Manhattan Kennel Club
The monthly meeting of Manhattan Kennel Club was held on July 9. We are currently in the middle of summer session classes, and they are going well. Fall classes will start mid-September and will be up on our website in the next few weeks.
The club will hold AKC Canine Good Citizenship and Trick Dog testing on July 27 at 1 p.m. The CGC test is comprised of elements that evaluates a dog’s ability to behave mannerly in different situations. Sign up for these tests on our website at mkkc.org.
The club continues to plan for the Capital City Circuit dog show held at Stormont Vail Events Center in Topeka on Aug. 22-25. See our website for information. Ring Steward practice for the show was held at the end of our meeting.
Members shared accomplishments of their dogs since our last meeting including: Master’s Standard, Excellent Jumpers first leg and Novice FAST title, Novice Jumpers first leg and first place, Finished a Championship, and a Four Point Major. One member recently judged sweepstakes in Ohio, and another member had a litter of puppies born.
The next meeting will be Aug. 13 at the club building.
Solar Kiwanis Club
The Manhattan Solar Kiwanis Club met at noon on July 9 at the Blue Hills Room. There were 11 members present. Club President Karl Dean led the meeting. Brent Jones led the song, Steve Bartle led the pledge and Cheryl Jones gave the invocation.
Roene Bartle had a birthday on July 9. Wedding anniversaries before our next meeting are Pat Pesci and Betsy on July 11.
Our girls’ 5th- and 6th-grade City League softball team, the Solar Kiwanis River Cats, has completed their season. Although the team did not have a winning season, they competed hard and had fun. We had a season-ending ice cream social for the team, coaches, families and fans. Solarians Jim Bach, Ron Jackson, Warren Prawl, Charlie Sargent and Doug Ackley as well as Malley Sisson helped serve the ice cream and help host the social. We had our annual pancake breakfast on July 4. It was a success thanks to the fundraising committee and all the Solarians and non-Solarian workers who pitched in. The Kansas District Kiwanis Convention is at the Hilton Garden Inn in Salina on Aug. 2-4. The registration fee of $75 will be paid by our club for those attending. If you are interested in attending, please let Secretary Doug know.
The International Kiwanis Convention was held last weekend in Denver and club president Karl Dean attended. He will have a full update at our weekly noon meeting on Tuesday, July 23. The Solar Kiwanis July Board of Directors meeting will be on Wednesday, July 17, at noon at the Bluestem Bistro in Aggieville. All Solarians are welcome to attend.
Happy Dollar donations were given for various reasons: Doug Denning for his help with our annual pancake breakfast, Charlie Sargent for his pancake breakfast placemat leadership; Roene Bartle’s birthday; our speaker Linda Teener. President Dean called upon Solarian Doug Ackley to introduce our guest speaker, Linda Teener. She is the emeritus executive director of the UFM Community Learning Center which includes the Community Gardens. The Manhattan Community Gardens are a cooperative gardening project started in 1968 and located in the south part of Manhattan. Land is provided by the City of Manhattan and by Riley County. UFM Community Learning Center supervises the project. Garden sites are located in southern Manhattan at Ninth Street and Riley Lane, and at 1435 Collins Lane. A small plot rental fee is charged to cover costs of operating the program. Signups occur November to March each year or until all plots are rented.
The Riley Lane community garden was started in 1974, is celebrating its 50th anniversary and is the oldest community garden in Kansas. The Manhattan Community Garden started a new and exciting phase in its operations in 2012. Working in conjunction with Riley County, the garden added a new site at 1435 Collins Lane on Hunter’s Island. Not only did this allow more garden plots, but it also expanded gardening opportunities to all Riley County residents. The site on Riley Lane is restricted to residents of the city of Manhattan. There are 280 total plots available.
Solar Kiwanis meets at noon at the Blue Hills Room next to RC McGraw’s in the Blue Hills Shopping Center. Our next weekly meeting will be Tuesday, July 16, and Solarian Steve Bartle will introduce Mark Moser of Moser LLC, a local solar energy-solar tracking company. He is an engineer, developing and improving the efficiency of solar energy production. Contact Secretary Doug Ackley (rda@ksu.edu or 785-539-4945) if you have any questions.
