Elk County Forum

Hi there! My partner Terrell and I have purchased the brick church on Wabash street, so I guess we're your new "neighbors"! We're really excited about converting the building into our home and studio (I do shard-art mosaic) and to add a little more color to the community. We've been reading the forum for a few days now and appreciate the kindness, humor and hometown pride we've seen so far. I'm sure he and I will have many town-related questions to ask, so you'll be "seeing" quite a lot of us here on the forum.

The first question we have is about the little house at Wabash and Elk (I think that's it....) that is being sold at auction. Does someone know when the auction starts (I'm pretty sure it's this Saturday, but not sure of the showing/bidding times). We'd like to be there, but have obligations in Wichita early that evening. Any information you can give will be greatly appreciated!

Lynne (aka Indy)

it is this saturday and i think it stars aroud 9:30 to 10 a.m. i'll get you clearer info later,

It starts at 10:00 am, real estate sells at 1pm.  You could probably find a sale bill at P & J's out on the highway.  And welcome to Howard.  We've been wondering what was going on at the church.

Thanks for the info on the auction. We're planning to be there, and those hours should work out fine.

We visited Howard this past Saturday to check out the church, the town and county. We've even met a few of the townsfolk (Julie and Marvin at the grocery store, Knute at the recycling corner (Ruthie stopped by and said hi, too), and had lunch at Poplar Pizza (which serves awesome pizza!)

You probably already know the church needs some work, but we plan to get the place fixed up pretty spiffy. If you see us out there (Saturdays for starters), please stop by and say hi.

just incase you are worried ther will be food there tooooo! :o ;)

Food?? Like hot dogs and homemade pie and hot cocoa kind of food? Woo hoo! We'll be there for sure! (Does anyone in town make to-die-for chicken and dumplings or noodles??)

My name is Terrell and I'm Indygal's fella and the other half of "The Newcomers." I've beena lurker a few times just getting to know some folks through their words and stories. I'm looking forward to meeting one and all. Fun not to be a lurker any more (what a lurky word). Wanted to be fairly low key until the ebay business was done. Now it's just a matter of getting round about and shaking hands and making howdies.

We're both tickled to be joining the community (this and that - lol) Two communities for the price of one. Well, actually, I suppose this one is free. Oh heck, let's not quibble (or babble?). Really too excited to be communicating in other than babbles and giggles and that sort of thing, but I really did want to use my initial login to say hello and .... well, Hello!

Ya'll have done an awesome job on this site and the hard work, care and pride in your efforts shows. Congratulations! Well done! As a card carrying computer nerd I give ten toes UP. (fingers are too busy tiptapping away - go figger)

Please do say howdy if you get a chance. I'll be checking the string fairly often. More fun than checking to see what's slipped past the Junk filter on MSN - by far.   lol

We'll be getting to town weekends to get stuff(s) done and hang out in our to-be home. So, if you happen to spot us on the prowl, do stop and say howdy. We're looking forward to meeting new friends and neighbors.

My best wishes to all and thanks for providing this lovely soap box to stand upon and babble forth from.

Cheers, Terrell

Since I said "Welcome to Howard" to Indygal, I am honor bound to say "Welcome to Howard" to Terrell as well.  So, Welcome to Howard, Terrell.  Can't play favorites here.  Altho some, I won't mention names, would say I favor Janet.

Welcome, indygal and terrell.  I am the favorite, Janet, ha ha.  Wilma is my mother.  Ms. T, who is the webmaster and co-owner of this site is one of my best friends.  Her husband, Kjell, created this site and once in awhile will join us with his wisdom.  They live just north up the street from the church you have bought.

When we were kids, our Aunt Elizabeth and Uncle Loren Kling owned and lived in the house just south of the church.  When we would come to Howard, we would play with their kids and would usually end up running up and down the steps of the church.

When I was a teenager, the Severy Methodist Youth Choir came to that church and sang for the members there.  We sang a song acappella as that church did not believe in using musical instrutments.  At least that is what I was told.  They did not have a piano.  It could be at that time they couldn't afford a piano.

Now to go further into history, my mother (Wilma) has a nephew named Stanley, who was a lay minister for that church.  Stan would come out from Wichita when it was his turn to preach.  I never did get to go when he was here, so don't know how good of job he did.

