Suggestions for making our project continue into the future

One thing that I think can help this project continue into the future would be assigning this project at the beginning of the semester rather than giving the students a choice. I think this is a great thing that really brings the community and Benedictine students together. For students like me who haven't really stepped out into the community to interact with the residents it was a great opportunity! By assigning this project at the beginning of the semester it will give a lot more time to the class to make it the best project possible. With having already done this project one time it will give whoever is teaching it the ability to have a leg up on what to do.

Atchison would be great if we had...

more activites for the youth. The youth is Atchison's future and this generation is driven by bad music and bad televison. If kids don't have things to do, they will find themselves looking for entertainment in the wrong places or getting themselves into trouble. If we had places like a city park that was kept up at all times or new resturants, or any place with activites where people ca get together, Atchison would be great. I hear a lot of people call this town Actionless Kansas rather than Atchison Kansas and they have good reason to. It seems that kids not only here but in every city are starting to go down the wrong path and need to be guided towards the right path. Keeping kids out of trouble keeps them from not becoming working parts of society. Kids need to be taught the importance of community in order to one day make this town a little better.

project reflection

That Saturday after the project was over, i felt so great about the impact we had on the people in need. This type of project gives hope to Atchison. At our house, the sense of community was almost overwelming. ONe of the neighbors brought his Bobcat to finish the driveway. This shows the strength of community within Atchison. I feel that everyone worked well on the project. The class is title Community Leadership so it's obvious that it would be full of individual leaders. This was apparent on project day. Everyone thinks that they know best, so sometimes people didn't completely agree. Overall, when we had to get to work, we worked well together. People could see individual tasks that needed completion and jumped on them without hesitation. I feel that we planned this project very well other than the estimate of supplies. But with everyone's help, supplies were not hard to get ahold of. Once we got to work, the time it took went very fast. Everyone there knew what they were doing and it was easy for everyone to help eachother get things done. I wouldn't have changed a thing about the project, it went very smooth.

continuing the project.

The success of our project was very apparent. The homeowners of the houses was did were grateful of the work that we accomplished. It was also apparent how great everyone in the class felt that they were able to help someone. WHen we presented the project the Rotary, they seemed to be very impressed. I feel that if this type of project is marketed to the various businesses in town and to the people of Atchison, we could get a lot more people on board. Now that some city officials are aware of our success, I wouldn't doubt that they would be willing to help with this type of project. The feeling of helping someone else is great and most people are aware of this. IF this project were to continue and the help of the city was given, this project could potentially be bigger than any of us could have ever thought.

BC involvement in community

BC should require you to do 5 hours of community service in order to graduate. 5 hours may go a long way in inspiring college students to be even more involved beyond the 5 hours.

Atchison would be GREAT if we had...

a city park. There are no "city parks"in Atchison. There are parks that are in some ways segregated by race and/or neighborhood location. Atchison needs a city park where everyone can come and enjoy the beauty of Atchison and where people can socialize with other town members that they don't know.

Continuing the project in the future

I think that our project that we did can be very successful for years to come. Hopefully our presentation at the Rotary influences the Rotary to become involved. There are many influencial, resourceful people in the Rotary who have the ability to keep the project going on a bigger scale with more improvements made to the homes. Also, becoming a part of organizations like Rebuild Together and Christmas in Action can be a great thing for this community.

Community Resources for Religion Sector

The Atchison community has several resources available for the religion sector. To begin with, you can contact the Ministerial Alliance. Sister Mary Palarino is in charge of the alliance and if you contact her, she is more than willing to help you get in touch with ministers belonging to it. The area also offers several different religious denominations. People can attend the masses offered, talk with the minister, or set up times to tour the parishes. Obviously since we toured it, The Abbey can also be toured. One cool thing Atchison has to offer is Mount St. Scholastica. The nuns will gladly give you tours of the Mount; they just prefer for it to be during the day and to be set up previously.

Better BC involvement opportunities

To get BC students involved in what the community has to offer i think there needs to be more publicity on the campus. I know as an off-campus student i get some mail that tells me about what is going on in Atchison but i also know the students who live on campus dont get that media and it makes it hard for someone to be involved if they dont know what is to be involved in. Just better organization skills to help people outside of just the community knowing what is going on.

Atchison would be great if we had.....

There are many things that would make Atchison great and there are different groups where i believe it could be different those groups are:

1. Adults

2. Teenagers

3. Kids

For each of these groups they could each have something new that would make the community and Atchison great.

