“Always strive to do what is good for each other and for everyone else”. I Thessalonians 5:15

V.F.W. Commander Richard Glover, Areta Blooding-Laird, and Rod Houser of the Kit Carson VFW Post visited the Eads 7^th and 8^th grade classrooms last Wednesday to present Certificates of Participation to the students for their essays in the Patriots Pen contest. 

Senior citizens in Haswell met at the Center last Wednesday for a meal while at Eads some seniors gathered at their Center to eat their Sage meal together. Thursday, they had a brunch where Gail Voss had cooked her popular biscuits and sausage gravy with baked egg omelets served with other entrees that people brought. They were glad to have Pete Koch bring his brother, Gene Koch, who lives in Las Vegas, Nevada. 

Our friend, Johnny Jacobs, is to move to Las Vegas where three of his children live. We will miss him but know it will be nice for him to be near some family members. His children are niece and nephews of Honeybelle Dixon. 

The Simmons girls, Joyce Shade of Wyoming and Cheryl Wyatt of Eads, went to Springfield to visit their uncle, Gene Lynn, who was celebrating his 90^th birthday. He was so happy to see them. Joyce said “maybe it was because we favor our mother, Ellen.” Gene’s wife, Charlotte, died December 27. She is the sister the three Ritchie brothers, and three Ritchie sisters who often come to the Kiowa County Fair. She was also the mother of the late Kathy (Harvey) Shade and sister of the late Mary Burnette. We extend our sympathy to these dear families.

Fran Larrew went to see her grandson, Keyshawn, play basketball near Colorado Springs Saturday. He plays for Falcon-Fort Carson high school which is a 5 A School. Granddad, Randy, says they surely like to see him play ball. “He can really dunk it!”

Mike Arth has admired the pretty birthday cakes he has seen Christina Wolfe, chef at Prairie Pines, has made for the residents. So, when he was packing to move to Colorado Springs, he decided to give a new, unopened Cricket Fondant Decorating machine to Christina. A week later, Christina called his mother, Barbara Seay, and asked her to bring Mike to coffee hour where she surprised him by making and decorating a big cake with turquoise frosting and Cricket-cut snowflakes and a snow man to say, “thank you, Mike.” Mike also helped the Yoder students and local volunteers set up pine trees and decorate the halls of Prairie Pines last month. Last Friday was the first time he has missed going to coffee there in a long while. Other people like it too because all the a sudden, the rooms have filled up with residents. The staff and Director Pam Weirich are extra busy these days.

Mina Loy Teal called me from near Fayetteville, Arkansas, Friday asking for a phone number. He said they like reading the local newspaper even though he and Barbara have been gone 50 years or more. Mina Loy said to greet people for him. His parents were Tal and Roleta Teal. I remember when Bill Culver would make the phone ring a certain way to signal Tal to get out to the golf course, which didn’t make Roleta very happy. 

Terry and Areta Laird stopped by a Denver hospital to visit Luanna Naugle on their way home from Greeley, where they had Christmas with Shalynn and Keith. Luanna has been in different hospitals suffering from the complications of cancer since her husband, Allen, died. Luanna said that she “is a little better.”

According to the notices in the Post Office there were several deaths of former Kiowa County residents last week. Virginia Mitchell passed who was the mother of Melynda Uy, Diana Sniff, Dawna Peck, and Carrie Stavely. Unfortunately, Carrie Stavely and Johnny Allen’s parents passed on the same day. John A. Stavely passed at age 97. He is the father of Johnny Allen, Charles, David, and Franci Cain and the late Bruce Stavely. John A. was laid to rest in the Haswell Cemetery. Also, Mitch (Beeson) Cranford passed last week. He is the uncle of Dr. Glen Cranford of Oklahoma and Billie Jo Watson of Eads.

Rod and Judy Houser of Kit Carson celebrated their 50^th wedding annniversary in a little town near Sterling where they met. Their daughters, Sara, Tara, Mara, Kara, and Dara arranged the surprise party.

Lots of basketball fans, clad in purple and gold colors, converged at the Eads gym last Friday. At half time, the little girls in Kristina Uhland’s dance troupe performed a routine by very young girls and grade school age. Parents, Brandy Turcotte and Kelly Dunlap, also led by dancing with the troupe. At half-time of the boys’ game there was a basketball shooting contest by different age groups. The prizes and tee-shirts and money gift to both schools was given by the Eastern Slope Rural Telephone Association. 

Bill and Charlotte Woelk received word that Waldo Wilson who taught school in Eads in 1960-61 passed in Shallow Water, Texas, where he and his wife and two children moved after teaching 6^th grade here.