Well, enough just going on and going on.  Welcome again.

I am sure Stan did a good job of preaching.  Remember how he could talk when you all were just youngsters.  He would have made a good lawyer, too.

Greetings all!

Thank you for the welcome messages. Woke up excited about recent events and coming events and realized how wonderful it is to be alive and welcoming new experiences, possibilities and the progression of life tpward Howard of Elk County, Kansas, of the United States of America. I'm so looking forward to becoming a citizen of Howard. It's really a terrific place to hang one's hat. I guess I'm just a small town guy at heart, which is strange having spent my nurturing years in Seattle, Washington, which is a pretty big city by any standard. It seems the older I get the more I crave the pace and patterns of quieter environs and the culture of a smaller, but rich of heart, community. It will be difficult to wait for the weekends to put on our Howard hats and be where we hope to BE.

Janet's recounting of playing on the lawn of the church brought memories back of my childhood visits to my grandparents' home in a little town (then) in central Washington state named Yakima. We children played on lawns, danced with the bees, and wandered the blocks of scrabbled streets and through back yards and trees without fear and fences to hinder our adventures. That music of childhood joy has echoed through my lifetime and grows louder with each step toward Elk county. I have always longed for a return to that sort of world and find myself feeling very comfortable with the song of Howard. Not to worry, you won't find Lynne or me dancing or tossing sticks in your back yard, but you'll probably see us walking the time scratched streets, lost in conversation and gazing at the porches and pathways that sing their own histories.

I am amazed at the thought of a 60 year old building that has never felt the vibrations of a musical instrument other than the human voice. I'm looking forward to bringing music to that space a lot more. I play the guitar a bit and so there will be a christening of sorts, in my fashion, with my old starvation guord. But both Lynne and I love musics of the world and so you shouldn't be surprised to be near our corner and hear strains of Brahms to Patti Smith bounding around the place and pouring into the yard. I'm also looking toward mingling with other musicians who might gather to play and sing together on occasion. If you see me sitting on the steps with my battered old six string, have a sit and hum a few bars. We'll figure it out.

Do please keep clueing us in about our new environs. I'm expecting to have lots of questions about living supplies, merchants and artisans. It is our intent to use local resources as much as possible in our process of nesting in the old church so we'll be coming to you folks for your advice on who to contact and or where to find this and that. Always so many this and thats you know.

Thanks again for your welcomes. I look forward to tipping a cuppa with all at some point in the near future and catching up on lives full of pathways to here and now in Howard.

Good morning to all - - Have a terrific day. See you this weekend somewhere in Howard and here in the meantime.

Cheers, Terrell

WOW, methinks we have a writer in our midst.

In regards to the church building and musical instruments--this is just a brief explanation regarding the churches of Christ.  They are non-denominational and base their worship on what is authorized and taught in the New Testament.  Acappella singing is the only music that is used.

Lois:  Do you know if this church was always a Church of Christ or was it originally built by another church group?

According to the Elk County History book, (page 83), the building was erected in the fall of 1944.  There is a picture of it and about two paragraphs telling about it in the book. It was the Church of Christ  congregation that erected the building.

Quote from: indygal on October 17, 2006, 02:44:28 PM
Food?? Like hot dogs and homemade pie and hot cocoa kind of food? Woo hoo! We'll be there for sure! (Does anyone in town make to-die-for chicken and dumplings or noodles??)

yes, there will be hot dogs and if i'm right pie.
no one make to-die-for-chicken-and-dumplings, but somebody does make good chicken and noodles!! ;D

Hi there!

Nice to see so much activity here, and thanks for finding out when the church was built and by whom. We knew it was some time in the '40s, but not sure of the date. I also did some research into the Church of Christ denomination, and found out that they allowed only acapella singing. I don't think we'll disturb the "vibe" too much with our music, but Terrell is absolutely right: you won't know what you might hear coming from the windows. One day might be John Denver, one day might be Prince, one day might be Ravi Shankar and the next might be Glenn Miller or Sugar Ray. I do promise there will be no opera or rap, but other than that, no guarantees!

Just curious about utilities. I understand there is trash pickup; is that on a specific day(s)? Do the water/sewer bills tend to be high or low? We currently have Westar so we have an idea what electric runs, but what about gas? The folks who showed us the church weren't able to answer these questions specifically, because naturally a church wouldn't have the same type of usage that a household would have.