Adults- If Atchison adults had more opportunites to get out in the community and become familiar with not only other adults but the students that are here from all over the country. Things that would help to accomplish this would be a place to gather that they can have some food and drink and be in a quite friendly smoke-free atmosphere. I know that in July Atchison is supposed to go smoke-free everywhere. If they could go somewhere they will also need somewhere to put their kids and not be worried about them being in trouble or being not properly taken care of. Something that could be done to help this is having a childcare facility on the BC campus because there are always people who would be willing to help out and there are opportunities for enjoyment on campus such as gyms, computers, and tvs.

Teens- Simply a place to gather that is sponsored by someone to keep them off the streets and free of drugs and alcohol. A sober teen community would create an easier living community for the people of Atchison.

Kids- A place to be kids like a leaps and bounds or a jungle gym. I know both of these would be expensive but im sure there are ways they could cut costs and make it very sustainable and easy for the kids to be able to have fun everyday. The YMCA could be a good starting point for this opportunity.

Leadership Atchison Class of 2010

I just wanted to write one more post about the class. It has been a fun semester and I hope that everyone that participated got something out of it. I know that I am amazed by every class and the dynamics of the different relationships that form. I hope that you all stay in touch via email and try to make it back to Atchison once in a while. As for the community members, thank you from the bottom of my heart for participating in this class. We couldn't do it without you and your hard work. I know that it is a huge commitment of time and I appreciate you setting it aside for such an important endeavor. Thank you again.

Ashley

1225 Julia St

Here are the pictures that I have from Saturday.

How could B.C. students get more involved with the community

I feel like if you live on campus it is kinda difficult to really get out and get involved in Atchison. However i feel that once you are off campus you can easily get involved, i feel like a good first step is getting to know your neighbors. Go introduce your self, the chances are they probally are not going to like you very much if you like to have parties but putting a face with a name can somtimes ease the process. have them over for a grill out to make up for the parties and im sure you will become somewhat tolerable with eachother if not actually make a new friend.

Making Atchison better community

Atchison would be a better community if There were more rules and regulations for owners/ renters lawn care. If there were rules stating that you have to park in certain areas and not in back or front yards. Having trash and other items in appropriate areas as well would help make the town look just that much better. These are bigger issues that might be hard to enforce but the little things like lawn maintenance is a problem here to, not saying that i am not guilty of letting my lawn go but i feel as if its is enforced and catches on people wont want to be the only neighbor w/ a unkempt lawn.

Future plans

If this project were to continue into the future I think it would need to become a city organized event. Although I think we as a class did a wonderful job, It may not be the direction future classes would want to go. I alos think that if it were a city planned event it would be easier to pick out houses that qulify. I'm sure there are tons of people bitting at the chomps to have this opportunity for their house. They could nter a raffle/drawing to pick the houses and i am sure that more companies would get involved and donate more supplies. All in all i really think this project should continue either way through B.C. or not it was ablast and was a step forward in bettering Atchison.

Before and After Pictures of House on N. 8th

Thanks to all who helped on our house! I feel that it was a huge success and feel very fortunate to have been a part of it!

Some Thoughts of the Project

I really enjoyed working on our house. The owners of the house were so thankful of what we accomplished. It feels good knowing that the hard work we did really made a difference in these people's lives. I hope everyone else feels the same way I do about the joy we brought to these people's lives.

Atchison Makeover - 1017 S. 5th

Here are some pictures from the makeover at 1017 S. 5th. Great job everyone!

Atchison Makeover - 1017 S. 5th

The Atchison Makeover completed on Saturday was a great success. I was excited about the great participation from students and volunteers about this project and their willingness to be involved in a worthwhile project that made a significant difference in the quality of life of the recipient of this makeover.

Ideas for sustainability of our project.

The goal is not only to create a project that we can do one year and move on it was to create a sustainable project that we can do over and over each year. I know I am about 3 week from graduation and moving back out of Atchison but i do also know that if there is a way for us to make this project something like the Christmas in April or july or whatever month we decide to do it in i will be back to give back to the small community that has given me a lot over the last 5 years of my college career. I am excited to see what happens next year with the progress of this project

Awesome Experience

Saturday was an amazing experience, at first i was a little upset that i was up at 8 oclock in the morning on a Saturday. But after we started to make some progress on the yard at 1107 South 5th i was very happy that i have been a part of this learning experience. We might not have cleaned Atchison like we could have but i know i feel good about what we accomplished as a group and as a community.

