Community News
Cook, Woodruff engagement
Rhonda Stringer of Parsons and Robert Cook of Seneca, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Kayleigh Cook of Webb City, Mo., to Bryan Woodruff of Webb City, the son of Tonya and Dave Pentola of Joplin and Barry Woodruff of Topeka. The bride-elect is a 2008 graduate of Labette County High School. She graduated in 2011 from Pittsburg State University with a degree in elementary education. She is a kindergarten teacher in Joplin. The fu...
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Garden Guide
We had a young friend in Lincoln, Neb., named Butch. He did very well, rebuilding old Nickelodeons and his wife, Dobie, was a college professor. She and I e-mail often, but I was so surprised to learn recently that Butch's younger brother, whom he had cared for, had died of cancer after we left and later they retired to a country home with lots of land. Butch decided he wanted to plant an arboretum in memory of his brother. I wrote him and tol...
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Herman, Schibi wedding
Mr. and Mrs. John Schibi Sonja Lanette Herman and John Vincent Schibi were married on Nov. 3 at St. Patrick's Catholic Church in Parsons. The Rev. Jason Borkenhagen officiated the 1 p.m. double-ring ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Bruce Herman of Conde, S.D., and the late JoEllen Herman. The groom is the son of Vincent and Mary Schibi of Parsons. Heather Fortin of Tea, S.D., served as her sister's maid of honor. Bridesmaids were Teres...
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Cook, Woodruff
Rhonda Stringer of Parsons and Robert Cook of Seneca, Mo., announce the engagement of their daughter, Kayleigh Cook of Webb City, Mo., to Bryan Woodruff of Webb City, the son of Tonya and Dave Pentola of Joplin and Barry Woodruff of Topeka. The bride-elect is a 2008 graduate of Labette County High School. She graduated in 2011 from Pittsburg State University with a degree in elementary education. She is a kindergarten teacher in Joplin. The fu...
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Herman, Schibi
Sonja Lanette Herman and John Vincent Schibi were married on Nov. 3 at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Parsons. The Rev. Jason Borkenhagen officiated the 1 p.m. double-ring ceremony. The bride is the daughter of Bruce Herman of Conde, S.D., and the late JoEllen Herman. The groom is the son of Vincent and Mary Schibi of Parsons. Heather Fortin of Tea, S.D., served as her sister’s maid of honor. Bridesmaids were Teresa Gabhart of Kansas City, M...
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Clubs
Parsons Rotary President Gary Goodnight opened the weekly meeting of the Parsons Rotary Club on Thursday. Craig Newland offered the prayer, Scott McLaughlin led the Four-Way Test and Pledge of Allegiance, and Hal Redford led the song. Rotarian of the Day was Peter Cook, who introduced Kat Thomas, representing Operation Bright Touch, a volunteer-based program that is designed to beautify Parsons by caretaking of flower beds located throughout t...
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Churches
Sunbeams to have orientation Sunbeams Preschool at First Christian Church, 1500 S. 29th, will have a pre-enrollment parent orientation at 6 p.m. Monday. Parents interested in enrolling their child in preschool for fall classes are invited to attend. Sunbeams offers classes from 9 to 11:30 a.m. Monday, Wednesday and Friday and Tuesday and Thursday. The staff includes Jean Reeves and Lisa Lorenz. The preschool is an outreach ministry of the chur...