Also, where is the lake? We didn't see one while we were driving around the area. We went down to Moline and Elk Falls, but didn't notice any lakes in the area. (The falls are very cool, but you folks already know that! LOL)

Does the video rental place have current movies? Does the library have movies for loan? Not that we'll have much time for sitting around the TV for a LONG long while, but it's still nice to know. Also, we were told there's a used book store, so we're hoping that's true.

I have to say I am VERY impressed with the new grocery store. The prices are great! I was very concerned, as some time ago we went to Fall River and visited the grocery there. They wanted $3 (or something outrageous) for a box of cake mix (that probably had been on the shelf since Betty Crocker was a Girl Scout). Did I miss seeing it, or does the new grocery not have fresh produce? It's possible I overlooked it. We do plan to have a sizable garden and may even do a "farmer's market" at some point. Do you think folks would be interested in something like that?

OK, enough questions (at least for now!) We really appreciate this web site -- and the people who use it!

PS: Glad to hear about those chicken noodles and even MORE glad to hear about pie! Woo Hoo!

PPS: Reading the thread about the ladies' restroom and hair removal experiences made me to laugh so hard I nearly squirted milk through my nose! (I was eating my breakfast toast while at the computer, lest you think I'm capable of secreting dairy products at will...eeks!) Thanks for starting my day with giggles!

Trash pickup is on Friday for the west side of town and on Thursday for the east side of town.  I don't know where that puts you.  The water, trash, sewer and gas all come on the same bill from the city.  Sewer is 22.00 and trash is 14.50 a month.  Of course water and gas depend on how much you use.  My water was 25.00 and the gas was 30.00 last month.

The lake is a couple of miles east of town on a county road.  I don't know the name of the road but it goes straight east from the veterinary's on the highway.

I don't know anything about the video rental place, except that there is one.  The library is open afternoons, Mon., Wed., Fri. and yes there is a store that has used books, somewhere on Wabash.  Have I covered everything?

The new grocery store is very nice and has a very good selection of the necessities.  Having moved here from Sedgwich County a little over a year ago, I am still not used to the limited shopping.  I have to go back over there once in awhile just for that.  I don't miss my old home at all.

Thanks, Wilma. You did a great job answering my questions. Although I'm a small-town girl, I've still not lived in a town smaller than 7,000, so I'm sure there will be a bit of " transplant shock" for a while. I know already I won't miss the noise or traffic of Wichita. Whereabouts in Sedgwick County did you live, Wilma? We're in the southeast part of town, close enough to McConnell and Kellogg to get plenty of noise from both. I'm glad to hear you've settled into the Howard community with no regrets, and we're looking forward to doing the same.

According to your figures, the utilities are a bit higher than what we pay now. Our water/sewer bill generally runs less than $20 a month, but I know a small-town situation is different. Trash pickup is about the same, though.

We were looking at a few of the old photos of Howard in the good ol' days and were wondering where was the old high school located? What's there now? Also, I enjoyed reading the story of cousins playing on the church steps while visiting the relatives next door. Thank you for sharing that bit of your childhood with us. ;->

I'll try to be a little more specific with some answers.  The video store does have current DVD's and VCR movies to rent.  They keep pretty current.  The library does loan out family movies.

The used book store must be something that Dorothy Tiffany has.  It is probably in that building that is just north of Lanning's Auto.

The lake is called Polk Daniels Lake and it is located on Killdeer Road which is just south of the Howard Vet Clinic.  To fish you have to buy a permit at either the city office or try to find the chief of police to get one.  P & J's may sell them, but I'm not sure.

Moline's Lake is north of the city.  You have to go north out of town on a city street, follow Biddle St to the cemetery, then take a right on the road that cuts the cemetery in half, follow that road until it turns back to the east, then take the first left or north on the county road to the lake.  It is easy to see.

Elk FAlls does not have a lake.  They get rural water which comes out of the Moline Lake.  The city of Longton gets their water from Elk River and this can be a problem when the pumps quit or there isn't any rain.

Grenola gets their water from the Caney River and also has a hook up to the rural water system in case of drought, etc.

