And The Winners Are.

The Annual Carthage Chamber of Commerce Banquet held last Friday was the first under the guidance of Chamber President Max McKnight. Monday morning McKnight seemed pleased with the efforts of his staff and volunteers.

The event was attended by an estimated 250 people and is used to recognize individuals who represent outstanding achievement.

Teri Schramm was recognized with the Chairman’s Award by outgoing chairman Bob Copeland.

The Artist Award was won by Carthage artist Jerry Ellis.

Dorothy Greenwood of Poor Richard’s was chosen to receive the Athena Award.

Kay Lucas of the Lily Pad was selected for the Small Business of the Year Award.

Charles Cook was awarded the Richard M. Webster Citizen of the Year Award.

Golden Key Awards recognize outstanding teachers and were presented to Lynda Homa, Peggy Kephart, Suzanne White, Elizabeth Norwood and Caroline Tubb. Ed Streich won the at large award.

Look for a push to get a contract in place for a City Engineer before the April elections.

Durin’ the Public Works Committee meetin’ last week, member Lujene Clark requested that a request for proposals be ready so an arrangement could be concluded by the first meetin’ of the Council in April.

Current Council members will conclude old business at that meetin’ before newly elected members are installed.

Clark has not been happy with the current arrangement with Tri-State Engineering for some time. Clark in particular wants to be involved in the selection process before she leaves the Council.

City Administrator Tom Short told the Committee he would try to have information ready by next meetin’.

This is some fact, but mostly,

Just Jake Talkin’.

by

Carthage Printing Services

PRIME TIME WITH KIDS

by Donna Erickson

If things were always used for exactly what they were intended, life would be pretty dull. Remember the day you realized pipe cleaners were actually made to clean pipes?

Challenge yourself and your kids to think about products that are used for purposes no one would have dreamed of when they were originally created. Then try one of these activities that use ordinary objects in unexpected ways.

• Clip a standard clothespin to the center of a crayon. Grip the clothespin instead of the crayon and draw a picture or write your name on paper. Describe how it feels. Remove the clothespin and color as usual. Compare.

• At snacktime, use pretzel sticks for edible kabob skewers. Poke bite-size chunks of cheese, cold cuts and fresh fruit onto each pretzel stick.

• Make a painting activity extra fun when you use an old Kooshball in the place of a paintbrush. Pour liquid poster paint in a bowl. Hold one side of the Kooshball in your hand and dip the other side in the paint. Have fun plopping it on paper to make funny designs and patterns. When done, rinse paint off the Kooshball with water and use another time.

• When cooking pasta for dinner, set aside 10 or more lengths of uncooked linguine for a round or two of the traditional game of pick-up-sticks. Play the game at the kitchen counter using the linguine in the place of wooden sticks. The game will keep your kids amused until mealtime.

• Instead of blowing bubbles through a bubble wand, dip a plastic fly swatter in a bowl of bubble solution and wave the fly swatter gently in the air. You’ll make zillions of tiny bubbles! If you live in a cold climate where temperatures are below freezing, you’ll be surprised to see the bubbles sparkle as they freeze. They may even bounce when they hit ice or snow.