Serving Barber County Since 1991
KWIBS - From June 5, 2023 - By Kevin Noland Summer is almost here. That
season and I have a love-hate relationship.
KWIBS - From May 29, 2023 - By Kevin Noland A lady walked up to me
while in Tulsa at LIV Golf and saw my credentials, “Frog-X Parachute
Team.”
Have a great week! KWIBS - From May 22, 2023 - By Kevin Noland “Just cut my cast off so I
can hold my baby girl,” I said to my friend Dr. Pete Meador.
Me, Bree and Pete, October 3, 1989 at 11:37 p.m. We were much younger!
KWIBS - From May 15, 2023 - By Kevin Noland I love a glass of iced tea
when it’s hot out. Last Monday was 90 degrees! I had a stay at home
(trophy husband) sort of day. KWIBS - From May 8, 2023 - By Kevin Noland I laughed when I heard
there was a writer’s strike for several late-night talk show hosts. KWIBS - From May 1, 2023 - By Kevin Noland Robots.
KWIBS - From April 24, 2023 - By Kevin Noland It’s nearing the end of
April and I’ve already given up on my yard. KWIBS - From April 17, 2023 - By Kevin Noland I’m totally ripping off a
story from the babylonbee, but it’s so appropriate. KWIBS - From April 10, 2023 - By Kevin Noland I got canceled. KWIBS - From April 3, 2023 - By Kevin Noland Well, I just found out that
April is National Stress Awareness Month, but I missed National Stress
Awareness Day on November 1st. KWIBS - From March 27, 2023 - By Kevin Noland There are several things
that send me into a panic. Perhaps the biggest is getting a new cell
phone. KWIBS - From March 20, 2023 - By Kevin Noland Behold, children are a
heritage from the LORD, the fruit of the womb a reward. Like arrows in
the hand of a warrior are the children of one’s youth. Blessed is the
man who fills his quiver with them! He shall not be put to shame when he
speaks with his enemies in the gate. (Psalm 127:3-5).
KWIBS - From March 13, 2023 - By Kevin Noland This past week I felt like
I was at a four-way-stop sign and I was driving all four vehicles. KWIBS - From March 6, 2023 - By Kevin Noland We had good intentions. KWIBS - From February 27, 2023 - By Kevin Noland I have temporarily
cancelled all newspaper delivery by balloon or trains indefinitely.... KWIBS - From February 20, 2023 - By Kevin Noland Humans having been having
human babies for as far back as recorded in the Old Testament. Adam and
Eve probably had the same struggles that new parents these days have.
What do you name your baby? KWIBS - From February 13, 2023 - By Kevin Noland Well, give credit where credit is due. KWIBS - From February 6, 2023 - By Kevin Noland What a great championship
game in Kansas City, sending the Chiefs back to the superbowl!!!
Our dear friends Nix and Wendy White with me and my lovely cheerleader-worthy wife Ronda at Arrowhead!
KWIBS - From January 30, 2023 - By Kevin Noland Why so serious? Let’s have
a couple of laughs.... KWIBS - From January 23, 2023 - By Kevin Noland I had run out of space last
week and had written about assault gas stoves now being a threat to
Americans, but then got this week’s Tom Purcell column and he sort of
covered it. KWIBS - From January 16, 2023 - By Kevin Noland Well, sometimes I get enough space to make a comment, sometimes I don’t. I have much to say about a lot of issues, but, you’ll have to wait another week to hear from me! I do want to wish my Grandson Kycen a belated Happy 13th Birthday (1-11-23)! I love you kiddo and hope you get a chance to read the paper! KWIBS - From January 9, 2023 - By Kevin Noland It’s officially a new year
and this column is actually the first column I wrote in 2023, so I
officially haven’t made anyone mad by my opinions this year. You have to
count last week as a 2022 column because I wrote it on the 29th of
December.... KWIBS - From January 2, 2023 - By Kevin Noland And just like that... It’s
2023. I’m betting you mess up a few checks and documents over the next
month. I know I will. KWIBS - From December 26, 2022 - By Kevin Noland 2022. You can probably
relate that you’re ready for a new year, hopefully, a better one. KWIBS - From December 19, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Keep learning. You might
find that something that used to be objective to you, now has a
different meaning than you thought. KWIBS - From December 12, 2022 - By Kevin Noland I have a Twitter account.
One of my kids set it up for me like 5-10 years ago. KWIBS - From December 5, 2022 - By Kevin Noland For 34 years Ronda and I
keep saying, “Hey, when Christmas is over, we really need to buy a new,
nicer, Christmas Tree.” KWIBS - From November 28, 2022 - By Kevin Noland We are officially into the holiday season! Actually Rejected Democracy By Harold Pease, Ph.D. Democrats never use the word republic to describe our political system and Republicans rarely use it, both preferring to use the word democracy. Consequently most people ignorantly refer to our political system as a democracy and have to be reminded that this word is not in the Declaration of Independence, U.S. Constitution, Bill of Rights, or any other document given to us by our Founding Fathers. Our Pledge of Allegiance to the flag identifies our form of government as a republic. In the 2022 midterms the Democrat’s principle campaign slogan was saving democracy which is the antithesis of our republic. Why would we save that which our Founders clearly rejected? Benjamin Franklin wrote in 1759, “Democracy is two wolves and a lamb voting on what to have for lunch. Liberty is a well-armed lamb contesting the vote.” A republic has seven major components necessary for liberty listed below. Necessary to democracy is majority rules. First, the importance of majority rules is recognized but limited. Is the majority always right? No! Mother made this point when her teenager asked to smoke marijuana on the basis that everyone was doing it. She asked, “If everyone jumped off a bridge would you?” The Electoral College and Bill of Rights are based upon the recognition that the majority is not always right. Second, minority rights (less than 50%) are protected FROM the majority in a republic. In Franklin’s analogy the lamb had the right to exist even if the majority, the wolves, disagreed. A lynch mob is a democracy, everyone votes but the one being hanged. Even if caught in the act of a crime the accused is entitled to the presumption of innocence: protection of law, a judge, jury, witnesses for his defense, and a lawyer to argue his innocence; all necessary in a republic, even expensive. Then, if found guilty, hanged. Because democracy only considers majority rules it is much less expensive and decidedly faster. A rope tossed over a tree limb will do. Third, a republic is based upon natural inalienable rights from God; first acknowledged in the Declaration of Independence. This document asserted to the world that we acknowledge that humans have rights from a source higher than mere man. A reference to deity is mentioned five times. If there is no God there can be no inalienable rights coming from Him and we are left with man as God. What man is good enough? Fourth, a republic emphasizes individual differences, democracy absolute equality. We are not equal, even from the womb, and never will be if equality means sameness. An infant with a cleft pallet may need three operations to look normal. Some come out of the womb with a laptop, others with a basketball, and the real tough deliveries are from those bringing their golf clubs. One of my first great insights in life was that everyone was better at everything than I. A second, was that life is not fair and never will be. A third, free men are not equal and equal men are not free. Genetics makes one fat, another bald, and gives yet another terminal cancer in his youth. Nor is monetary equality possible. Should I bestow my students each with a million dollars in exchange for everything they now own, shave their heads, and give them identical uniforms, to approximate sameness as much as possible, with the only requirement that they return in five years with some ledger of net worth. Would they be the same in what was left of the million? No! Work ethic and talent differ. Why does government try so hard to do that which is impossible? A republic looks upon our differences as assets ultimately benefiting everyone as was the invention of the automobile or computer. This is decidedly not the base of democracy. Fifth, limited government is also a major aspect of a republic. Centralized government is good so long as it remembers that when it oversteps its bounds it becomes the greatest threat to liberty as it pulls decision-making power away from the individual. Excessive government, as the cause of the American Revolution, must never be forgotten. The Constitution as created, handcuffed the government from dominating our lives, thus the powers of the federal government were listed (Article I, Section 8). The Founders understood that the more government at the top the less at the bottom and that was the essence of freedom. Sixth, a republic has frequent elections with options. Frequent elections happen in some socialist countries, so this alone does not ensure liberty. In fact, it may be somewhat deceiving as it fosters the notion that we choose, thus deserve, our elected officers. It also assumes that the people are correctly informed, which assumes a free press and equal access to ALL information. The part of the phrase “with options” is the part that ensures liberty. Elections under socialism provided choices but often no options as all participants are from the same party or ideology. Seventh, in a republic exists a healthy fear of the emotion of the masses and of its potential to destabilize natural law upon which real freedom is based, as for example the notion that another’s wealth belongs to them through excessive taxation. Such destroys freedom as it had in Athens and Rome. We need a caring, sensitive, compassionate government but emotion must not be allowed to overwhelm reason and time-tested natural law constants. Aristotle taught that the poor will always envy the rich and that the rich will always have contempt for the poor. A republic will not allow the poor to destroy the rich in their quest for the wealth of the rich, but does incentivize the poor to increase their wealth thus becoming the middle class, which, in time, become the largest body. As explained, democracy does not protect liberty and in time could become its enemy. In Ben Franklin’s analogy it would have allowed the wolves to have eaten the lamb simply because the lamb had been outvoted. No wonder our Founders rejected democracy in favor of a republic, something we too are obliged to do today to protect our liberty. Have a great week! KWIBS - From November 21, 2022 - By Kevin Noland I love this time of year
and appreciate, so much, the efforts that our area school teachers put
into getting us letters from students on “How to Cook a Turkey.” KWIBS - From November 14, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Back to our regularly
scheduled programming. Raise your hand if you are glad to have your TV,
newspaper and internet feeds free of political advertisements! KWIBS - From November 7, 2022 - By Kevin Noland President Biden (Grandpa Joe), had some interesting
gaffes these past few weeks as his handlers seem to be losing control
over him. You don’t believe me? KWIBS - From October 24, 2022 - By Kevin Noland The on again, off again,
and back on again purchase of Twitter by Billionaire Elon Musk has been
quite entertaining. KWIBS - From October 31, 2022 - By Kevin Noland I have a lot of friends who
consider themselves “Democrats.” These friends actually share many of
the same values that I share, so was it a big shock to them to hear that
Tulsi Gabbard said farewell to the Democratic Party? KWIBS - From October 17, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Spontaneous.
At the Stockyards, Ft. Worth, TX with with the Whites! KWIBS - From October 10, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Thanks to cell phones and
the internet, you can’t have a productive day on your birthday! KWIBS - From September 26, 2022 - By Kevin Noland While checking pastures
last week, I really paid attention to the grass in the pasture where my
friend Flint winters his cattle on our north east side. It looks
terrible, but on my way to town I passed his home and there were nearly
100 round bales all ready and neatly in a row. KWIBS - From September 19, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Let the fury of hate mail
against gun owners begin. Oh, for the irony though.... KWIBS - From September 12, 2022 - By Kevin Noland So, you’ve probably noticed
one of the most entertaining sections of the newspaper is the dispatch
news. All credit to Kristine Landwehr. She works hard and gives you a
chance to catch up on the latest happenings in Barber County. These
dispatch calls remind me of the days that Charles DeGeer used to do the
news. KWIBS - From September 5, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Folks, the threat from
China is real. They have waged a war against the U.S. in trade in
infiltration of our businesses, transportation of goods, interference in
our government and now this.... KWIBS - From August 22, 2022 - By Kevin Noland My morning ritual begins
with me convincing myself to roll out of bed..... at some point. KWIBS - From August 15, 2022 - By Kevin Noland My wife is pretty. John and Martina McBride
and her brother Marty gave the ulitimate gift to their father Daryl
Schiff by having a “Schiffter’s” reunion a little over a week ago. KWIBS - From July 25, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Sometimes if it’s bad luck,
it’s at least some kind of luck! KWIBS - From July 18, 2022 - By Kevin Noland If you are a nerdy type person, like me, I’d like to
introduce you to www.quora.com KWIBS - From July 11, 2022 - By Kevin Noland I get frequently asked to
download “TikTok” by a law enforcement friend of mine and I keep telling
him how bad it is. KWIBS - From July 4, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Saturday our family and
friends celebrated Independence Day. That was perfect considering that
the vote for actual independence by the 2nd Continental Congress
actually happened on July 2nd. It was ratified on July 4th 1776 and
called the Declaration of Independence. KWIBS - From June 27, 2022 - By Kevin Noland What I wouldn’t give to
have a mean tweeting president right now. KWIBS - From June 20, 2022 - By Kevin Noland I let out an audible gasp
last week as my tank received $100.29 of the cheapest gas in Goddard,
Kansas last week. KWIBS - From June 13, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Life is an adventure. I’m
blessed to have a wife of 34 years who loves me and deals with all my
quirks with such grace and beauty.
Our engagement photo from 1988
KWIBS - From June 6, 2022 - By Kevin Noland We finally got around to
recognizing our law enforcement community in Barber County. KWIBS - From May 30, 2022 - By Kevin Noland I love to brag on my buddy
Nix White. He and his Wife, Wendy, went to Trump International last week
and Nix’s FrogX team jumped into the event.
KWIBS - From May 23, 2022 - By Kevin Noland I’m back, whether you like it or not! That’s a little
joke. I got pretty backed up last week and had to give up my space. KWIBS - From May 9, 2022 - By Kevin Noland I believe we are truly
living in bizaro world. KWIBS - From May 2, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Everyone on the left seemed
to have a meltdown last week when entrepreneur and billionaire Elon Musk
bought Twitter, except me, I guess. I lost interest in Twitter after
Trump got canned for “mean tweeting,” which basically is what Twitter is
all about. KWIBS - From April 25, 2022 - By Kevin Noland “Let’s go see Foreigner,” I
said over five months ago. KWIBS - From April 18, 2022 - By Kevin Noland True Grit. KWIBS - From April 4, 2022 - By Kevin Noland I don’t think I’ve ever
watched the Oscar’s, but if Will Smith or anyone else is going to make
habit of punching Chris Rock in the face, I might consider watching… KWIBS - From March 28, 2022 - By Kevin Noland When you hear that
inflation is up 7.9% in the last 12 months, don’t believe it. It’s much
higher than they are reporting. KWIBS - From March 21, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Because we were gone last
week, I was out of the loop on a few things. A gentlemen came into my
office to tell me my friend and fellow Publisher of the Coldwater
Western Star was in the hospital at St. Francis and had a quadruple
bypass last week. KWIBS - From March 14, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Two families’ lives changed
at 9:15 a.m. Wednesday morning. KWIBS - From March 7, 2022 - By Kevin Noland If you don’t think the
Russian’s war against Ukraine isn’t important or worthy of American
intervention, you’re wrong. It is proof that freedom could be lost for
millions of people because good people did nothing. KWIBS - From February 28, 2022 - By Kevin Noland The class of 1988 was Bud
Moore’s first class he had when he became Principal of MLHS in 1984.
That’s my class. KWIBS - From February 21, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Well, I might have missed a
Valentine’s Day card, but at least I remembered my wife’s birthday, with
an actual birthday card. KWIBS - From February 14, 2022 - By Kevin Noland His obituary, written by
himself, says “Charlie would like to be remembered as a quiet guy; who
kept to himself a lot.” KWIBS - From February 7, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Got up Wednesday morning to
snow. KWIBS - From January 31, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Did I miss something? KWIBS - From January 17, 2022 - By Kevin Noland Well, I called it and
exactly one year later, we’re still talking about it like it was
something so horrible that our country was nearly destroyed and
Democracy lost forever. KWIBS - From January 10, 2022 - By Kevin Noland For a variety of reasons,
mainly the “C” word, we had to cancel our New Years plans with friends.
We opted instead, to sit on the couch and binge watch Netflix. The day
before it was 64 degrees and we played outside and then Saturday brought
a new year, wind and freezing cold temperatures. KWIBS - From January 3, 2022 - By Kevin Noland I hope you all enjoyed
Christmas and had a happy new year! KWIBS - From December 27, 2021 - By Kevin Noland This is it! The final
edition of 2021 Barber County news. KWIBS - From December 20, 2021 - By Kevin Noland We are nearing the end of
2021. It was a good year and a bad year. That sounded like a Charles
Dickens’ rip off, but it wasn’t. KWIBS - From December 13, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Every year about this time
I say to my wife, “I need a hobby.” KWIBS - From December 6, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Last Monday it was 80
degrees outside! I love global warming. KWIBS - From November 29, 2021 - By Kevin Noland It’s always been my
intention to do a Christmas card. We seem to talk about it, plan it and
then never execute. KWIBS - From November 22, 2021 - By Kevin Noland I don’t want to mislead
anyone, but it’s been a long time since I’ve enjoyed Thanksgiving. KWIBS - From November 15, 2021 - By Kevin Noland The greatest generation. KWIBS - From November 8, 2021 - By Kevin Noland You can’t be serious...
Opossum Part III. KWIBS - From November 1, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Opossum: Part Deux
KWIBS - From October 25, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Only a few critters give me
cause for alarm and make me want to jump on a chair and scream like a
little girl.
KWIBS - From October 18, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Great work President Biden! KWIBS - From October 11, 2021 - By Kevin Noland So I tried desperately not
to draw attention to the fact that my birthday was last Monday. KWIBS - From October 4, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Another Peace Treaty is in
the books! KWIBS - From September 27, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Happy Birthday Bree! KWIBS - From September 20, 2021 - By Kevin Noland This letter is one I wrote
for the program of the upcoming Peace Treaty. I didn’t even know I had
to write one until I was on my way home from Wichita last week, so I
read Rick Swayden’s letter from 2018. It was powerful and professional.
I had already started my column for this week and grabbed my notes off
of my phone. I’m not scooping the program, but since I’m both president
and publisher, naturally, this was on my mind this week. KWIBS - From September 13, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Can you feel the excitement
building? KWIBS - From September 6, 2021 - By Kevin Noland The greatest travesty about
our recent removal of troops in Afghanistan is giving a country 20 years
of freedom and then just taking it away. KWIBS - From August 30, 2021 - By Kevin Noland As September 11 grows
nearer, our thoughts should now be with the survivors, the victims’
families, our military and now, more than ever the Afghan people. KWIBS - From August 23, 2021 - By Kevin Noland I think almost half the
county got hair cuts last week. KWIBS - From August 16, 2021 - By Kevin Noland So, I rarely ever cheer for
cooler weather, but this past week has had me rethinking. KWIBS - From August 9, 2021 - By Kevin Noland In our target market, there
are 19 full and part time jobs being offered. Many of these jobs have
been advertised for weeks on end. KWIBS - From August 2, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Ronda and I were spending
our last day in Denver after our son and daughter-in-law’s wedding when
we met an interesting young lady who works for the “Denverite” as a
free-lance columnist and writer. KWIBS - From July 26, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Ronda and I are big western
TV fans. We both grew up on Bonanza and in our early marriage, we grew
fond of the TV series “The Young Riders,” a show about the early years
of the Pony Express. The show, fictional in story, but fairly accurate
historically expresses the hardships of both the Native Americans and
the Settlers looking for a better way of life. KWIBS - From July 19, 2021 - By Kevin Noland So I did something out of
character a few weeks ago. KWIBS - From July 12, 2021 - By Kevin Noland A couple of weeks ago our
entire family attended Joey and Haley’s wedding in Denver. KWIBS - From July 5, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Back in the early 1990s, we
joined a cooperative to bring Internet to several rural communities
across Kansas. I knew nothing about the Internet, accept that Al Gore
had invented it and he must have known it was going to be big based on
his projections about global warming and such, so we jumped in. KWIBS - From June 28, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Right about the time some
of you are reading this, Ronda and I are traveling home from Denver. KWIBS - From June 21, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Well, this is the BIG week for my son
Joey and his Fiance’ Haley. They are getting married in Golden, CO on
Saturday. KWIBS - From June 14, 2021 - By Kevin Noland
June 17, 2021 marks our 33rd anniversary!
Our engagement photo from 1988
KWIBS - From June 7, 2021 - By Kevin Noland 30 years ago Ronda and I
started The Gyp Hill Premiere in our living room and dining room of our
3 bedroom farm house. KWIBS - From May 31, 2021 - By Kevin Noland If you are reading this on
publication day, it’s Memorial Day. KWIBS - From May 24, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Doctors in India have urged
people not to smear themselves with cow poo in an effort to ward off
coronavirus. Medical officials said there is no scientific evidence
behind the practice and warned that it risks spreading other diseases. KWIBS - From May 17, 2021 - By Kevin Noland I love DIY projects and
hacks found on YouTube. KWIBS - From May 3, 2021 - By Kevin Noland The struggle is real! KWIBS - From April 19, 2021 - By Kevin Noland It was almost exactly one
year ago last week I attempted to run a chain saw through my left hand.
KWIBS - From April 12, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Most news media exists
online these days, which is a shame. There's something beautiful about
the experience of reading a print newspaper; the fresh ink on your
fingers, the smell of newsprint, and of course, the occasional bizarre
and (unintentionally) funny newspaper headlines. KWIBS - From April 5, 2021 - By Kevin Noland “Biden dog poops on White
House floor” KWIBS - From March 29, 2021 - By Kevin Noland This past week saw an
explosion of mass shootings across our country and is now creating a
rehashed dialogue about gun control, assault rifle bans and new (more)
laws. KWIBS - From March 22, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Like most Americans, I have
a pent up cabin fever that began about a year ago when COVID began
shutting things down. KWIBS - From March 15, 2021 - By Kevin Noland There are 26 bones in each
foot. That's 52 bones in both feet, out of 206 total bones in your whole
body, which is more than 25 percent. It may sound crazy at first, but
think about it: Your feet support your weight and allow you to jump,
run, and climb. Those bones and joints also allow your feet to absorb
and release energy efficiently. KWIBS - From March 8, 2021 - By Kevin Noland The cancel culture is the
new thing that makes me angry every time I turn on TV or read the news. KWIBS - From March 1, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Is there any genre of humor
more satisfying than a dad joke? I don’t think so. Because dad jokes
aren’t like regular jokes. They’re multifaceted and complex. They’re
funny because they’re so desperately uncool that you’re not even sure
whether to laugh or grimace. Yup, a dad joke is loosely defined as a
groaner so corny that you basically need to own a pair of white Sketcher
sneakers, a cellphone belt clip, fanny pack and a coffee mug emblazoned
with the phrase "World's Best Father" to actually find it funny. KWIBS - From February 22, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Thank you Lord for warmer
weather! And thank you Southern Pioneer Electric for doing all that you
could to keep the lights on! KWIBS - From February 15, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Ok, somebody shut the front
door!
KWIBS - From February 8, 2021 - By Kevin Noland People are generally very
friendly when I meet them on the road either coming to or from work each
day. KWIBS - From February 1, 2021 - By Kevin Noland Not many realize this, but
COVID struck again, shutting down an annual event that is extremely
important to our agriculture community. KWIBS - From January 25, 2021 - By Kevin Noland We’ve all lost someone we
love - maybe a brother, mother or father. KWIBS - From January 18, 2021 - By Kevin Noland In 50 years, long after
COVID and whatever else the Chinese throw at us is gone, we’ll have some
pretty odd archived newspaper photos to look through. KWIBS - From January 11, 2021 - By Kevin Noland How do you know for weeks
that a massive amount of people are heading to Capital Hill and not be
prepared for it? KWIBS - From January 4, 2021 - By Kevin Noland What a wonderful Christmas.
Thank you to all the family for all of the food that now requires me
using all of those gift cards for looser fitting pants!
KWIBS - From December 14, 2020 - By Kevin Noland A classmate of mine, his
wife and my wife have made this strange tradition for the past few years
that we attend an NFL game together around Christmas. KWIBS - From December 7, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Many of you knew Mike
Shinkle. Let me tell you, he was a great man.
A man of God, on his hotrod. RIP my brother. KWIBS - From November 30, 2020 - By Kevin Noland I’m never thankful about
Thanksgiving falling on a Thursday. KWIBS - From November 23, 2020 - By Kevin Noland I won’t mention the “C” word this week, but once again,
it got in the way of life. KWIBS - From November 16, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Today, Ronda and I are
celebrating our 6th grandchild! KWIBS - From November 9, 2020 - By Kevin Noland I sat out of the game on
the bench most of the last couple of weeks because of COVID. KWIBS - From November 2, 2020 - By Kevin Noland An alarming number of
Barber County residents learned they have contracted COVID-19 in the
past several weeks. It’s gotten to the point that our County
Commissioners and Public Health Officials have put a mask mandate into
effect. KWIBS - From October 26, 2020 - By Kevin Noland COVID has robbed a lot of
people of joy. I know of birthday parties cancelled, funerals that were
only held with limited mourners, sporting events postponed, schools,
graduations and classes cancelled. The list goes on and on.
Nick will tell you that he
didn’t do anything that important in the four years that he served with
the Navy and Marines. I admire his modesty, but he did great things. A
three year overseas deployment is hard and the time did not go by
quickly for any of us. I’m happy that he got to spend the last 15 months
with his wife Natalie by his side. KWIBS - From October 19, 2020 - By Kevin Noland What I hope to be the final
chapter of the horrific events of July 21, 2018 has been written. KWIBS - From October 12, 2020 - By Kevin Noland The following article comes
from Jim Rowland, Barber County Economic Development. KWIBS - From October 5, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Extortion has certainly
been used as a political tactic through out history, but never in
America, until now. KWIBS - From September 28, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Happy Birthday to my oldest
child October 3rd! KWIBS - From September 21, 2020 - By Kevin Noland I read an article I wrote
about Peace Treaty in 2003. That was 5 Peace Treaties ago. KWIBS - From September 14, 2020 - By Kevin Noland I spent the better part of
three weeks trying to replace a columnist who’s been making appearances
in The Gyp Hill Premiere since 2006. Jason Offutt “Ended Transmission”
last week with his final syndication. We grew to be friends and we will
miss his whacky, practical sense of humor. KWIBS - From September 7, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Well, it’s officially
September. Normally, I’m so excited about football, I can’t come up with
anything to write about in my column, but this is a special month. This
will be the last month you have to endure me talking about my Son Nick,
who is in Okinawa (In case Joscelyn Nittler didn’t know - inside joke
-). You know what to do Joscelyn.... KWIBS - From August 31, 2020 - By Kevin Noland The community was
heartbroken to hear the news that Rex Bugbee had passed away Tuesday.
KWIBS - From August 24, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Speedy Morris KWIBS - From August 17, 2020 - By Kevin Noland I’m just going to leave
this right here. Please don’t blow up my email with hate mail. I’m
simply pointing out something that I read, found interesting and decided
to pass it along for you to draw your own conclusion. KWIBS - From August 10, 2020 - By Kevin Noland So people retire. KWIBS - From August 3, 2020 - By Kevin Noland As crazy as the world is
these days, you can only count on me to make fun of the headlines.
Ready? KWIBS - From July 27, 2020 - By Kevin Noland I wrote the headline on the front page.
“Joey is the new ‘Norm’ at White’s.” KWIBS - From July 20, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Sorry about this column,
but my inner 13-year-old boy took over my keyboard this week. KWIBS - From July 13, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Our lives are full of
decisions. Some are big decisions and some are like what to order for
lunch. KWIBS - From July 6, 2020 - By Kevin Noland I hope you had a wonderful
Independence Day! KWIBS - From June 29, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Have a Happy 4th of July!!! KWIBS - From June 22, 2020 - By Kevin Noland If you see a fire fighter
or dispatcher this week, thank them! KWIBS - From June 15, 2020 - By Kevin Noland June 17, 2020 marks our 32nd anniversary! I’m talking
about me and Ronda. Not many can say they’ve been married 32 years when
they got married at 18 and 19. I was just one month out of high school.
Our engagement photo from 1988 KWIBS - From June 8, 2020 - By Kevin Noland When I hear someone say, “I
just enjoy mowing the grass,” it makes me want to throw a sucker punch.
KWIBS - From June 1, 2020 - By Kevin Noland I was so excited last Christmas when my
“gift” to myself came in. KWIBS - From May 25, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Every day is a countdown to
a few special events in our lives. KWIBS - From May 18, 2020 - By Kevin Noland I’m an excellent planner.
I’m just a terrible weatherman. KWIBS - From May 11, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Governor Kelly continues
the needless agony KWIBS - From May 4, 2020 - By Kevin Noland You are the class of
perseverance. You were the class who didn’t get their senior prom,
senior breakfast, spring sports and missed out on all of the things that
make you a senior in high school. For that, I am sorry, but I know that
this experience will forever change you in a good way. KWIBS - From April 27, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Raise your hand if you are
tired of COVID-19 and what it is doing to our country. Raise your other
hand if you are ready to be over it and ready to be back to normal. KWIBS - From April 20, 2020 - By Kevin Noland By the looks of things,
thirty days of staying at home is making almost everyone crazy! KWIBS - From April 13, 2020 - By Kevin Noland I’m starting to miss
people; some people anyway. KWIBS - From April 6, 2020 - By Kevin Noland In this time of crisis, the
last thing I want to do is raise more alarm, but this release came into
our office last week. I can’t even believe it was considered: KWIBS - From March 30, 2020 - By Kevin Noland During this time of crisis,
I want to give some pats on the back to our local merchants who are
doing their absolute best, above and beyond, to keep our community
alive. KWIBS - From March 23, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Wow. KWIBS - From March 16, 2020 - By Kevin Noland It was the best of times,
it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of
foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of
incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness,
it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had
everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct
to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way – in short, the period
was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest
authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the
superlative degree of comparison only. - Charles Dickens KWIBS - From March 9, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Everything in the last 20+
years has pointed to the end of the world. KWIBS - From March 2, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Jack of all trades - master
of none. KWIBS - From February 24, 2020 - By Kevin Noland Although I did fall asleep
through part of it, I did attempt to watch the Democrat Debate in Nevada
last week. KWIBS - From February 17, 2020 - By Kevin Noland There was a collective sadness last week
when we heard the news that Deven Leis lost his battle with cancer. KWIBS - From February 3, 2020 - By Kevin Noland I like stability, normalcy,
tradition, etc. That’s why I had a melt down last week when my wife
wanted to paint our kitchen a different color. KWIBS - From January 27, 2020 - By Kevin Noland I’m at a loss for words
this week in expressing my grief and condolences for the death of Trey
Orr. Friends are far,
friends are near. KWIBS - From January 20, 2020 - By Kevin Noland I’ve been printing
Conservation Editions for more than 30 years. It was in 2006 that I
actually started reading the articles. Frankly, before that, I had no
knowledge or desire to know what it was all about. KWIBS - From January 13, 2020 - By Kevin Noland We live out in the country
and have since 1989. We’re used to critters. KWIBS - From January 6, 2020 - By Kevin Noland The most noticeable thing
about the holidays are that my clothes keep shrinking. KWIBS - From December 30, 2019 - By Kevin Noland
So, this is not our normal
type of newspaper. It’s a look back. 2019 is soon to be a part of
history for all of us. KWIBS - From December 23, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Ronda and I had the
pleasure of doing a marathon of NFL games last weekend. It started in
snowy Kansas City watching the Chiefs beat the Broncos and ended in New
Orleans watching Drew Brees and the Saints, beating the Colts. Drew
Brees made history Monday night at the Superdome, becoming the NFL’s
touchdown-pass king.
KWIBS - From December 9, 2019 - By Kevin Noland I’d like to offer an
apology and give a shout out to some hard working guys at the State HWY
Department. But first I want to rip a big box chain for their terrible
customer service. KWIBS - From December 2, 2019 - By Kevin Noland My wife is more awesome
than your wife. KWIBS - From November 11, 2019 - By Kevin Noland First, I missed his
birthday; then I forgot to mail my letter to him for “mail call”. I
wasn’t about to miss his homecoming.
KWIBS - From November 11, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Thank you Veterans!
KWIBS - From November 4, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Anger, frustration, wild
accusations, inflated claims, genuine needs and thoughtful
consideration. KWIBS - From October 28, 2019 - By Kevin Noland My son serving in Okinawa,
Japan is reaching his 1 year exit from the military. KWIBS - From October 21, 2019 - By Kevin Noland A malapropism (also called
a malaprop or Dogberryism) is the use of an incorrect word in place of a
word with a similar sound, resulting in a nonsensical, sometimes
humorous utterance. KWIBS - From October 14, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Jo Meador passed away July
10, 1996. A very dear friend to us, Jo was a surrogate mom to my wife
Ronda. Ronda’s mom fought cancer for many years and had passed away in
1988. Those following years, Jo was there for Ronda. She even took my
oldest son in for his circumcision after he was born because we just
couldn’t do it. KWIBS - From October 7, 2019 - By Kevin Noland There’s a very special
place in my heart for the rich history of Barber County. KWIBS - From September 30, 2019 - By Kevin Noland We were on our way to Jed
and Erin Hill’s wedding when I got a call from my friend Brian
Alexander.
KWIBS - From September 23, 2019 - By Kevin Noland So I went to the fair last
week. I was very proud of myself. For the first time in three years, I
spent less than $15,000 at the fair. No joke. KWIBS - From September 16, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Taxation without
representation is the act of being taxed by an authority without the
benefit of having elected representatives or a vote. The term became
part of an anti-British slogan when the original 13 American colonies
aimed to revolt against the British Empire. KWIBS - From September 9, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Wednesday, September 11 is
called “Patriot Day.” KWIBS - From September 2, 2019 - By Kevin Noland The Green New Deal is
already turning into the Old Brown Steamer in Georgetown, Texas –
population 75,000. It was to be the new poster child of the green
movement. KWIBS - From August 26, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Agree to disagree I guess.
KWIBS - From August 19, 2019 - By Kevin Noland In a few days, we will be
celebrating the marriage of our Daughter Breeann to her fiance’ Miguel
Hernandez. KWIBS - From August 12, 2019 - By Kevin Noland I hope you’ve all been
keeping up on the articles concerning the upcoming Peace Treaty Festival
and our attempt to consolidate and brand the event “Peace Treaty”
forevermore. KWIBS - From July 29, 2019 - By Kevin Noland One of my favorite artists
and guitarists of all times is Joe Walsh. KWIBS - From July 22, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Monday, July 15, 2019 was a
wild and crazy day for me. My first call came shortly after 5 a.m. I had
to be in Harper County, Barber County and then Pratt County and back in
time to make supper before our Peace Treaty Board meeting. KWIBS - From July 15, 2019 - By Kevin Noland My grand kids are in the
office a lot during the summer.
Ronda stared at it for a
long time. I took a photo and then Ronda spent 30 minutes disassembling
it.
KWIBS - From July 8, 2019 - By Kevin Noland I’m doing a sneak peak of a
snippet from Days of Yore that is supposed to be printed next week, but
the article caught my attention and I thought I would share it with you.
I’ve spoken with local historian John Nixon who could not confirm this
information, but also found it interesting. KWIBS - From July 1, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Whether I need it or not,
once every 7-10 years I break down and buy a new computer. KWIBS - From June 24, 2019 - By Kevin Noland I can be serious. I can be
sarcastic. I can be seriously sarcastic. You get that way in any line of
work.
That’s usually not a good thing. I get all kinds of excuses for being
late on checkins. Generally, people have very ill grandparents. You
grandparents should take better care of yourselves. People also seem to
get very sick right before court sentencing hearings. I have one lady
who has been in ICU three times in the last three months. Some are just
honest and say they forgot to check in. Those
are the ones I usually just say, “Hey, no
problem. Try again next
? ? ? ? Ronda and I were able to slip away
Monday afternoon and enjoy our 31st anniversary. Being the romantic that
I am, I got on my handy movie app on my iPhone and booked us two tickets
to see the new John Wick movie. Seriously, what could be more romantic
than watching, by my count 154 people die violently by knife, sword,
KWIBS - From June 17, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Today is our 31st wedding anniversary. I’m writing this in advance of printing the paper, so I hope we’re out doing something really cool! If I had to guess, I’m probably working and if the weather is nice, I will probably be mowing the grass later. Ronda will be busy cleaning house and doing laundry because it’s Monday. The good news is, we are still going strong at 31 years. The grass gets mowed, the house gets cleaned, the laundry gets done and so much more! We’ve been blessed with three children, grandchildren and so many friends. I recently looked at photos from my son’s wedding and saw how much our family has changed since June 17, 1988. All of the kids have significant others now and the third generationers are stacking up nicely. Ronda and I were 19 and 18 when we tied the knot. I had only been out of high school for one month. I love you, Ronda. You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me. There’s nothing I would change about our lives together. We truly are blessed in our lives. Don’t think it’s all been easy, but we’ve managed to overcome many difficult things through our marriage. Now, thinking about my son and his new wife Natalie, they are 21 and 20 and they will begin their new lives together in just over a week as Natalie and her family, along with Ronda and I, are preparing her to leave for Okinawa to be with Nick through the end of his deployment in December of next year. They are young and about to see the world rarely like kids their age ever get to do. One of their bucket lists is to go to the Tokyo Olympics in the spring of 2020. Nick has already planned several trips to islands in the area to show Natalie the beauty of the South Pacific. ? ? ? ? "It’s a small world, but I wouldn’t want to paint it." This phrase is credited to one of my favorite comedians - Steve Wright. It’s true though. Early Wednesday morning at 4 a.m. my son Nick starts messaging me from Okinawa. It was bout 7 p.m. his time. "Dad! I bought a car!" He was pretty excited and it only cost him $500. He sent me some photos and I was actually impressed. It’s a standard transmission 5 seat mini-van with captains chairs, only everything is backwards and they drive on the wrong side of the road over there. I don’t think it has power windows, locks, a/c, cruise, a radio or any other modern creature-comforts, but he had a car! Nick had waited two long years to achieve the rank of Petty Officer so he was allowed to get his driver’s license, purchased insurance, registration and a $500 car. Come to find out, these cars sell new for about $1,200. I’m guessing they’re made from crushed aluminum cans, but it beats paying for a taxi every day and when he’s done there, they have like a Craig’s List to advertise these cars for sale and it’s almost always the same kind of boxy car for $500. He claims our Polaris could beat this car in a drag race. So Nick decided to go driving around base in his new "mom car," as he calls it. "Plenty of room for grandkids," he joked. He stopped and asked several people if they needed a ride. That’s another common courtesy to younger marines and sailors on the island. He dropped off a couple of people and saw two Marines standing out in front of a shopping center. He tells the story: "So you know how I just got my car? Well, today was the first day that after work I just drove around and was giving people rides so they didn’t have to pay for a taxi or walk, and I kid you not, I pulled up to one of the shoppers and I asked these two guys if they needed a ride. One was like ‘no, we’re good. Thanks man!’ and I looked closer and I’m like.... Sheldon?? And he was like, Nick??" It was Sheldon Hart from Medicine Lodge, son of Becky and Justin Hart! Sheldon had just finished up on some training in Florida, Georgia and California before he received his orders for Okinawa. I had heard he was going there and reached out to his sister Justine. We thought it would be cool if Nick and Sheldon were to run into each other. It’s not likely given the number of Marines, Airforce and Sailors on the island, but it’s a tiny island. Who would have thought that Sheldon only being there for two days and Nick just getting his first car there would cause this meeting to happen 7,500 miles away from their home? Sheldon had literally been there for two days and Nick just happened to run into him. Hart was in JRC, which is a processing department transitioning him into how life works on base. They spoke for a few minutes and agreed to get together some time. Nick offered to show him around the island and see some attractions after Hart is able to go off base. I found this to be one of those, one in a million, encounters. It’s pretty cool that two MLHS grads from our county are serving their country together in Okinawa. I’m not sure how long Sheldon will be there, but Nick has been there for two years and exits in December of 2020. Nick will have the opportunity to show a former classmate around the historical island of Okinawa. I’m proud of all of our local military kids for their sacrifice and my hearts go out to their parents who miss them daily. I’m sure they will be able to see each other from time to time and have some great stories to share with us one day! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From June 10, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Years ago, many Medicine Lodge residents were up in arms over increasing water rates to support new infrastructure and improvements to existing water lines in our community. It was not a pretty time in our history and there were hard feelings and hateful things said about those who were trying to make the improvements. Kiowa is currently well into a project for a treatment facility. It should come as no surprise that these things cost money and is paid for by the users of the water systems. Recently the city of Anthony announced a rate increase after they discovered they were operating in the red in their water department fund. It’s only a matter of time before all communities our size will face the inevitable decision to increase rates for one reason or another. As we decline in size, we share the cost with fewer customers. And if we ever want a shot at growth, water is one of the most important factors to consider. Clean water. I commend the past and present council members, city administrator(s) and mayor of Medicine Lodge who had the foresight to make the difficult decision to upgrade our water system. There were a lot of folks that did not like the changes in the billing structure, but if we had done nothing, we would be in the same position as many of our neighboring communities are soon to be in. I commend Kiowa for thinking about their future water needs as well. As the two largest cities in the county, we have to lead the way. Progress is not easy. Change is rarely welcomed. If we do nothing, we get nothing in return. Sometimes by making the difficult decisions, we are giving future generations a shot at growth. Maybe it will happen in our lifetimes. Maybe it won’t. Have a great week! KWIBS - From June 3, 2019 - By Kevin Noland As you age, injuries become more significant. I could fall down 10 years ago and rub some dirt in the wound and shake it off. Now, at almost 50, injuries are a gamble. Over Memorial Day weekend, I was working on a spillway and needed some metal pipe. I went down to the shed and grabbed my sawzall and found exactly the pipe I needed (almost, or I wouldn’t have needed the sawzall). I climbed over a mound of rusty metal and found my pipe. As I was climbing back out, I scraped my leg against a rusty piece of metal. It didn’t hurt, but when I got to the other side, I was pretty bloody and it looked fatal. I still went into the pond and fixed my spillway. I’ll call it a flesh wound, but my doctor buddy took a look and asked, "When was your last tetanus shot?" I thought for a minute and answered, "Oh, like 1981." He didn’t make me get another one. I probably needed a stitch or two, but a few strips of bandages and some rubbing alcohol and I was good as new. Then we had more storms on Saturday. One of my wife’s glass vases blew over and shattered on the front porch. I was told it was all cleaned up, but my foot discovered a nice sliver of glass that lodged itself into my heal. That wound resulted in a bloody shoe and a sore foot. Thankfully, both cuts were on the same leg, so if I have to have it amputated, at least I have one good leg left. None of these wounds would be serious if I were in my 20s and I wasn’t taking blood thinners because I have had heart issues in my recent past. I can only be thankful that I am aging gracefully and am still well enough to write this column I guess!
KWIBS - From May 27, 2019 - By Kevin Noland As promised, I have returned this week. My last couple of weeks were spent on a tractor and road grader trying to repair damage we received after the latest rounds of rain and flooding. It couldn’t have happened at a worse time. My ranch foreman, Dave, and his wife, Mary, who also works for us, went to Hawaii for two weeks. That left me and my trusted friend Leroy Weber to get things mowed and roads repaired. It was a long week of hauling rock, digging out culverts, fixing deep washouts and getting the grass mowed. We have about 150 acres of recreation area we maintain. Friday evening of last week, we had everything done and caught up for Dave’s return on Monday. It was perfect and I felt a real sense of satisfaction until I was driving down my own driveway, fixing the last of things and saw rain hitting the windshield. Saturday, it poured. Pretty much everything I had fixed, had washed away and more puddles formed. At first, I was really distressed, but then I remembered 4 years ago when the ground was so hard you couldn’t even dig a hole. Well, those days seem to be behind us and more rain is in the forecast, as I write this. On Monday, Ronda and I were invited to the Barber County Annex to meet with area FEMA representatives to discuss damages we received. We’re not a city, but we have 42 homes located in the middle of our ranch on a resort known as Lake Arrowhead. It is our hope that someone in Washington will recognize us as tax paying citizens who could use a little help with funding for repairs to roads and culverts, spillways and dams. It’s a long shot, but one we will pursue. I do know that Barber County is in FEMA’s crosshairs and we should get some relief. Stay dry my friends! KWIBS - From May 13, 2019 - By Kevin Noland About 4 years ago, my mens’ Bible Study group prayed for months for it to rain and for the drought to end. I wish someone would pray for my bank account that hard - with as much success! Up in the north part of the county, we are saturated. I know the entire county has received a good amount of rain, so you can relate.. It affects us in a unique way. When we receive too much rain in a short amount of time, we become "hydrologically inadequate" when it comes to moving water. With the current spring rains, higher water table and complete saturation, we have a lot of water with nowhere for it to go. It seemed we got rain every day last week. So much at one point, that we went over our emergency spillways at Lake Arrowhead. Whenever this happens, we turn to our EAP (Emergency Action Plan). It’s sort of silly, but the Kansas Water Office requires we have one, so when the water comes rushing over, I make one call to the sheriff’s office or to Rick Wesley to let him know basically, "here it comes!" And within a couple of hours, the East side of Medicine Lodge including all of the city park was underwater. Rick came out and watched Elm Creek rise at Resort Road. That night, I went out and measured 22" of water that had made a new river across our main entrance to the lake. Several folks couldn’t get home on Tuesday night. Several more couldn’t get out, but eventually, we started to drain off. My phone rang several times that night with concerned folks who had heard that our dam burst. That simply was nowhere near true. Our dam is good and strong and will outlive everyone reading this. Wednesday morning, I went out and surveyed the damage. We have some road issues that I’ll work on over the weekend, provided it stays dry long enough for me to run a road grader. The funniest thing was seeing about 40, 15-30 lb grass carp nearly 1/4 mile away from the lake, flopping around in the middle of the road! Truly a fish out of water experience. I even found one crappie still alive. Ronda and I went down to meet folks in Kiowa last week. We enjoyed running into people who we have known for years and meeting a few new folks for the first time. I will say this about Kiowa. You guys have a lot of community and school pride. We have been overwhelmed with calls of encouragement and support in covering your town. We’ll be trying hard over the next few weeks at making new connections and getting all your news and advertising in the paper. Many of you have already reached out to us and we appreciate it. We are short staffed, overworked, underpaid, but SUPER EXCITED to be a part of covering you. I’m still going to bug Rex Zimmerman about telling his story to all of our readers. He has been so helpful the past week in getting us information to help us build the paper. We want your news! Send us everything you can to news@gyphillpremiere.com ! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From May 6, 2019 - By Kevin Noland It seems weird to me, but I have to use my column this week to introduce myself and my wife to some who might not know us. As you can see by our reboot and reformat this week, we and The Kiowa News have come together to make one paper. It’s sort of strange how quickly it all happened, but it was. Rex and Diann were ready to retire. Rex Zimmerman and I have known each other for many years. We share a long history of newspaper in our blood. He started in the St. John area in his teens in the 1970s, maybe earlier, but I don’t want to embarrass him. I worked as a third generation pressman and newspaper man in Medicine Lodge since the early 1980s. Rex and I have always respected each other’s areas and not stepped on each other’s toes; to the point where we even shared the yearly appointment of official county paper with no disputes or hard feelings. We and our families have felt an obligation to our county to bring the news to the citizens. I’ve written stories for them and they’ve written stories for us. I have always had good feelings about Rex and his wife Diann. They devoted 40 years to the Kiowa area and South Barber. When I say "devoted", you can’t understand this commitment unless you’ve experienced 52 deadlines a year for decades. We’ve both had that dedication and feeling of responsibility to our respected communities for most of our lives. So when we began talking about a merger-acquisition, I was at first hesitant, but interested. Ronda and I are still in the business for the long haul. Rex and Diann were ready to retire. It was a good fit. We just didn’t have a good game plan in place and I was hoping for a few months to get one. As you’ve read, that didn’t’ transpire, but we were able to start the process last week. My biggest concern was giving Kiowa and the readers in our county the same service as Rex did. Ronda and I have quite a few strange commitments going on in our lives. Not only are we newspaper owners, but we have a ranch we take care of north of Medicine Lodge (with a lake resort, I might add); we are grandparents; we still handle some operations for an internet company; I’m a bail bondsman and enforcement agent; I do house arrest and monitoring for a company from Wichita and we are both deeply involved and love The Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty Association as well as Barber County Development. So, ya, we’re a little invested in the county, to say the least. I have many friends in South Barber (I hate that term). I believe we are one county and we share the common struggle of surviving in rural America. We are unique in the respect that we adapt and change when that need arises. We have to. "North and South" sounds so territorial. As I said, we want to serve the Kiowa and South Barber area with the same passion as the Zimmermans. We can tell you that we can only do this with the cooperation of those who live in our communities. It was common practice 20 years ago for folks to submit articles and news to the area papers. These days, people like instant gratification of social media and often forget the importance of community journalism and keeping a record of events. A perfect example and proof that newspapers are still a viable industry is to, "Look at Facebook and tell me what happened 75 years ago." Newspapers are a way to preserve the history of our community in a "hard copy" form of media. We’re in your schools and libraries, at your city, and county meetings. We’re a part of your anniversaries, birthdays and even deaths of your friends and family. Facebook may be instant, but we’re in it for the long haul. Ronda and I need your help. We’ll print just about any news item you send us. We want to. We aren’t psychic and we can’t be everywhere at once, so that’s where you come in and help us report your news. We love to know what’s happening in our communities. I actually read about 20 newspapers a week around our area. I enjoy seeing how we stack up against other communities. We’re doing well, by the way. Even though we are experiencing a slow down in our economics, I believe the future is bright. It can be brighter with your help. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be wanting to include more of your news, photos and advertising into The Gyp Hill Premiere. Ronda and I look further than just retail business support and subscribers. We understand the delicate balance of agriculture and the natural resources we rely upon in Barber County with our oil industry. If you’ve been around long enough, you’re probably like us, this is our third or fourth oil recession we’ve experienced. Things are looking better, but these booms come and go and we can only hope to take temporary advantage. The most important thing is that we don’t lose hope or vision. I will say something controversial about Barber County: I don’t believe in the north and south division. I’ve always had dear friends from all over the county: north, south, east or west. And I’ve always been envious of the community pride that Kiowa has shown over the years. It really is time to erase that line and become a united county. Many of us have already done that. We are overwhelmed with Kiowa’s response to us coming in. I can’t tell you how excited and scared we are, all at the same time. You all deserve a good newspaper. We can do that, with your support, so please contact us with your news and thank you to all who have already. If you are new to our paper, you’ll see some things you haven’t seen before. Some things that the Zimmermans did, are only what they could do because of their long commitment to your community. I know there are more like them out there. We just have to connect with them. We have some obvious differences that I hope you’ll find valuable like our features, comics, puzzles and columnists. This week has been the hardest and longest week of our lives. This transition will take months of fine tuning and building relationships with you, but I know it will be worth it, so bear with us as we work out the kinks. There will be many. Call us or email us anytime. Everything you need to know about Ronda and I and The Gyp Hill Premiere are available at www.gyphillpremiere.com. This is a positive move forward in our communities. Thank you Rex and Diann for being so gracious and entrusting us to carry the torch forward. We wish you a fantastic retirement and we thank you for your selfless commitment to our county. We hope to share the Zimmerman’s story with you very soon. Have a great week! We look forward to working with you.
