Discover Eudora | spring/summer 2024

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Celebration of the Parks and Green Spaces That Define Us

It’s a refreshing summer amenity, but Eudora’s public swimming pool is also part of a long history focused on public safety and preservation of life 08 |

The school district, police force, and community supporters create a popular high school trap shooting club

The Eudora Citizens Academy offers residents a close-up look at city services and the knowledge to shape better policies and laws (while also putting an axe or gavel in your hand) 31 |

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Story by Cindy Higgins

Pool Party

It’s a refreshing summer amenity, but Eudora’s public swimming pool is also part of a long history focused on public safety and preservation of life

If you want to cool off on a hot summer’s day, Eudora’s municipal pool at 1638 Elm opens in late May for daily use all summer.

Built in 2007, the 8,000 square-foot, zero-depth entry pool with a 105-foot water slide replaced the 4,285 squarefoot, L-shaped pool that had leakage issues. This earlier pool, built in 1977, was Eudora’s first community pool. Until that time, residents often swam in Lawrence at the Jayhawk Plunge on Sixth Street, which opened in the 1920s, or in Lawrence’s 1969-built municipal pool. Youths also could be transported by Eudora school buses to swim at the city of Baldwin’s mid-1960s pool.

“Larger communities started building municipal pools in the 1920s, but smaller communities didn’t have the funds,” writes Jeff Wiltse in Contested Waters: A Social History of Swimming Pools in America. Wiltse notes that municipal pools were first built to get young people away from the dangers of lakes and rivers.

Before pools became commonplace, area residents beat the heat by dipping in lakes, ponds, creeks, and water-filled quarry pits. The Kansas River was particularly enticing when its sandbars emerged in low water levels. Composed of settled sand, silt, or small pebbles, the sandbars offered gathering and sunning spots in the middle of the river.

Hundreds flocked to the Kansas River’s big sandbars in Lawrence in the early 1900s where vendors sold food and bands played music.

Top: Until the 1960s, the private and segregated Jayhawk Plunge in Lawrence was the only county swimming pool for most Eudorans.

Above: Swimmers gather at the Kaw Beach on the Kansas River circa 1919.

Unfortunately, concerns about raw sewage dumped upstream in Topeka and typhoid brought an end to Lawrence’s sandbar beach events.

A bit further downriver, Eudora residents also waded or swam in the Kansas River, and the town itself was known for its numerous “swimming holes,” according to Albert Gufler in a May 12, 1937, article in the Emporia Gazette. And like their neighbors upriver, Eudorans also faced dangers.

Swirling eddies, varying water levels, ever-changing swift currents, and unsuspected drop-offs—water might be knee deep and then suddenly drop 18 feet—claimed several victims and the lives of those who tried to save them.

Particularly treacherous was the swimming spot where the Wakarusa River met the Kansas River. One

of the earliest recorded drownings there was that of the Seiwald brothers, Henry, 9, and Anton, 10, in 1864. A whirlpool claimed Christian Schleifer, a Eudora Main Street grocer, in 1866. Melchior “Mike” Mertz, 40, a reporter for local German newspapers, swam to a sandbar at the confluence on a July day in 1881, shouted for help on his return to the shore, struggled to keep afloat, and then sank in a 15-foot-deep drop-off. Perry Harris dived for Mertz several times before he, too, drowned. In 1904 at the same location, a current pulled Gust Kakas, 20, recently arrived from Greece, into the river’s deep waters before anyone could reach him.

Three miles east of Eudora, brothers Charles Hobbs, 20, and Frank Hobbs, 18, who could not swim, went into the Kansas River on

August 19 with three companions and died. About their drowning, the 1888 Lawrence Tribune wrote, “This adds another to the already large list of those who have ventured beyond their depth in the river without being able to swim, and sank below the water before assistance could arrive.”

Leander Island, a riverbank extension once east of the present Kansas River Bridge, north of Eudora’s Main Street leading to County Road 1, was a popular Eudora beach area. In 1884, Frank Bolinger, 23, waded in the river and got carried away by a current, as did Frankie Neustifter, 8, in 1911. Frankie’s older brother, Willie, would have drowned trying to save Frankie if not for a fishing boat that chanced by and rescued him.

Before installation of levees, dams and upstream reservoirs

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Before public swimming pools, residents traveled to popular—but often dangerous—bathing spots in lakes and along the Kansas or Wakarusa rivers. These postcards from the early 1900s show two county bathing locations.

after the 1951 flood, the Kansas river was wider and shallower than now. Dredging for sand and gravel around Eudora has only deepened the river channel.

Kansas River wading would continue to result in drownings as late as 1966, when Jean Louise Hadl, 15, lost her life at a May wading party with friends.

With this history of river drownings, the construction and maintenance of a municipal pool could be seen as a safety measure in addition to being a recreational venue. Eudora residents also can experience a safe current at Eudora’s municipal pool’s “lazy river,” a swim area that flows similar to a slow river.

Water safety is also a goal with the pool’s swimming lessons.

“Last year, we brought swim lessons back and had a great turnout,” says Sally Pennington, director of Eudora Parks and Recreation. “This year, we are hoping to serve 500 swim lesson participants. That’s exciting because we could not do faceto-face lessons with Covid and needed to get the Red Cross certifications again to teach. Swim lessons are part of offering

something for everyone along with lap swimming, pool parties, and aqua aerobics.”

