The summary provides details about plans for the 2014 Yates Center Days celebration in three sentences: Buttons and t-shirts for Yates Center Days are now available for purchase, with proceeds benefiting local scholarships. Events for the Memorial Day weekend celebration include vendor booths, children's activities, a free lunch, and train and pony rides on Saturday, May 24. New this year is a youth baseball and softball season kick-off around the weekend and a Friday night bowling tournament.

1. By Melanie McGee
Familiar favorites and a few new events
are being finalized for the 2014 Yates
Center Days celebration, scheduled for
Memorial Day weekend, with the bulk of
events taking place on Saturday, May 24.
Woodson County Chamber of
Commerce Director Carla Green said
plans are in place to make the annual cel-
ebration another one to remember.
“Buttons and t-shirts are now available
at the Chamber office and other local
businesses,” she said Tuesday afternoon.
“If you buy a t-shirt, your button is free.
The buttons were designed by Dirk
Sorenson and the t-shirt was designed by
Jeremy Moyer.”
Each purchase of a button enters the
buyer into a drawing for an Apple iPad, a
Kindle Fire HDX or a $100 gift certificate
to G&W Foods.
A golf cart will also be raffled off dur-
ing Yates Center Days, and an assortment
of vendor booths will be open on the
courthouse lawn Saturday, May 24.
One of the new twists this year is that
Yates Center Recreation’s youth baseball
and softball seasons will begin in con-
junction with Yates Center Days. Season
openers for the boys’ baseball teams will
be played on Thursday, May 22, while
girls’ softball teams will begin their sea-
son on Tuesday, May 27, effectively
bookending the weekend festivities with
youth baseball and softball games at
Kluender Field in Yates Center.
Another new event is a jackpot bowling
tournament, set for 7 p.m. Friday, May 23
at Yates Bowling Center.
Saturday’s events begin at 7 a.m. with
the annual Masons breakfast, and events
continue throughout the day with most
taking place on or near the town square.
From 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., the Kiwanis train
from Iola will be available for rides. “It is
free to ride,” Green said. “We will also
have pony rides and the blow-up games.”
The Yates Center Community Youth
Choir will perform at the bandstand at 9
a.m., and kids games will be held from 10
to 11 a.m. on the square.
A free lunch will be served at the Yates
+
Coming To You From The Hay Capital Of The World
NEWSThe YATES CENTER
Serving Woodson County Since 1877
Thursday, May 8, 2014, Volume 137, Issue 19
$
1 (tax included)
NEWS BRIEFS
Fine Arts Night is
Friday
Yates Center High School’s
annual Fine Arts Night will be
held Friday, May 9 with events
beginning at 6:30 p.m.at
YCHS.
An art show featuring the
work of YCHS students will be
set up in the school hallways,
and visitors are invited to help
choose a Best of Show, and
first, second and third place fin-
ishers.
“We have a voting system,
and the public will choose the
best of show from all the art
entries,” art teacher Kathe
Hamman said.
At 6:30 p.m., the annual
Trash Bash fashion show will
begin. Students are designing
outfits out of trash for the show.
A music concert starting at
7:30 p.m. will complete the
evening.
Harvestime plans
sermon series
Harvestime Family Praise
Center in Yates Center is begin-
ning a Mother’s Day themed
sermon series on the book of
Ruth with the Sunday, May 4
church services.
The public is invited to learn
about Ruth, her life, and how a
Moabite woman became the
great-grandmother of the future
King David and, later on, Jesus
Christ. The sermon series will
continue each Sunday in May.
Bank plans YC Days
Photo Contest
The Piqua State Bank is
sponsoring a Yates Center Days
Photo Contest, with entries
open to all Woodson County
residents except Piqua State
Bank employees, directors,
officers and their immediate
family members.
Matted (not framed) 8X10
prints may be entered by May
22 and they will be displayed at
the Daylight Donut Shop dur-
ing Yates Center Days.
Contestants are limited to one
entry and all entries must be
original, non-professional pho-
tos that have not been pub-
lished or won any previous
awards. For more information,
visit the bank at 701 W. Mary.
Alumni Banquet set
for May 24
The annual Yates Center
Alumni and Friends Banquet is
planned for 6 p.m. Saturday,
May 24 at the Community
Building. Reservations are
required and may be made at
the Woodson County Chamber
of Commerce office, 108 S.
Main, by May 19.
