Despite his many visits to Iola, U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran never managed to visit Iola’s gem, the Bowlus Fine Arts Center.
He can now scratch that off his bucket list.
Moran toured the Bowlus Thursday, led by the center’s executive director Susan Raines. Moran also took time to visit with USD 257 Superintendent of Schools Brian Pekarek, Mayor Bill Shirley and Iola Area Chamber of Commerce executive director Shelia Lampe.
Moran’s visit was part of his annual trek through Kansas communities while Congress is in its fall recess, said Bill Maness, the senator’s district representative for Iola.
As Moran walked through the set of steel front doors he was briefed on the center’s history.
The center opened its doors in the fall of 1964, built with funds from the estate of Thomas H. Bowlus. It was intended to bring culture and the arts to area youth and community members.The center relies on private contributions, such as those fromthe Friends of the Bowlus, the Helen Gates Whitehead Trust and the Sleeper Family Trust, as well as with contributions from USD 257 to cover administrative costs.
Jeff Jordan, technical director and facility manager, gave Moran a brief update on recent upgrades to the Bowlus sound system, curtains, light board, seat reupholstering and sound board — all funded by the Friends of the Bowlus.
Not being a stranger to Kansas highways, Moran wondered aloud about Iola’s geographical location being a problem in regard to selling tickets.
“Mr. Bowlus’ mission was to bring these (attractions) to our community,” Raines said.
Moran also got a peek into the center’s educational side.
Moran, whose wife plays piano, said he worried about the future of fine arts in public education.
“That was one of the downsides of No Child Left Behind,” Moran said. “Teachers focus on what is going to be on the test and the arts don’t get as much attention.
“If you have this building (in your community) it is hard to say you don’t have a strong arts department,” the senator said.
Raines didn’t leave any aspect of the Bowlus unturned, showing the senator several “behind-the-scenes” areas.
The dressing room “might seem small, but it didn’t matter if it was Henry Mancini,” Raines said. “This is where everyone gets ready.”
“The message you are sending me is good philanthropy generates more philanthropy,” Moran said.
After the Bowlus tour, Moran headed south to visit the new

With the Allen County Meltdown in its final weeks, three Iolans share their stories of how a renewed commitment to exercise and diet has given them a new lease on life.
Nicolle Hoepker:
Exercise good outlet
for busy mom
Nicolle Hoepker would be the first to admit she doesn’t experience a “runner’s high” — that time when the mind loses sight of the fact the body is hard at work — as she logs long distances.
“The only time I feel that release is when I’m done running,” she said.
Still, Hoepker said running provides her an outlet, physical and mental.
“It’s probably the only time I’m truly alone,” the busy mother of three said. “I enjoy the quiet time. For me, running is a mental game. I push through the pain, then afterward, I’m very happy I’ve done it.”
Hoepker will run 13.1 miles, a half-marathon, Sunday in Wichita’s Prairie Fire Race.
“I’d originally planned to do the full marathon, but when school started, things got too hectic and I began to fall behind scheduled runs.”
Hoepker and her husband, Justin, have three children, Rayce, 14, Chassis, 13, and Speed, 11.
Hoepker began training on Memorial Day and worked up to 12-mile runs by August.

“I was religious about getting my runs in. This will be her second year in a row to run the half-marathon in Wichita.
HOEPKER’S first taste of running began in 2010 when she and friend Lori Cooper trained for Iola’s late-night Charlie Melvin Mad Bomber run.
“It’s always good to have a buddy,” Hoepker said. “It keeps you responsible.”
Hoepker and Cooper followed an online “Couch Potato to 5K,” program to get into the habit of running.
“I hadn’t run a mile since junior high track,” said Hoepker, 38.
The program had the women walk with 30-second stints of jogging interspersed every few blocks.
“After three days, we could run a quarter-mile,” she said.
By July, the women could do the 3.1-mile Mad Bomber run with ease. “We were surprised. It wasn’t that hard,” she said.
Twelve members of Hoepker’s family participated in that year’s Mad Bomber run/walk.
Hoepker is the daughter of Lorenzo and Jackie Jensen, owners of J&J Contractors, where Hoepker works as office manager.
