“Walk with the wise and become wise.” Proverbs 13: 20

The weekend is the 17^th Annual Maine Street Bash in Eads! Oh, joy, for many people! It is organized by members of the Crow-Luther Cultural Events Center board. This year, they are taking on even more duties in planning and directing of events because each week Marty and Betsy Barnett (the board chair) need to be gone for three to four days week the help care for their small little grandsons in Wray while their father is having chemotherapy in Denver, and while their mother, Jordan, is with her husband, Brady, or at her law office. Please pray for this precious family and their relatives as they continue to help their family members. Back to the Bash: We like to listen to Trent Rittgers’ deejay music all day as we wander around the vendor booths, sip a cold drink, or eat from the food trucks and Ice Cream Shoppe. Families and children can have hours of fun playing in the Kids’ Zone or sitting in the coolness of the Plains Theatre watching hours and hours of free movies. The annual Gloria Peck Quilt Show is sure to be a hit in the senior citizen center and museum. The quilts will be judged, and viewers can vote for their favorites. People can dance in the street or sit and watch the activities. Some people flock to the beer garden while others enjoy leisurely visiting or dancing to the bands Judi or the Classic Country Band. 

County 4-H members will be showing their projects in competition in the Eads Senior Citizen Center August 7. People can view them after 5:00 p.m. There will be a fashion show and food auction which will benefit the members and County 4-H Council fund. 

Violet Sneyd, activity director at Prairie Pines Assisted Living Center, has announced that Bob Ashmore and Cecile “Dianne” Fleshman are their representatives as King and Queen in the Arkansas Valley. They will be interviewed and entertained in Rocky Ford in competition with men and women from other senior living facilities. Last year, Lil Penn, who lives in the Las Animas center, won this competition. Lil, who lived in Eads for many years, told Robin Musgrave and me that she really liked being in the parades and waving to people. 

Kelcie (Smith) Martin, a columnist, wrote about the joys of home canning and freezing vegetables from the garden under the teaching of her grandmother, Roxie Smith, of Ordway.

Kelcie was a student in Kit Carson and in New Mexico before marriage. Her parents live in Haswell. Their parents and her family and her sister enjoy watching the sports endeavors of their brother, Keenan. Kelcie has written a children’s book and is the mother of twin boys.

How marvelous it is when people do something for others out of suffering grief. This is what Jimmy and Linda Yip did 22 years ago when their only son, Nathan, died in an accident. They established a foundation to award money to assist rural and small schools. Eads Schools were one of 18 schools to receive $2,500 for science technology upgrades. Dr. Joe Wagner and Mr. Justin McLoud, Eads educators, can use that financial lift. 

Recent Kit Carson graduate Torrie Randel flew to the Dominican Republic last week the play in softball competition. She is getting acquainted with some players of her future team where she will be in college in South Carolina.

Soon there will be an even more urgent need for housing in Kiowa County to house hundreds of workers for the new wind farm construction workers. Here is a chance for people the remodel or clean up a room or house to rent in our small towns in this county. I have been thinking that some of you readers might like to invest to buy a tiny house. More people are doing this to downsize, or live in a smaller space. There are some good options out there for buyers. If you need advice, you may like the talk to two ladies in our town who have tiny houses, Martha Johnson and Lola Igou.

There was a large turnout of senior citizen diners last Wednesday for the Eads senior citizen dinner. Well, who wouldn’t come to eat Gail Voss’s scrumptious fried chicken and gravy with Joyce Berry’s mashed potatoes? It was all so delicious! Gail had decorated the rooms with red, white, and blue cloths and flowers with some help from Tim Hier. The senior group is grateful for the generous donations for meals and to the Larry Michael memorial fund, The center has been very busy with people renting the space for family reunions, baby showers, bridal showers, and other events.

Jack Johnson warns about the possible dangers of driving on Highway 287 and 40, the Ports the Plains Corridor, which courses from Mexico to Canada. It traverses right through Eads and Kit Carson, for example, where most of us are not aware of the potential dangers of kidnapping and sex trafficking. He noted, too, that value of viewing the popular movie of a true situation, “The Sound of Freedom.” This film was shown for two weeks in Eads, and continues to play in Lamar. Many thanks to local benefactors who paid the bill.