KWIBS - From April 29, 2019 - By Kevin Noland This is a tough week for our family. We’ve been celebrating since late March, when Nick finally came back stateside and married Natalie. This week, we said our good-byes. Friday, Nick began his long journey back to Okinawa. He will be there only a few days before he is deployed on two different operations in the Asian theater. By the first of June, he should be settled back in at his new job at 1st Marine Aircraft Wing Group 36. It’s a ton more responsibility and I believe he’s up to the challenge. Nick has worked very hard on training other RPs on protecting their Chaplains in combat situations. His procedures will be incorporated into future A-Schooling for all Religious Program Specialists. His new bride should arrive in Okinawa sometime in June, provided all the paperwork is done. We might be seeing Natalie in the Spring of 2020 for her sister’s graduation, but we may not see Nick again until December 2020 when his deployment ends. It has been wonderful having him home. These past few weeks have been a flood of emotions for our family. We’ve done some really fun things as a family that we won’t get to experience again for almost two years. That’s a bitter pill to swallow, but I stand as a proud parent of a fine young man who is serving our country and making a huge sacrifice by being so far away from home. We don’t yet know exactly what Nick and Natalie’s future plans will be. Nick says that he is out at the end of his contract, but then ponders another 4 years - and then changes his mind again. It’s ok with us, whatever his decision will be. He’s already proven to us that he is capable of handling whatever life throws at him and he’ll either breeze through the rest of his deployment and then college, or he’ll re-up and serve stateside for another 4 years and then get out of the military. Either option is just fine with us. One thing is for certain - he will be back in the United States at the end of next year. All I want is for him and his new wife to be happy, healthy and safe as they make their way around the world together. One exciting thing they plan to do is attend the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo! While Nick was home, we took a lot of photos. We haven’t even seen the wedding photos yet!
This photo was my favorite of Nick and Natalie. It was taken by Natalie’s maid of honor outside of The Gyp Hills Guest Ranch during the night of rehearsal. Nick didn’t want to wear his uniform while on leave, but I begged him to wear it for photos with Natalie. He thinks I take way too many pictures, and I probably do, but it’s these moments that bring fond memories to mind and tears to my eyes. We’re so excited to have Natalie as a part of our family. She’s the first new Noland since 1998! (Nick was the most current Noland before that!) We love you Nick and Nat! Have a great week.
KWIBS - From April 22, 2019 - By Kevin Noland It’s like someone let the wind out of my sails; more like the air out of my tires. After 50 years Slinkard Oil is history. Bill made the announcement nearly a month ago, signs went up to sell his building and he eventually got a contract pending. I’m dating myself here, but I used to sneak down the alleys on my mini-bike behind our house on A-Way to go buy gas from Bill. He would pump it or Bob Smith would. It usually cost me about 30 cents to fill up my 1/2 gallon gas tank on my Honda 50. Occasionally, it cost me a stern speech from Chief Monte Rickard, when he could catch me. Over the years, Bill stopped pumping gas, but kept the business going. We used him to service Ronda’s car and grandma’s car since we could start driving. He fixed half a million flats for me. Bill was so detail oriented when it came to servicing a vehicle and he wasn’t shy about telling you to take it somewhere else if he wasn’t qualified to fix it. I remember hanging out on his lot as a kid. We were safe there and there was one of the last pay phones in town if we needed to call home. I’ll miss watching him put a fresh coat of paint on that place before it ever needed it. I’ll also miss the free air. I could always count on that compressor to be on 24-7, 365 days a year. Mostly, I’ll miss his friendly smile behind his old-school desk at his classic gas station. I wish you the best, Bill, in your well deserved retirement. ? ? ? ? Congratulations to Mr. and Mrs Nicholas Noland! We welcomed Natalie to our family, officially, on Saturday, April 13, 2019. Nick goes back to Okinawa later this week for about 2 more years. It will be sad to see him go, but I know he will soon be joined by his new bride.
KWIBS - From April 15, 2019 - By Kevin Noland For the past 4 years, just one year before the Anderson Creek Fire, I started going on some controlled burns with some friends. I was trying to learn the importance of prescribed burning. This year, Ronda and I joined the Gyp Hills Prescribed Burn Association. I knew most of the members and had burned and learned from many of them. It seemed only right to offer my help and resources. Those resources were less than outstanding. I have two UTVs with 50 gallon sprayers, one old F350 with a 350 gallon tank and pump and one drip torch. My first official burn with the association was on the Cook Ranch north of Hardtner two weeks ago. We started at around 11 a.m. and the 360+ acres were contained by 1:30 p.m. It was a great burn. Everyone went home full and bored. I only used 10 gallons of water all day. I have limited knowledge on this topic, so forgive me if I speak out of turn, but if you use just a little water and things go good, that’s a good burn. Someone did their preparation work. We set a pin on the date of Monday, April 8, 2019 to burn just under 600 acres on our ranch. Wind direction was not critical because we had professional management help us with a burn plan that covered any direction (that’s another benefit of belonging to this amazing organization). Ideally, we needed a north or west wind. God provided us a mostly west and north west wind for the day. That’s not all He provided. My phone and email started blowing up with people I didn’t even really know, offering to help. We welcomed it all. Our burn was unique. They all are in their own way. We had two priorities. Firstly - regain grassland and replenish. Unlike most ranches though, our ranch has a resort with 42 homes in the middle of it. That created a safety challenge and extra help was necessary to contain and fires that broke out of our fire lines. And they did. I hadn’t slept in about 24 hours by burn day. We had a lot of last minute preparations removing cedar trees from the fire line and the thought of lighting this fire kept me awake for several nights. Cedars are like nature’s Roman Candles. When they go up, they throw fire and create little tornadoes that can set off fires thousands of yards away from the controlled burn. It was our intention to keep our residents safe and our neighbors safe. I was up early the morning of the burn. I went down and put coolers of water, dish soap for water tanks, torch fuel, maps and burn plans. I got a text around 9:30 a.m. that a caravan of people were heading our way. I had no idea..... At about 9:50 a.m. there were more than 50 people, 20 water trucks, a 6x6 forestry truck, 9,000+ gallons of tank water, 11 UTVs, a forestry fire expert, our county emergency management director, and neighbors and friends with more than 1,000 combined years of burning experience; all staged at our dam at Lake Arrowhead. I actually had to slip out and regain my composure. I was overwhelmed with everyone who came. Their pay for the day: A successful burn, no injuries, full bellies and some boredom and seeing half the ranch go up in smoke. By 2:30 p.m., we had released several people. Some stayed a few more hours; a couple of us stayed all night and throughout the next day and a half. I can’t name everyone to thank, but I will hit some highlights. Flint Rucker, his sister Jodi and son Cory came to help. Mark Dugan, Flint and I, did the preparation work. Brian Alexander was my burn boss. Robert Larson was my team leader with David Colborn, Jeff Clarke and Pat Bedwell on our back fire team. Jess Crockford (prescribed burn expert) was there lighting things up. Keith and Eva Yearout from Z-Bar brought a giant fire truck and Eva must have walked 8 miles with a drip torch that day. Ted Alexander came with radio communication and his wisdom; of course his son Brian Alexander and I have been friends for quite a while and he is teaching us more about ranching than our minds can contain. The local NCRS and Cheryl and Wyatt at the office hooked us up with some storage tanks and pumps, several of our residents at Lake Arrowhead volunteered to help. My wife did some walking along with a drip torch. She was tired and fried at the end of the day, but we were more than happy with the results. The people of GHPBA are amazing and I can’t thank them enough. Tom Carr is the president of this great association and provided organization and his personal assistance on the day of the burn. The most important thing I learned that day was that we have to take care of this land. There is an invasion of cedars and grasses that put us in danger and reduce our profitability in raising food to feed the world. Ronda and I are excited to be a part of this group and we look forward to helping our neighbors, just like they have helped us. Next week, we will have an article that Jess Crockford is writing to help educate the area on the importance of controlled and prescribed burning. Have a great week! KWIBS - From April 8, 2019 - By Kevin Noland He’s home and he’s marrying the girl this weekend! Nick arrived safely on Saturday, March 30th in Wichita after about 30 hours of traveling from Okinawa. The girl, Natalie Bare, from Pratt, KS is already a part of the family. They’ve dated for three years and kept a two year engagement. Saturday, April 13th, 2019 is the big day and we couldn’t be prouder and happier for them. I want to share some wisdom and advice for a successful marriage. Nick, your big day is upon us all. You have chosen wisely. Natalie is smart and beautiful and comes from a great family. You are blessed to have found such a person. I’m blessed in the same way and I’m so excited at the path you’re on. Treat her well. Always open the door for her. Treat her like the queen that she is. Keep the romance alive. May your fountain be blessed, and may you rejoice in the wife of your youth. Remember - it won’t always be easy, but it will always be worth it. Never let the sun go down while angry with each other. Forgive quickly. Tuck her in bed every night you can. Hug, kiss, hold hands and grow old together as friends. I’m proud of the man you have become. Your time in the Navy has changed you in a good way. I see how mature you have become. Stay the course. A few scriptures I would share with you: Ephesians 4:2-3: "With all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, eager to maintain the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace." Colossians 3:14: "And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity." Ecclesiastes 4:9: "Two are better than one, because they have a good return for their labor: If either of them falls down, one can help the other up. But pity anyone who falls and has no one to help them up. Also, if two lie down together, they will keep warm. But how can one keep warm alone?" God bless you and your new wife. I love you.
KWIBS - From April 1, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Raise your hand if you’ve ever had a stress zit. Now raise your hand if you’re a liar because you didn’t raise your hand the first time. I’ve been a little stressed lately. If you ask my wife, she’d probably say more than a little. I woke up on Wednesday morning and I had this giant zit on my neck. I’m sure it was from stress, being filthy dirty for the better part of a week working on equipment, and my stellar healthy living. For about 6 weeks, I’ve been out mowing fence lines and helping burn pastures. Spring means, it’s time to get things done at the ranch before the busy lake season starts. I had forgotten about the zit until I went for a hair cut. My stylist was like, "Oh my God. You have like a third nipple, only on your neck!" A third nipple. That always fascinated me. Supernumerary nipples, in the case of multiple nipples is a condition in which you have one or more extra nipples on your body. I actually have three friends with third nipples. How ironic is that? I won’t name them, but I always wondered what that would be like. Apparently, I now know. I’m just glad it’s temporary. At least I hope it is. I have this wedding thing coming up and I don’t want to have to turn my head for pictures. So my stylist had fun with it. She actually tried to squeeze it, but it only made it bigger and sore. "Oh! Here’s another one," she exclaimed! It was like she’d found a diamond mine. It was a weird experience that turned into her straightening my hair at 360 degrees with some flat iron contraption. I don’t even know why this column is happening, but happy April Fools! You know I am one....
KWIBS - From March 25, 2019 - By Kevin Noland A normal pregnancy usually lasts about 40 weeks, counting from the first day of a woman's last menstrual period, which is about two weeks before conception actually occurs. Pregnancy is divided into three trimesters. Each of these periods lasts between 12 and 13 weeks. Aren’t you glad to know that? So it takes about 9 months to get your baby. In our situation, it’s taking about 10 months. The baby of the family, Nicholas Noland, RP3, USN, will make his voyage home from Okinawa starting Thursday and arriving Saturday morning to a host of family, friends and most importantly, his anxious bride-to-be, Natalie Bare. This is the longest we’ve gone without seeing him. His recent promotion has also complicated our communication, so we can’t begin to explain how excited we are to have him home and to be a part of their wedding on April 13, 2019. It will be his longest visit home - nearly 30 days of leave. In the middle of him coming home, we’re working feverishly to prepare to burn about 700 acres of pasture and prepare for our resort season. I apologize for not getting back with several people last week. It took me about three days to catch up on emails. As I do enjoy being outdoors and out of the office, I find myself in a panic when I’ve been gone for three days. Things begin to pile up on my desk and the second I walk in the door, the sticky notes begin to get removed one by one as I catch up. If I missed you last week, try me again. If it’s an emergency, you are always welcome to call my cell at 620-886-0630. The rest of March and most of April will be super hectic for Ronda and I and the entire family as we welcome home our son and prepare for an awesome wedding! Have a great week!!
KWIBS - From March 18, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Last week, we rushed around to finish up our mock up of the paper so that I could leave town early for some mandatory continuing education classes for my bail bond and enforcement business. Keep in mind, this legislation was passed back in 2016 by a small group of big-city bonding companies after, what I feel, was a failed attempt at convincing people like me to join their association. The sales pitch was, "You should join, so that you’ll be kept up on legislation in our industry." The cost to join at that time was $500. I did not see the value in it, but soon learned of legislation that affected my industry. The Kansas Bail Agent Association lobbied our Kansas legislatures to pass HB 2056. In May of 2016, Governor Brownback signed HB 2056 into law; laying the groundwork for Continuing Education requirements for Kansas Bail Agents and Kansas Bail Enforcement Agents. A double-sided bill, one side of HB 2056 explains the new regulations and requirements for all Kansas Bail Agents in regards to Continuing Education requirements for both Surety and Property Bonding Agents. I dread it each year. The catch: Only the Kansas Bail Agent Association could teach the class at a cost of $250 a year per person; half of the original membership I was quoted. Nice play KSBAA. Imagine being a painter and being approached by an association claiming to represent you and your industry and then telling you that joining will help you fight against legislation that affects your business, but you refuse to join and then suddenly, you can’t paint anymore unless you take a class on how to do it. Imagine you’ve done it for almost 15 years. Do you think that you should be forced to pay for a class? Well, if you’re like me, our state representatives don’t think too much about passing bills and how they will affect those who fall under the law. For me, the closest class each year is Park City or Hays. I have to take off on a Thursday, get a hotel room, drive up and sit through about 8 hours of watching paint dry. This was intended on being a pun about the painter association doing something like that. I belong to several organizations of my own free will. Kansas Press Association is one of those groups. Can you imagine if they lobbied to make a law that I could not publish a newspaper without continuing education classes first? For the past three years, I’ve grudgingly, missed work, tossed them a check, sat through these boring classes, grumbled through the speakers that have nothing to do with my work, stood in line and received a worthless piece of paper that says I was there. Topeka is full of BS like this and lobbyist have too much power to force issues just like this. The same Attorney and special prosecutor who took 6 months to attempt to charge our former Sheriff with domestic battery (that could never be proven because the spouse/victim and witnesses said it never happened) was the morning speaker. Remember, that cost Barber County tens of thousands of dollars and man-time to investigate and in my opinion, was a political hack job. He used much of his time advertising his services to his "captive" audience at a reduced rate if we only, "paid a little more for a full blown membership." Officers of the KSBAA used their time to also encourage us to join, using the same sales pitch - that if we aren’t involved, more legislation could come down the pipe affecting us. Maybe true... The very definition of a crime I have bonded people out of jail from reads: Extortion - the practice of obtaining something, especially money, through force or threats. The force: take the class and pay $250. It’s mandatory. The threat: if you don’t, you can’t practice your trade anymore, no matter how long or how well you’ve done it. Most of the afternoon session with judges present from Sedgwick County’s court system had nothing to do with how the 30th district handles bonds that I work. So I was forced to sit through almost two hours of complaints from local bondsmen about how poorly the Sedgwick County Jail operates. I really don’t care. I was there to be "taught" something useful to my business. Now, I do see value in these classes for new agents entering the bonding business. We were handed booklets at the beginning of the day that were basically the same that we’ve received three years in a row (sponsored by the Attorney who wants us to join and use his services at 1/2 the rate), with the legislation on why we have to take this class. I can read. I don’t need it read to me for $250. I’m frustrated with Topeka on many levels. I spoke with Representative Hoffman about this issue many times with no resolution. He either sees value in the classes or simply doesn’t care. I even invited him to take the class last year. He didn’t. I sent him a short video of the attorney giving away drink coozies and T-Shirts like it was a rock concert. How does that educate me to be a better bondsman? At this point, I would rather just join the association for $200 a year and do away with the training since my total expenses for the classes were over $600, plus what I lost in a days worth of work at my real job, but that’s not an option. On the bright side, there was a break out session on Kansas Gun Laws that was given by a gentleman who I have known for a couple of years. The irony was, I ran into him at a gun show last year and told him he would actually be an "interesting" speaker at a continuing education class. Low and behold, he was the only speaker that I had any interest in, but still, since I already use his product and training, I had no real benefit of hearing it again. Topeka should get back to fixing our state’s problems and stay out of our businesses. There is absolutely no evidence that I benefited from this class, taken three times now, except that I am helping fund a lobbyist to look after "my industry’s interests." It’s not all bad. I understand we need a voice in Topeka, but convince me of that and earn my membership. Don’t force it upon me and my industry. My time is valuable and I don’t like it wasted. Are you listening Topeka? Have a great week.
KWIBS - From March 11, 2019 - By Kevin Noland After two weeks of firing my .45 pistol, a KISS concert in OKC and a Metallica concert Monday, my ears have had it. For the first time in my life, I had to wear ear plugs to go listen to music. Monday we drove to Wichita to see the metal band that started it all: Metallica. They aren’t exactly what I put in my playlist, but the concert was significant because it marked 34 years of a shared love for concerts and music that Ronda and I have together. Our first out of town date was in mid-December 1985 when I took her to see Ozzy Ozborne with a brand new opening act called "Metallica". Little did we know then that we were seeing history in the making. They were weird, loud and in our opinion, terrible. The entire Kansas Colosseum agreed and they got a "boo" from the crowd. A Rolling Stone article reflected their experience. Lead singer James Hetfield said he’d never perform there again. For their 25th anniversary tour, they decided to come back to Wichita to kick off the tour to a different tune. Their strange speed-thrash metal caught on and they became the staple of the metal music industry and on January 14, 2009, it was announced that Metallica would be inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. There’s about a dozen Metallica songs I really like and about 100 I really hate, but for us, it’s about production and entertainment. Everyone has their thing. Ours is music. I can listen to just about everything except modern country and rap music. Some people don’t see the talent in playing the type of music that Metallica plays, but they have a unique talent for authentic speed with music. I reached out to a friend on Valentine’s Day of last year and using my Jedi mind control, convinced her to let me prepurchase 4 front row tickets. The tickets went on sale to the general public the next day and sold out Intrust Bank Arena, making it the largest event in the arena’s history. Metallica’s Monday-night crowd of 15,690 was the biggest the downtown arena has seen in its nine year-history, and it busted the previous record held by country legend George Strait, who drew 14,680 fans in 2014. The arena was somewhat prepared for the crowd, the city’s parking was not. We took some friends with us, ate a quick dinner and then spent the next 45 minutes trying to find parking. We ended up parking under the 54/400 overpass off of Emporia, three blocks away. I’m not even sure if we were legally parked, but we didn’t get towed away! This concert was loud in a way I can’t describe, but my sound techy friend "Steve" met up with us to explain it all. Steve is a great sound man who works a lot of venues in and around Wichita. He is also owns the sound company that Peace Treaty uses. Steve explained, "Metallica owns subs (woofers) that were designed by the military as sonic weapons. They used the subs for a total of three minutes off and on because the sound waves can actually cause people to become ill and disoriented." He added, "This sound set up was such a harmful frequency that they use a cancelling system that changes the frequency of the bass on stage and cancels out that signal so the bass player (who complained his feet would go numb) and most in the audience don’t become ill because of the low frequency." There was so much science and technology that went into this concert, but all I can say is, it was loud. VERY LOUD!
A little heavy metal does me some good, now and then!
Remembering my friend Michael Walker Back in late 2004 and early 2005, we were introduced to a band named Aranda, made up of brothers Dameon and Gabe Aranda, Chad Roper and Michael Walker. Mike was a music instructor in Oklahoma City and one of the neatest guys we’ve ever met. Over the next 15 years, we would go to more than a 100 shows in 4 states and we’ve become great friends with everyone that has come in and out of Aranda’s band over those years. Tragically, Monday morning, March 4th, Mike and his wife Rachael were both murdered in the early morning hours at their home in Edmond, OK. If this wasn’t sad enough, the crime was committed by their eldest son "Eli". Eli, 19, had a long history of mental illness and was having a difficult time in his life. Whatever drove him to kill his parents is something I will never understand and it will haunt me forever. Please pray for the Walker’s children during these difficult days. This group of people are near and dear to us. When not touring across the country, you would find members of Aranda at LifeChurch in the Oklahoma City metro area doing worship services. These guys are the real deal and they are all hurting over the tragic loss of their drummer and friend. Here’s a photo of me and Mike in Austin, TX in 2013.
Mike was a great man. He was an amazingly talented musician and teacher. He was soft spoken - but hilarious at just the right moment. He was sensitive to those around him. He was gracious in nature. He had rhythm and soul to his core. He was blessed with countless friends, fans and family and he knew God's mercy. He could be sweaty at times, but worth hugging after a show! We are trusting God to heal many hearts in the days, weeks, months and years to come without Michael Walker and wife Rachael.
Heaven gained the greatest percussionist ever.
KWIBS - From March 4, 2019 - By Kevin Noland You know how deep a friendship runs when your buddy and his wife will hop on different planes from cities in California, meet up in Las Vegas and fly into Oklahoma City to spend less than 24 hours with you and your wife for a KISS concert. Nix and Wendy made the trip our direction on Tuesday. Ronda and I drove down and we picked them up at the airport and then stopped by to say hi to a couple of classmates from the MLHS Class of 1988 that live in OKC. Jim Tedrow and Tina (Littlechild) King both work north of Will Roger’s Airport and when they heard we would be passing through they started blowing up my cell phone. In fact, they called so many times that it interrupted our GPS directions and we missed our exit. Thanks Tina and Jim! After a quick visit, we hit the hotel, which was completely not prepared for the crowd of people who came to see KISS on their "end of the road" tour. I had gone and seen KISS with Nix a couple of years ago and got to meet the band and see the behind the scenes action. I begged Ronda to come this time and she said, "Yes, as long as Wendy is going." Well, Wendy came! Ronda and I are not really big KISS fans, but we are huge Nix and Wendy fans, so when Nix begins a conversation with, "What are you guys doing.....?" We usually perk up to see what he has in mind.
It was a blast and here’s our latest fun photo!
This marked 4 adventures in 10 calendar months that we’ve seen them and we always have a great laugh or two! And Happy Birthday Mom! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From February 25, 2019 - By Kevin Noland When my kids each turned 21, we celebrated with a cold one. I remember when Joey turned 21. We drove all the way to Hays so we could have a beer together. It’s like a right of passage and an entrance to true adulthood. It’s second in importance only to hitting retirement age. Today is my youngest’s 21st birthday. We won’t be celebrating with a beer because he’s 7,500 miles away on a tiny island and a Marine base south of Japan. Over there, he’s been able to buy himself a drink since he was 20, so this is really no big deal to him, but it’s important to me. It’s that whole, "now son, do these things in life and not these things," kind of moment. So, I’m a little sad that today (yesterday for him) we won’t be having that special bonding experience. The good news is, he’ll be home in 34 days and on leave for 29 days. During that time, he’ll be busy preparing for his marriage to Ms. Natalie Bare of Pratt! It’s been 10 long months since we last saw him. Actually, the longest we’ve gone without seeing our son. For Natalie, it’s only been a couple of months. She got to go to Okinawa over Christmas and New Years to visit Nick. And speaking of birthdays, and Ms. Natalie, her birthday is Thursday, February 28th. She’ll be the big 2-0! Happy birthday Natalie!
Have a great week!
KWIBS - From February 18, 2019 - By Kevin Noland I found this article interesting on many levels: Marijuana smokers find tiger in vacant Houston home Police said a group of people broke into an abandoned Houston home to smoke marijuana and quickly discovered they weren't alone -- there was a tiger in the house. The Houston Police Department said the people called the 311 non-emergency line Monday when they broke into the southeast Houston home, which was believed to be unoccupied, and discovered a tiger in a cage. A BARC Animal Shelter crew responded to the home with the Houston police's Major Offender Animal Cruelty Unit and tranquilized the tiger, nicknamed "Tyson" by rescuers after the famous scene in The Hangover featuring boxer Mike Tyson's tiger. Police said the tiger, which appeared well fed and in good health, is being taken to an undisclosed animal sanctuary. Investigators said it is legal to own a tiger in Texas with the proper wildlife permits, but it is not legal to keep such an animal in the city of Houston. What the article didn’t clarify is, what happened to the mariuanna smokers? They broke into a house to smoke marijuanna and the only mention of a crime was having a tiger in the city limits? Can you imagine that buzz kill and conversation? I think it would go like this. "Hey, let’s smoke some pot and laugh and eat Cheez-its." "Dude, is that a tiger?" "No man, we have to be trippin’." "Seriously man, that’s a tiger." "Should we call 911?" "I don’t know the number man." "Well, we could call 411 and get the number." "How about we just dial 311 and report it as a ‘non-emergency’ and finish smoking." "You’re so brilliant. Let’s do that." "Hey, hand me that box of Cheez-its." "Sorry, I fed them to the tiger dude." "Dang...." Have a great week! KWIBS - From February 11, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Valentine’s Day is coming in a few days and I wanted to share with you a love story. Sounds so mushy. You might be thinking, "oh Lord, coming from Kevin this could be worse than "50 Shades of Gray." Don’t worry, this is Rated G and family friendly. In the late 1970s and early 1980s, I worked for several people around town. Luke Chapin was one of my employers. I did a lot of mowing for him at the motel and at his lake home north of Medicine Lodge. My favorite time working for him was out at Lake Arrowhead. He had a pretty snazzy Snapper lawn mower and I felt pretty important when mowing out there. When I’d finish mowing, he’d let me wax his boat. That sounds awful, but it meant I could jump in the lake and I got to spend a lot of time riding his three wheeler all over creation. On one such adventure, I saw a cute little redhead riding on a Honda trail bike. I smiled and waved, she waved back. Several summers went by and I would see her. One summer I was riding Luke’s three wheeler back on the ranch and a big red Thunderbird came screaming up behind me with the horn honking. I stopped and this lady jumped out and proceeded to give me the butt chewing of a lifetime. I did not realize at that time that she would one day become my grandmother-in-law. Late in 1985, a beautiful girl moved to town. She was a grade ahead of me in school, but I was smitten when I saw her. I had no clue that she was the little redheaded girl that I waved at several summers as a kid. One day the entire school had an assembly. It was sponsored by the Cosmosphere and was all about NASA. We all gathered in the gym and sat on the floor. This beautiful new girl sat right beside me and we started talking. I wasted no time in asking her if she’d like to hang out. She said yes. A few weeks later she asked me to the Christmas dance and I said yes! Then there were more dates, meeting the parents, proms and this week, I count 34 times that she’s been my Valentine. This love story has so many chapters and so many adventures, they are almost unbelievable at times. Through good times and difficult times, the love of my life has stood by my side. She has comforted and cared for me; given me three beautiful children, was with me as we started businesses together; we work side by side every day and seldom do we get angry with each other. She’s patient and kind - everything that is 1 Corinthians 13:4-8. She gets more beautiful as she grows older and accepts that I get balder and fatter with every year. She is strong, honest and is the best help mate that God could have ever provided me. I can type this column and it could take up the entire newspaper to tell you all of our adventures. We’ve traveled all over, have hundreds of friends. We love the same music, movies. Finally, we make each other laugh, even when we need to cry. In my mind, there has never been a better love story than ours. That beautiful redheaded girl is my soul mate. I say that I don’t deserve her and I can’t figure out what she saw in me that day that she said "yes". I love her and she is the best thing that has ever happened to me. Proverbs 30:18-19: "There are three things that amaze me—no, four things that I don't understand: how an eagle glides through the sky, how a snake slithers on a rock, how a ship navigates the ocean, how a man loves a woman." Happy Valentine’s Day Ronda. I love you and thank God for you every day. Have a great week!
KWIBS - From February 4, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Forget about it! That’s so easy for me. You see, I’m an amazing multitasking human being, as long as I do one thing at a time, in order. I operate off of two things: A piece of paper clipped to my Farm Bureau desk calendar and my cell phone’s appointment calendar. If it’s not on either of those, I might have emailed myself to remind myself to do a certain task or put that certain task on one of my calendar reminders! The only bad thing about that is that I have 7 email accounts and the message has to go to the correct account for me to do the task. If it’s a ranch task, I need it to go to my ranch email account on my phone. If it’s a task for the newspaper, I need it to go to my gyphillpremiere.com account at the office. If it’s bail bonds related, it needs to go to my attica.net account. If it’s Lake Arrowhead related, it needs to go to my Lake Arrowhead account. I keep a couple of old email addresses to steer junk mail to and talk to old friends on. I (they) hate when I get a message from a friend on my business account and then I don’t respond. My office can tell you that I get the job done, as long as I have written out what I need to get done! And when I get it done, I cross it off my list and forget about it. Sticky notes are my friends too. If it gets late in the day and I know I didn’t accomplish something, it turns into a sticky note task that gets stuck to my monitor. I can’t possibly start the next day without seeing it. The two things that never (NEVER) work for me are: handing me something and asking me to bring it to the office to give to someone else, or messaging me on Facebook about work related issues. If you message me on Facebook, it probably dies right there. If you hand me something and ask me to take it to the office or give it to Ronda, expect it to take as long or longer than if you had mailed it around the world first. Last summer a tenant gave me a check for several thousands of dollars and said, "Hey, would you give this to your wife?" I told him that I’m not real good at that, but he insisted. Two months later...... Ronda said to me, "I never got that rent check. I’m going to call him and find out why he hasn’t brought it by." I told her that was not necessary. It was up in my visor. Things go there to die as well. Another example of my forgetfulness happened a few years ago. My tag was about to expire. My sweet bride paid the bill and put my new registration on my desk along with my new insurance cards. It had been raining that day, or she would have stuck the sticker on and put all of the documentation in my truck. The tags expired in August. After about a week of her reminding me, I took the registration card to my truck. My buddy, who is a Sheriff’s Deputy, noticed in December that my tag was expired and asked me about it. I showed him I had it up in my visor and he said, "well, you really need to put that on and display it properly or you could get cited for that." The next year in March.... I was driving to church up in Pratt one Sunday and got pulled over. I was wondering why in the world I was getting stopped. The nice police lady (cough-cough) gave me a $427 ticket for improper registration (and no proof of insurance because the one that Ronda gave me was still on my desk). Even though I showed her that I had the registration in my visor, she still wrote me the ticket. Fortunately, the municipal judge was kind and dropped the ticket when I showed I had complied and did have insurance. Over the years, dozens of ads and articles have probably been left out of your local newspaper and checks have been cancelled and rewritten because I can’t walk and chew gum at the same time. I do apologize. Every-once-in-a-while, I remember, but in most situations, not so much! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From January 28, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Short week. I’ll be back. PS: Dear Santa, Christmas is over. Take your house down or put up a Hobby Lobby....... KWIBS - From January 21, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Here’s a creative idea: tax people when they leave your country. It’s a real deal. Japan recently implemented such a "tax." As of January 7, 2019, the Government of Japan (GOJ) is implementing a 1,000 Yen "International Tourist Tax" when departing Japan. You read that correctly because I had to read it twice. I would have never cared except we fly our son home a couple of times a year, so unless it’s exempt by order of the military, we’ll be paying the fee for him to "leave" Japan. In The Eagles’ song "Hotel California," Don Henley sings, "You can check out anytime you’d like, but you can never leave." So you can’t leave Japan unless you pay the 1,000 Yen. At first I was like "YIKES!" Then I looked up how much that was in American currency. It’s about $9.20, so I’m not getting too worked up about it yet. But I got to thinking that this could be a pretty cool tool to raise money for tourism in Barber County. What if we had a "Barber County Tourist Tax?" You could come into our county free of charge, but we tax you to leave! Maybe you’d just stay! It’s just like "Hotel California," but we’ll let you leave for $10.00! As my future daughter-in-law recently discovered, the Japanese culture is full of funny things. They have a very difficult time translating their squiggles into our English. Natalie went to see Nick during Christmas and we had dinner with her after picking her up from the airport. She showed us photos of funny things she read there. I did some checking and the Japanese are almost hilarious when trying to accommodate for Americans. These are real signs in Japan: "For Restrooms, go back towards your behind." " Please keep chair on position and keep table cleaned after dying. Thanks for your corporation!" "Building asks a smoked visitor in the outside smoking section that you cannot smoke in." In a bathroom: "You lady will push this button before leaving." "Back to school special: Eat Kids FREE!" "Toilet. One Place One Dream." "Only for women. Capsule Room. (Keep Out, Man)." "Please urinate with precision and elegance." "Shoplifters will be prostituted!" On Stairs: "Beware of Missing Foot!" At a shopping mall: "We can help you with our pleasure!" At a park: "Beware, this plant wears very sharp prickles." In a hotel: "Please refrain from taking a bath when you are dead drunk." On a menu: "Meat muscle and stupid bean sprouts." While in Okinawa, Natalie shot some photos of things that cracked her up and shared them with us when she got home. Enjoy and have a great week!
I forget a lot of things. Thanks car door!
Just in case you haven't used one before....
By the way, "Moking" is also bad for you.
KWIBS - From January 14, 2019 - By Kevin Noland I know we’re already a couple of weeks into a new year, but I wanted to reflect on 2018. Years ago, I used to journal every day. I did it when my dad became sick with dementia. I wanted to document a really difficult time in my life. It was somewhat of a stress-relief, but turned into something I enjoyed doing and intended on leaving it for my children to read someday. When my dad passed away, I stopped. It’s something I have wanted to start doing again, but just don’t have the motivation. I did sit down with my iPad the other night and reflected on 2018. Our family had a lot of ups and downs, some very personal, but I’m usually an open book and not afraid to share in our triumphs and our disappointments. Those difficult times in life are learning and teaching experiences. In 2018.... All my children were here at the beginning of the year. Nick was home from Okinawa on leave. Joey had a short time off from work in Phillipsburg, KS and we all got to celebrate together before Nick left again. Ronda and I are huge music fans. We saw the Eagles, Peter Frampton twice, STYX, REO Speedwagon, Don Felder, The Steve Miller Band and a few other concerts during the year. We discovered an amazing woman named Bat-Or Kalo from Israel. She’s a blues guitarist and singer-song writer. We loved her and her band so much, we hired her to play at our 30th wedding anniversary over the summer in June. To top off that wonderful celebration, Nick flew home from Japan and surprised us with a certificate from his command. We were honored to pin him as an E3. He finished the year as a Third Class Petty Officer. Joey has been with the White’s Foodliner family for almost 10 years now and he was given the opportunity to manage a new store in St. John, KS. He’d been in Phillipsburg for a year working, learning produce. We are so proud of him and wish the best for the Whites for their endeavors. We also got to meet Joey’s girlfriend Haley! We love her and are excited about her being a part of our family. During the summer we enjoyed our time with our kids and grandkids at the lake. It’s sometimes hard for us to unwind. Summer is busy for us running a resort, a newspaper and being a bail bondsman, but we made a lot of memories. It was an exceptionally wet year and things were so green, which meant a lot of mowing, but we found time to relax in the evenings and weekends. I did, however, take a fall and hurt my shoulder and am still recovering. Our class celebrated our 30th reunion. Brett Fincher always organizes and does such a great job putting these on and he did it just weeks after losing his dad, Ron Fincher, a staple in our community. I lost a friend. His name was Mike Pickens and we shared a love of music together. He was my age and died suddenly. Many of you heard his handy work, as he was part of the sound crew for Peace Treaty events over the years. Sadly, we too had to bury a family member. Our German Shepherd, Hyde, was two weeks shy of his 15th birthday. He lived a long life and we loved him dearly. It was one of the saddest days of my life to lay him to rest on the ranch. The hardest part was telling my son who was half a world away and spent the majority of his life with that dog. We’ll probably never have another pet again because of how much it hurt when he died. As stressful as this event can be, we had a great Peace Treaty. Ronda and I have been on the board for many years and you cannot find a better group of people. The Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty Association is passionate about our area’s rich history and works tirelessly to put on events for the community. We had almost decided it was our time to step down, but I ended up being elected President and Ronda went from Treasurer to Secretary. I learned so much from people like Rick and Betty Jo Swayden, Sarah Whelan, Robert Larson, Steve Bryan, Richard Raleigh, David Colborn, Joscelyn Nittler, Aaron Traffas, Mike Roe, Cathy Colborn, Kaye Kuhn, Kyle Thomas, Deb Kolb and Danielle Farr and so many other great folks. I want to thank them all for trusting us to lead this exceptional group of people. I always say there is not one person on that board that we can do without. They are amazing and we are truly honored to continue to be a part of it. Ronda and I both turned a year older. She hit the half century mark, I’m not far behind her. For her birthday, our friends Nix and Wendy White from California, took us on an amazing trip to New Orleans where we got to tour the city, enjoy the culture and attend a New Orleans Saints’ game vs. The Philadelphia Eagles. After the game, Nix arranged an introduction to Quarterback Drew Brees and his family. We got a real VIP experience that we’ll never forget. Throughout the last part of the year, we had sorrow again after my daughter and her husband divorced after 8 years. We also lost a friend at Lake Arrowhead. Byron Hummon died. He was a part of our lake family and we will miss him. Christmas was different for us this year. It was hard because we didn’t have our traditional family Christmas. Nick was unable to come home due to leave time, money and his upcoming wedding in April, so we all chipped in and sent his fiance’ to Okinawa. We missed them both at our gatherings, but we enjoyed all the photos and facetimes with them as they celebrated Christmas and the New Year! I’m looking forward to 2019. I know there will be ups and downs. That’s how life goes, but I am looking forward to Nick and Natalie’s upcoming wedding in April; Joey is going on another mission’s trip to Haiti; Breeann has a new friend in her life; we have another spring and summer to look forward to (notice I left out fall and winter!); there’s a lot to do on the ranch that we love; our grandkids are growing up; our friends are getting older, as are we. Life’s cycle continues and I hope 2019 is a great year for us and for you. Thanks for reading, happy 2019 and may God bless you all.
KWIBS - From January 7, 2019 - By Kevin Noland Ronda and I were the victims of a home invasion last Tuesday evening. I had started home around 6 p.m., it was getting dark and I was driving an unfamiliar vehicle to me and the owner was with me. The unfamiliar truck ran out of gas about a mile from my house. Fortunately, a nice young man passing by picked me up and brought me to the shed, where Ronda was already waiting for me. I left the owner of the vehicle standing on the side of the road while I found a gas can and filled up. Obviously, we were not home, but our door alarm went off, so we hurried to the house. We were just a short distance away, on the ranch, when the alarm went off. As we were coming around the back side of our home, we could see a white van leaving our house and heading south on Resort Road. We had to make a decision; do we check on our home or do we chase after the mystery van? We chose to check on our home and call the Sheriff’s Department if needed. I left Ronda in the truck and ran in the door and looked around. Nothing was out of place. I decided they weren’t far ahead of us and I could probably catch them. I turned around and saw the evidence left behind and chuckled to myself. One of our neighbors up at the lake had brought us a plate of cookies and a Christmas card. Since we weren’t home, they just placed the cookies on the table and left. It set off the silent alarm on our door, but fortunately, the audible alarm was not armed. I passed Ronda’s vehicle as I walked out the door and told her everything was all right and to meet me at the gas tank. She pulled up. I gassed up my can and jumped back in. "Was everything ok in the house," she asked? "Yes, I figured it out, but let’s get back to that truck and get it off the side of the road," I said. Ronda was left confused. I was developing a plan to keep the cookies to myself. I just had to beat her back to the house and hide them. We got back to the truck on the side of the road and my friend was standing there waiting on us. He was holding a plate of cookies..... My wife was like, "Hey, where did you get those cookies?" He was about to blow my cover. "Some nice people in a white van just stopped to see if I was ok and I told them I was with you guys and they handed me this plate of cookies, they said ‘Happy New Year’ and drove off," he said. Now my cover was seriously blown. Ronda figured out quickly that it was Brendon and Rachel Wray and their children who had set off our door alarm and now there was no way I was hiding those cookies from her. We raced home and gorged ourselves on the plate of cookies in a friendly family feud. Happy New Year!
KWIBS - From December 24, 2018 - By Kevin Noland It’s Christmas Eve! I have to be honest, Christmas is sometimes not my favorite holiday. It’s not Christmas’s fault - it’s mine. My heart and my head forget what a great day we are celebrating; the birth of Jesus. The world tells us that it’s about gifts, food, drinks and ugly sweaters. The simplicity of God becoming man in the form of a helpless baby actually becomes this complicated and confusing situation where the meaning is lost. The Bible is a love story. It’s God’s love for his creation, no matter how horrible it chooses to be. If you celebrate Christmas for the right reason, you know how difficult this season can be on your spirit. The Devil loves to contort and cause us to fall off the rails during this time of remembrance and celebration. I know I’m sounding really preachy, but this column is as much for me as it is for anyone reading it. We have a good God and we have a willing Savior in Jesus. Santa did not die on the cross and the elf on the shelf did not rise as the first of all who believe in the scriptures. The book of Isaiah was written nearly 700 years before the birth of Jesus. It goes into great detail of the prophecy of his birth and his death. It’s undeniably one of the most fascinating books of the Bible. As a believer, I have to be ashamed of myself for not being in the Christmas spirit EVERY DAY! What makes it so difficult for me, or you, to not experience the joy of Christmas every day of our lives? We’re all born and we all die. The birth of Jesus is the celebration of life. It’s a promise from our God that we too will live forever in Him; a simple, yet so complicated thing to believe (or have faith) in. Despite every distraction in life, I choose this Christmas to simply thank God for loving me. Historically, our dates are probably off on the official "birthday" of Jesus, but we have that one day to celebrate and remember that, even though I am a sinner, God loved me enough to send his Son into this world to die for my sins. With that truth, should come joy! Remember when we were all just kids ready to open presents on Christmas Eve or Christmas day? That simple excitement should be how we feel about what we are really celebrating. We’ve received the greatest gift that a person can get - life! I’m thankful that I can write to you and tell you how I feel about Christmas. I’m glad you are reading this. Ronda and I and our families want to thank you for supporting us all of these years. It is my honor to wish you and your families a Merry Christmas! Whatever is going on in your life, good or bad, stop for a moment to think about what Christmas is about and I leave you with a different Christmas scripture that maybe you’ve read a hundred times, but consider the context during this season of celebration: John 1:14 The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the one and only Son, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth. Merry Christmas
KWIBS - From December 17, 2018 - By Kevin Noland Plans change. Sunday afternoon I was making plans to go and do a fugitive recovery for Monday in Wichita. My hopes were to find my guy quickly, get him booked back into Sedgwick County and then go see Byron Hummon who had been sick and in the hospital. I also was wanting to check on my neighbor John Nixon, who was also in the hospital in Wichita. Sunday night, my contact did not respond with an address, so I postponed my trip. Sadly, Byron passed away early the next day. I felt like I didn’t get to say good-bye. Byron and Carolyn have a home at Lake Arrowhead and they’ve been a part of the family out there for many years. We’ve spent many a Friday in the summer, having a drink and discussing life at "Party Cove" with our lake family. Byron was wise and I cherished our friendship. Byron was a generous man to many people with his time and his money. He was humble and always cheerful around Ronda and I. We will miss him at "Party Cove" this spring when the weather gets nicer and we all meet again. I missed John too. Thankfully, he is recovering and getting better every day. It seems like our neighborhood goes into hibernation during the colder months. Living between two lake resorts makes us appreciate the warmer days. Unlike living in town, there’s literally nothing to do where we live when the weather turns. Days get shorter and we hide in our warm homes, longing for the warm days, playing at the lake, riding our cycles, shooting fireworks and fishing. I pray John will be up for that really soon. Tell your friends you love them while you can. It’s really easy, but we forget that we live on borrowed time. Prayers for Carolyn and family during this time of loss that we all feel.