Looking forward, Pennington says, “A splash pad has been one my goals. We know it is a need and a want. I see it in the older part of town north of Tenth Street, so kids don’t have to cross the road. Ideally, it would be a mix of art, history, and water with a wading area, sprays, and fountains.”

Story and photography by Michael Pearce

Cardinal Clays

The school district, police force, and community supporters create a popular high school trap shooting club

School resource officer Caleb Lewis’ professional life focuses on safety and protection.

Similarly, when he is not working with the Eudora Police Department and the Eudora School District, Lewis is also focused on firearms and safety, helping students understand and enjoy the responsible use of firearms through a popular sport.

Lewis is founder and head coach of Cardinal Clays, a high school team of clay target shooters. With the help of other volunteer coaches, and the generosity of the community, the Cardinal Clays team allows Eudora teens to compete on the local, state and national levels.

Lewis is quick to mention the team’s accessibility.

“One of the best things is, this sport is totally inclusive,” Lewis says. “It’s open to boys and girls and, especially, those who may not succeed well at other sports or have never tried another sport.”

The Cardinal Clays team practices at a shooting range in the evenings. Trap shooting is one of the fastestgrowing high school sports in the United States.

The number one priority for the club, Lewis notes, is teaching and maintaining firearms safety.

This is a common theme for scholastic shooting teams across the nation, and one that national organizers say has made their sport one of the safest high school sports across America.

John Nelson, the president of USA Clay Target League, says that the school teams in his group have not recorded one injury from shooting competitions or practices. That’s a grouping more than 1,600 teams and a total of some 50,000 students firing a conservative estimate of some 64 million rounds without injury. Nelson adds that clay shooting is also the fastest-growing scholastic sport in the nation.

In Kansas there are 142 scholastic teams, totaling approximately 2,400 student target shooters.

Lewis’ introduction to scholastic target sports came in 2017 when he attended a fund-raising target shoot for the Baldwin school shooting team. Already a lifelong hunter and target shooter, Lewis was impressed by the club and started working toward forming a team in Eudora.

He soon approached a receptive, but cautious, school board and worked through questions and procedures to set up the group. One request was the Eudora team be restricted to high school students, but most schools with a program allow middleschool shooters, too.

That first year, 2018, the Eudora team had 15 members. The 2023 team had 41 members.

Team members vary greatly, and there is no physical stereotype for a successful shooter. In fact, Lewis says that this sport—more so than others—is one where practice and determination can overcome natural physical prowess.

“That small, uncoordinated kid can step up and shoot against the big athletes. It’s more practice and hard work than some natural ability. If they put in the time, they can become good. One of our best shooters really struggled at first—as bad as hitting just one of 25 targets—but now she’s one of our best,” Lewis says. “This

Team member Evie Hayes takes aim during practice. Eudora USD 491 School Resource Officer Caleb Lewis (left) and Larry Lindsay coach the Cardinal Clays.

gives a lot of kids a chance to excel on a team. They’re pretty proud when they shoot well enough to get a letter jacket.”

The team gathers at Cedar Hill Gun Club, north of Baldwin, on Wednesdays and Saturdays. Coaches stay around long enough so that students who must report to practice immediately after school for other sports will still have time to shoot. The fall clays season, designed for practice, runs from late-August through October. The spring season, when the club holds competitions, begins in late March and runs the rest of the school year.

In most competitions, teams shoot at their own range, record their scores, and then post them online, saving the teams a lot of travel time and expense.

The students do gather for higherlevel competition. For example, last year 19 Cardinal Clays shooters traveled to the state championship shoot near Wichita on Father’s Day weekend. Nelson says that 2023 Kansas championship had more than 1,400 youth shooters from across the state. From that event, seven Eudora shooters went to the national championship in Michigan. Lewis says the students support

one another no matter who goes on in competition.

“The kids really get along. People are just visiting and helping each other if they can,” Lewis notes. “We ended up going out to eat with shooters and parents from Piper [one of Eudora’s main rivals] last year and had a good time.”

Ethan Feuerborn, a junior on the team, says he likes the team camaraderie at practices and competitions. Shooters spend a lot of time talking while awaiting their turn to shoot.

Lewis says Feuerborn has emerged as one of the team’s best shooters even though ACL surgery forced Feuerborn to shoot from a chair last year.

“That’s what we mean, anybody can do it as long as they can get to the line,” says Feuerborn. “We’re all the same out there.”

While all sports strive for team camaraderie, the sport of clay shooting doesn’t easily tolerate standout egos because even champion-level shooters have off days. There are also days when normally average shooters hit 25 of 25 targets. Lewis said he’s seen several students “come out of their shell,” as they start

breaking targets and receiving encouragement from others.

“There’s no doubt that for some, this is an important social activity, as well as their only sport,” he says. “It’s made kids’ lives better in a lot of ways. I’m thrilled it gets them out of the house, away from electronics, and gets them started doing things outside.”

Lewis notes many student shooters expand the hobby and start hunting and breaking targets with their family and friends outside of team shoots. Some who have graduated are still avid target shooters years later. Three former Cardinal Clays students currently have scholarships to shoot on college clay target teams.

