The Hugoton Middle School Science Fair was Wednesday, February 7. Grand prize winners for the seventh grade were Randy Kiley and Blake Salmans and eighth grade were Morgan Niehues and Amiley Lewis. Seventh grade science teacher is Mrs. Bobbi Ferguson and eighth grade science teacher is Morey Mecklenburg.

Seventh grade winners for the Biological category had two teams tied for first place. They were Randy Kiley and Blake Salmans and Axcel Padron. Second place winners were Payson Nix and Riddick Rindels and third place winners were Janay Wolters and Kyra Klassen.

Winners in the Chemical category were first place Toni Moore and Kinley Howie with “The Project That Just Makes Cents”, second place Kaylee Shelman and Lilly Johnson with “Coolbleck”. Third place winners were Brinlee Austin and Braylee Kraisinger with “Shake, Shake, Boom”.

First place winners in the Consumer category were Samantha Romero and Cassandra Villa with “Perfect Paper Towels”. Second place winners were Ivan Tinoco and Cecil Williams with “Hot Choloclate”. Third place finishers were Aaliyah Munoz and Zoey Meyer with “What’s Poppin”. Alessandro Romo with “Taste the Starburst” and Anderson Rosales with “Sport Drinks” were Honorable Mention.

In the Food category second place went to Misael Fabela with “How Hot Is It”. Third place winners were Natalia Moran with “Cookie Science”, and Alex Pineda and Wyatt Farmer with “Fluffy Pancakes”.

First place winner in Mechanical category was Ignacio Hernandez with “Launch It”. Second place went to Miles Mueller and Kash Kallenbach with “Shooting Stars”. Third place winners were Bently Esarey and Aiden Link with “The Long Steps”.

In the Physical category first place went to Jordan Tinoco and Ethan Acosta with “Electroscope”. Second place winners were David Demers and James McCann with “Dry Ice”. Third place winners were Caiden Oder and Tukker Eckert with “Overnight Crystals”. Gerson Chulim was Honorable Mention with “Bouncing Eggs”.

Eighth grade winners in the Biological category were Adrian Adigun and Eduarado Tinoco with “Bottle Bacteria” and Morgan Niehues and Amiley Lewis with “Gargle Those Antibiotics!”. Third place went to Amsi Martinez and Charlotte Ellsaesser with “Trust or Bust”. Honorable Mention were Oziel Rodriguez and Jaret Gomez with “The Right Way to Garden”.

Winners in the eighth grade in the category of Consumer were first place Carlos Meza and Alan Lopez with “Will It Stand?”. Second place was Katelynn Willis with “Love At First Sip” and Honorable Mention went to Brianna Espinoza and Crystal Saucedo with “Dry Skin To Better Skin”.

In the category of Environment, winner was Jacqueline Angeles with “Agua De Lluvia”. Second place winner was Yazmin Ramos with “Fresh Fragrances”. Third place winners were Kevin Mendez and Jesus Maldonado with “Check Your Water”. Honorable Mention went to Aubree Pate and Breckyn Salazar with “Soil Fatigue”.

In the Food category first place winners were Grant Goode and Van Yoder with “Groovy Smoothies”. Second place winners were Cody Gerrond and Zane Hermreck with “We Have The Meats”. Logan Shuck placed third with “Hot Diggity Dogs”. Ailyn Valles was Honorable Mention with “Magnetic Cereal”.

Jaxon Torres and Chastin Batie with “Belly Bomb” were the first place winners in the Health category. Second place went to Max Mancera and Hannah Cox with “Hit The Hay”. Third place winners were Daniel Alfaro and Gustavo Cruz with “Gassy Sugars” and Brandon Meza with “Hydrolytes”.

First place winner in the Physical category was Raymond Lamatsch with “Sky Fly”. Second place went to Lane Stand and Brendan Gill with “The Longest Drive”. Third place winners were Jefferson Diaz and Gage Harris with “Rust-eze”.

Charles and Evalean Forward’s Seventy-Eighth Anniversary is coming up February 10! The couple has decided to renew their vows to celebrate this special anniversary on Charles’ ninety-eighth birthday which is also February 10.