The city of Fall River, which is in Greenwood County except for two blocks on the south that is in Elk County gets their water from the city of Fredonia which gets their water from the Fall River Lake.  How much sense does that make????

As for your truck graden, we are always interested in fresh produce, however; the grocery store does have fresh produce.  Currently it is in an upright cooler on the north side of the store.  Things like apples and oranges are kept in the cooler in the back and you have to ask for them.  They keep lettuce, cauliflower, radishes, carrots, the salad in the bag, oh, I just can't remember everything.

Does any of this help?

I had a small acreage just south of 89th South, west of Seneca.  My husband and I lived there for 26 years.  We moved there from Severy in 1979.  He died in 2004 and I moved back here as soon as I could get everything settled and get rid of it.  Actually, I am a transplant from Sedgwich County to Elk County, to Ottawa County, back to Severy, back to Sedgwich County and home again.

And you need to learn to type the word Sedgwick, Mother.  ha ha

You dare to criticize your mother?

Wilma and Janet, you two crack me up! Wilma, if it makes you feel any better, when I first moved to Kansas in 2000, I had a hard time remembering Wichita doesn't have two t's (I kept spelling it "Witchita"...ouch....)

VERY relieved to hear about the bagged salad and other produce at the grocery...whew....but it's also good to know fresh veg in the summertime is an option too. I can't predict how big next summer's garden will be, we may just start with tomatoes, peppers, cukes...will have to see what grows and what doesn't.

There's apparently an old well on the property and we're hoping it can be used. We'll have to find someone who knows more about wells than we do (which is probably half the population of Kansas). If nothing else, it would be useful for watering the yard/garden.

Hope you all have a splendid Thursday!

Quote from: indygal on October 17, 2006, 02:44:28 PM
Food?? Like hot dogs and homemade pie and hot cocoa kind of food? Woo hoo! We'll be there for sure! (Does anyone in town make to-die-for chicken and dumplings or noodles??)

My mother probably makes the best homemade chicken and noodles in this hemisphere.  She is pretty close to your new place and might make a big batch and share.  (What's left can come down to my house!!)

Howdy Newcomers!
I have been gone for most of last week and part of this one, but I am home now.
I'll report on Texas in another thread...

Can't talk much at this time, I have massages back to back today. Young Mark is coming in a few minutes for his and I have 3 after that, so not much time to chit chat today
......but.......................
it looks as if I don't have to say much since Miss Windy Britches Janet did all the blabbing. Lordy Pete but that woman can ramble.
Not like me... nice and polite and quiet.. ( have I said this before?) LOL and does anyone believe it yet?.. Hee hee... ** I didn't think so**

Anyway, I will only be a few doors up from you guys and Ta Ta lives on the other block, so if you need anything, don't be bashful about asking us.

Oh yeah.... I make 'kick ass to die for' chicken and noodles and dumblings. ;)
I also make beef and noodles and so does Ta Ta. Yummy...
It is kind of a lost art the way that I cook, as I make everything from scratch  including my flour tortilla's and breads. So if you like breads, don't be surprised to have a fresh loaf every now and then. I like to share when I make it.
Am I bragging a bit? Yup I shore am!  ;D
I am also  bragging on my boys, Danny and Derek and their  cooking. They are excellant in the kitchen and are nothing less than awesome when it comes to cooking on the grill. :D

Anyway, go to go.. my "next victim" is here.. **rubbing my hands together snickering**

Quote from: SnakeHater on October 19, 2006, 12:53:22 PM



My mother probably makes the best homemade chicken and noodles in this hemisphere.  She is pretty close to your new place and might make a big batch and share.  (What's left can come down to my house!!)

Thank you Danny. :-*
You have made them a time or 2 yourself and they were outstanding.
I am very proud of you for cooking and doing all you do in the home, plus woking full time.
You are also a good and loving daddy to Ashley and that is the most important part of  life.
God blessed me fully to have wonderful sons like you and Derek.
And I love you both. :-*

Hi Teresa! Glad you're home safe. It will be nice having a neighbor who provide soothing massage after long hours of scraping, pounding, cleaning and fixing up that little church. We've already given it a nickname, Harmony, and I'm so pleased the sign board is still on the building (with all the letters to go on it, too!). I'll have fun changing the "thought for the day" on the board to share with the town.

