Welcome

Late Summer 2010

This August has us teeming with interest and anticipation of our coming get-together in October. This latter half of the year 2010 has me thinking of fall leaves.

The commercials and movies show tree-shrouded streets, and yard racks at rest. I do notice these scenes a bit more. Then a tropical breeze sashays through the constantly open windows and reaches across my face. The forever-green banana fronds brush against the second-story kitchen roofline and the paddle-shaped leaves of the neighboring banyon tree clack their "Hello."

These on-going greetings keep me enthralled with living in the tropics. I will very much miss the opportunity of my lifetime - October's 50th reunion of SMNorth - yet, I rejoice at its possibility.

This issue: Dave Housh's featured profile is online. He has a memory rivaling the proverbial elephant for our facts. His passion for Hocker Grove and SMN60 is nestled in this coupling and its' worth cannot be over-estimated or missed reading.

Attention all who have something to write or share!

Guest posts are welcome to our Some Thoughts page. Email me: thatswhat1@yahoo.com with questions and guidelines.

Aloha -

Barbara Malcolm McAllister, editor of the Keeping In Touch page, welcomes comments, questions, and critiques. An experienced wordsmith for professional and individual projects, she solves written challenges for her clients' satisfaction and gain.

Trivia for August

Repeated in honor of our 50th:

Shawnee Mission, KS

Shawnee Mission name is from the Shawnee Methodist Mission, a mission to the Shawnee tribe, founded in 1830 in the present-day Wyandotte Cty, KS. It was moved to what is now Johnson Cty. in 1939. If the independent cities that constitute Shawnee Mission were to incorporate into a single municipality its 2005 population estimate would surpass Wichita as Kansas' largest city. S-M is part of the KC Metro Area.

Mission, KS

The city's site was once a rest stop for wagons moving westward on the Santa Fe Trail during the 19th century. The clear spring water rising to the surface in present-day Mission made it an ideal place to collect water for horses and travelers. The city covers 2.5 sq. mi.

Merriam, KS

The city was named in honor of Chas. Merriam, part-time sec/treas of the old Kansas City, Fort Scott and Gulf Railroad which ran thru the area. The city straddles approx. three miles of I-35. Turkey Creek flows thru the city which has a total of 4.3 sq mi., all of which are land.

Info from Wikipedia