My celebrating is over for the day. I’ve always been a bit ambivalent over celebrating the day as I felt it was intended for my mother. I’ve never quite gotten the hang of being on the receiving end. I’m not sure how I’d feel if my kids forgot me on Mother’s Day as that has never happened. They remember me every day, in one way or another, so I don’t consider Mother’s Day all that special. Or better said…every day of the year is Mother’s Day for me.

To keep the day simple since everyone has so much to do and so little free time for it, we went to KC’s for our usual Sunday breakfast…Ally, Ruby, Brit and I. Todd and Karen opted to go to church, but we’ll see them later today. We celebrated Mother’s Day with them last week over dinner when I thought I would be in Texas this weekend.

I have a large bouquet of beautiful flowers Ally selected…orchids, spring blossoms and three large sunflowers, one from each of my kids, a new yellow blouse, pies, cards and a lot of love. What a privilege it is to be mom to the three of the greatest kids in the world and four super grandkids on top of that.

Ally, Dane and Todd…taken at Mackenzie and Luke’s wedding in August.

Drew, Karen, Genn, Todd, Rod, Luke, Ally, Tyler, me, Ruby, Brit, Mackenzie and Dane. Our entire family, Christmas 2006.

Ally has bean and cheese burritos smothered in homemade red chili and topped with lettuce and tomatoes with a side of chips and salsa for $5.99.

City Administrator Jonathan, Caleb Schultz and the Bachs are preparing for a big day tomorrow. Now that Jonathan has located the missing extension cord, the kids can enjoy the movie, “Willy Wonka in the Park.”

I’ve never seen so many barbecue smokers in one place in my life. You just can’t imagine the wonderful aroma that is coming from them and settling over the park. It’s all too yummy to pass by.

Bill Finke has all the secret ingredients on the buffalo wings and is ready to cook them for the “wings” contest. They looked hot enough to eat the base out of a stainless steel pan. Bill is one of the members of the “Hawg Fathers Barbecue Team” that also includes Darin Holecek and Joe Pruitt who consider themselves to be the “kings of pork”. It looks to me like they do mighty well as “kings of wings”.

Tina Davis shows off the treats for the kids attending the Willy Wonka movie and the basket of goodies for the grand prize winner.

Tomorrow the BBQ events include contests in preparing beans, chicken, ribs, pork and brisket. Visitors can buy a sampler’s choice ticket to have a taste of everything from the various contestants.

Tomorrow all the vintage cars will arrive to add another dimension of interest to the festivities. And, don’t forget that five live bands will be performing as well.

Enjoy the day at the park. Take a chair, sample the food, listen to the music and visit with friends. It’s free. It’s a heck of a deal and another wonderful Celebration Committee event for you to support.

The Ellsworth Celebrations Committee requests past and present photos of military men and women of Ellsworth County that will be used for the Salute to Veterans at the Star Spangled Spectacular Fireworks Extravaganza June 29th which is Ellsworth’s 4th of July.

Digital photos may be emailed to ellsworth67439@aol.com or photos can be hand delivered to the golf course Tuesday through Saturday between 11:00 am and 7:00 pm, attn. Clarissa Cunningham. All photos must be submitted to the committee by June 14th.

Please include the name of the veteran with the photo and the relationship to the current Ellsworth family members….such as Bob Raney, husband of Shirley and father of Tina Davis.

This was a very interesting feature of last year’s celebration, so send in your pictures to share with others this year.

Dear Friends,

I want to inform you that our application titled “Wilson For The Ages” did not make the Top 4 in the Case Foundation “Make It Your Own Awards” grant program.  We can feel very proud, however, for what we have accomplished (i.e. Top 20 out of 4,641 applications and a $10,000.00 award).

In the online voting competition to determine the Top 4, “Wilson For The Ages” received 1,546 votes which is pretty darn good for a community of our size.  Wilson is the smallest of the cities that made the Top 20.  The projects that made the Top 4 each received over 4,000 votes and are located in New Orleans, St. Paul, Chicago and Philadelphia.
Go to www.casefoundation.org/top20 to learn more.

Congratulations to the projects that made the Top 4.  I hope they accomplish great things in their communities.

Much thanks to everyone who voted for “Wilson For The Ages” and helped spread the word to others.

Sincerely,

David Criswell
Wilson PRIDE

The selections are: Teriyaki beef, General Tso’s chicken, sweet and sour chicken, pork egg rolls and fried rice. A plate dinner includes one entree, an egg roll and fried rice for $5.99.

