East Kansas Model T Club
The East Central Kansas T’s will celebrate their 30th anniversary on April 13. They will meet at Kelley Hall on the fairgrounds in Burlington, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. for the celebration, meeting and catered meal. The meal will be catered by Big B’s BBQ, no need to bring a side dish! Attendees are encouraged to wear period clothing. Depending on the weather that day, drive your T, there may be an impromptu short tour or drive around town. Additional activities to be announced.
The meetings are a time to share experiences and information about the cars and car projects. Members will share the happenings of recent tours they’ve attended and projects they are working on. Those who attended the annual Model T Ford Club of America meeting in Oklahoma City will speak about the meeting. One tour coming up May 2-3 is the Big Kansas Road Trip based out of Ellsworth. We will also discuss possible tours for the coming year. Please bring ideas about interesting places that we could visit. As owners and drivers of gas powered cars, we need to be aware of the KDOT’s three-month study on a “pay-per-mile” Road Usage Charge (RUC). Appears to be a way to get tax money for roads and bridges when all Kansas drivers change to electric cars and no longer need to buy gas. For more information, visit www.midwestruc.org.
The ECKMT’s is a family organization and a chapter of the not for profit National Model T Club of America. Owning a Model T is not a requirement for membership. All meetings are open to the public. Please feel free to visit. For additional information, call Bud Redding at 785-733-2124.
Manhattan Rotary Club
President Mitzi thanked Steven Graham for serving as greeter. Guests attending the meeting were Mike Chapman and Mike Rezkalla, chief executive officer of Pawnee Mental Health. Rotarian Ike Ehie introduced new member, Brian Niehoff. Amanda Payne was introduced as the Student of the Month. She is the daughter of Amy and Chris Payne who were also guests. Randy Peterson presented Kathy Ray, executive director of the Crisis Center, the February Cup Money Big Check.
Daryn Soldan introduced speaker, Mary Bosco Heinrich, director of philanthropic strategy and communications at Children’s Mercy Kansas City. Mary shared information on the extensive research and clinical services provided by Children’s Mercy, benefiting not only Manhattan families but also communities across Kansas and Missouri. Children’s Mercy leads the world in rare disease diagnoses. The focus of her presentation Illuminate — “a bold plan lighting the path forward for the youth mental health crisis.” Last year, Children’s Mercy played a crucial role in caring for nearly 3,000 children with acute mental health needs in the emergency department. Four strategies of the plan are to facilitate early intervention, increase specialty services, expand hospital care and invest in research and innovation. This new hospital in Olathe will alleviate significant strain on area emergency departments ill-equipped to handle youth in mental health crises and will feature a dedicated inpatient mental health healing campus comprising three separate bed units totaling 72 beds. Central to its design is a focus on staff and patient safety, supportive care and treatment spaces, patient wellness, and integration with nature, ensuring a conducive environment for healing and recovery. Children’s Mercy raised over $82 million towards the $275 million-dollar goal. In honor of Mary’s presentation, “Giraffe Is Too Tall for This Book” will be given to Marlatt Elementary School.
Solar Kiwanis
The Manhattan Solar Kiwanis Club met at noon on April 2, at the Blue Hills Room. There were 16 members present and two guests, Bill Muir and Tim Schrag. Club president-elect Treavor Heeney led the meeting.
Charlie Sargent and Warren Prawl led the song, Doug Denning led the pledge and Ron Jackson gave the invocation. We had one club member with a birthday before our next weekly meeting: Brent Jones (April 8). We had no club members with an anniversary before our next weekly meeting.
Announcements were led by President-elect Heeney. Due to the K-State women’s NCAA basketball tournament schedule, our club’s highway cleanup has been rescheduled for Saturday, April 20. The pickup will begin at 9 a.m. and should be completed by 11 a.m. The meeting place is the Key Realty parking lot at 3620 Legion Lane in St. George (southwest corner of U.S. Highway 24 and Legion Lane intersection). Nominations for Solar Kiwanian Of The Year (SKOTY) closed on March 19. An election form was mailed to all Solarians on March 25. The voting deadline will be April 9. Ballots are to be sent to Charlie Sargent in the envelope provided or email your vote to sargentcharlie37@gmail.com. The Solarians nominated for 2023-2024 SKOTY are Phil Anderson, Jim Bach, Doug Denning, Ed Herde, Chad Tepe and Vera Williams. The K-State Division of Facilities’ annual K-State Day of Service was on Saturday, March 30. Solarians Ron Jackson and Doug Denning participated. Vera Williams has set up an interclub with the Junction City South Kiwanis Club on Monday, April 8, at the La Fiesta Restaurant in Junction City at 6:30 p.m. and Doug Denning, Charlie Sargent and Doug Ackley will join Vera. The Greater Manhattan Community Foundation Grow Green day is on Monday, April 22. Donations made to Solar Kiwanis of Manhattan will be matched 50 cents for each dollar donated. Solarians will soon be receiving a letter from President Karl Dean that further explains how you can take advantage of this match.
President-elect Heeney called on Solarian Tim Lindemuth to give the program. Tim is an award-winning philatelist and he has in his possession a counterfeited 20-cent U.S. flag postage stamp from 1983. There are only three known to be in existence. Tim related the history behind the counterfeiting. Over six million counterfeit stamps were produced. The counterfeiters were eventually captured and spent time in prison.
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, April 9 and Solarian Karen Medlin will have the program. Contact Secretary Doug Ackley (rda@ksu.edu or 785-539-4945) if you have any questions.
Town and Country Garden Club
The Town and Country Garden Club met at 4 p.m. on March 26, in the auditorium of the Manhattan Public Library for its monthly meeting. Fourteen members and one guest were present. Carol Hockersmith hosted, and Gloria Holcombe co-hosted.
A very informative and entertaining program was given by Professor Raymond Cloyd from K-State’s Department of Entomology about butterflies. President Val Converse called the business meeting to order. Minutes of the previous meeting were approved. The treasurer’s report was given.
Committee reports were given. Members are busy starting plants and making plans for our annual plant sale on May 4, which will be at a new location (2620 Rangeview Lane). Our club has been invited to join Friends of the K-State Gardens on a bus trip in May for the Johnson County Extension Master Gardeners Garden Tour.
Our next meeting will be Tuesday, April 23, at 4 p.m. with the program a tour of the K-State Plant Disease Diagnostic Lab in Throckmorton Hall by director and club member Judy O’Mara. LuAnn Hoover will host, and Marcy Allen and Jennifer Walters will co-host.
