Kathy (Becker) (66) Billings Passes Away

    

      Kathleen “Kathy” Ruth Becker Billings, 67, of Sparta, NC passed away Monday, May 2, 2016 in her home after a short illness.Kathy was born October 28, 1948 in Ft. Riley, KS to William H. and Dorothy Jenkins Becker.  
       Kathy grew up in rural Kansas, attending school in Rossville, KS and graduated from Rossville High School in 1966. Upon graduation she took a job at Blue Cross Blue Shield of Kansas in Topeka, where she later returned to work when they moved back to the area in the mid-80’s. Her career also included positions as Marina office manager in Homestead, FL; the Melville Shoe Company and M & M Drugs in Sparta. Kathy accepted Jesus as her Lord and Savior at age 15. She was a member of the Whitehead Union Baptist Church and served as it's Clerk. Kathy was an unassuming, kind, loving and determined person, who was always ready to lend a heart and a hand. Her smile and sense of humor lightened anyone’s load. She touched many lives and will be greatly missed. 
     Kathy married James L. Billings on December 10, 1972 in Homestead, FL. He preceded her in death.Other survivors include one brother, Steven Becker (Sharon) of Lakewood, CO; one sister, Patty McQueen (Lee) of Kearney, NE; one son, Daniel Billings (Dina) of Winter Park, FL; one daughter, Michelle May (Grant Melon) of Homestead, FL; one son-in-law Ron van Immerzeel of Santa Clara, CA; 9 grandchildren; 10 great grandchildren; two sister-in-law’s, Reba Wyatt and Doris Dotson both of Glade Valley; one brother-in-law Kyle Jordan of Ennice; numerous nieces and nephews; and many friends.Kathy was preceded in death by her husband; her parents; a son, Frank Billings and a daughter, Lori Billings van Immerzeel.     

       Services will be held at Grandview Memorial Funeral Home in Sparta at 2pm Friday, May 6. Elder Allen Edwards and Elder Gwyn Hamm will officiate. Visitation will begin at 1pm. Internment will be at the Whitehead-Joines Cemetery. In lieu of flowers, the family suggests memorial contributions to the Whitehead Church Road Fund and may be left/sent in care of the funeral home, 789 Grandview Drive, Sparta, NC 28675. Online condolences may be made atwww.grandviewfuneralhome.com. 

Kyle Parr At State Track Meet

    Kyle Parr won the Triple Jump competition at the 3A track meet with a mark of 44:0.75.  He was third in the final for the 300 Meter Hurdles  (40.73) and was third in his preliminary heat for the 110 Meter Hurdles.

RHS Boys At 3A Track Regional

The RHS boys track team finished in a tie for fifth place out of the 16 teams competing at the 3A Regional at Hoyt.  The teams finished as below.

 1) Silver Lake 98
 2) Seneca-Nemaha Central 70
 3) Sabetha 44
 4) Oskaloosa 43
 5) Wathena-Riverside 40
 5) Osage City 40
 5) Rossville 40
 8) Hoyt-Royal Valley 31.5
 9) Eskridge-Mission Valley 29
10) Easton-Pleasant Ridge 27
11) Atch-Maur Hill Mt Acad 24
12) St. Marys 23
13) Perry-Lecompton 18.5
14) Marysville 17
15) Hiawatha 11
16) Atchison County Community 2

Kyle Parr was the team leader winning the 110 M Hurdles and Triple Jump and coming in third in the 300 M Hurdles. Lorenzo Mason turned in an excellent 3rd place in the 800 M and ninth in the 600 M.   The 4 x 800 Relay team came in second,  composed of Trevor Balch, Zach Jenson, Holden Hurla and Lorenzo Mason.

