The F & C Bank of Holden was recognized at the recent Johnson County United Way Annual Meeting for their year-by-year corporate and employee support.
Accepting the recognition for the bank was Jeff Florida.  F & C joined many other organizations who were recognized by United Way for their assistance with fund-raising activities during this and previous campaigns.
Also during the meeting, the group discussed the 2009-2010 campaign beginning with a softball tournament on June 20, with Scott Patrick the chair.  Other events in the campaign include:  Courthouse Kick-off, August 27, John Yost of the county heading up the plans with Kim Nicas the United Way liaison; Celebrity Waiter Dinner, September 12, Kathy Ray-Smith and Jan Jones, co-chairs; Chili Cook-Off on november 14, Dick Sliwka, chair; and the Holiday Homes Tour, December 6, Kathy Ray-Smith and Theresa Cast, co-chairs.




Carol Leslie of Kingsville was honored at Friday night’s homecoming games for her continuous support of the Kingsville  high school sports programs.
She was named the “Number One Supporter of 2009” by the high school cheerleaders.  She also received a $25 gift certificate to Galle’s Smokehouse Grill in Holden in honor of her achievement.
Leslie has been a proud supporter of Kingsville sports for many years, having five children who graduated from Kingsville Schools.  She also has had eight grandchildren in the school district.  She has sewn letters and patches on many letter jackets throughout the years at Kingsville and even a few for Holden students, according to her son Matthew.
She said she and her husband Gary support the athletic teams by going to all of the games and he received the award two years ago.
The cheerleaders have been giving the award for three years and Gene McCloud was last year’s recipient.
Leslie said she was very surprised and honored by the award Friday night and wasn’t expecting it at all.  Her family is also very pleased that she was honored and knows how much she has done for the Kingsville sports programs over the years.  




In her branch manager’s report to the Trails Regional Library board, Jeannae Dickerson told board members she and her staff attended the staff training day on January 19, in Warrensburg.  “We spent the morning learning about our strengths and weaknesses using a strength deployment inventory,” said Dickerson.  “In the afternoon session, Kyle Constant from Lexington taught us all we ever wanted to know about social networking.  We now know what  twitter, flickr, RSS, wiki, etc., are about.  Thanks to the Warrensburg staff for getting everything set up and for the terrific food.”
She went on to say she thought their procedures team has finally completed the procedures to follow in using LISTEN.  She said they thought of a few things that they had not included, added them and then did a table of contents so it would be easy for their staff members to find any procedure about which they are not sure.
In other reports, Dickerson told board members the Holden Branch weeded 157 books this month.  She is now working on weeding magazines and hopes to finish that job next week.
Dickerson added that the Holden Branch celebrated their five-year anniversary in their present location and there was a news story written about it with some of the library’s history and current features.




