Harry and Willardene Purdum celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary on March 11th, with a surprise or two thrown in by daughter, Ellen and daughter-in-law Tiffany. First, the two girls had submitted an announcement to the paper that appeared in the March 11th edition. Then upon arrival at the bowling alley for the steak dinner Willardene had requested Dixie prepare for the occasion, another surprise—the girls (Ellen and Tiffany) had intervened and arranged for a large flower arrangement and a beautiful cake to adorn the reserved table, plus the dinner had already been paid for by someone else! Numerous greeting cards had been received making it a grand day and the announcement in the paper indicated the best is yet to come in the way of a reception on July 3rd! What a wonderful anniversary day for Harry and Willardene.

So far, all of our Civil War veterans have led successful lives. Not everybody was so fortunate.

THE LOCAL #0375KS Stockton TOPS club is excited to announce their newest KOPS member, Helena Saunders! A surprise celebration was held recently to congratulate her awesome accomplishment. She has successfully dropped 70# with TOPS (Take Off Pounds Sensibly) with the support of her family and club members. She has reached her weight goal to become a KOPS (Keep Off Pounds Sensibly). The local organization that meets every week at the Stockton Assembly of God Church.

Governor Laura Kelly announced the State of Kansas will make the COVID-19 vaccine available to all Kansans (16+), entering the final Phase 5 of the Vaccine Prioritization plan beginning Monday, March 29th.

Betty Marshall, Wichita: “I have been a subscriber to your paper for at least 50 years and always look forward to it—especially the ‘98 Years’ section. I had two sets of great-great-grandparents who homesteaded in Rooks County in the 1870s and occasionally there will be some reference to them.”

IN THE MARCH 25TH MEAL SITE ARTICLE, it had mentioned that the city boys and farm boys used to play marbles in the vacant lot on Main Street. Here is a picture of Stockton during that time showing a vacant lot by the old Rooks County Record building and another vacant lot by the Nova Theatre. Does anyone remember which lot was used for the marble games back in the day?

It is often said after an intense athletic contest that, “the players gave it all they had; they held nothing back.” The same can certainly be said during our remembrance of Easter. Jesus didn’t hold anything back. He gave it all. He gave it all for us.

Battery I, 1st Regular Illinois Light Artillery Cassius “Milt” Fesler was born 25 August 1845 in Belmont County, Ohio, son of John K. and Ellen (Beatty) Fesler.

ULTIMATE FAITH. God led the Apostle John to write his Gospel for two main purposes: (1) to prove that Jesus is the Messiah and God and (2) to convince people of this— to the end they believe on Him unto eternal life (John 20:21). It seems John included just seven of Jesus' miracles to accomplish that goal. His first miracle was child's play—turning water into wine (ch. 2). Since Jesus, being God the Son, created everything (1:3), changing water to wine would be rather elementary. Do you have enough faith to believe that Jesus actually did so? Next Jesus healed a boy dying from a raging fever—from 20 miles away—having never seen or touched him (4:43ff). That seems a bit more involved, humanly speaking. But the question remains the same. Do you personally believe Jesus actually healed that boy? What about Jesus healing the atrophied legs of the man in John 5 who had been lame for 38 years? Could Jesus feed 5,000 men (6:1-15) plus women and children from five loaves of bread and two small fish? Or what about Jesus walking three miles on water (6:16-21) or giving sight to a man born blind (John 9)? The point is that the miracles included in John's Gospel seem to lead seekers of truth from initial baby faith on unto ultimate faith and eternal life. That brings us to Lazarus in John 11—dead for four days when Jesus arrives. Jesus deeply loves Lazarus, Martha, and Mary and His goal is to mature them to ultimate faith. Jesus told Martha, "Your brother will rise again." She responds, "I know that he will rise again in the resurrection at the last day." But Jesus says, "I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me, though he may die, he shall live. And whoever lives and believes in Me shall never die. Do you believe this?" He's saying, "I'm not just a miracle worker, I am God and the sole Giver of life." Martha responds, "Yes, Lord, I believe that You are the Messiah, the Son of God." That's ultimate faith!

After our delicious noon meal of pulled pork, potatoes, carrots, and Mandarin oranges on March 12, 2021, the annual meeting was called to order by vice president DeVane Cunningham. Minutes were read and approved. The ballots were recorded with DeVane Cunningham receiving the votes for the 2-year term and Linda Williams for a 1-year term.