 Deadline for filings in Holden and Kingsville school and city government races has passed and the slate is set for the April 7, 2009 election.
Sixteen citizens have filed to run in the Holden and Kingsville schoolboard races and on the Holden and Kingsville city government ballot.
Fighting for the two positions on the Holden R-III Board of Education will be incumbent Pat Zvacek and challengers Bobby Hoffman and Joe Burnor. Another incumbent, Mike Watterson, had filed but withdrew his name last week. He also resigned from the school board effective last Thursday.
In the Kingsville Board of Education race, Kristel Spies, Art Worsley, Ed Barnett and Daniel Plemons will vie for the two two-year positions to be contested in the April voting.
The Holden City Council will have at least one race in the spring election as Ward IX councilman Chad Manford has filed to seek re-election. He will be challenged by William Lyon and Dexter Snyder. For the other three council seats, the incumbents are running unopposed. They are Angela Thomas, Ward I; Jim Nipko, Ward II; and Dorothy Wakeman, Ward III.
In Kingsville city government races, incumbent Lloyd Stever is running unopposed. Also, incumbent aldermen Herb Brockhaus and John McRoy are running without opposition.
According to Johnson County election authorities, March 11 is the last day for those not registered to vote in Johnson County to register.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
Long time Holden R-III Board of Education member Mike Watterson tendered his resignation to the School Board at a special meeting held Thursday night in the district’s central office.
Earlier in the week, Watterson had withdrawn his intention to run for reelection to the board in April 2009. His resignation ended a nine-year tenure with the board which included s stint as the board’s vice-president.
Watterson cited personal reasons for resigning. In his letter to the board he said that it had been a privilege to serve on the board for the past nine years, but at this point in his life he is looking into potential changes that make it necessary to resign the position of board member.
The board discussed the procedures for filling Watterson’s seat, but decided to wait until the April election where the position would be filled by vote.
The board was reminded of the importance of their attendance at meetings in the meantime.
In other business in the special meeting, the board approved the ballot for the April 7, 2009 election. Listed on the ballot for the two three-year seats will be Joe Burnor, Pat Zvacek and Bobby Hoffman.
In the executive session after the open meeting, the board approved the hiring of Angela Helms as the new Holden Elementary School principal beginning with the 2009-2010 school year.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
The Holden R-III School Board approved the hiring of Angela L. Helms as the Holden Elementary School principal beginning with the 2009-2010 school year. She will replace the retiring Robyn Sisk.
Helms comes to the Holden district from Kingsville where she has been the elementary school principal for the past two school years. She has also been the safety coordinator and professional development chairperson.
The educator graduated cum laude from Southwest Baptist University in Bolivar, Missouri in December 2001 with a bachelor of science in elementary education with a minor in early childhood education. She received her master of science in elementary administration from the same university in July 2005.
After her student teaching and a short stint as a teacher’s aide, Helms began her teaching career as a kindergarten teacher at Warsaw South Elementary in May 2002. She held that position until May 2007. Also during that time, she served an administrative internship at the school during the 2004-2005 school year.
She has been the Kingsville Elementary principal since August 2007.
“I absolutely have enjoyed by time at Kingsville,” Helms stated. “I made a lot of wonderful relationships there and I plan to keep them. I truly love Kingsville, but I’m ready to come to Holden for the new position. I’m looking forward to meeting and working with the staff and getting to know everybody as soon as possible. I plan to follow in Robyn Sisk’s footsteps.”
Helms and her husband Jerry, who has worked for 12 years at Stahl Speciality Co. and is a supervisor there, have one son, Drew, who will be three in February. He presently goes to Watterson’s Daycare.
She said she and her husband are looking forward to moving to Holden where Jerry plans to join the fire department.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
The sixth annual community pancake breakfast fundraiser hosted by the Don and Sonya Corrigan family at the Hallar Community Building Saturday, December 13, raised $1,000 for the Ministerial Alliance Food Pantry.