Terrell and I both enjoy cooking, and we entertain from time to time, so it will be fun to have new friends over for dinner. The only caveat is we all must wait for there to be some furniture to sit on in the new place....lol.....of course, we could eat standing up, too. OK, maybe the caveat should be we all must wait for there to be an appliance in the house on which to COOK the food (but then we could always do sandwiches or something....NO, the real caveat is we all must wait for there to be a KITCHEN in which to cook the food! LOLOL I guess what I'm trying to say is we look forward to feeding with folks!

It's bound to be adventure, but that's what life should be. And so as not to disappoint me, life has provided a big stack of "adventure" at the kitchen sink for me. Woo hoo!

Have a great evening!

Just in case you are wondering Miss Windy Britches Janet and Ta Ta are one and the same.  Me.  Ha ha  I love my names.  Give me some more Ms. nice and gentle quiet T that you are. :laugh:

Boy what a night. Wrote a nice long note -- twice  -- twice because a squirrel wandered onto a neighborhood transformer creating a bang, a lightshow, a cloud of smoke, and then a blackout mid-genius ... and then genius me scrambled fingers while pushing (I thought) the Post button and zapped the second try right into Rod Serling's (Twilight Zone) lap, but nowhere near this forum. And now, and now ... I'm just too tired to try again tonight. I'll whip something up again tomorrow unless the same cosmic electronic avalanche hits me and I peg the densometer again and they kill me at work for collapsing the entire accounting software industry or I blow up my confuser out of sheer idiocy. Maybe I'll figure out how to get the little cup holder thingy that zips in and out of the computer front to stay open long enough to set my morning coffee there for more than a sec or two. That would make it a gold letter day. Indygal's been real polite and not asked me about all the coffee stains around the computer.

I hope everyone had and has an outstanding day. Be good to each other and yourselves. Remember; we're the ones that make our little corner of the universe a good or bad place. Go for the good, and when in doubt, be kind.

Cheers, Terrell

Give Ta Ta and Ms. T something easy to do.

See there, Ms. T.  Terrell says, "Be kind."

And darned sage advice it is too JH. It seems to me if the world's populace could find its way to starting everything endeavored with an intent toward a smidgeon of kindness we would find ourselves less in peril from each other, our machines, and our mother earth. It just makes sense to me. So simple and yet so difficult for some silly set of reasons.

Headed home to Howard in the morning. Must return to Wichita in the afternoon for a prior engagement, but the heart will be in Elk county long after breaching the psychic trauma of the Kellogg causeway and Rock Road congesticator on the trudge back. If you see a couple of strangers wandering around, stop and say howdy. Even if it turns out to not be your new neighbors, Indy and I, you'll have done a kind thing for a stranger. What a way to start the day!

I hope everyone had and has an outstanding day. Be good to each other and yourselves. Remember; we're the ones that make our little corner of the universe a good or bad place. Go for the good, and when in doubt, be kind.

Cheers, Terrell

Newcomer in Howard:  JH is also referred to as JJ, but don't ask her what the other J stands for.  I like the name and we used to call my sister by all kinds of nicknames, including June bug.

Oh, Mother, they can ask.  I may not tell.  However; I have gotten so old that I don't even care anymore.  I'll answer to anything.

uh-huh.. that's for sure.. ::)

opps.. sorry, I am supposed to be kind. :-[

**whining** But do I have to be kind to Ta Ta??

Hi everyone!

You have to love Kansas weather...wintry cold rain and wind one day and delightfully sunny and autumn-crisp the next. We went to the estate auction yesterday, and it would have been far better if the sale had been today. I'm sure the items would have fetched better prices if the weather hadn't chased so many buyers away. It's a real shame.

The good news is a young contractor has purchased the property and has plans to remodel it as a rental house for a family member. They seem like very nice people and we look forward to having them as neighbors.

The other plus to Saturday was meeting so many kind people. I wish I could remember everyone's names....I met a Mrs. Harrod, and the dear lady whose house was for sale (again, I can't remember her name). I know once we've settled into town, we'll begin to put names with familiar faces.

The sale on the church should be final this coming Friday. We plan to spend all day Saturday measuring, inspecting, planning and giggling and wondering what we've got ourselves into....lol....we've agreed it will be a grand adventure!