“A very substantial shortage by contributors for 2008 is putting HOPE in a serious financial strain,” executive director Danny Crews told the board members of HOPE Coalition at their regular meeting held last Thursday morning.
Board member John Roberts gave the board an overview of HOPE’s goals, needs and overall situation.  Items included in his report were: HOPE owns and operates a sports activity center in Holden that is considered a very nice facility, but does not break even in operations when a director’s salary is included; the CAC provides great opportunities for community youth basketball and volleyball, plus an indoor walking facility for adults.  “CAC youth basketball programs are slightly profitable, but are only active three to four months out of the year,” said Roberts.  “The CAC is underutilized, but there are no obvious activities that could be added to generate new revenue.”
Roberts went on to say, “HOPE has been funded primarily by local donors who are subsidized by a 70 percent tax credit program (Neighborhood Assistance Program - NAP).  This has created a dependency that is likely not sustainable, especially in today’s ailing economy.”
Roberts spoke about HOPEs Community Service Center (CSC).  “The CSC is also dependent on NAP donation as it does not generate enough funds to cover operating expenses.  The CSC operates in a large, building that has high utility cost.”
Roberts added it might be time to think about separating the CAC and CSC as their purposes do not overlap a great deal.  “CSC charity operations may have to be absorbed by local churches or volunteer organizations and relocated from the current building,” stated Roberts.
President Bob Mickey said HOPE has survived on NAP donations, and said they may or may not get any more of those donations. 
Mickey went on to say, “We need to be looking at alternatives, whether that be churches or organizations to staff and work the programs.  We don’t know where that would leave us, in a management capacity or out of it altogether.”
Mickey and Roberts recently visited a thrift shop in nearby Harrisonville which is operated by their Ministerial Alliance and both said they were very impressed by the operation.  “It is self-sufficient plus,” said Roberts.  “Surplus money used to pay off a mortgaged building over a number of years, now goes to help the Alliance with the food pantry and other ministries.  This store has been open for seven years. Funds come solely from sale of store items; no reliance on grants or contributions is needed.”
Both Mickey and Roberts said the store was very appealing and shopper friendly, saying it resembles a retail clothing store more than a “garage sale”.  The managers say there are no inferior goods placed on the floor due to the abundance of high quality items.  Both came away from the store encouraged because it was self-sustaining.  They spoke with the board about approaching Holden’s ministerial alliance to see if it would be interested in helping with this type of ministry.  The board was in favor of this.
Crews asked what HOPE would do about Harvesters, WIC, GED services and other programs which are run out of the CSC.  Mickey said they hadn’t got that far yet in their planning, adding they should take it one step at a time.
Mickey added that since HOPE was in such a financial crunch the board needed to be as creative as possible, be willing to make adjustments and keep an open mind on the challenges they are facing.
In other HOPE business, Crews told board members Harvesters is now having two drops per month at the CSC.  “The second drop, which is the third Monday of the month, may be temporary, lasting until early summer,” said Crews.
In other financial news, Crews said applications were submitted to Johnson County United Way, MSECC and Combined Federal Campaign.
He also shared with the board he received the GrantStation information and emailed it to all board members for their use in browsing and searching for grants.  He encouraged all to search the resources.  He added that he and activities director Jen Loos attended the Economic Development and Grant Training Seminar at Missouri Western University in St. Joseph on February 20.
In a sports update, Crews said he and Loos attended a meeting with the Holden Sports Association.  “They are interested in the idea of combining all sports leagues,” said Crews. “This includes youth baseball/softball, adult softball, youth soccer, youth football, youth basketball/volleyball, coaches, referees, umpires, etc.  They want to create a new sports association called the Parks and Rec or Sports Authority.  They want HOPE (CAC) to participate and be part of a steering committee.”  Board member Scotty Walker asked what that would accomplish for HOPE and Crews said it may generate more revenue at the CAC.  The board agreed HOPE should continue attending meetings with the HSA and Roberts, Loos, Mickey and board member Rusty Kephart agreed to take part in the meetings.
In committee reports, there was nothing new to report, according to Crews.
Loos gave an update on activities at the CAC, reporting on basketball leagues and tournaments.  She added volleyball tournaments start soon and will continue every weekend until the end of March.
Roberts told board members they might want to look into getting wrestling at the CAC as he knew there were approximately 300 students involved in a recent wrestling tournament held at the high school in nearby Lone Jack.
The regular meeting of the HOPE Coalition closed to reopen March 19, at 6:45 a.m. at the CSC.


Kingsville Livestock Auction recently won the 2009 MCA Allied Industry Award.
The auction is run by Rick Anstine and family.  Anstine worked his way out of the dairy business beginning with the purchase of a small herd of Polled Hereford cows, while still in high school.  Today, Anstine and his family run 180 head of commercial Angus/Gelbvieh cross; background approximately 300-400 yearling calves on 1,300 acres south of Holden.
Anstine bought the sale barn in 1987 and today the business includes weekly cattle sales, QSA and Health Program Sales, along with horse and tack, pig/sheep/goat/small animal sales and a monthly special bred cow and bull auction.  They also have  yearly three-day Labor and Memorial Day consignment auctions and a March equipment consignment auction.
The Anstines also recently hosted Dr. Jean-Pierre Orand at the sale barn and Dr. Orand said visiting with the Anstines and their associates was a highlight of the visit.



