In Greensburg

Good news and bad news:
First, the bad news: We’ve lost our place at the Friends Church in Haviland next week.
The good news: We’ve located a place to stay, thanks to the help of June Boettcher, the wonderful secretary at the church where we’ve stayed this week while we were working on our Greensburg project.
We knew [...]

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We’re heading back to Wichita later today. We have to be out of the church by noon so a couple from Barclay College and their families can get ready for a wedding on Saturday. The rehearsal dinner is here tonight.
Someone said they heard there were 10 weddings involving Barclay students at the church this summer. [...]

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Vic Hannan of Haviland Hardware hands a gallon of milk to Megan Gwin of Plains, who was in town to visit her parents.
Vic Hannan, proprietor of Haviland Hardware, was in Pratt this week to pick up supplies.
As he does occasionally, he stopped at an antique store to look for books while he was [...]

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You could call Chuck Toner a cynic.
The Greensburg oilfield consultant lived in Haviland after he lost his home in the May 4, 2007, tornado. He has rebuilt in Greensburg. His new home on East Grant is 800 square feet, smaller than the house he lost in the monster storm.
Chuck says he’s disgusted with the attitude [...]

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Bill Johnson on the front porch of the house he’s remodeling in Haviland.
Bill Johnson admits he’s pretty much of an anomaly. He’s a loner, but he loves being around people, especially when he can lend a hand. He’s been doing plenty of that in recent months.
We interviewed Bill on Mulberry Street in Haviland, where he [...]

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Three students spent time this afternoon looking for the former site of Starla’s Stitch ‘n’ Frame on Main Street in Greensburg.
The store is temporarily open in Mullinville. Owner Starla McClain told them she plans to relocate back to Greensburg.
At the site of the old store, the students found spools of thread and pieces of [...]

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Ian Crane, right, talks to Discovery Channel producer Mary Wallace.
It’s been a big day for our group.
A representative of the Discovery Channel approached us this afternoon while we had stopped on our bus tour at the Big Well. She asked us if we’d be willing to let her production crew follow us to do [...]

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Matt Deighton, Greensburg native and volunteer coordinator for the South Central Kansas Tornado Recovery Center, gave our group a tour this afternoon. We rode in an old school bus on loan to the volunteer center by the Church of the Nazarene in Dodge City.
The tour included a quick stop at Matt’s house, one of the [...]

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The morning group at Haviland Hardware is pretty fluid. Owner Vic Hannan serves the coffee drinkers who come and go.
Conversation ranges from all the rain the Kiowa County area has received the past few days to the new city storm sirens that should arrive soon. Government spending is a frequent topic, too. Little progress is [...]

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There was a 25-degree difference in temperature from Wichita to Greensburg this afternoon. Someone attributed it to a cold front. Obviously, as Merril Teller would say.
Not all of us (including me) brought jackets. But it’s supposed to warm up in a day or so.
Tonight, we trying to grill hamburgers on a small charcoal grill outside [...]

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