Shooters are held to high standards. Poor grades or behavior means no shooting until things improve. Lewis says being a shooting team member also carries lessons on responsibility, selfrespect, and respect for others.

He stresses that safety is paramount. Students must pass the state’s hunter-safety course. At practices and competitions, all shotguns have their muzzles pointed up, safeties on, and actions open to show they are not loaded. Shooters

Observing safety protocols, team members take turns shooting at targets. Student team members include (from left) Micah Goodner, Ethan Feuerborn and Evie Hayes.

insert a single round into their shotguns, seconds before it’s their turn to fire.

Lewis is adamant the young shooters always wear hearing and eye protection.

“They all know they get just one warning from me,” he says, adding that “the kids, themselves, do a great job of reminding each other. They aren’t shy about it.”

When he talks about the program, Lewis is quick to mention the way the community has rallied to support its shooting team, both in spirit and through financial contributions, taking on almost all costs for the Cardinal Clays. Fund-raising raffles and direct donations pay for much of the team’s expenses.

“We couldn’t do this without an amazing group of sponsors. It seems like no matter what we need, we can get it. We have kids who don’t have a shotgun, and we can find a way to make things work out. If some kid needs some help with buying ammo, we can find somebody to help with that,” says Lewis.

Eudora native and co-owner of Barbwire Barbecue Jason Musick says he’s always looking for ways to give back to the community—and helping the Cardinal Clays is one way to do this.

“This really gives these kids something to do, that they want to do, and anybody can do it,” says Musick, who was raised around hunting and firearms, but was not a traditional athlete. “I like that it’s a sport where any kid can be successful.”

Amy Gabriel, a teacher at Eudora High School, says she and her husband, Jim, a local farmer, have been avid supporters since he first heard the program was starting. Both husband and wife liked the idea of today’s youth getting the chance to learn responsibility and safety along with a skill and sport they could use for the rest of their lives.

Gabriel adds she’s seen the program’s benefits and positive influence on team members.

“It’s an interesting mix of kids, and it’s a great opportunity for any and all of them,” she says, adding that she looks forward to her three kids being old enough to join the club. “We try to give as much as we can and volunteer to help when we can. This is a really cool program for Eudora. We want to see it keep going.”

Story by Nathan Pettengill Photography by Carter Gaskins

Why the Academy Comes Recruiting

The Eudora Citizens Academy offers residents a close-up look at city services and the knowledge to shape better policies and laws (while also putting an axe or gavel in your hand)

Eudora high school senior Kason LaMont participated in the inaugural Eudora Citizens Academy. One night of the program included tours and hands-on demonstrations at the fire department.

Expertise, tact, careful listening, and compromise can solve many problems in Eudora.

Bashing doors can solve others. Today, we’re solving problems by bashing doors.

This door is a well-locked steel barrier of a door, highly resistant to being breached. And that’s the point. In fact, this door is a special training device known as a “forcible entry prop” used to help firefighters practice getting through even difficult doors in an emergency.

As members of Eudora’s volunteer fire department gather round with instructions and encouragement, Eudora high school senior Kason LaMont puts on safety goggles and a firefighter’s helmet, picks up a halligan, a device that is part crowbar and part axe, and begins wedging it into the door’s weak spot—the wooden frame around the lock.

Just minutes prior, a Eudora firefighter finessed and muscled his way through the training door in less than 6 seconds.

LaMont takes noticeably longer, but less than the minute he was challenged with. As he flings open the door, firefighters and onlookers applaud and cheer.

A little bit about a lot

LaMont’s crash-course firefighter training is one experience in Eudora’s new Citizens Academy. The once-weekly, five- to six-week program provides Eudora residents with an inside look at the demands, obligations, and priority-setting of municipal departments.

Though Eudora held its first Citizens Academy in fall 2023, similar academies have become increasingly common in the last two decades. They are championed by a range of better-government groups and professional municipal organizations from the International City Managers’ Association (ICMA) to the Kansas League of Municipalities. A series of scholarly articles from the mid-2000s to the mid-2010s found that academy programs through police departments and municipalities, large and small, significantly increased citizen awareness of and participation in municipal deliberations and programs.

Eudora assistant city manager Zack Daniel describes the academy as “a way to seed a greater level of information and raise the discourse” in conversations about city policies and goals.

Daniel adds that the academy also allows the city to share how it has used grants and taxpayer funding.

“Cities don’t typically do a very good job of broadcasting their successes because usually they just go on to the next thing. All of our projects have a public service in mind, and when we complete those projects, we realize those net benefits, but we don’t take a lot of time to take stock and share those successes,” Daniel says. “The academy serves that purpose.”

Eudora mayor Tim Reazin describes the academy as a way for Eudora residents to gain a broad overview of how city services work, and how they can work with and shape city programs.

“The program isn’t designed to make anyone an expert in the city,” Reazin says. “But it is a chance to know a little bit about a lot of things the city does.”

JOIN THE ACADEMY

Eudora’s Second Citizen Academy is set for fall 2024.

Participants are asked to commit to five to six weeks of two-hour classes one evening each week.

For more information about the program and how to register, go online at cityofeudoraks.gov/464/ Eudora-Citizens-Academy.

Congratulations!