Shannon Mog, owner of Reliant Roofing, arrived at Todd’s about 1:00 today to replace his roof.  It doesn’t look large in this picture, but it’s a sizable roof.  There was a bevy of Hispanic roofers and an assemblage of trucks, materials, equipment…and Shannon.  We’re not sure how many roofers there were….maybe 10.  One sat out in his truck and watched  the others as they worked.  They were finished with the job about six hours later.  This morning they completed a neighbor’s roof, start to finish. Todd said they “were workin’ fools” and he meant that in a complimentary way. They do good work.  If you need a new roof, call Shannon.

Get ready for the big 3 R celebration in Preisker Park Friday evening and all day Saturday. You won’t want to miss at least dropping in to see what is going on as there will be food, music, art, games, a movie and more food.

RIBS: Browse around the park on Friday and see the various teams setting up their BBQ smokers for the Friday evening best burger and wings contest from 7:00 pm to 9:00 pm.

On Saturday there is another BBQ cook off and taster’s choice that continues to 5:00 pm. Twelve teams have signed up to participate in the BBQ cookoff. 33 trophies will be awarded
RODS: Registration for cycles, cars and antique tractors is Saturday from 9:00 am to 1:00 pm. All varieties of entries are welcome. 75 trophies will be awarded.

ROCK: Five live bands will perform from 5:00 pm until 11:00 pm Saturday. No charge.

There will be food vendors from 11:00 am to 11:00 pm on Saturday. There will be games for the kids, a free movie on Friday night, arts and crafts, five live bands and fun for all.

The event is sponsored by the Ellsworth Celebration Committee.

It’s time to get on your cycle and have some fun during the Ellsworth Correction Facility’s Ninth Annual Run for the Soul. Riders are scheduled to leave the Ellsworth Recreation Center south of the bridge between 11:00 and 11:30 for option #1 ride and 12:00 noon for option #2, rain or shine.  The groups will return about 3:30.

The first place winner will win a prize of $1,500, second $500 and $200 for low hand.

Arrive early and join your friends for biscuits and gravy or hamburgers, brats and corn on the cob before the ride.  At 10:45 there will be a blessing of the bikes.

Two routes are available for the poker run, Option #1 is 164 miles, Option #2 ride is 97 miles.

HANDS WILL NOT BE PUNCHED DURING THE RUN!

First, second and third punches will be made in Ellsworth prior to departing on the run.  The remaining punches will be made upon return to Ellsworth.  (Hands may be stamped at the stops to signify participation in the run, but are not necessary.)

The proceeds from the poker run will benefit the Spiritual Life Center at the ECF.  It is sponsored by the City of Ellsworth and the Ellsworth Chamber of Commerce.

Even if you don’t have a motorcycle to ride in the event, you can enjoy the food and festivities and check out all the cycles parked at the Rec Center.  They’ll drive through town and circle the correctional facility as well, so line the sidewalks and give them a high five.

For more information, call Herbie Harris or Dale Bailey at 785.472.5501, extension 297 or 298.

Sebelius vetoed the two previous bills and no doubt will veto this one as well as it isn’t much different from the past two. The House vote drew only 76 supporters and thats eight votes shy of the 84 needed for  an override.

Sebelius maintains the proposed plants are too large and emit too much CO2 which is linked to global climate change.  This bill also takes authority away from the secretary of health and environment to regulate toxic emissions as have the others.  Critics called this “the carbon dioxide stimulus act of 2008″. I agree.

I am not opposed to coal. I want to see baseload generation built in Southwest Kansas. I do not take my orders from the Governor.

I have tried to avoid the discussion of coal, but this is truly what this session has become, and it deserves a great deal of attention. I want to start by saying this: I have never been more proud of the area I represent than at times like this. These past few weeks have been very difficult – I have been called names, my wife has been drug in to my issues, and we have received many very forceful comments from individuals. I am proud to say that none of those comments have come from this district. I know from your comments that many of you agree with me, and some of you do not. However, those of you that do not have been very respectful in your approach, and I cannot extend to you enough gratitude. Thank you.

I reiterate the points I made earlier – I am not opposed to coal and I recognize the role it will have to play as we transition to the future. However, as this session opened it became apparent that there was to be no compromising in terms of what the final legislation would look like. Hearings were rushed, amendments were pre-drafted and approved by a committee to which no one was publicly appointed. I made my stand; I tried to have them slow down and be more deliberate; but the groups interested in this bill were not listening to a broad swath of Kansans.