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Schools
Students work for Katy Days The Parsons Chamber of Commerce established a partnership with the Labette Community College Communication Department to offer students the opportunity to gain work experience in the field of public relations.  Sophomores Laura Lambert of Desoto and Juan Zorrilla of Houston will assist the Chamber of Commerce by helping promote the Katy Days festival.  Katy Days, an annual family event on Memorial Day weekend, is a ...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. April 4, 1973 Voters in every precinct approved a dog leash law for Parsons, with a decisive 67 percent favoring the action whose enactment could come in mid-April. The leash move won by a margin of 864 votes, with 1,684 votes cast in favor and 820 votes against. A total of 2,504 votes were cast in balloting for the controversial law. Enactment of a dog leash law probably...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. April 3, 1973 The Parsons District School board voted to discontinue a departmentalized program at McKinley Elementary School because of lack of personnel. The action was recommended by McKinley teachers and Margaret Newbanks, school principal, because there were too few teachers to operate beneficial flexible scheduling. Intermediate-level students the next year would be...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. April 2, 1973 City officials were notified that the federal Economic Development Administration had approved an additional $10,450 for a contract involving construction in Parsons’ south industrial park. Paul Freeberg, acting city manager, said that Parsons city commissioners would confirm the change order at a regular meeting. The total contract price would be $99,235.20...
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Schools
PTK inducts students The Phi Theta Kappa honor society at Labette Community College inducted 34 new members into the Tau Theta Chapter on Tuesday. Students are invited to join the international honor society of the two-year college, Phi Theta Kappa, if they have completed 12 hours and earned at least a 3.5 grade point average. The honor society provides activities and services based on its four hallmarks of scholarship, leadership, service and...
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Clubs & Organizations
Parsons Rotary Parsons Rotary Club president Gary Goodnight opened Thursday’s meeting. Rick Tucker offered the prayer, Glenn Fischer led the Four-Way Test and Pledge of Allegiance, and Hal Redford led the song. Jeff Perez of Tank Connection was a guest. Rotarian of the Day Steve Kosman introduced guest speaker Mark Turnbull, director of regional strategies for Joplin Regional Partnership. Turnbull said the organization includes counties from t...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. March 30-31, 1973 Chetopa teachers received the lowest average salary in Kansas, according to a report by the Kansas Department of Education. Chetopa teachers earned an average of $6,377 annually, $1,958 less than the state average of $8,335 for the 1971-72 school year. According to the report, Parsons teachers earned an average of $8,084 or about $250 less than the avera...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. March 29, 1973 Six superior ratings were won by members of the Elementary and Junior Musical Art Clubs of Parsons at the Kansas Federation of Music Clubs southeast district junior music festival in Independence. Manuel Lane, Cheri Holdridge, Michelle Lane and Charlotte Carter won superior ratings in piano solos. A superior was received by Laura Jean Seaton for a junior pi...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. March 27, 1973 A dog control ordinance less restrictive than a leash law was adopted by Parsons city commissioners at a special meeting. Commissioners also approved a referendum on a leash law as an advisory vote to be conducted April 3. Applause from a group of about 20 people followed a unanimous vote by the commission. Leon Ginn, Parsons mayor, said the commission was ...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. March 26, 1973 Parsons High School speech and drama students received six I ratings at a district tournament in Independence. A one-act play, “The Last Curtain,” with Richard Crooks, Linda Holdridge, Mary Anne Flanders, Janet Lindemann, Mike Pound and Jim Finch, was rated I. The top rating also went to Roy Vore for informative speech and oratory, to Larry Williams for ora...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. March 23-24, 1973 A limited smoking policy that would become effective immediately at Labette County Medical Center was adopted by trustees. Jerry Lilley, hospital administrator, said trustees voted to curtail smoking on the second and third floors of the hospital that contained patient rooms. Smoking would be permitted in visitor waiting areas, public restrooms and perso...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. March 21, 1973 Zoning that would permit construction of an estimated $70,000 tractor supply store was approved by the Parsons Planning Commission. Zoning from single-family residential to service commercial was changed by the commission on the petition of Maurice Borklund, developer of the Reinhart Subdivision at the east edge of the city. The vote was 6-1 with Gerald Fin...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. March 20, 1973 More than 30 people crowded into a Parsons City Commission meeting to express strong support for a dog leash law in the city. The volatile discussion continued about two hours, ranging from personal experiences with dogs loose in the city to criticism of the commission for not having passed a leash law. Commissioners took no formal action but indicated they...
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