Students and graduates of Eudora’s first citizens academy include Dana Chance, Meagan Cox, Matthew Fearing, Rylee Griffin, Mike Keltner, Scott Keltner, Donna Labelle, Kason LaMont, Stu Mockel, David Montgomery, Reagan MoriartyStafford, Laura Rosenberger, Morgan Spencer, Joette Vignery, MaKenzie Yoder and Nathan Pettengill (observer).

The academy graduates ranged from various professionals to high school students, including (from left) Rylee Griffin, Morgan Spencer, and Kason LaMont.

Five departments, each with difficult decisions

Eudora’s citizen academy program revolves around the city’s five municipal departments: the fire department, the police department, the public works (utilities and infrastructure), the parks and recreation department, and administrative services. Each evening focuses on one department, with presentations from the department staff, tours of facilities, and some type of learning exercise. Students tour the fire department, discuss safety and engagement procedures with police officers, survey the city’s electrical grid, learn how the parks and recreation department decides on which programs to offer, and hold a mock city commission meeting.

Each department has a distinct job with specific challenges, but each department also presents a similar overview of “this is what we have achieved with the current resources we have, this is what we could do with more resources, this is what we would have to do with fewer resources, and these are some alternatives we could have done or could be doing if it is decided we have different priorities.”

There is more to running a city than facing an endless series of competing choices—but setting

priorities was a common theme. And the challenge of doing that became clear when academy students were tasked with drafting and approving a municipal budget for a fictional community the size of Eudora.

City staff roleplayed various community members as they outlined competing agendas. City budget analysist Michael Gentry portrayed a municipal employee outlining the urgent need for road repairs, firefighting equipment, and safety upgrades for the police department. City budget manager Renee Davis played the part of a concerned citizen demanding road improvements in her neighborhood and lambasting the commissioners for prioritizing improvements in their neighborhoods. City intern and academy coordinator Alex Buzicky turned in an awardworthy performance as a harried, hardworking parent who was tired of driving into Johnson County to take her kids to a splash park that she believed should have been built long ago in her own town.

And, of course, there wasn’t enough money in the budget to please everyone.

As Eudora high school senior and academy participant Morgan Spencer headed up a group to patch together a compromise budget

with a combination of deferred purchases, grant funding, and splash-park slashing, Kason LaMont (of door-bashing fame and now stepping into the role of the city’s mayor) presided over a commission that would accept, amend or simply reject the budget proposal.

“Getting the title of mock-mayor and sitting in the chair was fun,” LaMont recalls, “but being the mock-mayor was more nervewracking than trying to pry the door open.”

When LaMont and his fellow commissioners indicated they would not fund the splash park, Buzicky vigorously questioned the city’s commitment to youth and recreation—bringing the entire commission to a standstill.

“We could pass a bond! That’s simple, right” one academy participant joked, causing a raised eyebrow from fellow mockcommission member and Eudora school district superintendent Stu Moeckel, who had recently stood through a very real and very involved bond campaign for the district.

“We could buy the fire department its new hose and also use it for a splash park,” joked another, doing little to assuage Buzicky in her role as citizen-with-a-cause.

The tone was humorous and the acting intentionally over-the-

Members of the Eudora Fire Department, including firefighter/ paramedic Genevieve Voigt (left), talked with academy students about their experiences with the department.

top, but the exercise demonstated that providing municipal services is often a choice between competing cost points and priorities—many or most with laudable goals and invested constituencies.

“If the budget was a math problem, it would be easy to solve,” Daniel says. “But the cheapest solution that saves the most money for the taxpayers is just one metric. Take public safety, for example; we want to make sure those folks are compensated adequately for the market we are in so that we are retaining a quality work force and dedicating resources for training so they are better equipped to do their job and provide their service—those goals come at a cost. We have all these variables that we have

to consider and we have to figure out what path forward will have the biggest positive impact for the whole community.”

Reazin adds that balancing competing community interests “is the hard part about being a commissioner.”

And for that reason, the mayor says it is essential that residents understand the city’s basic structure and how to interact with it.

“We genuinely want input from residents,” Reazin says. “Unless people come to me with new perspectives, then I might not see some things. And that is what the citizens academy can do — it can bring in people with new ideas to comment, contribute thoughts or challenge us.”

APRIL 2

Coffee Connections

Calendar of Events

Eudora Chamber of Commerce hosts its monthly informal gathering of members and guests. eudorakansaschamber.com

11 Open House Eudora Elementary School hosts

27

Makers Mart

Eudora Parks and Recreation Department hosts a day-long makers mart at the Community Center. www.eudoraparksandrec.org

24

See Eudora: Meet the Artists

Come meet the artists and organizers of the See Eudora poster series at Barbwire Barbecue, from 5–7 p.m. parksandgreenspaces.com

30

Eudora Invitational

Eudora hosts the annual Eudora Invitational middle school track and field competition. www.eudoraschools.org

MAY 5

Kaw River Guide Workshop & Paddle

Friends of the Kaw opens a summer schedule of training for guides and Beginner Wednesday short paddle excursions at various points along the Kaw River. See their website for a full schedule of locations and dates. kansasriver.org

6–10

Shop Local Week and National Small Business Day

Eudora Chamber of Commerce and area businesses hold a week of promotions to support Eudora businesses. eudorakansaschamber.com

