Rose McConnell Passes Away

Rose Mildred McConnell, 93, of Rossville, passed away Monday, September 3, 2018.

She was born February 1, 1925, in Kansas City, Kansas, the daughter of Steve and Mildred (Yarsulik) Yacmenovic. She was a graduate of Ward High School. 

Rose dedicated her life to volunteering. She was a Red Cross Volunteer for 30 years and volunteered for VFW Ladies Auxiliary and other various organizations. 

She was an active member of Christ the King Catholic Church. 

Rose married Robert F. "Bob" McConnell on August 10, 1946 in Kansas City, KS. They spent most of their married life in Overland Park. After retirement they lived in Arizona and would move back to Topeka. He preceded her in death on December 29, 2011.

She is survived by a daughter, Susan Crawford (Joe), Topeka; son, Robert W. "Bob" McConnell (Susan), Wake Forest, NC; three grandchildren; two great-grandchildren; and many nieces and nephews. 

She was preceded in death by her parents; and nine siblings. 

Rose enjoyed golfing, boating and reading. 

Mass of Christian Burial will be held at 10 a.m., Friday, September 7, 2018 at Christ the King Catholic Church in Topeka. The family will receive friends an hour prior to the service at the church. Burial will be at Noon, Friday at Resurrection Cemetery in Lenexa, KS. Dove Cremations and Funerals, Southwest Chapel is assisting the family. Memorial contributions may be made to American Red Cross, 1221 SW 17th St, Topeka, KS 66604 or Midland Care, 200 SW Frazier Circle, Topeka, KS 66606. To leave a special message for the family online, visit www.DoveTopeka.com.

Homecoming Candidates

Candidates for 2018 Homecoming Queen are Jordan Bittner, Kaytlin Dohrman, and Caila Hill, and King candidates are Garrett Carver, Elijah Daughty, and Trevor Johnson

Class 2A Football Rankings

Team ... record

1. Conway Springs (1) ... 1-0
2. Silver Lake (2) ... 1-0
3. Phillipsburg (3) ... 1-0
4. Garden Plain (NR) ... 1-0
5. Nemaha Central (4) ... 0-1
Others — Chaparral 1-0, Humboldt 1-0, Hutchinson Trinity 1-0, Maur Hill 1-0, Osage City 1-0, Riley County 1-0, Rossville 1-0, Southeast-Saline 1-0.

Notes — Last season was a struggle for Rossville, which went 2-7 after capturing three straight Class 3A state titles. Wanting to prove the season was an aberration, the Bulldawgs got off to a good start, getting a big road 26-15 win over 1A No. 2 Centralia. Next up? A clash with arch rival and 2A No. 2 Silver Lake.

James Vanderbilt Passes Away

Rossville:  James R. "Rick" Vanderbilt, 65, passed away Wednesday, August 29, 2018 at Oakley Place of Rossville.

He was born March 6, 1953 at Trenton, NJ. the son of James E. and Marie Williams Vanderbilt. Rick grew up in the Trenton area and graduated from Mercer County Community College. He was an operations manager for a printing company before moving to St. Marys.

Rick owned and operated the Cottage Inn Restaurant in Belvue for 32 years. He was a member of the Havensville Christian Church.

Rick was preceded in death by his parents and a brother-in-law Brian McMahon; and sister-in-law, June McMahon

On April 26, 1975 he was united in marriage to Teresa "Terry" McMahon at Hamilton Square, NJ. She survives of the home.

Other survivors include his children, Krista Vanderbilt, St. Marys, Kyle Vanderbilt, Overland Park, Kyra (Dustin) Dreiling, Manhattan and Kevin (Shannon) Vanderbilt, Silver Lake; four grandchildren, Aria and Beau Dreiling and Moxon and Mattox Vanderbilt; his sister, Lynda (Herb) Cameron, Jupiter, FL; brother-in-law Jeff McMahon, Yardville, NJ; sisters-in-law, Kimbra McMahon (Forrest Hurlburt) Grain Valley, MO. and Kimberly McMahon, Louisburg; several nieces and nephews.

