by William Crum
Last night was the first meeting of the Citizens Academy sponsored by the Wyandotte County Sheriff’s Office.
Twelve people from all over Wyandotte County enrolled in the seven-week program. On hand to greet the people was Sheriff Don Ash, plus other high-ranking Sheriff’s officers.
One of the keynote speakers was local historian Loren Taylor, who has written various books on the history of Wyandotte County. He gave his speech about the history of the Sheriff’s office. The term Sheriff comes from Great Britain, Taylor said.
Then he proceeded to tell the overall history of Wyandotte County and what it is today. He went from the early 1800s to the present explaining in detail how the community evolved as it is known today.
After Taylor’s presentation, Major Dewey Bond gave a speech on the history of the jail and took the participants on a tour of the old jail. According to many, the old jail is definitely haunted, and one walking through it gets a very eerie feeling.
After the tour everyone was thanked for attending the first session. Many participants expressed how impressed they were with the first session. Many of them are looking forward to the next session, which will be next Tuesday, April 14.