Donkey Softball Game at Rossville

Back in the 50s,  the local towns would compete in games of "donkey softball" and "donkey basketball."   Of course some of the fun was the fact that the donkeys usually had a mind of their own as to where they wanted to go,

Below are pictures taken at such a game.  If you recognize the people in any of the pictures (click on picture to enlarge),  please e-mail me at frank.ruff@juno.com.

3A Wrestling Rankings

    The latest 3A wrestling rankings are out,  but no change from last week.
    The top five are:
1.  Norton
2.  ACCHS
3.  Silver Lake
4.  Rossville
5.  Hoisington

    RHS grapplers in the top five of their weight class include:
106#    Bryce Gfeller  #3
152#    Tagen Lambotte  #1
170#    Isaac Luellen  #2

Ashleigh Tidwell To Receive Scholarship

Ashleigh Tidwell, a senior from Rossville, will be a news editing intern at The Pioneer Press in St. Paul, Minn.   She is one of 102 students earning a paying internship and $1,000 scholarship from the Dow Jones News Fund.

http://news.ku.edu/2014/01/31/journalism-students-land-nationally-prestigious-reporting-editing-internships

Ben Wano, Sr., Passes Away

     Ben A. Wano, Sr., 84, Kansas City, KS, passed away Friday, January 31, 2014.
    The Funeral Mass will be at 11:00 a.m. Monday, February 3, at the Cathedral of St. Peter Catholic Church, 416 N. 14th St. Kansas City, KS. Visitation will precede the Mass from 9:30-11:00 a.m. at the Church. Entombment in Gate of Heaven Cemetery. Memorial contributions may be made to Sisters Servants of Mary or to the Cathedral of St. Peter.
    Ben was born March 25, 1929 in Rossville, KS, the son of Ben and Ruth Wano. He worked in the hardwood lumber business for many years. Ben was an avid sports fan, coach and hunter. He was skilled at wood working, loved gardening and doing things the old way.
    Ben was preceded in death by his brother, Dane Wano. He is survived by his wife of 62 years, Nadine Wano, son, Ben (Jill) Wano, Jr., and sister, Noreen Slease. (Condolences may be expressed at: www.porterfuneralhome.com.   Arrangements: Porter Funeral Home & Crematory, 1835 Minnesota Ave. Kansas City, KS.

Patricia (Coffey) (59) Essman Passes Away

Patricia Jane "Patty" Essman, age v72, passed away Thursday, January 30, 2014 at Midland Hospice in Topeka, Kansas.

Patty was born on November 27, 1941 in Richmond Kansas.  She was one of nine children born to Joseph Richard and Mary Belle Coffey.  She moved to Rossville at an early age living on a farm west of town with Harry and Etta Gutshall.  During her years at Rossville High School she participated in many activities including drum majorette for the band and she was an RHS cheerleader.  She graduated from Rossville High School in 1959.

After high school, Patty married Gerald D Perry and together they raised four children in Rossville. As a devoted mother of four, she was a stay-at-home mom involved in many of the children's activities such as 4H and girl scouts.  She worked for Kidney Insurance Company from the office and at home as she raised her children.  In 1974, Patty and Jerry divorced.

She married Samuel R. Essman of Topeka on January 30, 1976 and they had a daughter together.  Patty, Sam and their daughter moved to Texas in 1978 where she worked for Assurance Specialist of Texas as an insurance specialist for almost 35 years.  She and Sam were members of the Tree of Life Church and volunteered time to Sunday communion services.  After many happy years of marriage, she lost her husband Sam on December 20, 2002.  Patty continued to live in Texas until June of 2013 when she retired and returned to Kansas.

Patty is survived by her children Tammy (Chris) Petrocelli, NJ, Sherrie Thomas, Topeka, Tate (Kristy) Perry, Silver Lake, Holly (Scott) Graves, Rossville, Crystal (Narciso) Gomez, TX and 20 grandchildren and 8 great-grandchildren. Also surviving are her step-children Randy Essman, Terry (Linda) Essman, Keith Essman, Benny Essman and Diane DeHart, all of Topeka.  Surviving siblings include a brother, Fred Coffey and sister Shirley Kitto of Parker and Phyllis (David) Stadler of Rossville.

She was also preceded in death by her parents and siblings, Sheldon Eugene, Mary Lou, Etta Yvonne, Joseph Richard and Betty Jo.