Both children and adults took part in the all-you-can-eat pancake breakfast accompanied by a lively display of local entertainment. Performers included the New Life Fellowship Praise Band, Mooses Davidson’s kindergarten class, better known as the Moo Moo Tribe and the Holden High School Chamber Choir.
Santa was on hand to hear the holiday wishes of many youngsters along with photo opportunities provided by M&G Photography. This year’s benefit was the second highest fundraiser the couple has had for the community event. “In these tough economic times, we felt the Food Pantry was an appropriate beneficiary. An event like this is so very important to the community’s children. We are so fortunate that we live in such a caring community that is willing to join in for a good cause. A little contribution can make a big difference in the lives of those around us,” stated Sonya.
The annual community pancake breakfast is held the second Saturday of December to benefit a local organization that caters to the community’s children. Past beneficiaries include the HOPE Community Activity Center, Boy Scouts, Parent Teacher Organization and Holden Firehawks Soccer.
The Corrigans are very grateful to those who donate each year to make the event a continued success: Lloyd’s Foods, Vern Lloyd, Holden Sonic, American Family Insurance, Ted Guinn, Holden and Kingsville Fastop, M&G Photography, Holden First United Methodist Church, Richard and Terri Morris and Santa Claus. This year’s additional volunteers included HHS Octagon Club, Ken and Ila Ray, New Life Fellowship Church, Pastor Mike Wakeman and president of the Holden Ministerial Alliance Pastor Pat Kelley.
The Holden High School Science Olympiad team took first place at the recent Science Olympiad Holden Invitational.
The local competitors topped 10 other high school teams including Knob Noster, second place; Hume, third place; and Warrensburg, fourth place. Other schools competing in the high school and middle school levels at the HHS sponsored event included Booneville, Concordia, Clinton, Harrisonville, Higginsville, Platte County, Rich Hill, Richmond and Sherwood.
Holden participants racked up eight individual first-place honors, five second place and two third place.
First-place winners and their categories include: Stevi Happy and Brett Mason, “It’s About Time”; Cheyane Frizzell and Happy, “Egg O Naught”; Jacob Billingsley and Michael Gober, “Cell Biology”; Amanda Ellison and Billingsley, “Health Science”; Frizzell and Weston Farmer, “Ecology”; Francesca Malena and Happy, “Herpetology”; Ellison and Gober, “Remote Sensing”; Billingsley, Ellison and Gober, “Experimental Design”;
Second-place finishers and categories include: Rob Curry and Brooke Davidson, “Dynamic Planet”; Mason and Spencer Shearer, “Junkyard Challenge”; Gober and Davidson, “Astronomy”; Davidson and Curry, “Fossils”; and Farmer and Shearer, “Environmental Science”;
Those winning third place in their events were: Mason, “Electric Vehicle”; and Shearer and Farmer, “Elevated Bridge.”
Middle School Results
Holden’s middle school didn’t place in the top four as a team, but received three first-place honors and one third place.
Winning first place were Kaitlyn Morse and Sean Blum, “Dynamic Planet”; Jessica Farmer and Tori Happy, “Robo-Cross”; and Jackson Hill and Happy, “Elevated Bridge.” Winning third place in the category of “Compute This” was Blum and Morse.
According to event organizer and high school science teacher David Iott, “I have been doing Science Olympiad almost since I started teaching at Holden 13 years ago. The high school has been to state 50 percent of the team and we hope to go again this year. Eighth-grade science teacher Patti Iott is our middle school coach and helped all of her students that competed win at least one first-place medal.
“This tournament would not be possible without the support of my fellow staff and faculty members who give up many personal hours every year to help our students succeed and our district shine,” Iott continued. “We’re always on the lookout for volunteers who would like to help our students throughout the year excel in one or more of their events.”