Hope this finds you all well.
Lynne/Indy

Oh, what fun.  The lady who had the auction is named Juanita Anderson.  She was a school teacher for many, many years.  Miss Anderson, by the way.  I'm thinking that the Mrs. Harrod that you met might have been Mary Harrod, who is co-owner with her husband, Jerry, of Harrod's Blacksmith.  I'm just guessing though.  Welcome to our little piece of the world.

We have to guess on that one.  There are more than several Mrs. Harrod's here.  I know that Mary Harrod is likely to show up at an auction.  Wish I could have been there.

Hi Wilma and Janet,

Yes, it was Mary Harrod. I remember her saying her husband owned a welding/blacksmith business, and that she had been a student of Miss Anderson's. (And yes, now I recall her saying her name was Juanita). She told me her brother had lived north of her and had a wonderful garden there for many years. We also met a woman named Gwen (I'm guessing on the spelling...), and I think she said she was one of the original church members who helped to hand-dig the hole for the basement. Wow, now those are some dedicated church members! You can sure tell the building was loved for many years, and those we met Saturday seemed pleased that we were going to continue providing the care and attention it deserves.

It was a shame the weather was so nasty. I'm sure you would have enjoyed the sale, Wilma, and it would have been nice to meet you. Oh well, there will be far prettier days ahead that we can make our acquaintances.

Oh, these weekends go by so quickly...this will be a week of great anticipation for us, so the days will probably drag along...lol....

Be well,
Lynne

Hi, folks!

Well, it's official...we've bought ourselves a church! Now the real fun begins, and we can hardly wait.

It was great finally meeting you, Teresa. After reading so many comments from Janet teasing you about being so "mean," I can now say without hesitation, "Teresa is NOT mean!" LOL In fact, we have yet to meet anyone in Howard who was mean, in any way, shape or form. That's a good thing!

We spent our first night at Harmony, and well, you know how you get an idea in your head about how some future event is going to be? And then the cosmos throws you a curve ball and changes everything up? Well, that's what happened to us this weekend. Terrell started feeling poorly Friday morning (flu symptoms..ugh) and it worsened as the day went on. After we signed the papers, went to Toot's for lunch (yummy food, by the way! ESPECIALLY the bacon we had for breakfast this morning...or at least I had...good call on that, Bowie Boy. But I digress.....)

So.....we ate then drove to our new home, unloaded the car, and walked around the place a bit. We did have time to inflate the air mattress, and good thing, too. Terrell zonked out and proceeded to sleep for about the next 12 hours. He stayed awake long enough to eat breakfast and had himself another nap. OK, so we did spend a little time today taking measurements, discussing possible improvements to the property, etc., and did meet our neighbor to the east of us. I also visited nearly every store on the main drag, and took a lot of teasing from the "old farm boys" at Toot's and Cookson's (which bothers me not one whit...I worked in a tire store many years ago, so I can hold my own with 'em).

With T feeling like death warmed over, we thought it best to head back to Wichita where he can sleep in a real bed and I can do things like laundry, homework and play on the Internet...lol

Anyway, if anyone is still reading this far-too-wordy post, I send you all warm howdies and hope you didn't have to spend too much time outdoors in this wind (which really howls through that empty ol' church, let me tell ya! LOL)

I'm sorry I didn't get to meet you, but, I'm glad that you don't think Ms. T is mean because at least she has one person fooled. :D ;D :angel: :angel: :angel:

Well, so okay, I was a crashing bore this weekend. But The Zombie is proud to report he's on the mend after a weekend of barely qualifying as a sentient life form. I'm certain it was a reaction to a @#)&#/% flu shot.

What I do remember from my sea-less seasick state was punctuated by friendly smiles and howdies from all we hailed throughout our day signing the land-marriage paperwork and putting our names to the fuels and fluids in & out suppliers' rolebooks. Thank you all for your 'welcomes' and helps. We're official. Wahooo! So, okay, this weekend I promise I WILL stay awake at least half the time and make noises other than groans and snorts.  

I won't yak you to snoozeland tonight, but I will add a memade cartoon that sums up my impressions of the explorations of the new digs and LI$T of things we must ado in the tuning process.

Best wishes to all. See you soon.

   :o::):-* Bowie Boy 2 cute :-* ::) :o