9

Main Street Market

Eudora CVB hosts the year’s first summer downtown outdoor market with craft stalls, food vendors, drinks, music, live entertainment, and more. eudoraevents.com

16

The History of the Pilla House

Eudora Area Historical Society offers a free presentation at the Eudora Community Center. cityofeudoraks.gov/100/EudoraCommunity-Museum

18

Eudora High School Graduation

www.eudoraschools.org

21

School Year Ends

Last day of classes for Eudora schools. www.eudoraschools.org

JUNE 4

Coffee Connections

Eudora Chamber of Commerce hosts its monthly informal gathering of members and guests. eudorakansaschamber.com

13

Main Street Market

Eudora CVB hosts monthly summer downtown outdoor market with craft stalls, food vendors, drinks, music, live entertainment, and more. eudoraevents.com

13–15

CPA Picnic

The 123rd annual community celebration and fair runs kicks off three days in Downtown Eudora with carnival rides, parades, vendors, a golf scramble, and musical performances. facebook.com/eudoracpa

15

Youth Makers Mart

Eudora CVB hosts a youth makers mart at CPA Park. eudoraevents.com

Story and photography by Fally Afani

Artists spotlight the city’s green spaces

Eudora Fire Chief Mindy Andrasevits created one of the five See Eudora posters.

Eudora’s fire chief has a secret talent that’s about to become a lot more public.

Alongside her career in public safety, Mindy Andrasevits has spent years creating art and volunteering to teach art to students across Missouri and Kansas. Her acrylic painting skills will be making a big Eudora debut as part of the See Eudora: Parks and Green Spaces project.

This series of posters, created by several artists and printmakers in the Eudora are and styled after the famous 1930s WPA (Works Progress Administration) posters of national parks, provides a framework of grandeur to the region’s green spaces.

Five artists were matched with or chose local parks and green spaces to depict, and Andrasevits immediately looked to the Wakarusa River boat launch.

“That’s the green space I chose because we do training at the boat ramp, and we do work in the area,” she says. “We do water rescue training. We also do a yearly control burn to control the native grasses around the boat ramp to clear it out for plants.”

Andrasevits’ contribution to the project is an extension of her previous community art projects in other cities.

“My history in artwork is I do civic murals for cities; I’ve done private murals in homes. I’ve done that for many, many years, so that’s kind of my experience with painting large scale. This is different,” she notes. “I like the flat application of color and the graphic nature of design and color. It fits my style pretty well.”

Mary Gage, the director of Parks and Green Spaces which partnered with Discover Eudora to jointly direct and finance this project, says she enjoyed watching artists take on new challenges and adapt their style to the park-poster format.

“We developed a set of guidelines for our artists that talk about the WPA style, the limited color palette that the artists use, and some of the other ideas of dimension and perspective that the artist agrees to,” she says. “We always try, if possible, to link the artist with a place that is special to them for some reason, is meaningful, and I feel that comes out in the artwork in a way. Just that sense of regard for the actual location.”

In this project, Andrasevits join artists Ben Tegtmeier of BT Creative in Eudora; Makenzie Schaeffer, a Lawrence Arts Center youth visual arts instructor from Eudora; Stephanie Gage, a

Los Angeles artist who spent much of her childhood growing up in rural Eudora; and Kassidee Quaranta, a Lawrence artist who created the See Eudora poster for the previous Douglas County poster series.

In addition to the county project, Lawrence, Topeka, the State of Kansas, and Johnson County have already been featured in this poster series, with largescale prints exhibited in libraries, galleries, and parks and recreation buildings.

“I think there are many people I talk to around the state who do love the state parks and outdoor spaces, so it just kind of resonated with people,” Gage says. “There’s so much attention visually that goes to national parks and big splashy outdoor places that are famous that we all know, like Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon. But there’s not a lot of visual artistic projects out there for local places.”

Gage says she hopes these images will resonate with Eudorans.

“Art is incredibly important and goes hand-in-hand with people developing a love and respect for their public spaces,” she notes. “I think it just adds so much energy and imagination and connection for people to have the visual images and visual art to connect them with the outdoor space.”

Andrasevits echoes that sentiment, saying art can help people see in a new way something they take for granted.

“Art should be for everybody. It’s not just for certain people, it’s for everybody. So trying to incorporate art in public spaces and in projects that I can be involved in is important,” she says.

You can learn more about the Parks and Green Spaces project at parksandgreenspaces.com. The artists will attend a public showing of the posters on April 24, 5–7 p.m. at Barbwire Barbecue.

PASCHAL FISH PARK

A conversation with…

Meagan Cox, 2024 president of the Eudora Chamber of Commerce

On the gala and other events

The annual gala has become a really successful event. We incorporated local businesses into the gala and opened it up to the community. We were able to raise some money for scholarships, and everyone has enjoyed it. We do quarterly mixers and are looking to incorporate guest speakers. We have our monthly Coffee Connections the second Tuesday of each month at 8:30 a.m. Right now, we are focusing on the upcoming Shop Local week.