A fried chicken dinner, silent
auction to raise money for
scholarships, and entertainment
by Virginia Louderbaugh are
planned for the evening.
For more information, visit
the Chamber office or call 620-
625-3235.
USD 366 BOARD OF EDUCATION
BOE fills positions during special meeting
By Melanie McGee
A special meeting of the Woodson
USD 366 Board of Education resulted
in several personnel changes for the
2014-15 school year.
President Ray Proper, board mem-
bers David Jones, Judy Lair, Ronnie
Reynolds, Lee Robbins, Wes Smith
and Nathan Weber were present for the
April 30 meeting, along with
Superintendent Rusty Arnold, Board
Clerk Connie Morrison and
Elementary Principal Kenny
Boeckman.
After meeting in executive session
for a total of 55 minutes, the board
approved two resignations, two trans-
fers and three new hires. In five sepa-
rate unanimous votes, board members:
• Approved the resignations of
Nicole Luedke as preschool parapro-
fessional and Dan Berg as high school
track coach.
• Approved transferring Rex
McVey from fourth grade to middle
school science and Karl Hamm from
high school woods instructor to high
school principal for the 2014-15 school
year.
• Approved hiring Kyle McGee
as high school agriculture instructor.
• Approved hiring Shanna
Forsyth as fourth grade instructor.
• Approved hiring Theresa
McNett as board treasurer/payroll
clerk.
Luedke is moving with her husband
Jeremy, who accepted a position at
Pike Valley High School in Scandia,
and Berg is retiring from coaching.
The board treasurer position is cur-
rently held by Brenda Tracy, who will
retire June 30.
The agriculture and fourth grade
positions were opened up when Tanner
Davis and McVey transferred to other
positions within USD 366 to replace
the retiring Tim McCullough (high
school physical education) and Jim
Porter (middle school science).
Continued on Page 8
To list your public event
as a news brief, contact
the NEWS office at
620-625-2181 or email
ycn@sekansas.com.
Eighth graders launch model rockets
Melanie McGee/NEWS
EIGHTH GRADE STUDENTS
launched the rockets they built in Jim
Porter’s science classes Monday after-
noon at the grade school. Top - Jaysic
Staats and Porter watch his rocket lift off
while other students wait to see where it
lands. Bottom left - Cheyanne Reed
moves in to catch a classmate’s rocket as
it parachutes to the ground. Bottom right
- Porter makes sure that Hadyn
Beerbower’s rocket is correctly posi-
tioned to be launched.
By Melanie McGee
Monday afternoon, eighth grade students in
Jim Porter’s science classes launched the model
rockets they built in the classroom, to the delight
of elementary students who came outside to
watch.
This was the 21st year for Porter’s classes to
build and launch rockets, and will be his last
school rocket launch as a teacher. He has
announced plans to retire at the end of the school
year.
“It was a beautiful and perfect afternoon for
launching rockets,” Porter said. “Most of the
rockets had a successful launch. We did lose
many of the rockets when they drifted out of sight
and several landed in trees east of the school.”
Students took turns running after the rockets
and retrieving them for classmates.
“Model rockets have small powerful engines
that are ignited electronically and propel the
models into the sky,” Porter said. “Each rocket
has some type of recovery system that, if proper-
ly installed, allows the rocket to float gently back
to the earth.”
The rockets are timed to determine which rock-
et stays aloft for the longest time after its’ recov-
ery system deploys.
Devon Hathaway and Ben Town teamed up to
build the rocket that won the time trial by staying
aloft for 126.9 seconds. Ryan Moffet built the
second-place finisher, which was in the air for
93.2 seconds. Third place went to Cayden
Hartwig and John Righini with a time of 81.8 sec-
onds, while Braydon Gaulding was fourth with a
rocket that stayed aloft for 52.6 seconds and the
team of Colin Bedell and Zack Kress was fifth
with 43.8 seconds.
Porter said that Betty Bettega, Jeanne
Dempsey, Kenny Boeckman and Mrs. Dvorchak
also helped with the launch. “I want to thank all
the eighth graders through the years and every-
body who has helped me run this activity,” he
added. “If you find a rocket, please return it to the
elementary school.”
Plans taking shape for Yates Center Days
Melanie McGee/NEWS
YATES CENTER DAYS buttons and t-shirts are now available at
the Woodson County Chamber of Commerce office and other
local businesses in preparation for the annual event held during
Memorial Day weekend.
Lady Wildcat signs
with Neosho County
hoops.
Page 8