Science Olympiad is a non-profit organization dedicated to improving the quality of K-12 science education. Teams of up to 15 students compete in a variety of one-hour events that include crime scene investigation, physics, biology, earth science, chemistry, and bridge, catapult and rocket building.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
Three days after the start of their Missouri River Valley East Conference schedule with a disappointing loss at Knob Noster, the Holden High School boys’ varsity basketball team put it all together and crushed Lexington, 73-37, before a large courtwarming crowd at the HHS gymnasium Friday night.
The Eagles were powered by seniors Trevor Yancey and Bryce Evans who scored 20 points apiece and fellow senior Crosby Coleman who recorded his first double-double with 10 points and 11 rebounds. Yancey consistently hit an airborne Coleman with pinpoint alley-oop passes which the lanky forward dropped through the net with equal consistency.
Holden scored the first 14 points of the contest and were never seriously threatened after that point. The boys shot 50 percent from the field and 47 percent behind the arc. Holden also had a wide rebounding margin of 19.
The only areas the Eagles didn’t excel in were free throws and turnovers. Holden is still struggling with their charity stripe accuracy hitting only 13 of 26. They also turned the ball over 21 times in the game.
“The turnovers and free throws weren’t that big of an issue in this game,” head coach Dale Wescott stated, “but as the season goes along and we get into tougher games, we’re going to have to improve in those areas if we want to win.”
The coach said he was pleased with his team’s offensive output, scoring 64 percent per game. “If we hit a few more free throws and display a little more consistency finishing under the basket I honestly feel we could be averaging around 70. Individually, Bryce (Evans) has been doing a great job. He’s averaged 20 points per game in the last six and is really starting to become a potent force. Trevor (Yancey) and Crosby (Coleman) also had nice games. We’re also getting some very valuable minutes from our young guys. In the win over Lexington, Kyle Elkins, Jimmy Bryant and Josh O’Hora came in and gave us a lift.”
Rounding out the stats were: Yancey, 20 points, two steals and eight assists; Evans, 20 points, six rebounds, two steals and three assists; Coleman, 10 points and 11 rebounds; Zak Anstine, eight points and four steals; Deron Binkley, five points and eight rebounds; Elkins and Bryant, three points each; and O’Hora and Jacob Borgen, two points apiece.
The win evened the Eagles’ conference record at 1-1 and gave them a 6-3 overall mark for the season.
This week, Holden will spend their time in Clinton at their invitational tournament where Holden’s boys are seeded first. With only seven teams, the Eagles won’t get a chance to play until tonight (Thursday) at 8 p.m. when they take on the winner of the Sherwood and Clinton matchup. Next week they will host Higginsville Tuesday night and travel to Richmond on Friday.
Knob 56 Eagles 42
Last Tuesday, Holden got the league portion of their schedule underway with a 14-point loss to the Panthers.
“For most of the year, I haven’t been happy with our defense, but against Knob Noster I thought we did a good job,” Coach Wescott stated. “What really hurt us was we were cold as ice shooting. We went two of 16 from three-point range, shooting way too many guarded three-pointers. We weren’t good from the free throw line either. In the first quarter, which was a parade to the line on both sides, we hit one of four and Knob was successful on five of five. Our bright spot was Bryce (Evans) who hit 23 for the game.”
The Eagles were behind by only six at halftime, but Knob Noster outscored Holden 34-26 in the second half.
Scoring in the game was Evans, 23; Yancey, 10; Anstine and Binkley, four each; and David Lerda, one.
Winning Coach Wescott’s players of the week were Evans and Yancey, offense; Coleman, defense; and Anstine, hustle.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
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Getting their Missouri River Valley East Conference portion of their schedule off to a hot start, the Holden High School Lady Eagles varsity basketball team picked up two league wins last week.
On Monday they defeated Knob Noster, 42-31; and followed suit on Thursday with a 59-56 victory over the Lexington Lady Minutemen on the road. The victories gave the girls a 2-0 start in the conference and a 9-2 overall record for the season.