Weather Update...

Hey I have the weekend weather forecast for the Makeover...Saturday will be the clear day between rainy days on Friday and Sunday...

It's looking like sunny with a high of 72, low of 53. 20% chance of rain on Saturday.
I'm hoping this stays true...

Progress

Agreed. I think we have everything we need ready to get this thing done right. Just gotta go out and do it now. I think the only impediment to success we have here is the possibility of rain. So be sure to pray for a sunny day Saturday!

progress

So far, it seems that our class is moving along quite nicely. When we first decided on the Atchson makeover project, i was somewhat against it. As the different tasks to complete the project were presented, it seemed that we didn't have enough time to get everything done. Class by class we started to finalize our plans and as certain tasks were accomplished, our progress created something of a domino effect and everything else started coming together faster. As the weekend of our project approaches, it's clear that we will be successful. We have a great class which consists of people who are capable of getting things done. There isn't a doubt in my mind that Atchison Makeover weekend will be a success..... unless it rains

1225 Julia St

Someone asked last class to see pictures of all the houses. I do not have photos of all the houses, but here are some that Dan took of my groups house. The address is 1225 Julia St.

Selection/Organization Committee

On Monday evening the selection/organization committee picked out four houses for our project. The houses are:

Rhonda Killip
1125 Julia St

Betty Downing
1219 N 7th St

Grace Cluke
1015 N 8th St

LaVeta Ferguson
1017 S 5th St

Before our next class:

Marketing nees to get out the press release, make up the flyers and begin distributing them, and ask the school to co-sponsor our project

Supplies needs to get people to the houses to see what supplies will be needed for each house and the cost of those supplies.

After the houses have been assessed we will find out if we need donations, how much we will need in donations, and how many volunteers we will need.

3/8/10 Class Meeting

During this class period we formed some committees:
The committees are as follows:

1. Marketing: Rob Lang, Nick Rudolph, Curtis
   
   
2. Volunteer Committee: Dan, Brett, Christopher, Jeremy
   
   
3. Supplies: Kevin, Ben, Danny, Jason
   
   
4. Selection/Organization: Creighton, Julie, Alexa, Frank, Goldie

The date has been set for the weekend of April 23, 24 and 25- Add it to your calendar! The class also decided that there will be around 20 volunteers per house, there will be a maximum of 5 houses and no more than 100 volunteers.

Doctor Bunch will be e-mailing you students a learning assessment this week that you must complete.


Please use your blog membership to your advantage over break and POST POST POST!
:)

Do amazing things!
-Emma

Potential House Re-models

Here are my three houses which I think should be the subject our curb revitalization project. They are house #s 305, 309, and 414 on Division Street. I believe these houses would benefit the most from a fresh paint job, and lawn care rejeuvenation.

Tribes

The different types of tribes that I see in Atchison are as follows;

1. The people at Benedictine. We are our own part of Atchison. We operate separately from the community of Atchison. Even though we do take part in the community we don't venture far out into the community. There are also tribes within BC; each of the different sports teams and then people who are involved in other things other than sports

2. The business owners in Atchison. These people work hard to keep their businesses going and try to participate in the community whenever they can.

3. The Chamber of Commerce who try to do the best with what they have to make Atchison a better community.

4. The people of the town who work and go about there day without putting too much effort towards being involved in the community

Tribes

Every where you look, there are many tribes around. Any type of school clubs or organizations. Other tribes could be, a Sunday golf crew meeting a the golf course, Your morning coffee groups who meet at Daylight Donuts, or the coffee drinkers who go to McDonalds for there coffee. These are just a few of the many different types of Tribes within Atchison.

Beautification

When I was driving up Second street last week I noticed that there are some houses that could use some work. Many prospective students and prospective students parents drive on the street to get to the college. So, I think it would be nice if we fixed up some of those houses. The above pictures are of the houses on Second street that I noticed could use some work. For the most part, I think that the houses just need some paint and if we could plant some flowers or shrubs I think it would add a lot.

Tribes

There are alot of tribes in Atchison.Most apparrent is BC.Others include the highscools as a whole,along with comunity involved organizations.Lions club Boys and Girls Club, Rotary club Ect

Blog Challenge week of Feb 15-21

Hi all!
Here is your blog challenge for the week of February 15-21.

Please post 3 or more pictures of homes in Atchison that are in need of beautification. Why would these places be a good candidates for beautification, how would you beautify them? Write about your thoughts about where the project should go and different ideas that would make it work.