Hoepker’s sister, Lori Gunzelman, a teacher in Andover, will run the 26.2-mile marathon in Sunday’s race.
“That’s why I was geared to do the marathon, too,” Hoepker said of her sister’s efforts.
Is it still a goal?
“We’ll see,” she said. “Maybe when the children get older. Right now, I’m content with the half. It’s still quite an effort and I feel good I’m able to do it.”
Rhonda Sigg
“I got my life back.”
Not many of us get a wake-up call so loud that it changes our lives.
Rhonda Sigg, 61, has received not one, but two, such alerts.
In 2004, Sigg was diagnosed with an aggressive type of breast cancer. She survived its removal and treatment and used the scare to put her health as a priority.
Then at a doctor’s appointment in 2009, Sigg was told she had a 60 percent chance of her cancer returning because she was overweight.
“I had the kind of cancer that was stimulated by estrogen,” Sigg said. And because fatty tissue creates estrogen, every extra pound was a life-threatening enemy.
“All I could think about was my grandchildren, and how I want to be there for them,” she said.
So Sigg readily agreed to participate in a study conducted at the University of Kansas Medical Center to see if weight loss and a healthier lifestyle would reduce her chances of the cancer coming back.
Once a week Sigg traveled to KU Med to attend meetings that taught a group of 15 women healthier ways to cook, portion control, and the benefits of exercise.
“They told me I needed to lose 35 pounds,” she said. When Sigg is feeling her oats, she’s all of five feet tall.
That she needed to lose weight wasn’t news.
“I’d been on one kind of diet or the other my entire life,” she said. “It was when I viewed this as a change in lifestyle, not as a weight loss program, that I could embrace it.”
A DIETICIAN taught the women how to read food labels, count calories, and eliminate certain foods to get each within their specific caloric ranges. For Sigg, bread was out. Cheese, for the most part. And her Achilles heel – fattening desserts.
“I’ve had ice cream twice in three years and I can honestly say I don’t miss it. Frozen strawberries whipped into a protein shake is every bit as delicious.”
Of her former diet, Sigg said, “I knew I didn’t feel great, but I didn’t think I felt bad.”
The switch to more fresh fruits and vegetables also helped her husband, Herb, who was battling high cholesterol.
As the weight fell off slow and steady, Sigg picked up exercising. First goal, to move more.
“We were to walk 10,000 steps a day. A pedometer told me I was averaging 3,000.”
Sigg hit the streets, walking with friends. When the weather turned cold, a treadmill sufficed.
“I was walking a good mile,” she said. Good, but not great.
Which is when her son-in-law, Andy Hineman, gently suggested she try running on a track.
“I couldn’t run one quarter of a lap,” she said of the quarter-mile distance. But she kept at it, every day. “It made me feel so good. The next week, I managed to run half a lap.”
In two months, Sigg was able to run four laps, one mile.
By spring, Sigg was given a challenge. To run a 2K, 1.1 miles, in a race – out in public.
“I had to let go of thinking everybody’s watching me. Truth is, nobody’s looking.”
The day of the race, “I was a nervous. I’d never done anything like this by myself before. Being so short, I felt lost in that big crowd.”
Just before the gun sounded, Sigg’s three-year-old grandson pulled her down to his level and whispered in her ear, “ Grandma, I know you can do it.”
“And I thought, you know, I think I can.”
Crossing the finish line, “was the most freeing moment in my life. I knew then that even though I’ve had cancer, I’m OK. The race gave me back control over my body. That was the true beginning of this new lifestyle.”
SIGG NOW starts most days with a run. “If I run in the morning, it’s guaranteed I’ll have a good day,” she said.
In April, she ran the Rock the Parkway half-marathon in Kansas City. Again, her son-in-law put the bug in her ear that she could do the 13.1 mile run. This time she had her good friend, Lisa Lower, as a companion.
“Lisa’s good sense of humor and confidence helped me a lot,” Sigg said of the grueling effort.
She also was running with a purpose.
Two years ago a young family of four from Scott City was killed in an airplane crash. The family was good friends of Sigg’s daughter, Libby, husband, Andy, and their two children. The young couple were avid runners and big Kansas State fans.