In the Lexington win, the Lady Eagles got off to a slow start, digging an 8-1 hole before finishing the first quarter strong. They led 18-16 at the end of the first, and pushed that to 32-27 at the intermission. Holden outscored the Lady Minutemen 20-14 in the third period, but let Lexington back into the game - winning by three.
“Lexington shot the ball extremely well and we didn’t finish the game,” head coach Travis Fleming explained. “We let an 11-point lead dwindled away until we found ourselves in a ball game.”
The Lady Eagles were less than sterling from the free-throw line, shooting less than 50 percent for the game. “It’s tough to win a road conference game shooting 10 for 22 from the foul line,” Coach Fleming continued. “We made some great basketball plays, however. Jenna Brockhaus made some tremendous interior passes for easy baskets and when we were able to force turnovers, we did a great job of running the floor. Making plays and running was how we built our lead, but our defense was not right. We communicated very poorly and didn’t do a good job of sliding our feet. We shouldn’t give up 50-plus points in a four-quarter game.”
Senior Valerie Lambert with 15 and sophomore Kelsey Carver with 14 led the Holden scorers on the night. Kelsey Whitehead and Stacey Calhoun shared rebounding honors with seven apiece.
Total statistics included: Lambert, 15 points, four steals and four assists; Carver, 14 points, six rebounds, one steal and one assist; Whitehead, six points, seven rebounds, one steal and one assist; Lauren Geisler, six points, three rebounds, one steal and one assist; Calla Burden, six points, one rebound, one steal and two assists; Calhoun, four points, seven rebounds, two steals and three assists; Kelsey Holmes, three points, one rebound, two steals and two assists; Lauren Adams, three points, two rebounds and two steals; and Brockhaus, two points, one rebound and two assists.
Holden Tops Knob
The Lady Eagles totaled 16 assists on 16 field goals in what Coach Fleming called, “a good team-win against avery athletic Knob Noster team. The scorebook tells the tale of this game, with 10 Holden girls getting in the scoring column and only for Knob.”
Lambert and Carver once again led the blue and white with nine points apiece as the Lady Eagles outscored the Lady Panthers 24-16 in the final half. They had taken a three-point advantage into the intermission.
“We wanted to attack their interior defense and did a good job of working the ball inside and crashing the glass,” the coach praised. “Even though we didn’t shoot the ball well, we continued to execute and get the shots we wanted.”
The girls pulled down 12 offensive rebounds and shot better than 64 percent from the charity stripe.
“Defensively, my perimeter players did a great job of limiting their penetration and made them settle for a lot of perimeter shots. Stacey Calhoun did a great job against their standout Jones, limiting her to just one basket on the night. We also did a good job of not hurting ourselves with turnovers. Eleven turnovers is a considerable improvement. It was a great win and a great way to start the conference schedule.
The girls will be participating in the Clinton Invitational Tournament this week. They came in as a one seed and will play the winner of the Crest Ridge El Dorado Springs game tonight (Wednesday) if they handled Butler Monday night.
Coach Fleming’s players of the week for last week were Lambert, offense; Calhoun, defense; and Holmes, hustle.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
With more than two weeks of wrestling remaining before the district meet, the Holden High School grapplers find themselves in uncharted territory - holding a 6-1 record in dual matches for the season.
Over the last three weeks, the boys have defeated Carrollton, Warsaw, Sherwood and Higginsville. They also brought home a third-place trophy from the Butler invitational - the highest they have placed there.
A wrapup of recent wrestling activity includes:
Eagles 48 Carrollton 28
Winners on the night included Stephen Parker at 135 pounds with a pin, Jake Giffin at 145 pounds with a pin; Jacob Reiman, 160 pounds with a pin; Zach Lavely at 189 pounds with a pin and James Gray, 215 pounds with a pin.