We now find ourselves with two basically identical bills. They have been vetoed by the Governor; one has already been overriden by the Senate and both await action by the House. Some of you have wanted me to support Sunflower and Holcomb, but we can never lose sight of an elected official’s job: as a legislator, I don’t vote for issues, I vote for bills. The two bills before me contain public policy so loosely formed and so dangerous in their effect that I can hardly call them “public policy.”

Some would say that there are very good “green” things in these bills – a renewable portfolio standard, net metering only for solar, etc. Those elements are both small and hardly compare to the underlying bill. Besides, they will always be nothing more than window dressing when they are used to bring votes rather than being a genuine policy shift. You could describe these bills this way – a smoker that smokes two packs of cigarettes a day has decided to quit, for the sake of his health. He therefore decides to start wearing a nicotene patch, and limits himself to only smoking three packs of cigarettes a day. He also makes no effort to exercise and be more active (which in the case of our little metaphor would be energy efficiency and conservation, two elements all-but nonexistent in these bills.) Now, he is not only paying for the cigarettes, but he is also paying for the patch, which does nothing for him.

Some would say that Secretary Bremby’s authority needs to be curtailed. That is for the courts to decide. When a cabinet-level Secretary makes a determination that someone does not agree with, they can go to court and seek an interpretation of that Secretary’s statutory authority. Sunflower has done this, and that case is pending before the Kansas Supreme Court. However, Sunflower also decided to preempt that decision and have the legislature change the law (and make it retroactive.) If there is ambiguity in the Clean Air Act’s language – if the Secretary did in fact overstep his bounds - by all means we should fix it. However, on an issue this big we should wait for an interpretation from the court.

Some would say that we need the access to cheap power. This is where I will have to stop for the week, because I do not have the space to devote to this issue. However, it is my humble opinion, after years of energy briefings, that cheap power will be hard to come by in the near term, and it will not likely be coming from coal. Cost of coal plants are skyrocketing, and that is without any monetization of carbon dioxide from the Federal level, which is likely. Every other utility in the state has shelved or postponed its plans for a coal plant until they find out what is going on federally. Kansas City Power and Light is halfway through construction of their new plant in Missouri, and they are already 700 million dollars over budget on a 1 billion dollar plant. To charge in now with the biggest coal plant this state has seen in decades would be foolish, and that foolishness would expose the ratepayers to all of that risk. In the past that risk was tempered by the fact that the Kansas Corporation Commission would oversee and approve all of the rate increases by Sunflower to make sure they were “prudent.”

Oh yeah, one other thing these bills do: they remove the KCC oversight from Sunflower’s rates – that protection would now be gone.

Stacked beef, bean, cheese, green chili enchiladas topped with lettuce and tomato with a side of Spanish rice for $5.99.

Ree’s recipe that follows is close to the way I make mac and cheese, except Brit likes to have Vienna sausages added to it. I don’t measure and Ree does, so follow her recipe. It’s very good, if you like spicy mac and cheese. Paula Deen’s is also good, but this is spicy with a different taste. I prefer this one.

Pioneer Woman’s Spicy Macaroni & Cheese

4 cups cooked macaroni or cavatappi
1 tablespoon olive oil
1/4 to 1/2 finely diced red onion
Equal amount diced red bell pepper
1 finely diced jalapeno
1 4 oz can chopped green chilies
1 cup frozen corn
2 to 3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 cup cream
1 generous cup grated Pepper Jack cheese
2 tablespoons butter
Salt
Pepper

Boil pasta until al dente. In a large skillet, add olive oil and saute garlic and vegetables over medium heat for a couple of minutes. Add in canned chilies and stir around, then turn off heat. Drain pasta and add it to skillet. Pour on cream, add cheese, then add salt and pepper to taste and stir gently. At the end, add 2 tablespoons butter and stir again. Check seasonings and serve.

Serve with juicy steak, with grilled shrimp, chicken, or on its own. It’ll change your life for the better.

My fave deli manager said today’s special surrounds her homemade chili. It’s a good day for chili.

You can order a Polish hot dog covered with chili and cheese and two sides plus chips for $5.99. Choice of sides include macaroni and potato salad, baked beans or Cole slaw. Or you can buy the homemade chili for $3.99 a pound.

