SWKTalk.com

Beech: Navigating the Holidays Without Gaining Weight

Diane Elliott — Wed, 15 Dec 2010 17:16:37 +0000

For this edition of Talk of the Town, sponsored by Patrick Dugan’s Coffee House, The Telegram features an edited version of the December Knowledge at Noon program “Tiny Tastes, Big Calories at Holiday Time,” with Linda Beech, Finney County Extension agent. The program was on how to enjoy the holidays without packing on the pounds.

A few examples of the tips you’ll hear on the podcast:

Keep up with your exercise program.
Only go once through a buffet.
Carry healthy snacks with you if you’re traveling or out shopping.
Get enough sleep – 7 to 9 hours a night.

The next Knowledge at Noon program is 12:05 to 12:55 Jan. 6 at the Finney County Public Library, 605 E. Walnut St. The speaker will be LaDonna Sauer from the St. Catherine Sleep Disorder Center talking about the Sleep Disorder Center, sleep disorder testing and services available.

Other Knowledge at Noon programs this year are Feb. 3 “Spruce up with specialty painting techniques” with a representative from J&M Paint and Wallcovering; March 3 is “Gardening for success in southwest Kansas” with Shirley Buller; and April 7 is “Beautiful nails, beautiful hands.”

All sessions are over the noon hour at the library, except the April session, which is at the USD 457 Educational Support Center, 1205 Fleming St. Participants can bring lunch to eat during the program. Coffee and tea are provided.

For more information, call the Finney County Extension Office at 272-3670.

Glass: Lots to do, see downtown

Diane Elliott — Wed, 01 Dec 2010 17:10:28 +0000

For this edition of Talk of the Town, The Telegram finds out what’s going on downtown this holiday season. Beverly Schmitz Glass, Garden City Downtown Vision executive director, gives us the lowdown.

Listen to find out the details because there are several things coming up. Listed below are some of the upcoming events.

Dec. 11: From 1 to 3 p.m. are free carriage rides at Main Street and Grant Avenue, sponsored by Western State Bank; At 3 p.m. is Tuba Christmas on Grant Avenue, sponsored by Commerce Bank; At 6 p.m. is the Christmas Parade on Main Street, sponsored by Burtis Motors. Vendors will be available along the route for parade-goers to purchase food and drink.

Dec. 16: From 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. are free carriage rides at Main and Pine streets, sponsored by Regan & Co.

Dec. 18: From 2 to 4 p.m. are free carriage rides and Main Street and Grant Avenue, sponsored by Western State Bank.

To find out more or sign up for the parade, call Downtown Vision at 276-0891.

Sandoval: United Way Fundraising Continues

Diane Elliott — Fri, 19 Nov 2010 20:16:03 +0000

The Finney County United Way is in the middle of its annual fundraising campaign. The goal this year is $550,000, and so far receipts are at about 40 percent of that goal. That is the topic of this edition of Talk of the Town.

Executive Director Consuelo Sandoval said there still is time to schedule a presentation with a board member and partner agency to find out more about how a donation to the United Way helps in the community.

Agencies set to receive funds from United Way include Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA), Big Brothers Big Sisters of Finney and Kearny Counties; Community Day Care Center Inc.; Kansas Children’s Service League; Santa Fe Trail Council, Boy Scouts of America; Girl Scouts of Kansas Heartland; Finney County RSVP; the Garden City Family YMCA; Miles of Smiles; Russell Child Development Center; Southeast Asian Mutual Assistance Association; United Cerebral Palsy of Kansas; United Methodist Mexican-American Ministries; Garden City Area Chapter of the American Red Cross; Catholic Social Service; Family Crisis Services Inc.; Meals on Wheels; and The Salvation Army. Sandoval said community initiatives Smart Start and the playground program at Garden City Recreation Commission also will be receiving money.

Call 620-275-1425 to talk to Sandoval to set up a presentation or to find about how to donate. Donations also may be sent to Finney County United Way, PO Box 1198, Garden City KS 67846.

Learn more about agencies the donations to United Way funds at http://www.gctelegram.com/unitedway/

DeLeon: Volunteers Needed for Red Kettle Campaign

Diane Elliott — Fri, 05 Nov 2010 16:20:26 +0000

The Salvation Army Red Kettle Campaign is getting ready to start up for this year, and volunteers, lots of them, are needed.

The campaign runs Nov. 12 through 6 p.m. Dec. 24, with the goal of raising $100,000, which will help fund Salvation Army programs, like helping people pay for utility bills, the Angel Tree, providing back packs and school supplies for kids, a food pantry and much more.

The Salvation Army is not paying any bell ringers this year, so about 800 volunteers are needed to help staff the kettles from 10 a.m. to 9 p.m. Monday through Saturday, except Thanksgiving. You can help by signing up to ring the bell at Dillons East, 1305 E. Kansas Ave., Dillons West, 1211 Buffalo Jones Ave., JC Penney, 2302 E. Kansas Ave., Orscheln’s, 1309 N. Taylor Ave., Sam’s, 3010 LaRue St., Sears, 2310 E. Kansas Ave., Walmart, 3101 E. Kansas Ave., and Walgreens, 1306 E. Kansas Ave.

Applications can be picked up at Family Bookhouse, 519 N. Main St., Finney County Public Library, 605 E. Walnut St., Garden City Area Chamber of Commerce, 1511 E. Fulton Terrace, Patrick Dugan’s Coffeehouse, 301 N. Main St., and Salvation Army, 216 N. Ninth St.