On chamber support for business

We’re trying to find ways to help our members, to help their businesses grow. Whether that is drawing attention to their businesses via social media and email campaigns, providing resources and support, or hosting networking events. At the same time, we are trying to get more community involvement. It goes hand-inhand; we want to involve Eudora residents with our events, and we want our business community to benefit all of Eudora. For example, a lot of our businesses sponsor Trunk or Treat and other community

events, so we want to allow the community to experience that and know that these businesses are sponsoring and giving back to the community.

On the chamber’s role in helping local businesses prepare for the arrival of Panasonic

It’s being a resource and connecting everyone. We’re trying to work hand-in-hand with the city, the school, and with Panasonic reps to keep everyone up-to-date and educated. I feel it is some of our responsibility to keep our members educated, so, for example, we held a meeting in March with Rob Richardson [the Douglas County Panasonic opportunities manager for EDC Lawrence and Douglas County]. We held this so both businesses and the community in general could come together to learn what to expect and to ask questions.

The community in general is asking what this will do to our economy. It is asking if we have enough housing. It is asking if people who are coming to work at Panasonic will send their kids to school here. I think those answers will come from Panasonic and the community, a little bit of both.

People have inquisitive minds and will be asking questions—and there are resources and events that people can attend to receive information and pass that information on to others in the community.

On Panasonic’s impact on real estate

From a residential building and real estate standpoint, my husband and I have been attending quite a few city commission meetings and planning commission meetings, and they’ve done a great job of educating the community. I would encourage anyone who has questions about the real estate industry and how it will affect Eudora to go to those planning commission and city meetings. It is an open forum, and you are able to ask questions.

The 2024 chamber board includes (from left): Annie Bryant, Tonya Bolte, Kelly Long, Caren Rowland, Jason Musick, Meagan Cox, Dave Hill, Jaylie Postlewait, Holli Joyce and Jannell Lorenz. (Not pictured: Anthony Brown and Zack Daniel)

For updates on Eudora Chamber of Commerce events, membership, and news, scan this code to access the chamber’s website.

On the advantages of chamber membership

Our goal for 2024 is to be a benefit to business owners. We are working with different resource centers, like the KU Small Business Development Center, K-State Research, and other local entities whose main focus is to help develop small businesses. We are establishing those connections and relations to provide to our members. I am sure there are many people out there who dream of starting their own business. We want to be who they think of when they decide to take that leap of faith. We want them to know we have the resources and connections to assist them in starting to live the American dream.

Now enrolling children ages 1-5 Open M-F from 7:00am - 5:30pm

Full Time and Part Time options available Half day program for ages 3-5 years old

“We are living into God’s dream of a community that welcomes everyone, grows spiritually, and serves others.”

Sunday Worship - 9:00 a.m.

Livestreamed on our Facebook page.

Sunday School - 9:45 a.m.

Men’s Fellowship Group United Women in Faith Handbell and Vocal Choir Youth Group

Harvesters Food Pantry on the 3rd Wed. of month

1310 W. 20th Street, Eudora, KS 66025

785-542-3200

www.eudoraumc.com

www.facebook.com/EudoraUnitedMethodistChurch

A conversation with…

On shopping local

A lot of conversations we have right now are about shopping local and how we support that. Shopping local doesn’t always mean buying local, but it is giving local a try. If we support local businesses, that will always come back and support the community.

Jason Musick, co-owner of Barbwire Barbecue

After a career in the restaurant industry in Dallas, Memphis, Houston and Kansas City, Jason Musick returned to his hometown of Eudora and founded Barbwire Barbecue with his brother Jay Musick, first as a food trailer in 2016 and then as a brick and mortar restaurant in 2020. He currently serves as president of the Eudora CVB.

On being local

Whether it is the CVB, the chamber, or the business community, we want to keep a hometown feel. In our restaurant, we talk a lot about hospitality. What is “hometown hospitality"? It’s people getting to know each other, a sense of community.

On being adaptive and Eudoran

As Panasonic comes into town, we have to look at the work force and demographics coming in. I am working on the assumption that it will be more international, so with my experience and what I have learned, we are looking at how we appeal more to vegetarians, to people with dietary restrictions. We pay attention to those things. Businesses need to look at these competitive advantages without removing what is successful. Visitors and newcomers to our community like hearing our stories; they like that we are real. They want to get the vibe of Eudora.

Anthony Brown, Farm Bureau Financial Services

After serving in the U.S. Marines, Anthony Brown began a business in Eudora in 1998 and represented the region in the Kansas House of Representatives from 2005 to 2013. He is the past president of the Eudora Chamber of Commerce.

On connections

My business model is very much based on putting the right people together. That’s my business model, and I also think that is one of the greatest things about the chamber; it allows you to build relationships, to meet people and get to know them before you even need their services.

On hometown values and growth

We used to say “small-town values” in Eudora, but Tim Reazin, as mayor, has pivoted us to the concept of “hometown values,” because we know we are going to grow—and grow rapidly. Right now, our need is for housing, so I and some other business owners in town are looking at investing in and developing this.

We see a need; we know it is coming. And we have these relationships through the chamber so we can talk with folks and work with the city in how we handle growth. All of that matters if we are going to grow smartly and correctly.