KWIBS - From December 10, 2018 - By Kevin Noland I remember registering to vote on my 18th birthday in 1988. A presidential race was heating up between George H.W. Bush and Michael Dukakis. It was my first time to vote and I voted for George H.W. Bush. He won. I felt like I had won something too. Although Bush was a one-term president, I learned a lot about Government and history during his presidency. It was a scary time as a young adult. The Gulf War was ramping up, Saddam was going to launch us into WWIII. Bush was a capable leader, a veteran himself, that would lead the way to remove the tyrant from Kuwait. President Bush formed a true coalition of willing nations that easily sent Saddam back from Kuwait to Iraq with his tail between his legs. He made life safe for my generation. Many of my friends fought in Desert Storm. Again in 1992, I voted for President Bush. This time he lost to Bill Clinton. I noted how graceful the peaceful transfer of power happened from Bush to Clinton. We seemed friendlier to each other in those days. I loved seeing what life after president was for Bush. He embraced life, loved his family and continued to serve his country, even doing it along side Bill Clinton. At the time of his wife Barbara’s death on April 17, 2018, George H. W. had been married to Barbara for 73 years; theirs was the longest presidential marriage in American history. 41 passed away on Friday night, November 30th, 2018. My iPhone "dinged" with the AP report of his passing. I watched his funeral on Wednesday and Thursday. It was a wonderful tribute to a wonderful man and a great statesman. "Die young, as old as possible," - George H.W. Bush. God Bless George H.W. Bush and his family.
KWIBS - From December 3, 2018 - By Kevin Noland Years ago former teacher Dale McCurdy taught me the value of time management and scheduling. We would go on trips together and he would actually send me a spreadsheet that mapped out our vacation. He would start every trip out with "backwards planning." This backwards planning intrigued me. What was it? How did it work? Dale explained, "Take the time you wish to arrive, subtract travel, subtract estimated fuel stops, bathroom breaks and then leave 30 minutes earlier than that." It’s a pretty clever way to get to things on time. So two weeks ago when we traveled to New Orleans, our trip home was carefully orchestrated using Dale’s "backwards planning" method. Ronda and I had a Peace Treaty Board meeting in Medicine Lodge at 7 p.m. that we had to be at, so our story begins at 7 p.m. Leaving from New Orleans at 10 a.m. would have put us back in Oklahoma City at 1:20 p.m. Grabbing our bags and finding our car (add 30 minutes), consider a bathroom and fuel break (add 30 minutes), and road time (add 3:30 minutes), meant that we would arrive just before 5 p.m., leaving us plenty of time to clean up, eat and make it to our meeting. Everything started out smoothly. We arrived and boarded our flight and that’s the last time that day that we stayed on schedule.... "Hello and welcome to Southwest to Houston," the captain said. "We’ve got some bumpy weather ahead and our approach would be determined by Houston. We could be delayed by as much as an hour." We had 1 hour and 20 minutes layover. That would be tight, but we would be ok. As expected, we landed an hour late in Houston and it was pouring down rain. We entered at gate 45 and our connecting flight was at gate 4 on the other side of the terminal. We hauled butt, stopping to use the bathroom and grabbing some to go food and literally made it to board the next flight. We got our seats, got comfortable and prepared to take off when the captain said, "Welcome aboard Southwest to Oklahoma City, we will be delayed a few minutes while we wait on two passengers from a connecting flight as well as waiting on their baggage. We should be exiting and cleared for take off in a few minutes. A few minutes turned into about an hour and then we took off. "We’ve got clear skies today and we’re going to bump this up and get you folks to Oklahoma City as close to on time as possible," the captain stated. We did land only about 20 minutes late. Ronda and I got off the plane and went to baggage claim. Three flights landed at the same time and the carousel was crammed with folks looking for baggage. It seemed like a long time, but our baggage eventually arrived. I grabbed it, noting how heavy it felt. I must have lost muscle tone over the weekend of playing football with Drew Brees and Nix White, or maybe not. We hurried to our truck, which we had forgotten what floor we had parked on. Once we found it, I heaved our bag in and Ronda got us out on the interstate. I noted the time. "We’re going to be tight," I told Ronda. It was 3:15 p.m. Ronda exceeded the recommended interstate travel speed and we hit Blackwell, OK with enough time to fuel up, grab a snack and take a bathroom break. Then I got a bond call from an inmate in Barber County.... The calling inmate’s employer lived in Kiowa, had the money and would co-sign. We had to make a detour and we had a 20 minute buffer. Ronda took off towards Kiowa. I decided since we were not going to make it home in time to change, that I would grab my sports coat, a nice shirt and some cleaner pants from the luggage. I had flown from New Orleans in a concert shirt and ripped up blue jeans. The only thing I had to change into was the nicer clothes that I wore to dinner on Saturday night. They weren’t dirty, we just ate dinner and went back to the hotel. While trusting my wife’s driving, I took off my seatbelt and unzipped the bag. She instantly slammed on the brakes to avoid hitting farm equipment that pulled out in front of us. I was tossed onto the console and we laughed while I went back to trying to find clothes. That’s when I discovered why our bag was so heavy. Everything inside of it was soaking wet. Our bags must have sat out on the tarmac in Houston during the rain. I carefully pulled out my coat, which was wet; my pants, which were wet; my socks, which were really wet and my shirt, which was wet and wrinkled. I put everything on and turned my heated seats up full blast. I also pointed all the vents at me and turned up the fan. By the time we reached Kiowa, I was just moist, but exhausted. We got our signatures and money and agreed to meet up with our defendant after the Peace Treaty board meeting, which was in 30 minutes. We left Kiowa and hit Medicine Lodge at 6:50 p.m. We pulled into the office. Ronda touched up her makeup and we shared a road taco that was now almost 3 hours old. It was 7:01 p.m. when we walked into the meeting. We were fashionably late and I was dryer than I was at Blackwell, or Kiowa, but still a little damp. The "backwards planning" had sort of worked. We made it almost in time. So thanks Dale, for the lesson on time management! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From November 26, 2018 - By Kevin Noland "It’s not, what you know, it’s who you know." I’m not sure who first said this, but I’ve repeated it several times in my life. It’s really a true statement. I’ve met some very educated people that don’t go far in life and I’ve met some goofballs that dream big, reach for the stars and actually grab a few. That’s Nix White, long-time buddy, 1988 graduate of MLHS, retired Navy SEAL and owner of FrogX Parachute. You probably know this guy if you’ve been to a Peace Treaty in the last decade. He jumps out of a helicopter and lands in the middle of Main Street during the parade. It’s pretty amazing. Nix is a regular guy that’s had a larger-than-life-real-life. He’s been all over the world as a SEAL. He’s met presidents and all sorts of celebrities. He just knows a lot of people. I should say, he knows a lot of important people. When he called me three weeks ago and asked what my November and December schedule looked like, I asked him what did he have in mind? Nix always has an adventure in mind. Back in 1999 he invited us out to San Diego. Nix and his wife Wendy took us to Tijuana, MX. That’s a column in itself. In 2016 he called me up while I was in Amarillo, TX and asked me to pick him up at the airport in Wichita the next day. He had a surprise for me. He took me and a friend to see KISS. We didn’t just see them, we met them and hung out with them for an afternoon because Nix knew their tour manager. So you can only imagine how peaked my interest was for what he had in mind this time. "Want to meet up and go to New Orleans," he asked? So I had to know more specifics. First, a date would be handy. He simply said, "I’ll get back with you." The next thing I knew, it was two weeks later and he had my flight and Ronda’s flight confirmed and hotel accommodations made. The big news: We were going to the New Orleans Saints’ game vs. the Philadelphia Eagles on Sunday! Oh, it gets way better. Through the years, Nix had become personal friends with Drew Brees and his wife Brittany. Using Google as my friend, since joining the Saints in 2006 as Quarterback, Brees has led all NFL quarterbacks in touchdowns, passing yards, and 300-yard games. Brees holds the NFL records for career pass completions, career completion percentage and career passing yards and Nix asked him if he could bring a couple of friends to New Orleans to go to the game and meet him afterwards. So Ronda and I booked out of here on a Friday and made it, just in time, for our flight out of Oklahoma City. We had a short stop in Houston and made it to the hotel at 10 p.m. The concierge met us at this very luxurious hotel called "The Windsor Courts." The place was "swanky" as I like to say. He informed us our bags would be up shortly and we were in for a real surprise. That was an understatement. Our suite on the 17th floor was beyond description. It was adjoined to another suite. We hadn’t noticed that until we walked in and saw that we had a welcome note from Nix and Wendy, which included chocolates and my favorite bourbon (to be sipped on Bourbon Street) later that night. The next thing I knew was Nix burst through the door to welcome us to New Orleans. Their rooms and our rooms were at the end of the long hallway. We had a private balcony that overlooked the French Quarter. We were completely blown away. Of course this was another, "I know a guy," story from Nix. He knew the general manager of the hotel. So we went out, listened to jazz music, walked Bourbon Street all night and slept until noon on Saturday before touring the cemeteries and French Quarter. We ate everything we could and saw as much as we could stand until we dropped from exhaustion. Again, we slept in until noon on Sunday and then ventured to the Mercedes Benz Superdome. Now keep in mind that Ronda and I are Dallas Cowboys fans. We cheer for the Saints, as long as they aren’t playing the Cowboys. Before we left for the game, there was a knock at the door. It was Nix carrying Saints’ jerseys for me and Ronda. "You can’t go to the game without wearing Drew’s number," he told me. And just like that, we were at the game, but Nix had more surprises. We walked in, showed them a special pass and bam! We were on the field for pregame. Nix walked us over where we stood by a tunnel and out came the Saints and out came Drew Brees. After they warmed up, we went back up and took our seats and watched the Saints whoop the 2018 Superbowl Champs. After the game, Nix handed us new passes and said to follow him. We went into a hospitality area and had some drinks and eats and watched Drew do his post game interview. The Brees family greeted us warmly. Just after seeing Drew leave the television screen, he walked in to the room, hugged his family and came over to see us. Meeting Drew Brees was going to be awesome, but I had another plan. I had my son, Nick, in my pocket.... I had facetimed him in Japan and he had a bunch of marines and sailors waiting to see Drew Brees. After a quick introduction, I told Drew about Nick and Nix added that he was serving in Japan. Drew’s grandfather had stormed the beaches in Okinawa in WWII. I asked, "Would you say hi to my son?" Drew grabbed my phone and started having a conversation with Nick. It was priceless. Nix had given Nick a signed Drew Brees jersey after he had won the superbowl back in 2010, so Nick was pretty excited to talk to this football legend. After the conversation ended, Drew asked, "Hey, you guys want to go and hang out on the field for a while?" You know that there was no hesitation. We all crammed into an elevator and walked out on to the field in the now empty Superdome. There is no way to describe how incredible this was, but it keeps getting better. Nix and I have always had this tradition where we stunt some hilarious photo. At least we think we are hilarious. Nix asked Drew if he would play along and he set the scene. Nix and I were on the line and Drew was calling out the plays. I don’t think I’ve ever laughed so hard in my life. Ronda took the photo. Imagine this: Here we were, on the Saint’s 10 yard line (with horrible stance), with Drew Brees behind us calling out the plays. It took a few shots, but we have a winner!
So it’s not what you know, it’s who you know and I know Nix. The best part of the weekend was just hanging out with Nix and Wendy. They are cool people, both veterans and great friends. Nix and I broke out cigars Sunday night before we left. That’s another tradition. At least I remembered to bring cigars! Thanks Whites, for the weekend of a lifetime that we’ll never forget! We can’t wait for the next adventure! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From November 12, 2018 - By Kevin Noland There’s a place for everything and everything in its place. This was something that Ronda’s mother taught her at a very young age. If it would have come out of my mouth, it would have sounded more like everything goes on the kitchen table or on the floor by the door. Ronda’s mother was wise, neat and orderly. She got that from her mother Mildred Meairs. Mildred, Barbara and Ronda all keep a clean home. I would also say that in 30 years, Ronda has trained me pretty well to keep my things put away. The consequences of not putting my things away is that she’ll put them where she thinks they go. That’s not necessarily a bad thing unless she forgets where she put whatever I left out. For instance, I probably own 30 hammers. I know where 3 are. The other 27 got "put away." There are times where our philosophies on where things go clash. She has her usual go-to places for things I leave laying around if it’s missing because I left it out, I start with my bathroom counter. From there I go to my closet. Finally, if I can’t find it, I look in the garage. At first glance, my garage looks pretty unorganized. I know where about 90% of the things are that I need, but that other 10%; that’s anyone’s guess. To further complicate matters, as we both get older we swear we know exactly where we put things, when we actually don’t. I swore when I got home last Monday, I put my jacket on a chair at the kitchen table. When I didn’t find it there, I went to my bathroom. It wasn’t there, so I looked in my closet. I was pretty baffled when I couldn’t find it, because I had just worn it like 30 minutes before I lost it and I knew it wasn’t in the garage. When Ronda asked what I was looking for, I sheepishly told her I couldn’t find my jacket. She lowered her head and said look on the chair in front of your closet. She has a new go-to place..... My closet is full. KWIBS - From November 5, 2018 - By Kevin Noland We will celebrate Veterans Day on Friday. This special holiday has so much meaning to my family. The actual holiday falls on a Sunday this year, but MLHS will honor veterans at a program at 1:45 p.m. on November 9th. I’m deeply moved by the service that people give to their country in the armed forces. Although I did not serve, I have the utmost respect for those who did and are serving. My dad was in the Navy during Viet Nam. His service actually had him in and around Cuba during a tense time with Russia. He later did joint missions with many countries in South America. He was a radio technician on a mine sweeper. His Navy career is the reason I am now here writing this column. My dad was a Kansas native who met my mother in Rhode Island at a YMCA dance. As a result of that meeting, and later a marriage, I was born in 1969 in Providence, RI. When my dad’s time in the Navy was finished, we moved back to Kansas and I’ve never lived anywhere else. It came full circle two years later when my son graduated from MLHS and went into the Navy, a decision that I am very proud of. He is approaching his second year of service and is now stationed with the Marines on a base in Okinawa as an RP (Religious Program Specialist). His duties as a Religious Program Specialist might seem sort of unimportant, but after boot camp and his "A" schooling, Nick went through 14 weeks of Marine Combat Training that he described as "worst thing ever". Now he treasures the memories. He switched from "Blue" side Navy to "Green" side Navy. He is considered by his fellow Marines as one of their own. He trains, eats, sleeps and is in all practical measures, a Marine. In just a few months he’ll have his FMF pin. The United States Fleet Marine Forces (FMF) are combined general and special purpose forces within the United States Department of the Navy that perform offensive amphibious or expeditionary warfare and defensive maritime employment. The Fleet Marine Forces provide the National Command Authority (NCA) with a responsive force that can conduct operations in any spectrum of conflict around the globe. So, he’s not really just an assistant to a Chaplain. He’s a combatant. Sometimes I joke with him that he’s an armed librarian and secretary, but he does own the phrase, "We fight tonight." I pray that he never does. All kidding aside, Nick is an awesome shot. According to Chaplain Jones, Nick earned the "expert marskmanship" ribbon with a broken rifle in Okinawa. During the past year, Nick has served with the Marine Wing Support Squadron - 172 "Firebirds" at Camp Foster, Okinawa. They are the "Tip of the Spear" in the event of a deployment in the South Pacific. It’s taken me an entire year to study up and learn about what they do and just when I thought I learned enough to understand what they do, Nick is about to advance to the command building after his promotion to Third Class Petty Officer (hopefully in December). So dad has a new learning curve. Thank God for the internet and Wikipedia! From what I’ve seen from pictures Nick has sent me, he’s near a lot of carriers with attack helicopters. There are a bunch of amphibious assault vehicles and tanks and other attack ships. Nick doesn’t tell me much more than that. The kid who graduated from MLHS in 2016 who talked nonstop and had never seen the ocean, is now the kid who seems to be keeping a tight lip on what he does and where he’s at, but he’s almost always at the beach, surrounded by ocean! I know he’s participated in several operations. One of those operations was a U.S. - Philippine mission back in April or May. He also made a quick trip into South Korea that I can’t even share what I do know, which isn’t very much. What I do know is that I am extremely proud of my son. He takes his job very seriously - most of the time. Nick has seen and done more in his 2 short years after high school than most of us get to do in a lifetime. I’m glad he made the decision to serve our great nation and to be a part of something bigger than just himself. His immediate plans are to marry his sweetheart Natalie Bare in April and move her over to Okinawa as soon as possible! He says he wants to share the beauty of the island with her as he finishes his tour which will be sometime after 2021. As for continuing his service, Nick’s mind changes from day to day. No matter what his decision, I know he will never regret his time of service in the Navy with the Marines. Thank you to every veteran who has served our country. From a combatant to support staff, each member of our military is necessary to maintain peace in our crazy world. Thank you for your service and for your sacrifice to keep us free. You all have my deepest admiration. Thank you to my son for serving. I know it’s hard being so far away from home, but you are doing something incredible and we are so proud of you! Chaplain Marquis Jones’ uncle said about the photo below with Nick, "You preach heaven in them and he shoots the hell out of them."
Have a great week!
KWIBS - From October 29, 2018 - By Kevin Noland My first experience of vertigo was in 1983 while being a passenger in my dad’s Piper 210 airplane. The instructor did a climb and stall and then rolled out of it. I remember the sensation of just being lost and not in the right place. I wasn’t exactly a roller coaster rider as a kid. As a grown up, I’ve ridden every roller coaster I can find. It’s a great thrill, but I always experience vertigo. I haven’t been on a roller coaster in about 5 years, so I had forgotten the sensation until Wednesday of last week. Ronda was driving me to a doctor’s appointment in Wichita. We left the driveway and my attention was on paperwork in my lap. We hadn’t gone very far down the road, when I had a sensation that just being lost and not in the right place. When I looked up, the terrain was wrong and my brain got more confused. "Where are we," I asked? Ronda said, "The township road. Why do you ask?" That’s when I said, "Umm.... we are going the wrong direction!" Ronda had turned south like we do every morning to go to town and go to work. Wichita was the other direction. We laughed and then we turned around. The vertigo stayed with us the rest of the day. We decided to see George Palmer after his hip surgery. He sent me a text and said he was on North Ridge Road. That was perfect, since my appointment was also on North Ridge. We drove up and down Ridge, but couldn’t find the recovery center where George said he was at. As it turned out, George was on Webb Road, way out East. We missed two exits on the way. When we finally found him, almost an hour later, we all had a good laugh. Happy Birthday to my bride of 30 years!!! She’s celebrating a milestone on November 3rd!! I love you Ronda! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From October 22, 2018 - By Kevin Noland Do you ever have days that you feel like your significant other (in this case, my wife) is angry with you? We’ve been married for 30+ years now and we can read each other pretty well. I could tell she was frustrated about something. I just didn’t know what it was. Several months ago I had an accident and injured my shoulder. I’ve been in a significant amount of pain and discomfort and haven’t been sleeping well. While I’m waiting to see a surgeon, I’m slowly getting more mobility and for the first time in almost two months, I had a great night’s sleep Wednesday night into Thursday morning! In fact, I went to bed shortly before midnight and slept until 9:15 a.m. the next day. It was some kind of adult sleeping record for me. Unfortunately, my great night of sleep must have translated into a terrible night’s sleep for my wife. From what she tells me, I snored. Loudly. Like one of the seven trumpets blowing from the book of Revelation. So Thursday, I was all bubbly and bouncy and busy, but Ronda was a zombie, and might I say, a slightly grumpy zombie. I could tell something was wrong, but for the life of me, I could not remember what I had or hadn’t done to make her mad. To top that off, I was incredibly busy, running in several directions. It wasn’t until the end of the day that I asked her what was wrong and she told me it was the snoring that kept her up all night. I feel really badly about that. I probably feel worse about telling her that sometimes she snores too and keeps me awake. I probably just should have kept that to myself. I was setting myself up to be Lucy and Desi Arnaz from "I Love Lucy." They were married in real life, but slept in separate bedrooms on the series. Some claim that "The Musters’ Herman and Lily were the first couple to be portrayed sleeping in the same bed on television. The eligibility of this one as a valid claim to rights is sometimes questioned because the Munsters weren’t exactly a "human" couple. Fred and Wilma bunked together on their rock bed in The Flintstones from 1960-66 (but their eligibility is also questioned because despite being human in character, they were cartoons and not real actors). I remember several times Fred snored through episodes when he and Wilma were sleeping. I think Wilma was just fine and obviously humanity continued and evolved, at least in cartoon world. Yes, this may have all taken place in the "early days," but even as late as 1969-74 series "The Brady Bunch", six children shared a single bathroom that lacked even a toilet. I’m sorry, I regress and I apologize to Ronda for keeping her up all night with my snoring. Have a great week!
KWIBS - From October 15, 2018 - By Kevin Noland
Joey Noland and Tonya White Small town rural America can not survive without people like Pat and Tonya White and their children: Jordan and Julia White, Brennan White and Karly White. For more than 65 years this family has invested in small towns in Kansas with grocery stores. I’ve enjoyed getting to know this family over the years after they purchased Parker’s IGA back in the early 1990s. It was nearly the same time that Ronda and I started The Gyp Hill Premiere. Since that time, two of my children worked in their store in Medicine Lodge. Both Joey and Nicholas stocked shelves in high school. I want to brag and gush over this family. Joey Noland has worked for the White’s Family Grocery store for almost ten years. They have taught him so much and now given him the opportunity to be a store manager. Although he’s still in training, I watched him from a distance at the grand opening of the St. John White’s Foodliner last Wednesday and thought about all the opportunities that he’s been given by the Whites. I hope he makes them as proud of Joey as I am. He loves the community of St John and he loves White’s family. I’m so proud of his work ethic and enthusiasm. It was so much fun to sit back and watch the community of St John get a new grocery store on that day and listen to speeches given by their economic development group and Pat White. We were so happy to be a part of the celebration. The Whites get little recognition for all they do for their communities. Many people don’t realize that they were one of the largest sponsors for the 2018 Peace Treaty. There were no giant checks or big stories about them in the newspaper. Not because we didn’t appreciate their support, but they were super busy getting ready for the wedding of their son Jordan to his lovely wife Julia during that week. They didn’t make those donations for the publicity. They did it because they truly care about the communities they serve. Pat and Tonya are good people and they’ve raised some great kids. Ronda and I appreciate their friendship and for them giving Joey a chance to do something big. Seeing Joey grow and succeed is a blessing to his mother and I. Thank you Pat and Tonya White, Jordan and Julia White, Brennan White and Norm Clouse for mentoring him. I’m biased, but I think you’ve got one great young man working for you. Congratulations to the city of St. John and all of the organizations that worked so hard to convince the Whites to come to town. You will never regret asking them to put in that store. I was very impressed with the warm reception they were given. There was even a marching band present at the ribbon cutting. Small towns like Medicine Lodge and St. John should be thankful for families like the Whites who are willing to make huge investments in the communities they serve. In an age where box stores take over and run out the mom and pop businesses that are the heart and soul of rural America, the Whites take a chance and provide a service that’s very challenging. Also deserving of some praise is Lance and Sloan Freeman. They are young and motivated people who call our area home and they are growing their business and have placed a pharmacy inside. It was fun seeing them on Wednesday. Congratulations to you all! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From October 8, 2018 - By Kevin Noland We have a snapshot of how Peace Treaty 2018 went and tonight The Medicine Lodge Peace Treaty Board will meet to discuss what we already know to be true. Attendance to our Pageant productions over the three day weekends are on a steady decline, similar to preceding pageants up until 2012 when it nearly became the last pageant. The hard truth is, every Peace Treaty could be the last. It brings in a huge crowd to Medicine Lodge. The crowds just don’t translate into numbers of tickets sold to the pageant and that is the Association’s main bread and butter to continue the celebration. I hear two main excuses of why people don’t attend and none of them are legitimate. "I’ve seen it already." - Well great. I watched it 5 times in 9 days this year between rehearsal and performances and participated in many scenes. I love it each time I see it. It is breathtaking to watch the skill of our community’s riders. I am in awe of the history of our area and would personally not change much of how it is presented. "It’s too expensive." - Seriously? $30? I could never pull that excuse off. Going to a movie costs close to $10 a person without ordering food. Going to dinner at a nice place is closer to $20 a person. Going to a concert is closer to $100. This event is 2 hours of action and history packed into a beautiful amphitheater with over 400 actors. It’s cheap!! Most who come to town only go to the free events. Those free events can’t happen without good attendance to the pageants or we come up with a new way to raise money. Help us keep History Alive in Medicine Lodge. Support future Peace Treaties! I want to thank my buddy Pete Meador for being such a great supporter of Peace Treaty. We always try to get a photo together after our signing scene. I’ll leave you with a smile, but consider what I wrote above and have a great week!
KWIBS - From October 1, 2018 - By Kevin Noland Another Peace Treaty weekend is in the books. I can tell you, as a board member, we don’t have numbers yet. That will take us a little while to gather. I’ve also had to write this before the event actually even started. We’ve felt really good about all the work that’s gone into this year’s celebration. If I’ve said it once, I’ve said it a thousand times, I love serving with the people on Peace Treaty board. It was just 23 minutes from my 20th birthday and my wife was delivering our first born child. It was 1989. We’d been married just over a year and all I could say was, "Hold it in!" The baby could be born on my birthday if you can just hold it in!" The fact that I referred to my daughter as "it" or the request to stop being in labor for 27 more minutes didn’t stop us from having two more children, but it resonates with my wife when we talk about Breeann’s birth. On October 3rd my baby girl will be 29 years old and the very next day, you can add 20 years to that and figure out my age!
KWIBS - From September 24, 2018 - By Kevin Noland We are at the finish line. It’s Peace Treaty 2018 week. Are you ready? Inside this issue is our Special Edition, all about the history of our little town. Let us take you back 150 years to a time when our town was just a settlement with a stockade. Our community has grown into what it is today and now we look back and acknowledge the historic events that took place, shaping not only Medicine Lodge, but the expansion of the west in the United States. The weekend celebration takes so many volunteers that they are impossible to list. We have a cast of character’s page on 4 and 5 and inside the Peace Treaty Edition, you can meet the Peace Treaty’s board. This is only a tiny fraction of those who make this weekend possible. We also rely heavily on The City of Medicine Lodge Crew and are so thankful for all of the things they do to help us prepare for this event. You’ve probably seen all of the help around town from our youth and from adults. We’ve seen them out painting and cleaning up the community. We appreciate you! Thank you to our Native American friends for coming and being a part of this weekend. Beginning today, you’ll start seeing streets closing, guests arriving and horses and wagons going down the street. That’s what Peace Treaty does! Many of us are Peace Treaty Crazy at the moment. It’s a ton of work to serve on the board and as 1st Vice President, I want to thank everyone who has selflessly served on this board and volunteered to help. We don’t always agree, but we have a common goal. We love this community and the Peace Treaty and our mission is to keep it going for generations. Now it’s up to you to make it a success. With you, and God’s blessing on the weekend, the 25th reenactment of the signing of the 1867 Peace Treaty with the Five Tribes of the Plains will happen in a few short days. Have a great weekend!
KWIBS - From September 17, 2018 - By Kevin Noland This is a pretty cool edition for us this week. I have the pleasure of printing articles of three young men who are doing outstanding things in our community. Andrew Bell made a post last Sunday while Ronda and I were attending the Kansas State Fair in Hutchinson. Andrew posted on Facebook: "If you're at the Kansas State Fair, come say hi. I'll be here all week! My booth is at 123 Cottonwood Avenue just north of the outdoor arena." I called him on his cell to make sure he was still there and he was! I’ve known Andrew since he was just a little kid and have always thought highly of him. He has created a fire fighting rig called "The Minuteman" that easily fits into the back of a pickup quickly to fight fires. This idea came after his family’s home was destroyed in the Anderson Creek fire over two years ago. We stopped to see this invention and I was very impressed. He also had several fair-goers stop by to look at his product and it seems like there is a lot of interest in it. The product is well constructed and has some really cool features. Andrew and his product are featured on today’s front page. Pake McNally is one of the most creative artists and people I have enjoyed meeting. He also has created a product: a hand-welded workout mace called the "WarClub" under the name Become Stronger, Industries. In addition to this invention, he is a brown belt in Jiu Jitsu and creates works of art from metal. He has a brilliant mind and I am excited to see his business evolve. Finally, Aaron Traffas has released a new EP. I consider Aaron a dear friend. We are on polar opposite ends of the political spectrum, but we can talk and disagree without yelling and screaming. For this, I have hope. Liberals and Conservatives can have conversations and strive towards common goals. Aaron is a talented song writer, musician and sound technician. We have a lot of the same interests, we just disagree about politics. Again, I think it’s cool that I consider him a friend even though we have different beliefs. I see great things in the future of Medicine Lodge and Barber County with the creative minds in these three young men. It is very humbling to be able to complement these young men. There are many young men and women in our community who are the new "movers and shakers." I first heard that phrase when Ronda and I started our newspaper in 1991. I remember how kind people like Bill Forsyth, Steve Bryan, Ron Fincher, John Nixon, Pete Meador, Myrlen and Ann Bell, Alan Goering and Dub Rickard (to name just a few) were to us when we ventured out on our own. You guys are making history. Keep up the good work. Keep dreaming and congratulations! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From September 10, 2018 - By Kevin Noland We are just a few weeks away from Peace Treaty 2018! Every day from here until pageant time, there is some important task to complete in preparation for Peace Treaty. As board members, Ronda and I know first hand the work that goes into putting on a pageant year production. Thousands of man hours go into preparing for Peace Treaty. It is all volunteer and each and every one of you who donate your time and resources are so greatly appreciated. Serving with the Peace Treaty Association is one of the most rewarding things I’ve had the honor of doing. Over the next couple of weeks, we will finish up our Peace Treaty Special Edition. We will publish it with our Monday, September 24 newspaper. This edition highlights just a fraction of the people who make Peace Treaty happen. I would like to encourage and challenge you to do something very important to keeping our heritage alive and keeping Peace Treaty solvent. Buy a ticket to the pageant. I hear people say, "Oh, I already saw it back in 2000." I also saw it and performed in 4 scenes. It’s Peace Treaty’s life blood. Sales to the pageant and generous donations from sponsors are what keeps this event alive. Years ago, word got out that 2011’s pageant could be the last one. The truth is, every pageant could be the last one without ticket sales. Help spread the word to your friends and family this year and go see the 2018 Peace Treaty Pageant. We have an amazing community with a rich history. Our story will continue to be told in the future with your support. Let’s never hear, "This may be the last pageant," ever again. Have a great week! KWIBS - From September 3, 2018 - By Kevin Noland A long time friend of mine passed away suddenly last week. I had known him for 14 years. If you had ever been to a concert at the Cotillion in Wichita or any club that offered live music, you were probably hearing his work. He wasn’t someone that craved the limelight, but he was a rock star in his own way. My friend Mike even worked in Medicine Lodge during Indian Summer Days and the last Peace Treaty as a sound technician. Mike Pickens was pretty close to my age. I first met him at a club called Loft 150 above River City Brewery in Wichita, KS. He was the house sound technician and a very good one at that. I’m not a great bass player, but he made me sound like one. That was always our little joke. Over the years Mike went on tour with several bands and became one of the most in demand people for tour management and sound engineering around. You could say Mike was a little odd, but it comes with the territory. You don’t eat well, you don’t’ sleep much and you’re under a lot of stress to please a whole lot of people, but Mike always pulled it off and then blew off steam by playing 18 holes of golf wherever he was on tour. On at least 5 occasions in four different states, I had run into Mike at music events. He was working and was always happy to see a familiar face in the crowd. At one event in Oklahoma City, Mike came up to me at the venue and asked if I could give him a ride home to Wichita after the show. I had to explain to him that we didn’t go through there to get to Medicine Lodge. He was cool with that. In fact, he would have just come home with us and tried to catch a ride back to Wichita! I finally drew him a map and convinced him that he was as close to home in OKC as he would be at my house. Mike didn’t have a car at the time. He owned a moped, some music gear and had a cat. He ended up finding a ride home the next day. At a show in Wichita at the Cotillion two years ago Mike spotted me and came over to me and Ronda and yelled in my ear, "How’s it sound?" I yelled back, jokingly, "A little loud, distorted and tinny!" Mike looked like I had just parked my truck on the 18th hole’s green or slammed his cat’s tail in the door. He ran over to his console, threw on his headset and started listening to his mix. I walked over and tapped him on the shoulder. He took off his headset and I yelled back, "Hey man, I was just kidding. It sounds great!" He threw a little awkward, fun punch at me and looked at me with a silly grin through his thick round glasses. "You jerk," he smirked. He recently married the love of his life, Amy. They were scheduled to marry late winter earlier this year and Ronda and I had planned on making the trip to Kingman for the ceremony. Bad weather rolled in and he sent out a Facebook message saying the wedding was off for the moment. A week later, he posted they were married and one of the photos had a mutual friend in it that he had as his best man. I was bummed out that we didn’t get notified and fired him off a text. He said, nobody came except our mutual friend Gabe and a couple of family members. It was just a spur of the moment wedding at the courthouse before the next round of bad weather rolled in.
Mike came off tour on the road two weeks ago and hadn’t been feeling well. He was dehydrated and worn out from his last trip across country. He went in for treatment and then went home. His wife found him unresponsive the next day and he was revived and placed on a ventilator. Mike was taken off of life support on Tuesday of last week after several doctors gave bad reports of his condition. He died at 2:49 p.m. Wednesday. Our mutual friend Gabe called me to tell me the sad news. I was out on the tractor mowing when the call came. We shared some memories and I put on one of Mike’s favorite bands, "Aranda." Our mutual friend Gabe is the lead singer. I’m glad I got the news from Gabe and didn’t see it on Facebook until later in the day. Mike was supposed to be here on Wednesday, September 26, 2018 to help with sound for Peace Treaty. There are many other sound technicians coming, but I was most excited to see Mike. He will be missed by so many people. Some that didn’t even know him or why he was here. They didn’t even realize how important he was to what they were hearing. If you get a job when you go to Heaven, Mike would be in charge of making the Angels sound more awesome than they already do.
KWIBS - From August 27, 2018 - By Kevin Noland Wednesday moring my wife sighed and said, "Our office is a newspaper again." I was like, "huh?" "Well, we’ve been a daycare-slime factory for the last three months," she explained. Yes, school is back in session and our office manager is starting her kindergarten year. All day Kindergarten. Thank you USD#254.
Our cute Grandkids Kycen and Baylee!
KWIBS - From August 20, 2018 - By Kevin Noland A friend is someone who is there to catch you when you fall or at least put your dislocated shoulder back in after you take a stupid-stumble. A stupid-stumble is similar to a regular stumble, but involves you doing something stupid in the process of the stumble. I don’t need to go into great detail, but my stumble was a classic stupid-stumble. My friend just happens to be very skilled in fixing this type of injury. He also had a side kick that night who found my predicament quite amusing. Apparently, she thinks I should look down before stepping. I’ve done a lot of painful things in my lifetime, but dislocating an arm/shoulder, is right up at the top of the list. After a visit to our x-ray department at Medicine Lodge Memorial Hospital, it looks like nothing is broken, but my left arm and shoulder are reminding me daily that I am not as young as I used to be. I will be sporting a sling for the unforseeable future, which is really putting a kink in things like: trying to write this column, working on anything requiring two hands, putting on clothes, driving, texting (not texting and driving) and clapping. I’m also convinced this is a career ending injury for me as a quarter back for any NFL football team. It would also end it as a concert pianist, brain surgeon or astronaut. Thank God I can’t play piano. I was fortunate enough to have my friends to help me and a box full of slings from other stumbles, stupid or not. The one I’m wearing is kind of special because it was my son’s. Nick tore his shoulder in one of his last high school football games before joining the Navy.
KWIBS - From August 13, 2018 - By Kevin Noland
If you know me well at all, you know I am crazy about music. Ronda and I are always finding a concert we want to see and last week we managed to break our own record. We scored 2 front row, centerstage seats to Peter Frampton at the Kansas Star Casino. What makes it a record breaker is that we’ve only made it on the front row twice in 33 years of concerts. The really cool part is that both times, it was Peter Frampton!
KWIBS - From July 30, 2018 - By Kevin Noland The story about the Ruckers on the front page this week, is the hardest story I have ever had to write in my 30+ years in the newspaper business. Fortunately, it had a happy ending. The reason it was so hard to write, is because I care so much for this family. Emma Jo and Gary Rucker are the sweetest couple you could ever meet. We’ve featured them several times over the years and I always love hearing Gary ask me, "How are things up the creek?" at church. To hear that they were terrorized in their own home saddened and angered me. What you don’t know about this story, is that Gary and Emma Jo prayed for the man who was hurting them and robbing them. They witnessed about the love, grace and mercy of Jesus to this man. That’s just the kind of people they are. Their son Flint said it best when he told me that they were "the best parents in the world." I was on FaceTime with my son in Okinawa when we saw the helicopter fly over our ranch. The very ranch where Flint keeps a herd of cattle. Little did we know, that helicopter was flown in to transport the man who had just assaulted the Ruckers. I turned my phone around and showed Nick. He wasn’t that impressed, reminding me that he lived on a base full of helicopters. When I heard the news later that night, I texted Nick back and we shared in the shock of what had happened. I texted Flint the next morning, but wanted to give him a few days before I spoke with him. I knew that he was being bombarded with questions and I hated to be that one more reporter guy that called. So finally on Wednesday, Flint stopped in and sat down for the better part of an hour to tell me what had happened. I was in complete shock. For most of my life, I have idolized Flint Rucker. He’s a man’s man. Tough as nails, with a heart of gold. I consider him one of the greatest friends and men in my life. He has been encouraging to me, shared in good times and bad and has always been there when I needed him. We’ve laughed together and cried together. I want him to know that he is special to me and my family and loved by this community. Flint is so humble. He would not want the recognition or mention, but he is a hero who gives credit where credit is due. This was a God thing that he was able to overpower that would-be thief and killer. Things could have ended so differently for the Ruckers that night. I’m thanking the Lord that it turned out the way it did. Flint is a man who has always had strong faith in God. This can only reinforce his beliefs. I’m so thankful that he was right where he needed to be that Saturday when Ora Munger decided to try and make victims of his family. I pray that Emma Jo and Gary and Flint and Donna and all the huge Rucker family heal emotionally and physically from this event. I know they are strong people and they love each other and their community. When I think of what Flint did and what could have happened, I get goosebumps, but it reminds me of some scripture that I believe is a perfect example of how Flint lives his life. John 15:13 - Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends (family in the case). God bless the Ruckers!
KWIBS - From July 23, 2018 - By Kevin Noland
A young Nicholas and a young Hyde. There’s a special bond we form with our pets. You don’t even realize it’s happened until one day they are gone. We lost our loyal friend of almost 15 years last weekend. Hyde was a smart and kind German Shepherd that was just a natural part of our family. Ronda and I found an advertisement from a family selling German Shepherd puppies over by Augusta back in 2004. We had just lost our friend "Beau" who was hit while chasing a truck. We had said we would never get another dog, but our hearts were so broken and empty. We brought our new puppy home and named him "Hyde." He wasted no time in becoming our new buddy. As our kids all grew up and left the nest, it was just me, Ronda and Hyde. For about the past two years, Hyde didn’t come out and play with us much. We could get him to go on a walk on his good days, when his hips weren’t bothering him. We slowly watched him grow from a puppy to an old man. In his younger years, Hyde could jump higher than your head for a frisbie or ball, he could catch a treat in his mouth from more than 25 yards away. He knew multiple commands and would do some of the funniest tricks like spinning in circles until he got his treat. Hyde loved to ride in my truck, in the back. With the "load up" command, he would literally jump into anything that had wheels. He went everywhere with me. If I had a town errand, he came with me. He’d sit patiently in the truck when I ran into the grocery store. He came to the office for the first few years of his life until he just got too big and was too nervous of all the traffic. He also got a little too protective when customers came in and we took him home to be on the ranch. He was a farm boy. He liked the peace of the country and being close to his pond in the front yard where you’d often find him cooling off on a hot summer day. He would go on long walks with Ronda and I and occasionally spot a deer and take off running. He would be gone for hours and always returned tired. As a member of the family, he joined us for our first Christmas photo back in 2004. Looking back, he was in graduation photos, birthday photos and about every holiday occasion we had. We’ve known our time with him was getting shorter and when Nick came home on leave from Okinawa last month, I told him that it was close and Hyde was struggling. Nick needed to say his good-byes because I was sure he wasn’t going to make it to April of 2019 - Nick’s next leave. Hyde couldn’t see well anymore, had lost most of his hearing and struggled to stand and walk. He never acted as though he were in pain and would still come out occasionally and sit on the porch with us for dinner. I knew he hurt though. Last Sunday he just didn’t have the strength to pull himself out of his dog house. I took it apart and tried to gently bring him to his food and water. He drank, but soon laid down and seemed like he’d had enough of it all. I could see it in his eyes. I called Joey to let him know that Hyde was going to be gone that day. He was in Denver and I hated to ruin his weekend, but he understood. He wished he could have been there with us. I sent Nick a message, knowing it was late in Japan, but wanted him to know that we were about to lose his first dog. He wrote back and said, "don’t tell me." Moments later Nick flooded Facebook with photos and this message: "There's so many hard things about being over seas. Constantly missing friends and family. But the hardest part is losing someone and not being able to say good-bye. Hyde was truly the best dog I could have asked for. I remember sitting in the garage talking to him and pretending that we had full conversations with each other without needing to say a word. There's no love like a love for your dog. But it makes my heart easy knowing he's not in pain anymore. God got the goodest boy today." He may be United States Navy stationed with Marines and hardened by his training, but his heart is soft and I knew it was broken. Ronda and I sat quietly on the ground and brushed him out and said our good-byes. We shed a lot of tears for our friend and furry child of 15 years. We held his head in our lap as Dr. Lynch showed such amazing compassion as she reassured us we were doing the right thing. We laid him to rest in our yard, overlooking the pond he would swim in. I imagine Hyde being able to run and jump and play again, like when he was a puppy. Everyday we get up and look out the window where his kennel is. We remember every bark, whether it was to warn us or just to say "hey!" when we pulled in the drive way each day. We say now we won’t replace our friend Hyde, it’s just too hard to say good-bye. You can only hope that one day our compassionate God would allow us to see our pets again. The Bible isn’t clear on this, but my heart would feel so much better if I knew I would get a big slobbery kiss from him when my time comes. You were a good dog, Hyde. Good boy! Have a great week and love your dog!
