In Greensburg

John Colclazier is a Greensburg native. He was a longtime volunteer firefighter, county appraiser for 12 years and served recently on the planning commission. He seems to be the kind of guy who works hard, but doesn’t appreciate being told how to do it — or when.
Maybe that explains the roof on one of [...]

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Funerals are more common in some western Kansas churches than weddings. That speaks volumes about the plight of small towns and their dwindling populations.
Greensburg United Methodist hosted its first wedding since it was rebuilt after the 2007 tornado. Pastor Terry Mayhew said he has conducted 11 funerals since the arrived in town two years ago. [...]

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Vic Hannan, the owner, was on vacation in New Jersey, but the coffee crowd still showed up last week at Haviland Hardware. And, for the most part, they were happy without Vic around — until the store ran out of biscuits and gravy mid-week.
Bill Johnson, the ever-present volunteer, is still helping in the Greensburg [...]

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City Hall’s lost-and-found collection may not be around much longer. The city of Greensburg has been storing items recovered after the May 2007 tornado, but they soon may have to go when the new city hall opens.
City offices have been housed in portable buildings since the storm, but city hall is expected to be ready [...]

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Evan Evans calls himself a helper — “a Martha,” a worker in the Biblical sense.
Evans, 68, and his wife Bonnie are among a group of 47 volunteers from Ainsworth United Methodist Church in Nebraska. The high school students and adult sponsors have been in Greensburg all week, performing what Evans calls handyman jobs at an [...]

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Looking for a place to build your dream green home? Greensburg resident Matt Deighton is offering a free lot in his hometown.
The 100×150-foot lot is on Spruce Street, about four blocks south of U.S. 54. He bought the property from a woman whose home was destroyed in the tornado. She later moved to Pratt, Deighton [...]

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Before today, Matt Deighton and his dalmation Molly had given 152 tours of Greensburg. He’s been using an old school bus on loan from the Church of the Nazarene in Dodge City.
Deighton’s job officially ended March 31, but he’s been tying up loose ends and handling unofficial tasks, including tour requests. The church is [...]

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Cort Anderson’s photo, which was the inspiration for the 2007 state Christmas ornament, will be on sale this weekend at his show in Topeka to benefit the South Central Kansas Tornado Relief Organization. The photo was taken in the yard of Kathy and Tom Doherty after the deadly storm. Anderson is making a limited number [...]

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Elma Hellwig and her poodle Pooler with a box of her famous cinnamon rolls.
If there’s one person in Greensburg that everyone — especially the volunteers — likes to see coming, it’s Elma Hellwig. Especially if she’s got a cardboard box of her made-from-scratch cinnamon rolls in hand.
The 86-year-old, who lives in a FEMA trailer while [...]

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Matt Deighton’s grandpa bought a 1951 Ford pickup from Ralph Baird Motors in Kinsley back in 1952. He sold it back to Baird, who was a co-pilot with actor Jimmy Stewart in World War II, in 1979.
Matt, volunteer coordinator with the South Central Kansas Tornado Recovery Organization, tried to buy the pickup from Baird, who [...]

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