Sophomore Jacob Reiman and senior Zach Lavely became the first two Holden High School wrestlers to place in the Missouri State Tournament as Reiman took third in the 160-pound classification and Lavely brought home a sixth-place medal in the 171-pound division.
As a team, the Eagle grapplers also placed the highest in history with a 23-place finish according to head HHS wrestling coach John Jones.
Reiman started his tourney with a win over Austin Okorn of Polo and advanced to the semifinals by defeating David Reeder of Penney.  In the semis, he fell to Jobi Hambrick of Lexington but wrestled back into contention with a win over Dalton Cummings of Seneca.  He defeated Alexander Attema of West Platte, 2-0, to take the third-place medal.
“The third-place match was really close.  In the first period I got a take down and held on the rest of the way,” explained Reiman. 
Reiman’s only loss was  to  the senior Hambrick who finished the tourney in second place.  “Jobi is really good.  He placed the last two years at state,” Reiman added.  “The competition throughout the state tournament was intense.  Everybody was good.  This was one of the biggest things I’ve ever been to.  It was just crazy being here.”
Lavely began the meet with a win over Joel Bohlmeyer of Centralia and then lost to eventual third-place winner Cody Renzelman from Carrollton.  Lavely then defeated Jake Roometua of Principal and Cole Bagby of Lutheran to get back into the medal round.  He was then topped by Ethan Hooser of Lexington and Tyler Berg of Lathrop.  His finish netted him a sixth-place medal.
“Being a senior, this means a lot,” Lavely explained.  “I feel like I’ve accomplished something in my time at Holden High School.  It’s great to know I’m going down in history for something I did here.”
Like Reiman, Lavely also spoke of the competition.  “In all my wins I had to work hard.  I had to wrestle hard all three periods.”
Fellow state participants Stephen Parker and David Carter, both sophomores, didn’t fare as well in the meet.  Both were defeated in their first two matches to eliminate them from further competition.  Both also got tough matchups in the first round - Parker to eventual state champion Ryan Mango, and Carter to another state champion Bryce Alexander.  Parker wrestled at 130 pounds and Carter at 152.
Assessing his team’s rise to new heights at HHS, Coach Jones commented, “I comes down to hard work.  If you work, good things will happen.”
 



Still finding the victories hard to come by in the powerful Missouri River Valley East Conference, the Holden High School boys’ varsity basketball team lost another league contest - this time to the Higginsville Huskers, 64-47.
The boys were once again cold from the field, shooting only 28 percent.  They also committed 21 turnovers in the loss.
“If we’re going to be shooting so poorly from the floor, we had better not be turning the ball over that many times if we expect to beat a tough team like Higginsville,” stated Eagle head coach Dale Wescott.  “The kids are working hard and they’re in the gym every morning before school shooting.  We just can’t seem to knock them down during a game.”
Still in the game at halftime, the Eagles were only down by five, but a strong 34-point half by the Huskers doomed Holden to the defeat.
The senior point guard Trevor Yancey led the way in scoring with 15, while fellow senior Bryce Evans was also in double figures with 10.  Evans also had eight rebounds and two assists.  Other statistics included:  Crosby Coleman, six points and five rebounds; David Lerda, six points and two assists; Deron Binkley, five points and six rebounds; Zak Anstine, four points and A.J. Langston, one point.
In last week’s earlier games, the Eagles split two games.  They defeated Lexington, 60-41 and lost a heartbreaker to Oak Grove, 57-55, when the Panthers put back a missed shot as the gun sounded.
In the win over the Minutemen, the Eagles turned a six-point first quarter deficit into a 10-point halftime lead and steadily increased their advantage throughout the game.
For the first time in a while, the boys shot a decent percentage from the floor, 44 percent, but turned the ball over 21 times.
“We didn’t look very good starting out,” Coach Wescott said.  “We got down 12-3 and it just didn’t look like we were ready to play.  Then Zak Anstine made a couple of good defensive plays which seemed to spark us and we got the game going in our direction.  We also have A.J. Langston back in the fold after the doctor cleared him to play.  It will be good to have him back, hopefully he’ll provide a lift going into district play.”
The coach also had praise for Binkley who “played his best game of the year.”  The bruising senior led the stat sheet with a double-double, 14 points and 13 rebounds. Also in double figures in the win were Yancey with 11 points and five rebounds; and Evans, who had 12 points, six rebounds, three assists and two steals.
Other stats included Anstine, seven points; Kyle Elkins, six points; Coleman, five points and nine rebounds; and Lerda, five points.
Oak Grove 57
Eagles 55
  Panther freshman Eric Gant drained an Oak Grove school record six three-pointers in the loss, but it was the poor-shooting bug that bit the Eagles and made the difference in the game.
“We missed about six layups right at the end of the game and allowed Oak Grove to take a lead in the contest that Holden had led throughout,” Coach Wescott said.  “We shot 33 percent from the floor and allowed two offensive rebounds and a stickback by Oak Grove just as the buzzer sounded.”
The Eagles had led by three at the end of the third quarter.
“We did a lot of good things in the game,” the coach added.  “We only had seven turnovers, shot 10 of 12 from the free throw line and out-rebounded them by a wide margin.  But missing the shots right at the bucket killed us.”
Leading the way in scoring was Yancey who had 16 first-half points and a total of 20 in the game.  He also had four rebounds and two steals.  Other stats were:  Evans, 12 points, five rebounds and two assists; Binkley, 10 points, seven rebounds, two assists and two steals; Coleman, seven points and six rebounds; Anstine, four points and six rebounds; and Lerda, two points.
After their final regular season game Friday night against Carrollton in the HHS gym, the four-seeded boys will go up against Imagine Renaissance Academy in the first round of the Class 3, District 14 Basketball Tournament Tuesday night at 5:30 p.m.  The games will be played at HHS.
Coach Wescott’s players of the week were Yancey, offense, Binkley, defense and Lerda, hustle.