Mrs. Essman will lie in state and the family will receive friends from 5:00pm until 7:00pm on Saturday, February 1, 2014 at Piper Funeral Chapel in Rossville. A memorial service will be held at 3:00pm Wednesday, February 5, 2014 at the Rossville Bible Church. Inurnment will follow at the Rossville Cemetery.   In lieu of flowers Memorial Contributions may be made to Midland Hospice and sent in care of Piper Funeral Chapel, P.O. Box 642, Rossville, Kansas 66533. Online condolences may be sent to www.piperfuneralhome.com.

3A Wrestling Team Rankings

    The latest 3A wrestling rankings are out.  Rossville has been passed by ACCHS and Silver Lake in the last week.   RHS has dropped from second to fourth.
    The top five are:
1.  Norton
2.  ACCHS
3.  Silver Lake
4.  Rossville
5.  Hoisington

    RHS grapplers in the top five of their weight class include:
106#    Bryce Gfeller  #3
152#    Tagen Lambotte  #1
170#    Isaac Luellen  #2
 

Area Wrestling Leaders

106 — Butler, Council Grove, 24-3; McDowell, Abilene, 21-1; Gfeller, Rossville, 20-7; D. Leckner, Wellsville, 20-7; Gallegos, St. Marys, 18-8; Davis, Santa Fe Trail, 17-7; Bloom, Wamego, 13-4; Marsh, Silver Lake, 11-3.

132 —Jo. Lutz, Holton, 23-1; Himpel, Tonganoxie, 22-2; Gentry, Rossville, 21-7; Clemens, Manhattan, 20-4; Howerton, Silver Lake, 19-3; Hutchins, Burlingame, 19-6; Canfield, Concordia, 19-12; Goebel, Council Grove, 17-8; Lott, Chapman, 15-7.

152 — Leeper, Manhattan, 27-6; Lambotte, Rossville, 23-1; Failer, St. Marys, 23-7; Huseman, Tonganoxie, 22-3; Asebedo, Wellsville, 22-5; Lovvorn, Holton, 20-2; Beck, Onaga, 20-3; Ridder, Rock Creek, 19-8; Johnson, Wabaunsee, 17-5; Rickley, Clay Center, 11-0; Mintzmyer, Marysville, 11-6.

170 — Luellen, Rossville, 25-7; Harris, Atchison, 23-1; Ogden, Royal Valley, 21-6; Baum, Holton, 19-5; Parenti, Ottawa, 19-7; Mullin, Manhattan, 19-12; Dowding, Jefferson West, 18-5; Birkinsha, Atchison County, 17-4; Baumgartner, Sabetha, 16-6; Litke, Council Grove, 16-10.



PINS
20 — Bleakley, St. Marys;

18 — Speer, Doniphan West.

17 — Dunlap, Doniphan West; Scott, Jefferson West.

16 — Harris, Atchison.

15 — Huseman, Tonganoxie.

14 — Ashley, Royal Valley; Gfeller, Rossville; Ogden, Royal Valley.

13 — Hayden, Chapman; Lambotte, Rossville; Tyler, St. Marys.

12 — Blow, Onaga; Failer, St. Marys; Fee, Doniphan West; Lisher, Baldwin; Litke, Council Grove; Wages, St. Marys.

11 — Burenheide, Rock Creek; Butler, Council Grove; McDowell, Abilene; Metzger, Burlington; Wallingford, Atchison; Ga. Ware, Clay Center; Zook, Chapman.

10 — Bailey, Royal Valley; Baugh, Abilene; Beck, Onaga; Davis, Santa Fe Trail; Dultmeier, Silver Lake; Feyh, Wamego; Fredrick, Onaga; Gallegos, St. Marys; Gentry, Rossville; Goebel, Council Grove; Luellen, Rossville; Perry, Emporia; Quaney, Burlingame; Rychlec, Burlington; Torres, Emporia; Wallace, Manhattan; Wilson, Abilene.

Vivian Crowl Passes Away

Vivian E. Crowl, 88, of Topeka, died Monday, January 27, 2014 at the Rossville Healthcare Center. Services will be held at St. David s Episcopal Church in Topeka on Saturday morning March 15, 2014. Please read more at www.midwestcremationsociety.com

Larry Kramer Passes Away

    Larry Ronald Kramer, age 71, born April 6, 1942 in Austin, Minn., died Saturday, January 25, 2014 at the Rossville Health Care and Rehabilitation Center with Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE).
    http://www.legacy.com/obituaries/heralddemocrat/obituary.aspx?n=Larry-Kramer&pid=169380657

    Larry Kramer has his own Wikipedia page which outlines his football coaching career at:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Larry_Kramer_(American_football)

Dalton McIntyre-Nichols (10) Passes Away

   Dalton Ray McIntyre-Nichols, 21, died Monday, January 27, 2014 at his home in Manhattan as a result of end stage renal disease.

