Price 50
Office located at 111 E. Main, Mankato, Kansas 66956
Established 1890, Volume 127, Issue No. 19
USPS, NO. 274-940 Thursday, May 12, 2016
New library operational in Burr Oak
Patrons entenag the new Butt Oak
Community Lihrary become players
in a stu~ that begins once alan a
time, a story that Mmost didn't end
happily. The new library's lealizatioa
occarmd through volunteers writing
w ith stw'te, ~and swe~t 1h equi va-
lent of a blockhuseer one page, and
cvenlually one chapter, at a time.
The story begin 15 years ago as
lutpe for thecity's tiny library dimmed.
Damp, d.rMly and bat-infested, the old
limesl(,ne [i brary faced despefaTetimes.
Tax revenues were decreasing in step
with the city's declining tax basel
Cily residents kaew they needed
the library. More important, so did the
residents of the largercommunity sur-
rounding the town. ']'hey knew the
library needed a new bnme and money
to fund it. A paRia! solution lay in
redistricting, thus enlarging the li-
brary' s tax h~ ftcm th~ town itself to
encompass a four-township area in
nonkwcst Jewell County.
The USD |07 SehooJ Beard invited
the tibrary to move into a section of the
former Roc k Hills Middle Schoo I. The
library rent(xlek~l and moved in lo this
wing in 2(X~ under a 2~year le~
with the ~1~1 district. Supporters
bclievL~.J thc move would bl~y yearslo
work o,~t a permanent solution,
With money tram grants and dona-
tions. Ihe lihrary bought new fixtures
and t'arnishmg~. I~ ofl" r patron s a com-
fordable, wclcolning spar:e, Overall t,-~
nearly doubled. ]n I1~ first year, an-
nual a0enda~v.:e forth ildren's progrm'a-
ing in, ctea~M 23~ per Ce~t, Patn~
came from .~urrounding towns, town-
ships and counties and from heathy
Ncl'~aska.
A mere two years later. ~ a~ fell.
The lii~ary received short notice the
tx~ard would cl<~s and sell '~be school
building- A ~f~culator bought the
school,at first v,t.-w,ng th~ library asan
asset 10 help I~m,t the pror~rly's val U,r
aml MHIIkdate 01 qul~.'k ".dle WI~I~. nl~
bh~ut m~ rlal,~ ~, the llbrJL~ iuund
[t~,cll ~ Ld', I1~ he, at L~ V, Jtet ,t, lie : build.
int2 I'hc hbraD v~:,~ ~tlll Lit a beaull-
hd xpacc, b-u.I IR' ~'ing in II~ winter
and wnl~aul a working toilet =~r drtnk-
tag water,
Threcyearsp~s.soJ Again the build-
aug ~,ld. The lihrary had a new land-
lord ~ho lurre.'d the water back o,t. hut
not the heal. 'rlle library bought fur-
nace~ with grate[ I~,oney. Pa'z,x>ns atsd
slalf no longer had to read ~md carry on
con vcrsat ions in cmtga,'ld millets, hut
=.
I
now even more serious problems
loomed.
']'he building was beginning to de-
teriorate. Brok n windows and the
huilding's crumbling facade created a
ommunity eye~0re. Weeds and gross
grew waist high. The toi~ l was again
out of commis.sion. And now a fence
weal up outside the ~h~J I. Soon. s~p
we~c grazmg in full view outside the
old school, huildingon BurrOak'sMaia
Sffeet. h was time to move.
Existing allcrnatives were few.
None ~1 ADA or space requirement~
withom expensivv wntwation. Leas-
ing i~self ~emed a losing hand, given
the library's five-yearexperience~ The
communily s'mnd to lose not just a
place tochec k om books, hut a de:stint-
tian to share a cup of coffee with a
friem:l, research family histories.
give youngsters a place to watch a
~t,mmer movie with friends. There
would be no more Boy Sctmt, Gsrl
Scout, ,Jr Americarl Legion attxihary
meetingo~. Folks who lacked home
interne/ access could no longer lak
online college courses, or you~f, stcrs
attend the library's popular summer
reading prog ram. Senior citizens would
h>se access to talking books arm large
type perk~icals for the visually im-
paired. The county election heard
would need a new ~ocation to hold
eleclkm
i
April 29. Ana Vickers~ formerly of Guatemala and now of Man~ato, passed
the test necessary to become a U.S. Citizen. Stc~s'ing to ~ome a American
Cilizen is inlense. The process slams out with applying and ~btaining submis-
sior] foran applicaliOn from Homeland Secutily, Wichita. Around 60 days after
submission a test accompanied by a book to sludy was received. With the h~p
of Jolene Howell, Ann Callaway. and Crystal Fullerlon, as well her busl~and,
I:~niel, she studied |or close Io a year. Ana COmlCdeted I~e tesl and returned
it personally to Wichita. On anival she was required to la~e a test consisting
of '~5 morequestions. She passed, and was I~ld she t~ad reel all requirements
to beeomea US Citizen. Present for Ann's presentation were1~er husband and
Mends Jetty Richter. his wife Isabelle and daughter Cynlt~ia, Mankato.
