 Local Holden
businesses, the Holden-area Chamber of Commerce and political
candidates for Johnson County offices will join forces to provide
the community with a gala July 4th Independence Day celebration.
The evening’s activities will begin Tuesday at 6 p.m. with
games for the kids to be held at Holden High School, and culminate
with a fireworks extravaganza which can be viewed from the football
field’s home bleachers. Fireworks will begin at dark.
Games, including bean bag toss, sponge throw and other children’s
favorites, will be manned by political candidates Kay Dolan,
Sue Dodson, Alice Mistler, Monica Penrose, Karl Timmerman
and Mary Ann Young. Prizes contributed by Holden Fastop,
Holden Package and the chamber will be given to winners.
Throughout the event, drawings will be held beginning at 7 p.m.
for $200 worth of gift certificates donated by the Chamber of
Commerce. Registering for the drawings will be held at
Holden businesses through the close of business Monday.
Participating businesses are Roberts’ Home & Auto,
Fastop, Galles Smokehouse Grill, Wilkinson Pharmacy, Sonic, Orscheln
Farm & Home, Cowboy Inn, Heiman’s True Value,
Holden Package, Strate’s Drive Inn, Walker’s Variety
and Holden NAPA. Winners do not have to be present for
the drawings.
Also on tap for the celebration will be an appearance by Clydesdale
horses from Frosty’s Reindeer Barn. The horses will
be located in the parking lot between the high school and the
football and baseball fields.
A concession stand selling hot dogs and pop will be available
during the game times. The stand will be run by the chamber.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
“Making
sure animals get the best care we can possibly
give them,” is what Diane Corwin, office manager for the
Holden Animal Clinic, tries to do each and every day.
She was presented a plaque and bouquet of flowers Monday, representing
her selection as the Holden Image Customer Service Award winner
for the month of May.
The 19-year veteran of the clinic also feels that educating owners
on how to take care of their animals is important as well. “We
encourage owners to ask questions and not worry about whether
it’s a silly question or not. As far as I’m
concerned there are no silly questions. We just want to
help owners learn things they can do to make their animals healthier.”
Although Corwin doesn’t get to work with the animals as
much as she used to, she still enjoys that aspect of her job. “When
I first started 19 years ago, I did everything from cleaning
kennels to grooming. Now, my job deals more with paperwork,
but I still get to interact with the animals, which I like.”
A lot of her job can get routine, the office manager stated,
but “there are those times when we get an animal in especially
bad shape and are able to turn it around and send it home. That
makes up for all the ‘boring’ things we do.”
Corwin says the least favorite part of her job is disciplining
or even firing other employees. “It’s the
hardest thing I have to do - to fire somebody. I like to
think that really anybody could do their job here if they wanted
to.”
She also states that she has a good working relationship with
her boss, Dr. Lonnie Blum. “He and I have worked
together so long, we’re like Radar and the colonel on MASH. Dr.
Blum likes to think of the office as a family, and mostly we
get along like a family as well.”
The doctor, who feels Corwin is a very valuable employee, agrees
with her MASH analogy. “She’s just like Radar
- she shoves papers in front of me and I sign them.
“Seriously, she’s been here since day one and I don’t know
what I’d do without her.”
Corwin, who said she wanted to thank whoever it was who nominated
her, is the wife of Don Corwin. They have three children,
Scott, who lives in Florida, Jenny Corrithers of Overland Park,
KS, and Stephen, who is deceased. They also have five grandkids.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
Several break-ins
and acts of vandalism have occurred in town recently according
to Holden Assistant Police Chief Rick Martin.
A juvenile is a suspect in a burglary at Break Time convenience
store last week. The front door of the business was broken
out. The suspect is in custody, added Martin.
Several days later a break-in occurred at the office of Cindy
Fitterling, CPA, with several juveniles thought to be the
perpetrators. The incident has been turned over to juvenile
authorities and the parents of the suspects.
There have also been reports of vandalism at the Holden City
Park and the Water Hole swimming pool which occurred last Thursday
night. According to Martin, the stalls in the restrooms
at the city park were vandalized, along with the local swimming
pool.
By Dana Neubert
News Staff
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Meeting in
special session Monday night, the Holden City Council passed an
ordinance adopting the city’s annual operating
budget for the fiscal year beginning July 1, 2006 and ending June
30, 2007.
The balanced budget calls for projected revenues to be $1,089,699,
while expected expenses are $1,088,095. If those figures
hold true, the city would end the next fiscal year with $1,604
in the black.
The “lion’s share” of the expected expenses will
go to the police department. That agency will have a budget
of $435,977 to work with. More than half of that figure,
$247,818, is allocated for salaries.
The street department will receive $319,870 for the year, while
the park department will have $13,000 to work with. Administrative
expenses are expected to be $203,782. This category covers
areas such as salaries to city employees, insurance and general
supplies and labor to run the city for the year.
Prior to the passage of the 2006-2007 budget, the city council
passed a resolution authorizing budget adjustments for the present
fiscal year. A total of $77,627 was transferred from the
general fund to the transportation fund, while the park fund received
$11,088 from park fund reserves. This allowed the budget
for the year ending June 30 to be balanced.
According to Mayor Mike Wakeman, the state requires municipal budgets
to be balanced by the last day of the budget period.
In other council business, Bill Faust of 610 E. 10th Street petitioned
the council and was given permission to open a section of platted,
but never developed, road known as East Street. The roadway
would intersect Highway 58 at his property. Opening of the
road will give him access to the back 10 acres of his property.
Some council members and street commissioner Larry Miller voiced
concern that Faust’s plans of graveling an approximately
12’ roadway would not meet city street standards and could
not be called a city street.
Wakeman stated that he didn’t see a problem with him graveling
an access road to his property. But in the passed motion,
it was noted that if Faust or whoever owned the property ever developed,
the roadway would have to then meet city codes. Faust stated
that he was complying with state requirements to place a 40’ culvert
with appropriate flare where the roadway meets Highway 58.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
The first step
in the Holden area Chamber of Commerce’s efforts to
market the benefits of living and working in Holden will become
a reality in the very near future with the erection of a billboard
advertising the city.
The sign, which was contracted through Porlier Outdoor Advertising,
will appear on the north side of Highway 50 east of the Elm Quickmart. The
billboard may be viewed by eastbound traffic.
Although the date for completion of the sign has not been established,
it could appear as soon as July 1.
According to Diane Klossen, the chamber’s economic development
committee chairperson, the ideas for the billboard came about in
the “kick-off to the future” meetings the chamber held
approximately a year ago. “When Dennis Mason took over
as president, he charged our committee to come up with ways to
market Holden to the outside - and the billboard is the first step,” explained
Klossen.
“We know a lot of people are looking to move out of the Kansas City area
and we’re hoping they will come here,” she continued. “We
feel that Holden is a good place to live and raise a family. Just as
the billboard will say - Holden has traditional values, quality schools and
it’s a great place to live.”
Instead of individual businesses trying to bear the brunt of cost
of the expensive billboards, the committee decided that the sign
would feature Holden as a whole. “Then, each participating
business would share the cost,” stated Klossen.
Those businesses who are participating in the billboard project
as of press time are: Farmers & Commercial Bank, Bank
of Holden, Double D Homes, Embarq, Holden Embroidery, Tiger
Jack’s, Williams Funeral Home, Butch Shore Construction,
Godfathers, Sonic, Lloyds Food, Heiman’s, O & M Enterprises,
Fastop, Holden Image, State Farm Insurance and American Family
Insurance.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
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