ALSO: remember to comment on each others posts starting this week. This effects your grade.

Do amazing things!
-Emma

Tribes

There are a few different tribes I can within Atchison.

1.) Benedictine- This is the most apparent one to me because we are pretty a self-sufficient little town within the town and the College generally keeps to itself. The students sometimes will go into town, but students are temporary figures in the school and aren't permanent fixtures in the town.

2.) Business Owners- The home-town businesses seem to hold together fairly well, which leads me to think they could be classified as a tribe. They work together to try to pull in customers and often have the same viewpoints on what the direction the town should go in. I would also place MGP within this group, despite their larger size because they still are a local business with great interest in how the town keeps.

3.) The Townspeople - These are the regular people who compose the town of Atchison. The blue-collar people who work in the plant, the schools, the College, and raise their kids to live in Atchison. This is the main body component of the town in my opinion.

Tribes

When I think about the type of tribes there are in Atchison, first I think of BC. It is its own tribe in itself. The only major attempt from BC to reach out to the community is sponsorships the school has with businesses. The students for the most part don't venture out in to the town unless they live off campus. The clubs and sports teams on campus are also tribes. As a baseball player, the baseball team is a big tribe because we all spend a lot of time on and off the field together and a player's main group of friends is other teammates from the team. Other tribes around town are area businesses, Elks, Knights of Columbus, the poker group, Atchison Area Yacht Club even, and other common interest groups in town. Somehow, all these groups need to come together to form a better community.

Tribes

When I look at Atchison, I see several "tribes" of people working together. To begin with, Benedictine. Sometimes I feel that BC is its own little town in Atchison. Many people, and I am definitely guilty, pretty much spend all of their time on campus only venturing off to visit Walmart. Within BC, there are also several tribes. The campus offers so many different extracurricular activities for students to be a part of and get involved.

I also feel that the businesses in the downtown area form a tribe. The owners work together to bring business to that area. It benefits each business when other businesses bring in customers because those customers might decide to "pop" into their stores as well. MGP forms another tribe. All the workers band together to finish their jobs. I cannot remember right now why they were on strike, but they obviously also band together when they believe they are being treated unfairly.

tribes

When I think of tribes I think of sports teams that I have played on that worked towards a common goal. Tribes battle to achieve greatness and have to work hard to attain it. Sometimes, members of a tribe argue and have various disagreements, however, all ultimately work together to defeat the opposition. In a community sense, defeating the opposition is more prevalent to things like abolishing violence or crime. Members of a successful tribe have a strong sense of family and belonging, which creates strong bonds. In order to be a tribe, a community must realize the common goals of which to achieve. All communities want to be beautiful and comforting; so the "Atchison Tribe" could work towards city-wide cleanup and park beautification projects. Developing large teams that take pride in these projects would be a great way to start a "tribe" that people could be proud to be a part of.

tribes

when thinking about the subject of tribes, the first thing that comes to mind is our leadership class. We all have the common goal of bettering our leadership skills and improving the over-all quality of our community. By joining together in this social tribe we will be able to better the community of Atchison and better our very own character at the same time.

BLOG CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK OF FEBRUARY 8-14.

Next Monday we are going to talk about building coalitions in organizations.  Seth Godin has developed a new theory of getting things done in the world based on TRIBES.    Tribes are self-organized groups of people who share a passion.  Seth believes that Tribes and social networking are the keys to successful leadership and building great communities in the modern world.

YOU CHALLENGE THIS WEEK IS TO IDENTIFY AND DESCRIBE THE VARIOUS TRIBES THAT YOU FIND IN ATCHISON AND THE SURROUNDING AREA!

You can listen to Seth's book TRIBES: We Need You to Lead us. as an audio book for free online here:
http://www.audible.com/adbl/site/entry/offers/partnerPromotions.jsp?BV_SessionID=@@@@0360111669.1265933775@@@@&BV_EngineID=cccfadejikdhllicefecekjdffidfgo.0&productID=FR_ADBL_000302

And a TRIBES CASE BOOK (not the actual book but a companion book of examples) here:
http://shuaism.com/downloadsCurrentTribesCasebook.pdf

And even watch Seth describe the TRIBES idea here:

http://www.ted.com/talks/seth_godin_on_the_tribes_we_lead.html
http://mixergy.com/seth-godin-tribe/

Blog Participation

Hello all!
Wanted to let you know that I will be doing a few things with the blog over the rest of the semester.