    He was born February 22, 1992 at Topeka the son of Sage Nelson and Steven G. McIntyre and was adopted by his grandparents G. Gene and Arletta Sage Nichols.  He grew up in Rossville and attended school there graduating from RHS is 2010.  Dalton had lived in Manhattan the past three years.

    He was preceded in death by a grandfather Kenneth Ray Smith who also died of renal disease.

    Survivors include his mother, Sage Nelson, Manhattan; his father Steven McIntyre, Clay Center; his grandparents, Gene and Arletta Nichols, Topeka and Edith McIntyre, Clay Center; a brother, Jeramy Matyak, Silver Lake; two sisters, Karey Sublett-Nichols, Rossville and Katey Sublett-Nichols, Dennison.

    A Memorial pot-luck dinner will be held at 200 P.M. Saturday, February 1, 2014 at the Rossville Community Center, Rossville.  Memorials to help with funeral expenses may be sent to Piper Funeral Home, 714 Maple St, St. Marys, Kansas 66536.    To view he guestbook,  or to leave condolences,  go to:    http://piperfuneralhome.com/obituaries/dalton-ray-mcintyre-nichols/ 

RHS Boys Get Win Over Frankfort

    The RHS boys basketball team hit eight 3-point shots to make for an easy victory at Frankfort on Jan. 28.    The Dawgs are now 3-10 for the season.

Rossville                15     15     18     12     =     60
Frankfort              15       8        9      12     =     44

Rossville scoring: 

Horak                             6 (2)       0-0       14
Horak                             4 (4)       2-4       14
Horak                             3 (1)        6-8       13
Schultz-Pruner           3 (1)        0-0        7
Sowers                            3               1-6        7
Woodcock                    0              3-4        3
Roduner                        1               0-2        2 

Totals                           20 (8)    12-24   60

Lady Dawgs Defeat Frankfort 46-34

    The RHS girls picked up an easy road win at Frankfort to bring their season record to 7-6 on Jan. 28.

Rossville          7     11     12     16     =     46

Frankfort        9        6     11       8     =     34

Rossville  scoring:

Hill                            6 (3)           3-4        18
Kirk                          4                  2-2        10
Steckel                    2 (2)           0-0          6
VanderPutten      2                  0-0         4
Nitsch                      1                  2-3          4
Dick                          1                  0-0          2
Shinn                       0                  2-4          2
Totals                     16 (5)         9-13      46

RHS Wrestling at Holton Invitational

The RHS wrestling team competed in the Holton Invitational on Jan. 25 and finished sixth of the 17 teams entered.

The team standings  and points were:
1.    Holton    231.5
2.    Gardner-Edgerton  200.5
3.    Baldwin   177.5
4.    Andover  Central  161
5.    Lansing   121.5
6.    Rossville   107.5
7.    Shawnee Hts.    106
8.    Pratt        100
9.    Tonganoxie    79.5
10.  Osawatomie  79
11.  Ottawa     78
12.  Wichita East    64.5
13.  Onaga       59
14.  Oskaloosa   36
15.  Pleasant Ridge   17
16.  Alma-Wabaunsee    4
17.  Perry-Lecompton    3

Individual efforts:
106 lb.    Bryce Gfeller (20-7) placed 2nd and scored 24 points.
120 lb.    Trevor Balch (11-6) placed 5th and scored 15 points
132 lb.    Jake Gentry (21-7) placed 3rd and scored 19.5 points
138 lb.    Derek Gentry (13-12) placed 5th and scored  11 points
145 lb.    Alex Bird (9-17) did not place.
152 lb.    Tagen Lambotte (24-1) placed 1st and scored 26 points
160 lb.    Lee Hester (4-10) did not place.
170 lb.    Isaac Luellen (25-7) placed 5th and scored 11 points.
182 lb.    Zach Jensen (3-9) did not place

Match by match results can be read at:
http://www.kawvalley.k12.ks.us/schools/rjshs/athletics/wrestling/13-14/14_holton.pdf

St. Stanislaus Parish bingo Feb 9

St. Stanislaus Parish bingo will be held at 2 to 4 p.m. Sunday, Feb. 9, in Dekat Hall, Rossville.
Sandwiches and desserts will be available.
Proceeds benefit the St. Stanislaus Building Fund.