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It is November and in Jewell County. That means Corn Picking Days! The late Calvin Bohnert started the event six years ago. He and friends had talked about it for years but one day, Bohnert said, "I'm done talking about it. We're going to do it." That was in 2016. Each November since, the Bohnert farm west of Jewell has hosted Corn Picking Days. There would be corn to pick, machines to repair, memories to share – just good times with old machinery celebrating the "Good Old Days." The 2022 e...
Why is there a national month for Family Literacy or a national day for Family Literacy? Simple – the most important determinant of a child’s language and literacy is parental involvement. The more parents (grandparents and siblings too!) are involved with reading, writing, talking and thinking with children, the stronger their children’s language and literacy skills. Success in reading ripples into success in other academic areas. Because of the importance of early involvement of parents and family talking, reading, writing and thinking with c...
Saturday, October 29, Jewell’s Lake Emerson hosts its first ever Aisle of Frights. The event is family-friendly and Halloween-themed. Participants will find zombies and ghosts lurking along the walking trail that meanders around Lake Emerson. Visitors can ride a trailer or walk the trail and discover who or what is out haunting. To attend, enter the Lake Emerson area off of Highway 14 on the west side of Jewell. Parking is in the lot south of the shelter house. From there, you can walk or ride a wagon to the entrance of the Aisle of Frights. T...
This weekend is the 80th Anniversary of the Jewell Corn Show! The first show, called “The Jewell County Corn Show,” was held on Nov. 21, 1942. The 1943 event, as well as the following ones, was simply the “Jewell Corn Show.” This year’s event is called “Farm, Sweet Farm” in honor of the farm roots of the event and the farmers that form the basis of thecommunity’s economy. The theme gave rise to the idea that the grand marshal of the parade would be symbolic and honor all area farmers. Back in 1942, the activities centered around corn and...
Before the town of Ezbon (later Esbon) even began, there was Ezbon School District No. 98. The district was organized on Sept. 4, 1873. Little is known about the early years of the school as only a few comments survive. One, a comment in the Sept. 9, 1880 Jewell County Review, tells about a "special meeting" to repair the old school house. Then an Oct. 7, 1880 note in the Jewell County Review relates "a five month school begins in District No. 98...although a sod house, it is well fixed up."...
Brenda Frost Carlson pieced, quilted and bound a Quilt of Valor to honor her father, U. S. Navy veteran Ivan Frost. The quilt was awarded at a family ceremony on September 4, 2022, at Brenda's home in Sutton, Neb. Ivan Frost and his wife, Leta, are from Esbon, Kan. According to the Quilts of Valor Foundation, a Quilt of Valor is a handmade quilt. It may be either hand or machine quilted. Quilts of Valor are awarded to veterans who have been "touched by war." The mission of the foundation is to...
Coming up Saturday, Sept. 17, is Constitution Day. Constitution Day became a National Holiday with the passing of the Omnibus Spending Bill of 2004. It is also called “Constitution Day and Citizenship Day.” Senator Robert Byrd proposed the amendment to the spending bill which created the special day. Citizenship Day had existed on its own since Feb. 29, 1952, when a bill, signed by President Harry S. Truman, became law. Citizenship Day was preceded by “I Am An American Day.” That holiday was advocated by newspaperman William Randolph Hearst...
Brad Shelton of Tonganoxie, Kan., has been recognized by the American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA) as a National Assistant Coach of the Year. The ABCA has been recognizing the merits of assistant coaches since 1999. The ABCA uses criteria such as coaching expertise, loyalty to the program and respect for players as it searches for candidates for its award program. Nominated candidates are reviewed by the ABCA All-American and Coach of the Year committees as well as the ABCA national...
To date, there are thought to have been a total of 16 high schools which provided education for students in Jewell County. Of course, not all were in existence at the same time. But spanning Jewell County's history, from near the beginning in 1876 to the present day, an education "higher" than common school (eighth grade) was and is available in Jewell County. Today, Rock Hills USD 107, is the only high school in Jewell County. The first newspaper item about "high school" in Jewell County is...
The little, now long-gone, town of Mayview, Kansas, was getting “a new store” and the “population was increasing” in March of 1881 (March 24,1881, Jewell County Review and the March 11, 1881, Jewell County Monitor) In fact, 1881 might seem a watershed year for the little community. That year there was also a “base-ball club” (April 28,1881, Jewell County Review) and a “Mayview opera house” (April 28, 1881, Jewell County Monitor). Quoting the Monitor, the “Brown’s Creek Dramatic Association will play the new and popular dramma (sic) ‘The O...
Coming up next Friday, July 15, is the Annual Jewell County Plow Day. This year’s event will take place at “the old Shaffer Place” on I Road in Jewell County. The plow field is four miles west of Jewell on H Road, one mile north on 150 Road and west on I Road for 3/4th’s mile. From Mankato, travel south on 150 Road for seven miles then west on I Road for 3/4th’s mile. The event organizers prefer equipment that is pre-1970. They also request scoured plow shares. Come to look, watch, visit or plow. Event organizers are Joe Eilert and Calvin Bo...
Last Tuesday some tourists crossing Jewell County got to see a scene from the past as 13 workers came together on Fred Eilert's wheat field just west of Mankato. The group ranged in age from 14-year-old Noah Shipman to 84-year-old Harlow Vader. Their mission was to bind wheat for the upcoming Jewell County Historical Society's Threshing Bee. The t-shirts and tank tops were not authentic to the past but the machinery was true to a time decades ago. There was an old International binder, the...
