Formoso's 1951 basketball team was one for the record books
The 1951 Formoso High School boys basketball team goes down in the record books. Formoso had an enrollment of 28 students that year, and out of those 28, 11 students made up a winning basketball team. The team won the Republican Valley League tournament, the Jewell County tournament, the Mankato District tournament and the Beloit Regional tournament. The team then headed for state competition. It was the first Formoso High School boys basketball team to do so since 1921. They entered the state tournament with a 27-0 record. The Class B state tournament was held at Hutchinson. At the state tournament they defeated Ashland and Oxford before losing in the semifinals to Sedgwick 51-46. Formoso ended up claiming third place with a 51-38 victory over Stockton and finished the season with a 30-1 mark. The Falcons racked up 2,278 points, 73.4 per game, while giving up just 1,119 points, 36.1 per game. Marvin Andrews and the rest of the team are featured in the Steven Farney book, Club 50, and was in a special feature article in a recent Jewell County Record and News.
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Early inventor loved Indian motorcycles By Gloria Garman Schlaefli This week N.P. (Nels) Rosvall, an inventor, motorcycle enthusiast, motorcycle dealer and mechanic, is riding out of the pages of Jewell County history. The former Esbon resident was, by many accounts, a man before his time. According to a book on Esbon history published in 1987, Rosvall, the son of Swedish pioneers, arrived in Esbon in 1904. At the request of Esbon area farmers he assembled and owned a telephone company known as the Esbon Telephone Exchange. He placed the poles, strung the lines and invented a harness to carry on his back transformers weighing 50 pounds. He also extended telephone service to the White Rock, Highland, West Highland, Dentonia and Salem communities. The harness he invented was also used by the men constructing the telephone systems which were to offer service to the residents of the Burr Oak, Otego, Mankato, Jewell City and Ionia communities. By 1906, Rosvall had installed 250 telephones in the Esbon area. A telephone office was established with the Rosvall family living in back of the office. According to Rosvall's daughter, Ruth, "Something came into his life, an Indian, an Indian motorcycle." In 1902 the first Indian brand motorcycles, featuring innovative belt-drives and streamlined styling were sold to the public. Four years later the company released its first American production V-twin. Though it is not recorded when Rosvall acquired his first Indian motorcycle, it must have been before 1910. That year he learned of the formation of the Short Grass Motorcycle Club of Rexford, Kan., and so along with Dice Morrow and Morrow's brother, he joined the club and made a historic motorcycle trip to Colorado. The Kansas Short Grass Motorcycle Club was founded in 1910 by Dr. Benjamin Patterson, Rexford. Patterson was the son of Harvard trained medical doctors who was riding his motorcycle to reach his patients in the remote rural areas of Rexford, in Thomas County. About 20 motorcyclists made the Colorado trip in 1910. The following year, Rosvall, Sam Reimenschneider, Seth Sipe, Dice Morrow and Lew Hollenbeck, all of Jewell County, made the Colorado trip with the motorcycle club from Rexford. "Because of mud, a dray was hired to take them and the motorcycles to the central road. Colby and Goodland newspapers reported that various entertainments were provided for the huge group of motorcyclists along the route into Colorado," Ruth said. "My father even dared to drive his motorcycle on the primitive road up Pikes Pike, and there was no word if others also succeeded." Dr. Patterson later moved his practice to Pratt and continued his motorcycling interests with the club that he founded. Club members participated in nationally sanctioned motorcycle races. The club would achieve international attention through newspapers such as the New York Times and through Dr. Patterson's election as president of the Federation of American Motorcyclists. Numbering almost 400 riders at its largest, the Short Grass Club of Kansas became the premier motorcycle club of its day and conducted tours of several hundred miles in a time when roads were scarce and motorcycle suspension was nonexistent. Dr. Patterson later would move back to Rexford for a short time and then to New Mexico. Dr. Patterson's daughter would also become a motorcycle enthusiast and would make motorcycle trips coast to coast across America. Today the Kansas Short Grass Motorcycle Club still exists. The club's headquarters are now located in Lawrence. The club will begin retracing the century-old tour routes of the original club between 1910 and 1921. The first week-long tour will begin in Lawrence on Aug. 7, 2010 and proceed to Rexford to observe the 100th anniversary of the first original tour that Rosvall and Dice Morrow took in 1910. From Rexford, the club will tour throughout the Colorado Rocky Mountain region. As for Rosvall, he eventually sold his telephone company in Esbon when another company was established called Farmers Mutual Company. He offered to buy out the Farmers Mutual Company but was refused. In 1913, he purchased an Empire touring car and used it to transport others. In 1914 Rosvall built a garage and became a dealer for Indian motorcycles. He also repaired motorcycles. Known for his salesmanship, first with telephones and then Indian motorcycles, he saw the popularity of the automobile growing and began selling Fords. He would also service and repair the cars he sold, along with mechanics Roy and Jim Dutton. He later began selling Delco light plants and did the wiring of the farm homes in order for them to use the lighting system that he sold. This Delco dealership eventually led the Rosvalls to move to Mankato.
Deadlines set for NRCS conservation programs Kansas agricultural producers and landowners interested in protecting or improving natural resources on their land are asked to contact their local U.S. Department of Agriculture Natural Resources Conservation Service (NRCS) office by the cutoff dates listed below to apply for a program and to be considered for Fiscal Year 2010 funding. After the cutoff date, NRCS will evaluate and rank applications for the following programs: Environmental Quality Incentives Program (EQIP), Jan. 15; Wildlife Habitat Incentives Program (WHIP), Jan. 15; Wetlands Reserve Program (WRP), Feb. 19; Grassland Reserve Program (GRP), Jan. 22; Farm and Ranch Lands Protection Program (FRPP), Feb. 15. All NRCS natural resources programs are voluntary and may be applied for throughout the year; however, funding cutoff dates are set as listed above for evaluation and ranking of the signed applications. In Kansas historically underserved, socially disadvantaged, limited resource, and beginning farmers and ranchers may receive a higher payment through EQIP and WHIP for structural and vegetative practices.
JCED discusses importance of census
The December meeting of Jewell County Economic Development was called to order by Brian Shulda, president. Those present were Steve Greene, Jim Dooley, Jason Ortman, Kristen Underwood, Leon Boden, Lisa Goodheart, Fawna Barrett and Martha Matthews. Communications were read from Leck Wisnieswski concerning the 2010 census. He stressed the importance of an accurate count; stating that last census only 65 percent of Jewell County was counted resulting in a loss to the county of $5,000 per year. Martha Mathews agreed to assist him in publicizing the importance of being counted. A phone call was also received from Seth Stevens of U.S. Alliance Corp. They are interested in a possible office in Jewell County; a survey was completed at his request. There was a webinar with information about the Kansas Economic Development Guide sponsored by the Kansas Dept. of Commerce; also Martha Mathews participated in the meeting of the NCKRFD by phone and learned about a website hosting program through SmallTown America which is funded by advertising sales. Old business discussed included the approaching due date for application to participate in the Kansas Sampler Festival. The need for new board members was also discussed. New business included the need for new members on the financial committee and a loan request for a new business was discussed. Martha Mathews will discuss grant and loan possibilities from different sources with Lyle Peterson and Janice Peters. Martha Mathews will call Cunningham Cable to learn about the fiber optic cable that is being installed in some of the rural area of Jewell county. The next meeting to be held at noon, Jan. 19 will also be the annual meeting.
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