Memorial services will be at 10:00 A.M. Saturday, September 8, 2018 at the St. Marys United Methodist Church. Memorial contributions may be made to the St. Marys Food Pantry, Belvue Fire Department or Pottawatomie County EMS and sent in care of Piper Funeral Home, 714 Maple St., St. Marys, Kansas 66536. To leave online condolences go to www.piperfuneralhome.com.

Potawatomi Nation Tour

Citizen Potawatomi Nation chairman Rocky Barrett led a ceremony Thursday morning on Burnetts Mound in southwest Topeka.

It was the first stop for Barnett, CPN vice chair Linda Capps, and tribal legislators from California, Texas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Arizona at they toured Topeka-area sites important to the tribe's history.

The Potawatomi were moved to Kansas in 1836, and had a reservation in the Topeka area when the Citizen Band and Prairie Band separated in 1861.

Barnett said the visit reminds tribe members the role played Topeka in their heritage.

"(Topeka) is where, I guess, we were born as a separate federally-recognized tribal government," he said. "It was that recognition that was able to exact that promise from the government that we would be allowed to become citizens of the United States. The rest of American Indians did not become citizens of the United States and be allowed to vote until 1924."

The tribe is now based in Oklahoma. Barnett says they've worked to build a variety of interests including health facilities, a scholarship program, and businesses including banks, a concrete plant, and grocery stores.

In addition to Burnett's Mound, the group also visited Potawatomi Baptist Mission at the Kansas History Museum, the site of old mills on Mill Creek near Maple Hill, Uniontown Cemetery near Willard, and the Vieux Family Cemetery near St. Marys.

Local tribal representative John Boursaw organized Thursday's tour with his brother, Lyman, and tribe member Mike Martin.

CPN maintains a community center and housing area in Rossville.

Rossville Gets Win At Centrailia

Rossville defeated Centrailia 26-14 on Aug 31 with a 4th quarter come from behind victory.

Rossville;  7  6  0  13—26Centralia;  0  8  6   0—14

Rossville — Carver (3) 30 run, 9 run, 74 run; Johnson 6 run. PAT — 2 kicks.
Centralia — Haverkamp (2) 1 run, 9 run. PAT — Steinlage run.

In other MEL action,  Silver Lake mauled St Marys 46-7 and Riley County rolled over Rock Creek 46-16.

The War on 24 is coming next Friday night.

Jeff West Girls Golf Invitational

    The Jeff West Invitational gold tournament was held on Sept, 30 at the Lake Perry Country Club in  Meridan.    Jenna Rodehorst and Sidney Wonnell tied for best on the Rossville team with a 53 each.

The team results were:
1.  Spring Hill     184
2.  Seaman          191
3.  Tonganoxie    207
4.  Silver Lake    212
5.  St. Marys       214
6.  Jeff West        220
7.  Rossville        223
8.  Osage City     229
9.  Santa Fe Trail 273

Volleyball Team Wins Two Matches

    The RHS volleyball team won both matches at the Rossville Triangular meet Sept 30.  The Dawgs beat Jackson Heights 25-19, 25-16 and were victors over Mission Valley 25-18, 25-13.    Their record is now 5-2.

Indian Tacos Sept. 7 to Benefit Cody Lambotte

Cross Country Results At Mission Valley Invitational

The Rossville BullDawg Cross Country team enjoyed a beautiful day at the Mission Valley Invitation Meet on Thursday, August 30th.  With two individual champions, many medalists and personal best times, it was a great day.  Rossville XC athletes will be in action at the Wamego Invitational next Saturday, September 8th.

8th Grade Boys - Hayden Sanders placed 21st, Tres Faith placed 14th, and Wade Twombly placed 10th.

7th Grade Girls - Keera Lacock placed 12th.

8th Grade Girls - Cassie Fund placed 3rd, and Amelia Foster placed 1st with a 2-mile time of 13:46.