“About mile 8 I was beginning to fade,” Sigg said of the race. “Then I saw this little girl in a K-State purple dress dancing on the sidelines. She was just like the one we lost. I felt a wind beneath my wings that lifted me.
“When I finished the race, it was an out-of-body experience. I still had some energy left. I never once dreamed I could do something like this.”
Jason Franklin
Marathon Man
Half a lifetime ago, Jason Franklin figured running would always be a part of his life. He was on the cross country team at Iola High School. In 1997 he was on the team that placed third at the state meet in Wamego..
After high school he ran for one year at Allen Community College.
Franklin, 33, was a Marv Smith prodigy, continuing long after graduation to help the high school cross country and track coach at local meets.
“I never thought I’d give up running,” he said.
In 2004, Franklin hung up his shoes.
“I got busy doing other things,” he said. He took on a job with the City of Iola as a service technician. In 2010, he married Lhen.
“And I got fat,” he said. Over the past eight years Franklin put on 30 pounds, going from 170 pounds to 214.
It wasn’t until last fall, when Franklin was helping with the Doc Stiles cross country race that something clicked.
“I dug out my running shoes and went out and ran that course,” Franklin said. “It was hard. I can definitely tell a difference between now and when I was 18.”
So just like Marv coaches his student athletes, Franklin started at square one. “I started out slow and worked myself back into shape. During the winter I joined a gym, ran on the treadmill and lifted weights. I quit drinking pop – a Marv thing.
“When the weather got nice, I turned in my key and started running outside.”
For those who think it can’t possibly be that easy, Franklin says, “it is.”
“It’s all about you and what you want. Don’t think about what others are doing. You don’t want to hurt yourself; just be active. And if you have a beautiful day, take advantage of it.
“I can tell you I now feel so much better. I have energy.”
FRANKLIN’S first race in 2011 was Iola’s Jingle Bell Jog, a fun run on a blistery cold day. This year, he’s done numerous 5Ks, including last weekend’s Biblesta. With those successes under his belt, Franklin began to push himself and add more miles to his runs. Since spring, he’s run three half-marathons, the Joplin Memorial Run, Storm the Dam in El Dorado, and Rock the Parkway in Kansas City.
“After each half-marathon, I’d say I’ll never do that again,” he said. “It was pretty tough.”
Come Sunday Franklin is going to run the 26.2-mile marathon at Wichita’s Prairie Fire race.
“It’s something I’ve always wanted to do. I’m battling shin splints, but I definitely have the lungs to go the distance.”
To train, Franklin mainly sticks to area roads. Occasionally he’ll run the rail trail from Iola to Carlyle and back. He’s averaged 7-8 miles a day, getting in a few 17-mile runs.
His main concern Sunday is taking it easy.
“I’m competitive and it’s very hard to stay back. When I start passing people then I just want to go for it. That’s not a good strategy for the marathon. This will be a different kind of challenge than I’ve ever faced before.
“I always have a kick at the end of a race. I’m hoping that’s the case Sunda

Thrive Allen County is taking nominations for excellence in health and wellness, recreation and education.
Nominees can be an individual, organization and community efforts that stand out.
“The Thrive awards are our county’s way to celebrate the things that are going right in our communities,” program director David Toland said.
The awards given are the Award for Excellence in Health and Wellness, Award for Excellence in Recreation, Award for Excellence in Education and the Donna Talkington Award, which is the highest honor given by Thrive.
In order to be eligible for an award, organizations or individuals must have done one or more of the following:
• Expanded access to a particular service in the areas of health and wellness, recreation or education.
• Reached individuals or groups that had previously been undeserved or not served at all.
• Shown excellence in partnership or collaboration with other organizations.
Toland said he sees the significance of the awards having grown over the last five years.
“You can see the Thrive Awards in every corner of the county,” Toland said. “The awards are the most important thing Thrive does all year.”
The awards are given at the Thrive Annual Meeting on Friday, Nov. 16 at 6 p.m.
To nominate an organization or an individual visit thriveallencounty.org or contact Thrive at (620) 365-8128.

A discussion on health reform will begin at 6 p.m. Thursday at Townhouse West 217 N. Washington Ave.
The session is sponsored by Thrive Allen County and Kansas Health Consumer Coalition (KHCC).
