About Town

By Ida and Doris Lessenden

July 23, 2004

Leah Beth Fischer, granddaughter of Betty Jacobs, was bitten by a Copperhead snake last week at night when she went out to check the horses. She was rushed to the hospital and is now recuperating at home. At last report she was able to get out of bed and move short distances by using crutches even though her leg has turned really black. The Fischers are former residents of Eads and now reside in Arkansas City, Kansas.

Recent guests of Evelyn and Dan Garner have been his sisters, Ila Echenrode of Las Animas and Ruth Roush of Independence, Kansas. Mr. and Mrs. Ivan Brenton of La Junta and Bunny Larrew of Wiley as well as Mr. and Mrs. Max Bridgeman of Pueblo have come by to visit them also. Another day, Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Frisby of Fort Collins visited. Raymond is Evelyn’s cousin.

Hundreds and hundreds of people were in Eads Friday through Sunday for the State Girls Softball Tournaments. Some Eads girls were selected to be on both All Stars Teams. Since both teams were in the top two, they get to go to Chaffee, Missouri, for the Mid-West Tournament. Thus families and players were quickly packing and trying to get financing before leaving Wednesday for the long hot trip to Missouri.

Mabel Yost celebrated her birthday Saturday with family and friends. One of her sons, Dylan, brought a red-rose decorated cake with thick strawberry filling that was served with ice cream and punch. When her nephew, Jack Barnes, and wife Angie (Pearcey) and daughter, Abby, of Rifle, came the place really livened up. We urged Angie to play the piano for us. She has the gift of being able to play most any tune a person requests. Oh, it was marvelous! Della Mae Brice said, "You made my day!" and we all agreed. We also found some of Sue Ramsey’s song sheets from 1995 so we sang some good old time songs. Later Mabel’s son, Kevin, brought a birthday cake, so that means another party!

Carl Birt, Josh Brown, Jeremy Brown, and Cory Crow of Eads have been practicing their rock band music. The band’s name is "QueTap". Some people have asked me, "Where does that music come from that I hear?" The guys practice somewhere in or above the flower shop I think. Anyway, we can encourage them in their practicing and playing. On June 10^th, Neil Ray asked them to play for his outdoor wedding.

Kas Davisson spent the weekend with her mother, Betty Jacobs. Kas was on her way to Boulder to attend a two-week training session as part of her job at the Federal Reserve Bank in Oklahoma City.

Max Mays’ daughter, Shirley White, of Kit Carson has been ill for several weeks following complications after surgery. We do hope and pray that she is regaining her strength quickly.

Matt Seay, Demetrius Gilmore, Jacob Buck, Josh Crow, A. J. Bolin, Wesley Richardson, and Kevin Lindholm of Eads have been selected to play on the Hi Plains 15 and younger All Star Baseball Team, along with other All Star players from McClave and Cheyenne Wells. Parents and friends have made the trip over to Rocky Ford for four days to play in the tournament. They won the championship and are now headed for the State tournament in Gunnison, this weekend.

Evelyn Garner became friends in the l940’s of four ladies who are all sisters. They surely made her happy when they came to visit. They were Lucy Fowler of Wiley, Vera Johnson of Lamar, Irene Eddleman from Napa, California, and Betty Bertalatteo of McAllen, Texas. Can’t you just imagine what a great chatter time that must have been?

Rich Hockett of has been vacationing in Oregon for several weeks. He and his son, Russel, went fishing on the Columbia River where Rich caught a 52 inch Sturgeon.

"Folks, Please! The turtles are out. Try to avoid running over them on the highway. They are our only land animal dating back to prehistoric times. Save the turtles!" That message was brought to us by Betty Jacobs. I do agree with her. I will appreciate turtles even more since I read the facts about "Prehistoric times". I have been thrilled when I occasionally see a little turtle in my back yard.

Some Prairie Queen 4-H Club members and their parents were wearing orange DOT vests Friday morning as they were out picking up trash along Highway 287. What a worthwhile community service. We do appreciate their work.

I was looking at some photos I took at Bob and Renee’ Woods’ 50th wedding anniversary. It reminded me of so many friends who we were so glad to see. One of my parent’s favorite people was Kelly Lujan. And there he was with his wife, Jane, and his mother Rose Lujan. When I complimented the Wood’s daughters on the really tasty baked beans, they said, "Oh, Lucille and Ray Crow made those." Many people know that Lucille is famous for her baked beans at senior citizen meals and other gatherings. She says, of her brother-in-law, "George really likes baked beans." I do too!

Last Tuesday evening when I was rolling home from Weisbrod, there was a big picnic on the east court house lawn. It appears to be mostly 40’s to 80’ or so year old age group. They say everyone is invited to this pot luck. Dora Pearcey, Alice Glover, or Jo Forrester could answer your questions about table service.

People are really pleased to see what a wonderful job David Lyon is doing to care for the court house lawn. I have seen his wife, Bev, there sometimes and Dwight Lessenden who works a while with the up-keep. The shrubs, trees, clean cut edges by the sidewalk, and painting in the parking lot improve the appearance.

Bob Howerton was out looking over his lawn Monday morning. He says he is "much better" and glad to be back from Colorado Springs.

Hallie Barlow Fowler, the director of the Children Care Center on Maine Street gave me a great tour. I had heard that it was colorful, well organized, and very beautiful. It is indeed a marvel to see all the new furnishings and the children all busy around tables with caring teachers and caretakers behind the windows. I along with others, am so impressed. Hallie is a former Eads grad who completed her degree at Northeastern Junior College in Sterling and her assistant is Tina Kraft. She is a "pro" too.

Dennis Pearson then gave me a tour of the Social Services offices. Each office is decorated in a lovely décor to the favor of the occupant. I especially liked the "privacy" that a client would have while talking with one of the workers. Dennis and his wife, Sharon, have taken photos of the building progress from the very beginning to the end. These are all framed in the hallway to add to the history of this Nipps-Bransgrove Building. Building Contractor, Milton Watts, and his crew have done an admirable job of construction, painting, and finishing work. The elevator will be installed this summer for the up-stairs offices.

A number of Eads senior citizens with their Center director, Jo Shoemaker, enjoyed dining out at the Flying W Ranch Restaurant and western music show Friday night. . We saw Harvey and Sandy Kelley in Ellicott Friday as they were on their way to the Springs. The Kelley’s were to have lunch with his sister, Nadine, and husband, Ronnie Bickel, who were in Colorado to attend the Bickel Family reunion in the mountains. Later the Kelley’s met the other Eadsites at the Flying W.

Family and friends met at Dylan Dixon’s home for a birthday party Saturday evening. They were telling us that they really enjoy having the deer from the golf course little "forest" area come right up to their yard.

I was delighted to get a note from Erika Rice who has just finished Navy boot camp in Illinois. She is now somewhere in Florida and hopes to get home in September. Let’s take time to write to our service men and women. Chad Robertson came by Monday to ask about our experience with sending "morale packages" to Iraq. His 40 year old brother is there and could use some encouragement. Chad was on his way to buy a fishing pole because his brother is near a lake that has bass fish.

Bobby Bush was hosted with a birthday party last week. He was glad to have his son home and able to take him out to dinner at the café after the party.