The Holden High School girls’ varsity basketball team won two more Missouri River Valley East Conference matchups last week to move their league record to 7-1 and keep pace with the Knob Noster Lady Panthers who have also lost just one game in the conference.
Each team has handed the other their only MRVC East defeat this season.  The Lady Eagles’ overall record stands at 16-4 with two remaining regular season games this week before moving into district play next week.
During last week, Holden defeated Lexington, 58-44 and Higginsville, 48-39, both in the friendly confines of the Eagle’s gymnasium.
In the win over the Lady Minutemen, Holden played with a consistent effort and did a good job of pushing the ball according to head coach Travis Fleming.  “We didn’t play hesitantly and we were rewarded with some easy baskets early.”
Sophomore Kelsey Carver got the game rolling with a jump shot and then the Lady Eagles forced a time-out denying the ball inbounds with their pressure.
“Lauren Geisler played strong pulling down come big rebounds and got her hands on a lot of passes defensively,” Coach Fleming continued.  “She played a complete game last night.  The starting back court combined for 28 points and did a good job of finding gaps against Lexington’s zone defense.  We dominated the first three quarters and were able to rotate 12 kids through the lineup with 10 of them finding the scoring column.  All 12 found a way to contribute.”
The Lady Eagles held a 28-point lead at the end of the third period.
Scoring for the Holden girls was led by Geisler with 13, while Carver and Stacey Calhoun also scored in double figures with 10 apiece.  Other scorers included Valerie Lambert, eight; Kelsey Whitehead, seven; and Kelsey Holmes, Jenna Brockhaus, Lauren Adams, Calla Burden and Crystal Tanksley, all with two apiece.
Lady Eagles Top Lady Huskers On Senior Night, 48-39
Playing their final home game for the blue and white were seven Lady Eagle seniors.  They were Valerie Lambert, Jenna Brockhaus, Lauren Adams, Stacey Calhoun, Lauren Geisler, Calla Burden and Katie Passler.
“I was happy to see all the parents at the game,” stated the coach.  “And I thought the letters written to the seniors were all very good.  It was a great opportunity for the parents to communicate their thoughts that are shared by the coaching staff and teammates of our seniors.”
Two of those seniors, Lambert and Calhoun combined for 18 of Holden’s first-half 24 points and successfully attacked Higginsville’s zone defense.
“That’s back-to-back games that our opponents have shown zone and we’ve handled it well,” Coach Fleming continued.  “We also cleaned up on the glass.  The last two games, Geisler and Whitehead have set a good tone by grabbing boards and making strong outlet passes that we’ve turned into layups at the other end.”
The game was a struggle, as Higginsville battled all night and forced the Lady Eagles to play four strong quarters of basketball.  They trimmed the lead to only five with less than two minutes to play and Whitehead came up with a big steal and turned it into a quick bucket.
“Kelsey Holmes also came up with a big offensive rebound on a missed free throw,” Fleming added.  “When the girls play with the confidence and effort they’ve shown the last two games, they’re really fun to watch and a tough team to beat.”
Statistics for the conference win were:  Calhoun, 12 points, three steals and three assists; Lambert, 10 points, one rebound, one steal and three assists; Carver, eight points, four rebounds, one steal and three assists; Whitehead, six points, seven rebounds, six steals and one assist; Geisler, six points, five rebounds and one steal; Adams, four points, three rebounds, one steal and one assist; and Kaylee Kephart, two points.
The girls will play on the road tonight (Thursday) at Carrollton in their final regular season game.  They will begin district play as the one-seed in the Class 3, District 14 Tournament to be held at the HHS gym beginning Monday.  They will take on eight-seed Van Horn at 4 p.m. Monday and if they win that game, will play the winner of the Lee’s Summit Community Christian Hogan Prep matchup on Wednesday at 5:30 p.m.
Coach Fleming’s players of the week include Calhoun and Geisler, co-offensive; Whitehead, defense; and Adams, hustle.