Many family members of Craig Mann worked very hard on a Sunday in May, to seal the cracks and repaint the fountain which is located in Chambers Park. After cleaning the fountain and sealing the cracks, the painting began with everyone’s help from ages 5 up to 65. After the paint had finished drying, the lion statues were placed around the edges. Originally there were spitting frogs, but due to not being able to get frogs, the family chose to place large concrete lions to coincide with the lions on the upper tier of the fountain. After the lions were glued on, the family had finished for the day.

On the morning of May 25^th, the lion faces of the main fountain were painted and a plaque was attached so that people will know that the fountain was preserved in Craig’s memory. At 5:00 p.m. on May 25^th, the family was able to enjoy Chad and ReNae (Farr) Mann’s wedding. Chad is Craig’s oldest son. With the water trickling over the edge of the fountain, it was truly beautiful to have it running during the wedding ceremony!

An eagle will be placed on top of the fountain to complete the restoration. Those included in the preservation of the fountain are as follows: Darrell and Sharon Mann, parents of Craig; Dana, John, Emily and Matthew Murray, Dana is a sister to Craig; Joni, Bailee and Bryan Guyer, Joni is a sister to Craig; Erica and Aaron Mann, and Chad and ReNae Mann, Chad is a son of Craig. The fountain was truly cherished by Craig!

With the continuing support of the city crew, a new pump will be installed so that the fountain may continue to run without the water going to waste as it has in the past.

Material is coming in for the fourth volume in our They Came To Stay series. This is your opportunity to record and preserve your family’s history. Text and photos may be sent to P. O. Box 684. Do This Now! Help future generations know and appreciate those who came before them. The size of the volume will be determined by the amount of material submitted.

Publication of our cookbook is scheduled for October. It is not too late to submit recipes but please get them to us by the end of July. Send them to P.O. Box 684, Goodland, Kansas.

Your generous response to our fund raising letter has enabled us to meet our June expenses. We are trying to cut costs and economize. The Board of Directors, at its June meeting, cut nineteen hours at the Handy House. This will save on payroll and utilities. We will take another look at hours at our July board meeting.

A tour for the northeast part of the county is being planned for August 4^th. It will include the location of the first post office, first building, first settler, first cattle driven in from Texas, Shermanville, the Kidder Site, the site of the battle between buffalo hunters and Indians, Jacksonville, and perhaps a few other locations important to our heritage.

The Historical Society is researching Goodland’s Police Department for a newsletter story. If you have any information, please share it with us. Thanks in advance!

The Historical Society would like to thank Edith Dye for the Bow Tie pattern quilt top she donated to the Society to be used as a fund raising project.

Members and friends are invited to bring items and baked goods for a Historical Society garage sale next month. This will be in conjunction with the Goodland’s Sunflower Festival. Cash donations in lieu of items would also be very much appreciated by the society. Items should be brought to the house during the week of August 12 to August 17. Thanks for your help with this fund raising event.

The historical society has available, for sale, bricks which were manufactured in Sherman County during the first twenty years of settlement, from 1886 through 1906. There were several brick yards in the county during that period of time. From the banks of the North Sappa creek clay, that was considered suitable for making bricks, was dug then mixed with sand and gravel from a nearby dry creek bed as well as water. The bricks were molded by hand. Newspaper accounts indicate that 60,000 bricks could be molded per week. Due to the lack of trees for burning in the kiln in order to dry the bricks, coal was shipped by train into Wallace, Kansas. Then the coal had to be hauled by wagon to Sherman County. Records indicate that the trail from Wallace was busy as many wagon loads were needed just to fire one kiln load. The first brick building was a two story bank which was constructed in Eustis then dismantled and transported, brick by brick, to Goodland to be constructed on the southwest corner of the intersection of Main and 11^th Street, where the building remains today. Several structures in the area were constructed from the locally manufactured brick, although only a few remain today.

Thank you, Curtis Hurd, for mowing the yard this spring. Curtis also makes sure the yard is fertilized and has been known to climb a ladder and trim trees. Mark Scheopner has taken over the mowing and has agreed to mow through the rest of the season. Thank You! The yard is looking so much better this year.

The historical society was the recipient of $100.00 from the Carnegie Arts Center’s Tablescapes held during the month of May. Lloyd Holbrook designed the table and provided the place settings. Thanks, Lloyd! Ten non-profit groups entered the event. Visitors to the event voted for their favorite table design.