RHS Girls At 3A Regional Track

The RHS girls finished 9th of 15 teams at the 3A Regional track and field meet at Hoyt.  The final team standings were:

 1) Seneca-Nemaha Central 126
 2) Silver Lake 91
 3) Marysville 54
 4) Hiawatha 50
 5) Sabetha 45
 6) St. Marys 42
 7) Atchison County Community 34
 8) Atch-Maur Hill Mt Acad 28
 9) Rossville 18
10) Oskaloosa 17
11) Perry-Lecompton 14
12) Hoyt-Royal Valley 12
13) Eskridge-Mission Valley 11
14) Osage City 9
15) Easton-Pleasant Ridge 7

The best performances were turned in by Rachel Day, Taylor Bittner, Kaytlin Dohrman and Jordan Bittner.  Rachel was third in the 100 M and fifth in the 200 M.  Jordan was fourth in the 1600 M and seventh in the 3200 M.  Kaytlin was third in the 3200. Jordan ws eighth in the 300 M Hurdles.

Rossville Rattlers Schedule for 2016

The Rattlers begin their season Thursday, June 2, at home.

Click on schedule below to enlarge.

Derek Gentry To Wrestle At BCCC

 Derek Gentry is pictured seated with his parents, Shari and Jim Gentry, and brother Trent. 

Standing behind are RHS Head Wrestling Coach Curt Brecheisen and Asst. Coach Cody Lambotte.

 

Derek Gentry has also signed a letter of intent to walk on at Barton County Community College.  Derek was a 3 time state qualifier for the Dawgs and has led the team in reversals and headlocks the past 3 seasons.  Derek has put up 107 wins in his career at Rossville High.
                                                                                       Curt Brecheisen,  RHS Wrestling Coach

Alex Cavanaugh To Wrestle At Pratt

Photo courtesy of the Yearbook Staff

Alex Cavanaugh is pictured seated with his parents, Shawness and Patrick Cavanaugh. 

Standing behind are RHS Head Wrestling Coach Curt Brecheisen and Asst. Coach Cody Lambotte.

Alex Cavanaugh has  recently signed a letter of intent to wrestle at Pratt Community College next year.  Alex  is a 3 time state medalist, winning 3rd place the last two seasons as a Dawg wrestler.  He has posted 81 victories in his two seasons at Rossville and helped the Dawgs earn 2 state team trophies.
                                                                              Curt Brecheisen,  RHS Wrestling Coach

Rattler Season Starts June 2

  . Opening Night for the Rossville Rattler's 2016 season is 

Thursday, June 2nd at 7:00 PM! 

Make plans to be at Joe Campbell Stadium as the 

Rattlers take on the Junction City Brigade! 

Alan Jeffers Declared Hero

ROSSVILLE (KSNT) – Thursday’s thunderstorms and tornadoes caused a lot of damage throughout the state.

And for those who were caught in the thick of it, it could have been worse.

A Rossville man has been deemed a hero for his quick action by providing shelter.

Alan Jeffers says don’t call him special, he says he was just doing what was right.

High winds up to 70 miles per hour and brief tornado blew through Rossville and Silver Lake along Highway 24 Thursday afternoon.

With some quick thinking, Jeffers took action.

“When the sirens went off, we just kept the doors open for all our customers that was traveling,” said Jeffers.

Jeffers is the manager at the Casey’s General Convenience Store right off of Highway 24 in Rossville. During the storm he provided shelter for about 60 people, including a bus full of children, and a family from Missouri.

That family was Corey Sloan’s wife, his mother-in-law, his daughter and his two grand-children, ages 8 and 3.

“The last words I said to my wife was, ‘Get out of the vehicle’. I could hear the tornado sirens in the background,” said Sloan. “She told my granddaughter to run, and then the phone went dead. My entire life was in that Casey’s in Rossville, Kansas yesterday.”

During that tornado watch, Jeffers brought some of the children and adults to the cooler for shelter. Others found safety in the gas stations bathrooms, and storage rooms.

“It is pretty important to me to know that my family was taken care of by complete strangers,” Sloan says.

“I had no problem doing it. It just shows comfort to other people knowing that if their family is out on the road that they can go to a Casey’s or at least here…They can come and take shelter here,” says Jeffers.

Sloan say’s he personally thanked Jeffers for protecting his family. He even called the Casey’s General Store headquarters to tell them about his new found hero.