Eagles 51 Warsaw 30
Holden wrestlers scored five wins on the night with Parker, 135 pounds; Giffin, 145 pounds; Reiman, 160 pounds and Gray, 215 pounds, all winning with pins. Lavely at 171 pounds won by a 10-7 score.
Eagles 39
Higginsville 28
In a closer match, the Eagles came away with three individual wins. They included Trevor Glynn, 125 pounds, pin; Giffin, 145 pounds, 6-5 score; and Reiman, 171 pounds with a pin.
Eagles 46 Sherwood 18
Holden tallied eight wins in the dominating victory over the Marksmen. The wins were: Glynn, 125 pounds, pin; Parker, 130 pounds, pin; Zach Turner, 140 pounds, pin; Giffin, 145 pounds, 10-0 score; Reiman, 160 pounds, pin; Billy McBride, 171 pounds, forfeit; Lavely, 189 pounds, forfeit; and Kevin Kephart, 285 pounds, pin.
Butler Invitational
Reiman had a perfect dam going 5-0 and winning first place in the 160-pound category. It was only the third time in Holden wrestling history a wrestler has taken a first. The others were Kevin Vance in 2006 and Billy Fannin last year.
Also placing were Lavely with a second place in the 171-pound category and Parker, third place at 130 pounds.
Other schools participating in the meet included Adrian, Cameron, Centralia, Knob Noster, Carrollton, Fatima, Plattsburg, Trenton and host Butler.
MRVC Championship
Although Holden is a member of the Missouri River Valley East Conference, in wrestling both the east and west compete in the league meet. That put the Eagles up against some very large wrestling programs including Odessa, Richmond, Pleasant Hill, Harrisonville, Grain Valley and Excelsior Springs.
Holden put one wrestler in the championship round - Jacob Reiman who took home a fourth-place medal. He was the highest finisher for the Eagles.
Those placing in the top eight included: Parker, fifth; David Carter, sixth; Lavely, sixth; Fannin, eighth; Turner, eighth; and Gray, eighth.
Named the wrestler of the week by head coach John Jones was Jacob Reiman.
By Steve Sullins
Editor
OBITUARIES
ELAINE DIEBEL
Elaine Diebel, 88, Oak Grove, Missouri, formerly of Concordia, Kansas died January 18, 2009 at Oak Grove Nursing and Rehab, Oak Grove, Missouri.
Elaine was born January 31, 1920, in Council Grove, Kansas, to Peter and Farie Meltis. She, along with her younger sister, Corinne Meltis Oberlechner, moved extensively with her family for most of her adolescent years. She graduated from Topeka High School, Topeka, Kansas and then moved to Kansas City with her family to study business.
She worked for TWA until marrying her husband Lawrence Diebel on March 4, 1950 in Kansas City, Missouri. After their marriage, she established her home in Concordia, Kansas until moving to Oak Grove in September, 2008.
She was an active member of the PEO, Chapter EV, Concordia, Kansas and a long-time member of the First United Methodist Church.
Elaine is survived by her son, Gary Lawrence Diebel, his wife Marcia and three grandchildren, John, Jessica and Jordan, all of Flower Mound, Texas; one niece, Ralene Oberlechner-Gimple, husband Joe and children, Diebys, Nataly, and Yamile of Lone Jack, Missouri; one nephew J.P. Oberlechner, wife Pattie and children, Paul, Jessica and Lisa of Lake Winnebago, Missouri.
Her husband Lawrence died in August, 1985.
Oak Grove funeral services were held at the Royer Funeral Home in Oak Grove, Missouri on Wednesday, January 21, 2009 at 7:30 p.m. Concordia funeral plans included visitation services Thursday, January 22, 2009 from 5-9 p.m. and Friday, January 23, 2009, from 8 a.m. to 1 p.m.