KWIBS - From July 16, 2018 - By Kevin Noland A Texas man who plead guilty to stealing more than $1.2 million in fajitas while acting as a public servant has been sentenced to 50 years in prison. Gilberto Escamilla, 53, was employed at the Darrel B. Hester Juvenile Detention Center in San Benito, Texas, until August 2017 — when it was discovered that he had been placing orders for fajitas using county funds and then selling them for his own profit since December 2008, according to Cameron County Court filings. When sentenced on Friday, Escamilla was also served with the maximum fine of $10,000 on top of the $1,251,578.72 he was ordered to pay back for the cost of the fajitas, officials said. According to The Brownsville Herald, Escamilla's scheme unraveled last August after a delivery driver with Labatt Food Service phoned the detention center to give kitchen employees a heads up that an 800-pound delivery of fajitas had arrived. Employees immediately thought the delivery to be suspicious as minors at the detention center are not served fajitas, however the delivery driver insisted that had been delivering fajitas to the detention center's kitchen for the past nine years. After being fired and arrested, Escamilla's house was searched by police, who found packages of the fajitas in his refrigerator. "It was selfish. It started small and got bigger and out of control," Escamilla said during court testimony, according to the Herald. "It got to the point where I couldn't control it anymore." Texas State District Judge J. Manuel Banales, who handed down the sentence, dismissed an additional theft charge as part of an earlier plea deal made by Escamilla. Because Escamilla stole more than $200,000 worth of goods, Texas law considers the crime to be a first degree felony and allows for a sentencing of up to 99 years in prison. It also allows for a more severe punishment if the defendant commits a crime while acting as a public servant. And that’s the news! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From July 9, 2018 - By Kevin Noland There are a lot of positive and negatives when a holiday falls in the middle of a work week. For us, it was mostly negative. Our scheduling got tight with deadlines and it was harder for us to get things written and placed in the paper. On the positive side, nobody knew which weekend to do fireworks shows, so we saw one on June 30th at 99 Springs, one on Tuesday night at Dr. Meador’s house and then had a great show provided by Derrick and Shanda Swinehart at Lake Arrowhead on Saturday night. I appreciate all of those folks who light up the sky in honor or our Independence Day. Speaking of the holiday.... It’s always been a tradition for me to find a funny 4th of July shirt to wear. Last year, I bought Joey and I shirts. Mine had President Trump riding an American Eagle and holding a machine gun on it. Joey’s was of President Bush standing on two sharks shooting a machine gun. They both said "Freedom" on them. They were hilarous. One year I had Chuck Norris holding a pair of machine guns and it said, "Undefeated World War Champions." This year, I found a shirt that said, "Happy Treason Day - Ungreatful Colonists." It had a Brittish Flag in the middle of it. I got some laughs from a few people. Many didn’t even notice what it said. The 4th of July wasn’t quite the same for one of my family members. Nick spent it on base in Okinawa in his room for the most part as a Typhoon rolled over the island for a few days. It was the first time he admitted to being home sick in a long time. ? ? ? ? Our first Weird Beard contestent was named this week. It goes out to my buddy Andrew Meador. Keep those photos coming! See Andrew’s photo on the right, page three and see if you can top that! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From July 2, 2018 - By Kevin Noland A friend came to visit me this week. We come from opposite ends of the political spectrum, but we are most often in agreement on topics. Our discussion turned to the ongoing spotlight the media has placed on immigration. It’s not a new topic for our country. As old as I am, I can’t remember a time that immigration wasn’t a topic of discussion, especially close to election time. No one I know believes we don’t have some sort of immigration problem in our country. Dealing with the issue generally stirs up a lot of opinion. The most recent discussion, rightly so, has been on the subject of separating children from family at the border. It’s a heartbreaking issue that is impossible not to be emotional about. The images of children sleeping in cages and crying for their parents does make you sick, but the zero tolerance policy is an enforcement of laws that have been on the books for quite some time. I applaud the president for reversing his decision to separate children from family. At the same time, I am a firm believer in secure borders. Those seeking asylum in our country are simply trying to escape from the hardships they are experiencing in their own countries. The dreams of freedom America has to offer would make anyone from a third world nation want to come here. My personal feelings are that I welcome all who want to come to our country and live productive and fruitful lives. "Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses yearning to breathe free." Most all of us here today come from lineage of refugees or immigrants. Our country was built on these principles, but before you think I’ve become some bleeding liberal, I also believe that there is a need to vet these people, now more than ever. Our country is a country of law and order. People wanting to enter into this country, must do so legally and orderly, not through porous holes in our southern border. In today’s world, borders are sad, but needed to secure our country. Thousands of people enter illegally and many commit heinous crimes against citizens of The United States. We can sing the lyrics to "Imagine" by John Lennon until we’re blue in the face, but the reality is that if you cross the border illegally into Mexico, you’re going to be separated from your child, if you brought one with you, and you’re not going to be treated very well. As many of you know, I also work as a surety agent. That’s a fancy word for bail bondsman. I deal with a number of Hispanic defendants, normally very good people simply trying to better themselves by coming to our country. They work harder than most of us, but they so often circumvent our system. When arrested, they become extremely difficult to bond. Many have aliases, prior convictions and a large percentage of them abscond from their responsibility to answer to our courts for their crimes. It’s a real problem that I experience first hand. My highest rate of absconding comes from illegal immigrants. One of my largest lost bonds was on a drug smuggler from Poland who worked for the Mexican Cartel. She overstayed her visa, committed several felonies and then fled the country. Thankfully, she will never return. If she does, she will be sent to prison for a very long time. Folks, these are scary people, doing scary things. People associated with them, lost their lives. They were American citizens. Last week the president addressed the media concerning victims of illegal immigration. President Trump highlighted "American victims of illegal immigration" on Friday, hosting families of people killed by people who immigrated to the U.S. illegally to tell their stories and hitting back at critics of his rescinded policy that separated some children from their parents who crossed the border illegally. "These are the American citizens permanently separated from their loved ones," Mr. Trump said at the White House. "These are the families the media ignores. These are the stories that Democrats and people that are weak on immigration don’t want to discuss." I watched family member after family member holding photos of their lost loved ones and listening to their stories. It was heartbreaking. We have to embrace the fact that we do have an immigration problem and stop turning it into a talking point for elections. The president ran on the issue of fixing our nation’s immigration issues. I say we at least let him try or offer up a better solution that still keeps Americans safe. We need to stop taking a side and start thinking constructively, yet compassionately. I don’t want to see photos of children in cages and I don’t want to see pictures of lost loved ones. Before you fix your leaking water line in your house, you do one simple thing: you shut off the water. Before you change a receptacle in your house, you shut off the breaker. You do this so you don’t create a mess, or worse, cause injury. Our border should be treated the same. KWIBS - From June 25, 2018 - By Kevin Noland A sixth branch of the military, in space no less, could be in our near future. Unless congress launches that idea into the sun (see older columns for reference to shooting things into the sun). Last week President Trump announced "Space Force." Man, if that doesn’t take your mind off of hookers, Russia and inappropriate things he’s said, then nothing will. I guess it’s all in the delivery. "We must have American dominance in space. Very importantly, I'm hereby directing the Department of Defense and Pentagon to immediately begin the process necessary to establish the Space Force as the sixth branch of the armed forces. That's a big step," he said in the White House East Room during a meeting of his National Space Council Monday. "We are going to have the Air Force and we are going to have the Space Force: separate but equal, it is going to be something so important," he said. I suppose that’s logical and probably important, but what about the uniforms for the troops? I think it would be so cool to have them modeled after Storm Troopers from Star Wars movies. Let’s face it. Those guys are super intimidating. Obviously, Space Force Generals would dress like Darth Vader. All joking aside, space is an important place to be dominant. You must consider that our satellite technology is of the utmost priority in the event of a war. If space is secure, then our troops on the ground have a better chance of winning battles. All communications and targeting systems come from space, so it’s not that far fetched to dedicate a branch of our military to space. Sorry to my lib friends. I think Trump is on to something here. Space: The final frontier....
KWIBS - From June 18, 2018 - By Kevin Noland Ronda and I have been empty-nesters for about two years now. Don’t let anyone tell you that it isn’t awesome. Of course we were sad when our youngest son left for the Navy, but we discovered quickly that it wasn’t all that bad. No offense to my kids, but I am glad they are out of the house and on their own. Of course, they’re never really on there own. They are always your kids and always come home. And they all did. Last weekend we had all three of our kids home. This is pretty tough to manage considering one of them lives 7,147 miles away. They may all be adults now, but when they come home, they pick up right where they left off. They make a mess! When you are just two people, it’s easy to cook and keep things in order. When you are 40 people, you are just crazy. Yep, we had about 40 family members show up over the weekend. It was our 30th wedding anniversary and aunts and uncles and sisters and brothers and cousins and extended family all came to celebrate with us. We had more than 40, but the 40 I’m speaking of needed food, water and shelter. That’s a lot of work, but well worth it!! We did decided that our next big anniversary, we’re probably taking a cruise, because it will be cheaper. *kidding* I’m grateful for the time we got to spend with everyone. It’s never enough time. It’s been so amazing having Nick home and getting Joey home for a couple of days during that time. The next time we all will be together will be in April of 2019 when Nick and Natalie get married! It takes my breath away a little bit to think it will be that long before we see him again. Thanks to everyone who came. We are blessed. Have a great week! KWIBS - From June 11, 2018 - By Kevin Noland She is my better half. Happy Anniversary Ronda! This weekend, Father’s Day, is our 30th wedding anniversary. Two high school sweethearts tied the knot on June 17, 1988 just one month after I graduated from high school. There were groans from family and friends when we announced we were getting married. They said we were too young. We were, but all we had was each other and we did it. We have so many stories from 30 years. We’ve been places and done things that a lot of people never get to experience. We’ve experienced much joy and many sorrows. We’ve raised three amazing children, one giving us two grandchildren. We’ve lost parents, a cousin, friends, grandparents and aunts and uncles. Father’s Day this year will be the most incredible day for us. Not only does it mark our 30th, we will have all of our children home. Bree never strayed far from home, but our son, Joey, lives in Phillipsburg, KS and is working for the White’s family grocery stores. He’ll soon be moving to St. John. Nicholas of course is in the Navy based with the Marines in Okinawa. He’s made the 22 hour journey home to spend this special day with us! He did it while being promoted! He’ll actually have his pinning ceremony once he goes back. There will be so much to celebrate. It will be the last time we’ll all be together until at least April of 2019 when Nick and his fiance’ Natalie get married. This will be a bittersweet gathering for us. I’m a blessed man and I know it. How Ronda has ever put up with me, I will never know. There has never been another love in my life as I have found in you Ronda. You are my wife, my best friend, my business partner and so much more. I love you! Happy 30th!
KWIBS - From June 4, 2018 - By Kevin Noland This is a huge week for us! Nick is coming home for 14 days of leave starting Friday. We were last together at Christmas, which just seems like yesterday. This trip home comes after a short deployment to South Korea and the Philippines. Nick is still in Okinawa with the Marine Wing Support Squadron 172, but his job now has him traveling more of the South Pacific. When he came home in December, I warned him that it was cold here in Kansas. He said, "Dad, it’s cold here too. It was like 65 degrees." That’s considered cold in Okinawa. When I talked to him last week, I warned him it was hot and humid here. He said, "Dad, I live near the Equator. You don’t know what hot and humid is." One of my favorite things about Nick coming home is his menu requests. His mother and I always love fixing him his favorite meals - those meals that we fixed all the time when he was in high school that we didn’t even know were his favorite. After eating MRE’s (meals ready to eat) and what I call "poodles and noodles," he’s ready for some "normal" food. I would imagine I could grill hamburgers every night and he would be fine with that. I realize that we have to share him with someone very special to him, his fiance Natalie Bare. They will be making plans for their April 2019 wedding. Natalie will be going with Ronda and I on Friday to pick him up. She’ll get the first hugs and kisses and then we’ll get ours. :) Speaking of weddings... Congratulations to my Nephew Ronnie Landwehr and my new Niece-In-Law Morgan Landwehr on their marriage this last weekend! We’re so happy for you guys! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From May 28, 2018 - By Kevin Noland Today is Memorial Day. It didn’t change much for us at the paper, other than we have to mail the newspaper to subscribers on Tuesday. It’s always hard for me to slow down and really get to appreciate Memorial Day. This year was particularly hard because I was very short handed at Lake Arrowhead Resort. My go-to-guy (AKA: Mower man) Dave Gilbert, took a much needed vacation to Alaska for two weeks. He’d prepared me a month in advance, but I didn’t get the dates until a week before he left, which just happened to be, historically, our biggest and busiest weekend of the year. I could handle it though and I had a great offer from my former go-to-guy Leroy Weber to help out with some mowing. I took him up on it and I am glad I did! Friday before: Main mower had charging issues. I thought I had this fixed before Dave left. Nope. I loaded it up and took it to Stucky Repair in Kingman. I had burned up a wiring harness and rather than keep replacing the wire, we just replaced the entire service bulletin advisement for a kit that was to solve the problem once and for all. I also discovered the seat bracket was broken. Saturday before: Graded all the roads and one hour later, we got 1" of rain.... I was beginning to see a trend. Monday before: (less than one week to get it all done). The road grader started leaking coolant. My solution? Carry two jugs of water on the back of the grader. I regraded the roads and stopped frequently to give her a drink. Tuesday before: The main mower is not done, so I mowed all day with a bush hog and the tractor. The tractor kept overheating and then it wouldn’t shift into 2nd gear. I managed to mow in 1st gear. As it was getting dark, I realized that I had missed a dinner with friends in town. Wednesday before: I finally had to actually go to my real job, but I broke my glasses and am having issues seeing. The parts won’t be in until Wednesday after Memorial Day. I’m so thankful that Bree and Ronda kept the office organized. The main mower is fixed, now I had to run to Kingman to get it. I ran home and hooked up my trailer and noticed that my fender was shoved into the tire. I thought that was strange. As soon as I moved it, I realized it was more serious than that. I had broken a leaf spring and the axle had slid back. The trailer was toast. So I had to use my car trailer to haul the mower home. I joked that I could have pulled home about 6 mowers. I made it back safely and started mowing again. I finished up at 6:30 p.m. before we got about an inch of rain later that night. I’m out of time to blade the roads again, so I hope they dry out. Thursday before: I came to realize that I am spread too thin and am thanking the good Lord above that Leroy is still helping! Josh Ybarra also came out and helped do some trimming before the big weekend. Ronda left to go help our son move out of his appartment in Hays and helped his girlfriend move into her new appartment. I finally had to stop mowing so I could go cheer on the Lady Indians in Pratt! Friday before: We finished up the majority of the newspaper by noon and I went back out to mow the dam and spillways. This should be the end of mowing for the week. So, it was a memorable week getting ready for Memorial Day weekend. I appreciate all the things that Dave does and I would have been out there working whether he was here or not. Having Leroy and Josh around was such a blessing. That’s just how weeks before holiday weekends go in the summertime. Although, I didn’t make it to the final resting places of my loved ones, I will remember them and will make memories with my family! Happy Memorial Day to you all!
KWIBS - From May 21, 2018 - By Kevin Noland Just a couple of months ago, we lost a great friend. Ron Fincher passed away at the Kansas Heart Hospital after complications from open heart surgery. A quote on my desk reads, "If we can’t find it, you don’t need it." It’s a Ron Fincher quote. His son, Brett Fincher, has been a life long friend. So, when he called saying he had been having some pain in his chest and was going in for a stress test, we all got pretty concerned about him. He went to the same surgeon his dad had gone to. Last week, Brett underwent a heart cath at the Kansas Heart Hospital. Obviously scared of what this experience was going to be like, I offered up my experience with it and assured him that he was going to be just fine. I’ve had three caths, five stents. Brett insisted that he was probably going to be all plugged up and needed several stents because of his genetics. Keep in mind, Brett works out hard every day and jokingly we call him a "thoroughbred." Ronda and I drove up last Wednesday for Brett’s procedure. When we got there we ran into an old friend and classmate who was also there for support. Doug Hamm was a 1988 graduate of MLHS. I hadn’t seen him since our 10 year reunion. We caught up in the lobby and waited for news on Brett. Doug had lived in the house I grew up in and later in life, we did some horse trading on cars. It was really good to see him and great to hear about his missions work in India. The surgeon came out and asked for the Fincher family. Well, that was Doug, Ronda and me. He announced, "Brett is just fine. We didn’t find any blockage." That was great news. We went to Brett’s room for a couple of hours and he was released. God answered prayers for Brett and now he has the peace of mind knowing that he’s going to be ok! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From May 14, 2018 - By Kevin Noland I always feel bad when I make a mistake in the paper. Last week I thought we had a phone number wrong in an ad, but it turns out the phone was just messed up for a day. It caused a little confusion, but former resident Barb Keltner got it straightened out for me and we discovered we hadn’t actually made a mistake at all! To make me feel better Barb sent this gem of a poster hanging on a restaurant window, I assume in the Kansas City area. It gave me a good chuckle.
Thanks Barb! I just realized that it was one year ago that you and Mike moved away. We miss you guys and we’re glad you’re keeping us on our toes and made coffee run out my nose! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From May 7, 2018 - By Kevin Noland All week long. I get in my truck and rev the engine up a few times, put it in gear with my foot on the brake and gas and when I take off, I go as fast as I can... until I hit the speed limit. Before our busy season begins at the lake, Ronda and I have been itching to experience new things and take mini road trips on the weekends. When Derrick and Shanda Swinehart and their daughter Aubrey invited us to watch them race their cars in Great Bend last weekend, we took them up on it. Keep in mind, I hadn’t been to the "drag races" since I was a kid. Ronda used to go to Texas Speedway as a little girl with her family and we both discovered, we weren’t that interested in it when we were little, but this was a unique opportunity to watch a father and daughter race alongside their Grandpa Gordy Myers. Three generations of local people seemed like a historical event that we should go see. So our tour started out with me doing some investigative work on a bond skip I had last week in Pratt County. I didn’t find my person, but we had left plenty early enough to drive around and take a tour of St. John, KS. The White’s are opening a grocery store there. It’s really a nice little community. We stopped and visited with a couple of locals before moving on down the road. At this point, I had not yet developed my "need for speed." We rolled into Great Bend about 45 minutes before the races began and found the Swineharts. Although I wanted to ask 40,000 questions, I knew they were all getting ready for their races. Shanda was quite informative and gracious enough to explain what was going on to me and Ronda. First up to race was their daughter Aubrey. Aubrey has been racing since she was old enough to drive a car. She was running low 12 second quarters in her 1963 Nova. We walked to the line as she drove her car into position. I really didn’t know what to expect. Here’s a girl who had not raced in almost three years, in a hotrod, racing guys...... The lights lit up on the tree and when it hit green, Aubrey had gunned it. The earth shook, my ears hurt and the next thing I knew Aubrey was flying down the track. She won her race. I think she drove across the line going about 112 mph. We were instantly hooked! Our team had just won a race! Like we had anything to do with this team. Haha. I was given a sneak preview of the behind the scenes of this sport by Derrick a week before. He had showed me two of his three race cars. One was a dragster fueled by alcohol and nitrox. As a complete novice, I just thought two cars pull up, the lights go to green and you race down the track and the first one to cross the finish line wins. Not so.... I can’t even explain all of the science and math behind this sport, but it is not the redneck event I was planning on attending. Those who take this sport seriously have a lot invested, including computers and weather stations to help calculate their times. They sort of compete with themselves and the other car in the lane next to them. It made my brain hurt a little bit. The races aren’t just for "race cars" we saw several normal vehicles competing. One was a 2004 Jeep Cherokee. I’m pretty sure my truck was faster, but that’s not what this sport is really about. We saw Vetts, Camaros, Trucks and even motorcycles racing that day. So, by this time we are pretty hooked after Aubrey’s race and excited to watch Derrick in his dragster. Here’s a car that does close to 190 mph! This is the real deal with the parachute that pops out the back and everything. I was pretty excited when I saw Derrick shoe horn himself inside the cockpit of this miniature rocket and put his helmet on. We walked over and did the same routine with following him to the line. Before the race, the drivers pull up to an area that is wet so they can do a quick burnout to get the tires hot and sticky for the launch at the starting line. When Derrick’s car started spinning the tires, I capped both my ears. Dear God, there is a lot of power in one of these cars! This was twice as loud and earth shattering than Aubrey’s car. Derrick’s race didn’t end like Aubrey’s, but Derrick wasn’t finished. There was a buy back. During that intermission, we watched Gordy Myers win one and lose one. We also ran into Troy Wells from Medicine Lodge. Although I only got to see him race one time, it wasn’t his day either. During Aubrey’s last race of the evening, Ronda got a chance to ride to the line with her in her car. That’s a grin I will remember for a long time and I’m sure she will too! At the end of the evening, all our Medicine Lodge people had been eliminated, but this was a great experience and probably one of our funnest mini-road trips we had taken in quite sometime. As we were leaving, I power braked my truck and got the tires to break lose on the pavement, doing what I thought was a pretty impressive burn out. After being scolded for doing that, I still pulled away with a huge grin on my face! Thank you to the Myers and the Swineharts for letting us hang out with you all and see an unusual and entertaining family bond! Good luck on the rest of your season!
Aubrey and her race car! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From April 30, 2018 - By Kevin Noland Two years ago, I was filled with emotion as my last child graduated from MLHS. So I know too well how many of you parents are feeling this week. The thought of your child, whether first one, or the last one, or the middle one graduating just makes you about spin out of control. Their world is about to change in an amazing way. There will be new freedom and the ability for them to choose their paths. There will be some mistakes made and some will face struggles, but I’m confident that they will find their way. My confidence comes from knowing many of you parents and knowing the faculty and staff of MLHS. We live in a blessed little community with great people looking after our children. For you seniors, take nothing for granted. Your experiences at MLHS will be the launching point for life. Remember the values that you were taught, not just algebra and science. Remember your relationships with your classmates. Remember the successes and failures of your sports teams, your coaches and teammates. Remember your time at MLHS. These will be some of the best memories of your life. The new memories you are about to make will also be great experiences. This is a very special class to me. My Nephew Riston Landwehr is graduating, top of his class! Congratulations Riston and the class of 2018. I’m proud to welcome you into the world of alumni! You’ll always be an Indian no matter where you go. I wish you the best of luck in all of your endeavors. These things I leave with you as advice from an old MLHS graduate: Don’t be afraid of good-byes; push yourself outside your comfort zone; trust your gut; be crazy, but not too crazy; and it’s ok to cry (That’s for mom and dad)! Congratulations Class of 2018! KWIBS - From April 23, 2018 - By Kevin Noland Barbara . Bush turned to her doctor in the last few days of her life. "You want to know why George W. is the way he is?" she asked. The doctor looked a little surprised when she answered, "Because I drank and smoked when I was pregnant with him." I’ve always admired the class of this woman and her family. She died at her home in Houston on Tuesday surrounded by the ones she loved. George W. Bush said on Wednesday that he spoke with Mrs. Bush by telephone shortly before her death to tell her he loved her, and she replied that she loved him too. The Bushes had celebrated their 73rd wedding anniversary in January, making them the longest-married couple in presidential history. As the wife of the 41st president and the mother of the 43rd, George W. Bush, Mrs. Bush was only the second woman in American history to have a son of hers follow his father to the White House. (Abigail Adams, wife of John Adams and mother of John Quincy Adams, was the first.) She was born Barbara Pierce on June 8, 1925, at a maternity hospital in New York City run by the Salvation Army principally for unwed mothers. The family obstetrician practiced there one month a year, and that month happened to be June. She was the third child of the former Pauline Robinson and Marvin Pierce. Her father was in the publishing business and eventually became president of the McCall publishing company. Her mother, the daughter of an Ohio Supreme Court justice, was active in civic affairs in Rye, N.Y., the New York City suburb where the family lived. One of Mrs. Bush’s distant relatives was Franklin Pierce, the 14th president of the United States. Can you imagine being the first lady and the mother of a former president? Her life was so interesting and she carried herself so well. God rest her soul.
KWIBS - From April 16, 2018 - By Kevin Noland Some days you’re hot, some days you’re not. I’m talking about Spring. In a short week we’ve seen temperatures ranging from a low of 17 degrees to a high of 95 degrees! I know that I am growing older when I get concerned about my pear and peach trees. One day they had beautiful blooms on them, the next day they were gone. I sort of jumped the gun on spring and spring made sure she told me who was boss. Saturday evening I noticed that we were dropping below freezing. I ran around and unscrewed garden hoses and attempted to drain out some pumps I had prepared for some controlled burns I was helping with. Somehow in the late night hours, I missed one drain plug. On the day before we were going to burn some brush piles, I went and fired up the pump. As soon as it started, I knew something was terribly wrong. I was soaking wet and was getting wetter. When I realized my pump casing was broken and spraying me with water, I shut it down. ? ? ? ? Thursday’s forecast was 94 degrees!!! I’m pretty sure it got there and in preparation for it, I ditched my socks and put on my lake shoes that morning. Anyone that knows me well, knows that I can’t stand shoes and wearing socks. I think I only own like three pairs of socks and two pairs have holes in them. I don’t know why I hate wearing shoes, but I always say, "my toes freak out." I also hate wearing pants. That sounds strange, but I am more comfortable in a pair of shorts! Thursday afternoon was my first official day back in shorts! By Saturday, my disappointed toes were back in socks as the weather plummeted into the 40s. I also had to put my pants back on.....
KWIBS - From April 9, 2018 - By Kevin Noland "What’s your password grandpa?" My Granddaughter Baylee asked me that question on Tuesday. I was busy making an ad for a customer and I nearly blurted it out. I told her I couldn’t tell her what my password was. That’s always a mistake because it leaves the conversation wide open. She asked, "Well, why not?" I explained that it was a secret and I could not tell her. I didn’t even know what password she wanted. It could have been to my Snapchat or Facebook account. Heck, it could have been nuclear codes. It didn’t matter. I was in a full-blown conversation about security with a five-year-old. There are sticky notes all over my desk with log-ins and passwords to different accounts. It’s probably good that she can’t read or comprehend what I am doing or the entire newspaper could be jeopardized. Then it was, "What’s this gray box?" Might as well make a column out of this. It was my computer.... Now she is staring at the screen as I write this column. It’s sort of entertaining for me to watch her watch me do this. She seems really interested. Maybe she’ll be the future editor. Nope. Now she’s digging in my trash as I write. She grabbed the trash and said, "I am going to work on this in my office," and she darted out. One thing is for darned sure. She’s very distracting. I mean cute and entertaining. She wasn’t gone but a few seconds. The next question was, "What time is it, grandpa?" I almost answered, "Time to get out of my office," but instead I told her it was 3:10 p.m. "Oh! That’s when I have to go to work," she exclaimed! And that’s when I said it. "Then get your butt to work," I said firmly. This conversation ended with her looking at me and saying, "You’re not the boss. Grandma is the boss!"
KWIBS - From April 2, 2018 - By Kevin Noland Anyone that knows Ronda and I very well, know that we love live music. Our first official date was at a concert in 1985. It was Metallica and Ozzy Ozborne! A guy I met recently posed a question to me and asked, "Who is a band you haven’t seen yet that you would say would be a bucket-list item?" I had a really tough time answering that question. We’ve seen so many concerts in the last 30 years that my bucket-list is full! My favorite band of all time has to be the Eagles. This band brings back memories of my childhood. You’ve got that one band that you always turn up the radio when they come on. This one is mine. It might sound silly, but if you love music like I do, you know how it moves the soul. I love all kinds of music from bluegrass to heavy metal. It’s all good except for rap music. I just can’t do it. It’s painful to listen to. I must be getting old because I have caught myself telling my kids their rap music is terrible, too loud and to turn it off. I always watch the upcoming concert alerts for anything from Kansas City to Dallas to see if there’s a concert sneaking up that I want to reserve seats for. Back in December of last year, I saw that former Eagle Don Felder, REO Speedwagon, and STYX were performing at Hartman arena. One of Ronda’s favorite bands is REO Speedwagon, so I bought us tickets for the March 25th show in Park City. Keep in mind, we buy tickets early to get the best seats possible. A few weeks back some friends called and said they had two extra tickets to the Eagles at Sprint Center in Kansas City for Monday, March 19. Even though it was a week night, I could not pass up seeing my favorite band and jumped at the chance, sort of forgetting I had the March 25th show already booked. If you grew up in the 60s-80s, you probably know the words to most every famous Eagles’ song written. At least I do. My parents listened to the Eagles and I fell in love with them from a very early age. We’ve seen them 4 times in the last 24 years. A lot of people don’t realize that the most recent line up is not the original band. Only Don Henley and Glenn Frey were original members up until Frey’s death in 2016. You still have the familiar Joe Walsh on guitar and vocals and Timothy B. Schmidt on bass and vocals, but this line up only performed together for two years before breaking up in 1980 for 14 years. It was then that they put differences aside and reformed that line up. Earlier performers included Bernie Leadon, Randy Meisner and Don Felder, who was famous for his song "Hotel California" along with over 17 tracks he contributed during his time with the Eagles. Glenn Frey and Don Felder had had enough of each other in 1980. At a concert in Long Beach, California for Senator Alan Cranston on July 31, 1980, known as the "Long Night at Wrong Beach", things hit breaking point when the animosity between Felder and Frey boiled over before the show even began. Felder recalls Frey telling him during "Best of My Love," "I'm gonna kick your a** when we get off the stage." After the concert, Felder smashed, according to Frey, "his cheapest guitar". The Eagles disbanded shortly thereafter. In 2016, the day after Frey's death, Felder told the Associated Press that he felt an "unbelievable sorrow" when he learned about Frey's death. "I had always hoped somewhere along the line, he and I would have dinner together, talking about old times and letting it go with a handshake and a hug." Joining the Eagles in Kansas City was Glenn Frey’s son, Deacon. This kid sounds just like his dad and is only 22 years old. Also joining the Eagles was one of my all-time favorite guitarist and vocalist Vince Gill. If you were paying attention to my long and drawn out Eagles’ history lesson, we went to see the Eagles on Monday and then saw Don Felder the following Sunday with REO and Styx. We got a double dose of the Eagles. I was in music heaven!! I did not realize that Don Felder would basically do most of The Hotel California album at this concert. I assumed I would be subjected to music that I had never heard from his post Eagles career. I was pleasantly surprised that I was wrong. I believe we witnessed rock and roll history last week. I didn’t even tell you how good REO Speedwagon and STYX were. So, I really don’t have a bucket-list for concerts anymore. I just have the same old desire to see the ones I love. An interesting side note: the Eagles play in Tulsa on June 17. That’s our 30th anniversary. We can’t make it though because we have one of our new favorite bands playing for our anniversary! I also bought us tickets to Metallica for March of 2019! "Music is a moral law. It gives soul to the universe, wings to the mind, flight to the imagination, and charm and gaiety to life and to everything." - Plato
KWIBS - From March 26, 2018 - By Kevin Noland It’s interesting to note that our newspaper has a few famous "subscribers." One such subscriber is Former Kansas Congressman Mike Pompeo. Mr. Pompeo’s career has really blasted off in the past few years. After President Trump was elected, Pompeo rose the ranks of director of the Central Intelligence Agency. Recently, he’s President Trump’s pick for replacing Rex Tillerson as Secretary of State. I met Mike Pompeo at the Grand Hotel several years ago and then he stopped into our office shortly after that. I kind of wished I had taken a photo with him now. A few weeks after that visit he subscribed to the newspaper. Now I doubt he probably has time to read this, but I did note that Mr. Pompeo was a very interesting person. He graduated first in his class from the United States Military Academy at West Point. He was also a Gulf War veteran with the 2nd Squadron, 7th Cavalry in the 4th Infantry Division. That’s impressive. I found him polite and intelligent. I also remember after meeting him that I forgot to ask his party affiliation. It didn’t seem important to me at the time. I liked him and I liked what he had to say about rural America and he had my vote. He’s obviously had the same impression on our president and is being trusted as one of the top people in his administration. If by some crazy chance Mr. Pompeo is reading my newspaper, I want to congratulate him and thank him for serving his country in this capacity. I would think Secretary of State would be the hardest job you could ever have, next to President of the United States. Somehow, I don’t quite picture him with his feet up on his desk with The Gyp Hill Premiere spread open. From my limited knowledge of him and first impressions, I believe Mr. Pompeo will do the right thing for our country in these perilous times. I trust him to make decisions to keep us safe and to promote America’s interests throughout the world. Have a great week!
KWIBS - From March 19, 2018 - By Kevin Noland
The community woke Saturday morning to the sad news of Ron Fincher’s passing. I ran into the office and pulled my column off the page, so that at the very least, we could share our condolences with Brett and Kim and all the folks at Finchers Findings. We don’t yet know when his services will be, but we will try to update everyone on Facebook. Ron was a friend to all of us in town and he will be greatly missed. KWIBS - From March 12, 2018 - By Kevin Noland While the kids were growing up, I did the typical dad thing (relived my childhood through them). Ronda was the nurturer and often nurse. I was the, "hey, let’s buy the kids gokarts, motorcycles and BB-guns!" kind of dad. Both Breeann and Joey had multiple motorcycle and gokart injuries. By the time Nicholas was born, I was no longer able to play with the children per mom-orders. I watched once as Joey drove his first motorcycle through a 2 railed, 2"x6" fence at 30 mph. The most interesting part of that story is that he was 4-years-old. I had taught him how to balance on a bike, rolling down a hill without training wheels just 1 week earlier. Any good dad knows that that is enough experience to put an engine under him and let him ride. Right? You think I’m that irresponsible? Come on. I put a helmet on him, gloves and a leather coat and even some goggles over his eyes. There. Feel better about me now? My mission was to do the same as I had with his older sister: Tie a rope around the motorcycle and let him go slowly at first until he got the hang of it. I remember how mad my wife was at me when I came home with this motorcycle. I had rolled through Mullinville, KS on my way home from a job one day and some guy was selling these motorcycles on the side of the road, so naturally I stopped. After I threw my money at him and he helped me load it up in my truck, I drove home with visions of my "father of the year trophy" all shiny on my desk. I got it home and unloaded it. I polished it up as my wife stood there shaking her head and telling me how bad of an idea this was. What did she know about "fathering"? Now here we were. Father and his son were about to make history. It was like Evel Knievel’s first jump over 30 buses. I explained the brakes, the gas, the inner-workings of compression and torque to my 4-year-old and said, "When you’re ready, squeeze the gas and I’ll be right behind you." So I thought. This kid took off like a pro-motocross racer from the gate and ripped the rope right out of my hand. I busted after him at my slightly-slower than Olympic running speed, screaming, "Let off the gas!" That’s 4-year-old language for "give it more gas" apparently, as he went shooting towards a barbed wire fence at the end of our yard. He was a good 20 yards in front of me. I was yelling, "Stop! Brakes! Jump off! Jesus, this is a good time for the rapture!" along with other explicits, when suddenly he took a sharp left hand turn and plowed through the wooden fence along our driveway. It was over in about 10 seconds and he was on the ground with the motorcycle on top of him, still running, back wheel spinning. He still had the throttle gunned. I ran over, shut off the bike and lifted it off of him. I could see his wide-eyed stare through his fogged up goggles. He was breathing. I picked him up gently and asked him if he was ok and that’s when the tears machine turned on. He started crying. I was like, "sssshhhh, you’re ok, you’re fine. Don’t alert your mom..." Too late. She was out the door and sprinting towards us. It looked like she was investigating the crash scene, but I think she was actually looking for broken parts of the motorcycle to pick up and hit me with. The motorcycle was broken. There was a fender a few yards away, a couple of broken boards that Chuck Norris couldn’t have Karate kicked through any better, and the front wheel was now smashed into the engine of the new motorcycle that had less than 5 minutes of run time on it. I nervously said, "I bet the warranty doesn’t cover that!" My wife was not having it. She took Joey inside to clean him up. He amazingly didn’t have a scratch on him. I took the bike down to the shed and heated up the frame and forks and got it bent back into riding condition. Although I was told that I could not let him ride it again until he was older and ready, Joey was ready to try again within a few days. I had a better understanding of how tight to hold the rope and he had a better understanding of the throttle control. In time, he became an excellent rider and this first crash prepared him for many more to come. Have a great week!
KWIBS - From March 5, 2018 - By Kevin Noland I sat patiently with Bree on Saturday morning as she learned how to do corrections and the final stages of the newspaper before it went to press. "Grandma finds all these mistakes?" she asked. I explained that there has probably never been a more thorough person as a "copy editor" for any small town newspaper the size of ours. My mom has always been a huge part of the newspaper making process. Most people don’t even realize that before you get the paper, she’s already read it from top to bottom. Of course, with a crew like this one, she can’t possibly catch every mistake. I bet she’s pretty darn close to perfection. Many of the mistakes you might find happened after she had proofed the newspaper. They were usually last minute changes. Now it might seem weird to honor her for her birthday with a story like that, but my mom has been a bigger part of my adult business life, than my childhood - at this age and stage of the game. And there is no way to hide a birthday greeting from my mom (unless I don’t have it proofread)! My mom is turning 75 years-young on Wednesday, March 7, 2018. That’s a cool accomplishment! I could have used my space to tell funny stories about her like the time she took my sister and I to Century II in Wichita to an event. She got lost and ended up on the grounds sidewalks in our car. We kept telling her she wasn’t on a road and we were sure she was driving on the sidewalks, but she insisted she was until we ran over a garden hose. I love you mom. Thanks for always being here to help me. Happy 75th Birthday! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From February 26, 2018 - By Kevin Noland Quietly and with little to no fanfare, my youngest son left the age of teenager and turned 20 years old on Sunday, February 25. For him, it’s kind of a big deal. He’s serving his country in Okinawa with the Marine Wing Support Squadron 172. In Okinawa, you only have to be 20 years old to buy an alcoholic drink, unlike being 21 in the states. I haven’t talked to him about it, but I bet he went out with some buddies and bought himself a drink because that’s sort of what Navy and Marine guys do. This is Nick’s first birthday overseas. He spent his last birthday in training in South Carolina preparing to head to North Carolina for 14 weeks of Marine Combat Training. Oh what a difference a year makes. As a dad, I wanted to be the one to buy him his first drink, but we’ve known for sometime that this would not be possible. I remember buying Joey his first beer on his birthday. We met in Great Bend, KS. Joey was going to school in Hays at the time. Nick and I can’t even meet half way for that first beer. Half way would be somewhere off the coast of Alaska in the Pacific Ocean. Now, I’m not naive either. I know that I didn’t buy any of my kids their first drink, but I wish I could have ceremonially at least. Instead, I bought him a guitar and shipped it to him. I expected it to take 4 weeks, but it took less than a week, so he got it a little early! The funny thing is, the next time I see Nick, he still won’t be old enough for me to buy him a drink! That’s kind of funny.
Happy Birthday Nick! It’s a day late in print and probably three weeks before you’ll even read this, but know that I love you, I’m proud of you and hope you have the best birthday ever! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From February 19, 2018 - By Kevin Noland I’m not a real man. I’m just a big baby. That’s how I felt while suffering through the latest plague to strike our area. It was just the flu, but it felt like much worse than H1NDeath-whatever-it-was.... I kept waiting for a cart to roll by my house with a driver wrapped up in linens and a mask shouting, "Bring out your dead!" Well, I didn’t die. I wanted to a couple of times. I thought maybe Ronda was going to put a pillow over my head, but she didn’t want to be anywhere near me. For the record, I know she loves me and takes the entire "in sickness and in health" to heart, but I’m a better caretaker than she is. When she’s sick, I take charge. I cook, attempt at cleaning (no where near her standards), bring her drinks, soup, medicine, take her temperature, place ice packs on her head, etc. When I’m sick she’s like, "I’m going to Wichita today shopping with my cousin and let you rest!" No kidding, but sort of kidding. She’d had about enough of me and my coughing and moaning and she did go shopping and have a girls’ day so I could "rest" as she put it. She did deserve to get away from me for a little while. This stuff was on its 5th day by the time she needed to get out of the toxic relationship. By toxic, I meant contagious. I surprised her with a nice dinner though. I actually got up, grilled some steak and made jalopeno poppers wrapped in bacon and even roasted sweet potatoes. By Sunday morning, I was feeling like I was over the hump. I wasn’t really ready to go to church or back to work, but I could at least bend over and pick up my own tissues off the floor. We decided that a good way to pass the rest of that day was to watch some movie on Netflix. I didn’t really care and started flipping until she yelled, "Beauty and the Beast!" I figured, meh, ok. I clicked it and expected to be asleep within a few minutes. It was a 2 hour movie redone recently on the basis of the Disney cartoon that from 1987-2008 I had watched more than 100 times with my daughter Breeann. I had also cut my teeth on VHS repair during those years when the machine had eaten the movie and my daughter would break out into tears. Well, I didn’t sleep because I knew the words to every song, "Be our guest! Be our guest! Put our service to the test!" "No one's slick as Gaston. No one's quick as Gaston. No one's neck's as incredibly thick as Gaston's. For there's no man in town half as manly. Perfect, a pure paragon! You can ask any Tom, Dick or Stanley. And they'll tell you whose team they prefer to be on..." and so-on. This was ridiculous. At one point Belle had to leave the Beast and rescue her father. I was like, "Am I crying?" Dear God, this is not a sensitive moment I’m having is it? It had to be the Robitussin. Maybe it was a combination of both, but I was choked up and sobbing a few times. It wasn’t the movie. It was the thought that I still had 1 hour and 45 minutes of this to go! Seriously, I thought about how cute Breeann was as a little girl always wanting to watch Beauty and the Beast or The Little Mermaid. It brought back some great memories. I’m such a baby.... Have a great week!
KWIBS - From February 12, 2018 - By Kevin Noland It’s a dance that nobody likes to dance to, or likes the song. It’s only interesting to watch others "dance". It might be a terrible analogy, but that’s what happens in our court systems. The back and forth of motions, responses, petitions and the grueling slow grind of the legal wheel is often maddening.... but entirely necessary. Our society has one of the finest judicial systems in the world, if not the best. If not understood, on the outside, it looks like a cluster of unorganized chaos. All of it has purpose for fairness and accountability for each side, whether it be for the plaintiff or the defendant. I’ve had the miserable honor of covering the events of the Steven Myers’ death on October 6, 2017. With each court filing, I try my best to put it into plain English so that you can process it. Every motion, memorandum or rulings are just small pieces of a complex process that our community must go through to get to the end. My heart breaks when I think about what everyone has gone through in this difficult situation: The family and friends of Steven Myers, The Sheriff’s Department and all of the deputies, the EMS crews and the people of Sun City and Barber County - all wanting answers. I wear so many hats at times: newspaper, bondsman, lawn mower, janitor.... Today my job is simply to present you with the most current information, without inserting my opinion. I hope I do that, while honoring this process of law. My hope is that we soon heal as a county and community; that we are safe and that there is justice - in what form, I do not know. KWIBS - From February 5, 2018 - By Kevin Noland She’s been one of my kids over the past year and it is sad to see her go, but I’m happy for her. Jessica Wright is moving to greener pastures - or hallways of chaos, either way you look at it. Jess is going to the Grade School to work as a Para. It goes along well with her decision to go back to school and get a degree in teaching. I’m super-proud of the work she did for us for almost a year now. Next to me, she’s probably one of the fastest at assimilating information for exportation (from her pen to your eyes). What will I miss most about Jessica? My morning greetings. I can’t write about them, but she totally understands what I’m talking about. When I say she’s like one of my own kids, I mean it and she has been. I’ve had to give fatherly advice, which just like my real kids is taken with a grain of salt; I’ve had to criticize her work, getting the too often eye-roll; and I’ve had to call her occassionally to ask, "Where are you?" She knew just how hard and how much to push my buttons before I would either snap or laugh. But seriously folks, Jess has been great to work with and I wish her the best of luck! ? ? ? ? Breeann (AKA Bree) comes to us as green as green can be. She’s not written anything that I can remember since her, "I will be home by my curfew" story, which was actually just a sentence written 30x on a piece of notebook paper in high school. So far, she’s picking things up and is figuring out the routine. I don’t expect her to get a Pulitzer anytime soon, but with some practice, she’s going to be a great addition to The Gyp Hill Premiere. She will introduce herself next week. Along with Bree, we get our Granddaughter Baylee for half the day in the office. Baylee is currently finishing her degree in pres-school, so she only goes half days. Her afternoon office is across the hallway from mine, so every few minutes she brings me her "work." I get yards of adding machine tape with random numbers on them. I usually fantasize that it’s my bank account balance. I also get lots of drawings of bunnies, sunshine and trees - refreshing for this time of year. Have a great week!
KWIBS - From January 29, 2018 - By Kevin Noland One Tuesday afternoon back in early 1989, my dad took a trip to Missouri and left a space-filler for his column that said, "Will Return." I was working as the pressman during those days and saw an opportunity to test my writing skills. They were pretty terrible and my dad was pretty mad when he came back and saw that I had written KWICK KWIBS, Jr. as a guest writer. He let me continue to write, but then eventually sold the newspaper and moved to Missouri. I hope that wasn’t an indicator at how badly my first columns were, but I was able to keep the column for another six months or so, before it got axed by the new owners of the Index. I continued working there for about another couple of months before Ronda and I started The Gyp Hill Premiere. I was always involved in the newspaper business. I had my diapers changed there, I grew up and played there. I swept the floors there and eventually ran a press there. I miss those days at the Index and I miss those folks I worked with. A fun little history lesson about this column. One day several years ago Doris found a snippet my dad wrote in February of 1976, "I have been toying with the idea of starting a personal column for the Index for the past three years," he wrote. Dad was also "toying around" with the title KWICK KWIBS, Jr. When we started our newspaper in 1991, my early columns were terrible, even worse than today. I know, you can’t believe it. I brought the name with me when Ronda and I started The Gyp Hill Premiere. Many people over the years have asked me, where the name came from. Now, the column name "KWICK KWIBS, Jr" by my dad, Ron Noland, came from his father (my Grandpa Bill). In 1946 my Grandpa Bill bought his first newspaper, the Logan Republican. He started a column called "KWICK KWIBS". Well, I’ve read some of my grandpa’s and dad’s early columns and I am glad to say that I come from a long line of some terrible writers! Seriously though, some of these columns were very well done and made me smile to think how far back my heritage in the newspaper business goes. It dawned on me last week that my grandpa wrote KWICK KWIBS for 24 years. My dad wrote KWICK KWIBS, Jr. for 12 years and I have written KWIBS for over 27 years now. I’m the winner. Of what, I do not know..... KWIBS, of some form, has been a part of Kansas newspaper history for close to 75 years now, with a few years of gaps in between. Possibly, there are over 3,000 columns with the name "KWIBS" on them. So over the course of the last week, Jessica Wright has given Ronda and I notice that she’ll be leaving for a position at the grade school. She’s been great help and I have agonized over what to do to replace her. Jessica has a natural gift for writing and has really evolved over the last year. It’s a struggle every business has - keeping employees for the long haul. Not everyone is a Doris Sorg who can put up with me for 17.5 years and then give several months notice that she was leaving. Only one other woman has chosen a longer path in life.... my wife! So far, she has not given me notice she is leaving! I’m rambling here, but I will eventually get to my point. We’re a small family owned newspaper. We’re a rarity by today’s standards. Most small town newspapers have been gobbled up by larger corporations and conglomerations of small chains. I’ve always dreaded that happening to a community, but finding the right person in a small town is really hard. Sometimes sharing those resources in a centralized location in rural Kansas makes sense. Don’t worry, we’re not heading there any time soon as far as I am aware. I have been actively seeking an employee. I had some excellent applications. Two of which I really wanted to hire, but for various reasons, I could not make a decision. It takes a person who loves their community to write about it. It’s easy to write the controversial news. It’s a lot harder to cover the good news. Human nature makes it that way. More people want to read about crime and chaos than the successes and accomplishments of a community. Let’s be honest, we all turn to the courthouse news first and then go back and read the other parts of the newspaper. It's been a mission statement for us to, "Report the good news about our community." I always dreamed of one of my boys running the newspaper one day. That would make us 4 generations deep. I had floated that by Joey one day last summer and he said, "You’re job looks boring. No thanks." Personally, I think it’s a very interesting business, but I was not offended. I’ve read many things that Nicholas has written over the years and he’s a very good writer, but the commute from Okinawa would be a deal-killer. If I paid 50 cents per mile it would be something like $7,500 a week in travel expenses, so he’s out. Maybe one day, like my father, he’ll return home from his service in the Navy and decide he wants to be in the business, but for now, he’s got a job near a beach, also near a crazy dictator that we’re all keeping an eye on. It never occurred to me that Breeann might be interested. The thought of working with a family member who is so opinionated and stubborn and hard headed and moody, probably prevented her from ever asking me. Truthfully, we’re both very stubborn people who can be difficult to be around. We can get pretty frustrated with each other at times. I mentioned, jokingly, to her that she should work her way into the family business. She was actually interested. I think for a split second, I was scared I had mentioned it, but then I thought back to when my dad let me write that second column. He probably didn’t want to at the time. Can she write? Well, probably as well as I did when I first started. She might be even better. I had her write me a little story about something she knew about and she did a pretty good job. It’s writing about things you know nothing about that is harder. We’re about to find out. I think it’s time. Her children are older and in school. She’s been a stay-at-home mom with only brief moments of employment, but a lifetime of being in the community. She’s smart and, hopefully, trainable. If she’s not, I know several choke holds. This will be a challenge for sure, but I think with a little time, she can be a great addition to our family newspaper. I hope you’ll encourage her in this endeavor. Please be patient with us while we work through the process of getting her involved and please pray for patience for me! Thank you to everyone who applied and expressed interest. Have a great week! KWIBS - From January 22, 2018 - By Kevin Noland Where do I begin? As if adulting wasn’t hard enough, there’s also parenting. Parenting, you’d think, would be the toughest, but Grandparenting is even more difficult. Sunday morning I worked Pratt County for some bonding business and then grabbed some lunch. While at lunch, I got two more bonding calls out of Barber County. Then we got a phone call from our daughter needing a sitter for the grandkids that night. As it worked out, I dropped off Ronda at the house and went in to assist some folks out of the Barber County Crossbar Hotel, as one of the defendants called it. Ronda suggested I pick up the grandkids on my way home. Piece of cake. The grandkids were excited to see grandpa. They grabbed what I thought was warm clothing and we headed out to the truck. By the time we got to grandma and grandpa’s I had discovered that one of my grandkids only had on a sweatshirt and the other had on cowboy boots, missing one sock. Close enough. By the time I had gotten home, I had answered about 178 questions ranging from, "why do turkeys make that sound" to what is "DNA"? I had an easier time explaining DNA. When I pulled into the drive way, my granddaughter was asleep and missing one cowboy boot. I found the boot under the back seat, slipped it back on her naked foot and after I got her awake and stable, set her on the ground. I just wanted to get inside, get warm and get fed. I was exhausted from the 7 mile trip home. The grandkids won’t eat anything at our house that isn’t either 100% sugar or simply chicken. We were having steak, but I know to call it "chicken" no matter what we’re eating. I can still trick them into eating about anything if I just call it chicken. "We’re having chicken tonight!" No, that’s chili, but they don’t seem to know the difference yet. I have been known to put a tub of ice cream on the floor and two spoons and say, "get it" in place of actual food. I am told this is alright if you are a grandparent. Parents are not allowed to do this. So we ate and still had a couple of hours to burn. I know what to do. Get balloons. Let’s of balloons! Watching them blow them up and turn bright red in the face is wonderful. I know they are getting plenty of oxygen and working their lungs. It’s also a great cardio workout for them to run around and bop balloons in the air. I don’t know about those two, but grandpa slept pretty good that night. ? ? ? ? Monday both Ronda and Jess came down with a bug, leaving me the only healthy person in the office. I told Jess to stay home, Ronda insisted on working. She lasted about two hours and left me in charge. Alone. Sorry if you called and I didn’t answer. It was hectic. I was chugging along pretty well. We were busy since Monday was a holiday and everyone seemed to not mind braving the cold weather. It was an unusually busy Tuesday. Before Ronda left at noon she asked me to make the deposit. I thought that would be easy enough. She did all the work. All I had to do was walk it over to the bank. After 3 hours of customers and phones ringing, I finally made it to the bank, but I think I missed the cut off. Thankfully, I think I had enough in there to cover checks. If not, I’m probably going to get fired. Have a great week!
