Hill-Topics
Thanks to "Uncle Pry-bar," our son, Garrison, 20, will begin 2007 in a new apartment, with made-to-fit living room furniture.
Uncle Pry-bar is really Uncle Nathan, Garrison's girlfriend's uncle, who owns an antique furniture business.
He brought his know-how and covered trailer last week to help Garrison move from Hutchinson to El Dorado. (Garrison will play football for Butler Community College).
The narrow stairs at the apartment in EI Dorado led up to an impossibly narrow entryway door through which the stuffed couch would not fit.
We tried everything. We removed the door, took the stuffing out, even considered making a nice sectional out of it, but didn't have a chain saw. We pried the wood molding off the inside of the door jam with a claw hammer. But even after a pique of energy, we still were an inch or so shy of getting it in.
At this point, uncle disappeared down the stairs. We feared he'd given up and gone home.
But moments later, he returned, with a pry bar. Made of flat metal, about a foot long, it was oddly bent in several places, with hammer claws at both ends. He showed me how to wedge it between the couch and the door jam. [Note: Graphic description of
Suffice it to say that leverage, properly applied, is a wonderful thing!
Uncle Nate said he takes his pry bar wherever he goes, and that everybody should have one.
With my knack for getting into tight spots, I plan to get one of my own.
* * * * *
Speaking of getting out of tight spots, you may recall that after losing two girls' basketball coaches in two years and not being able to recruit a suitable replacement coach this season, Hillsboro High School principal Dale Honeck stepped in and took over the team.
Many people wondered if Honeck knew anything about basketball, but soon discovered that he had been a college player and successful college coach, back in the day.
There are good athletes on the Trojans' roster, but it was unclear if they could gel into a team under their third coach in three seasons. With Honeck's leadership, the answer is a resounding yes!
The girls recently beat the defending Class 3A state champions, Wichita Collegiate, and will enter the new year with a 5-1 record.
After watching the girls practicing, it comes as no surprise. Honeck has the team running college-level practice drills, and he runs sophisticated offensive and defensive plays. Most importantly, the players have responded to his coaching with can-do attitudes and all-out hustle.
The coach and players are on the same page. And, as Star-Journal sports writer Ryan Richter reports in this issue, the Lady Trojans should be fun to watch the rest of the season.
* * * * *
I received word a couple of weeks ago that based on my tremendous record of fouling things up, I'd been named to the first team all-state mistake team by the newspaper editors of Kansas.
Quite a feat for a first-year editor in such a small newspaper operation.
Tipping the vote in my favor was the story we published about the three Hillsboro football players who made all-state teams.
Oh, I got the story right.
Seniors Lucas Hamm, Troy Frick, and Darren Enns were named to various all-state teams.
But it wasn't Enns in the photo. It was Alex Nuss.
As soon as the mistake was pointed out, I rushed to the high school to tell the players how sorry I was, particularly because it was such a big event in their lives.
The boys were gracious enough to forgive me, and to pass word along to their parents that we would make a correction. Coach Len Coryea eased my pain somewhat by saying that Enns and Nuss do look alike, and that I shouldn't take it too hard. (He denied being the one who nominated me for the all-state mistake team).
To set the record straight, in this issue we've reprinted the article with the correct pictures, so the boys can have them for their scrapbooks.
Thank goodness there really isn't an all-state mistake team. I would be a first-team pick for sure.
— GRANT OVERSTAKE
