125 Years

Thursday, February 3, 1898

Dissolution Notice. The partnership heretofore existing between W.E. White and F. Skinner, under the firm name of White & Skinner, is this day dissolved by mutual consent. Mr. Skinner retiring and Mr. White continuing the business. All outstanding accounts due said firm are payable to W.E. White.

You can get the newest, nicest, freshest and cheapest groceries and queensware in town at the Red Front Grocery.

One custom that never grows old is the observance of St. Valentine’s day. Every year the styles are prettier, more artistic and dainty. We have a large stock of these goods. Come and see them. An entire new line of comics.

Superintendent C.W. Douglass promised the M.E. Sunday school a picnic when the attendance reached over 300, and on last Sunday morning the enrollment numbered 301, the largest attendance in the history of the school. But on account of the cold weather the picnic has been postponed until summer.

100 Years

Thursday, February 1, 1923

The picture show and radio concert, given at the school auditorium last Monday night by Mr. McIntosh and Prof. Geyer drew a large crowd. The movies were sent out by the K.S.A.C. for the benefit of the farmers. All was enjoyed by everyone.

Mrs. Roy Coe has three hens that have just hatched thirty-nine little chickens.

Miss Effie Kidwell who has served the Hamlin Central office for fourteen years without a vacation has resigned to rest up.

A visit to the present School Rooms occupied by the High School will demonstrate the real need for a MODERN HIGH SCHOOL BUILDING. Seek First Hand Evidence. Do not listen to conversation of Uniformed Individuals. THE BOND ELECTION WILL BE HELD TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 13, 1923. Every Loyal Citizen who has the interest of the Children and the Future of Sabetha at heart will VOTE FOR THE BONDS.

75 Years

Wednesday, February 4, 1948

The groundhog didn’t see any shadows in this region Monday, but winter shows signs of persisting. A light snow fell all day Tuesday, with signs of improvement Wednesday. Temperatures have risen from last Wednesday’s low of 10 below, and have not dropped to the zero mark since. Trucks have been busy all week removing remnants of the New Year’s Eve snow, and some of it still remains after five weeks.

If you should receive a letter from a sorrowful gentleman who claims he is in prison in Mexico City, and who offers you a third part of $375,000.00 to help get him out — beware. George I Althouse, postmaster, says the number of swindle letters being received in this country — the Spanish swindle, they term it — is increasing rapidly. Apparently the swindlers are selecting their victims from lists of professional people, particularly doctors and dentists. Anyone receiving one of these letters is asked by postal inspectors’ to forward it to the inspector in charge, Topeka or Kansas City. In the letter currently used by the swindlers a man purportedly writing from a debtor’s prison in Mexico City asks for help in saving $375,000.00 which he has hidden in a secret compartment of a trunk which he has deposited in a customs house in the United States. The catch is, he needs money to get out of prison in order to negotiate for the release of his trunk. He offers a third of his fortune to anyone who will help him. He has a friend to whom you can send the money. But first, Althouse suggests, write the postal authorities at Topeka, so they can help you get him out of prison — and into another one.

Preparations were completed Saturday for a pumping test of the wildcat oil well on the Livengood farm, north of Morrill. Leonard Stout and Ernest Hahn, both of Falls City, were finishing installation of the oil rig for the important test. The pumping unit has been set, and a tank is ready for the first actual test. Stout and Hahn were confident that the well would be a producer since the location is between two producing wells; the question to be decided is whether oil can be produced in profitable quantities.

Bob White, local boy scout, represented Nemaha District in a report to the Governor concerning scouting activities for the year for the state of Kansas. He was accompanied to Topeka by E. K. Stonebraker, scoutmaster. 

50 Years

Thursday, February 1, 1973

Sabetha has been selected as the “home base” for a new business enterprise. Chuck Romines, owner of Farbest Dog Food of Kansas City, and Mel Wenger, owner of Wenger Pelleting Mill of Falls City, Neb., have merged their two firms and have gone into the production of dog food in Sabetha. The company has leased the former milling facilities of the Farmers Coop Elevator on Oregon Street. This is the same plant that Mr. Wenger and his father before him operated for many years before selling out in 1958 to Wenger Manufacturing of Sabetha. Mel continued to operate the plant for about five more years until Wenger Manufacturing sold the plant to the Farmers Coop Elevator. The plant has not been operated by the elevator for several months. Mr. Romines has owned and operated the Farbest Dog Food company for the past two and a half years. The dog food has been in existence for nearly 25 years.