KWIBS - From January 15, 2018 - By Kevin Noland I don’t know who’s in charge, but I was promised global warming which included polar ice caps melting and Manhattan underwater by 2014. It’s cold and I don’t like it. Congratulations to the Conservation District Bankers Award Winners! We appreciate all you do! KWIBS - From January 8, 2018 - By Kevin Noland I made what seemed like the longest trip to town I’ve made in decades Tuesday morning. It was the end of "Christmas Break" for Ronda and I. We still had a few days left with Nick before he left for Japan on Friday morning. We were pretty quiet driving in. We were not really looking forward to going back to work, not even knowing where to begin 2018. We might have even been a little grumpy. Ronda started laughing when we got to the Assembly of God sign. It read, "Don’t be mean in 2018." It made me laugh too and then I started in. "I will also not be green or a bean. I hope to be lean, but not have a lien. I keep my motor clean in my full steam space machine. I’m trying to be less obscene since I’m not longer a preteen or even sixteen. Speaking of, did I mention my home economics teacher in high school was named Charlene? I’ll try to remember this summer to use sunscreen unless they come out with some crazy anti-sunburn vaccine. I was hoping to jump on a trampoline inside a submarine dressed as a wolverine. I am also wanting to keep my spleen at least until Halloween - all in 2018!" Thanks Rodney for being our local sign comedian and turning me into "Dr. Seuss" last Tuesday morning. ? ? ? ? So I want to give a big shout out and a big thank you to a couple of guys who have served this city well for several years. Norm Clouse and Mike Roe take their city council seats for one last moment tonight and then ride off into the sunset. Well, maybe not, but they are leaving the council. These guys were original movers and shakers. They took part in some unpopular, but necessary actions to improve the functionality of our city government. I applaud them for sticking it out and seeing things through. You guys are appreciated and we hope to be interviewing them soon as civilians! Have a great week! KWIBS - From January 1, 2018 - By Kevin Noland
KWIBS - From December 25, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Wow! Today is Christmas, but you probably are reading this on Tuesday, December 26th or even later. The holidays will sort of mess up our delivery schedules, but we will publish our weekly newspapers through the holidays. I hope you had a Merry Christmas! It’s difficult to write about something that hasn’t happened yet and that you’ll read after the fact, but it is my wish that you had a joyful celebration with family and friends. . I know of so many in our community that have experienced loss of family members around the holidays and it is my prayer that the Lord gives you peace, hope and love during this time of year. No one is immune to loss. In the last few years, our family has lost several family members. Within the last year we lost two uncles. In recent years we’ve lost Ronda’s grandma and my dad. Ronda and I enjoyed looking through old family Christmas decorations a few weeks ago. She used them to decorate for our Christmas this year. It reflects over 30 years of Christmas together. The memories are the gifts that those who have passed leave us. If it all worked out, we had our entire family together for Christmas this year. It would be the first time since 2015 since we were all home for the holidays. I love getting Christmas cards with family photos. I’m terrible at sending them, but know that I enjoy seeing your families as they grow over the years. I’m planning on taking a good family Christmas photo this year and with any luck, I’ll make Christmas cards for next year! Next week will be a recap of 2017. It will be an issue about our community’s successes and struggles. I love to reflect and find the positives in life during this time of year. I hope you will take time to remember 2017. My prayer for our little town is that 2018 is the best year yet! Have a blessed holiday and see you next year!
KWIBS - From December 18, 2017 - By Kevin Noland In a few short days, my Christmas present to myself and my family will be here. Yes, it’s selfish to buy yourself a gift, but this one is a doozy! Our Son Nick is coming home from Okinawa, Japan for a couple of weeks! Perfect timing and much luck has made this trip possible. Nick is stationed with the Marine Air Wing 172 Firebirds there and serves with the ministry team as a Religious Program Specialist. As it turns out, Nick’s current Chaplain is retiring and there will be a change in command that occurs over the holiday. The gap in between offered Nick the opportunity to come home, if all goes as planned. (Keep it down Rocketman). If it all goes well, he’ll take the 20+ hour flight home beginning Thursday our time and arriving sometime Friday afternoon. He will actually leave on Friday morning, his time, and arrive Friday afternoon, our time. It’s confusing. For the past six months, we had believed we wouldn’t see Nick until maybe Peace Treaty of 2018. So, needless to say, WE ARE EXCITED!! Nick spent his last Christmas in Great Lakes, IL in bootcamp. It was not a special occasion for him or for us, but we are so grateful to have our entire family back together for Christmas this year. Because of this special visit, our office hours will be somewhat sporadic over the holidays and for the week in between. We will be receiving our mail and checking our voice mail system and we have a drop slot in our door for you to drop things by over the holidays. Thank you in advance for your patience!! We don’t plan any deadline changes, however, we will be in stores on Tuesday, December 26th and Tuesday, January 2nd due to the holidays falling on a Monday this year. And we are at my favorite edition of the year! This is our Christmas newspaper and we always love sharing the kids’ letters to Santa each year. The kids are just too funny. I hope you enjoy them as much as we have. And because of the season: Matthew 1:20-23 Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emanuel," which is translated, "God with us." From our family to your family, we wish you a blessed Christmas. Love and cherish the time you spend with your family and friends and remember the true meaning of Christmas. Merry Christmas Friends!
KWIBS - From December 11, 2017 - By Kevin Noland I’m going to weigh in on the news in my own special way this week. John Conyers announced his retirement from Congress after several women came forward with sexual harassment charges against him. He’s 88 years old and the longest serving Representative in Congress. He’s endorsed his son to replace him. The younger, Conyers, 27, would be a first-time political candidate. But he has already been connected to an ethics issue, according to the Detroit Free Press. In 2010, the congressman had to reimburse the Treasury Department $5,682 for his son’s misuse of a taxpayer-funded Cadillac Escalade, the paper reports. It seems to me, he’s perfect for the job, if he was able to use a Cadillac Escalade for $5,682..... The younger Conyers’s wife, Monica Conyers, was sentenced to more than three years in prison for taking cash in 2010, as a Detroit council member, to support a Houston company’s sludge contract with the city. North Korea is still rattling a saber at us by launching more ICBMs into the sea of Japan. Normally, it would just be another day, but each time he does it, it makes me sick to my stomach because my son is attached to the Marines there and they will be the first to deploy in the event of a war. Nick says, "I don’t care as long as I get to come home for Christmas. We can’t go to war until January 5th, 2018." Of course he’s kidding. No one wants war. I’m proposing a simple solution to the issue. The 2018 Winter Olympics are scheduled to be held in South Korea. I think we should have a competitive javelin toss between North and South Korea. At each other.... Speaking of the Olympics.... The Russian Olympic Committee was suspended on Tuesday from the 2018 Winter Games in Pyeongchang, South Korea over the 2014 Sochi doping scandal. I propose that we have a special competition just for the Russians. "Vodka Shots!" And finally.... The Supreme Court wrestled with a clash between religious freedom and LGBT rights on Tuesday as it heard arguments from a Colorado baker who refused to make a cake to celebrate a same-sex couple's marriage because he believes that God designed marriage to be between a man and a woman.. While I agree with the baker, I also understand that you can’t discriminate in the market place. However, you can make an awful cake..... Have a great week! KWIBS - From November 27, 2017 - By Kevin Noland People get pretty "bold" when it comes to Facebook and comments. With the recent updates in information concerning the officer involved shooting in Sun City on October 6, 2017, many folks have taken to the internet to express their anger and opinions over the death of Steven Myers - Mostly towards law enforcement, but even towards how we reported last week’s court motions and responses. The facts will come out. It’s a long process. We printed the story on the motion and response in last Monday’s Gyp Hill Premiere. I did not, however, pull quotes about statements that were heard on the videos. In my opinion, it’s far too early and irresponsible to quote a civil attorney for the family on what he interprets after watching the videos and then going on all the TV news stations to blast our local law enforcement, but this is just not a good situation. Someone died and it tarnishes the respect we need to have for law enforcement. Don’t take this as being insensitive, but we’ve sort of forgotten that this all started with a person who became drunk, went and got a shotgun, and made threats. Please don’t think in any way that I support use of force as the only option in dealing with Mr. Myers, but be careful believing 100% of what a lawyer wants you to know in the very early stages of an investigation, especially when you know he’s preparing a multi-million-dollar lawsuit against our county and that will line his pockets. I wasn’t there. The attorney wasn’t there and as far as I know, most of you were not there either. What we need to remember is Myers leaves behind people that cared about him. Appropriate care should be given to his family if there is fault found. I express my condolences. It’s very sad and I wish I didn’t even have to address it, but I hate seeing this play out on Facebook news feeds. Myers’ death is already being commercialized in a sickening way. We also need to remember our actions from the past in situations that involve investigating of the actions of law enforcement. We’ve forgotten that within days of an accusation, a special prosecutor was appointed by our county to investigate Sheriff Justin Rugg for allegedly committing domestic battery against his wife in December of last year. The same has been done for this case and the Attorney General’s Office is investigating this issue. I’m very qualified and unafraid to bring this up because I know Justin and his wife very well. The nearly 8 month long investigation cost Sheriff Rugg the election and tarnished his wife’s reputation at her job. It also cost our county a good deal of money investigating it. I believe it is important to investigate this incident as rigorously as we did an alleged domestic battery - which resulted in no charges being filed. In the end, hopefully, the truth will be known and justice will be served. I also believe it is important to let investigators and prosecutors do their jobs, unimpeded by public opinion - including mine. We will do our very best to be fair in reporting on this story, which has been forced into the spotlight by what appears to be an inevitable lawsuit.
KWIBS - From November 13, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Wednesday morning we received notice of the winners of the write-in campaign for city council. By as much as a 5-1 margin, Matt Forsyth, Elisa Stone and Ron James will take a seat at the City Council in January. It was a particularly interesting election given that voters had to write-in their names. With a 26% voter turn out, it was a nail biting evening on Tuesday. No information was available until mid-morning on Wednesday and my phone was blowing up. I want to thank Amy Sill for keeping me up to speed on the progress at the Clerk’s Office. Now we can move on to something that hasn’t been discussed much since the write-in campaign started. Mike Roe and Norm Clouse have served the city of Medicine Lodge for 8 years on the council. They will be leaving with little fanfare. Their decision to serve in the first place came with great sacrifice and whether or not you like what they’ve done during their terms, they have both served the city honorably. If you see either one of these guys, don’t forget to thank them for their many years of service to our community. They’re not done! If anything, the election sparked more interest in our city government. Several who made last minute runs will hopefully keep themselves informed on what is happening in Medicine Lodge. I got to visit with at least one other write in who did not win and I believe this person has a genuine interest. My hope is that instead of watching Facebook for fake news and information about our town, they will, in fact, educate themselves on issues concerning the operations of the city. I can be biased in this situation, because I do get involved and I can provide factual information. Our city operates on the up and up and we have good, honest people at the helm. Thank you all for voting and doing your part to keep Medicine Lodge alive and well. KWIBS - From November 6, 2017 - By Kevin Noland In the 1970s, I grew up in a country that referred to Viet Nam as a "conflict". It was taught in school and ingrained in our studies. It was later in my life that Viet Nam was called what it actually was, a "war". It was fought by brave men and women who were not remembered like the veterans of WWI or WWII. People had grown tired of war by the 1960s. Some were simply cowards who did not love our country enough to fight for it, whether there was a draft or not. They directed their hatred towards those who served. It breaks my heart to hear of accounts of disrespect towards the men and women who served our country during this era. Some were wounded more severely by their own countrymen upon their return home than in the battle field. We will celebrate Veterans Day on Friday. I’ve always felt this was one of the most important times of the year. I’m deeply moved by the service that people give to their country in the armed forces. Although I did not serve, I have the utmost respect for those who did and are serving. My dad was in the Navy during Viet Nam. His service actually had him in and around Cuba during a tense time with Russia. He later did joint missions with many countries in South America. He was a radio technician on a mine sweeper. His Navy career is the reason I am now here writing this column. My dad was a Kansas native who met my mother in Rhode Island at a YMCA dance. As a result of that meeting, and later a marriage, I was born in 1969 in Providence, RI. When my dad’s time in the Navy was finished, we moved back to Kansas and I’ve never lived anywhere else. It came full circle last year when my son graduated from MLHS and went into the Navy, a decision that I am very proud of. He is approaching his first year of service and is now stationed with the Marines on a base in Okinawa as an RP (Religious Program Specialist). His duties as a Religious Program Specialist might seem sort of unimportant, but after boot camp, Nick went through Marine Combat Training. He switched from "Blue" side Navy to "Green" side Navy. He is considered by his fellow Marines as one of their own. He trains, eats, sleeps and is in all practical measures, a Marine. In about a year he’ll have his FMF pin. The United States Fleet Marine Forces (FMF) are combined general and special purpose forces within the United States Department of the Navy that perform offensive amphibious or expeditionary warfare and defensive maritime employment. The Fleet Marine Forces provide the National Command Authority (NCA) with a responsive force that can conduct operations in any spectrum of conflict around the globe. So, he’s not really just an assistant to a Chaplain. He’s a combatant. He owns the phrase, "We fight tonight." I pray that he never does. On an average day when RPSA Nicholas T. Noland leaves the confines of his base heading to another, he is faced with protesters who spit, curse and throw things at his vehicle. When he first told me this, I couldn’t hardly believe him. Then he slipped me a video one day and I saw it for myself. The protesters are paid by China to harass our troops in Japan. It’s a poor attempt to demoralize our soldiers serving there. The irony of it to me is that if we weren’t there, the economy of Okinawa would collapse. I didn’t even mention how unstable the region is. Imagine if we left? The people of Okinawa rely on jobs on our bases and money that flows from our soldiers to local businesses. Japan relies on us to protect them from some of the craziest leaders in the world like the one from North Korea.
My point is pretty simple. Men and women who serve this great country deserve great respect, especially in their own country. I really feel obligated give honor to those who served in an "unpopular war" such as Viet Nam, but what war is popular? Each Veterans Day our school district does a wonderful job honoring veterans in our community. They usually focus on honoring one era and this year is the Viet Nam war veterans. We struggled this year to find a Viet Nam veteran who wanted to talk about their experience with the newspaper. Two actually cancelled and I totally understand. We’ve been honored in the past to hear Gary Dyke’s accounts of the war. He’s a wonderful man and a friend. So since we’ve done Gary and we were turned down a couple of times, I turned to someone who I greatly respect, but I knew he would decline. I believe him to be one of the most honorable people I have had the privilege of meeting in my adult life. Major Bob Stutler agreed to share some of his thoughts about Viet Nam. I will tell you that he did turn me down at first. After he thought about it for a day, he agreed to write his own accounts. I sat in my office last Thursday and read his perspective on Viet Nam. Keep in mind, I’ve known Major Stutler for 10 years. I’ve heard his story. What he’s shared with the newspaper is just a glimpse of some of the things this man has seen and done. He didn’t write about all of the medals he’s received, including several Purple Hearts. I’ve seen his passion for our country. I’ve also seen his wounds and heard how he got them. Take a moment to read his perspective on the front page. Thank you Bob for sharing your perspectives on Viet Nam. Thank you to each and every veteran who made the choice to serve our country during peaceful times and during times of conflict and war. Thank you to my son, whom I miss every day with every fiber of my being. Thank you to my dad, who I miss and think about every day since he’s been gone; and especially on Veterans Day. My hope is that there will never be another Viet Nam-like homecoming for our soldiers. I know that my children and my grandchildren will honor those who serve our country because of what they learn at school in our community. I can never imagine a protest against someone like my son, or like my dad, or like Bob. I have many people who I consider friends that served in Viet Nam. I hope they know now that we honor them and thank them today and forever. We are not the America you came home to after the war and I pray we never are again. I have many friends who served in Iraq, Afghanistan and on bases in the United States and around the world. They are heroes and worthy of our respect and thanks. Please attend the Veterans program at MLHS on Friday. Take a moment to thank these and all veterans for their service. We live free because of their what they’ve done in service. Happy Veterans Day
KWIBS - From October 30, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Ronda ran into my office last Tuesday with a 20 year old KWIBS column from November 3, 1997. She had the evidence needed to close the case and accusations that we did not carve pumpkins with our children when they were young. I probably lost you there, but last week our oldest son Joey did some "pumpkin carving" with friends and stated to me that, "It was my first time to carve pumpkins because we only painted pumpkins when we were young." I knew we had carved pumpkins and we had also painted them. I remember making the switch to painting after we had an incident with a family of raccoons (that’s another column). We also had one other issue after carving or painting. It has been resolved, but also verified. We had an issue with disposal of the pumpkins after Halloween. It seemed like the pumpkins sat around for a little too long after the holiday. Is Valentine’s Day too long to continue to display a pumpkin? I regress.... Joey claimed it was his first time. He was mistaken. Here is the evidence. From November 3, 1997’s edition of The Gyp Hill Premiere: It was the scariest thing we had ever seen... Last Wednesday evening Ronda and I brought home pumpkins for the kids to carve and decorate. We started our project shortly after dinner. I carved out the faces with the careful guidance of our children Joey and Breeann (this was Pre-Nicholas. He was still in incubation and not born until February of 1998...). I made them "gut" the pumpkins. Traditionally, it’s the parent’s job to do the carving and clean up, not the actual "gutting". This job is designated for tiny hands that aren’t grossed out to have sticky stuff crammed up their fingernails. It took the kids 20 minutes or so to completely get their pumpkins cleaned out and ready for the title of "jack-lanterns", but they just weren’t ready to be done with the traditional pumpkin carving. That’s when I had a great idea (at the time it was a great idea). Why not paint the pumpkins?!? This would add an artistic flair to an ancient tradition. They could paint faces and mustaches, eyelashes, lips or even beards on them. We got the paints down from the cupboards and gave the kids brushes and water and they went after it. It was time to relax. The kids were being entertained and Ronda and I could enjoy some quality television. We had no interruptions for nearly an hour. This was pure bliss. Never before had I had such an innovative idea to keep the children busy with a fun project. Then the true horror of Halloween hit our home..... Joey came out of the kitchen (15 feet from where we were sitting) with paint from the tips of his fingers to his elbows and all over his school clothes. I said, "don’t touch a thing!" I picked him up and took him straight to the bathroom. Whew! That was a close call. It wasn’t 30 seconds later that Breeann came out of the kitchen in the same condition. I said, "don’t touch a thing!" I guided her in the direction of the bathroom. Children seem to need directions to the bath tub when they are so filthy they risk completely destroying a home environment. After getting the children in a safe place we approached the pumpkin projects in the kitchen. "OH MY GOD," we both shouted in terror! The kids not only painted their pumpkins (entirely from bottom to top, including the stem), but they also got paint on the table, the wall, the chairs, the pictures on the walls, the ceiling, the refrigerator, the floor, the carpet, the dishwasher, the stove, a stained glass window, all of the vitamins on the counter, the lamp, the light, the back door, the sink (which is a good 15 feet away from where they were painting), the cabinets and cereal boxes. Apparently they went VanGough on us. Instead of painting with brush strokes, they took a more modern splatter technique. They mixed every color together, which you realize makes black.... Ronda and I spent an hour mopping the floors and the ceilings (yes, we used the mop on the ceiling as well). It was quite difficult to get off, even though it was water soluble. The entire time we were cleaning up the horrible mess we were laughing hysterically! How could we have been so stupid? That’s when Ronda reminded me that it was my idea to get the paints out and let the children be creative after carving pumpkins. I put the painted/carved pumpkins out on the front walk that evening. It rained overnight. The pumpkins ended up a bright, shiny, clean orange the next morning.... Case closed Joey! KWIBS - From October 23, 2017 - By Kevin Noland It was "A Day to Remember," although it wasn’t. Well.. sort of.. Wednesday our oldest son Joey called and said he would be in Wichita that evening if we wanted to hook up for dinner. We were all about seeing him. Joey moved to Phillpsburg, KS a few months ago to work at one of the White’s Foodliner stores. That’s a pretty far and away place, so we haven’t seen him much. Getting to meet up with him in Wichita was a great idea. It turned out that Joey and a friend had tickets to a concert for a band called "A Day to Remember." Well, it was a day to remember, but not for the right reasons. On the way up, I was called to stop and write a bond in Kingman. It was a large bond and I spent a couple of hours writing it only to have the whole deal fall apart after some confusion between attorneys. I called Joey to let him know we were running late because of the fiasco with the bond I was writing. It wasn’t a problem because he was about an hour behind too and would have to just meet us at the concert. Ronda and I pulled into Wichita and had enough time to grab a bite to eat and head to the Cotillion. We were just a few minutes late and called Joey from the parking lot. He and his friend met us at the box office. When we walked in, an enormous sign read, "SOLD OUT." We waited around outside the show hoping that someone would be selling a pair of tickets, but finally left after an hour and a half. There was one nice kid who had one ticket that he was willing to give us, but we politely declined after not being able to figure out which one of us was going in and which one was staying in the parking lot! We had driven three hours to basically give our son a hug and then drive home. It was worth it. It was a day to remember. KWIBS - From October 16, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Well, it happened, most unexpectedly. It started Monday and took me completely by surprise and I broke on Tuesday. I had to put on pants. Fall has arrived and the temperatures fell Monday afternoon. I’m just not a fan of cold weather. I want it to be 80-100 degrees all year long. That’s where I’m most comfortable, and in my shorts. I will stay in them as long as possible, but at some point the weather always wins. Yes, I folded up my shorts and put them away...... for a about three days. I can handle being in shorts at 60 degrees and up, but any lower, and I break down. If you see me in the summer wearing pants, it’s bad. Someone has died and I’m going to their funeral. There is no other reason for me to be wearing pants during that season. Come to think of it, the Grim Reaper doesn’t wear pants at any time of the year. He’s probably got shorts on under that black robe, if anything at all. Worse than having to put on pants, I had to put on socks too. I have CCFS (Chronic Claustrophobic Foot Syndrome) and my toes like to roam free inside my shoes or be barefoot, rather than be restricted by a knitted boot on my foot. I don’t know if that really is a chronic syndrome, but it should be and it sounds real. My wife simply calls it being "crazy". I can’t really explain in words why I freak out wearing socks, but if you’ve ever put tape on cats’ feet, that’s sort of how I feel for the first few days wearing socks. If you haven’t done the tape on the cat’s feet experiment, do it now and report back to me. If your cat has not been declawed, look it up on youtube. Have a great week!
KWIBS - From October 9, 2017 - By Kevin Noland When I was a kid, all of my rock and roll idols were immortal. My first experience with losing one was when Elvis died. in 1977. I think I was in second grade when Brett Fincher came to school crying. When I heard the news, I think I cried too. Since I’m a grown up now (jury is still out on this statement), I’ve experienced the loss of several of my favorite rock and roll artists. Half of the band of Lynyrd Skynyrd died in a plane accident in the same year that Elvis died. Keith Moon of The Who died a year later; Bon Scott of AC/DC in 1980; John Bonham of Led Zeppelin and John Lennon of the Beatles also died in 1980; Bob Marley in 1981; Randy Rhoads of Quiet Riot in 1982; Andy Gibb of the Bee Gees in 1988; Stevie Ray Vaughan in 1990; Freddie Mercury of Queen in 1991; Jerry Garcia of The Greatful Dead in 1995; another Bee Gee, Maurice Gibb in 2003; Johnny Cash in 2003; Ray Charles in 2004; Richard Wright of Pink Floyd in 2008; Michael Jackson in 2009; Lou Reed in 2013; David Bowie, Prince, and Glenn Frey of the Eagles in 2016. There were many more when I searched the internet. These just stood out to me. Last week, we lost Tom Petty. I grew up on his music. The very first song I learned to play on guitar and sing was a Tom Petty song. For years I wanted to see him live. Before I could, my son Joey stumbled upon a concert at Madison Square Garden where he and a friend bought scalped tickets to Tom Petty. He ended up sitting very close to the stage and I was so jealous. It was just a few years ago, Ronda and I finally got to go see him play in Wichita. Sadly, he was in a sour mood after having much of his valuable guitar collections stolen a few days before his tour started. Rest in Peace Tom and thank you for the music.
KWIBS - From October 2, 2017 - By Kevin Noland I f NFL players can’t come up with a better way to promote attention to "injustice" other than taking a knee during the National Anthem, then I can’t watch any more.I won’t go on and on about being patriotic, but there is a time and a place for everything. Surely there is a better way for players to get their message out. Never before have I read so many divisive comments on social media concerning the flag and National Anthem. Yes, America has its problems, but do you think this is drawing attention to those problems or creating more division among Americans? Have you been to another country with more freedoms? Do I agree with President Trump’s statement concerning the NFL? No, I do not.... and just when you thought I was a Trump supporter.... At a political rally Friday in Alabama, Trump challenged NFL owners to fire any player who takes a knee during the National Anthem, saying owners should say, "Get that son of a … off the field right now. Out! He’s fired!" That’s not a statement a sitting president should make about any subject. Teach by example. The NFL can whine about what the president said, or they can take a closer look in the mirror and remember a man named Tim Tebow. His kneeling was considered a clash of faith vs. football. It had no place on the field according to many in the media and in Hollywood. That event caused a full blown national debate about religion and its place in sports. The League has also had no problems in the past giving the thumbs down to activities that it feels are harmful to the NFL. Back in August of 2016, Dallas police officers were shot and killed execution-style. The Cowboys wanted to honor them with a decal on their helmets. The NFL said no. They added that "there are so many wonderful, wonderful causes, the league has to be careful," - a statement by executive vice president Stephen Jones. So, the NFL has no problem squashing someone’s freedom of speech when it comes to supporting fallen police officers, but they won’t stop a protest at their games during the National Anthem. I’m surprised they just don’t stop doing the National Anthem all together. It’s so divisive.... Justin Houston of the Kansas City Chiefs may have had the only logical reason to kneel before the game (but still during the National Anthem). "People are complaining about kneeling and standing, but I feel like it’s pointless because it’s not changing anything," Houston said. "I feel like prayer changes everything, so I was praying before the game that we come together as one. "What are we kneeling for? What is that going to change? It’s not going to solve anything. Prayer is power. So I believe if we pray together, the more we come together as one and we can make a change." When I hear the National Anthem played, I think of soldiers protecting our country around the world. I think of my son serving with the marines. I think of the freedoms that I have because of people who were willing to serve their country, some of them sacrificing their very lives so that players can take a knee during the anthem at a NFL game. Is it too much for us to teach our kids respect for one another? For the country? For our men and women in uniform? For the flag? I don’t want politics in sports. When I’m choosing sides, it’s because of the teams playing. I’m not an insensitive deplorable. I’m an American trying to watch a football game. There’s nothing political about standing, taking off your hat and honoring our country for two minutes. Have a great week! KWIBS - From September 25, 2017 - By Kevin Noland It was a breath of fresh air to read all the positive comments on social media about the Community Improvement District project on Main Street and 281/160. It is really looking sharp and I commend everyone who has had a part in this project. The new street lights, benches and points of interest markers look really sharp and very much accent our community’s rich history. We’re fortunate to have so many things going on at once. If you look around town, several businesses, including The Gyp Hill Premiere, have taken advantage of Barber County Development’s Facade Grant Program. There is still time to make improvements and receive up to $1,000 in assistance to give your business a face lift. Both the CID and the Facade Program came about from Barber County Development. I’d like to thank Jim Rowland for his leadership role in getting these projects off the ground. The City of Medicine Lodge also deserves a big thank you! The new lights on Main Street also include a new sound system that will benefit the entire community for events like Peace Treaty and Junefest. Jeff Porter gave me the tour of the sound system Tuesday afternoon before Indian Summer Days. I am impressed! For the past 26 years, the downtown sound system was located in my office and for each and every parade, David Colborn and I would run all over town trying to make things work. It was a patched up mess for years and without David’s help, I could have never kept it going. It was bitter sweet to see it come down (and leave my office!). Finally, thank you Brett Edwards and crew for the terrific job on the front of the Premiere building! Have a great week! KWIBS - From September 18, 2017 - By Kevin Noland A few weeks ago, I was forced to endure an 8 hour continuing education class on being a bail bondsman. Keep in mind, I’ve been doing this pretty successfully for 13 years now, have written better than 4,000 bonds, made more than 40 arrests and surrenders, but recent changes to the law forces me to take this education training. The KBAA (Kansas Bail Agent Association) approached many of us in the industry about joining several years ago. I, along with many of my colleagues chose not to join. Their sales pitch was, "You will be kept informed on pending legislation in our industry." Little did I understand at the time, that their lobbyist would be introducing legislation that would require 8 hours of continuing education to be taught by, none other than, the Kansas Bail Agent Association. So at $250 per class, they held approximately 9 classes this year with about 40 in attendance at each class. That’s about $90,000 in income generated annually. Because I’m not a member, I can’t see where the money goes, but my local State Representative Kyle Hoffman was notified of this interesting situation. The KBAA represents less than 15% of compensated surety agents across the state and these classes are a big boost to their cause. Hoffman was made aware of the changes to the law earlier this summer. He said he honestly didn’t read it that closely. I understand that a lot of things cross his desk, but this bill is extortion at its finest. The state has effectively set up a membership agency monopoly that profits solely from a law passed, that the KBAA introduced. The law requires that only they can teach this class at a cost of $250 per person. If a bondsman or "compensated surety" does not take the class annually, the KBAA will notify the chief judge of the district and those not completing these hours will be removed from the authorized list of bondsman for the jurisdiction they serve in, no matter how long they have served. I actually love to learn. I attended the education class in Hays on September 1st. Here’s what I learned. - I was read the law concerning bonding in Kansas. No one there taught me to read. I’ve been doing it pretty well on my own for about 43 years. I’ve also read the laws concerning being a bondsman. - You can fight the courts on forfeitures and win. You can especially count on winning if you use the KBAA’s attorney. And if you are a member, you get 1/2 off the hourly rate for representation. I have a problem with that. First, they are soliciting for a law firm and their association at a mandatory class; and secondly, if the court has a legitimate forfeiture, that’s my responsibility to either find the person and return them to jail or pay the forfeiture as agreed. Anything else is unethical and dishonest. The attorney who spoke finished his speech with much foul language, disrespect for judges and county attorneys and then proceeded to throw T-Shirts and beer coozies into the audience. For a minute, I thought I was at a terrible time share conference. I caught a beer coozie though. - In the second session, I learned how to trick police officers if I want to commit a crime. I don’t even want to go there. - In the third session I watched in horror as bondsman after bondsman disrespected a 6 term sheriff of Ellis County by whining and complaining about their phone systems and the way they allow bondsman to write in their jails and commons areas. I felt sorry for this guy. He was there to talk about ethics and instead answered questions about 800 number calls and fights between competing bond companies in his jurisdiction. - In the final session a representative from the National Bail Association told jokes about the male anatomy. He also made fun of people who had been in trouble with the law and how he was fighting to keep our industry alive and well. He might have said some important things about our industry, but I was already so angry to have been forced to be there, I was no longer interested. This is what’s wrong with government. Money buys lobbyists, who convince our legislating bodies to pass laws that force people to fund these lobbyists who pass bills to keep their jobs. Our representatives don’t even seem to read these laws or understand them before passing them. How horrifying would it be if Kansas Press Association passed a law that said if I didn’t take an 8 hour journalism class, I could no longer print a newspaper? So, where was the education I was paying for? Since it was at a country club, as soon as the class ended, I went up and got a drink at the bar. Drain the swamp from the bottom up.... KWIBS - From September 11, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Nick has been gone for a couple of months now. We talk several times a week, but he’s so busy and with a 14 hour time difference, we have a difficult time matching up our schedules. He asked me, "Hey, you know... uhm... you could send me a package or something. Other people are getting stuff from home...." I didn’t really understand. I sent all the stuff he asked for two months ago and then like a ton of bricks, it hit me. He misses home and familiar things. I am such a dope .... All through boot camp and "A" school, I sent him packages and letters, but after he got to his job, I just stopped. So he needed some documents mailed to him and wanted a couple of items from home. This was the perfect opportunity for me to make his day. I scurried around to make him a "care package" Tuesday. I discovered something. Dads really aren’t that good at making care packages, but I did my best. I don’t bake cookies, but I grill a lot. You can’t really send someone a steak that takes 10 days to arrive. It would be cold by then. I drove all over town and stopped at several businesses to buy him some little items. He got some beef jerky, peppermints, a candle and my favorite set of headphones that he always used when he was home. His mother included a cute card with a hand drawn picture of Kansas and put "Mommy miss you" inside it. I wrote a note on the card that said mom’s picture looked like "the bat signal..." She might be a spy for North Korea. I wouldn’t trust her. He also got some cute hand drawn messages from his niece and nephew that were considerably better illustrations than his mother’s. :) Have a great week!
KWIBS - From September 4, 2017 - By Kevin Noland There are times when I think we should scrap the English language and just go with whatever my 4-year-old granddaughter makes up. "I want to go to the restranaut!" I think this is a place for astronauts to eat, but I can’t be for sure. "I wanna go wiff you at grandma’s house." Assuming she means that she wants to go where I also live, she either wants to go there to see grandma or smell me. "Grandpa, my teacher’s name is Mrs. Bologna!" I learned it’s actually Mrs. Maloney. Her loss.... "My mom made sketti for supper." I think this is the female version of the yetti. They are definitley meaner and better cooks. Baylee spent some time in our office after school on Tuesday. Translation: I can’t get anything done because I’m being bombarded with questions. While I’m trying to register for a class and book a hotel room she’s asking questions like, "What’s that screen do? Why do you type so fast? Grandpa what’s in this cup (spills cup). Who is bigger, you or grandma? My brain can only respond with, "Go ask your grandma questions!" But she continues, "Grandpa, what are you doing? Why are you doing that? How long are you doing that? Grandpa, why are you putting headphones on and drinking bourbon for lunch?" And why do we always lie to little kids? I always thought of myself as a relatively honest person, until it comes to my kids and grandkids. I’m honestly shocked at how much I lie to my grandkids. Can you really even trust that statement? "You can’t eat that popsicle in here because your brain freezes faster inside. Go outside and eat it, but not on the concrete. Go to the grass. The grass insulates your feet and keeps your brain from freezing." That’s a lie (see photo at end of my column). Your brain freezes just as fast in the grass, but the ants don’t get on your concrete when they inevitably drop said popsicle. Maybe it’s not really lying so much as it is diversion from the truth. We start these kids out with lies. We tell them about Santa, the Easter Bunny and the tooth fairy. And they believe it all. We’re either sinister liars or great actors. I’d like to think I am a golden-globe winner at parental and grandparental acting. The Tooth Fairy was just out of necessity. We lie about where their old nasty teeth go and give them money with a made up story about a fairy who leaves $1 for a tooth. When I was a kid, I think it was just a quarter, but you have to figure for inflation. If we were truthful with our kids, we’d say something like, "Congratulations, you lost a tooth and look like a hillbilly. Here’s a dollar to make you feel better." You have to admit, they are pretty stinking cute at that age and most of the stinking is gone because they can go to the bathroom on their own. Of course, you have to take them in there and stand around waiting for them to do their business.
This is an actual photo of my grandkids Kycen and Baylee with painful brain freezes that both of them experienced while eating popsicles. Notice how they are supposed to be in the grass, but have crept up onto the concrete. Have a great week!
KWIBS - From August 28, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Moonday, August 21, 2017 - a day that eclipsed all others. Ok, sorry for the dumb intro to my column. Like most people, I couldn’t wait to jump on the eclipse bandwagon, only I was a little late. I searched all over for those "look straight at the sun glasses" but they were sold out everywhere. I just waited too long. So, I heard from a friend that there was this beer company that put a pair of the glasses in with their packaging and they bought some in Pratt. Well, I’m not much of a beer drinker, but thought, "Hey, we can get some glasses and give the beer away!" So we hopped in my truck and drove up to Pratt. We walked in just behind someone we knew, whose name I won’t mention, but her initials are Donna Queal, oops. Sorry I am outing you Donna. We all walked up to the counter together. She had her purchase and we didn’t have anything because we were in a liquor store looking for solar eclipse glasses. I asked the clerk, "Do you have beer with solar eclipse glasses?" She pointed at Donna and said, "That’s it right there." Only Donna had bought the last box. So we went home empty handed. Later in the day we learned that Ronda’s stepmother, Linda Vick, had bought 8 pairs from Farmer’s Almanac and wanted us to have a couple of pairs! So, our trip was just a waste of time. I’m still outing Donna for buying the last box of that beer. Monday rolled around and we not only had glasses, but I had cut up two cereal boxes and made the proper viewers to safely watch the eclipse without glasses. We actually came to town, got our work done early so that we could rush home and watch the eclipse together at the lake. Ronda and I set up our lawn chairs and relaxed in the sun as it began to cool off and get darker. Then my phone rang. It was Cory with UPS needing in the gate at Lake Arrowhead. I always joke with him when he comes through and he always jokes back like saying, "Pizza delivery for Nolands" or something silly like that. Before I let him in I said, "Stop by the viewing eclipse party at our place." I was kidding, there was no viewing party. It was just me and Ronda, but in about 5 minutes, the UPS truck zipped over the hill and out jumped Cory. So, "What can brown do for you?" That was their old slogan, but Brown can certainly join us and make an official viewing party of the great eclipse of 2017.
Me and the UPS guy. No packages were delivered during the shooting of this photo.
KWIBS - From August 21, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Words, language, tone of voice.... We’re so consumed by it. The President was too harsh and reckless with his words recently towards Kim Jong-Un according to some media outlets and his words were not harsh enough over the recent riots in Charlottesville by the same media outlets. I didn’t vote for Trump and was not a supporter of him during the election (no, never a Hillary fan), but I found his words most appropriote in both matters. In a controversial, but intentionally strong, statement of his own, President Trump declared any North Korean attack would "be met with fire and fury like the world has never seen." Wow, that is harsh in comparison to former President Obama’s statement on a nuclear test North Korea carried out in 2012. "The United States condemns North Korea's September 9 nuclear test in the strongest possible terms as a grave threat to regional security and to international peace and stability." Umm... ok. That wasn’t quite the fix it all statement now was it? Kim Jong-Un is a punk who only understands forceful responses. He makes constant threats against America and its allies. We’re not going to hug this guy into submission. Choosing careful words hasn’t seemed to work in the past, so let’s try Trump’s approach. The North Koreans have used rhetoric and saber rattling to cause anxiety in their region since Kim Jong-Un took power and I believe he only understands the same in response. Haters on the right and the left predate Trump’s political career. No matter what he says or does, he will be scrutinized harder than any other president ever was. Why is that? Because he doesn’t do politics like politicians have done for decades. He even takes on his own party like when he recently called out his fellow Republicans for not putting a repeal and replace bill on health care after they promised they would to the American people. But let’s blame Trump for that too. The Republicans only had 7 years to come up with something better than Obamacare, but that’s another column. Charlottesville was a condemnable act of domestic terrorism. I don’t care if it is Neo-Nazis, the KKK, women dressed in vagina costumes or Black Lives Matter. If you can’t be civil about political issues, you are about as un-American as you can be. When we protest and use violence, we risk the very right to have a right to protest. Trump’s words and response to the violence were spot on. "We ALL must be united and condemn all that hate stands for. There is no place for this kind of violence in America," he said about Charlottesville. Pick that apart all you want, but he’s absolutely correct. We should never use our 1st amendment right to insight violence, no matter what side of an issue you are on. It’s too soon to say I’m warming up to Trump, but I am seeing something that I never saw before in a president in my lifetime.. Trump is either someone who is not afraid to be bullied around by either party, especially his own, or he’s crazy. That’s sort of gotten my attention. #haveagreatweek KWIBS - From August 14, 2017 - By Kevin Noland I treasure every text, Facetime and Instant Message I get from my kids. Joey’s recent texts went something like, "Hey Dad, I want this ridiculously powerful and expensive jetski. Check it out {link included}." I checked it out. The crazy thing is $10k and is like 1500cc of raw power. Guys in the video are doing flips and jumps so I responded, "You’d need a helmet. In fact, you need a helmet for just wanting one of these." Breeann’s text go more like this, "Are you cooking dinner at the lake tonight?" I responded, "Yes, for me and mom. We’re having ribeyes." Breeann (she hates that I call her Breeann. She says her name is "Bree", but I constantly remind her that I named her at birth): "Hey, if we bring meat, will you cook it? Oh, and is it ok if I bring out (10 of my friends) to the lake?" Me: "Grrrr..... fine... bring sides." Now Nick is an entirely different type of texter. With his strange sense of humor, schedule and the 14 hour time difference, our messages go unanswered for hours, sometimes days. Me: "Hey buddy, what’s up?" Finally at like 2 a.m. my time I get a text, "Nothing, killing terrorists." He also included a photo of himself with his newly assigned M4 carbine. Me: "Nice. Thanks for keeping us safe." Nicholas: No problem. Been at the range all week. Sorry for not texting much. What did you do today?" Me: "Well, I’m sleeping because it’s like 2 a.m., but yesterday I killed terrorists too." Nicholas: "???" Me: "I sprayed Round Up on the driveway and killed all the weeds, but it’s similar to killing terrorists I suppose. Nicholas: "Sort of...." Have a great week!
KWIBS - From August 7, 2017 - By Kevin Noland I recently read the book "Fearless: The Undaunted Courage and Ultimate Sacrifice of Navy SEAL Team SIX Operator Adam Brown." Adam was killed in a fire fight in 2010. I’m not trying to spoil this book, but it does end this way. Early in Adam’s life, he struggled with addiction and at one point spent time in jail for crimes relating to his addiction and theft. He later gave his life to Christ and became a husband and a father. Adam’s life was full of challenges, but he met each one courageously. He lost his vision of his dominant eye in an accident and later had all his fingers severed and reattached when his HUMVEE rolled in Afghanistan. Even though he had to retrain himself to shoot left handed, he made the top of the SEALs. Adam was a man of extremes, whose determination was fueled by faith, family, and the love and support of his wife. He was a man who waged a war against his own worst impulses and persevered to reach the top tier of the U.S. military. Always the first to volunteer for the most dangerous assignments, Adam’s final act of bravery led to the ultimate sacrifice. He was and is a hero to those who knew him and those like me who would later read the story of his life. His children saw him as a super hero. They even bought him a pair of "Batman" underwear. He promised them he would wear them while going into battle and he did. When medics removed his clothes to tend to his many bullet wounds that ultimately killed Adam, they found he was wearing the underwear he promised his children he would wear. When you remember to pray for our troops serving our country, remember that they are super heroes, at least to someone. Have a great week!
KWIBS - From July 31, 2017 - By Kevin Noland So, I am a bucket list kind of guy. Some of the things I have gotten to check off my list are: SCUBA diving and cave diving in Mexico, zip lining in the Riviara, flying an airplane, driving a Porsche over 100 mph and a number of great concerts - like The Eagles, Boston, Styx, Heart, Tom Petty, Ozzie Ozborne, Metallica, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Van Halen, Foo Fighters, Def Leppard, Foreigner, Bon Jovi, KISS, Rush and so many others over the years. Tuesday night, I got to check another concert off my bucket list. Ronda and I, along with Pat and Tonya White, saw Peter Frampton open for The Steve Miller Band. I’ve seen Steve Miller a number of times and he’s awesome at 73-years-old, but always wanted to see Peter Frampton live. I had just missed going to see Paul McCartney at Intrust Bank Arena the week before and really wanted to see that show, but I had another obligation pop up at the last minute. Several months ago, I got an email from The Steve Miller Band fan club (yep, I’m a member) announcing his show at Hartman Arena in Wichita. I was eligible for front row seats with a special code (and a special price). I typed that code in and discovered I could buy 4 front row seats. So, when I saw Peter Frampton was the opening act, I pulled out that magic plastic card and made it happen. I had Pat and Tonya in mind for this show as we went to Steve Miller last year and had a great time. Peter Frampton did not disappoint!!! That was my first "front row" bucket list concert and I was in heaven. I watched one of the greatest guitar players in history from only 10 feet in front of me - and with good company! It turns out that I wasn’t the only fan from Medicine Lodge. We ran into several people that night and I received several text messages from others in the crowd who saw us sitting on the front row wondering how we got there! It’s easy, just sign up for the fan clubs and pay attention to your emails and make sure your credit card isn’t maxed out yet!
