas economy, or whether the local economy is failing to offer the opportunities college graduates seek. “I think we can put the blame in a lot of places,” Flanders said Wednesday when he addressed the board during its annual retreat, which was held in Wichita. “I think it’s something we can work together on.” Flanders said that from 2010 to 2014 the percentage of Kansas college graduates employed in the state within one year of finishing school has remained relatively flat. But he said the number employed here five years after graduating has been declining, The Lawrence JournalWorld reported. That’s true for all post-secondary graduates, including from technical colleges, community colleges, or one of the six universities governed See DRAIN | Page A8
Rotarians ride along By BOB JOHNSON The Iola Register
Earlier this summer Bob McKenzie, a Tulsa Rotarian, rode his bicycle through Iola during the 35th annual Ride Across America. Thursday, he told Iola Rotarians about the experience and his devotion to Rotary’s signature project, worldwide eradication of polio. “Those are my life now, bicycling and raising money for the polio project,” McKenzie said. As emphasis, he rode his pricey bicycle — it costs $13,000 — 148 miles from his home in Tulsa to Iola, with wife Mickey following along in four-wheel vehicle support, as she did during the race across America. Statistics of the transcontinental ride are daunting: It covers more than 3,000 miles, climbs a total of 175,000 feet and crosses 12 states. The adventure begins in Oceanside, Calif., under one of the longest piers in California and concludes in Annapolis, Md., the East Coast sailing mecca.
With three major mountain ranges on the route — Sierra, Rocky and Appalachian — cycling across Kansas was a relief, McKenzie quipped. “It’s flat.” In his fifth year of serious riding, McKenzie uses his pastime to raise money for the polio project through sponsorships for his journeys. He also is keen on any other opportunity to free people — mainly kids — from the debilitating disease that once was a scourge. His Tulsa club, 12th largest in the world, joined in the polio campaign years ago and in the first year came up with $3,000 in donations. Now, its annual solicitations raise $50,000 or more. The polio eradication effort began in 1985, when worldwide 350,000 people annually were coming down with the virus; 50,000 a year died. This year polio is restricted to Pakistan and Afghanistan. So far, 19 cases have been reported, none in the past three weeks. To keep the virus at bay,
Bob Kenzie, a bicycle enthusiast, speaks with Iola Rotarians about his experiences in riding across
See ROTARY | Page A8 America. REGISTER/BOB JOHNSON
Quote of the day Vol. 118, No. 201
“Most folks are as happy as they make up their minds to be.” — Abraham Lincoln 75 Cents
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