2023 Gala Sponsor

2023 Gala Sponsor

A conversation with…

2023 Gala Sponsor

Jason Hoover, president of Kaw Valley State Bank

Grant High, customer service representative at Kaw Valley State Bank

2023 Gala Sponsor

Jason Hoover’s grandfather bought Kaw Valley State Bank from the Lothholz family, who founded the institution in 1899 with a total capital stock of $5,000. He first worked at the bank in 1990, when he was a sophomore in high school. Grant High has been with the bank since 2014 and represents Kaw Valley State Bank at the chamber meetings and functions.

Discover Eudora (DE): Your bank will be 125 years old this September— congratulations! What does it take to sustain a business in Eudora for so long? And to have your name so closely associated with it?

Jason Hoover (JH): Yes (laughs), it can be tough because you are always working. When I leave the bank, I’m still “Jason Hoover from Kaw Valley State Bank,” and Grant is the same. When he leaves the bank, he’s still Grant from Kaw Valley and he’s on call all the time …

Grant High (GH): Oh, yeah, I’ve had customers come up to me on bank holidays, pull out their laptop and show me a question they have with their online banking.

JH: But that’s great. We’re here for the community. I love Eudora, and I’ve tried to continue my family’s tradition of having the bank be very involved in the community and sponsoring many events. We’re very committed to the community because the community has been very generous to us.

DE: What do you see as the guiding principles for Eudora as it grows? What should it work to protect as it changes?

JH: We will have growth and we want it. We want businesses to come in, but we also want to keep in mind what is best for the community and the town.

GH: Nobody wants to see Eudora lost in the growth of Kansas City suburbs. We need to embrace the future, but not to forget about the sense of community and the people who have gotten us here. I think Eudora will maintain its character. We have great small businesses and a great school district. I think Eudora will be great at its niche—a smaller community with a great sense of what it is.

JH: And being involved in the community, putting in the time and effort and showing up for events matters. Also, being with the chamber helps with that and keeps you aware of what is happening in the community and to take a pulse of what is going on beyond your industry.

Hometown healthcare happens in Eudora.

When you or your family need exceptional healthcare, find it in your own backyard!

The professionals at LMH Health Primary Care have served the Eudora community for more than 30 years. And, they are supported by specialists at LMH Health in Lawrence to address specific conditions.

LMH Health Primary Care—hometown healthcare experts connected to a network dedicated to being your partner for lifelong health.

Joseph Hawkins, MD

Stacey Dines, APRN

Elizabeth Stamper, DO

Patricia D. Neis, APRN-C

Eudora Chamber Directory

A

ABH Roofing LLC

aperez@abhroofingllc.com 913-548-9698

facebook.com/ABHRoofingLLC

Adler Pelzer

laura.engels@adlerpelzer.com 785-760-4396

adlerpelzer.com

Alpha Roofing office@alpharoofers.com 785-550-5114

alphaRoofers.com

Ameriprise Financial vestana.ahlen@ampf.com

913-239-2512

ameripriseadvisors.com/ vestana.1.ahlen

AmyDeL Designs amydeldesigns@gmail.com

620-290-1691

facebook.com/amydeldesigns

Attic Storage of Eudora atticeudora@atticmgmt.net

785-542-1515

attic-storage.com/locations/kansaslocations/attic-storage-of-eudora

B

Barbwire Barbecue smokin@barbwirebarbecue.com 785-856-0877

barbwirebarbecue.com

BlueJacket Crossing Winery bluejacketcrossing@gmail.com 785-542-1764

bluejacketwinery.com

C

City of Eudora, KS 785-542-2153

cityofeudoraks.gov

Cornerstone Property Management

info@cornerstoneproperties.us 785-542-0101

homewithcornerstone.com

Country Road Farms countryroadfarms@yahoo.com 785-615-1290

facebook.com/2014countryroadfarms

Cox Homes, LLC coxhomesks@gmail.com 785-979-0469

facebook.com/coxhomesks

D

Document Products, Inc. (DPI) brenda@dpi.bz

785-841-8041

dpi.bz

E

Ecogene LLC russ.seybert@gmail.com 913-544-9959

ecogeneEHS.com

Eudora Area Historical Society eudorahistory@gmail.com 785-690-7900

cityofeudoraks.gov/100/EudoraCommunity-Museum

Eudora Chamber of Commerce admin@eudorakansaschamber.com 785-592-1920

eudorakansaschamber.com

Eudora Community Library carolw@eudoralibrary.org 785-542-2496

eudorapubliclibrary.org

Eudora Dental info@eudoradental.com 785-542-2993

eudoradental.com

Eudora Times

eudoratimes@gmail.com eudoratimes.com

Eudora Public Schools USD 491 jayliepostlewait@eudoraschools.org 785-542.4910

eudoraschools.org

Eudora Schools Foundation shandahurla@eudoraschools.org 785-542.4905

eudoraschoolsfoundation.org

Eudora United Methodist Church eudoraumc@gmail.com 785-542-3200 eudoraumc.org

F

Farm Bureau Financial Services anthony.brown@fbfs.com 785-331-5003 anthonybrown.fbfsagents.com

Forge Martial Arts Eudora tkboltefitness@gmail.com 785-633-0013 forgema.com

Frenzel’s BBQ and Catering bbqbill@sbcglobal.net 913-915-5086 frenzelsbbq.com

G

Gambino’s Pizza eudoragambinos@yahoo.com 785-231-9997 gambinospizza.com

Gene’s Heartland Foods geneshfeudora@hotmail.com 785-542-2727

eudora.heartlandfoodsstores.com

Great Apparel Printing & Design gapdscreenprinting@gmail.com 913-375-2629 getGAPD.com

