November 2022

Morris receives KBA’s highest award

Stephen Morris, Hugoton, has received the Phil Lewis Medal of Distinction for Excellence from the Kansas Bar Association at its annual meeting in Overland Park on Oct. 21. The award is the highest honor given through the organization. Morris was recognized for his commitment and dedication to the state of Kansas. He is a former president of the Kansas Senate, and a former president of the National Conference of State Legislators. He is also a retired United States Air Force officer.

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GCHS debate members qualify for state

The Garden City High School debate team competed in the Wichita Northwest tournament on Saturday and came away with first place in the overall school competition (sweepstakes). Students also placing individually in the competition were Ale Facio/Kiley Kilgore, taking first in Open with a 4-0 record; Shawn Dreiling and Trasyn Crandall placed fourth with a 3-1 record; and Addy Vannaman/ Carmen Tewell placed sixth with a 3-1 record.

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Year-end campaign, Match Day offer opportunities for support

With the conclusion of 2022 already on the horizon, those of us here at the Finney County Historical Society are inviting our members and friends to take part in our Year-End Giving Campaign. Maybe you’ve visited our long-term and changing Finney County Historical Museum exhibits, relied on our research library, heard your kids talk about the history they’ve discovered through our education program, or viewed some of the 22,000plus artifacts we maintain.

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Banner Art event celebrates art and artists

The arts and artists were celebrated at the 2022 Banner Art Auction Saturday night at Flat Mountain Brewhouse. Hosted by a partnership between Garden City Downtown Vision and Garden City Arts, the event seeks to beautify and benefit downtown Garden City. Twenty-three banners made by 22 artists were created for the event, the top 10 were auctioned off live at the event, while the rest were auctioned off in a silent auction. The banner that sold for the most at the live auction was a buffalo in acrylic paint by Kate May Finch. It sold for $1,100. Katy Guthrie, Executive Director of Garden City Arts, said the turnout was amazing for the 15th year of the annual event. “Downtown Vision and Garden City Arts decided to partner this year, we wanted to lend our aid to help increase artist participation, and to help maybe evolve this event and change it,” she said. “Downtown Vision has done an incredible job with this event, it’s beloved by our community, and we want to make sure that it continues to adapt and grow and change as the city changes.”

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GCHS ends gridiron season with regional loss to Washburn Rural

For the Garden City High School football team to have its best opportunity to produce a Class 6A regional championship win against visiting Topeka - Washburn Rural on Friday, the key was to maintain ball control, win the turnover battle and limit penalties. But for the Buffaloes, the season came to an end on the short score of 34-7 against the visiting Junior Blues in a game that just slowly, but surely slipped away from the home team on a chilly, blustery night at Buffalo Stadium. “Unfortunately, we just made too many mistakes in all phases of the game,” GCHS Head Coach Brian Hill said. “Penalties (five), turnovers (two) were just too much to win a game of this caliber of an opponent.” Washburn Rural’s first touchdown came on its first possession of the game, but the Buffs kept that drive alive with an offside penalty on a fourth-and-four situation near midfield. That drive ended on a fumble by TJ Minikwu on the Buffs’ 1-yard line, recovered by Rex Crotts. Unfortunately, the Buffs returned the gift on the next play as Caleb Wiese couldn’t get a clean snap from center and the Blues’ JC Heim pounced on the ball for a touchdown and the PAT kick was blocked, leaving the score at 6-0 Rural with 5:46 left in the first. For all practical purposes the Buffs’ offense had not been on the field, except for the one bobbled snap.

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