Community News
Window project helps building permit report
The replacement of 147 windows boosted the value of construction projects for January in Parsons. According to a city of Parsons building permit report, the city issued only two permits in January, but the value of construction was much higher the first month of the year than in January 2010. This year, January’s total was $174,649. In January of last year, construction valuation in the city totaled just $750. Most of the valuation last mont...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Feb. 5-6, 1971 A youth ministry began at Westside Christian Church in Parsons with appointment of Doug Oakes as director. Oakes was a junior in Ozark Bible College in Joplin and formerly held the position in his home congregation, Osage Hills Christian Church in Tulsa. The Kansas Army Ammunition Plant east of Parsons would remain in active operating status at least thro...
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Brinkman, Smith
Doug and Lynn Brinkman of Parsons announce the engagement of their daughter Kylie Brinkman of Rose Hill, to Justin Smith of Rose Hill. He is the son of Gregg Smith and Debbie Knapp of Girard. The bride-elect is a 2005 graduate of Parsons High School and a 2009 graduate of Wichita State University, where she majored in health service management and community development. She is working on her master’s in public health at the University of Kans...
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Roots to celebrate 50th anniversary
Mr. and Mrs. Charles Root of rural Parsons will observe their 50th wedding anniversary today. Charles T. Root and Inez G. Mapel were married Jan. 8, 1961, at Lavern’s Chapel in Miami, Okla. He retired from the Union Pacific Railroad. She retired after managing convenience stores. The couple lived in and around Parsons for most of their married life. They both enjoy bowling. Mrs. Root is an Avon representative. The Roots have three children, ...
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Couple to celebrate 65th anniversary
Mr. and Mrs. Ronald Phillips, of Butler, Mo., formerly of Parsons, will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary this month. Ronald and Elsie (Strickland) Phillips were married Jan. 18, 1946, at the First Baptist Church in Oswego. The Phillipses are retired after owning several independent cable television systems in Missouri. Before that, Mr. Phillips was manager of Sherwin-Williams in Parsons and Mrs. Phillips worked for Drs. Bruso and Robi...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Dec. 31, 1970 An ordinance formally granting city employees a general 4 percent salary increase and making adjustments for supervisory personnel was approved by the Parsons City Commission at a year-end meeting. The salary increases amounted to an additional $42,246 and brought the annual salary total paid by the city to $678,838. In 1970, the figure was $636,592. The am...
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Cranors celebrate 65th
Elmer and Evelyn Cranor of Chetopa will celebrate their 65th wedding anniversary with a reception hosted by their children from 2 to 4 p.m. Jan. 9 at Mae Lessley Community Center in Chetopa. Elmer Lowell Cranor and Evelyn Lavern Kline were married on Jan. 11, 1946, in Salisbury, Md. Mr. Cranor is a retired farmer, and Mrs. Cranor is a homemaker and helped him farm. They are members of Community Bible Church in Chetopa. The couple have four...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Dec. 24, 1970 Rhonda Hughes of rural Galesburg, 9, received a national prize in a Cappy Dick contest, a children’s puzzle that appeared each weekend in the Sun’s comic section. Hughes, the daughter of Mr. and Mrs. Jack Hughes, was a fourth-grade student at Galesburg attendance center. Her awards were a full 20-volume set of an encyclopedia and a world atlas. A new camer...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Dec. 22, 1970 The outline of a new athletic and recreation facility in Marvel Park took form at a Parsons City Commission meeting. It would be a joint endeavor of the city and Parsons USD 503, with help, hopefully, in the form of federal funds for a combined outlay estimated at $165,000. The schools’ new football field would be located in front of the park stadium, which...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Dec. 21, 1970 A pickup service would be provided in two areas in Parsons in support of a community food drive for Christmas assistance to needy families. Stella Wells Holland, director of the drive, said Boy Scout Troop 2 of First Presbyterian Church would canvass door-to-door in the 3rd and 4th wards to pick up canned food for the drive. A dozen troop members, with Don ...