KWIBS - From July 24, 2017 - By Kevin Noland While I’m not going to take up Ann Coulter’s cross to bear with Delta, I will share a recent experience we had with them. Ann was simply upset because she got moved from a prebooked aisle seat to a window seat in the same row. Boo hoo. My Son Nicholas had completed his training at Marine Corps Expeditionary and Combat Skills Training, Class 17030 (that’s me being a proud parent of a serviceman) in North Carolina mid-June. His flight was also prebooked to leave at 2 p.m. - ish EST and arrive in Chicago with plenty of layover time to catch his 7 p.m. flight. Delta’s flight sat on the runway for more than 4 hours before they disembarked the passengers and placed them on another flight. That flight also sat for more than an hour before taking off for Chicago, now nearly 5 hours behind schedule. As he was landing in Chicago, his Delta flight to Wichita was taking off, delayed 30 minutes, but still not in time for him to catch it. It was the last flight of the day and he wasn’t sure what to do. I told him to go to the Delta counter and ask for a voucher for a hotel and a meal. Delta refused and even went as far to say that, "they were out of rooms for passengers from his flight." Some nice gentlemen at the airport bought Nick a cup of coffee and a meal and thanked him for his service to our country. Delta didn’t do that. Delta told him that if there was room, he could fly out on the first flight to Wichita on "stand by" status the next day. The USO gave Nick a cot and he slept in his uniform on the floor near the terminal. This was acceptable to Delta. It surprises me that no effort was made to do the right thing in Nicholas’s case. He was obviously distressed over missing his flight home. He wasn’t just an ordinary passenger. He was in uniform. Delta didn’t care that he only had 9 days to spend with us before a 36 month duty station in Japan. They robbed him of one of those days and didn’t even so much as offer an apology. So for everyone taking Delta’s side as Ann Coulter blasts them on Twitter, just remember how they treat ordinary passengers, including those serving their country. ? ? ? ? Since I’m on the subject of Nick, I’ll let you in on his progress. He is in Japan. He has been assigned to a Chaplain and he is in a one month mentorship program with another RP on his base to learn his job duties. Nick LOVES Japan. That makes me happy. He was a little apprehensive about his first duty being so far from home, but I think his weekends on the beach with his new Marine buddies and gourmet food pictures have convinced his mother and I that he is genuinely happy with his job. Because of OPSEC, I’m not allowed to say much more than that. So I’m just pretty green at all the acronyms that are thrown at me as a military parent, but I was "scolded" on Facebook back in January for violating an OPSEC rule. I disclosed my son’s mailing address online. Oops, my bad. OPSEC, short for Operations Security, works to keep military and families safe from enemy intrusion or detection on social media. The Navy defines it this way: "Operations Security (OPSEC) is a systematic method used to identify, control, and protect critical information and subsequently analyze friendly actions associated with military operations and other activities. Ultimately, OPSEC is protecting your information and activities from your adversaries." So, we’ve done the whole crash course on OPSEC and I have carefully crafted a special recognition for one special Chaplain. We’ll call her "Chap Eagle 1" to protect her identity. She’s a huge Philadelphia Eagles fan, which could prove to create a hostile working environment for Nick one day soon, since he’s a Dallas Cowboy’s fan. Chap Eagle 1 is the Chaplain that Nick is attached to, at a undisclosed Marine Air Wing base, on an unidentified island south of Japan. I’ve sent Chap Eagle 1 some messages through Nick thanking her for taking care of my son. She found out that we owned a newspaper in Kansas. Nick snapped a photo of himself and Chap Eagle 1. She wanted to, "be in the paper and have a copy."
Thank you Chap Eagle 1! God bless our soldiers!
KWIBS - From July 17, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Several years ago, in an attempt to get healthy, I bought an elliptical off of a Craigslist post. It was a pretty nice Nordictrack model with more features than I knew how to use, so I just left it unplugged and ran on it for years. Ronda was wanting a treadmill, but we didn’t have room for both in the basement. She hated the elliptical and told me daily. Recently she took an interest in it after about 5 years of mocking it. Maybe I should rephrase that. Ronda became obsessed with my elliptical. She started out going 30 minutes for the first few days and quickly progressed to an hour a day of rigorous excersise. She gets up about an hour and a half earlier than I do and she spends most of that time on the elliptical. You can hear the "squeak, squack, squeak, squack" all through the house. One morning last week that "squeak, squack, squeak, squack" turned into a "squeak, squack, click, click, squeak, squack, click, click, THUMP" then some explicit language. She ran upstairs and woke me up to tell me that she was ANGRY! Thinking on my feet (or on my back in this instance), I recalled all of the possible things that I could have done to justify her anger. I came up empty. "I broke the elliptical and was only on it for ten minutes! Get up and fix it," she said. I got up, grabbed my tools and took it apart. It was apparant as soon as I got the cover off that I wasn’t fixing this. Ronda had sheared off a 3/4" drive pin that had two 20 lb weights on it. She literally, ran the wheels off of the elliptical. I stared at it for several minutes and imagined the mileage she and I have put on this exercise machine, what it cost to buy it and figured up it’s per mile cost. It was just pennies. It was less than the price of a normal clothes hanger. I got on Craigslist and found another one. I hope it lasts us another 5 years. Have a great week!
KWIBS - From July 10, 2017 - By Kevin Noland One of the greatest things about our country is the diversity of people we have. I’m speaking specifically of two classes of people: City Folk and Country Folk. I can’t claim this for a fact, but I think more Country Folk have experienced City Folk living than the other way around. I’m always entertained by people who come to this area and are amazed at the wide open spaces. Take for instance, my cousins from Fort Worth, TX. They are no strangers to the country life, having grown up in remote areas of Montana, my cousin Michelle, isn’t as impressed by the country as her husband Jeff was on a recent visit. He’s a Fort Worth native. "You guys have so very few stoplights," he said, referring to Kansas in general. "I think we passed like 2 cars between Harper and your house!" I thought about that. Yes, we have just two intersections of stoplights here in town, but what really caught my imagination was thinking about when I leave my office to go home, generally I only stop three times before I hit my driveway almost 8 miles away. When Ronda and I went to my Uncle’s funeral in Fort Worth in April, we stayed about 7 miles from my cousin’s ranch. It took us 50 minutes to get there from our hotel. That’s normal for them, but not for us! I like visiting the city, but I don’t like traveling in them. Fort Worth is probably one of the worst for traffic, so it may not be fair to compare to a place like Wichita, which is relatively easy to get around in. I would not trade my pace of life for anything. Last week the 281 resurfacing project began. It took me 50 minutes to get to town on Wednesday. I’m thankful it is a temporary traffic issue!
KWIBS - From July 3, 2017 - By Kevin Noland
Noland leaves for Okinawa RPSR Nicholas Noland graduated the United States Marine Corps’ Expeditionary and Combat Skills Training Class 17030 from Field Medical Training Battalion-East, Camp Lejuene, North Carolina on June 14th, 2017. He is pictured with his brother Joey and sister Breeann during his 9 days of liberty he spent at home before he reported to his assignment in Okinawa on June 28th. RPSR Noland will be stationed on a Marine base working for the Chaplain and support teams for the next three years. K. Noland Photo Almost every parent has had this conversation with their child. "When I’m done with school, I’m getting as far away from here as possible." Maybe your conversation didn’t go quite like that with your kid. Mine didn’t either, but my kid is about as far away from home as you can get right now. 7,145.859 miles to be exact (as the crow flies), according to freemaptools.com. Nick left Sunday, June 25th at 6:15 a.m. and arrived in Okinawa, Japan on Monday, June 26th at 4:15 a.m. Three airplanes and about 18 hours of total flying time and he’s on the other side of the globe. RPSR Noland reported for duty with the Fleet Marines on June 28th. The tiny sliver of an island will be his home where he’ll be stationed for the next three years. It’s pretty hard to imagine our baby on a Marine base that far away from little Medicine Lodge, KS and less than a 1,000 miles from the craziest dictator on the planet in North Korea. Nick spent 9 days at home before leaving for his new job. He’s spent the past 6 months in some of the hardest training that the Navy and Marines have to offer. While home, he spent as much time with his new fiancee Natalie Bare as possible. He also graced us with his presence when he needed a home cooked meal! His brother and sister and mother and I really enjoyed having all of our kiddos under one roof again. I can say with all honesty, that I have never laughed and cried so much in one week. We dropped Nick off at the airport in Wichita early Sunday morning, June 25th. Not knowing when you’ll see your child next, is a sinking feeling, but I know he’s safe, well trained and serving our country proudly. Have a great week and Happy 4h of July!
KWIBS - From June 19, 2017 - By Kevin Noland It was the greatest Father’s Day gift I’ve ever gotten. All three of my kids were back together in front of me Thursday morning. It was a crazy week. Nick flew home from combat training after his graduation on Wednesday. Ronda and I, along with Nick’s girlfriend Natalie, drove up to pick him up in Wichita. We took in a movie, ate dinner and did some shopping before we got some awful news. Nick’s American Airlines flight had broken down on the runway (at least not in the air) and his flight was delayed. Although we were hopeful at first, after 4 1/2 hours, we realized he was not going to make his connecting flight in Chicago and not making it home on time. Irony can be so cruel. Nick commented after boot camp, "I never want to come back to this God forsaken place," speaking of Chicago. Nick landed in Chicago 35 minutes after his connecting flight left for Wichita. He would be staying in Chicago for the night. To make matters worse, American Airlines informed him that they would not give him a room for the night and no food voucher. Nick went and sat down and gave us a call to inform us of his unfortunate situation. While he was sitting there waiting, a retired Marine bought him something to drink and talked with him about his service. It made Nick feel better, but didn’t fix the problem. We headed home. It was a quiet trip home. The poor kid ended up at the USO and slept on a cot. He’d later comment on how he was robbed of one night in his own bed after 6 months of training. But he made it home. We all drove back up the next morning, bright and early, and had him back for a warm reception from his siblings and a warm shower before noon Thursday.. He’ll be here only a little while before his deployment to Okinawa, Japan. RPSR Noland will be stationed there for three years as an assistant to the Chaplain. We’re clinging to every moment with him before he goes. I’m proud of Nick. I’m equally proud of Joey and Breeann. My kids are amazing people with good hearts. I could not ask for a better Father’s Day than to have them close to me. The only thing missing on Father’s Day for me, was my dad. I know he would be proud of all his grand kids. (my camera did weird things with this photo).
In other news, in all the chaos last week, I forgot to wish my beautiful wife a happy anniversary. It was 29 years ago on June 17, 1988, that I used my Jedi powers to convince her to love me. I love you Ronda. :) Have a great week! KWIBS - From June 12, 2017 - By Kevin Noland I could not be more excited than I am this week. Late Wednesday night, Ronda and I, along with Nick’s girlfriend Natalie Bare, will travel to Wichita to pick up Nick from the airport! Nick completed his MCT-East combat training in North Carolina last Friday and graduates from his training this Wednesday morning. After graduation, he’ll grab his sea bags, put on his service uniform and start the trek home to be with us for about ten days before he leaves for Tokyo and then on to Okinawa, Japan for 3 years. He hasn’t seen his home since December 11, 2016. He hasn’t had a home cooked meal, seen his girlfriend, slept in his bed, pet his dog, seen his niece and nephew, brother, sister and a host of family and friends since he left for boot camp. RPSR Noland will be given a well deserved rest from his military training. He says he just wants to "hang out" and do nothing for 10 days. We’ll do our best to make that happen. His mother and I last saw him at RTC in Great Lakes, IL in February. He’s been to his RP schooling in South Carolina and now Marine Combat Training in North Carolina. After completing his "A" schooling, Nick went "Green" side and started training with the Marines. This was no easy task. Nick has learned how to operate several weapons systems, throw grenades, be gassed, go on hikes of up to 8 miles with 80+ pounds of gear, eat MREs and live in the field and go into battle simulations during the day and night. He’s been sleep deprived, driven to mental and physical exhaustion, screamed at, but is with no doubt, in the best shape of his life. He has an incredibly interesting career ahead of him and I can’t wait to hear more when he’s home. KWIBS - From June 5, 2017 - By Kevin Noland I want to die peacefully in my sleep someday like my old friend did, not like the 3 screaming passengers in his car. Sometimes a good joke is all it takes to break the ice. I used to call it "The Fat Penguin." I always tell my son Joey, when he’s in a tough spot, be prepared to use the Fat Penguin. My Pastor Dwain Richert always starts his sermons out with a decent joke. Some times they are groaners, but usually they are pretty funny. You wouldn’t think he could tell a good joke, but he can! Then there’s Jerry X (to protect his identity). Jerry runs me down at the grocery store a few times a week to tell me a joke that’s usually not appropriate. Sometimes he is funny. My father-in-law has a strange super power when it comes to jokes. He never runs out of them. My Grandpa Joe was one of the best joke tellers I ever knew. I strive to be like him, but my wife says I always ruin the punchlines. So to prove her wrong, I’m going to close with a few jokes. First, do you want to hear a word I just made up? Plagiarism... Parallel lines have so much in common. Too bad they’ll never meet.... Woman never find me attractive until they find out how much money I make. Then they realize I am ugly and poor.. What’s green, fuzzy, and if it fell out of a tree it would kill you? A pool table... The other day, someone stole my mood ring. I’m not sure how I feel about that... Have a great week. Tell a joke and make somebody smile!
KWIBS - From May 29, 2017 - By Kevin Noland I wanted to take up some space to say a special THANK YOU to Barb and Mike Keltner for the many years of service they have given to our community. We don’t know how lucky we have been to have them here. They have shaped the lives of several generations of children in this town and they have given their time and their money to help others for as long as I can remember. Barb actually changed the way I see trash. Before Barb’s lecture, I did not recycle a thing. Today, I recycle almost everything. Barb is a Mac fan. We’ve had some great banter over the years on Mac vs. PC. She actually won me over to an iPad and an iPhone. I probably couldn’t go back now if I wanted to. Mike and I share a love for music and several years ago, he and I went to Wichita to see Bela Fleck and the Flecktones featuring Victor Wooten. The best part about our trip was that it was Valentine’s Day. We both left our wives for the evening, put on some ridiculous flowered shirts and went to dinner in Old Town. We also walked into some tatoo parlors and some other questionable establishments. Over all, it was a great man-date and my wife makes fun of me every Valentine’s Day by asking, "Are we going to do something or do you have plans with Mike?" Barb and Mike: You guys are the best of the best. This town will never be the same without you. I hope that life brings you many blessings and maybe some return trips to the Lodge! KWIBS - From May 22, 2017 - By Kevin Noland I packed and unpacked my clothes twice last week. Actually, my wife did the packing. It all had to do with the weather. Mother Nature may not be through with us for the spring season. Make sure during the severe storm season you make an emergency preparedness kit, or, ask my wife to do that for you. :) Spring storms put her on edge, which naturally puts me on edge. Our bags were packed early Thursday morning before I even got out of bed. The weather channel told my wife to do it and she did it. Turns out, it was a bust.... No real damage. When the area got hit with hail a couple of weeks ago, we stood outside of the newspaper’s front door and watched hail pounding our vehicles and listened to it pummeling our roof. Before the clouds moved past, we had contact from three different roofing companies. They descended on our little town like moths to a bright light. And many people have had damage to their roofs. Several comments have been made about who to use and who not to use and I’ve even heard of near fist fights breaking out over people stealing roofing companies’ signs around town. While leaving town the other day, I thought I missed an election cycle with all of the different signs popping up around town. When possible and feasible, I would recommend using local contractors. I make this recommendation for several reasons. 1. If they’ve been around a while, they’ll be here when you need them. 2. Their money stays here and circulates here. Have a great week! KWIBS - From May 15, 2017 - By Kevin Noland I just want to say, I miss Jay Leno and headlines on Monday nights. For those of you who were fans of the Tonight Show, you know what I’m talking about. It was my favorite weekly event and something the entire family got a chuckle out of. Being in the newspaper business, we see funny headlines (sometimes intentional, sometimes accidental). I sat and read some of those headlines this week and thought I would share some of my favorites: "Poverty meeting attracts poor turnout" "Gas company behind bean supper" "Miracle cure kills fifth patient" "Total lunar eclipse will be braodcast live on Northwoods Public Radio" "Breathing oxygen linked to staying alive" "Man tries armed robbery with knife in gun store" "Neurosurgery department gets new head" "Pigs die as houses are blown down" "Man competent enough to be declared insane" "Bugs flying around with wings are flying bugs" "Man with nothing to declare had 55 tortoises in his pants" "Most Earthquake damage is caused by shaking" "Northfield plans to plan strategic plan" "Starvation can lead to health hazards" "Feds say fish need water" "Dead man found in graveyard" "Woman missing since she got lost" "Alton attorney accidentally sues himself" "Utah Poison Control Center reminds everyone not to take poison" KWIBS - From May 8, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Congratulations to the Medicine Lodge High School Graduating Class of 2017! You are about to join the long, proud list of alumni from our community. Many of you have big decisions to make in your future. Things are about to change for you. For some, it will be a good change, for others, not so good. Sometimes you find out what you are supposed to be doing by doing the things you are not supposed to do. You’re all adults now. How do you know when you’re doing right and wrong? You know because you were taught by the best teachers in the world at MLHS. You have a guide that is your GPS system for life’s choices. I don’t normally tell you to do something that is led by your emotions, but sometimes if it feels right, it is. What you’ve learned in school the past 12-14 years should have given you the tools you need to make good choices. Check your ego at the door. This is only the beginning. I know how good you feel walking out of those doors at MLHS, but I promise you, you’ll want to return. And you must return and remember the halls, the smells, the sights and sounds of your school. I still go there often and I don’t even have children in the system anymore. I’m right at home when I walk through those doors and see some of the original smiling faces that were once my teachers! George Saunders to Syracuse University in 2013 said it best: "Do all the other things, the ambitious things—travel, get rich, get famous, innovate, lead, fall in love, make and lose fortunes...but as you do, to the extent that you can, err in the direction of kindness." Again....Congratulations Seniors! We’re so proud of you! KWIBS - From May 1, 2017 - By Kevin Noland I’ve done my best to keep you up on Nick’s journey in the Navy. A few weeks ago, I got my second "kid in a box" delivered UPS. It was full of all of his former Navy uniforms. Upon graduation from Navy RP training in South Carolina in early April, Nick shipped off to North Carolina to MCTB-E (Marine Combat Training Battalion - East). Are you as confused as I am? So, Nick is a Navy RP (religious program specialist), who is now attached to the Marines. The Marines came into existence on 10 November 1775. They conducted ship-to-ship fighting, provide shipboard security and discipline enforcement, and assist in landing forces. The Marine Corps has been a component of the U.S. Department of the Navy since 30 June 1834. Since Nick is a Navy Religious Program Specialist attached to the Marines, he will now wear the Marine uniform. He also is going through their combat training. So, I got all of Nick’s former Navy uniforms from his 4-month-long career shipped back home. Nick and all of his new uniforms will be home in June for a couple of weeks before shipping off to Japan, where he’ll be stationed for the next 36 months of his Navy/Marine career. When I ask him what uniforms he’ll need shipped back he answered, "I dunno..." And because of OPSEC.... (Operations Security - they identify critical information to determine if friendly actions can be observed by enemy intelligence and determine if the information could be useful to them).... I can’t tell you anymore about all the cool stuff he’s doing! Have a great week and God bless our troops! KWIBS - From April 24, 2017 - By Kevin Noland You can learn how to do just about anything these days by simply watching a youtube video. Just type in "how to_____" and you’ll get a video giving you a step by step guide for things as simple as brain surgery to as complicated as driving a car.... That’s what one 8-year-old boy did right before he chauffeured his sister effortlessly to the McDonald’s half a mile from his East Palestine home while his parents were sleeping last week. Witnesses said the 8-year-old obeyed all traffic laws like making sure to stop properly at red lights, waiting for traffic to pass before taking a left turn, and staying within the speed limits. When the two siblings pulled up to the drive-through window with piggy bank money in tow, the McDonald’s workers were convinced this was all a prank, but after an investigation, they discovered it obviously wasn’t. When confronted by the police, the boy realized he had done something wrong and told Patrolman Jaco Koehler through tears that he just really wanted a cheeseburger, according to the Weirton Daily Times. I usually cry after eating at McDonald’s. The children did get to eat at McDonald’s while they waited for their grandparents to pick them up. No charges are being filed. Meanwhile, my self performed lobotomy seems to have worked well and I can now successfully tie a full Windsor knot while correctly boiling pasta. The constant yodeling is annoying my wife, but the ease at which I can solve a rubik’s cube is down to 15 seconds. I still forget to use my turn signals though. Have a great week! KWIBS - From April 17, 2017 - By Kevin Noland My son Nick texted me last Monday from his Marine Training Schooling in North Carolina to tell me that he had run 8 miles that morning. That’s a pretty amazing feat considering I used to have trouble getting him to run downstairs and turn off the lights. I do have the most interesting family. Ronda and I travelled to Ft. Worth, TX last weekend to attend my Uncle Gary’s funeral. While we were there, we took a tour of The Stockyards. A guy I simply met as "Jack" was at my uncle’s funeral. Jack was a member of the board of directors of The Stockyards and did a spot-on imitation of John Wayne. He threatened to "belt me in the mouth." I thought he was serious for a while. Turns out being a board member really means you just hang out at a certain drinking establishment once a week at a certain time. He was a hoot. Just when I thought I had met the most interesting person who was a friend to my uncle, I met "Lisa". I kid you not, she was all of 95 pounds and a former ballet dancer from New York City who turned bronc rider. She had worked for my uncle for many years and around 2009 had fallen from a horse and broken her neck. Not only was she not expected to live, if she did live (which obviously she did), she was told she would be paralyzed for life. She walks, albeit with a limp, but she still works at my uncle’s farm (now my Cousin Michelle’s farm). Lisa was incredible and showed Ronda and I her little apartment behind my uncle’s house at Confederate Park Farms. I had a drink with Thaddius and Eleanore Roosevelt, her pet raccoon of 13 years and a squirrel, who’s age I didn’t enquire. I was most impressed to meet my uncle’s friends and see the lives that he had touched in his 14 years in Ft. Worth. My favorite memories will include this journey to celebrate his life with Ronda, my Aunt Millie and Cousin Michelle and family. Have a great week! KWIBS - From April 10, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Just over four years ago I sat in my kitchen with Ronda, my Uncle Gary and Aunt Millie. We looked over photos, laughed, cried and paused to remember my dad who had passed away on January 11, 2013. They drove up from Fort Worth to pay their respects to my dad and my uncle’s only living brother. Over the years, we’ve spent a lot of time together. Fort Worth is an easy drive and any time we are remotely in the area, we drive over to see them. They also came to visit us on a couple of occasions. Many of you have shared stories about my Uncle Gary with me. He had lived here with his family in the late 1960s and early 1970s, being a part of the Peace Treaty and local Chamber of Commerce. He eventually worked his way up to Editor and pressman at the Index and later in life started a 24 hour printing plant in California. Before his last move to Texas, my aunt and uncle had a newspaper in Seeley Lake, Montana. Over the last 14 years or so, they have raised, boarded and trained horses, specifically for Equestrian. Last Friday I worked my hardest to finish up everything and hit the road by early Saturday afternoon. My Uncle Gary’s health was failing rapidly. I wanted one last moment with him.
The last time we saw him was before Christmas and before that, it was his 73rd birthday in May of 2016. I expected to leave shortly after lunch and get there early evening. I spoke to my Aunt Millie as I was packing and she said, "You probably won’t make it in time." We did not make it in time. Uncle Gary passed away later that afternoon. Thursday afternoon was the last time I spoke with him. I told him I loved him and he was able to say it back. Ever since my dad died, we always told each other we loved one another. We knew we only had so much time to do that in this life. He was in a hospital near Fort Worth and they were preparing to hand him over to Hospice and bring him home to his ranch that day. He wanted to be home and he made it home. Uncle Gary died surrounded by his family and friends. He was one of the hardest working people I had ever met in my life. A dreamer, he always had his next move planned. Most recently he and my Aunt Millie were planning on building a new home on their farm, near their daughter and family. Back in 2011 when he and my Aunt Millie were here, I recorded a 2 hour conversation with them while looking over the family photos. I learned a lot about the Noland side of my family, but mostly I just loved my time with them. I found that conversation and shared it with my aunt and my cousin. I learned my family had the first television set in Logan, KS. My grandpa "Jock" Noland was probably never photographed without a pipe sticking out of his mouth. My Grandpa Bill was the spitting image of Abraham Lincoln and often portrayed him in reenactments and parades. My Dad, Grandpa, Grandma and Uncle Gary all loved and had Boston Terriers throughout their lives. My Uncle said to me a few months ago, "It’s up to you now to carry on the bloodline." Uncle Gary’s boys, my cousins, don’t have any children of their own and I have two sons. He also made me promise to stay in touch with my aunt and my cousins. Family was important to him. That should be an easy promise to keep. I love my Aunt Millie and Cousin Michelle. Since she spent so much time growing her business in Fort Worth, I’ve gotten to spend a lot of time watching her ride and teach others. Uncle Gary fought the good fight. He fought cancer to the bitter end and never looked back with any regrets. He was a good provider for his family and I saw him work so hard through good times and bad to be a good husband and father. He was my stand-in dad after dad passed away and I will miss our sometimes daily texts and phone calls. We’d armchair quarterback about every Dallas Cowboys’ game and then talk politics for hours. I will also miss his intoxicating laughter, serious life advice and every promise he kept to love and live. Have a great week. KWIBS - From April 3, 2017 - By Kevin Noland I love music. I’ve been a musician for most of my life now. I’m a bass player. As a bass player, you’re not viewed as a very important part of the band. Play one wrong note and you certainly get recognition. As of late, I play in church every now and then and sometimes when I walk past one of the six basses in my house, I’ll pick it up and punch out something from my Dorfus CrackTractor days. You probably remember that crazy trio made of Justin Rugg, David Fasgold and myself. We spent the majority of our time picking on each other and making fun of each other. One of our favorite past times (to this day) is the belittle the importance of the instrument the other plays. Sometimes we get pretty brutal, but it’s all just in fun. I ran across this funny story the other day and thought it was a good opportunity to poke a little fun at myself. An anthropologist went to study a far-flung tropical island. He found a guide with a canoe to take him upriver to the remote site where he would make his observations. About noon on the second day of travel up the river they began to hear drums. The anthropologist asked his guide, "What are those drums?" The guide turned to him and said, "Drums okay, but VERY BAD when they stop." As they traveled the drums grew louder and louder. The anthropologist was nervous, but the guide merely repeated, "Drums okay. Drums not bad. When drums stop, then very bad!" Then the drums suddenly stopped. Terrified, the anthropologist yelled to the guide: "The drums stopped! What now?" The guide crouched down, covered his head with his hands and said, "bass solo." Have a great week! KWIBS - From March 20, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Somebody slaughtered March’s lamb.... This bipolar month has my closet in shambles. I’m not sure which coat, if any, I’m supposed to wear or if I wear shorts and a sweat shirt. Some days, you don’t even know if you’ll end up in the same clothes you started out with. My truck doesn’t know whether to have air conditioner or heater on or if the windows should be up or down or somewhere in between. What we do know is, it’s very dry. ? ? ? ? I am getting spring fever, or maybe it’s allergies. I don’t know for sure. I just want to be outside. I’m a lot like my dad in this respect. I love a project. And just like my dad, I never seem to finish one. Last year, I began working on a zip line for my kids and grandkids. I got one platform finished and poles hauled up to the top end. We began drilling 20" x 8’ holes in the ground when the Anderson Creek Fire occurred last year and my drill truck guy had to go build close to 20 miles of fence or more. I’ve not seen that truck since! (hint-hint-Flint). This year’s project is a pontoon picnic table. My wife is less than thrilled. Parts needed: Picnic table, check; plastic barrels, check; outboard motor, check; lumber and screws, check; friends to ride on it, check; redneck attitude, check... So when this is finished, the idea is to have a floating picnic table with a motor on it that we can putt around the lake on. Since Ronda thought it was a dumb idea, I agreed to put an umbrella on it so my fair lady won’t fry in the summer sun on the lake. She’s coming around. Now, if I can just focus and finish it... Have a great week!
KWIBS - From March 13, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Driving home from Wichita Monday night, all we could see and smell was smoke. My phone had been blowing up since early in the afternoon after fires sparked up all over the state, one south of our ranch. That very day, we had printed an article "Getting - and staying - a step ahead of wildfire". Jessica and Brenda worked as a team on this project. It was something I believed was relevant to the conditions and ironically, it was prophetic in nature. "Tinderbox dry". That’s a quote from the story. For weeks now, I’ve been mowing fire lines in preparation to do a little controlled burning on our ranch. We’ve been patiently waiting for the conditions to be right: lower winds, higher humidity and by the grace of God: some moisture to make the ground green. None of those conditions have occurred and we are now in constant danger of fire in our area. I’ll be the first to admit that articles on prescribed burning were ones I printed, but didn’t take the time to read. Now I get it and it took last year’s Anderson Creek Wildfire to really get my attention. Next to Divine intervention, our next best thing is the courage of our local volunteer fire fighters. These folks wage war against wildfire and deserve our thanks and constant prayers. We could be in for a very critical event in our area. After we receive some needed moisture, we need to evaluate what we can do as a county and community to protect our citizens and property from the dangers of quick spreading wildfires. There are some great people out there with some proactive ideas that need to be heard. Good luck and thank you to our fire fighters. KWIBS - From March 6, 2017 - By Kevin Noland I’ve never been quite so devastated than when Doris Sorg announced she was leaving us after 17 1/2 years. Thankfully, it wasn’t because she hated us or anything. It was just time for a change for her. It couldn’t possibly have been all the times I blew an air horn at her or placed a Donald Trump cut out where I knew it would scare the you-know-what out of her. As fate would have it, I got a bomb dropped on me a couple of weeks ago and I was again devastated. Brenda Head, who we had hired to replace Doris, announced that she and her husband would be moving back to Missouri where they came from before moving to Medicine Lodge. Again, it wasn’t anything I had done (I had learned not to blow an air horn at her without some warning). This was just life happening for Brenda and her husband. Brenda was just what we needed, when we needed it. Sometimes life does funny things. Finding Brenda was just dumb luck (more like divine intervention). During the search process, Ronda and I had approached Jessica Wright for the job originally. We had heard she had given notice at the bank and we knew she was a smart, articulate lady who would be a good fit. She turned us down. She had already made other plans for life and as bummed out as we were, we understood. Brenda’s resume was actually submitted several months before Doris announced she was leaving us, but I had buried it on my desk. After Jessica turned us down, we got out some old resumes looking for a candidate. Little did I realize, I had left Brenda’s in a pile. I had never even seen it, but when I did, I knew Brenda was the right person for the job! A phone call was made, an interview was done and she was hired! Well, she wasn’t here 17 1/2 years, as required and is now company policy, but she was a wonderful part of our family. She will be missed and we wish her well. ? ? ? ? Backing up.... I had shot Jessica Wright a series of text messages after Brenda made her announcement. I wasn’t exactly begging, but I was a little more pushy this time! She turned me down again. So, I put out some feelers on the old interweb and started setting up interviews. Out of the blue, Jessica texted me back and said she was interested in the job. Just like a woman, she couldn’t make up her mind. *kidding Jessica* Keep in mind, I’ve known Jess since she was a little Jess. She’s about my son Joey’s age and I’ve always known she is a sharp girl, had great people skills and was someone who I had a gut feeling about. Also keep in mind I hadn’t read a single story she’d ever written excepting text messages and facebook posts! But I think my gut is pretty smart most of the time. It wasn’t smart on Wednesday when I tried to eat an entire meat lover’s pizza by myself, but pretty smart nonetheless. So the entire week was pretty busy and like a giant drum roll. I was in and out and finally received Jessica’s first stories on Thursday. It was her introduction and CID stories. I nailed it. I mean, she nailed it. The girl can write! So, with a week of training behind her, I’m excited to welcome Jessica Wright to Team Premiere. She’s already aware of my office antics, has gone through all the stages of grief for taking the job and will probably turn in her notice in a week. *kidding again*.... I hope! Watch for what Wright writes. Yeah, I am the one doing the word fun at the moment. I want to thank Brenda for putting up with me the past 7 1/2 months. She’s not getting a big party, but she’s getting a big thank you from us. We love you sister and we thank you for your time with us! Welcome aboard Jess! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From February 27, 2017 - By Kevin Noland If you’re older (like me), you remember when air was free. You probably also remember never getting out of your car when pulling up to the gas station. Things are different now. You pull up and get your own gas and pay for it right at the pump. If you are like me, you also wash your own windows, check your own oil and then, if you notice a tire is low, you reach over for the free air pump. The only problem is, it’s not there and it’s not free anymore at most places in the city. So that’s another one of the little things I love about Medicine Lodge. We still have free air. There’s at least two that I know of that are on 24/7. One is at Black Diamond Express and the other is at Slinkard Oil. There are probably others, but those are the two that I know for sure are there and on when I need them. And I always need one. I live in the country, on dirt roads, and we are guaranteed at least a flat once a month. At last count, I’ve had 9 nails already for 2017 and I still have one in my front right tire as I write this. Ever since I was a kid, Slinkard Oil has been my go to place for air. It was always my go to place for gas until Bill stopped providing that service (way, way back). Bill has always been my main source for free air for 4 decades. I can always count on pulling up to his station any time day or night and being able to top that tire off before I head north for home. If I’m lucky enough, it’s during business hours and I can say hi to someone who has been serving the community for longer than I’ve been alive. Thanks Bill for always having air. If you charged for it like the big cities do, I’d probably be your biggest customer. (Please don’t start charging me for air though. That would just crush me!)
KWIBS - From February 20, 2017 - By Kevin Noland As parents, Ronda and I couldn't be prouder of E1-RP, Nick Noland, one of the United States Navy's newest Sailors! Nick graduated from RTC (Navy Boot Camp on Friday, February 10, 2017. Many of you with military members in your family know the process. We had little contact consisting of a couple of short phone calls and several letters that were usually 10 days old by the time we got them. Nothing made us happier than to run onto that ceremonial floor and hug our son after 3.5 hours of waiting in the grand stands.
So I had to share this photo and a funny story about Nick's Pass In Review from the Navy. As dumb luck would have it, Ronda and I were invited to sit VIP with the Officers of Recruit Training Command. We had read that if you were dressed up and were lucky enough, you could get selected if there was room. We were dressed up and we were lucky enough to be selected! A young man (Petty Officer) came and offered us seats and we jumped up and followed him downstairs in front of thousands of other anxious family and friends of sailors and we were seated in some nice cushy chairs in the center of the ceremony hall directly behind the RTC staff and big wigs. The event is broadcast live each week. We ended up on the live stream for most of the ceremony. Many of our family members back at home took photos of the screen and send us the pictures via our phones. At one point, Nick glanced up from the choir and looked at the Officers and caught a glimpse of his mom. He was mortified! Nick had purposely hidden from us before the ceremony. He was in the performance division and that division can usually meet their families before the graduation, but he did not want to become emotional before having to perform. After graduation he was like, "I thought you guys wandered up there by mistake and would get thrown out and I would be in huge trouble!" A Pass In Review is an awesome military graduation full of marching bands, singing, drill teams and speeches. The best part is when they call out, "Now hear this. Now hear this. Liberty! Liberty!" We all went running onto the floor looking for our sailor in their dress blues. It's like looking for a needle in a haystack, but when you find it, you hold it tight! There's a news release from the Navy about Nick's Pass In Review on page 12. I would note that Nick says "thank you" to so many who wrote to him. That really does help them get through the training. Nick said, "It was a lot like college accept you don't get to sleep much, you do a lot of exercising and everyone is screaming at you before and after classes!" That was explanation enough for his mom and me. We spent the day in the Great Lakes area catching up from the past couple of months of separation. The second good-bye was much easier than the first. Nick left early the next morning for Fort Jackson in Columbus, SC. After a couple months of schooling, he may be home for a few days before his next assignment. We are proud of our son and so happy that he chose this career and education path. HOOYAH NAVY!! CONGRATULATIONS NICK NOLAND!! KWIBS - From February 13, 2017 - By Kevin Noland I called my wife on a Thursday evening, "Did you see the new water tower?" She simply said, "No, what are you talking about?" I don’t know how she missed it. We drive about 8 miles to town every morning from our home at M-Bar Ranch, south of Lake Arrowhead. The drive takes us right past the Phye Development and the area where they have been building the new water tower. Somehow, she drove home that Thursday night and didn’t even notice that the skyline had changed! So we drove in together Friday morning and she was like, "WOW!" It was pretty incredible to see that tower go up in a day. I realize they have worked on it on the ground for months now, but to see it all up inside of a few short hours, was impressive to say the least! Over the 28 years of driving to town almost every day, I have a great perspective on how things have changed. I now see wind towers, cellular towers, a new SPEC building, transmission power lines and now a new water tower! There’s also going to be some road construction happening in the near future, so be prepared. Be prepared for a stop and a pilot car. I’m sure you’ve seen all the heavy trucks and equipment that are being staged to the south of the SPEC building. The project will pave 281 from the intersection of 160/281 clear to the Pratt County line. We’ll be prepared by going an extra 5 miles out of our way on over towards Isabel and down that county road to town to avoid having to stop and wait for a pilot car to guide us at 20 mph. I’m not patient enough to stop and wait, and the change in scenery will be nice, unless it rains and then that’s about 8 miles of dirt roads to drive down instead of 2.5. That’s the price we pay for progress I suppose. By the way, Ronda and I are the proud parents of one of the Navy’s newest Sailors - Nick Noland! Congratulations and happy birthday, buddy! KWIBS - From February 6, 2017 - By Kevin Noland This is a very special week for Ronda and I. We’ll be flying to Chicago on Thursday, renting a vehicle and driving to Waukegan, IL early Friday morning, February 10, 2017 to watch our son Nick graduate from Navy RTC. We haven’t seen Nick since we dropped him off in Kansas City on December 12, 2016. It seems like forever ago, that we watched our youngest child board a shuttle for the airport. Since then, we’ve gotten a dozen letters and two short phone calls. One call was actually about 30 seconds long to tell us he made it and he was sending us his personal belongings. The other phone call was about 14 minutes long and was at the tone of a whisper because we were still in church. We are expecting one other important phone call this week. It’s the "I’m a Sailor" call. Each recruit is given the opportunity to call home after Battle Stations 21 (BST). BST is the final test for the recruits and is a 12 hour evaluation program with 17 ship board scenarios from missile attacks that can cause fires to flooding caused by exploding undersea mines. Recruits also stand watches on the bridge and are tasked with engineering scenarios, lookout scenarios, and mass casualty drills. Battle Stations-21 is conducted several times a week, at night, on board USS Trayer (BST 21), a 210-foot-long Arleigh Burke-class destroyer simulator. It begins around 8:00 pm CST and ends the next morning. Throughout the various scenarios, recruits are evaluated and graded not only as individuals, but also as teams and as an entire division. The morning that a recruit passes Battle Stations-21, they attend a capping ceremony around 8:20 or so that lasts about 20-30 minutes where they remove their "RECRUIT" ball cap and replace it with a "NAVY" ball cap, which signals to the world that they are a US Navy Sailor! Then they can call home. We can’t wait for this call and can’t wait to see Nick! Have a great week! KWIBS - From January 30, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Cautiously optimistic. That’s the answer I gave when asked what I thought about President Trump’s first week. I was a "never Trump, but never...er Clinton." I wasn’t shy about it, but I have to say, I’m impressed so far with the composure of President Donald Trump. I can’t believe I just wrote that. Everyone deserves a chance. Those who are protesting and carrying signs that read "Not My President" are delusional. I didn’t vote for Obama, but he was my president for 8 years. That’s how it works in America. We agree to disagree and we move on down the road ..... or we dress up like women’s genitalia and march in the streets... I have many friends who are staunch Trump supporters and many others who are totally freaking out. We all have to calm down and not get thrown off the airplane for our emotional outbursts. I think that, no matter your political view, we have to agree that destruction of property, aggravated battery and violence against authority are not part of the healing process for America. I believe in a peaceful right to protest and the freedom of speech, but it ends when you threaten to "blow up the White House." It ends when you burn limousines. It ends when you forget to act like an adult, no matter who your president is. You would have thought the whole world went mad on January 20th, 2017 after the inauguration of the 45th U.S. President. I’m grateful to live in the middle of South Central Kansas where we shrug off crazy and go to work every day no matter who our president is. There’s something to be said about living in a fishbowl when the ocean has so many sharks in it. Let’s all be friends and hug it out. Have a great week!
KWIBS - From January 23, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Many of you ask, and I’m always proud to answer, how is Nicholas doing in boot camp? Well, we haven’t heard much from him. We’ve gotten about 5 letters (all at once) and we’ve received one 15 minute phone call. He is doing well though! Nicholas made the Triple Threat Division also known as the Performance Division. These sailor recruits are chosen based upon interview and past experience in flags, band, choir and drill performances. Nicholas was chosen to sing in the Blue Jacket Choir. Beginning on Friday of this week 1-27-17 at 8:45 a.m., Nicholas will perform at Pass In Review (PIR), which is the Navy’s version of Graduation. He will perform at three PIRs, including his own on Friday, February 10, 2017. He marches in separately from his division, so we’ll have a great opportunity to see him before we actually see him! How’s that? You can watch the ceremonies live on the Navy’s website: http://navylive.dodlive.mil I started watching these live streams a few weeks ago and they are pretty amazing. You can only imagine how proud we are and how excited we are to see him! Tune in any time on Friday! KWIBS - From January 16, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Ronda and I were driving north on 119th Street in Wichita a couple of weeks ago when a truck lost a bundle of newspapers and hit and then went airborne all over the place. It was a really windy day and there were newspapers everywhere, including windshields of passing vehicles. I said, "Man, that poor dude ...." About a week later, I was perusing through the stacks of newspapers I get each week in the mail and ran across Paul Rhodes’ column in the Conway Springs Star. In his column, Publisher Rhodes confessed that he lost a bundle of newspapers on 119th in Wichita. "I was between stops, headed south on 119th Street, just north of Central in west Wichita. An extra-unruly gust of wind actually caused my truck to jump a little, and then I heard a thump." Disaster struck.... Yep, that’s pretty much what I saw heading north on 119th Street, just north of Central in west Wichita. So when I read that, I picked up the phone and called Paul and told him that I was a material witness to his littering. Paul told me, "It would have been professional courtesy for you to stop and help pick those up!" That’s true, but I was in a hurry to make an appointment and to get lunch. Lunch came before being a good Samaritan that day. I sort of feel bad now, knowing it was someone I have known for so many years. Some jogger ended up taking pity on Paul. You’ll be happy to know he picked up almost every single edition he lost in all of that heavy traffic and bad wind that day. It took him over an hour to get it all cleaned up! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From January 9, 2017 - By Kevin Noland We simply take for granted what it takes to put food on our tables. Once a year, we do this special edition to honor our area farmers and ranchers for their dedicated love of the land. As I get older (this is my 26th Soil Conservation Edition) I become more and more appreciative to those folks who work the land. So to those involved with the Barber County Conservation District, thank you and congratulations! ? ? ? ? As of this writing, we still haven’t heard from Nicholas directly. We are hoping that will change soon. Nick left for RTC (Navy bootcamp) on December 12. We' waited 21 days for news about Nick and Monday night we got a call from Waukegan, IL at dinner. I was so excited and answered "hello buddy!". It wasn't him. It was a shipmate named Miller. Nick had watch that night while his shipmates got to call home. He's the last division to get that privilege, but couldn't. SR Miller used some of his time to call us and let us know Nick was thinking about us. It was only about a one minute call, but couldn't have been more appreciated. We've camped out on our phones for three weeks. It felt so good to know someone cares enough to have his back and make a call to people he'd never met. He said, "I was there when you put your hand on the window of the bus against your son's." Wow. Miller, you're a great kid and great future sailor for taking the time to call us. Hope we get to talk to Nick soon, but feel so good to know he has friends like that. I'm going to hug that kid at PIR on 10 FEB 2017. There are some great kids out there serving our country and each other. Thank you SR Miller.
KWIBS - From January 2, 2017 - By Kevin Noland Ronda and I were able to take a few days off to see family and friends in Texas over the Christmas break. It’s good to be home and back into a seemingly normal routine again. While in Texas, we got to spend a day with Dale and Michele McCurdy. You might remember them. They were both teachers in our district in the late 1990s. We’ve kept our friendship up with them and they are a great couple. We try to see them a couple of times a year. They flew in from Amarillo and we picked them up at Love Field in Dallas. We didn’t really have a plan. We just wanted to spend a day together around the holidays. One of the highlights of our visit together was seeing Star Wars Rogue One. Dale and I are both nerds and we abstained from seeing the movie until we could do it together. One week later, Carrie Fisher has died. Although she did not actually have much of a role in Star Wars Rogue One, she did have a computerized cameo appearance which will now be an immortal tribute to her career as Princes Leia. What boy in the 1970s and 1980s didn’t have a crush on Carrie Fisher? ? ? ? ? Ronda and I also got to go to a Dallas Cowboys’ game at AT&T Stadium. We’ve been life long fans and even went to games when they weren’t winning.... They didn’t disappoint, beating Tampa Bay, 26-20. The best part of the game was getting to see Caleb Alexander, Ronda’s cousin. We had a great time. The most important thing we did, was to see my Uncle Gary Noland. Many of you might remember him from his days running the Index. Uncle Gary has stage 4 lung cancer. I was blessed to see him and his family this Christmas season. KWIBS - From December 26, 2016 - By Kevin Noland 8 days, 4 states, 2150 miles later and we were back for a few days - just in time for Christmas and this special edition! 2017 is only a few days away now. The new year brings hope and excitement. You’re probably thinking I’m speaking of the election again, but I’m not. A new year is always a time to reflect on goals and ambitions, while remembering the things of the past. This entire newspaper is a snapshot of what our community achieved over the most recent completion of a lap around the sun. I usually do a column on a person of the year that stands out in our community. There are several and on our way home from Texas last week, Ronda and I discussed many of them. To summarize: It’s all of you. It’s everyone who took the time to be involved, be informed and kept faith in Medicine Lodge during a more challenging economic time. No one will argue that this was a tougher year. The oilfield is a wee bit slower than most of us would like. We hope that 2017 brings prosperity to this industry. We also hope that cattle markets come back up, and that wheat prices and other crops continue to make a come back. I look forward to 2017. I’m most excited to be able to spend time with my family. We got a little scattered this year with Nick leaving for Chicago, so we especially look forward to seeing him at his graduation in February. My prayer for you this new year is that you find peace and happiness in whatever situation you find yourself in. Be good to one another and give the gift of yourself to those who might need you. That’s easier said than done, but it’s good advice. No one ever said in their last moments, "I wish I had less time to give." Have a happy new year friends!