1. I will be taking "roll" and checking to see who has and hasn't contributed to the blog every week.
   
2. Everyone should be commenting on each others posts, these comments do effect your grade as well as your blogs. Commenting on other class/community members blog contributions is imperative to making the blog, as well as yourselves successful.
   
3. I will be rating the blog contributions that you make as a means of setting the bar so you know what kind of posts Doctor Bunch is looking for.
4. I know that it is sometimes hard to remember to blog. SO: It is recommended that you set the blog as your home page for the rest of the semester so you don't forget to blog :)
5. If you have any questions let Ashlee, Doctor Bunch or I know.
   

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
-John F. Kennedy

Go do amazing things!
Emma Sawin

Blog Participation

Hello all!
Wanted to let you know that I will be doing a few things with the blog over the rest of the semester.

1. I will be taking "roll" and checking to see who has and hasn't contributed to the blog every week.
   
2. Everyone should be commenting on each others posts, these comments do effect your grade as well as your blogs. Commenting on other class/community members blog contributions is imperative to making the blog, as well as yourselves successful.
   
3. I will be rating the blog contributions that you make as a means of setting the bar so you know what kind of posts Doctor Bunch is looking for.
4. I know that it is sometimes hard to remember to blog. SO: It is recommended that you set the blog as your home page for the rest of the semester so you don't forget to blog :)
5. If you have any questions let Ashlee, Doctor Bunch or I know.
   

Leadership and learning are indispensable to each other.
-John F. Kennedy

Go do amazing things!
Emma Sawin

Community Project

Bringing the community together is important in the endeavor to better it as a whole. Fun, enticing activities that involve the whole family can bring everyone together and spark new friendships. Pride clubs and Lions clubs are prevalent in communities such as my own, but seem to only include older members of the community. Finding activities that appeal to everyone is extremely difficult; however, advertising and a good vibe can create positive feelings towards the event. I think a street dance would be a fun event that could bring the community together. Highland holds an annual street dance and many members of the community attend and have a great time. Everyone can bring a dish or entree and share recipes. Since dancing is a fun opportunity to let loose, people will be more open to talk to others they don't know. It is also an opportunity to directly oppose the separation problems that are still prevalent.

a better Atchison

I'm glad to see that the class is on the same page when it comes to making this city into the city we know it could be. I believe our attention for this project definitely needs to be directed towards the youth. We can't have a project that involves only the youth but one that involves people of all ages while focusing mainly on the youth. something like community parties inviting all people to join would be great. Setting an example of friendship towards all people of the community is what we should aim for. If we focus only on the youth for this project, not much of an impact will be made. We need to make the adults of this community aware that the youth of Atchison need to be cared for. By having community wide parties, or a series of parties which slowly draw everyone together, people will begin to see how wonderful Atchison really is.

The strengths of this community need to be brought out of everyone. There is a lot of talent and good natured people who are always left in the dark. People with talent of any kind need to be brought out. Whether it's music, art, dancing, or hobbies, we need to showcase them to the rest of the community. A talent show or art showcase would also be a great way to better this community and draw the people of Atchison closer together.

Class Project

Again as we have all talked about every week Kids. The youth is the future. We not only need to find something that creates a stronger bond kids in Atchison, but at the same time we need to find something for the adults to be integrated in also. I would like to see something as simple as a park that has all the necessities such as ball fields, playground equipment, basketball courts. Things that would help create a place that is safe for kids to gather and to spend time outside getting exercise. I am from a big city that has a lot of these options and i think i have ideas that could help this become possible. From the standpoint of money sure that is always and issue but things can be created from stuff that is already here in atchison and not being utilized the way it needs to be.

Im excited to see where we will go with any project we decide on and im excited to leave a huge impact on Atchison something i never would have thought 5 years ago i would be a part of.

How do we make atchison better

The biggest thing we can do to make Atchison better, is help the youth. We have been saying it every week we meet. But the youth in this town are the future. I think we need to get the adult's more involved with the youths and have more youth oriented programs. Also I think after school programs are key and need to continue.

Our class project

Do you remember those days when the entire neighborhood or street would come together for a block party? Those were the times where new neighbors could meet, and life long friendships could be made. They were times that allowed people to feel comfortable living where they were living. I feel our class project should gear towards bringing that type of community back to Atchison. I think we should put together a plan to have a block party type of atmosphere for the entire town that will go on every month during the late spring, summer, and early fall seasons. This could take place at Jackson Park, or the other parks on the BC side of main street. So, another aspect to this would be to clean up whichever park in which this would take place. Not only could this block party be open to residents but also businesses as well. They could bring management teams there to meet the citizens of Atchison to develop relationships with them. And also bring a taste of their business with them, whether it be food or items for sale.

