By Doris Schroeder
My hubby and I got up early on Election Day and drove to the Dillon Nature Center to do our civic duty that is most enjoyable…we voted. It was good to see a line at the voting room and know that many of the citizens were doing their responsibility and voting. That is a privilege and one we should not take for granted!
My sister Carol came a little later in the morning. We had decided to visit Newton that day. We love to visit little towns around Kansas from time to time. However, it is too hot in summer and the farmer’s market so we waited until a week or so ago to drive to Newton. We took the exit that led to First Street and then to Main and as we drove we reminisced about what we remembered from years ago.
For one thing we had many memories of the Bethel Deaconess Hospital where one of our aunts was a nurse, or a deaconess, if you will, many years ago. It looked like the hospital, or at least part of it had been torn down. My sis walked up to the Deaconess Home where our aunt Anna had lived and it looked like it had been made into apartments now. It was a jolt to our memory.
We had planned to visit the Warkentin home on First Street but it, too, was closed to the public. Later, Carol walked to the door and found out that now it is only open on Saturday afternoons. She got a glimpse of the inside and said it was so beautiful, we would have to come back again. There were gorgeous rugs on the shiny wood floors and marble tile on the stair wall. It seems that the Bernard Warkentins came to America in 1886-7 from the Ukraine. and built that beautiful house. We do hope to visit it when we can get in.
We checked out the eating places and finally decided on the Bread Basket. It has been quite awhile since we were there and we decided on the German Bierroch sandwich. I also had a giant cream puff and a cup of coffee. I did notice that their prices have gone up considerably. Although I enjoyed the food, I did not like the price. That, too, is a sign of the times.
Later, we drove to the Bethel College Campus and it seemed to look pretty much the same as it did years ago. In this day and age, that is a relief as other things are changing so rapidly. Years ago I visited their large dining room when I spoke for the Christian Women’s group. I love the beautiful trees that surround the campus. The houses around the college always make me think of college professors.
It was fun to stop at the Book Store downtown. There was a certain book I wanted of the Mennonites but it is no longer in print. They were very helpful, however, and looked it up on Amazon where there seem to still be some older copies.
It was a lovely bookstore and one I would like to visit again.
We also stopped at the Et Cetera Shop but found out, to our disappointment, it was closed a couple days while they got ready for Christmas. Perhaps if we make it up again to visit the Warkentin house, we could stop in there.
We passed the old Railroad Depot that has since been made into offices. It brought back memories of my Buhler High School Days when our girl’s sextet had to sing at a Governor’s Convention in Topeka and we rode the Streamliner to our state capital. We had to catch the train in Newton and some of the nice ladies in Buhler took us to the Newton Depot. We even stayed in a downtown hotel overnight and also got to visit the Governor’s mansion. We thought we were really living it up…and it was fun!
Later in the afternoon, it was time to travel home in the car and check out the election results of the day. I was thrilled that so many people had done their duty and the results showed that. I did see some of you at the polls and I congratulate you for doing it!
Now if we all put our heads together, make our voices heard where we can and above all, do a lot of praying to our God for guidance, we may be able to bring our country back to its God-given principles. Shall we give it a try?
Doris welcomes your comments at [email protected]