In lieu of flowers, memorial contributions may be made to the Hope United Methodist Church, 525 Hunters Lane, Lone Jack, Missouri 64070 or Guardian Angel Care Home, Inc. 6112 Manning, Raytown, Missouri 64133.
MARY RUTH SMITH
Mary Ruth Smith, age 84, Warrensburg, Missouri, passed away Friday, January 23, 2009, at Country Club Care Center in Warrensburg.
She was born November 28, 1924 in Butler, Missouri, the daughter of Auty James and Ruthie T. (Wilson) Carson. She married Rudolph Noel Smith on September 27, 1941 in Warrensburg. He preceded her in death February 23, 2007.
Mrs. Smith lived in the Elm, Kingsville and Latour communities of Western Johnson County for most of her life. She moved to Warrensburg in July, 2005. She was a switchboard operator at the telephone office in Elm for several years and later worked 15 years for WalMart. She was a member of Elm Spring Baptist Church.
Surviving her passing are two sons, J.R. Smith, Richmond, VA, and Terry Joe Smith, Kechikan, AK; three daughters, Ruth Ann Davis, Kingsville, MO, Mary Lou Rempfer, Blue Springs, MO, and Allene Alley, Cave City, KY; one brother, Harlan Lee Carson, Pleasant Hill, MO; one sister, Margie Gregory, Blackburn, MO; 14 grandchildren; 24 great-grandchildren; and two great-great-grandchildren.
Three children also preceded her in death, Robert Wayne Smith, Linda Sue Smith, and Ruby Lee Smith.
Funeral services were held at 2 p.m. Tuesday, January 27, 2009, at Ben Cast & Son - Wood Funeral Home, Holden, MO with Pastor Robin Dale officiating.
Pallbearers were Scott Dean, Joseph Schliefert, Sam Dean, Steven Smith, J.D. Gudde, Russell Davis, Bobby Davis and T.J. Fiedler.
Honorary pallbearers were Jacob Carter and Dakota Graham.
The family received friends from 1-2 p.m. Tuesday.
Interment was in the Holden Cemetery, Holden, MO.
Memorial contributions are suggested to Children’s Mercy Hospital.
VINA L. WHITE
Vina Irene Russell White, age 78, of Holden MO, passed away Monday Jan 26, 2009. She was born February 23, 1930.
Daughter of Art and Millie Russell. She was a graduate of Elk City High School of Elk City OK.
Vina was the baby of a family of fifteen, where she chopped and picked cotten through high school and made enough money at 50 cents an hour to come to Independence, MO in 1947. She went to work in Independence as a nurses aide making ninety dollars a month at the Independence Sanitarium.
Next she worked at the AT&T telephone office- for three months, then to the Equitable Life Ins. Co. She then went to nurse’s training- Sept 1948-and graduated 1952 from General Hospital in Kansas City, MO. After graduating Feb 1953, she met Jonathan White and his brother Aaron, who challenged her to a snowball fight. She continued her relationship with Jonathan White then they were married Aug 12, 1953, and lived in Independence MO.
She worked at several hospitals in greater KC area. She moved to Kingsville MO with her husband Jonathan where they farmed for 35 years. Later, they moved to Holden-1995 where she was residing.
She was a member of the Holden Restoration Branch of Jesus Christ Church.
She leaves her husband- Jonathan and six children, Paul White and wife Cindy of Harrisonville; Naomi Chastain and husband David of Drexel; Steven White of Holden; Melinda Sechrest and husband Russell of Holden; Russell White and wife Nancy of Raytown; Timothy White of Holden; Thirteen Grandchildren- and two Great Grandchildren; brother- Art Russell of Independence; sister- Ludie Todd of Holden; sister- Alftha who passed at four years old of pneumonia; eleven half brothers and sisters- ll deceased.
She will be greatly missed by all.
Arrangements are under the direction of Ben Cast & Son - Wood Funeral Home in Holden MO.
Memorial contributions are suggested to the Holden Restoration Branch of Jesus Christ Church
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