Varsity Boys 5k - Out of 71 Runners, Bronc Reser placed 57th, Ben Price placed 27th, Justin Jordan placed 25th, and Zach Archer placed 16th. 

Varsity Girls 5k - Out of 60 runners, Alexis Zabala placed 17th, Meagan Huston placed 15th, Julia Streit placed 3rd, and Katie Dohrman placed 1st with a 5k time of 22:21.

Garrett Jones

Rossville Jr/Sr High School

Head Cross Country Coach

Celebrating Kansas Cowboys

Calling all cowboys at heart! 

The Kansas Historical Society family event celebrating the cowboy will be held 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday, September 15, 2018. It features activities on the grounds and in the Museum. Kansas Historical Society members admitted free!

For details,  go to:
https://www.kshs.org/p/west-fest-celebrating-kansas-cowboys/19070

LelLee Parr Has New Book Published

Message from KelLee Parr:

For those who haven't heard, I have been working on a book about The Willows for the past two years. In 2016 I wrote "My Little Valentine" about my mother and biological grandmother's reunion. In the process of telling their story, I began to learn more about The Willows and became fascinated with its history and Kansas City being known as the Adoption Hub of America. I decided I wanted to learn more so I began researching and have met some incredible people along the way. 

My new book is called "Mansion on a Hill." My mother always joked saying she wondered if her birth mother lived in a mansion on a hill somewhere, not knowing she herself was actually born in a mansion on a hill. Attached is a link to my website and you can read more. The eBook version is now available at Amazon, Barnes & Noble, iBooks, Kobo and other vendors. You can even preview it and leave a review there. People have started finding the eBook version and asking about a paperback book version so I figured I better go ahead and share that the paperback is coming soon. I hope it is available in two or three weeks. It is at the printers and then I have to receive a proof copy and approve it. I don't know how long that is going to take, but I will let you know the minute I know. I'll be adding more information about it here when you can order from me if you want a signed copy. I hope you enjoy the book as much as I did in researching and learning about The Willows. www.mylittlevalentinebook.com

Looking Ahead For 2018 Football

From the Capital Journal:
    The 2017 losing season was the first for the  Rossville Bulldawgs since going 4-5 in 2001, which also marked the last time the program failed to reach the playoffs before last year’s absence. The two wins marked the fewest in a season since the 1986 team went 0-9.
    As tough as last year, was, Rossville really wasn’t that far away from putting together a solid season. One of the wins came against Class 4A Division II playoff qualifier Burlington and arguably the best outing of the season was a 14-0 loss to arch rival Silver Lake, which finished 12-1.
    But after finding ways to pull out victories in tight games during its state-title runs, Rossville couldn’t replicate that a year ago. The Bulldawgs lost a late lead and fell in overtime of their district opener with Mission Valley and then suffered a two-point loss to Council Grove in the district finale.
    “We were right there,” Hammes said. “Our first district game, we were ahead and let it get away from us and that was kind of the turning point for us. Unfortunately, it wasn’t in a good way. It’s all a learning experience and I hope those experiences last year were helpful for us.“
    Whereas Rossville only returned three starters last year, the Bulldawgs enter the 2018 season with a young, yet experienced bunch. Eight starters are back on offense, while nine return on defense.
    The most glaring hole that needs to be filled is arguably the most important one, quarterback. The position has been a star-studded one in recent years with the likes of All-State Top 11 picks Tucker Horak and Jacob Bradshaw and last year’s starter, Sheldon Hulbert accounted for 2,251 of Rossville’s 2,749 total yards and 18 of the team’s 22 touchdowns.
    Rossville spent the offseason with a trio of candidates to fill those shoes — senior Garrett Carver sophomore Bo Reeves and freshman Torrey Horak. Carver, who was Hulbert’s back-up last year, likely has the inside track, but Hammes said all three bring something to the table.

Class of 69 Reunion

RHS Class of 1969 Fifty Year Reunion 

August 9-11, 2019

Start making plans now