Hill-Topics
In a fabrication with no basis in fact, we report that former Vice President Al Gore was (allegedly) invited to Marion County to survey the damage caused by last week's record freeze.
With media in tow, Gore (allegedly) talked with a local farmer, Joe (Wiebe Loewen Penner Ratzlaff Suderman Funk Bartel) Smith.
Unnamed sources say Gore plans sequel to his blockbluster movie "An Inconvenient Truth," to be called, "An Inconsistent Truth: Kansas residents experience wild shifts in the weather, from a high of 80 degrees to a low of 19 in the span of five days!"
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As bad weather threatens to postpone or cancel yet another week of high school spring sports, Hillsboro athletic director Max Heinrichs has come up with a solution that could solve everything — change spring sports to fall, and fall sports to spring.
Golf, tennis, baseball, softball, and track would be played in the often-perfect, golden days of Indian Summer, while cross country and football would be moved to the spring, because they are sports that can be played rain or shine.
A few years ago, the Wichita schools tried moving the middle school track season to the fall for the same reason. I'm not sure how that turned out, but it was done with a similar thought in mind.
Of course, Heinrichs knows his idea could never fly, although it is a great one. "It would turn the world upside down," he said.
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If you haven't done the paperwork you'll need to fill out before sending your kid off to college, we suggest you invest in Tylenol, or Valium, now.
There's a long list of forms to fill out, including the dreaded FAFSA, which rhymes with "Do I have-ta?" To which the answer is, yes!
For every year your child(ren) are in college, you must fill out a FAFSA (Free Application for Federal Student Aid) for each one of them. Which means by the time our three children have graduated, we'll have done it at least a dozen times.
The only thing worse than filling out a FAFSA is filling out a FAFSA on a deadline, which Claire and I did on Saturday, March 31, as the clock raced toward midnight.
Our youngest daughter, Jillian, a freshman at McPherson College, was told at the last minute that if she wanted to be considered for the maximum amount of scholarships, she had to have her FAFSA filled out and filed by April 1.
We heard this at approximately 11:15 p.m., when Jillian called in somewhat of a tizzy. No problem, we said.
Well, it was a fiasco. The clock on the computer read 11:59 when I pushed the send button. We thought we'd made it, but something was wrong! I had made a mistake!
I made the correction, and filed again. The FAFSA screen said, "Your FAFSA has been filed, at 12:00:02 a.m. April 1, 2007."
We were done in.
We called Jillian to tell her we hadn't filed before April 1. "That's OK," she said, casually, "I think the school wanted us to have filed no later than April 1
Which meant that instead of being two seconds late, we had 23:59:58 to spare.
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Speaking of family drama, we'll be in Lincoln this weekend for the Nebraska Wesleyan University theater production of "Dancing at Lughnasa" in which our oldest daughter, Bethany, a senior, will be making her last performance as a college student.
According to a press release on the school's website, "This extraordinary play tells the story of five unmarried sisters and a young son in a small Irish village in 1936."
Bethany says it's her biggest college role ever, "But don't look for Bethany Overstake in the cast list in the program, Daddy," said the newlywed. "I'll be listed as Bethany Dixon."
As Bethany performs, I'm sure Claire and I will think back on all the other roles she played throughout her acting life. Like when she was in the eighth grade and got a part in the Wyandotte Player Community Theatre production of "Oliver," and I auditioned with her, just for fun.
Obviously, they were somewhat desperate, so I was cast to play Mr. Brownlow.
I'll never forget driving back and forth to rehearsals with Bethany, singing along with the musical soundtrack; hunting for costumes; and sharing opening-night jitters.
Mr. Brownlow didn't sing, but I sang in the chorus as another character, and danced in the big production numbers. But of course, they hid me behind the real dancers.
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It was good to see Larry Nikkel out and about Saturday at the Hillsboro Easter Egg hunt with his grandchildren. The Tabor College president recently returned to work part-time after undergoing double bypass surgery Feb. 7, in Hawaii.
Word of Nikkel's heart attack shocked the Tabor community and sent concerned students, faculty, and friends to their knees in prayer.
After several days in the hospital, and a few more days recuperating in a hotel room, the Nikkels made the long flight back to Kansas, and returned to Hillsboro.
Following a bit of a setback early-on, Nikkel has been out walking in his neighborhood. On Saturday, he seemed caught up in the excitement of with his grandchildren, and he said he was getting along very well.
Soon, president Nikkel should be working full-time again.
It's amazing what prayer, exercise, and, especially, grandchildren, can do for one's health.
— GRANT OVERSTAKE