FofPowing th~ Citizenslaip presentalien ale out IO ~elebr~le+
Aria and Daniel met in2012 while Ann was employed as a home hearl~cam
provider. She had walkeO outside to gather lhe lady's mail and Daniel as
we~Fked I~is dog down the sidewalk.
library r~edO a permanent
home. Community leaders and resi-
dertts agreed, uniting zo help the library
board begin a fundraisingcampaign. A
downtown b~iness owner offemdlem.
ixa'ary facilities to the library which
they converted into space sufficient so
they t.-o~tld ~emain in Ih pub[ic eye.
The Burr Oak Cily Council donated
land for the new library and ['a-ovided
temporary storage space, ,4Jea farm ex,z
and homeowners offered waterla'OOf
storage as well.
Hannah Simmetink, ]O, conh-ibute4
her allowances and even Ch,istmas
and birthday money to help build the
library. Mi[ey Havens, 6. brought a
Mason jar brim,hint w ith coit~, mopey
the girl's grandmother had earmarked
fo~Miley. The Ervin Ua0erwood Fam-
ily held an all-day bake ~le, its theme
centered on the children's book, If
You Give a Mo~se a Muffin, tn all,
prnvate donor~ conuihm d ,no~ than
$lred: Megan Badger. DeeAnn
Beam, Ashton Calcs. Billie Cox.Travi,
Cox. Cathy Dau~. Barbara EIbrac ht,
Suzette Gile, Sara Gr.ut. Jody
Hadachek. Matt Hasting t.5 L Belindu
,teffety, Gilm Jel't'eD'. Janel Kr, le~. Amy
McDilL Virginia McKe~m'nt 7L Janic
McMillan, Br~:k M~.Mnllarn. K~.'~u,
OsL Nikki Osl, Bathers Ra,l,hm.'k.
Matthew Railshack. Beth Jay Renu
Deanna Underwt~l. Wanda Warner
and Kaue Whelchd Ne~ hlre~, In-
cMd Sarah Warneand]ex~,ca Situ[da
'lhe h~mrd Ihen appro',L'd the [ol-
Ittwing recnmntendati,+n~ fi,r claxsi-
fled personne| for 2UI 6-~tll 7: l~t~l,~rcs
Az~gleton. Lyr~ette Bartley. Becky
C~'krol'L Joe Col~m. Joanv Davis.
Brenda Flitch. Elait~c [:osier. Pan
Garnlan. Jackie Hurt, Shauncm
Kussman. Sheila Lt~renc . Daphne
Manning. Sherry Mart. Larry
McMai ns. loni Meicr. Laurie Ne/l~n.
Sarah Ortman, Bah R<~m,h, Michell
Sch~nrock, Tundra Sholtz and Steve
Weber.
The next mgula~ ntecti~g of th,:
Reek Hills School Board will he al 7
p,m. o~ June 13 at the district office in
Mankato.
Reservations arriving for
Rock Hills, Mankato reunion
Thosewhohaveack,towle4gedthey Veda Graham Roe; )95.5 Suzette
will be in attendance at the 2016 Slanderwick McPhail: 1956 Calvin
Mankato-Rt~ck Hills alumni reunion
are: 1947 Belly Crouch May: 1950
R.D. Frosty Clegg. Wayne Hansom
1952 Gerald Sandcr~, 1953
PauiineThompson Robin~n.Lola Gra.
ham Blair; 1954 Coleea Nelson
Petersnn; I955 Harlow Vader. Melba
Vo~ Engel, Leo Zadina; 1956 Ken-
neth Voss: 1957 Belly Zadina; )958
Karett Morns Ros~,: 1959 Adolph
Laluk: 1961 AntonLaluk-1962Nancy
Roe Cormer: 1963 ~erry "l)avid; 19~6
Karen Garman Figgins, Joycc Lunge
David~ Mike Hancock. Joh~ Waldon,
.i'en-y Groul. Patncia Powetl Grout. Ron
Fraass, Vaac Tyrell', 1968 Kathie
David Tyre]l; 1971 Debra Alcom
Taddiken; 1976 Deb~ lenseu Boyles,
Tad.hi Silsby Hayes; 1971 Ste', Dodd',
1977 Neii Becket,
1949 Pat Barttetl Schlender'- t951
Rose Broylcs Williams: 1953 Harold
Sleele; ]954 Shirley Vader Steele,
Htmtsinget. Lloy~ SCat'TOW: 1958
Jewell Murray: 1963 Linda CIemons:
19f~ Charles Soash. Ron Franklin,
Carolyn LeClair Btackwood; 1971
Ruben WakefieM, Bob Freeman. Dcna
Clegg Alvarez,
Burr Oak Weather
Larry Glllett, NOAA observer
Temperalures
High for the week 82
Low for the week 37
Preelpitatinn
This week I).94
Year todate 7,78
May 4 69 43
May 5 75 37
May 6 78 3g
May7 82 46
May[, 81 65
May 9 75 53
May 1(1 75 49