New this year are virtual kettles, where individuals can raise money online with the help of their friends. Also, celebrity bell ringers, or well-known community members, will be helping the effort periodically, as well.

Listen to the podcast as Robert DeLeon of the Salvation Army explains more about the Red Kettle Campaign.

Find out more information here:

Garden City Bell Ringers Website

Bell Ringers Facebook page

Jones: Consider Adopting From Local Shelter

Diane Elliott — Thu, 21 Oct 2010 16:10:32 +0000

The Telegram’s Diane Elliott talks with Danna Jones, a Finney County Humane Society volunteer, about the need for people to adopt from the Garden City/Finney County Animal Shelter, 124 Fleming St.

The Humane Society usually takes several animals to Denver each month to save the animals from euthanasia, but the Dumb Friends League in Denver also has too many adoptable animals. So that facility is not taking the animals from Finney County.

That means more animals are at risk for euthanasia if they aren’t adopted locally. Cost to adopt depends on whether the animal is already spayed or neutered. For dogs, the cost to adopt if spayed or neutered is $30. To adopt a male dog not neutered, it’s $130. To adopt a female dog not spayed, it’s $160. To adopt a cat not spayed or neutered, it’s about $30 cheaper than the dog prices, Jones said.

To encourage adoptions, the Humane Society is going to have about a dozen animals spayed and neutered within the next week or so to help decrease the cost of the adoption. Check The Telegram for more information about that.

Visit the shelter between noon and 6 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday at 124 Fleming St.

Web links:

Finney County Humane Society: http://www.finneycohs.org/

Finney County Humane Society on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=122616457775464

Palmer: Pepsi Grant Could be Asset to Zoo, Others

Diane Elliott — Wed, 13 Oct 2010 19:52:52 +0000

In this edition of Talk of the Town, The Telegram’s Diane Elliott talks with Mary Palmer, executive director of the Friends of Lee Richardson Zoo about the Cat Canyon project and ongoing fundraising efforts. Cat Canyon will provide a new home to the zoo’s big cats, and already the FOLRZ has raised more than $600,000, with about $250,000 left to go.

That’s where a new grant opportunity comes in. It is the Pepsi Refresh Everything project, which would provide the funding for the rest of the project, and all it takes is votes. Lots of votes. To win the $250,000, the project has to have enough votes to push it to the top two spots in the contest. Now it sits at No. 32.

So how do you vote? You can go to the Pepsi Refresh Cat Canyon page, vote using Facebook, or you can text 103330 to 73774. Voting continues until Oct. 31.

Learn more about the project:

FOLRZ Facebook page

FOLRZ website

Lee Richardson Zoo website

Johnson: USD 457 vending machine policy

Diane Elliott — Thu, 19 Aug 2010 07:51:36 +0000

Tracy Johnson, USD 457 director of nutrition services, discusses the district’s revision to the vending machine guidelines at the high school.

According to Johnson, vending machines can serve carbonated beverages, but only an hour after the lunch period, and the vending machine cannot contain more than 50 percent carbonated beverages. The revision brings the high school into the “advanced” state guideline, Johnson said.

Next year, the district will adopt the “exemplary” level, and there will be no carbonated drinks in any vending machines that are accessed by students, Johnson said.

The changes come after a recent report by the Trust for America’s Health and the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation ranked Kansas as the 16th most obese state in the nation. The 2009 Youth Risk Behavior Survey also found that 12.4 percent of Kansas high school students were obese, another 13.1 percent were overweight and only 27.8 percent were physically active at least 60 minutes a day.

Depperschmidt: FCEDC budget request increases

Diane Elliott — Thu, 24 Jun 2010 13:41:13 +0000

Finney County Economic Development Corp. President Eric Depperschmidt discusses the recent increases in budget requests at both the city and county level for the economic development organization.

The group, which was developed by Garden City, Finney County, Holcomb and Garden City Community College, has requested a $631,000 increase in combined funding; from $214,000 to a requested $845,000 for 2011.

According to Depperschmidt, in the past four years the organization has helped create 429 jobs, helped 517 local businesses expand and helped bring in $108 million in capital investment dollars to the area.

Voters have voted twice against proposed sales tax increases to more permanently fund economic development for the area.

Below are links to related Telegram stories as well as two Telegram editorials and a column written by Depperschmidt regarding the budget request.

Related stories:

Mesa: Garden City Commission

Diane Elliott — Thu, 10 Jun 2010 13:23:04 +0000

Garden City Commissioner Reynaldo Mesa discusses how the city commission operates.

Mesa is the city’s longest tenured commissioner, having served since 1999, and has been appointed mayor three times.

He discusses what steps the commission goes through during the budgeting process, how the commission deals with cultural issues in such a diverse community and how citizens can become more involved in their local government through everything from sitting on an advisory board to helping to determine the budget through the Capital Improvement Plan.

GCCC: Dealing with budget cuts part II

Diane Elliott — Mon, 26 Apr 2010 21:12:10 +0000

In this two part Talk of the Town, we discuss the impending budget cuts at Garden City Community College.

In part two, we talk with strings instructor Doug Beyer, who is one of five faculty members whose contracts will not be renewed next school year.

Beyer shares his thoughts on the cuts from a faculty member’s perspective and also discusses the importance of the arts in a community.