This week's top stories

top stories
  • Katherine Larson (left) and her mother Tina Larson, Executive Director of the Plainsman Museum, stand amidst the completed Community Works exhibition, on display officially April 6.
    Katherine Larson (left) and her mother Tina Larson, Executive Director of the Plainsman Museum, stand amidst the completed Community Works exhibition, on display officially April 6.
  • High Plains seniors and FFA members Brianna Wilshusen (left) and Brooke Bannister help auction off cakes for the Tri-Community Foundation fundraiser Saturday in Hordville.
    High Plains seniors and FFA members Brianna Wilshusen (left) and Brooke Bannister help auction off cakes for the Tri-Community Foundation fundraiser Saturday in Hordville.
  • The newsies stand triumphantly together, holding their own ‘Newsies Banner’ and calling for the youth of New York to come together.
    The newsies stand triumphantly together, holding their own ‘Newsies Banner’ and calling for the youth of New York to come together.
  • Tiny egg-hunt enthusiasts were first out of the gate to scramble for treat-filled plastic eggs on Sunday during the Edgerton Eggstravaganza.
    Tiny egg-hunt enthusiasts were first out of the gate to scramble for treat-filled plastic eggs on Sunday during the Edgerton Eggstravaganza.
  • Lillian Dose finished second in the shot put and discus events at McCool Junction last week.
    Lillian Dose finished second in the shot put and discus events at McCool Junction last week.

    Plainsman Museum to debut ‘Community Works’ display April 6
    The time has come. 
    The Plainsman Museum in Aurora will officially be debuting its new exhibition, “Community Works” in collaboration with the Smithsonian Museum’s “Museum on Main Street” program, on April 6. 
    This long-awaited grand opening comes almost two years after receiving the good news that the museum had been selected to participate. 
    “The Plainsman Museum is very excited to be one of 10 museums selected from around the country to participate in this special program,” reads a Facebook post by the Plainsman. “The exhibition explores the who, where, why and how of work throughout the last 150 years of Hamilton County’s history. Celebrate the working spirit with us as we take this special ‘journey through yesterday,’ and see some of the photos, artifacts and words of wisdom that show us how the hard work of communities of the past have brought us to where we are today!”

    Newsies find success in high-caliber show
    The Aurora High School theatre department has done it again. With a number of sold-out shows and positive reviews, three leading Huskies and their director reflected on their experience with Disney’s Newsies. 
    “Opening night was actually really good,” said Bryan Willey, who starred as Jack Kelly. “It was honestly like the best opening night that we’ve had as far as musicals go. I thought it went really smoothly and it seemed like everyone had a lot of energy and were just really excited to perform.”
    Kylie Svoboda, debuting in her acting career as Race, noted that she thought opening night would be a little rough, but was impressed with how well it went.

    Eggstravaganza a hit at Edgerton Center
    Sunday’s beautiful weather provided a scenic backdrop for one of the first spring events of the season -- the Edgerton Explorit Center’s Easter Eggstravaganza. 
    The community showed out in droves for themed science labs, an inflatable bounce house and slide, a competitive egg toss, the Egg Splat competition, an egg hunt and more.
    “This was one of our largest and one of the most involved groups that we have had at the event,” said Mary Molliconi, the center’s executive director. “All of our science hands-on lab stations were busy the entire time and each of our raptor demonstrations were filled to capacity. We even had to offer second sessions of the egg drop construction due how many people wanted to take part in it.”

    A long-awaited evening with the Storm community
    After more than a year of challenges, frustrations and cancellations, Saturday was one of celebration in the tri-community area. 
    Community members from Hordville, Polk and Clarks got together as one for the fifth annual Tri-Community Foundation banquet at the Hordville Event Center Saturday night. 
    The event a year ago was cancelled because of the pandemic and TCF board president Cameron Hudson noted during a pre-meal speech that this year’s celebration wasn’t cleared until a few weeks ago. 

    Hampton battles windy conditions at McCool Junction 
    It was windy and a bit chilly, but everyone had smiles on their faces. Outdoor track competitions were back in swing. 
    Hampton participated in a triangular with conference foes McCool Junction and Exeter-Milligan March 24 as its first outdoor competition of 2021. 
    For the Hawk boys, Brayden Dose had a busy afternoon, finishing third in both the long and triple jump events. 
    Justin Gyhra put together a fourth place effort in the 100 meter dash while Dose added a seventh place finish in the 400. 

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