Each Friday, The Gazette salutes those who make Emporia and the surrounding area a better place to live and work. Give these folks a pat on the back ...
CASEY WOODS, who on Wednesday was picked to replace Kayla Oney as executive director of Emporia Main Street.
• Emporia State University first baseman Kenny Burkhead, who was named MIAA player of the week for the second time this season.
• Meg Detwiler, a sixth-grader at Lowther North Intermediate School, and Gabriel O’Connor, an eighth-grader at Neosho Rapids, who both placed high in the Topeka Capitol Journal’s 56th Annual Spelling Bee on Saturday. The two competed against 44 other spellers from 25 counties in Kansas. Detwiler came in fourth and O’Connor came in eighth.
• Fanestil Meats, for donating $10,000 to the Abundant Harvest soup kitchen and the Emporia Rescue Mission. The donation moves the ministries closer to their fundraising goal of $40,000, to be raised by the end of April to qualify for a matching grant from Alan Shawn Feinstein’s annual $1 Million Giveaway.
• Yvette Sosa and Mark Schreiber, who have received awards from the Kansas Coalition Against Sexual and Domestic Violence for their work on behalf of victims of such violence. Sosa received the Juliene Maska Advocate of the Year Award, and Schreiber received the Community-Based Ally of the Year Award.
• ESU triple jumper Josh Honeycutt, who captured ESU’s first men’s individual indoor national championship Saturday at the NCAA Division II Indoor Track and Field Championships in Houston.
• The ESU Lady Hornets, who had a great season, with an NCAA tournament run that ended in the second round.
Russ Morgan
Reporter