KWIBS - From December 19, 2016 - By Kevin Noland "To raise a child, who is comfortable enough to leave you, means you've done your job. They are not ours to keep, but to teach them to soar on their own." I don’t know who said it, but it was the first of several emails I got from navydads.com last week. It choked me up a little bit. I’m also not really sure how comfortable any of us were when Nick left for Chicago Monday, but he’s on his way to a new life and we’re proud of his decision to be in the Navy. Thank you to the American Legion Riders for a wonderful send-off for Nick on Saturday. You guys are really special people. ? ? ? ? This is our last of two newspapers for 2016. They are both my favorite issues to publish. I love this issue because the kids write to Santa and we have the awesome responsibility of making sure Santa gets our newspaper and reads each letter! And... those kids are hilarious! This was one of my favorite letters. I have no idea who these little people are, but the letter is almost extortion! "Dear Santa, Do you like chocolate chip cookies? I would like a remote control car, a new pencil box, a blue ipad and a play computer. I would like a snappy from the Trendy Monkey for my mama and underpants for my dad. Love, Darcie, Davis and Mackenzie" "Do you like chocolate chip cookies?" Well Santa, if you do, you’d better get your butt to my house with the following items! Hilarious! Dear Santa, This year for Christmas I have three gifts I would like to receive. The three gifts I would like are a guitar, drums, and a microphone. The first thing present I want is a guitar. I want a guitar because I want to play to practice and to join a band. The second thing I want is drums. I want drums because I want to play them in the band and to practice at home, and to join the band and the third thing I want is a microphone. I want a microphone because I want to sing, to talk into and to join a band. - Mekoy Baier Do you think this kid wants to be in a band? Dear Santa, This Christmas I have three gifts that I would like to receive. The three things I want for Christmas is an I pod, rabbit, K-State shirt. The first thing I want to receive is an I Pod. I want an I pod because I can play games on it, call 911 for emergencies and order clothes on line. The second thing I want to receive is a rabbit. I want a rabbit because they are fluffy and I can play with it and I can cuddle with it. The third thing I want to receive is a K-Sate shirt. I want a K-State shirt because I like K-State, it’s my favorite team and I can wear it on favorite team day. This is what I want for Christmas. - Kembry Shippy Ok, a rabbit..., 911? Order clothes online? Wait a minute... Dear Santa, This year for Christmas I have three gifts I would like to receive. The three gifts I would like to receive is a 22 gun, a machete, and a chemistry set. The first gift I would like to receive is a 22 gun. I want a 22 gun because I can shot deer, I can shoot squirrels, and I can shoot rabbits. The second gift I would like to receive is a machete. I want a machete because I can chop wood, I can clean the animals, and I can chop grass for a fort. The third gift I would like to receive is a chemistry set. I want a chemistry set because I can do science, I can do experiments, and I can do explosions. These are the three gifts I would like to receive. Marry Christmas. - Shaefer Stone Keep this kid away from Kembry’s rabbit..... My kids are all grown and my daughter has children of her own now, so we don’t really do the "Santa" thing, but I remember doing it for them. I even remember one year I got Cecil Newman to dress up as Santa and come to my mom’s house. Joey and Breeann were pretty little and it scared the you know what out of them. I think it’s safe to say that Santa was very, very jolly.... That’s one of my fondest memories of my kids and Santa when they were little. Every year we do something silly. This year, we all got together with Santa during Nick’s send off party. You can see that photo on the front page this week. My son Joey is into ugly sweaters. A couple of years ago, I got to recreate a really goofy Christmas photo with my two sons. This year they wanted to do another one before Nicholas left for Navy Boot Camp. You know the goofy photos I’m talking about. They look like this.... Matthew 1:20-23 Behold, an angel of the Lord appeared to him in a dream, saying, "Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take to you Mary your wife, for that which is conceived in her is of the Holy Spirit. And she will bring forth a Son, and you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins." Now all this was done that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the Lord through the prophet, saying: "Behold, a virgin shall be with child, and bear a Son, and they shall call His name Emanuel," which is translated, "God with us." From our family to your family, we wish you a blessed Christmas. Love and cherish the time you spend with your family and friends and remember the true meaning of Christmas. Merry Christmas Friends! KWIBS - From December 12, 2016 - By Kevin Noland There is almost nothing as wonderful as a childrens’ laughter - unless you’re in the middle of a tense football game and three of them are running around between you and the television! Seriously, it is amazing to watch a child laugh and play and not have a worry in the world. When I was a kid, I could be entertained with a 10 cent rubber ball from Frosty’s Donut Shop. You remember them. I’m pretty sure I spent thousands of dollars on those silly things. I come across one every now and then. I also remember going to Ben Franklin’s dime store once a week and buying up all the little rubber parachute guys I could afford. They cost 19 cents a piece. I could usually get 4-5. Those guys kept me entertained for hours. Toys are so expensive these days. There are many families who just can’t afford to buy them. There are many kids in this community who could use a gift this holiday season. The Angel Tree at the Peoples Bank is a great way to give this Christmas. The next two editions of The Gyp Hill Premiere are the best editions to put on the streets. I absolutely love the Letters to Santa, which will be in our December 19th Christmas Edition. The following week is our Year In Review. This edition I lovingly refer to as the "Bathroom Edition". It’s perfect to leave in your bathroom all week long to read about the events that happened in our community during 2016! I would not use this like a 1930s Sears Catalogue though as we now use soy based inks that tend to smudge on your skin.... Congratulations to Noel Lopez on opening Cancun’s. I’ve always enjoyed his families’ food at their other locations. We’re very happy you chose Medicine Lodge as your newest eatery! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From December 5, 2016 - By Kevin Noland One week from today, Ronda and I will have a first-ever transition in our lives. We’ll be true "empty-nesters". Our youngest child, our baby, will be entering the United States Navy. This has been an incredible journey for our entire family, especially for Nick. I remember last September when he had barely started his senior year, Nick asked me what I thought about him joining the service. I was pretty impressed that he was even considering such a move. I had always assumed he would play football, baseball or run track somewhere. Within a week from that conversation, he was signed up and we started the weekly check ins and monthly meetings. Everything was on track until early November, when Nicholas was injured in a football game at Sedgwick. The prognosis was a torn labrum and after his recruiter was notified, he was placed in a holding pattern. We learned a week later that he was to be disqualified medically by the Navy. His only option was surgery and even then, there was no guarantee that they would take him. It was pretty devastating. Everyone has a dream and a story of how it came to pass. Nick’s story was pretty incredible. He went right in for surgery after his injury, never once looking back. He worked extremely hard on his rehabilitation, so much that he even rejoined the baseball team in the spring almost one month earlier than his surgeon had thought possible. They made it to state for the second year in a row! Everything was going according to schedule and he left for MEPS (Military Entrance Processing Station) in April where he was denied by one surgeon and granted a waiver from another! He had even lost his original job and only given an Airman Undesignated job, but then he was offered his original job back 3 days after swearing in. To understand what the odds of that happening are, consider that Religious Program Services in the Navy consists of 889 jobs worldwide. Not many of these jobs open up. RPs assist with religious services on bases and ships. One of their main responsibilities will be providing physical security for chaplains during field exercises and in combat environments. In the Navy, chaplains are not allowed to carry firearms. RPs are assigned to assist and protect them. When Nick finishes RTC (the Navy’s version of bootcamp) he will go to an "A" schooling to learn his job and then to a Marine Combat school, as he will most likely be traveling with Marines. Nick has never stopped trying. He has never given up. His quiet nature should not be mistaken for timidity. He’s been very courageous through this process. That doesn’t mean he’s not anxious and nervous about what’s coming. He tells me that over the course of the next 9 weeks of training, he’ll miss: his girlfriend, music, his mom’s cooking and his own bed. I’m sure he’ll figure out a lot of other things he’ll miss. He has one final trip to Kansas City on Monday, December 12, 2016. Once he is cleared, he departs for the Navy’s Recruit Training Center in the Great Lakes Region the next morning. Please be praying that everything continues to go in his favor! As hard as this transition is going to be for Nick and for Ronda and me, we are so excited for his future. We’ll miss him at Christmas and probably his birthday in February. I’ll miss our nightly visits, playing guitar with him, the constant pranks in our home and just his presence. He will be in good hands. "The World’s finest Navy," as the base answers their phones. Please join us at Finnegan’s Saturday, December 10th from 2-4 p.m. as we celebrate Nick’s decision to serve his country and jump start his future. Everyone is welcome to attend! KWIBS - From November 21, 2016 - By Kevin Noland Dear President-elect Donald Trump, I just wanted to congratulate you on the biggest upset in politics in the history of Presidential races. First, let me admit that I did not vote for you. You’ll be happy to know I didn’t vote for Hillary either. I took the obscure and unlikely 3rd party candidate route - because, honestly, I didn’t think you could win and did not want Hillary to win. I figured that America was so over all of the Hillary scandals and she would sweep the election. We’d be stuck with that for four years.. Boy was I wrong. You should know that I also bet on elections. I usually win, but this is the first one in three elections that I didn’t win. I even went as far to "double or nothing" this election. I almost felt sorry for the guy I was betting because he had so much confidence in your win. That is going to cost me two steak dinners. Secretly, I have never been so happy to lose a bet. I’m a Republican, but not a "Never Trump" Republican. I will tell you that some of the crazy things you said during the election baffled me. You certainly did not demonstrate being presidential for the most part. Maybe that’s what was appealing (appalling) to people. I think you got elected because people have had enough with the same old - same old in Washington, D.C. We’re all tired of the same names, same declines and same outcomes and we’re ready for something different. I guess you’re it. My only advice to you is: don’t be a post turtle. In case you don’t know what that is ... An old rancher is talking about politics with a young man from the city. He compares a politician to a "post turtle". The young man doesn't understand and asks him what a post turtle is. The old man says, "When you're driving down a country road and you see a fence post with a turtle balanced on top, that's a post turtle. You know he didn't get up there by himself. He doesn't belong there; You wonder who put him there; he can't get anything done while he's up there; and you just want to help the poor, dumb thing down." Best of luck to you and America, Kevin KWIBS - From November 7, 2016 - By Kevin Noland As I was mowing and weed eating on November the first, I was thinking, "When will this end?" Well, it ends tomorrow - Hopefully. Who knows when the grass will stop growing, but the election is officially over tomorrow at 7 p.m. I often wonder what Facebook will look like after November 8th. I hope it goes back to its quirky self with pictures of families and fun posts. I’m hoping for some good jokes about the candidates. I’ve found a few that made me giggle. Donald Trump jokes: - What airline does Donald Trump aspire to fly? Hair Force One! - Why doesn’t Melania Trump want to be the first lady? Because she’d have to move into a smaller house. - You know what Trump has besides money? A barber with a sense of humor. Hillary Clinton jokes: - Why won’t Hillary let her campaign staffers exercise? Because they might "feel the Bern...." - Why is Hillary running for President? Because it’s easier than running from the law. - A Fox News national poll found that people prefer Hillary Clinton to Donald Trump by 2 points. While an MSNBC poll found that Hillary Clinton has already been president for two years. And.... for both Clinton and Trump: - Trump and Clinton are the oldest nominees since 1848. Or as Bernie Sanders put it, "My first campaign!" - A new poll found that the majority of millennials would vote for Hillary Clinton over Donald Trump. Then millennials found out you can't vote by texting and said, 'Never mind! - Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are on a plane. The plane crashed. Who survived? America... God help us.... Have a great 4 years!
KWIBS - From October 31, 2016 - By Kevin Noland I can’t believe it’s Halloween. It’s scary how fast time flies. Did you see what I did there? ? ? ? ? Sometime in the next few weeks Medicine Lodge will be getting a brand new restaurant. Noel Lopez will be opening "Cancun" on Hwy 281. I met Noel several years ago in Anthony and he’s been trying to get his family’s Mexican restaurant open here for a couple of years now. Watch the newspaper for information on his opening! ? ? ? ? We only have a couple of more weeks left of hearing about which candidate is grabbing inappropriate body parts or which candidate is the most corrupt. I personally can’t wait until 2020 when we restart the process, hopefully with brand new faces worthy of consideration. ? ? ? ? I missed getting a birthday greeting in the paper for my daughter and my oldest son. Bree’s birthday was October 3rd and Joey’s was October 28th. Happy birthday kiddos! October always gets away from us with all of the birthdays we have. Thursday is my wife’s birthday. For those of you who don’t know her, she’s the beautiful redhead I’ve had on my arm for the past 31 years, 3 of those years as my girlfriend. She’s still my girlfriend. There are a few men who can claim they are blessed with a good woman. I’m one of those guys and I know it - and I don’t take it for granted. Ronda is my world and I take great pride in telling you what she means to me and wishing her a happy birthday. Proverbs 31:10-12 says: An excellent wife who can find? She is far more precious than jewels. The heart of her husband trusts in her, and he will have no lack of gain. She does him good, and not harm, all the days of her life. and 28-29: Her children rise up and call her blessed; her husband also, and he praises her; "many women have done excellently, but you surpass them all." I found her. Happy Birthday Ronda, I love you. KWIBS - From October 17, 2016 - By Kevin Noland A lady I’ll call "Sandy", stopped in my office last week. She was a native of Mullinville, KS and was doing a historical book on her community. My great-grandparents, Jock and Mom (Ethel) Noland were known as "Grandpa and Grandma Noland" in Mullinville from the 1930s-1970s when they passed away. "Jock" was a mechanic and owned the garage in town that is now the home of Mullinville’s veterans’ memorial. Folks remember Jock as the local go-to-fix-it-guy. Ethel was the town’s dooms-day prepper. She had a large cellar that many of the town’s folk gathered in when inclement weather approached. Over the years I’ve run into many folks from Mullinville who remember my great-grandparents. All of the stories were of fond memories. They ran a skating rink and silent movie theater in town and eventually the mechanic shop. I still know where the house they lived in is. When I stop at the Mullinville Cemetery I drive by the old house. It still has an "N" on the screen door. Sandy recalls, "On the site of the Veterans’ memorial on HWY 154 which is on the NE corner of Main and the highway sat Jock’s Mechanic Shop for many years. In the beginning it was a service station run by Hoch Aldrich and Jock had a mechanic shop behind the service station. Then Jock purchased the whole building and turned it all into a mechanic shop. Almost everyone in town at some point had Jock work on their cars. He was in business at that location and did some advertising in 1953-54 in the school annual. In 1956 his ad in the annual said: ‘Bring it to Jock’s. We do the Best." Most of us remember Jock as a tease who loved to talk and shoot the bull with anyone within earshot. We can all see him perched on his folding chair outside the drive in door of the mechanic shop watching the traffic going by on the highway and holding the ever present pipe in his hand. Everyone remembers him with the pipe, he never went anywhere without that pipe in his and or dangling out the side of his mouth. I don’t think most of us ever saw him in anything but his overalls. When he wasn’t sitting outside the mechanic shop, you could find him across the street at the Sinclair telling stories to the guys that would stop in there. Through the years Jock mentored a lot of young men on how to take care of their cars and how to fix them." My cousin Dave Woolery recalled another story about Jock’s Mechanic Shop in Mullinville. Dave recalls that it was a gathering place for many of the local men. They would sit on his bench in front of the garage and drink sodas and smoke. Jock didn’t mind them hanging out, but didn’t have a public restroom. This didn’t bother the men that came to visit. They would just go around behind his shop and relieve themselves in a drain grate he had behind the building. This irritated Jock and he asked them time and time again not to do that. They didn’t listen. Jock devised a plan to stop this behavior. He wired up the metal grate to a car battery. It only took one person using the bathroom in the forbidden drain to teach the rest of the town a lesson. Several years ago, I had heard they were tearing my great-grandpa’s shop down to build the memorial site. I found where many of the bricks had gone and purchased some from the man who had stored them. I have a few of them around my house. I was very young when Mom and Jock passed away, but have many photos and have heard many stories about them. Sandy’s book featuring my family is set to be published in the spring of 2017. I shared some stories and some photos with her for the book. I ordered some books to give to family.
KWIBS - From October 10, 2016 - By Kevin Noland In about 60 days, my youngest son leaves for Great Lakes, IL for Recruit Training Command for the United States Navy. It seems like when you are young, time lingers. As you get older, time flies. Nick and I have been talking through some of the anxiety of starting this new chapter in his life. Four years for an 18 year old is nearly a quarter of their life as they know it. Four years for me was the end of Nick’s Freshman year in High School. It seems like it was only yesterday that he started grade school. The relevance of time is a perspective that is uniquely appreciated by everyone. Some things like waiting for the birth of a child seems to take forever, while watching that child grow up is a flash before your eyes. Nick will spend about 9 weeks in his basic training and then attend A and C schooling in the Carolinas. All of this will happen in just the first few months of his enlistment. From there, who knows where he’ll end up. Most likely because of his rate, he’ll be stationed with Marines somewhere. 60 days... That’s coming up very quickly. One year ago, almost to the date, Nick was playing in one of his last high school football games. It was in Sedgwick, KS. We weren’t winning this game, but Nick was not about to give up. With just a few minutes to go in the 4th, Nick tried to arm tackle a running back heading for the endzone. Nick made the tackle, but in that moment, things changed for him. Nick dislocated his right shoulder and tore his labrum. As a "future sailor" we reported the injury to his recruiter first thing on Monday morning after the Friday night game. The news wasn’t good. Without surgery, Nick was going to be disqualified by the Navy. With the surgery, there was no guarantee that he would be accepted either. Nick was in surgery within about 10 days of his injury. He sat out basketball and barely made it back for baseball in March, but by April, he was medically cleared to play. While at MEPS in Kansas City (Military Entrance Processing Station), Nick was told by their surgeon that he would not be cleared for entrance into the Navy. By the end of the experience, another Navy Surgeon gave Nick the waiver he needed to enter and within hours of being told he would be sent home and denied, he was swearing in. The delay from the injury caused Nick to lose his place for jobs and he enlisted as an Airman Undesignated. His recruiter said that Nick would basically leave boot camp and be assigned a job, probably on a ship. It wasn’t a guarantee that he’d get anything close to what he wanted, but Nick was just happy to finally get in. Nick’s first choice rating was RP (religious program specialist). Religious Program Specialists assist Navy chaplains. Religious program specialists provide support to Navy chaplains in developing programs to meet the needs of Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard personnel and their families. Obviously, Airman Undesignated was far from Nick’s choice for jobs in the Navy, but within about 3 days of swearing in, his recruiter called to offer Nick the RP job. There are about 889 of these positions in the Navy and 424 currently serve with Marine units. This late in the cycle, it is very unusual for a position like this to open up and Nick jumped at the chance and signed a new contract. From 1942 to 1945, the Navy adopted the Specialist "W" rate (the "W" stood for Welfare) to address the specific wartime needs of Chaplains serving in World War II. Specialist "W's were at that time required to: Perform clerical duties; play piano and organ for worship services; be competent musical directors; not expected to serve as religious leaders (just as it is today for RPs); and be willing to serve anywhere under any conditions. RPs have a lot of responsibilities like maintaining records, helping prepare religious services on bases and ships, and probably stacking Bibles and setting up chairs. One of the main responsibilities will be providing physical security for chaplains during field exercises and in combat environments. In the Navy, chaplains are not allowed to carry firearms. This is where an RP comes into service. For this reason, after his basic training Nick will attend schooling for his job and then receive combat training, probably with the Marines. All of this is pretty overwhelming and time is ticking. Everything we discuss now revolves around time. I try to remind Nick that 4 years ago, he was trembling the night before his first high school football game. He would be on a special teams kick off unit and play varsity squad. He was terrified, but that experience resulted in building confidence in himself, playing more varsity and eventually being selected for CPL honors by his Sophomore year. We look at pictures of his niece and nephew’s birth and we reminisce about the time that has passed. We look, with anticipation and some anxiety towards the next few months and years that he’ll be away. We talk about missing our first Christmas together and probably his birthday in February. It’s pretty overwhelming, but talking about it helps us understand the relevance of time. In four short years Nick will thinking about the time he just spent in the Navy and deciding on what to do about his future. Although 4 years seems so far away, my experience is that it will fly by.
KWIBS - From October 3, 2016 - By Kevin Noland What if no one would be elected president this time around and we all promised real hard to just be cool? Ok, so that’s probably not an option. Our options are: A) Donald Trump; B) Hillary Clinton; C) none of the above or in other words, Gary Johnson. I keep using the phrase, "In my adult life", as in "I’ve never seen anything like this in my adult life." It’s true. Somehow, two candidates, neither deserving to be the leader of the greatest nation in the world, have become our choices for president. We’re actually getting a lesson in oligarchy (the small group of people having control of our country) by only having these choices for president and they are using fear to make us think we have a meaningful choice between these two candidates that are preselected for us. In all my adult life (see, there I go again), I’ve never seen the selection process dwindle down to two people who are so unpopular. We don’t need to go into the details of why neither Trump or Clinton are worthy of the Oval Office. That just creates a storm of emails back to me trying to convince me that I am biased towards one candidate or another. I’m not. I dislike them equally at this point. "But you’ll have Hillary for a president if you don’t vote for Trump," one of my friends told me. Then the opposite of that is that we’ll have Trump for president if I do? I don’t want my seal of approval on that either. It’s controlled opposition. I would only vote for one of these candidates because I dislike the other one even more. What happened to the America where you actually believe in your candidate’s platform. The debates did nothing for me other than confirm what I already knew. Clinton was well prepared and avoided talking about anything that would catch her in a lie/crime. Trump was just himself - completely oblivious. The only motivating factor for me in this presidential race is the fact that somebody will appoint some supreme court justices... KWIBS - From September 26, 2016 - By Kevin Noland I go to the state fair every year for a variety of reasons. Usually it revolves around a purchase for the ranch, food and music. We went on Friday, September 16. This year is no different except for the fact that I brought home some nasty bug that laid me up for a few days with a fever, sore throat, cough and sniffles. I attributed that to the many grubby children I saw running around picking their noses and touching things that I probably touched, and then picked my nose later. Who doesn’t love a Pronto Pup?!? Me. That’s who. Who wants to spend their day at the fair running from bathroom to bathroom? Not me. That’s who. I had the lamb gyro. At least that’s what they claimed it was. The first place Ronda and I stopped was to look at mowers and tractors. We’re approaching 22 years on one of our machines and you can always get a great deal at the fair. A man from Agri Center was there and showed us some of the newest New Hollands that are 0% for 84 months. I like free money. We talked for a while and he agreed to come look at our oldest machine and give us a trade quote. We shook on it and Tuesday would be the day. Ronda and I moved from the heavy machinery (her least favorite part of the fair and my favorite) to the infomercial section... That’s what I call the merchant buildings. It’s like you can’t sleep and you’re up at 3 a.m. watching a commercial for a wondermop, only it’s like you fell back to sleep and had a bad dream where you have to walk isle after isle and look at everything that promises to revolutionize your life in some way. Every year we walk by those jiggle-butt weight loss machines. I just like to stand there, watch and giggle, but I always get on one and I know someone behind me is giggling. (You know who I’m talking about Phil Hinz....) We also go past the dirty-foot-water booth. You know the one. It’s where you put your feet in warm water, they stick some electricity through it and you supposedly detox through your feet. Basically, it’s a scam, but my wife wanted to try it. I was tired, so sitting down with my feet in warm water was worth $20. Plus I got to make fun of the junk science the guy was trying to sell me. After not spending $1,300 on this incredible machine that basically was my dirty feet in a rusty puddle of water made from the electrodes and salt, I made a mental note of how many strollers, wagons and scooters we had to maneuver around. I realize that I may need a scooter some day, but I didn’t that day and it was a pain in the butt. I didn’t want to stand in front of the amazing sun glasses cleaner any longer than I had to, but there were at least three scooters in front of us, probably stopped at the pretzel dip sample booth or getting their sun glasses cleaned. I think they should have a special day at the fair for all strollers, wagons and scooters. They get in for free. Only those pulling, pushing or scooting are allowed in that day. Nobody walks. Or have a day where none of those are allowed at the fair and charge double! That’s the day I would go to the fair. We finally made it out of there with most of our money intact (less $40 for the rusty foot water bath). That’s when we moved on to the grand finale of the evening: Lynard Skynard! That’s right. Ronda and I went to a concert where we were of the average age of our peers. This wouldn’t have happened if it weren’t for the fact that Bob and Valerie Slinkard couldn’t go and they had excellent seats! The concert was great! We left and stopped at a small gas station on the south end of town. I said, "Look, there’s the band’s buses." It was true. It was them. We’d watched them leave the same spot earlier in the day, saw the same buses at the show behind the stage and then followed them back to the same spot. While some call this stalking, I call it coincidence. I noticed there was a "bar and grill" sign on the hotel and I begged Ronda to pull in, much to her eye rolling. I’m just the kind of guy who would make an attempt at buying the band a round and trying to hang out with them. Hey, it worked at KISS a couple of months ago, if you remember. We parked the truck, went inside and acted like I knew where we were going. We followed the signs around the corner and were met by a staff member of the hotel. He informed us that the bar was "closed" to the public that evening. I’m pretty sure I could have gotten passed this guy, but I wasn’t going to risk getting arrested out of town on a Friday night, so Ronda, being the sensible one of the two of us, grabbed my wrist and we left. I was so close. So Tuesday rolled around and I never heard from the tractor guy. I should have known there is no such thing as free money. Wednesday I finally got a call from the tractor guy. He was on his way out and apologized for the day-late delay. As it turns out, he fell ill late on Friday of the fair and had to go home and start a round of antibiotics for some nasty bug he picked up..... I apologize to all grubby, nose picking kids at the fair for accusing them of making me sick. Have a great week! KWIBS - From September 19, 2016 - By Kevin Noland Now is the time for all good men to come to the aid of their country. I used to type that over and over and over... Betty Frisbie worked for my Grandpa Bill, Uncle Gary and finally my dad way back in the old newspaper days. As a way to keep me busy, Betty would load a sheet of paper into an old manual type writer and make me type that over and over again. I got pretty fast. By the time I took typing in high school, I was probably faster than my teacher Anita Hughbanks. I know I am faster than former MLHS teacher Dale McCurdy. We raced once. He says he won, but he made a lot of mistakes while typing that phrase. Kids now days don’t seem to type as quickly or accurately as I did as a kid. Of course, now everything is done on tiny phones with small QWERTY keyboards using your thumbs. That being said, they can type just about as fast on those screens as I can on a full size keyboard. That doesn’t go the same for my typing skills with my thumbs. For some dumb reason I can’t hit the space bar. I always hit the "N" and all my words run together on my phone. And auto correct... Oh how I hate you auto correct. You can get yourself into a lot of trouble by not proofing what you read before you send it... "are you coming to my new years party?" "Of course - I will be there." "ok cool because ia m going to kill you at midnight." "Ok on 2nd thought maybe I won’t go." "haha. i mean i’m going to kiss you at midnight." "hello? sorry....." Havengreatnweek!
KWIBS - From September 12, 2016 - By Kevin Noland Not many people know this about me, but I’m a pretty decent mechanic. Maybe decent isn’t the right word. I’m actually very good at breaking things, figuring out what I broke, finding out what it will cost to fix it and then determining whether or not I have the skill to fix it. In many cases, I’m very good at finding someone to fix it. So, I’m a shade tree mechanic. I had issues last week that all involved batteries. It’s like I upset the gods of voltage last week and had problems with electrical systems on four different machines. That’s not including the remote control batteries not working in my TV. First it was Nick’s (youngest son’s) truck. He parked at the bank, went in, came out and his truck wouldn’t start. He walked to the office and said, "Dad, my truck is dead. It won’t start. It’s junk and I probably need a new one." Nick is my "jump to conclusion" kid. If it isn’t running, it’s junk, broken and needing replaced After I asked him what it did, I decided it was probably a battery cable. I grabbed a 1/2" wrench out of my truck, tightened the terminals and all was right with the world. Next, "Farm Truck" died. I lovingly refer to our old truck as "Farm Truck" even though we don’t farm. It’s an older F350 dually that we use on the ranch to haul the trailer and mowers around. Nick had parked it and backed the mower off. When he returned several hours later, "Farm Truck" wouldn’t start. I determined it was a battery issue. We charged the battery up at the shed, put it back in "Farm Truck" and it started right up. We hauled the mower and trailer up to the house. All was right with the world. Only it wasn’t.... "Farm Truck" was dead the next morning. I decided to back the mower off the trailer to disconnect the trailer and reconnect it to another vehicle. Strangely the mower battery was too weak to start the mower to back it off the trailer. So I grabbed a jump start battery pack I keep in my truck. It was dead too. After some head scratching, I pulled both batteries and put them on the charger. After a few hours, I put the battery back in the mower and it was up and running. Nick was able to mow for about 2 hours before the blades wouldn’t engage. Then the engine wouldn’t start. Curse you voltage gods.... I can make a long story even longer, but when it came down to it, the mower needed a new battery after 4 years and the "Farm Truck" was just a problem of not getting the ignition turned all the way off. We just recently started leaving the keys in it.... (Thanks to Lane at Mike’s Service for figuring that out.) Lastly, over Labor Day weekend Joey (my oldest son) had some friends down from college to ride our jetskis. On one turn, the jetski just quit and two of his friends were stranded for a quite a while until Joey went and towed them back to the dock. When I checked, there was no power to the dash. I knew it had to be a lose battery cable because I just put new batteries in both skis. That was pretty much my modus operandi for the week. I popped the hood, pulled out my handy 1/2" wrench, that I now just keep in my front right pocket, tightened things up and she started right up! All was right with the world. Don’t tell my sons, they both think I’m a decent mechanic.
KWIBS - From September 5, 2016 - By Kevin Noland Hey, if you see Summer, let her know Spring has been squatting on her time. I’ve been so happy to see all the rain these past few weeks. It’s crazy to think that just 2 years ago we were praying daily for some sort of moisture. Now, it’s like a tropical jungle in some parts of the county. With all that rain, we keep mowers running near around the clock at our place. I bet you’d agree with me that it’s been one heck of a year for mowing the lawn and like most, you’re tired of cutting the grass. I’ll bet you’re not as tired as we are. I’m sort of a statistics nerd, but in looking back from the time the mowing season started, three of us at Lake Arrowhead have logged just over 600 hours of mowing so far this season. That breaks down into 180 blades sharpened and/or replaced, 20 oil and filter changes (50 quarts of oil and 20 filters), 220 gallons of gasoline and 250 gallons of diesel used and more than $1,000 in repairs and another $6,000 in labor. That’s mowing almost 200 acres of recreation areas, roads and lots. We get done mowing just in time to start over at the beginning almost every 5 days with a 2 day break, if we’re lucky! It’s been an unusually busy season this year. That should make you feel better about mowing your lawn! Many of those hours were logged by Josh Ybarra and my son Nick Noland. These guys have mowed their butts off this summer, literally in one instance. I had to replace a seat on one of the mowers after Nick wore it out! Thank you Josh and Nick for helping us keep things looking so nice this year. I’ve never seen a year like this where it’s been so green and lush. As I hurry and finish this, I’m leaving early on another Wednesday to go out and do some more mowing! Have a great week! KWIBS - From August 22, 2016 - By Kevin Noland Throughout life you meet people, and if you’re like me, you categorize them into acquaintances and "keepers". MT Main was in my "keeper" file. Born Marion Tackle, MT and I met back in 2004 at the fitness center. At 74 years young, MT and I would do the tread mill and weights together. A year later our band Dorfus CrackTractor formed. Justin Rugg, David Fasgold and I would practice in the back of my office. MT asked if it would be OK if he attended practices and we were fine with it. He’d compliment or criticize what songs he liked or disliked and why. We actually took his advice. We even decided that we’d call him our "Manager". His only responsibility would be to show up and follow us around, but he was our biggest fan. MT actually road the bus to different venues we played at and he’d be the last one standing, helping us put our equipment away. Even after the band stopped playing, MT kept up his friendship. Ronda and I brought him out to our lake and introduced him to jetskis. MT loved riding the jetskis. At almost 80, he’d climb on and mash the throttle and keep up with people half of his age. He was incredible and a blast to be around. He confessed once that hanging out with us made him feel young. Making jokes about his age were fine with him. He once told a story about working for the telegraph company and one of us asked, "Was that right after you quit the pony express?" We always ribbed MT and we always got a laugh out of him. After a few years, MT’s health began to decline and he wanted to be closer to his family in Wisconsin. He stopped in the office and started out the conversation about moving with one of his signature statements, "I hope you’re not mad, but I’m going to move closer to my daughter in Monroe." MT kept in touch and called once a month to check on his friends. A few months before he died he wanted me to know he had cancer and may not have much time left. He thanked me for our friendship and it was sincere and really touched me. MT was a "Keeper" and I was honored to be his friend. His daughter called me last week. She had found my name and number in a book that he’d written in. He asked her that if anything happened to him, that someone call his friends in Kansas to let them know. My name was in his book. That made me smile.
KWIBS - From August 15, 2016 - By Kevin Noland I’m usually too busy for any scheduled TV. I leave one on in my office to hear the news as it breaks, but lately that’s just been boring jabs from presidential candidates. So when a buddy of mine asked if I was watching the Olympics, I had to confess that I had forgotten they were even on. So, no, at that time I had not watched a single minute of the Olympics. While eating dinner the other night,women’s sand volleyball came on and I happened to catch that. I have to admitt, this is more of a late night Showtime event, but I see the athleticism in it. After that, I finally made an effort last week to watch some of the swimming events. I wasn’t as impressed as the womens sand volleyball. My phone rang and I paused a mens swimming event and for the next 20 minutes while on the phone, this is what I had to look at....
KWIBS - From August 8, 2016 - By Kevin Noland Nothing lasts forever, but even when you know it’s going to end and have been prepared for a month, you just aren’t ready. But it’s not really an end. It’s just a date we’ve marked on the calendar that is Doris’s last day working here. We celebrated it last Friday with some gifts, cake and some laughs. Bittersweet is the dumbest term I’ve ever heard of, but it’s true in this moment. We are so happy for Doris that she’ll be able to do many of the things in life that she’s wanted to do, but we are also so full of sadness that she’s leaving. You couldn’t possibly understand our office unless you’ve worked here as long as Doris and she didn’t come here by much of her own choice. Way back (17.5 years ago) I had met Doris around town and knew of her work at Myrlen Bell’s office and then at Alco. She was smart, articulate and very friendly. I had to have her come work for me. One day she walked passed our office and Ronda said, "Hey, there is that lady you’ve been talking about!" We had been searching for the right person to add to our staff and I ran out the door after her. I think I sort of freaked her out by telling her quite bluntly, "I want you to come work for us!" She actually didn’t say yes, but she didn’t say no either. A few days later, she accepted the offer and has become many things to us over the years, most importantly a friend. She is replaceable, but only up to a point of work. There will be an empty place in our hearts. She’s always had a pretty great sense of humor, patience for me and my office pranks, done almost anything for us with minimal grumbling and eye-rolling and has always had our backs - in good times and in bad. She said it best last week when she said, "This isn’t good-bye." We know Doris will bless others like she’s blessed us for the past 17+ years. Ronda and I are so excited to welcome Brenda Head to the family. We’re already discovering she can tolerate us and our hectic schedules and wacky sense of humor! We know she’s a little overwhelmed, but we are confident in her! KWIBS - From August 1, 2016 - By Kevin Noland Last week, I checked Facebook early in the morning and discovered a friend request from someone I actually knew. I accepted the request and noticed that I had just then hit 1,000 friends. I thought, no way... So I looked again, and sure enough, there were 1,000 names in my Facebook collection. Thinking this was just too many and I couldn’t possibly know all these people, I logged in with intentions to thin out the herd. I couldn’t do it. I couldn’t find one person to delete. I pretty much knew or liked everyone in my friends list! Now, to be fair, some of these people are folks that I bonded out of jail through my other business and it’s a nice way to keep track and be able to contact them, but the others were ACTUAL friends, so I kind of "collect them"! How blessed is the man with friends! Ecclesiastes 4:9-10 says: "Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!" Sometimes Facebook is full of trouble, but most of the time I find my friends posting photos of their life events, children, spouses and just funny stories. Speaking of friends, I got a full dose of them during the last couple of weeks. Ronda and I went to Amarillo over a week ago to take our niece and nephew back and met up with Kyle and DeDe Vick. They met us half way from New Mexico. We love this little rendezvous because it allows us to stop and see Dale and Michele McCurdy! We had a great evening of catching up before heading home. I had to get back to pick up Nix White from the airport the very next day. On Monday, Nix and I hooked up with Mike Traffas, a fellow classmate, and took in the KISS concert. It’s great having friends!
Our first KISS... Before you read any further and roll your eyes, please understand this story isn’t about me bragging or being star struck, it’s about an experience I recently had that turned out to be nothing like I expected it to be. Sometime during the last week of June, my friend Nix White called and asked if I wanted to go and see KISS in concert in Wichita on July 25th. Nix and I graduated from MLHS together in 1988 and we’ve made a point to get together as frequently as possible and "make some memories." I have to be honest, and I was with Nix, I wasn’t a huge KISS fan. Admittedly, my very first Columbia House record order was KISS’s "Love Gun" in 1977. It was on 8-Track. I later bought "Lick it Up" in 1983 on cassette, but I’m sure that both of those are in a box somewhere in my garage or ended up in the trash after digital music became more popular. I love live music, so it was easy to say YES to Nix to go to the concert. Little did I realize at the time that Nix was friends with KISS frontman Gene Simmon’s Personal Assistant - "Dave." I learned later through some text messages that Nix was working a deal on some backstage passes. Nix always has some crazy connection to somebody. As a retired Navy SEAL and FrogX parachutist, Nix has met some interesting people in his life. I had sort of forgotten all about the invitation to KISS from Nix until I got a phone call from him as I was traveling to Amarillo, TX just over a week ago. "Hey man, I’ll be flying into Wichita on Sunday. You ready to see and meet KISS," he asked? I was a little dumbfounded, but realized he was serious. "Make sure you bring a record album or something. You’ll get an opportunity to have them sign whatever you want," Nix explained. After a little more discussion and planning, I realized I had nothing to bring for the band to sign, so I put out an urgent request on Facebook. Claudia and David Vollbracht came to my rescue with the "Destroyer" album. When I got back from Texas, I went straight to their house and got that album. The next day Nix’s flight arrived right on time and I picked him up at the airport and we met up with another classmate from MLHS’s class of 1988, Mike Traffas. Nix had made a last minute arrangement to get Mike in on the deal of going to KISS. The last time I had seen Mike was last year at his brother Dan’s funeral. It wasn’t good circumstances that we met up and we didn’t have much time to visit, so this opportunity was perfect to catch up on what had been going on in his life for the past 30 years over lunch. You have to rewind three decades to understand that Mike was an unlikely candidate to go to KISS with Nix and me. Nix and I wore parachute pants in the 80s, break danced, listened to rock music and had long hair. Mike would have been found in cowboy boots, wearing his cowboy hat and probably listening to Hank Williams, Jr at a nearby rodeo. We just weren’t "close" in high school, but finding out he was right there in Wichita, Nix really wanted to get together, and he couldn’t have picked a better person to take along. We made arrangements to pick up Mike the next day and Nix and I came back to Medicine Lodge for a quick excursion out to our lake for some jetski time and then a quick visit to his former hometown of Medicine Lodge. The last time he was here, you might remember him landing on the football field and on Main Street with giant flag after he jumped out of a helicopter during Peace Treaty. Monday, we got up and began the day that will forever change my impression of KISS. After picking up Mike and making a quick lunch stop we arrived at Intrust Bank Arena at about 2:30 p.m. I had a contact there and reached out to "Kandace" for some special parking and a tour of the arena for me and my buddies. We actually name-dropped her and got to park right next to the security gate! When we got to the area east of the arena we were met by a nice young man in a black security outfit who worked for Martin Security. Nix’s contact had given him instructions we were coming and that he would meet us at the security entrance. We parked and within a few minutes a gentlemen came out of the gates and welcomed us. "Dave" was a unique character. He led us into a large lot full of semi trucks and black tour buses where he stopped at the first one and entered a security code that opened up the bus door. Inside was like a small office setting with big screen TVs and food and beverages. We sat down and Nix began catching up with Dave. Mike and I just sort of looked around and at each other, not believing we were actually doing this. People came in and out of the bus bringing in more food, getting instructions from Dave and picking up radios and other equipment. After a few minutes of small talk, Dave became very personal to both Mike and me and we got to know each other. After about an hour on the bus, Dave handed each of us wrist bands and, an honest to God "back stage, all access pass" with KISS on the front. I couldn’t get that thing around my neck fast enough. We exited the bus and entered Intrust Bank Arena from a place I had never been before. Inside and past security were forklifts and people working like ants on a mission. There was a lot of commotion and Dave yelled, "You guys can go anywhere you want. I just ask that you stay off the stage and don’t go into the guys’ dressing rooms!" Dave pointed out where the band would greet us and he disappeared into his madness of being Gene Simmon’s personal assistant. Just seconds later, several Segwick County Sheriff cars led a convoy of Black Lincoln Navigators into the garage area where we were standing and out pops original members Paul Stanley and Gene Simmons and newer band members Tommy Thayer and Eric Singer. After some high-fives and handshakes, they grabbed some instruments and did a quick, up close and personal, very impromptu, 30 minute concert for about 30-40 fans waiting in the hallway. My friend Kandace showed up and watched with us before we took our tour of the Intrust Bank Arena. Here’s where every preconceived notion I ever had about the band KISS went out the window. There was no make up, there were no drugs and girls weren’t throwing themselves at the guys. It was just some really happy guys meeting some really happy fans. I felt a little out of my element. After KISS put their instruments back up, they came over and talked and signed autographs. Then the fans were escorted out the door and there we were with KISS and their crew. Since they had things to take care of before their concert that night (like putting on their make up and costumes, we went with Kandace and began our tour of the facility. Nix and Mike hadn’t been there, so we took the personal tour and stopped in the suites to visit and rest for a minute. When we went back down stairs, Gene Simmons came out of a room in the hall, grabbed me and Kandace and yelled, "Group Hug!" Gene is a huge guy and my face and Kandace’s face ended up buried in his chest as he nearly crushed us to death, laughing the entire time. As we roamed the halls we would run into Gene, Paul, Tommy and Eric. It got to the point where it was really no big deal. We were just all there waiting for a concert to begin. Gene was the funny one. At least 3 times during passing him in the hall, he would reach into his bag on his hip and throw handfuls of guitar picks at us. Later in the evening, he showed us how he could, with precision accuracy, launch a guitar pick and hit someone almost 40 feet away. It was just crazy. And yes, his tongue is that large (you’ve been dying to know, but that’s not what this story is about). When we finished the tour, Dave sent Nix a text saying that the hospitality room was ready and we should come down for some food and beverages. My mind went crazy here. This is probably where the sex, drugs and rock-n-roll would be. I thought there would be some finger foods, sandwiches, chips and tons of alcohol, because that’s what rock bands eat and drink, right? Wrong.... We walked into a very nice buffet line with things like BBQ-Watermelon-Chicken-Legs, roasted pork and potatoes, baked squash and not a single drop of alcohol to be found.... and no, no drugs. There were men, children and ladies, presumably family members and staff in the room and everyone was talking and enjoying their meal. We sat down at a table and I had one fantastic, very normal meal! So we were about 15 minutes out from the opening act to start and we just sort of hung out back stage. There was a lot of activity and we met some nice people. One guy was bouncing a ball off the wall and talking to a giant security guy. I walked by and said, "Hey man!" He said "hi" and while Nix and Mike went to the restroom, I learned that he was Caleb Johnson, season 13 "American Idol" winner. His set list was taped to a console backstage and I snapped a photo of it. The plan from Dave was that when Caleb began performing, we would meet at section 112 for the opportunity of a photo with KISS in their full costumes and makeup. We’d have one final opportunity to talk with the guys after the fan club ran through their meet and greet and photo session. We had a different color of wrist band and passes than everyone else and we ended up in a group of about 15 people and began small talk with them. One lady and her 7 year old son had come from Switzerland by invitation of KISS’s tour manager. The young boy was pretty excited. His English was excellent, but hers, not so much, but we enjoyed talking with them. She accidentally got into KISS’s dressing room and was promptly ushered out. I had read about KISS and putting on their makeup: "We had to go through torture to perfect the process of putting it on", Paul Stanley said. "I can remember plenty of times when I blinded myself with black eye make-up... In the beginning, the white was a zinc oxide cream which you can buy in any pharmacy. We didn't know what we were doing; we just wanted white faces...and the zinc oxide beat spraying ourselves with white paint. We eventually worked our way up to what's called 'clown white.' The two best brands are made by Stein's and Max Factor... At first, the black was Maybelline waterproof eyeliner, but it would crack because it's only meant to draw a line around your eye, not a whole star. Now we use black grease sticks, which are a more solid form of greasepaint." After what I imagined was a few minutes of a grueling process of putting makeup on four men, we were ushered into a locker room / bathroom and down a short hallway to a room with a large KISS banner. In the room was a photographer, a security guard as big as a gorilla and a group of veterans with the local chapter of Wichita’s American Legion, including their families. Some classic KISS music was pumped into the room through a small PA and folks started cheering. In walks KISS.... now about a foot taller than when I first met them, due to the platform shoes, in full costume and makeup. You couldn’t help but feel the excitement as they greeted the veterans and lined us all up for photos with the band. Gene squeezed my neck just before our photo. With their makeup and costumes on, they took on the persona of larger-than-life comic book-style characters. Again, after the fan club people were finished, they were herded out to the left and Dave told us, "Go to the right and wait in the hallway." So Mike, Nix and I were standing in the hallway when this very pretty girl walks up to me and asks, "Are you Kevin Noland?" I blubbered out a "yes" and she explained why she was looking for me. Her husband’s band "Saving Abel" toured with my friends in "Aranda". She had been texting Gabe Aranda and he told her I was there and what I was wearing. She came looking for me and we took a selfie together and sent it to him. Just then Paul Stanley and Tommy Thayer walk out and give us high-fives and make some small talk as they head towards the back of the stage entrance. Eric Singer, the drummer, walked up and got right in my face and started talking and asking me what I do for a living and how I ended up backstage with KISS. I gave him the Cliff Notes version. We had a few laughs and I asked him if it would be OK to video him with my phone and he was all cool about it. In the video, I asked him to say hello to Sheriff Justin Rugg. He does and then grabs Gene Simmons as he walked past and got Gene Simmons to say hello to Justin as well. I texted that off to Justin. We spoke with Gene and Eric for a few more minutes and then we were directed towards an exit, which actually turned out to be an entrance to the back of KISS’s stage. We followed the band through the doors and the lights went off in the arena. I heard a loud bass hum that roared through the speakers. KISS walked up the stairs and we turned stage right, through a winding maize of computers, power amps and cords. When we emerged, we were in front of the stage. That was the last contact we had with any of the band or any staff members that night, besides the occasional arm grabbing by security guards, which were brushed off when they saw our credentials. KISS’s concert was really pretty incredible. I knew most of the music and I watched the show. I realized instantly how much these guys like to perform. The stage show featured fire breathing, fake blood-spitting, smoking and smashing guitars, shooting rockets, levitating drum kits, a center stage that was reached by pulley and harness systems and pyrotechnics that rival most 4th of July’s. It was pretty amazing to watch. What I really took away from this show: Not one curse word was uttered by the band. KISS brought children up on stage to perform with them and gave them gifts. I never saw or heard anything inappropriate in their behavior. KISS took a break during the show to bring up the American Legion on stage to present them with a check for $150,000 to help wounded soldiers and their families; and honored all area veterans. They asked us all to place our hands over our hearts and say the "Pledge of Allegiance". Then they played the "Star Spangled Banner". They closed with "Rock And Roll All Night." This is where Nix, Mike and I probably had the most fun. We were standing at the back of the room by this time, near a giant confetti machine that shot hundreds of pounds of paper into the air. The guy running the machines was having a blast shooting this stuff into the crowd and even throwing handfuls of it at us. We would pick it up and throw at each other and back at him and we laughed all the way out to the truck. I still have pieces of confetti in my truck. This was a really cool experience; one I am probably never to see again in my lifetime. It was great to reconnect with Mike and spend the day with a couple of classmates. I can’t thank Nix enough for the invite and hope you enjoyed reading about my day with friends and ......KISS.