Guardian Mortgage michellefales@gmc-inc.com 785-331-7589

guardianmortgageonline.com/loanoriginators/michelle-fales/

HeadQuarters Kansas jessicad@hqkansas.org

785-592-7635

hqkansas.org

Hershey Salty Snacks jtuttle@hersheys.com

260-846-1066

thehersheycompany.com

Howell Chiropractic drhowell@drhowellchiropractic.com

620-544-6582

drhowellchiropractic.com

I

Icon Structures cole.dister@icon-structures.com

785-806-9986

icon-structures.com

Integrity Midwest Insurance, LLC clint@integritymw.com

785-542-2000 integritymw.com

J

Jannell Lorenz CMT, LLC jannell.lorenz.cmt@gmail.com 785-592-1920

jannelllorenzcmtllc.booksy.com

Jenny Jolley Photography, LLC hello@jennyjolleyphotography.com 913-215-8827

jennyjolleyphotography.com

John H. Hay DDS, Inc. eudoradentalcare@johnhhaydds.com 785-542-9105

johnhhaydds.com

JS Wellness jswellness01@gmail.com 913-398-1623

Linktr.ee/jswellness01

K

Kaw Valley State Bank

ghigh@kawvalleystatebank.com

785-542-4200

kawvalleystatebank.com

Keller Williams Integrity theresaseiwald@kw.com 785-917-0036

L Landplan Engineering, PA corbyr@landplan-pa.com

785-843-7530

landplan-pa.com

M Magical Adventures Travel

jolene@magicaladventurestravel.com 913-424-2129

midwesttraveler.org

Main St Scoops and Sweets

mainstscoopsandsweets@gmail.com 785-542-0398 mainstscoopsandsweets.com

Main Street Wines & Spirits

mainstreetwinesandspirits@gmail.com 913-687-9268

facebook.com/ mainstreetwinesandspirits

McGrew Real Estate 785-542-1112 askmcgrew.com

Mid-America Bank

dhill@mid-americabank.com 785-766-1306 mid-americabank.com

Movement Mortgage

deborah.becker@movement.com 785-760-2522 movement.com/deborah.becker

Mutual Savings Association

zachb@mutualmail.com 913-758-4448 msa.bank

N Neighbors Construction Co., Inc. nancyn@neighborsconstruction.com 913-422-5555

neighborsconstruction.com

O

One Alliance Property Management

onealliancepm@gmail.com 913-205-4984

P

Peaslee Tech kevin.kelley@peasleetech.org 785-856-1801 peasleetech.org

Plans For Good 2911: Team Development mark@plansforgood2911.com 785-331-8247 plansforgood2911.com

R

ReeceNichols Real Estate crystal.dechant@reecenichols.com 913-526-8421 crystaldechant.reecenichols.com

ReeceNichols Real Estate susie@reecenichols.com 785-691-9967 susie.reecenichols.com

Rock Family Chiropractic office@rockfamilychiropractic.com 785-542-2118 rockfamilychiropractic.com

S

Scooter’s Coffee hannah.howey@freedom-llc.com 913-283-8577 scooterscoffee.com

Senior Foundation of Eudora anniebryant34@yahoo.com 417-230-0928 sfeudora.org

SERC Physical Therapy nwhite@serctherapy.com 785-542-3333 serc.urpt.com/locations/eudora

St Paul United Church of Christ drrobynkelso@gmail.com 785-550-5536

stpaulunitedchurchofchrist.com/

Sunflower Publishing sunpubads@sunflowerpub.com sunflowerpub.com

Sunflower State Dance, LLC admin@sunflowerstatedance.com 785-690-7200

sunflowerstatedance.com

Sweet Acres Inn sweetacresinn@gmail.com 785-542-2466

sweetacresinn.com

T

The Willow Domestic Violence Center christyimel@willowdvcenter.org 785-331-2034 willowdvcenter.org

Torched Goodness julia@torchedgoodness.com 785-766-2877

torchedgoodness.com

U

United Way of Kaw Valley ksmith@uwkawvalley.org 785-581-0232

uwkawvalley.org

W

Warrior Wellness, LLC dee@warriorwellnessks.com 785-615-0366

facebook.com/WarriorWellness01

Well Bellies & Babies, LLC stephanie@wellbelliesandbabies.com 913-231-8581

wellbelliesandbabies.com

Well Wilderness Kids Therapeutic NaturePlay Center wellwildernesskids@gmail.com 913-231-8581

wellwildernesskids.com

Westerhouse Heating & Cooling Inc. westerhouse@westerhouse.com 785-542-2707

westerhouse.com

Z

Z&M Twisted Vines Wines and Winery zmtwistedvines@gmail.com 531-600-8187

zmtwistedwines.com

Zeb’s Coffeehouse kathy@zebscoffeehouse.com 785-542-0103

zebscoffeehouse.com

Make planning your road trip a breeze with Manhappenin itineraries.

VISITMANHATTANKS.ORG

I grew up just a few blocks from our new site. Excited to be back as a part of the Eudora community!

-Dave Hill

CEO, Founder Dave Hill