Saturday, February 10, 2024 Charles and Evalean invite friends and family to celebrate with them by attending their vow renewal at Lone Star Church at 2:00 p.m. The ceremony will be followed by a cake reception at the church. Your presence is the only presents needed. No gifts please. The couple’s children Steve Forward and Bob Forward and wife Debbie, along with the grandchildren and great grandchildren, will be hosting the celebration.

Several 4-H Horse Youth from the Wild West Extension District (Haskell, Seward and Stevens counties) participated in the Kansas State 4-H Horse Panorama Saturday, January 27 in Salina on the K-State Salina Campus. The Senior team of Lainey Cox, Channing Dillinger and Cody Gerrond were the Senior Horse Quiz Bowl Champions. The team also placed third in the Senior Hippology Contest where Lainey Cox was third high individual and Channing Dillinger was fifth high individual.

Competing in the Open Horse Quiz Bowl contest were Bailey Gerrond placing sixth high individual and Madison Niehues placing seventh high individual. Participating in the first timers division were Natalia Moran, Rouxlen Nickson, Caitlyn Taylor and Kamdyn Croft.

In the Virtual division of the Kansas State 4-H Horse Panorama were Morgan Niehues placing first in the Poster Contest and Grant Niehues placing fifth in the Senior Photography contest. The youth are coached by Judy Parsons. Kenzey Croft and Amy Nickson-Taylor were chaperones for the team.

Trina Fosdick of Rolla and Robert and Lindsey Fosdick of Hugoton are pleased to announce the marriage of their son, Kenneth, to Brooke Topliss, daughter of Duane and Chrissy Topliss of Hugoton.

The ceremony took place Friday, November 24 at the First Christian Church of Hugoton with Tom Craiker presiding.

Kenneth or Kenny is a 2023 graduate of Rolla High School and Brooke is a 2022 graduate of Hugoton High School. Kenny joined the Army shortly after graduation and came home for his marriage to Brooke. After a very brief time together, Kenny is now deployed overseas, leaving, November 28. Brooke will remain in the states until he returns.

Their entire family wishes them a long and happy marriage. Congratulations to all!

The Stevens County Conservation District Board celebrated their 74 years of Conservation service with their annual meeting Saturday, January 13. Introductions were made by Luke Grubbs and Invocation was given by Loren Seaman.

Citizens State Bank sponsored the delicious meal prepared by Hunny’s. Hugoton FFA members helped with the serving of the refreshments. Speakers for the evening were Abe Lollar for Ducks Unlimited and Michael Ask with Dragon Line Mobile Drip Irrigation.

Lollar was born and raised in Derby. He is currently serving as the Chair for the Upper Arkansas River Regional Advisory Committee, Chair for the Finney County Conservation District and the President of the Upper Arkansas River Watershed Group.

Ask is the Director of Operations at Dragon-Line Mobile Drip Irrigation. He lives in Ulysses with his wife Deborah and his two sons, Clavin and Parker. He is from St. Louis originally but has lived in the High Plains area for the last 16 years.

Loren Seaman introduced the Windbreak, Wildlife, Grassland and Soil Conservation winners for 2023. The awards were presented to the winners by Grubbs and James Murray. Wilhelm and Maria Reimer were the Windbreak winners, Bryne and Tina Sullins were the Wildlife winners. the Grassland winners were Dale and Janine Beltz and Wilbur and Julie Kinser won the Soil Conservation award.

The conservation poster winners were introduced and given their awards by Abel Sullivan and Tom Lahey. Door prizes were handed out by Sullivan and Lahey. Larry and Nelda Brady were chosen this year to receive the Community Service Award. They have spent a lifetime serving the communities in which they have lived.

They were both born and raised in rural Alfalfa County, Oklahoma near the towns of Lambert and Cherokee. Larry attended Northwestern Oklahoma State in Alva, Ok. and then transferred to and graduated from Oklahoma State University in Stillwater with a degree in Ag Education.

