Dear Chamber Supporters:
WOW…I have never been as honored as I was last Tuesday evening. Sherri, Ryland, the Chamber Board, and Chamber Ambassadors planned a retirement reception for me that saw over 100 people come to greet me at The Historic Post Office. I was truly humbled (few pictures here). The next evening I read through all the cards and well-wishes…many were very touching and overwhelming. Sherri and Ryland gifted me a Maple Tree for my retirement…and are going to plant it too! I can’t think of hearing of a better or more appropriate retirement gift. I will remember them, my retirement reception, and my time at the Chamber every time I see and enjoy it growing in our yard!
I pretty much finished cleaning out my office this week…I told Ryland next week I will sit out front and answer the phone so he can get his office organized. So…if you call the office and the call gets dropped or not transferred correctly…apologies. Potentially I could get fired from the phone job!?! During the cleaning process I found many things or projects of which I had totally forgotten…many good memories – a few bad ones too! Definitely more good than bad.
Donuts for Do-Gooders:
On Thursday, Betty Birzer surprised us in the Chamber with 2-dozen donuts for being this week’s recipient of “Donuts for Do-Gooders” (picture here). She also gave 2-dozen donuts to the week’s un-sung hero, Richard Nienstedt…who received 2-dozen donuts too (picture here)!! In reality, Betty is the best Do-Gooders I know…especially when it comes to supporting the local community. You can nominate a business or someone by emailing Charity McCain, the Ottawa Donut Lady…or messaging her on the Daylight Donut Facebook page…Betty picks up the donuts and delivers them to the winners and follows up by writing a story…and submitting pictures and a story describing the winners to the Ottawa Herald. It was a pleasant surprise in a week filled with good feelings. Thanks, Betty and Charity…for all you do…and for the donuts!!
On another donut matter…Charity is moving her Daylight Donut business more-or-less across the street to 112 E. 17th Street (former chiropractic office). The Hope Anthem Church is considering building on her present location and so she needs to relocate…moving her donut shop to the location catty-cornered across the street will allow her to keep her drive-thru business and essentially remain operating as usual. She’s in the process of getting the building modified and set up for her (very popular) donut, biscuits and gravy, and breakfast burrito business.
National Agriculture Week & Fr. Co. Farm Bureau (FB):
National Agriculture Week is celebrated every year in March on dates announced by the Agriculture Council of America. This year the holiday began on March 21 and will end on 27. The week celebrates and acknowledges the agricultural industry and the role it plays in stabilizing the economy…this year's theme is "Growing a Climate for Tomorrow". Every year during Ag. Week our local Farm Bureau organization hosts Chamber members at the Franklin County FB office at 112 W. 17th Street to inform and update us on what agriculture is doing locally (pictures here). Farm Bureau’s purpose, both locally and nationwide, is to be the Voice of Agriculture…they do this through advocacy, education and service. Our local farm bureau devotes time to each of these tenants but is especially dedicated to educating students regarding agriculture in Franklin County…they do this with their annual Day on the Farm at Sylvester Ranch for all third graders in Franklin County…they follow that experience by traveling to each third-grade class to demonstrate Bread in a Bag and exactly what agriculture products are important to provide bread to a nation. Both of these are outstanding programs designed to help local students better realize where their food, fiber and energy come from. You know the old wise tale…“If you are going to criticize a farmer…don’t do it with your mouth full!” Truer words were never spoken…it’s important for the next generation to grasp the understanding. Agriculture will always be Franklin County’s biggest industry…thanks to Farm Bureau for helping us better realize the importance of agriculture and spreading this message!!
Pomona Lake:
This year in Rotary, we are devoting each month to a special theme and hearing from speakers regarding the topic. Since providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene around the world is one of the missions Rotary supports…this month’s subject is clean water. And since most of Ottawa’s drinking water comes from Lake Pomona, this week we heard from Erik Patterson, Civil Engineer Technician at Pomona Reservoir (picture here). He shared many interesting facts about our water source just to our west in Osage County. The Pomona Lake Dam was built in 1963 at a cost of over $13 million dollars and was dedicated on September 5, 1964. The lake was built to control flooding of the 110-Mile, Dragoon, Plummer, and Valley Brook Creeks upstream and downstream on our very own Marais des Cygnes River. Pomona Lake spreads out over 350 square miles which represents 4,000 acres of water. The lake reached its highest point in 2019 when it was 3 feet from the spillway…that year the depth of the lake was 998 feet. There has never been a Corp of Engineer’s dam fail in Kansas. Of course, Ottawa’s main interest in the lake is for safe, clean, drinking water…2063 is expected to be the end of life for the lake – when it’s 100 years old. Forty years will go by quickly. Silt and sedimentation which flow into the basin during times of high water are the death knells for large lakes like Pomona. Currently cost-effective methods to clean the silt have not been developed…but procedures and techniques are being researched and developed. Many think the Corp lakes were built purely for recreation…they do provide a scenic ascetic sanctuary for fishing, camping, boating, and hunting. But these are not the important reasons for the lake to exist. The primary causes for the Corp of Engineer dams were flood control, human water supply, irrigation, livestock water supply, energy generation, and pollution control. Said differently…recreation doesn’t even make the top 5. However, the largest fish ever caught at Pomona was a 95-pound Flathead!! My own personal story of the Lake…in 1963 when the lake was under construction, I was 7 years old. My uncle…who graded the roads in Osage County and lived just east of the lake, loaded me up in his 1949 pickup truck one Sunday afternoon and drove me straight to the bottom of the lake at what is now the deepest part of the water body. His comment…not everyone will be able to say they’ve been to the bottom of the lake – which by the way, he referred to as “Big Dam Foolishness”!! For him it disrupted and dispersed his friends and neighbors. We’re lucky today to have a constant water supply…constant at least for the next 40 years!
Wildcats Still Dancing!:
I don’t want to overreact…I know for KU basketball fans they’ve experienced this often. But it has been since 2018 since K-State basketball has gone to the Elite 8…and 1964 since cracking the Final 4. So if we seem a little giddy right now…it’s because this is the air we don’t get to breathe that often (click here for a KSU winning picture)! Next game…Saturday at 5:00 against the fighting Owls of Florida Atlantic University. Just keep dancing!!
March Birthdays:
My mom graduated from Kansas State University in 1955…on the day KSU beat the Michigan State Spartans in the Sweet 16, she turned 90 years old!! We are going to formally celebrate the occasion this weekend at Trinity United Methodist Church with a birthday party…if you know mom, you are invited to come – she’d love to see you. Anna Lynn turned 8 the day before…we’ll celebrate her too. Here are a couple of pictures from their actual birthdays.
One-Week…and Counting:
I’m down to the last 5-days…hard to believe!?! Still have a lot of things I need to get done before walking out the door. I’m glad Ryland will be there to mop up after me!
Talk to you next week…one last time!
Onward ~ John
President/CEO
Ottawa Area Chamber of Commerce
john@ottawakansas.org
785-242-1000