Not only would this idea accomplish the tasks of building friendships and trust with each other as citizens and businesses, but it would keep kids off the computer, off the video games, and out playing ball or tag with each other for the day/night like we did when we were younger. If this goes on once a month for a majority of the year it could influence individual neighborhoods/streets to do the same thing on a smaller scale so neighbors could build lifelong relationships and trust.

How we can make Atchison better

I believe one of the biggest keys to making Atchison better is the youth. We need to find a way to reach the youth. Many of the people who grew up in Atchison will be more inclined to stay here and help it grow if they enjoy their time here and find it to be a great place to raise a family. What better way is there to be a community leader than to help lead the youth of the community? Most or all of us have had a chance to impact the kids of Atchison one way or another. Last year, Rob, Danny, and I spent a few hours at the local Boys and Girls club. And in those few hours, the kids had a great time. However, this should be our duty as residents and we need to put in more time with the youth. I suggest that we start a program that allows us and the future community leadership groups a semester long chance to talk and interact with the kids. It will be a chance for us to let them know the dos and donts in becoming a successful impact on the community. Through this program, hopefully, we can help guide them to be the best they can be.

My Atchison

Hi. My name is Bret "Nick" Brown. I grew up in Greenfield, Iowa. This is a small town of about 2,000 people in southwest Iowa. So, when I came to Atchison, Kansas and I saw it had a McDonnald's I was sold.

My Atchison, to this point, has been a collection of three places.

I came to Benedictine College to earn a degree in Athletic Training and I am proud to say that I am one semester from completing that goal.

I have learned a lot a Benedictine College. But, you can't find everything you need at a college.

Mueller's Bar is a great place for the people who attend to interact with the residents of Atchison, Kansas. While I do not go to this bar on a regular basis, I have had a lot of fun here. You will meet some really interesting people here and engaging in a conversation is always advised.

POSTING CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK

Class, you challenge this week is to develop ideas about what the team project should be this term!  Rather than create entire new discussions, please post your ideas here AS REPLIES TO THIS MESSAGE rather than as completely new conferences!

Where I have slept in Atchison.....

I came to Atchison in the Summer of 1997!  The first place I stayed was at the Abby when I was here for an interview for a job at Benedictine College.  I became  Chair of the Business Department there in the Fall of that year.  The Abby was very quiet.  They invite you to early morning prayers at 5:00 AM in the morning!

In the first few months, I also stayed a few nights at the Dean' house which is on the "River Road" on the South side of town. The house has a swimming pool.

For the first 18 months at BC I was traveling back to Manhattan, Kansas on the weekends.   My first "home" was in the basement of this house on River Road.  It was called the Muchnic House because that was the family that built it.  Another professor rented me a room in the basement.  In the early morning sometimes there were deer in the backyard from Jackson Park which is virtually next door.

Well, that basement arrangement lasted about 2 Semesters but then my host wanted his basement back so I rented the top floor of this house in 400 block of 7th street.  I was still traveling back and forth on the weekends.

After the yellow house,  my family moved to town and we were able to rent this house at 7th and Laramie from Bill and EdnaMay Wolters.  They were great!  There was no front porch when we had it.  It is truly a beautiful house!  We stayed there until there was an attic fire!   My son, Nathan, was home when it started and he was able to get out and alert the neighbors.  The Fire Marshal said that he saved the house and most of our belongings becasue if they had gotten there 10 minutes later, the fire would have been very hard to stop!



The Atchison community was absolutely marvelous after the fire.  They helped us clean up and move our stuff into storage.  They also arranged for us to stay overnight, first at the AmericInn, and then at John Settich's St. Martin's Bed and Breakfast.  After that time we moved into the Lewis and Clark Hall at the Atchison Heritage Conference Center.  We had two rooms.  It was bare bones but nice.  We really learned how to cook out of a microwave and croc pot.  It is amazing how many different things you can cook with these two devices!








Once we got things sorted out after the fire, we ended up staying at the Lewis and Clark Hall at the Atchison Heritage Conference Center.  We had two rooms and stayed there about 6 months while the house we were restoring was getting to the point that we could live in it!  Thank the Lord for Renter's Insurance!













Now we live in this house!  We restored it and have been here for about 5 years!