Weather forecast…today: Showers and possibly a thunderstorm. High near 65. Southeast wind 11 to 15 mph becoming northeast. Chance of precipitation is 90%.

Tonight: A chance of showers, mainly before 1am. Cloudy, then gradually becoming partly cloudy, with a low around 53. North northeast wind between 14 and 17 mph. Chance of precipitation is 40%.

In visiting with a friend who travels a lot for the firm she works for, I learned they wanted her to go to Brazil. I don’t know exactly where in Brazil. She declined mainly because she would have to get kidnap insurance and 32 inoculations.

There are a lot of places in the world where it simply isn’t safe for Americans to travel anymore.

Izo and Hiro arrived back home in Osaka yesterday. They really enjoyed their visit with us, Todd’s hospitality in having a Marymount mini-reunion with Izo’s old friends and our drive to Wilson Lake, Lucas, Lincoln etc. They are excited about the possibility that Tyler might come visit them so they can show him a “different country, same people”. Yes, we all are very much alike.

Brit is feeling somewhat better today. He once again spent several hours sitting up in a chair during the night. He’s moving around and is going to get the INDY and mail. That’s a good sign. Yesterday he just wasn’t up to it. Nonetheless, I’m staying home this weekend and will visit Mackenzie and Luke another time.

I love the weather streamer along the bottom of my screen that warns me of impending severe storms. In this case, the western half of Kansas is under a severe thunderstorm watch. Ellsworth County will enter the picture sometime this evening as we can’t possibly avoid the west to east movement of Mother Nature in the Great Plains.

My new bird book that I blogged and ordered from KU Press arrived. It is everything and more that I had hoped it would be. I have stacks of bird books and this is by far the best for Kansas birds, imo. It is a real bargain.

My new front loading washing machine and dryer are also proving to be everything everyone said about them. Electric companies say the washer saves $100 a year in water, energy and detergent. Still, it would take a lot of years to make that pay for itself unless you really needed one, as I did. Karen says she noticing huge savings on water consumption with her new front loader.

Also, if you replaced a 75-watt incandescent light bulb with a 20 watt compact fluorescent, you’d get the same amount of light but save 3.5 pounds of CO2 and 15 cents a day. Replace all your incandescents with cfl’s and realize a huge saving. I’ve switched all of mine, but I need to do some fine tuning.

Linda Mc and I had lunch at the Rack today in Great Bend. If you want a great hamburger, give it a try, says Linda. Linda had a salad and I had a grilled chicken breast with pineapple and bacon on a sesame seed bun. The food is good. It’s a PEP project and going gang-busters. It’s on Railroad Avenue north of Washington. Turn south on Washington at the light and then turn west at the railroad tracks. It’s on the north side of RR Avenue. My good friend, Sheryl C wandered in so I got to see her as well. We’re going to lunch too, one of these days.

I was going to pause at Cheyenne Bottoms but Brit isn’t feeling at all well today so I didn’t linger. Mary and I have put our trip on hold for the moment.

I spied some lilacs today. It must be spring.

Thanks for tuning in.

Hot roast beef sandwiches on TX toast, mashed potatoes and topped with gravy…two sides $5.99.

When we lose something from our community that has been in place for “ages”, it takes something away from us. Such is the case with Strella’s Family Shoe Store, a main street business that has been in place for almost as long as any of us can remember. Maybe it has only been in existence for 25 years, but that seems a long time to us.

John and Linda Strella have decided it is time to retire from the shoe business and are having a quitting business sale at once for some preferred customers to give them first chance at their merchandise. A special retirement sale commences on Thursday May 8th and continues through May 14th. Everyone is welcome.

More than $3,000 in prizes will be awarded at the end of the sale so don’t forget to sign up. No purchase is necessary.

Our thanks go to John and Linda Strella for showing continuous support for the Ellsworth business community and in providing footwear to the entire area. We will miss your spirit and enthusiasm that were exhibited daily in your sales and contacts with customers. We trust you will be close by during your years in retirement and we wish you the very best.

Photo by Mike Burley of the Cap Journal

After making a passionate speech to sway colleagues to vote against overriding the governor’s coal veto, Rep. Josh Svaty, D-Ellsworth, looks as votes are counted on the House floor on Thursday evening.

Inability of the Republican-controlled House to obtain the necessary votes to deflect Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius’ opposition to the project is unlikely to bring to a close the most contentious issue of the 2008 legislative session. The House could attempt a second override of a similar coal bill rejected by Sebelius.
The full story in the Capital Journal