I often say, “there is always hope.”

One of the highlights of last week was the annual CO-OP community dinner for people who enjoy the wonderful services and supplies that we can buy at Eads Consumers Supply. Many people purchase their vehicle gas at the local Hometown Gas and Grill on the highway, or have a gas card to fill up their tanks at the former C-Store site. The dinner main entre’ was prime beef, with sides of salads and desserts. The board members each had a part in the business meeting. We do thank these people who take the time to work with the General Manager, Mandy Adamson, to serve and keep this vital organization working. The board is made up of President, Randy Carney; Vice President, Ed Jones; Secretary, Jeff Salisbury; and Directors Jayce Negley and Josh Werner. Mr. Salisbury introduced the employees, which is always so interesting because many people work early or late hours or behind the scenes in the workshop, kitchen, clerking, or delivery. Later, the employees were pleased to receive a bonus. A lot of guests were delighted to win wonderful prizes of goods, money, or gift certificates.

For three mornings last week about 60 children had a joyful time at the Praise Community Church’s annual Vacation Bible School as they learned about the God the Father, Jesus, and the Holy Spirit in the songs they sang, Bible accounts they heard, and crafts, which were so fun for the children and many volunteer helpers and teachers.

Bernice (Criswell) Carlock of Swink called me earlier in the year asking about her classmate, Gene Culver, so she was sad when she called last week after reading that Gene had died. They were of the Eads High School class of 1939. Bernice is now the only living class member. I can report that she sounds quite lively yet. As I remember Gene, he was a handsome, nice man, and was Virginia Culver’s brother. Jimmy Brown is taking care of his services.

Terri Pettyjohn, the stepdaughter of Rich Hockett, announced that he has died at age 99. He was such a dearly loved man around here. Rich was a Navy veteran of World War II. He was an airplane pilot. He liked the give people rides. It was a thrill for me when Leo King arranged for me to have an airplane ride over the Eads area. Rich was known as a kind helpful Christian man. He married the former Pam Lane of Eads and they later moved to the Durango area.

Keenan Smith of Haswell, who will be a senior at Eads High School this fall, rode a bronc in the Colorado High School Championship Rodeo. His mother, Brenda, says, “This kid always chooses something dangerous.” Remember last winter, though, Keenan was steady and strong when he won awards in the Colorado Wrestling Tournament.

A number of people from Kiowa County went to the Eastern Slope Rural Telephone Association dinner and meeting in Hugo at the fairgrounds to attend the annual meeting. We are pleased and grateful that two men from Kiowa County serve on this Board. They are Roger Saffer from the Eads exchange, and Shane Lessenden from the Haswell exchange. This takes a lot of time for a person to serve us. We do appreciate these men and the Association because we like our phones and computers, broadband internet, and other services.

I have been told that people really do appreciate Shawn Kraft’s skill and talent to help them with computer questions. He offers some advice from the Kiowa HealthMart, and on weekends he helps in the Plains Theatre where Betsy Barnett and the Crow-Luther Cultural Events Center board really do appreciate his work. 

Julia (Addington) Larrew is here visiting her sister, Brenda Stoker. We were visiting after they came from the library at the courthouse when I noticed Julia was holding three books, and one of them was a hard cover book by Chuck Bowen of Lamar about the “Chivington battlegrounds.” Chuck has researched and collected numerous artifacts from that site for many years. I am interested to read how he has solved the mystery of the lost Chivington Massacre site.

Extension Agent Tearle Lessenden took four 4-H members to the annual 4-H conference on the Colorado State University campus in Fort Collins a week ago. They were Catherine and Hailee Trosper of Eads and Alexa and Clayton Nelson of Haswell. Afterward, he took Alexa the her grandfather’s home so he could take her to Denver International Airport north of Denver so she could fly the Washington D.C. for a honor trip that she won in 4-H.

When I drove to Haswell to visit my brother, Virgil and Wanda, at their new home, I noticed that so many places and homes were neatly mowed, especially around vacant dwellings. Some men, Paul Stoker, Alvin Davis, Scotty Briggs, and Virgil Lessenden, have been doing that extra mowing.

The local Historical Society and students have rearranged the museum in Eads. It is free. A donation would be appreciated Monday to Saturday afternoons from 1:00 to 4:30 p.m.

Alex Mitchek of Kit Carson, who played on the Cheyenne Wells baseball team, was named to the Colorado Second Team, and Case Nelson of Eads, who played with the Wiley Panther team, was listed on the Honorable Mention team. 

There is hope.