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New names in the news
Collin Emil is the name chosen by Jason and Amber Pankratz of Emporia for their son born on Dec. 13 at Newman Regional Health, Emporia. He has a sister, Samantha. Grandparents are Charles and Nancy Pankratz of Madison and Bill and Janet Collins of Parsons. Great-grandparents are Earl and Ruth Pankratz of Newton and Arnold and Barbara Jabben of Independence. ——— Mary Elizabeth joins the family of Mark and Fatima Mall of rural Parsons. She was...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Dec. 17, 1970 An unidentified man, in all the spirit of Scrooge, cost Parsons taxpayers extra dollars at a Labette County judicial tax sale in Oswego. City Engineer Paul Freeberg went to Oswego to bid for the city on eight vacant lots intended for park purposes. Freeberg bid $7.50 each on several of the lots and bought them at that price. Then the man, apparently identif...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Dec. 16, 1970 St. Paul High School’s Indians defeated St. Patrick’s of Parsons 75-56 at the Pixie gym and looked the part of the Mineral Belt League champions they had been the previous six seasons. They topped their previous high by 19 points in building league and season records to 2-0 and 3-1. Ted Born, a 6-foot senior, topped the winners with 20 points, 14 in the sec...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Dec. 15, 1970 Women teachers in Parsons public schools got the green light on pantsuits. Trousered attire was suitable for classroom wear immediately, Superintendent Henry Norris said in a memorandum circulated to all teachers and other staff members in schools. The Parsons Young Women’s Christian Association announced it would close shop, almost 51 years to the day aft...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Dec. 14, 1970 About 100 people visited the quarters occupied by the Parsons Recreation Center at 1625 Main during a two-hour open house. Arvon Phillips, city recreation superintendent, made the estimate. The callers, many of them older adults, viewed the various improvements and renovation completed at the new location, long known as the Cloonan building. The recreation ...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Dec. 11-12, 1970 Katy Railroad operations returned to normal quickly following the end of a national railroad strike. Pickets were withdrawn from Katy facilities shortly after 8 a.m., following a decision by the Brotherhood of Railway and Airline Clerks to end its strike against railroads. The first freight train to leave the Parsons terminal following the strike’s termi...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Dec. 10, 1970 St. Patrick’s High School planned not to field a football team in 1971. The Parsons school confirmed that at a Mineral Belt League meeting of coaches and administrators. Plans called for a cross country running program the following fall, the Rev. J. Eugene Komer, school administrator, said. Komer said it was possible that the school might field an eight-ma...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Dec. 9, 1970 The widow of a Parsons fireman presented property to the city for establishment of a park in his memory. Mrs. Maurice McElhaney, 2631 Appleton, made arrangements to deed nine lots in the southwest section of Parsons to the city for park purposes. Eight of them were in the 2800 block of Morton, one in the same block of Appleton. The park would bear the name o...
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Our Past
These items were taken from the Sun’s editions 20, 30 and 40 years ago. Dec. 8, 1970 Jerry Carson of Westervelt & Carson, certified public accountants, was elected president of the Parsons Chamber of Commerce for 1971 at a luncheon meeting of new and former chamber directors. Carson, who would take office Jan. 12, succeeded Marvin Cinotto, who remained on the board as immediate past president. Other new officers included Russell Morgan, firs...
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This new name is in the news
Camden Benjamin is the name chosen by Grant and AnnaBeth Gilmore, Pittsburg, for their son born at 8:13 p.m. Sept. 24 at Via Christi Hospital. Camden joins two brothers, John, 7, Maisen, 4, and a sister, Syerra, 5, in the family. Paternal grandparents are Dan and Julene Gilmore, Chanute. Maternal grandparents are Willie Wimsett, Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, and Rhonda and Dean Kane, Erie. Paternal great-grandparents are Thomas and Catherine Gilmore,...
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