Jobs were hard to find at the time, but there was a position available at Balko High School, a small school in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Larry suggested to his new bride Nelda that they could move to Balko and take the teaching position for a couple of years and then move back to the Alva area when a job comes open. So they moved to Balko and ended up staying there for 33 years.

During this time, Larry spent much of his time, not only in the classroom, but also on the road travelling to livestock sales and shows with his FFA students. He ended up teaching and mentoring three generations of students in the Oklahoma Panhandle. Nelda spent much of her time raising their three children while Larry was on the road. She also was a cook at the school, a cook at Falls Creek Church Camp in Davis, Ok. and operated a café at Bryan’s Corner called the Red Barn Café. She also helped clean and care for the Balko Baptist Church where they were members and regular attenders and served in several positions.

After Larry retired from teaching, he worked for Larry Steckline at the radio station in Liberal. Nelda continued to operate the Red Barn. They both continued to serve the Balko community until 2002, when they decided to move to Hugoton. Larry brought his garden and show pig operation and Nelda brought her restaurant and opened Pigs R Us in Hugoton in March of 2003.

For 20 years they have served the Hugoton community. Larry has been a substitute teacher at the school and helped mentor numerous 4H and FFA livestock youth projects. He has also worked as an enumerator for the USDA. Nelda caters to the Turpin senior citizens, the Hugoton Lions Club, and has organized several bus tour trips to destinations all across the United States. Larry and Nelda have been married for 64 years.

They have three children, eight grandchildren and six great grandchildren scattered across Oklahoma, Texas and Kansas. Their lives have always been an example of service to the people in the communities where they have lived.

Congratulations and thank you Larry and Nelda Brady.

Stevens County Commissioners met in regular session Monday.

Agenda: 8:30 – Bills; 8:45 – County Resolutions and Appointments to be worked on; 9:00 – 2023 Longevity recipients; 9:30 – Tony Martin; 10:00 – Bids for AA Building Doors; 10:15 – Sam & Praful Bhakta – Property Taxes.

Due to the oncoming weather this reporter was unable to attend. Amy Jo sent in a few notes and the picture they had of the Longevity recipients. Resolutions 24-01 and 24-02 are posted in the Hermes this week. Hugoton Hermes is county newspaper; meetings are the second and fourth Monday of the month unless a holiday; Tron Stegman is Commissioner Chair; Vice Chair is Joe Thompson; Citizens State Bank is primary financial institution with Dream First being secondary.

Candidate packets for the 2024 election are available at the County Clerk’s office and filing deadline is June 3 at noon. Thank you Amy Jo

Courthouse employees show off the large load of non perishable food they collected. The Stevens County Courthouse had a “Decorate Your Door” contest to help collect food items to donate to Project Hope. Pictured left to right are Eriel Lewis, Betty Rosel, Lori Rome, Ross Sullivan, Jayme Rich, Ciara Greenwood, Amy Rich and Jordan Waugh. Betty’s door won.

The High Plains Theatre will be showing Trolls Band Together Friday, December 15 and Saturday, December 16 at 7:00 p.m. The movie is sponsored by State Farm-Debbie Nordling. The first 25 kid trays will be free.

The Hugoton High School Show Choir will perform a Christmas Spectacular Sunday, December 17 at 4:00 p.m. at High Plains Theatre. The event is sponsored by State Farm Debbie Nordling. Come snag a photo with Santa. Free Will Donations are accepted to help with the New York Carnegie Hall performance in April. There will also be concessions.

Heritage Christian Academy wants to invite you to their annual Christmas Program. Join them Sunday, December 17 at 6:00 p.m. at the Hugoton Assembly of God. There will be cookies and hot cocoa following the program.

Heaven Came Down, and Glory Filled Our Souls! Moscow Christian Fellowship Church would like to invite you to an evening of song and fellowship Sunday, December 17 at 7:00 p.m. The congregation will be singing Christmas Hymns throughout the program. It is their desire to uplift the Name of Jesus. They would love to see you; won’t you join them? They will also be having a Christmas Eve Candlelight Service December 24 at 6:00 p.m.