KWIBS - From July 25, 2016 - By Kevin Noland I’ll be first to formally announce it, but you’ll be reading about it in the weeks to come. Doris Sorg is leaving the paper in a couple of weeks. Doris has been with us for over 17 years. So it came as a shock, but not a bad shock, that she told us over a week ago now that she would be winding this chapter of her life down. She’ll go into her own details of what her plans for the future are soon, but I can tell you that Ronda and I are sad she’s leaving and at the same time, happy that she’s going to do some things in life she’s always wanted to do. When you spend as much time together as Doris, Ronda and I have, you get into a pretty comfortable routine and you really get to know a person. We’ve shared many milestones: children going off to war, children getting married, becoming grandparents, experiencing the death of parents and grandparents - and so many more life events. 17+ years of friendship have made a bond unbreakable by an employee-employer relationship. Over the years there have been some great office antics that have happened at the Premiere, pretty much on a daily basis. One of my favorite office pranks is the air horn. When you least expect it, I blow an air horn in the office. I do this strictly for the scream factor! Another one of my favorite pranks was when I hid in the new recycling bins from Nisly that were dropped off at our office and jumped out when Doris came in. She’s handled me pretty well over the years. If anyone has ever had a reason to quit their job because of the working environment, it would be Doris. Instead of all the times she should have quit, she would either punch me or karate kick me. I’m going to miss those times. I’ve barely touched on what wonderful thing she has done for us over the years, but they are too many to put in such a small space. Doris, know we love you and appreciate you. You’re probably wondering who is going to replace her? Well, through answered prayer and a great stroke of luck, we will be introducing that new lady next week!
KWIBS - From July 18, 2016 - By Kevin Noland Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you’ve noticed Pokémon Go is a phenomenon both ruining and… saving the world? In less than a week, the game has taken the world by storm, bringing Nintendo shares up by 25% and even beating out Tinder as one of the most popular mobile apps. Basically: people love Pokémon more than.... well, real love! If you thought your kid or friends spent too much time looking at their cell phone screens already, there’s a new reason for them to get a kink in their necks. It started at my house last week. Nick, my youngest son (18) calls at 11:30 p.m. one night and asks, "Hey, me and some friends *13 of them* want to go to Kiowa to a gym and take it over. Is that ok?" I said, "Of course that’s not OK. What they heck are you talking about?" So I get a 15 minute lecture that was mostly, "blah, blah pokestops, blah blah level up, blah, blah gyms, battle and I think I finally fell asleep around the discussion of Hyper Potion." So the 13 or so kids from Medicine Lodge on the "red team" walked the main street of Kiowa that night, doing battle and taking over their gym there, stacking it with their Pokémon that they conveniently called "ML". So the new Mason-Dixon line for Barber County has been drawn in the digital world of Pokemon. Kids now gather in small packs across the street from the Methodist Church in Medicine Lodge, battling each other. It’s everywhere. I thought this was cute: This is a public notice that anyone caught hunting Pokemon on M-Bar Ranch or Lake Arrowhead property without written permission will be prosecuted to fullest extent of the law. We have been hand raising some top performers for years, their bloodlines are unprecedented and well sought after. If you would like to lease the property for next year, we are having a lottery draw and we will issue tags. All Pokemon caught must be checked in for our personal records. Game Management KWIBS - From July 11, 2016 - By Kevin Noland I’m amused and annoyed by the confusion most people have about a candidate running for office. You know, I hear things. People talk about this candidate or that candidate, but most are completely unaware of the facts and many times candidates are completely misrepresented. Sometimes, they’re completely dishonest. Politics is an ugly thing. I gave the political world a whirl several years ago, filing for county commissioner. I learned really fast that people are not what they appear when it comes to running for public office. It doesn’t always happen this way on a local level, but the phrase, "Absolute power corrupts absolutely" does scare the *you know what* out of me. Power can go to your head. From my experience as a candidate, everyone starts out with well meaning intentions. Unfortunately, outside influences usually seeking favors can tarnish good people who become politically motivated. Public service often turns into benefit packages. Those in power forget who they are serving. I can honestly say that after the 2012 election, I saw good things from the gentleman I ran against. Bill Smith became the county commissioner in early 2013 after beating both me and Bob Packard for District 3. He’s done a good job for Barber County. Early on, I had ambitions to run against him again this year, but after seeing that his heart was in it and he had good intentions, I believe supporting him is the better decision for the county. Maybe I will give it a whirl again someday. We’re not in the best of times, mostly because of real property and oil valuations on the decline. I know that our commissioners are trying very hard to balance budgets and keep our county’s momentum going through support for economic development and keeping taxes under control. That’s not an easy task given the state is also in financial trouble. My advice to all the candidates is, "Keep it above board." Taking cheap shots and being malicious won’t gain you the respect of voters. At least not this one. Have a great week! KWIBS - From July 4, 2016 - By Kevin Noland The tradition of Independence Day celebrations goes back to the 18th century and the American Revolution. The day was only officially declared a federal holiday in 1941. In June 1776, representatives of the 13 colonies then fighting in the revolutionary struggle weighed a resolution that would declare their independence from Great Britain. Actually, on July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted in favor of independence, and two days later its delegates adopted the Declaration of Independence, a historic document drafted by Thomas Jefferson. From 1776 until the present day, July 4th has been celebrated as the birth of American independence. John Adams believed that July 2nd was the correct date on which to celebrate the birth of American independence, and would reportedly turn down invitations to appear at July 4th events in protest. Adams and Thomas Jefferson both died on July 4, 1826--the 50th anniversary of the adoption of the Declaration of Independence. On July 2nd, the Continental Congress voted in favor of the resolution for independence. On that day, John Adams wrote to his wife Abigail that July 2 "will be celebrated, by succeeding Generations, as the great anniversary festival" and that the celebration should include "Pomp and Parade…Games, Sports, Guns (yes, guns...), Bells, Bonfires and Illuminations from one End of this Continent to the other." On July 4th, the Congress formally adopted the Declaration of Independence, which had been written largely by Jefferson. Though the vote for actual independence took place on July 2nd, from then on the 4th became the day that was celebrated as the birth of American independence. Whatever day you celebrate, remember that we don’t always agree on everything, but we did agree then, and should now, that we have to be a free people. More oppressive laws and less individual rights is what lead to the first revolution and that is what this country was founded on.
KWIBS - From June 27, 2016 - By Kevin Noland PERSHAGEN, Sweden, June 23 (UPI) -- Audible flatulence resulted in one Swedish soccer player being ejected early during a lower-league match. The Guardian reports that Pershagen SK defender Adam Lindin Ljungkvist, 25, was given a red card and sent out of a match against Järna SK's reserve team after the referee determined that his fart was "deliberate provocation" and "unsportsmanlike behavior." "I had a bad stomach, so I simply let go," Ljungkvist said. "Then I received two yellow cards and then red. Yes, I was shocked, it's the strangest thing I have ever experienced in football." Kristoffer Linde, who was playing on the opposite team of Ljungkvist, also admitted to the bizarre nature of the call but said he was able to hear the fart from his position on the field. "I was standing a good distance away but I heard the fart loud and clear," Linde said. "It's the strangest thing I've seen on a pitch, and I've been playing football since I was eight years old." Ljungkvist said he asked the referee why he was being penalized for his decision to "break wind a little" during the game and determined the referee must have believed he directed his flatulence at the opponent intentionally, according to Vice Sports. "I can only surmise that he thinks I did it up against an opponent, but to provoke someone with a fart would be pretty bizarre," he said. "I just did a perfectly innocent fart, and got sent off for it." Referee Dany Kako confirmed Ljungkvist's suspicions and stated he handed out a similar punishment in an incident that involved a player urinating on the field. "I perceived it as deliberate provocation," Kako said. "He did it on purpose and it was inappropriate. Therefore, he received a yellow card." Pershagen SK and Ljungkvist eventually lost the game 5-2 and he expressed his displeasure with the call to Kako after the game. "To provoke anyone with a fart is not particularly smart or normal. It's nonsense – I just broke wind and got a red card," he said. "I spoke to the referee afterwards, I was annoyed, but there were no bad words. I just said he was a buffoon." KWIBS - From June 20, 2016 - By Kevin Noland I’m a man. I consider myself pretty brave in most circumstances. In comes a spider... Now spiders freak me out and you can bet that any time I have an encounter with one and I see it first, I’m yelling for my wife to kill it. But my wife wasn’t at the office on Thursday afternoon. Thank the Lord, White’s Foodliner Manager Norm Clouse was. We were talking and I happened to look up and see this giant spider on my ceiling in my office. Norm saw it too. I have 12 foot ceilings, so I was not able to reach this spider and convinced Norm that he could reach it with a broom handle (because he was at least 6 inches taller than me). The plan was simple: Knock it down and kill it. The first part of our plan went flawlessly. Norm knocked it down, but it landed on my desk and immediately took up a defensive position behind some of my manly NRA magazines. We could see him, and I assumed with all of his 8 eyes, he could see us as well. I decided that I would use some reverse psychology on the spider and approach him from the opposite direction and sort of herd him out into the open where Norm would be waiting to smack him with the broom handle. We got into position. You should always have a plan and stick to the plan. For some reason, Norm decided to stick his hand in there too and the spider got confused. Long story short, the spider went in several directions; Norm and I bounced off of each other, knocked some things off my desk and screamed like a couple of teenage girls. There stood the spider. Unscathed. We regrouped and took an assessment of our well being. We were fine. I took my desk name plate and crushed the spider. We are men, hear us scream.....
KWIBS - From June 13, 2016 - By Kevin Noland This is a big week for us. A page turned, a volume number and an issue changed over on the front page. We’re 25 years old. Ronda and I officially started this newspaper in July of 1991. Like a couple of loose chains, we skipped a cog somewhere back in volume 2 or 3 and we ended up at 25 this week - two weeks early. Someone should research when that happened. So we’re 1,300 issues into this adventure. A few of you have been subscribers since day one and we appreciate that! A couple of famous longtime subscribers include Martina McBride and my buddy, retired Navy Seal, Nix White. Here’s a nice transition.... I was on the phone with Nix White on Tuesday around 4:30 p.m. He called to congratulate my family for my son’s swearing in to the United States Navy. My son raised his right hand on Tuesday after two days of MEPS in Kansas City. Nix was a pretty big influence in his life. Graduating from MLHS in 1988, Nix went off to Illinois for his basic training, just like Nick will. He’s always been there to encourage Nick. Both Nix and Nick had and have a lot in common. Both were good athletes, about the same height and weight, average academics.... but most importantly, they both have big hearts to achieve big things in life! Nix is now retired from the Navy and has a son of his own entering the Marines. It’s crazy to think our kids could be serving together somewhere in the world side by side at some point. It’s a real possibility.
I’d also like to wish my wife a Happy Anniversary! On June 17th, we’ll celebrate 28 years! I love you Ronda. :) Have a great week! Congratulations Nick! And, thank you to our readers for 25 years!
KWIBS - From June 6, 2016 - By Kevin Noland While the world was in an uproar with the killing of Harambe, apparently the world’s most gentle Gorilla, no one even noticed Lobby Joe’s great rescue and escape. The lobster’s long voyage began when he was spotted sitting alone in a tank in a northern Ontario supermarket, by Christine Loughead. Perhaps because she was a vegan, she found the crustacean’s probable fate unbearable. "It weighed on my psyche more and more," she told the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. Then it dawned on her. "It’s not too late to help. He’s alive." Loughead bought the lobster for C$20.23 ($15.46), not exactly sure what she would do next. She took it home, telling it: "You are now not dinner," and naming it Lobby Joe. Cutting off the thick rubber bands around its claws, she put it in a saltwater tank in her home. An online search suggested the lobster had probably been plucked out of the waters near Nova Scotia. Loughead reached out to an online vegan community in the area, appealing for help to release the lobster back into the ocean if she could find a way to get it to Halifax, some 3,000 kilometres away from Red Lake. Her call was answered by Beth Kent, the founder of a local animal shelter in Bridgewater, a small town about an hour’s drive from Halifax. Now Loughead had to figure out how to get the lobster to Kent. She called around; the nearest courier that would ship live animals was in Winnipeg, a six-hour drive from her town. Loughead packed the lobster in a Styrofoam box padded with wet newspaper and cold packs, placing the box gingerly in the back seat and fastening the seat belt around it. The cost of shipping was C$225 ($172) while gas for the journey came to around C$160 ($122.30). After 24 hours in transit, the box arrived in Nova Scotia. As Kent gently wrestled wet newspaper from the grasp of its claws, she told Lobby Joe: "Life is going to get better, OK?" Kent first went to the site where she had planned to release the lobster, but hastily changed plans after spotting a fishing boat on the horizon. She instead released the lobster in a small cove. "There he goes, there he goes," Kent said excitedly as the lobster scrambled over the rocks. Meanwhile, over 480,000 people had signed a petition on change.org called "Justice for Harambe" after the 17-year-old male Western Lowland Gorilla was put down last week after a 4 year boy fell into his enclosure. For the record, I like my children alive and my lobster with melted butter. Have a great week insane world!
KWIBS - From May 30, 2016 - By Kevin Noland A positive person anticipates happiness, health and success, and believes he or she can overcome any obstacle and difficulty. This describes my Uncle Gary Noland perfectly. On a recent trip to Texas, we stopped and celebrated my Uncle Gary’s 73rd birthday with him and my Aunt Millie. Many of you will remember Gary from his Index days here in Medicine Lodge. He’s been in California and Montana and finally landed in Fort Worth many years ago. My Uncle is a positive thinking person. He’s been through quite a few trials in his life. Almost 12 years ago, he was told he would die of colon cancer. He beat that and has lived a productive and healthy life since. He was weak and tired during our visit, but positive. After we got home and a few days had passed, he called to tell me that he was in the hospital and was diagnosed with stage 4 lung cancer. He was told with treatment, he might have a year, but he is positive. Positive thinking is not accepted by everyone. Some, consider it as nonsense, and scoff at people who follow it, but I believe there is real power there. "A joyful heart is good medicine, but a crushed spirit dries up the bones." - Proverbs 17:22 My Uncle Gary had confessed he’d not been feeling well for quite a while and our visit made him laugh and he felt so good the next day. I felt good too. We always have a good laugh when we’re together. I’m blessed to have so many family members close by. I wish he lived closer, but I am sure we’ll get back to see him soon, so I can spend more time with my Uncle Gary. We’ll share some good medicine together. Try it, you might find it works well. Have a great week! KWIBS - From May 23, 2016 - By Kevin Noland Use whatever bathroom best fits your identity. That was the big story last week. Nothing trumped that - pun intended. A letter the administration sent to school districts was signed by officials at the Justice Department and the Department of Education. A copy was posted on the Department of Justice’s website. While the letter does not have the force of law, it does warn that schools that do not abide by the administration’s interpretation of civil rights under the Title IX law may face lawsuits or loss of federal aid. "There is no room in our schools for discrimination of any kind, including discrimination against transgender students on the basis of their sex," Attorney General Loretta Lynch said in a statement. First, let me say that I understand that since the beginning of time there have been men and women who have trouble with identifying their gender. The parts might be there, but they may not have developed a male or female brain. There’s lots of science and solid clinical evidence for the chromosomal, anatomical and hormonal variations which lead some men to be "girly" and some girls to be "manly". This does not always mean they are gay or lesbian. We all grew up with people who might have been a little more masculine or a little more feminine. It was just a fact of life, but we all got through school without the President telling us to open up our bathrooms to whoever wants to use them so that we don’t discriminate against them. My personal feelings are that it goes against the values of so many people to grant "rights" to those who wish to identify themselves with being transgender. Although I am compassionate to those who were born and identify this way, I see it as a slippery slope to start granting special rights to anyone identifying themselves as a different gender, a different race, a different animal or whatever they identify themselves with. Even though my brain identifies myself as a 18-year-old teenager, my body still says, "Wait a minute, you’re nearly a 47-year-old, middle-aged man. Don’t try that." Like it or not, more people will take advantage of this forceful "recommendation" by the Obama Administration’s Justice Department than you might think. It will lead to some very uncomfortable situations in bathrooms across the country. Some common sense and common ground can be met in addressing this issue without causing embarrassment and discomfort to a majority of students and parents, all while preserving the rights of the few who this effects. Our world has gone mad with political correctness, to the point where we aren’t even close to being correct. Is this story more important than the 25 Iraqi citizens who were tortured and killed by ISIS last week? ISIS lowered people into Nitric Acid and we heard virtually nothing about that, but everytime my TV was on this week, I had to hear about bathroom equality? We’re really being distracted by this type of news. For the record, I used the women’s bathroom at a Walgreens in Texas last weekend after I found the mens room locked up. I didn’t identify myself as anything but "desperate" and made my wife stand guard outside the door. Have a great week!
KWIBS - From May 16, 2016 - By Kevin Noland I came across some interesting information about funny words that were actually made up by former presidents that we still use today. I hope you get a kick out of this. "Iffy" - Franklin D. Roosevelt invented this term in the 1930s to dismiss questions at various press conferences. Today, we use it to communicate the status of that month-old bread in the refrigerator. "Sugarcoat" - Upon sending an urgent message to Congress, Abraham Lincoln said about Southerners: "With rebellion thus sugar-coated they have been drugging the public mind of their section for more than 30 years." An official government printer found the term to be too casual and asked Lincoln to change it for the record. Lincoln refused. The result: The perfect word-bomb to drop in your next argument. "Snowmageddon" - Although President Obama made the comment on the popular Michael Bay flick when he first used this term to describe the huge snowstorm that hit Washington, D.C., in 2010, I had also used it in a headline in this newspaper. The snow may have melted, but the saying has stuck. "Belittle" - In 1788, Thomas Jefferson was so inspired while writing about the natural beauty of his home state, Virginia, that he just had to make up a whole new word to describe it. "The Count de Buffon believes that nature belittles her productions on this side of the Atlantic." Boom: "Belittle" was born. But Jefferson didn’t stop there. The third U.S. President gets credit for more than 100 new words such as: lengthily, monotonously, and (randomly enough) pedicure. "Squatter" - Are out-of-work hipsters camping out in your neighbor’s apartment? Well, thanks to James Madison, there’s a word for them! The first recorded use of the word "squatter" was in a 1788 letter from Madison to George Washington, discussing homeless Maine residents that lived on other people’s property. If it's good enough for a president... Have a great week! KWIBS - From May 9, 2016 - By Kevin Noland A guy just won the Republican nomination for president by taking no money, hiring no pollsters, running virtually no TV ads, and just saying what he truly believed no matter how many times people told him he couldn't say that. It doesn’t hurt that he’s hugely rich and a popular TV personality. Love him or hate him, Trump is the nominee. Personally, I hate him. Fortunately, I hate Hillary even more. She has far more political experience, but I would have taken a Sanders Presidency over potentially having her win, which she will. The rise of popularity for Trump reminds me of a 2006 comedy Called "Idiocracy". The movie, once considered a comedy, now probably considered a documentary, as the film’s screenwriter Etan Cohen tweeted out recently. In 2005, average in every way, PVT. Joe Bowers (Luke Wilson) is selected to take part in a secret military experiment to put him in hibernation for a year along with a woman named Rita (Maya Rudolph). The slumbering duo is forgotten when the base they are stored on is closed down and are left in stasis until 2505. When they finally wake up, they discover the average intelligence of humans has decreased so much that Joe is now the smartest man in the world. In the future, Joe finds that the United States has elected a pro wrestler as the president and a great famine has stricken the world because they water their crops with a sports drink named "Brawndo", whose parent corporation had purchased the FDA, FCC, and USDA. The human population has become morbidly stupid, speak only low registers of English competently, are profoundly anti-intellectual, and are named after corporate products. President Camacho (the pro wrestler) gives Joe the job of fixing the nation's food shortages. But I regress.... My column is simply pointing out that the future is closer than it may appear. Have a great week! KWIBS - From May 2, 2016 - By Kevin Noland Hi! Welcome to Barber County where one month we’re on fire and the next month we’re under water.... I am just kidding, well sort of. The recent rains have really changed the appearance of the burned Gyp Hills. It doesn’t rebuild fences or homes, but it sure made the ground beautiful. Help is still coming in for our area and we are grateful for the help coming from our neighbors. It’s a blessing to see how people have reached out to help those affected by this devastating fire. Very soon, we’ll be featuring the journey of Don and Carol Gerstner. The Gerstners lost their home in the fire. 87-year-old Don Gerstner told me two days after the fire that he was going to completely rebuild. I thought maybe he was joking, but he’s not and he’s already begun! I’d say that’s Barber County Tough right there. A friend from Wichita asked me an interesting question that I couldn’t answer. He asked if the fires got rid of ticks and other insects. I don’t know the answer to that. Some of you folks that live out there should drop me a note at knoland@attica.net and tell me what you’re seeing. Ticks are becoming an issue in the north part of the county. After spending several days mowing and trimming after the previous rain, I found a tick on the back of my leg. ? ? ? ?
Congratulations again to the MLHS class of 2016. My youngest son and 37 of his classmates took the traditional wheat truck ride Friday. This year it was raining about as hard as I have seen it rain for years. I still saw a couple of them throw water balloons! Have a great week! KWIBS - From April 25, 2016 - By Kevin Noland What a bitter sweet moment in our lives as we celebrate the graduation of our last son, Nicholas Noland. It seemed like only yesterday that he got his nursery school graduation certificate, we were flying kites on the primary school playground for kite day, that he went to his first school dance, and that he suited up and was a starter for the Indian football team. Now he’s walking across that stage to get his diploma and begin a new chapter in his life. I’ve had two other children graduate from MLHS, Breeann in 2008 and Joey in 2011. It’s very emotional to build a senior edition for the newspaper when your children are pictured. It’s even more emotional when it’s your last child to graduate. Each of my children’s classes had so many special people in them that all grew up together. Nick’s class is no different. He went to school with many of these kids since preschool. They are all about to venture off in different directions, but I encourage them to stay in touch and keep that bond. Nick let me read his "story" he wrote for his English IV class. It was about his life and growing up with his friends and family. It was truly a "life flashes in front of your eyes" moment for me. This entire year has been. Amy Axline and I have had a special joke between us since the High School Parents’ Night back in August. We say, "This is the last time........." Well Amy, this is the last time I get to write about my child graduating from high school in my newspaper! I love all these kids and am so proud of them. I’m also proud and love our faculty at MLHS and throughout the district. You’ve helped us raise some pretty special kids from this community. Good luck to you all and congratulations to the MLHS class of 2016!! Especially you, Nick Noland! KWIBS - From April 18, 2016 - By Kevin Noland Some of my fondest memories as a child were growing up at the Index in Medicine Lodge. My father, Uncle and Grandfather all had a part in my love for the newspaper business. Another person who kept me going in the industry was Rose Mary Shoemaker. "Rosie" worked for my family for what seemed like forever and she retired from there when I was almost a senior in high school. She was the only employee who worked for my father that I ever had any real fear of. My dad had given her special permission to whip my tail if I needed it. She never did, but she came close several times. Rosie got me in to scouting when I was very young. I still have my uniform hanging in my closet. I remember her taking her book out at work and asking me how I was doing on my projects. She even helped my dad build me a pinewood derby car in the print shop. Almost every Friday afternoon, we’d set up a big table in the composing room, grab all of our loose change and play poker. I remember how mad she would get when she had a really good hand and the phone would ring, or a customer would rattle the locked door. Over the years she saw so many changes in the newspaper industry and she got fussy each time we’d add some new equipment, but she’d always get it figured out. I’ve never seen anyone who could type as fast as she did on a screen that only showed 24 characters at a time. She could type so fast, I couldn’t read it. Rosie came into my office after we started the Premiere in 1991, each and every week until the time she moved to Texas. She was a gem of a lady and we are honored to have known her and I am thankful she was part of my life. KWIBS - From April 4, 2016 - By Kevin Noland With the recent fires in Barber County, Facebook has become a very resourceful tool at sharing information. That doesn’t threaten me as a newspaper. I embrace it and encourage it. However, remember that social media is not a permanent record of the accounts of Anderson Creek Fire. In 25 years from now, no one will find the posts regarding the events. We’re doing our very best to record these stories and need your help. If you have something you wish to be preserved for the record, send it to us for publication even if you have posted it on Facebook. An example of how newspapers preserve the historical aspects of events comes from last week’s Premiere from an article printed in 1896: "On Sunday, Charley Porter’s house and furnishings near Pixley, were entirely destroyed by fire. How the fire originated is only a matter of conjecture and all speculation. Mr. Porter and his family had gone to a neighbor’s house on a visit when the fire started and before anyone could get to the scene of conflagration, everything was in ashes. The building was uninsured. Happily the next morning that gentle whole-souled fellow, Tom Murphy, started a subscription paper to partly replace Mr. Porter’s loss and before eight had something like $300. A people who will stand with each other in times of misfortune and adversity is the best and noblest of humanity." These stories being published online will disappear with no historical archiving and all that will remain is the printed information. Please, if you have something important you want preserved, send it to us for publication. We want your story remembered for future generations. Thanks again to our fire fighters and volunteers! KWIBS - From March 28, 2016 - By Kevin Noland When you hear people talk about last week’s wildfires and say, "I’ve never seen anything like that in my entire life," take it to heart. I spent most of Wednesday out west of town with a friend whose house was in a direct path of destruction. We had a tanker truck, two 50 gallon sprayers on UTVs and a spray truck. We watched as the fire came in along the south side of the Medicine River on River Road. It had already jumped that line north of us. We just sat and watched and waited. At about 5:45 p.m. the wind shifted and blew the fire around his place, but the fire raged on towards Medicine Lodge. God was good to my friends. Many people took the voluntary evacuation measures to heart and there was a steady line of cars leaving north on 281 at around 8 p.m. when I was coming back through town. Tears of joy and sorrow were shared by so many when good news and bad news came over the radios. Some had barely escaped losing their homes, some lost theirs and some lost their buildings and other property. Our local fire fighters are absolute heroes. Many of them went two or more days with no sleep. Rick Wesley must be a ragged mess, but is to be commended for his efforts, when at times, there was nothing he or his men could do but watch as that fire ripped through areas of our county. Those other departments from other communities, too many to list here; we owe our gratitude to. Thanks for having our backs. Thanks to our Sheriff’s Office, EMTs, City Officials, MLPD and County for staying and organizing efforts. I was so grateful for the sandwich meat, bread and chips that magically appeared in Landon Cunningham’s truck that day out west of town. And thank the good Lord above and pray for rain for our dry lands. Have a great week! KWIBS - From March 21, 2016 - By Kevin Noland It’s been a few years since I was allowed a "Spring Break". In fact, it’s been a lot of years. That term sort of no longer applies when you are an adult, but since I have a son who is a Senior at MLHS, I felt that a "Spring Break" was in order. We took Nick to New Mexico. Our trip was designed so that we could spend time with Ronda’s brother and family - Kyle, DeDe, Lily and Sam Vick. While there, DeDe informed me that I should somehow incorporate Sam and Lily into my column because they had never been in it before. Well, that’s easy enough to rectify!
KWIBS - From March 7, 2016 - By Kevin Noland Do you want tighter abs, inches off your waist and lose up to 7 lbs. in one week? Sure you do and I’ve got the secret on how to do it! I started on Tuesday, February 23 and it didn’t take me long to feel the burn in my abs. By Friday I had already dropped 4 lbs. The sweating was brutal, but I achieved my goal by the following Tuesday morning. You’re getting excited and you want to know more! From all accounts, you can do this at home for FREE! That’s right, absolutely FREE. It takes 1-4 days for results to start. You might think, this is too unbelievable. You’re asking, I can get this for free, at home and it starts doing all of the above within 1-4 days? I know your hesitation, you’ve seen ads on TV and you might be one of those people, like myself, who have bought into the latest gimmick and found out it was too good to be true. Well, this isn’t. It works. I’m pretty sure I got my starter kit from Doris, who brought it to work the week before. She probably was licking my keyboard or coughed on my phone when I wasn’t in the office and I caught it after coming back. It was most likely the latest strain of respiratory influenza. I’ve been lucky to not have caught this bug for several years, but my luck ran out. With lots of coughing, sneezing, aching, a fever, probably being possessed by demons and more, I did drop about 7 lbs. I’m pretty sure I blew my nose so hard once that it popped and I heard a seagull fart on a beach in South California. I hope I can keep the weight off, but I hope I didn’t pass it along to anyone else. It comes on fast and seems to linger. As I type this, I can hear Doris coughing in her area up front. It’s too late this year, but I am going to see about putting her in a bubble the next flu season (October - April). Have a great week! And Happy Birthday Mom!
Love Kevin and Rhonda and families! KWIBS - From February 29, 2016 - By Kevin Noland You know how I love the odd news and the crazy stories. I have a cousin, by marriage, that I’ve always thought could belch louder than any human known. His belch is so loud that one afternoon at the lake, his belch called in about 100 head of cattle to the fence line. I’m not kidding. This event was witnessed by many people in our family and friends at the lake. This story popped up on my news feed early Thursday morning and I sent the story to my cousin: Australia, Feb. 25 (UPI) -- An Australian man set the world record for the loudest burp by producing a belch that reached over 110 decibels. Nev Sharp's unofficial record of 110.6 decibels was measured by NT News as he awaits a response from Guinness World Records to have his burp tested. "It's [the world record] been a bit of a goal from when I was a kid," he said. "I'm always training." Although not officially registered by Guinness World Records, Sharp's impressive burp edges out the current record of 109.9 decibels set by a UK man Paul Hunn in 2009. Sharp said he learned the skill from his sister (she sounds like a keeper) and prepares for his burps by drinking various carbonated beverages as well as cold water. "It would've been 600ml Coke and some cool water," he told ABC News. "And my beer fridge is always full." His burp registers as, "louder than a snowmobile or motorcycle and a power saw from one meter away." I don’t know where to find a decibel meter, but I want to find one desperately. I’m pretty sure my cousin could beat this guy. Have a great week!
KWIBS - From February 22, 2016 - By Kevin Noland I’d like to take this very short space to wish my youngest a big HAPPY BIRTHDAY!! Nick Noland turns 18 on Thursday. Last week he said to me, "I can’t wait to go register to vote! I’ve already got the papers filled out!" I didn’t even bother to ask him his party affiliation. I’m pretty sure I can guess that! It’s pretty wild to think my baby is now old enough to be drafted and can now vote!
It’s hard to believe this was Nick (and his teacher Gail Ferguson) around 2002. Happy Birthday Nicholas Tate Noland. Your mom and I are so proud of you! Have a great week!
KWIBS - From February 15, 2016 - By Kevin Noland Since no one fire bombed my office last week concerning my Donald Trump comments, I will bust out my opinion of Hillary Clinton this week.... as promised. Of all the candidates gracing the debate stages, Mrs. Clinton is the most experienced in all areas of government. Wow, you said, as your mouth hit the floor. Unfortunately, Mrs. Clinton cannot be trusted as PUSA. She has been misleading and untrustworthy for most of her career. I know Bernie Sanders might be sick of talking about Hillary’s emails, but we must regress. You might wonder if Hillary Clinton's email scandal is something to worry about and the short answer is - yes it is. She was the Secretary of State and in that role she had access to top secret information that only the top people in government knew. For example - when we moved in to kill Osama bin Laden, Hillary is pictured in the room with Obama watching it all unfold. She was also involved with the Iranian nuclear weapons discussions and deals, the wars in Syria, Egypt, Libya, and Tunisia. When you are dealing with these kinds of important issues, you don't do that on a home server that is filtered through a commercial spam filtering service. I still am a partner in that type of home server email business. As secure as we want to make it, it is not completely secure when done the way she did it. I'm amazed that the Obama administration and the State Department let her get away with it. They all had to have known she was doing it because her email address wasn't @state.gov, it was @clintonemail.com, So the other people in the Obama administration knew what she was doing and just let her do it. I wish this were the only reason I could not trust her as PUSA, but it’s not..... It is however, significantly serious.
KWIBS - From February 8, 2016 - By Kevin Noland I’m going to come right out and say it. It’s going to make some of you angry and some of my family and friends even more angry, but I don’t care for Donald Trump as a presidential candidate - of any party. The billionaire real estate mogul turned reality TV star reminds me of a drunken frat boy with no mouth filter. He’s a sideshow. Here are a few of the reasons I won’t be voting for him. - His hair is awful. We need a president who has good hair. His weird "rug" or "piece" is hard to look at, sort of like not wanting to look at a car accident, but being drawn to it. It sort of wraps around his whole head and molds into his eyebrows. I read a report that scientists have been trying to study its perplexing anti-gravitational properties, but could not afford the licensing fees he demands. - He’s terrible on his own TV reality show. The Apprentice is dumb. The premises is: you work for the Donald and compete against others to win a prize.. or be fired. So it’s like winning Publisher’s Clearing House and having the prize delivered by clowns wielding chainsaws. Who could take him seriously as president when he sits at the board room table and says, "You’re fired!" - He flaunts it. Yep, he’s got a lot of money and he loves to tell you about it. Coming from humble beginnings, he got only a mere $1 million loan from his poor father to start his first business. He tells us he wants to make America great again. I know we’ve got our share of problems, but we are still a great nation. We could be greater I suppose, but we’re not, not great....... If that were true, we wouldn’t need to build a wall at the border to keep immigrants in check. They obviously think we’re pretty great and want in here. I agree with them. - He’s terrible with social media. Perhaps a new label for Trump should be, "Tweetarded" is in order. I’m sure he writes his own stuff, and that scares me more. From the birther statements to the Chinese inventing global warming, he never fails to squeeze all his BS into the allowed 140 characters. My favorite tweet from Trump: "I have never seen a thin person drinking Diet Coke." I could go on and on, but I won’t. I will tell you that I would vote for him any day of the week if it were between him and Hillary Clinton...... She’d be another column. God help the Republican party though....
KWIBS - From February 1, 2016 - By Kevin Noland A fun little history lesson about this column. Doris found a snippet my dad wrote in February of 1976, "I have been toying with the idea of starting a personal column for the Indiex for the past three years," he wrote. Dad was also "toying around" with the title KWICK KWIBS, Jr. When we started our newspaper in 1991, I had been writing "KWIBS" for the Index for about two years. My early columns were terrible, even worse than today. I know, you can’t believe it. I brought the name with me when Ronda and I started The Gyp Hill Premiere. Many people over the years have asked me, where the name came from. Now, the column name "KWICK KWIBS, Jr" by my dad, Ron Noland, came from his father (my Grandpa Bill). In 1946 my Grandpa Bill bought his first newspaper, the Logan Republican. He started a column called "KWICK KWIBS". Well, I’ve read some of my grandpa’s and dad’s early columns and I am glad to say that I come from a long line of some terrible writers! Seriously though, some of these columns were very well done and made me smile to think how far back my heritage in the newspaper business goes. It dawned on my last week that my grandpa wrote KWICK KWIBS for 24 years. My dad wrote KWICK KWIBS for 12 years and I have written KWIBS for over 25 years now. I’m the winner. Of what, I do not know..... KWIBS, of some form, has been a part of Kansas newspaper history for 70 years now, with a few years of gaps in between. Possibly, there are over 3,000 columns with the name "KWIBS" on them.
KWIBS - From January 25, 2016 - By Kevin Noland If you ate breakfast, lunch or supper today, thank a farmer and rancher. By appearance, you might think I need to slow down on "thanking". I’m working on that by trying to eat healthier and exercise, but they do such a darn good job! Farming and ranching are far more labor-intensive, than most of our jobs are and most of us forget about the hard work that goes into feeding America - even the world. I have a unique perspective on this industry through experience on our family’s ranch. Although my experience might be limited to getting a calf back on the right side of a fence at times, I do see how hard those who work the land have it and I appreciate what they do. Around this time of the year, every year, for the past 25 years, we have dedicated a special edition of our newspaper to the farming and ranching community, especially to the Conservation District and its members. We live in a time where conservation is a household word, but do we really know what it means to conserve? Those who’ve been in this business for generations do know and they not only practice conservation, they live it. Maybe many of the articles this week won’t interest you, but at least take a moment to think about what it takes to put food on your table and if you know a farmer or rancher, take a moment to thank them for their labor of love and for conserving our land for the generations to come. Thank you conservation folks! I hope you have a great banquet and awards ceremony! KWIBS - From January 18, 2016 - By Kevin Noland So my desperate call for a calendar column worked last week! One was left anonymously at the door with a nice note on it another slipped its way into my drop box on Thursday. I appreciate that more than you can imagine! I love living in a community that will allow me to ask for a calendar in my column on a Monday and have one delivered to my door on a Tuesday! ? ? ? ? Heaven got a little sweeter this week. It is very sad to say goodbye to Darrel Rhea and Dave Rausch. Both of these guys made huge impacts on my life. I sat with Darrel at many basketball games throughout the years. Darrel was a Merchant Marine veteran in World War II and a US Air Force veteran of the Korean Conflict. He was a kind gentleman. It was a pleasure to know him and my thoughts and prayers go out to his family. I learned of Dave’s passing at cards Tuesday night. He was a player at a different table with a different group of guys who play on Wednesdays, but they shared the news on Facebook and I was able to share the news with our card group. Dave has been after me for years to rejoin the golf club. I had quit after not getting better than an 18 handicap after 5 years of playing. I was never really into it, but Dave never let up on me. He was a heck of a good dude and I know his friends and family have heavy hearts. I’m sorry that my column is such a downer this week. I also wish to extend my sympathy to the family of Sherrill Orr. Sherrill and I used to catch up on life at the grocery store. For some reason, it seemed we did our shopping at the same time! Her brother Bob Packard is my friend and Tuesday night card player. I’m so sorry for your loss. ? ? ? ? I pray that God comforts our community. We are a big family. Everyone knows everyone, and that’s not a bad thing when we realize how precious life is. Have a great week.
KWIBS - From January 11, 2016 - By Kevin Noland Suddenly, and without warning, no one gave me a new calendar this year. My "Walking Dead" calendar still says December 2015. There’s nothing behind that last page. I checked. I opened a drawer in my office and found 4 unused 2015 calendars, but I can’t find a single 2016. I know I have a calendar on my iPhone, but I like to write on a real calendar to remember when I did things and be able to look forward by flipping pages. Call me old-fashioned, but someone please bring me a full-sized calendar for 2016! ? ? ? ? Speaking of iPhones and calendars, did you know that the device you hold in your hand today has hundreds, maybe thousands of times more computing power than the entire Apollo 11 mission team had in 1969? I was nerding out this week and read that the moon lander had about 64kb. That’s hard to imagine when most cell phones’ cameras are 5mb and most phones are 16gb or more these days. One of my favorite things to say to my kids is.. "When I was your age..." Then I launch myself into a long-winded story of my childhood that they roll their eyes at. Seriously though, I had an Atari with a black and white TV. My kids have a 52" LED with XBlock, or something like that. Kids nowadays have it pretty good. They have a million options for entertainment, tons of resources to learn new things, and gadgets that make life's little annoyances so much easier. But everything has its downside. Though we're grateful for technology, we'll never regret not having more of it growing up. Because if we'd had today's gadgets and gizmos back then, we would have missed out on family time watching TV together and fighting with our siblings over the remote, before the time of DVRs. Heck, we might not even know how to read an analog clock or read a map. I just need to know what day it is without finding my calendar app on my phone. Have a great week!
KWIBS - From January 4, 2016 - By Kevin Noland We made it through the holidays and now we’re into a brand new year. I know this because I went to write something down on my calendar for January and realized I was on the last page. Let’s be truthful for a moment. Unless you are a kid, Christmas is work. Maybe I’m doing it wrong. I worked very hard to simplify Christmas this year. We drew names, only partially decorated our tree, did potluck meals and tried hard not to go "Overboard" with the gift giving and expense of shopping Maybe I’m doing it wrong. According to Gallup, the average American spent $830 on Christmas gifts and that’s up from last year when average people only spent $720. I’m guessing if you are reading this, you are laughing and wondering what the heck happened? That average factors in those who spend $0 at Christmas, so the numbers are skewed a little. 30% of Americans spent more than $1,000. While there’s nothing wrong with the spirit of giving, I strongly believe we’ve gone astray on this special holiday (I did intend for that to rhymm). Do you think I’m wrong? Try this simple social experiment in your home like I did. I made the suggestion that we far overspent on Christmas this year. Then I suggested that we just take $1,000 and donate it to a good cause in the name of our family. I read where one family gives each of their children $50 to put in an envelope on their tree to someone in need. That’s pretty cool! It wasn’t a popular suggestion, but it hopefully got my family to thinking about what this season is all about. Look around you. Are you comfortable, warm, fed, healthy? There are others that are not so fortunate in the world. Can you imagine what the world would be like, if we celebrated the true meaning of Christmas? It doesn’t have to be just once a year. It’s also easier said than done, but I want to try a little bit harder in 2016. Happy New Year! KWIBS - From December 21, 2015 - By Kevin Noland It has been my privilege over
the past 24 years to print the Santa letters in the newspaper. I also
take advantage of the opportunity to showcase my kids and grandkids
during this time of the year as you’ve probably seen on our front page.
Yes, those are my offspring, Grandchildren Kycen and Baylee Schaffer.
KWIBS - From December 7, 2015 - By Kevin Noland My wife is an excellent
cook. With only 2 years of observation and taste testing her mother’s
cooking, I would say I dodged a bullet. KWIBS - From November 30, 2015 - By Kevin Noland Nearly 25 years ago to the
day, I remember taking this road trip to Wichita with Mike Jacobs. We
were going up to an auto auction to try our luck at making a buck. KWIBS - From November 23, 2015 - By Kevin Noland Tornados, blizzards and
earthquakes for Kansas this past week. KWIBS - From November 16, 2015 - By Kevin Noland Medicine Lodge does a lot of
things right. Many times, you just hear the negatives, but if you look
around, we’ve got a great community of people always ready to step up
and do something for the good of the town and its citizens. KWIBS - From November 2, 2015 - By Kevin Noland Tomorrow is my wife’s
birthday. For those of you who don’t know her, she’s the beautiful
redhead I’ve had on my arm for the past 30 years, 3 of those years as my
girlfriend. She’s still my girlfriend. KWIBS - From October 26, 2015 - By Kevin Noland These kinds of columns never
end well for me, but I just can’t help myself. KWIBS - From October 12, 2015 - By Kevin Noland So many things went through
my mind on Wednesday morning when Jan Forsyth said, “I’ll race you!” KWIBS - From October 5, 2015 - By Kevin Noland If you were around Friday
or Saturday, you probably saw the spectacular jumps made by retired Navy
SEAL and MLHS 1988 graduate Nix White.
KWIBS - From September 28, 2015 - By Kevin Noland I don’t know about you, but
I’m exhausted! KWIBS - From September 21, 2015 - By Kevin Noland Ready or not, here it is!
Peace Treaty 2015 is here. Are you ready for the time of your life?
Well, we’ve got you covered, wagon! Yep, my usual Peace Treaty humor. I
crack myself up! KWIBS - From September 14, 2015 - By Kevin Noland We are two weeks out from
Peace Treaty 2015 and I am super excited about today’s front page
stories. Nix White is a classmate and friend of mine who has a
distinguished service record as a Navy Seal. He’ll be jumping into the
Indians vs. Roadrunners game on Friday night, September 24th at about
5:50 p.m. The next morning, he’ll start the parade by jumping into the
intersection of Main and Kansas at about 9:50 a.m. If you saw him do
this in 2011, you know how freaking cool it was! If you didn’t see it.
Don’t miss it this year!! KWIBS - From September 7, 2015 - By Kevin Noland I was saddened to hear the
news of Dan Traffas last week. KWIBS - From August 31, 2015 - By Kevin Noland We are just a few editions
away from the 2015 Peace Treaty. KWIBS - From August 24, 2015 - By Kevin Noland Can you believe we’re just
one month away from another Peace Treaty celebration? KWIBS - From August 17, 2015 - By Kevin Noland OK, I’ve been a slacker. I admit it, but summer was slip |