Three Quilts of Valor were awarded in Jewell on Saturday, by the Desire Tobey Sears Chapter, National Society of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The recipients were Korean War veterans, Norman Greene, Gerald "Mac" McAtee and Carlyle Saint. All three men are from Jewell. According to the Quilts of Valor Foundation, a Quilt of Valor is a handmade quilt that is either hand or machine quilted. It is awarded to a veteran who has been "touched by war." The mission of the foundation is to...
Jacob Burks has joined his father, Josh Burks, at the Citizens State Agency of Jewell. A third-generation employee, Jacob is a recent graduate of Cloud County Community College with an associate's degree in business. He commented, "I wanted to move back to my hometown and give back to the community." One strand of the agency's story began in 1981, more than 40 years ago, as the Burks Agency in the back room of the Burks Grocery in Randall. Both the grocery store and insurance business were...
Something new is coming to Jewell this Memorial Weekend – the Jewell Farmer's Market. On Saturday there will be a Grand Opening Celebration for the market. The ribbon cutting will be at 8:45 a.m., Saturday, in front of the arch at Jewell's Maag Park. Everyone is invited! The market, "a new, healthy venture" according to Jewell resident, David Searles, is scheduled to be open from 9 a.m. to 12 noon each Saturday. According to Matt Homelwig, "market season" will be from Memorial Day weekend to L...
In 1950, the Athens Rural High School Alumni began to gather annually. The meeting was sometimes called the “Athens School Reunion” but whatever the name, the group met continually for 42 years. At the 1992 meeting, faced with dwindling attendance, it was decided to look into the possibility of meeting with the Ionia Alumni Association. The earliest known record of an Ionia Alumni Association, gathering, reunion or community picnic is found in a May 1967 Jewell County Record. This group also continued to meet. But in 1993, the two groups, the...
Strand Hill is familiar to many, especially those living or growing up in the Randall area. The long sloping hill lies immediately south of Randall and is situated in both Allen and Prairie Townships. Today's 250 Road traverses the hill. Because of the location of Randall, on the township line, the W 1⁄2 of both Sections 6 and 7 were taken from Allen Township and added to Prairie Township. Thus, much of Strand Hill lies in Prairie Township. The hill is named for the Strand Family. Joseph N. S...
None of the 15 Jewell County high schools were alike. There were different mascots and colors, some had mottos, some didn't, some had buildings built for first through twelfth grades, others had buildings dedicated to the high school. But one school had several attributes setting it apart from all the others. Northbranch Academy didn't have a district number or a "school board." It had a charter from the State of Kansas and was governed by a nine-member board of directors. Northbranch Academy...
The Limestone Post Office was located in Section 18 of Limestone Township. Anyone who has driven through western Jewell County on Highway 36 has driven by Section 18. It is between 80 Road and 70 Road on the north side of 36 Highway. Today there seems nothing to indicate a post office was there in the “early day.” The Limestone Post Office was also called the Esbon Post Office though it originally was not in the town of Esbon nor even in Esbon Township. The post office was organized on Jan. 26, 1874. Discontinued and reestablished twice, it...
“In like a lion and out like a lamb.” Or “In like a lamb and out like a lion.” Those adages are not the only weather ones for March. There is also “A dry March and a wet May; fill barn and bays with corn and hay.” Plus, “As it rains in March, so it rains in June.” And finally, “March winds and April showers, bring forth May flowers. We can expect windy days in March. March and April are historically the windiest months in Kansas. Dodge City is the third windiest place in the United States behind only Mount Washington, New Hampshire and Blue Hil...
The Dentonia Post Office was organized on Aug. 25, 1882, and discontinued on Dec. 31, 1903. Bruntzel's Quick Reference to Kansas gives the location as Section 29 of Odessa Township. Dentonia is not found on the 1878 Jewell County map nor is it listed in the 1880 Kansas Gazetteer. But the "Dentonia P.O." is located in Section 29 on the 1884 Jewell County Atlas and "Dentonia" is located in Section 29 on the 1887 Jewell County Map. The town must have sprung up in the early 1880s. Informative...
The Black and Gold Falcons of Formoso were part of the educational scene of Jewell County for 50 years. The four-year high school began in the fall of 1910 and closed in the spring of 1960. The closure came after an April 19, 1960, fire had so damaged the school building it was condemned. But the history of the high school began a bit earlier. Anne Bowles, Deborah Guthrie and Pearl Thompson were the first students to graduate from Formoso High School. The year was 1904. That first commencement...
Jewell County was organized on July 14, 1870. The U. S. Census for 1870 found 205 persons living in the county. By 1880, the population had grown to 17,475. A tremendous increase in population in a relatively short period of time. Not all the residents of the county found prosperity, some found dire financial straits. It was not many years into the county history that Jewell County faced the necessity of caring for those in need. "Pauper" was the term used in those early days to identify...
It is January, time for cold weather, New Year's resolutions and the birthday of the State of Kansas. It was on Jan. 29, 1861, President Abraham Lincoln signed the document establishing Kansas as the 34th State in the United States of America. This year, Kansas is 161 years old. During those 161 years, Kansas has acquired some 24 symbols plus mottos, banners and nicknames. It began in 1861 with the State Seal and has continued through 2019 with the state's White Wine Grape, Vignoles, and the...
Jewell County was named and the boundaries established by the Kansas State Legislature on Feb. 26, 1867. The government of the county was organized on July 14, 1870, when James Harvey, Kansas governor, appointed C. L. Seeley, E, T. Gandy and A. I. Davis as county commissioners, James A. Scarborough as county clerk, and Jewell City as the county seat. In the beginning, Jewell County had only five townships, Big Timber, Buffalo, Limestone, Vicksburg and White Rock. There were 207 residents counted on the 1870 U. S. Federal Census. Today there is...