Southwestern Bell added 58 telephones in Sabetha during 1972, Jerry Fournier, local manager, announced this week. Almost 1,909 telephones are now in service locally, as compared with 1,841 at the beginning of 1972. Fournier went on to note that despite a projected downward trend in earnings over the next two years. Southwestern Bell Telephone Company has programmed expenditures of $67 million in 1973 for telephone improvement and expansion projects in Kansas. This is about $10 million more than was spent in 1972. However, James F. Haake, vice president and general manager for the company, said completion of the huge 1973 program “depends on what kind of balance we can maintain between revenues and expenses.” Haake pointed out that in October 1971, the company applied for increases in rates amounting to $14.8 million annually before taxes. “However, when we received an order in November, 1972, we were granted only $5.7 million a year,” he added. “We said at the time that this amount was far short of what would be needed to maintain good telephone service and provide for future growth. “Nothing has happened in the meantime to make us change our view.”

The Sabetha Community Action Center is in the process of surveying all residents of Sabetha over 60 years of age. It is hoped that through this survey more senior citizens can be served through group meetings and volunteer programs. Also on the survey are questions concerning nutritional needs of those questioned. Assisting in this survey are Mary Hutton and Elma Massek Community Developers for CAP and Tom and Linda Hofferber Vista Volunteers). If you are over 60 and have not been surveyed by February 15th, please contact the center. It is not intentional to miss anyone.

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25 Years

Wednesday, February 4, 1998

The Northeast Kansas Regional Airport committee chose the site near the AT&T tower on U.S. Highway 75 as the location of a future regional airport. Sabetha Mayor Norm Schmitt said representatives of Sabetha and Hiawatha on the committee came to unanimous agreement on the southern-most site last Wednesday. The Northeast Kansas Regional Airport Committee, formed by the cities of Sabetha and Hiawatha, is in the process of developing a master plan for the airport with a Federal Aviation Administration grant.

The Northeast Kansas Regional Airport Committee ensured itself the continued opposition of perhaps the informed voice against a future regional airport with its final site selection last Wednesday. The land of the site chosen is owned primarily by Wayne Heiniger and his family. Heiniger is not only a pilot and plane owner but a civil engineer who has designed airports in the past. “I love the smell of airports,” Heiniger said. “But I feel confident in the assessment that an airport out here would be pretty stagnant for a number of years.” He and other airport opponents will attend the March 25 meeting at the Hiawatha Fisher Center to express their opposition, Heiniger promised.Heiniger argues that the airport will cost local taxpayers, both to build and maintain.

USD 441 Board of Education members gave Superintendent Rod Allen the approval needed to pursue locating welding classes of the satellite training center in the shop building at Sabetha High School.

10 Years

Wednesday, January 30, 2013

As Valentine’s Day approaches, shoppers begin to look for the perfect gift for their loved ones. Jan’s Gift Shop in Sabetha has an assortment of great gifts for all seasons. Janice Strader, storeowner, has a wide variety of items in stock and items she is willing to order. In her store she sells candles, wall decorations, birdhouses, plant stands, kitchen tools, bath and body kits, gnomes, bracelets and much more.

After receiving criticism from parents and some school districts nationwide, the United State Department of Agriculture released a memo Dec. 7, outlining “significant operational challenges in meeting the requirements for the grains and meats/meat alternative components.” “What that means is, we can increase the grains and protein dishes but we cannot increase calories,” said Regina Mayer, district food service supervisor for Prairie Hills USD No. 113. “We are currently at our maximum calories so there is no place to add these items.”

The Sabetha Police Department is investigating a series of break-ins at the Sabetha Midtown Building, Sabetha Police Chief Robert Wahwasuck said. “One of those times, the Scout room was vandalized pretty badly,” Wahwasuck said. Wahwasuck said the break-ins have taken place during the past few months, with the most recent occurring early Thursday morning, Jan. 24.

Picture: Trenton Cox, left, and Michael Baumgartner dressed as girls to compete against the girls, who were dressed as boys, during the dance off on Friday, January 25, at the Sabetha High School Variety Show.