You can view KSNT video about Jeffers at:  http://ksnt.com/2016/05/27/small-town-hero-rossville-man-takes-action-during-severe-storms/

Rattler Baseball Clinic July 12

Click on below to enlarge.  Enroll now for the July 12 clinic in Rossville

Baseball Festival & Film

From the Capital-Journal:

Fans of both sports and history will have the opportunity this weekend to learn about baseball when it was spelled base ball and played without gloves or fences.

Six teams, some with players from as far away as Colorado and Minnesota, will compete Saturday and Sunday at the Free State Base Ball Festival on the Felker Soccer Fields, S.W. 25th and Gage Boulevard, in a tournament using the 1860 rules for the game.

The weekend also will include the Topeka debut of “Town Teams: Bigger than Baseball,” a 40-minute documentary on the influence of baseball on small Kansas towns at the turn of 20th century. The movie includes the reenactment of a 1919 game played near El Dorado that was filmed last October at the Joe Campbell Stadium in Rossville.

Members of the Topeka Westerns, the host team of the festival, participated in the game reenactment.

In addition to the Westerns, the games from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturday and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sunday will include the Topeka Shawnees, the Hodgeman Nine from the western Kansas town of Jetmore, the Emporia White Stockings, the Colorado Territorial All-Stars and a Minnesota Union team that includes players from the Rochester (Minn.) Roosters, the Lincoln (Neb.) Olympics and two Wichita players. Spectators can watch the games at no cost.

“Town Teams: Bigger than Baseball” will have its free Topeka screening at 7 p.m. Saturday at the Jayhawk Theatre, 720 S.W. Jackson.

The documentary was written and directed by Kansas City filmmaker Mark Honer, who said the movie “explores the role of baseball in everything from assimilating immigrants, to labor relations, to its function as a powerful tool in the battle between towns for economic supremacy.”

Honer, in a Sept. 29 story in The Topeka Capital-Journal, said he intended to make a documentary about the El Dorado oil field and the 100-year anniversary of the economic boom it created. When he discovered someone else had done such a documentary, he shifted his attention to something he found in his research: the prevalence of small-town baseball teams and the stiff competition among them.

“When I started researching the film, I fell in love with the players,” Honer said. “Most of them put in 70 hours a week at their jobs. But when the weekend came, they put on these heavy, wool uniforms and played baseball in the scorching hot sun. Now that’s loving the game.”

The game recreated for “Town Teams” was one between two towns, Midian and Oil Hill, which no longer exist. Joe Campbell Stadium was selected because it is the region’s oldest wood stadium.

The movie also includes Bill Hesse, a former town team player from Rossville, as he watches film of himself playing ball some 70 years earlier.

Also in “Town Teams” is rarely seen footage of the “Silver Ball” trophy that was awarded to the first Kansas state baseball champion in 1867. The first recipient was the Kaw Valley team from Lawrence.

Cultural context is provided by an all-star cast of baseball authors and historians.

“The amateur baseball players reflect the real America,” said Dorothy Seymour Mills, who co-authored the first scholarly history of the game. Her three-volume history, “Baseball: The Early Years” (1960), “The Golden Age” (1971) and “The People’s Game” (1990), still stands as the benchmark against which other baseball history books are measured. Honer also interviews state and local baseball historians, like Steve Dodson, a history professor at Allen County Community College in Iola.

“Town Teams” is produced and distributed by Destination Hope, which does business as DHTV Digital, a film and video production company in Shawnee.

Looking For Hosts For Rattler Players

Free Kids Lunches This Summer

      The St Stanislaus Catholic Church & Harvesters Community Food Network are sponsoring lunch to all kids 0-18 years of age from 12:30 to 1:00 every Tuesday, Thursday & Friday from June 2 to August 11 at the Rossville Park Shelter House. Lunch is free to all kids.  

3A State Golf Tournament

    The Rossville High golf team did not go to the 3A State tournament played on May 23 at the Salina Municipal Golf Course,  but three team members did qualify at the Regional.    Gabe Marney fnished the state meet in the 49th spot with an 88.  Andrew Hudson was 60th with a 91 and Kole Davoren was 98th with a 109.