Month: May 2017

Annual Tractor Cruise to be Saturday

Tractors to cruise 35-mile route, including Marble Day parade

The annual Tractor Cruise is scheduled to start at 8 a.m. Saturday, May 6, in Bonner Springs.

The event is held each year in conjunction with the Marble Day parade in Bonner Springs.

The public may view the Tractor Cruise at several stops as the 50 tractors take a 35-mile route through western Wyandotte County, and into Leavenworth County, before returning to the National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame at 126th and State Avenue in Bonner Springs.

Dawn Gabel, director of the National Agricultural Center and Hall of Fame, said the Tractor Cruise is a fundraiser for the Ag Hall, and there will be a small silent auction held there in conjunction with the event.

The route includes the Marble Day parade, a stop at the Nuts and Bolts store on K-7, then a stop at Wyandotte County Lake around noon. The Tractor Cruise also will go to the Legends Outlets and will stop at Cabela’s, then back to the Ag Hall. Children will be able to see the tractors up close at some of the stops.

The Tractor Cruise is sponsored by the Kansas City Two Cylinder Cub, which does a lot of volunteer work at the Ag Hall, Gabel said. Volunteers with the group often bring tractors for special Ag Hall events.

For more information on the Tractor Cruise, visit http://gkctcc.com/.

The 11th annual Marble Day will start with a parade at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, May 6, in downtown Bonner Springs. It will be from 9:30 to 2 p.m. and will include a pancake breakfast, farmer’s market at Kelly Murphy Park, Tractor Cruise and Wacky Parade at 9:30 a.m. on Oak Street, activities, crafts, old-fashioned games including marble games at Centennial Park, the Running of the Pinkys at noon on Oak Street, and a cake walk at 1 p.m. at Centennial Park.

For more information on Marble Day, visit http://marbleday.com/.

Lights back on for 96-year-old KCK resident

The lights came back on at midday today for a 96-year-old Kansas City, Kansas, resident who has been without power for three weeks.

The community came together to help the resident.

“I feel wonderful,” the 96-year-old resident said today. “I thank you from the bottom of my heart for all that you’ve done for me,” she said to the diverse group of volunteers who helped.

This week, a master electrician who has his own business stepped up to get a permit, provide electrical services, and rewire the resident’s home. The Board of Public Utilities and local inspectors had stated the resident’s home needed to be rewired before the electricity could be turned back on, for safety reasons.

Sergio Cervantes, an electrician with Serg Electric in Kansas City, Mo., along with Scott Brocato, devoted many volunteer hours to the rewiring project this week.

The electrician’s friend saw a news report on Fox4 News on Monday about the resident, then called the station, and the station contacted Janice Witt, who is with the Reola Grant Center. Witt and the Reola Grant Center have been volunteering to help the resident since last Friday.

The home was inspected today before the lights were turned back on.

There were many other community volunteers involved in the project. Additional work is being done on the home and property, and there is a work day planned Saturday to work on such things as mowing the lawn and tree trimming.

Witt said Rodriguez Mechanical Contractors volunteered to install a hot water heater and to work on the plumbing. Other volunteers were from Express Septic, Baker’s Tow, and KC Dentkrafters.

Witt said Ussery Body Shop is volunteering to do yard work, and the City Center Church in Lenexa, Kan., has offered to donate funds toward other expenses.

The 96-year-old’s meter was damaged, she said, when a truck drove through her back yard. The resident called the Wyandotte Daily last Friday, and she requested a news story about the damage to her back yard. The Wyandotte Daily saw a downed utility line in her back yard and did a story about the power being off. The BPU sent personnel out on Friday night to look at the situation, check the safety, and make an assessment. Then many community members started to come forward to assist.

There was a difference of opinion on Monday with one master electrician who said it wasn’t necessary to get a permit, while the utility wanted a permit. The electrician did not believe the current ordinance mandates upgrading the electrical system at an existing small house. The BPU spokesman cited safety reasons for pulling the meter and for requiring a permit. Then another electrician stepped forward to volunteer to upgrade the wiring.

Commissioner Mike Kane visited the resident on Monday to try to get the issues resolved and the power turned back on safely.

Accident reported on I-70 near 110th

Two vehicles were westbound on I-70 near 110th Street at 4:05 p.m. May 4 when an accident happened.

According to the Kansas Turnpike Authority trooper’s report, a Nissan Frontier made a lane change and rear-ended a Toyota Camry.

The driver of the Frontier, a 37-year-old man from Halstead, Kansas, had a possible injury, according to the trooper’s report.

The driver of the Camry, a 35-year-old man from Young Harris, Ga., was not injured, the report stated.