Anna Lambert with KHCC and Sheldon Wisegrau with the Health Reform Resource Project will be presenting. There will be a panel discussion and a question and answer session on what health reform means for Allen County.
The forum is open to the public.
For more information contact Thrive at (620) 365-8128.

Allen County Historical Society’s most recent addition, Elyssa Jackson, is taking her duties as executive director head-on, less than two weeks after taking the position.
Jackson, a 24-year-old art history graduate of the University of California Santa Barbara, is currently working on her master’s degree with San Francisco State University in museum studies. She said the position with the historical society is a perfect opportunity to make an impact in her field, while still working toward her degree — which she plans to finish in early 2013.
She said career opportunities are limited for someone with an art history degree, and she was excited to hear of an opening with the society while visiting Iola for a family reunion in July. Jackson’s grandmother, Alberta Rock, is a long-time resident of Allen County.
Jackson said she takes her job very seriously, citing the society and the museum’s duty to accurately represent information that is given to them.
“It’s important to be transparent and honest when you’re dealing with a community’s historical background,” Jackson said.
Jackson has her goals for the historical society listed on a white board in her office — and it wasn’t a short list. She said she has already been busy trying to decide how to use the numerous volunteers’ time efficiently. Many of her goals for the program are centered on increasing contact between the society and local schools. She said the Kansas Department of Education has certain standards for historical education, and programs through the county’s historical society can be an important tool to help students receive a well-rounded education.
“I would love to have school programs every single day,” Jackson said. “I realize that goal is ‘pie in the sky,’ but I think it’s a good goal to have.”
She said an additional goal for the society is to increase the reach of the museum’s representation throughout the county. She said as a county historical society, there is a responsibility to give a voice to all of the communities in Allen County, not just Iola. She compared this responsibility to that of a journalist, saying there needs to be fair and accurate coverage of cities such as Humboldt, Moran, Yates Center and all of the cities within the county lines.
Donna Houser, an active volunteer with the society who was carrying many of the responsibilities before Jackson was hired, said she has been impressed with the new director’s ambition in just her first two weeks of employment. She said while Jackson is young, she is a bright and friendly addition to the society that will help take them to the next level.
“The more new things we try as an organization, the more we’ll grow,” Houser said.
Jackson said she has become accustomed to being the youngest person among her colleagues. She began her work toward her master’s degree immediately after completing her undergraduate work. She said she has experienced some skepticism in the past, and people have questioned her authority and experience. However, she said she has experienced a warm welcome since moving to Iola.
Her goal was to move to a smaller community, and she said she is appreciating the difference between her new home and San Francisco.
“It’s (Iola) definitely different than California, and that’s what I love about it,” Jackson said. “I’m still getting used to people saying hello back when you wave at them — which people don’t normally do in San Francisco.”
Jackson said she wants people in the county to be involved with the historical society. She said she welcomes any input from the community and always encourages an “open-door policy.”
Jackson said her ultimate goal is preserve the museum and society for years to come, and it’s her duty to make sure Allen County’s history will live on past her role as executive director.
“Things live here (museum), people don’t,” Jackson said, “so I want to make sure all of this history is around for the next 100 years.”
The Allen County Historical Society will host its annual meeting in the North Community Building tonight at 7 o’clock. For those with tickets, dinner will be provided at 6 p.m. The society plans to induct Gary Hawk as a “Famous Allen Countian.”

Saturday, the Iola Alzheimer’s Support Group will host its Walk to End Alzheimer’s.
The walk will begin at 10:30 a.m., but there will a variety of events prior to the walk.
Registration is at 9 o’clock, and at 9:30 there will be a live auction where quilts, meat bundles, laps and antlers will be sold at auction.
One of the quilts being auctioned is a 50 states hand embroidered piece made by the ladies of the Sew and Sew Stiching gorup of Gas.
Gene Wolf, Thora Shinn, Juanita Dunlap, Mary Ann Ritter, Lena Thummel and the late Irene Duggan and Kate Emert all worked on the quilts.
Wolf set the donated blocks together with red, white and blue fabric donated by Kay Walker.
It was machine quilted by Laura Peterson, who donated her work.
For more information on the Walk to End Alzheimer’s, contact Mary LaCrone at 365-5619.