Winter 2007 Issue

Memoirs of John W Bartleson: Chapter Two: Part One - Youth and War

One of my brothers, William W Bartleson, enlisted at the first call in the 18th Illinois Volunteers. Alonzo, not a very strong boy and only seventeen years old, enlisted with him. The regiment at this time was stationed at Bird’s Point, Missouri, just opposite Cairo, Illinois. From the unhealthful conditions at the front, and at Bird’s Point, my brother Alonzo contracted fever and died, having served his country only about three months. When Alonzo left the far, Mother thought I surely would remain for I was less than fifteen, but she considered me too young to manage all the work so rented the farm to my brother, James. I was supposed to go with the farm but James and I disagreed before the corn was planted and I hired to Andrew Colvin with 25 cents a day to be my wages.

Greg and Cheryl Renter (All photos by Tom Parker)

Bored no more—Retired Couple Adds Finishing Touch to Restored Beloit Hotel

Take one derelict early-20th Century hotel, add one bored-to-insanity retiree, stir in a heaping measure of inspiration and sprinkle with the dust of dreams, and what do you get? The Porter House Apartments with the Porter House Coffee Shop and Bistro in downtown Beloit. The two are inseparable, like coffee and cream, biscuits and gravy, ham and Swiss, or pancakes and syrup. (All which the Bistro serves, and serves very well.)

Garnett "Ghost Tracks" Holds Memories for Former Racer

They call places like Garnett "ghost tracks."

Places that long ago used to reverberate with the excitement of thousands of auto racing spectators; the smell of hot oil and gasoline exhaust; the sounds of screaming engines straining for the next inch of ground to prove who was the best.

Now the echoes of the crowds have faded. Weeds have broken through the pavement of the old pit areas, and grass has crept in at the shoulders of the road to make the tracks even narrower than they were in the old days.

A small town with a big heart

Ten a.m. on Thanksgiving Day.  My kitchen was busy with chopping, mixing, and baking. There was much to prepare. Amidst the frenzy that accompanies a holiday, I had forgotten cranberry sauce and marshmallows for the big feast that afternoon.  Friends and family were coming at 11 a.m. 

Flat Out Flying

Close your eyes. Imagine a traffic jam on a little dirt road. Three wide, you are heading into a corner at 90-plus miles per hour and slowing down is not an option.   Suddenly, you are bumped from behind giving you that little push to get ahead of the two cars flanking you. The accelerator is slammed to the floor as the car straightens out of the turn; your heart is pounding as the crowd goes wild. It is no dream for Tracy Holloway of Osborne, driver for the #8 stock car. This is a hobby that has been in his family for a while. As a second-generation dirt track racecar driver, Tracy has a need for speed and the passion to get him to the finish line.

Space Out at Hutchinson Cosmosphere

It’s been 50 years since Sputnik first launched the world into the space age. In the past half-century, mankind has come a long way—walking on the moon, putting a space station into orbit and creating the reusable space shuttle. 

Chronicling the early history of the Space Age is the Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, nestled in Hutchinson. Founded by Patricia Carey as the Hutchinson Planetarium, the Cosmosphere began in 1962 as a planetarium on the Kansas State Fair grounds.