Burr Oak

Bruce and Sharon Custer, Hoisington, visited Gary and Penny Turner and Cliff and Glenny Barnes last Wednesday. The group had lunch at the local cafe and caught up on what each one had been doing. Bruce was the high school principal at White Rock in the late 1990s. He then served as superintendent of schools for White Rock in the early 2000s. It had been 19 years since they had been back to Burr Oak.

Mary Foley stayed for four days last week with Mike and Mindy Kilgore in Bennington. She enjoyed some time with her great-granddaughters, Emma, Kinley and Micha Kilgore.

Flu shots were available at the Guaranty State Bank last Wednesday afternoon. Twenty-four individuals took advantage of this service of the Jewell County Health Department and the bank.

Derek, Haley, Colton and Brecken Weik headed toward their home in Carson City, N.V., on Saturday morning after a three week stay in the home of Walt and Peggy Wilson. While here, they also visited Lannin and Melanie Zoltenko, rural Courtland, and Doug Warren, Formoso.

John and Connie Chandler and family stopped for a short visit in Burr Oak on Saturday while they were headed back to Colorado. Connie was a resident in Burr Oak and Mankato as a child. She remembered the flood that hit Burr Oak. The Chandler family lived in a house that was across the street south of the Allen Lewis home. Connie was in the same class in school as Bonnie Johnson Dakan and Peggy Fogo Wilson.

Wanda Fraiser attended the Clay County Republican rally Saturday in Clay Center, Kan. There were roughly 150 people attending with about 100 entries in the Cruise Clay Center event with both motorcycle and pickups, bands and Wanda’s Hummer. All were decorated in support of the Trump-Pence ticket. Susie Carlson, a Republican woman running for state house of representatives and Jim Bowser, Republican running for Senate, were both there and spoke. The national anthem was signed and the MC conducted some chants and gave election information about different candidates running against the Republicans. Wanda had her picture taken kissing the cheek of a cardboard replica of Donald Trump near the bandstand. She reports a fun time.

Burr Oak was overrun by ghosts, goblins, zombies and any number of other scary creatures on Saturday evening when the committee planning Burr Oak’s 150 birthday celebration hosted a haunted trail. One of the volunteers who helped guessed perhaps 200 went through the trail. Located at the south side of the former Burr Oak Gun Club grounds, the trail wound in and around the trees and ended up about mid-way on the grounds where those who survived the trail were transported back to the Faidley Park. At the park, more volunteers were serving hotdogs, chili soup, a variety of desserts and drinks all for a free will donation. There was a good turnout for both the supper and the trail. It was estimated that about $1,000 was raised for the birthday celebration next June. This writer enjoyed both the supper and the trail and has heard nothing but good things about the event, with everyone asking for a repeat next Halloween.

Pastor Les Ellis opened the Sunday morning worship service at the Burr Oak United Methodist Church with announcements and the call to worship. The call to worship was followed by the Congregational Prayer and greeting time. Continued prayers are asked for Todd Peterson as he deals with health problems. Also, concern was again for all the neighboring communities suffering with an outbreak of COVID. Genesis 41:1-8 was chosen for the message brought with “The Dreamer Has the Spirit of God” being the title. Fellowship time was again hosted by the church.

“Render unto Caesar” was the title of Pastor Richard Cox’s message at the Burr Oak Christian Church on Sunday morning. His selected scripture reading was Matthew 22:15-22. Many in our world today are more concerned with their current circumstances than with their eternal circumstances. In this portion of scripture, Jesus tells the leaders of the day that they are to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s and render unto God what is God’s. Christians are to be respectful at all times. We are to respect the authority of our leaders and we are to give God all the honor and glory He deserves as creator of all the universe. Jesus is the example we should follow in all things we do. He followed the will of God even to dying on the Cross so we could have salvation. We need to focus on what cannot be taken from us, our relationship with Christ Jesus and the opportunity to spend eternity in Heaven with Him.

Members of the Walt and Dianna Willitts family went to the Courtland Depot Market on Sunday. Enjoying a beautiful fall afternoon were Walt, Dianna, Victoria, Mel, Valencia, Levi, Walter II, Jessie, the twins, Wally and Paisley, Shantel, Cole and Eli. The Depot Market has a hay ride, apple orchard, corn maze, straw maze and pumpkin patch. Jessie commented that it was nice there.

Wanda Frasier was a Sunday afternoon visitor at the Josh and Amanda Frasier home in Hastings. She treated the family to pizza for lunch and enjoyed visiting with her grandchildren, Luke, Emma and Sophia. She took a selfie with the children she will treasure that day.

The Burr Oak Community Club is sponsoring a Trunk or Treat event on Main Street in Burr Oak from 5 to 7 p.m. on Oct. 31. This will take the place of the Halloween party the club has sponsored for several years at the community center. Participants are encouraged to maintain social distancing as much as possible. Individuals are invited to decorate their vehicle trunks and dress in costume that evening to hand out their Halloween treats. There will be a costume parade on the east sidewalk and participants in the Trunk or Treat are asked to park their vehicles on that side of the street with trunks facing the sidewalk. At the end of the parade route, the community club will be handing out sodas and chips to the participants. The Guaranty State Bank and Trust will have a table with bags of treats for the children.

A Halloween display has been put up in the vacant lot on the east side of the street and is available for anyone wanting to take individual or family photos. Jada Beach and Bella Volker will be in costume and will assist with pictures. There are sign-up sheets posted in the bank and the cafe for those who wish to participate so club members will know who all plans to join in the fun.