Articles

Greenwood County Hospital (GWCH) Auxiliary met for their monthly meeting on June 1 in the hospital basement.

Sunday morning Toronto was a buzzing and I don’t mean from bees, flies or mosquitoes. The town was buzzing with the sound of chainsaws as people were busy trying to clean their yards after the storm that blew through early Sunday morning toppled trees, breaking limbs and downing power lines.

The eighth consecutive “Be Your Best” basketball camp was hosted by the Eureka Lady Tornado basketball team with head coach Shelly Hoyt leading the way. The camp was held last Monday-Thursday, June 3-6 at the Tornado Activity Center at Eureka Junior/Senior High School (EJSHS).

A War Time Experience, Reminiscences of Robert Hodge – Story 1of 10 Robert ‘Bob’ Hodge was born in 1929 in Lawrence and lived there until 1947. He then went on to graduate from Kansas State Teachers College in Emporia. After living in a number of states, he moved to Emporia in 1992. While living in Emporia, Hodge spent hundreds of hours researching and indexing newspapers in Lyon, Chase and Greenwood Counties. The Greenwood County Museum has all of Hodge’s indexes for most of the newspapers printed in Greenwood County up into the 1950s. Some of these newspapers started in the 1860s. Hodge was an honorary board member for many years with the Greenwood County Historical Society. This series of ten articles written by Hodge is mainly, but not totally, about his life in Lawrence.

Once again, Eureka’s VFW Post 2712 has organized events to help celebrate America’s Independence Day.

Academic letters, based upon 2023-24 grades, were recently announced for those graduating seniors at Eureka Junior/Senior High School. The criteria to receive a letter are as follows: students must be listed on the High Honor Roll for two consecutive semesters, be in at least five classes and not receive an F. Students in grades 9-12 for 2023-24 were eligible for the awards.

Grilling is a convenient way to impart flavor on various foods and enjoy some fresh air and sunshine along the way. Many people work hard to hone their grilling skills, including many of the individuals on Father’s Day shopping lists. Grilling is an opportunity for dads to flex their culinary muscles and deliver plenty of flame-licked foods.

Community Enrichment Manager for the City of Eureka Staci Crumrine attended the Greenwood County Commission meeting Monday, June 10 with County Extension Agent Ben Sims to speak on the Eureka Downs facility. Crumrine explained that a preliminary building inspection had been held recently. Following the inspection, the city was told the turf room located on the upper floor of the building could not be used until safety items were installed such as lighted exit lights and emergency lighting in the stairs in the event electricity goes out. Crumrine told commissioners that the city was asking for assistance in getting this in place prior to the Greenwood County Fair. At this time, Crumrine announced that funding in association with historic horse racing was anticipated to be received in July, but this work would need to be done prior to the receipt of these dollars. After noting that racing at Eureka Downs could potentially begin in 2026, she shared that the funding allocation anticipated to be received this summer would be for making the track and facility race ready. In further discussion, Eureka City Administrator Joel Laws noted that the monetary contribution previously made by the county for their contribution towards facility management, had gone towards utilities which total approximately $30,000 annually. Laws explained that the historic horse racing appropriation wouldn’t be received before the 2024 Greenwood County Fair. Code Enforcement Officer for the City of Eureka Steve French shared that a plan was drafted for replacing the base items necessary to get by for use of the upper level during the fair until the remainder can be addressed. Commissioners approved $871.56. County Commissioner Roy Ballard noted that he thought there could be savings on the utilities by ensuring that everything that can be, is turned off when the facility is not in use. Commissioner Mac Obourn noted that the current lack of inefficiency is a contributing factor. County land owner Shilo Fury attended the commission meeting seeking clarification into a matter pertaining to K Road, south of Piedmont, at the Greenwood/Elk County line. Fury noted that a map referencing this road as abandoned had been found, but research had been done in Elk County and no documentation had been found to substantiate passage of this. As he described the issue, Fury noted that a portion of the road is deeded to an owner of one of the properties along the stretch, and basically serves as a driveway. Legal Counsel Paul Dean clarified that this is approximately half a mile of road and about the first 1/4 mile has never been closed and Elk County shows that this is closed.

Eureka city residents are encouraged to attend a community meeting next Wednesday, June 19, at 6 p.m., at the Eureka Public Library where the topic of discussion will be the proposed continuation of the 1% sales tax.