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The excess of green decor donned by the Irish horde was conservative compared to the noise the dozens of people generated as they paraded all the way ... across the road.
The Irish parade was Saturday at 3:17 p.m. at the intersection of 311th Street and Spring Valley Road. It has become a tradition for Terry Robinson and her close family and neighbors for six years. After leaving the driveway, the group walks down a gravel road, turns around in a circle drive and returns, making noise and yelling.
“Happy March 13!” Robinson shouted, laughing about the four-day discrepancy between their celebration and the holiday. She said the parade begins at exactly 3:17 p.m. since they can’t have it on March 17.
Robinson’s father, Joe Burke, and his two brothers were the first Irish triplets in the Kansas City area, which was enough to land them a spot in the Kansas City Saint Patrick’s Day parade in 2003, where his float took third place.
The smaller, local parade began the following year when the family decided it was too much hassle to make it up to the city.
This year was the sixth annual parade, which was one of the best ones ever, Robinson said. There were a few more families present than in the past. The growing trend is something Robinson said she hopes remains slow.
“I’m scared it would lose its charm,” she said. “This is a good size group, but the Irish are crazy so who knows what’s going to happen.”
There were many positions within the parade, including a grand marshal Alex Delorenzi, whose last name was temporarily changed to O’Delorenzi for the day. Peggy Sowders, Robinson’s sister, wore a shiny green “inaugural” dress and accompanied O’Delorinzi in the main float as grand marshalette.
Rick Neuer, decked out in a tall green hat and large green glasses, acted as the crowd control officer.
Paul Trewett wasn’t necessarily looking to get into management when he started with the United States Post Office 24 years ago. But life? Well, it had other plans.
Having worked primarily in construction, Trewett was working with Kansas City Power and Light as a tree cutter in 1986, when he noticed an ad in the newspaper for an entry-level position with the USPS.
“If it’s raining, they don’t want you up around power lines and all that, so it was a little bit cyclical in that way,” he said, of working for KCPL. “I just thought the post office is probably going to be a little bit more consistent and steady, so this is probably going to be a better fit.”
More than two decades later, it’s safe to say Trewett’s instinct was correct. That first year spent in mail processing at the main plant in Kansas City kick-started a career that would eventually lead him to Louisburg in February of 2004, where for the past six years he has served as the town’s postmaster.
Friday marked Trewett’s last day on the job, however, as he recently accepted a supervisor position with the Raymore, Mo., post office in order to be closer to his parents.
The cooking students asked “How long?” and “How much?” time and time again, as per the habit of Americans cooking by numbers with utensils to measure out the smallest amount of ingredients. “Enough” is the measurement authentic Italian chef Laura Caponetti gave as an answer during her cooking class Saturday morning at Casa Somerset.
“It’s more important ‘what’ than ‘how,’” she explained. “You’ve got to choose a good product.”
Caponetti, who hails from Tuscany, operates her own Italian cooking school and holds a degree in Italian Gastronomic History. This was her third time to leave her home in Italy to visit Casa Somerset. Teaching the class of local culinary enthusiasts is something she said she enjoys.
“The most interesting thing for me is to transmit to people not just the recipe, but the heart in cooking — the feeling,” she said. “It’s not just cooking, it’s food.” In addition to visiting larger cities like New York City or San Francisco, Caponetti said she makes it a point to spend plenty of time in the Midwest to experience true American culture.
“This is a part of ‘real’ America,” she said. “I don’t like being only a tourist.”
As a food expert, she shared her opinion on the local popularity of barbecue, which she said was good, but not her forte.
“I could only eat it about every six months, and that would be enough,” Caponetti said. “We don’t eat big pieces of meat (in Italy). We eat more pasta and vegetables.” Mike Hursey, owner of Casa Somerset, had more than a dozen guests attend the class, all of whom had plenty to say about Hursey’s home and business, as well as the opportunity to learn authentic Italian cooking.
“It’s beautiful and elegant. It’s a great place to entertain with classes and dinner parties,” Paolan Linda Gibson said. “It’s a jewel for Miami County.”
The lessons learned from Caponetti include the simplicity of making common household food items like mayonnaise, which is basically egg and oil mixed together with a little salt and lemon juice. Her broth is the remaining water from boiling veal, which she uses as an appetizer the next day.
“Why buy something predone and precooked if it’s so easy to make?” she asked. “Eat simple, but eat well and fresh.”
MANHATTAN — Adrian J. Polansky, state executive director for USDA’s Kansas Farm Service Agency (FSA), recently announced that FSA is making emergency loans available to help qualified producers recover from production and physical losses due to natural disasters.
Presidential Disaster Declaration M1885 for severe winter storms and snowstorm on Dec. 22, 2009, through Jan. 8 made the following primary counties in Kansas eligible: Allen, Anderson, Atchison, Bourbon, Brown, Butler, Cherokee, Cheyenne, Clay, Crawford, Cowley, Decatur, Doniphan, Elk, Franklin, Gove, Graham, Greenwood, Jackson, Jefferson, Jewell, Labette, Linn, Logan, Lyon, Marshall, Miami, Morris, Nemaha, Neosho, Norton, Osage, Phillips, Pottawatomie, Republic, Rawlins, Riley, Shawnee, Sheridan, Wabaunsee, Wallace, Washington, Wilson, Woodson and Wyandotte.
Producers in the above listed counties have until Nov. 9 to apply for an emergency loan.
Eligible loan funds may be used to restore or replace essential property and pay production costs associated with the disaster year. Applicants can borrow up to 100 percent of actual production or physical losses not to exceed $500,000. The current rate for these low interest loans is 3.75 percent.
Producers must meet eligibility requirements and not be able to obtain credit from a commercial lender. FSA will consider each loan application on its own merits, taking into account the extent of losses, security available and repayment ability.
Make no mistake, Patricia Thomson is a big fan of libraries.
“The library was a really important place to me as a kid,” she said. “No matter where I go, if I’m on vacation my husband and I always stop at the library. There’s sort of a feel, a tradition there.”
That being the case, as a longtime Louisburg resident, Thomson is a frequent visitor to the Louisburg Library. So when they asked her to participate in their second annual National Craft Month “Craft Day” last year, she was happy to bring her artistic talents to the event.
“I can’t help in other ways, but that’s one way I can support them,” said Thomson, a late-blooming sketch artist.
Saturday marked the Louisburg Library’s third annual Craft Day, highlighting local craft artists and paying homage to the creative spirit National Craft Month honors. Thomson was one of eight crafters to join in the fun, and share their gifts with the Louisburg community.
The idea for a Craft Day formed three years ago, said adult services coordinator Holly Gillogly, when the library wanted to find some way to celebrate all kinds of crafts during the month of March. Rather than a craft fair, at which vendors pay for booth space and ply their wares, they wanted something a little more educational.
