2020 and 100 things that happened in Sumner County (Part 1)

December 31, 2020 Cueball

By Tracy McCue, Sumner Newscow — Obviously 2020 was a different year.

There are so many different words to describe it. But my favorite would be “fascinating.” Each year, when I do these retrospects there is a bit of “sameness” to it. This is the 10th retrospect since starting this website.

The previous nine had the same feel as the others. There usually is one murder or some gristly auto accident. There is usually at least one city council/school board controversy or some big bad corporation proposing to build a plant in Sumner County causing neighbors to suddenly worry their property values will plunge. Some sports team does really well, and someone gets a big award.

This is the first time, there was an ongoing story that engulfed the whole year. And there has never been a year when the schools, the Wheat Festival, Avenue of Flags, a whole sports season, church services, etc., etc., etc. would cancel.

I was fascinated by how we reacted to the pandemic as it developed. People wavered from nonchalance to total panic, to regret, to cynicism, to boredom, to what I think a lot of us now have… hope.

Anyway, enjoy our look back through the past 12 months. This is the one year that truly matched the hype. Here are 100 things (and more) that happened in 2020…

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1 – The first Sumner Newscow article for 2020 was reviewing the 100 things that happened in 2019. How naive we all were in those days.

Ora Munger

2 – Ora Munger, 41, of Iola gets sentenced to at least 158 months in prison for the July 2018 robbery and kidnapping at the Mitch and Callie Bartelson home on Mayfield Road. He faces more charges including attempted murder in Barber County.

3 – Wellington hosts a kickoff party for Makayla Brownlee, 17, who was on her way to a national singing competition. Shhh! At the time it was top secret (or no one could say it out loud) she was appearing on American Idol.

4- Roofing blues: Wellington school district starts repair on what started out as a leaky roof at the high school, only to find out it was a much more costly masonry foundation issue. The project was scheduled to be completed in July.

5 – Wellington school board approves a new gymnasium floor with a huge painted Crusader head much like the big Shocker at Wichita State. It would make its fan debut in August in front of a few masked volleyball fans (more on that later).

6 – Long-suffering Kansas City Chief fans celebrate the team’s first return to the Super Bowl in 50 years. Jo Davis, Josh Wolf, Ryan Reed, John Brand, Troy Long, Keith Finley and Mike Cypert were only seven of many – but were probably among the most rabid.

7- Roger Stallbaumer Jr. is named the 2019 Distinguished Service Award winner.

8- In a quick post-game Sumner Newscow poll, 62 percent of the readers said they were “beyond happy” the Chiefs won the Super Bowl.

9- On Feb. 11, Sumner Newscow asks readers in a poll if they were concerned about this coronavirus making the news. It was mostly greeted with a shrug with just 282 people voting. Of those who voted, 48 percent said yes.

10- Wellington City Council writes a letter of disappointment to Cowley Board of Trustees over a recent motion (which never passed) that a Sumner County resident could not serve as chairman of the board.

11- Wellington hosts its first high school regional wrestling tournament since 1992. Four Crusader boys make it to state.

Click to enlarge.

12- Burlington Northern Santa Fe officials come to the Wellington City Council meeting asking permission to build an overpass at the railroad crossings in the south part of town. Nothing publicly has been said about the proposal since.

Ted Davis

13- Wellington legend Ted Davis who helped form several companies such as Midwest, Inc., Welco, Sportsman Coach, Lamar and others, died at the age of 96.

Anna Cullens

14 – Anna Cullens, a Wellington freshman, wrestles for the 109-pound wrestling championship in the inaugural KSHSAA girls wrestling state tournament in Salina. She loses to All-American Alexis Allen of Independence in the championship. The tournament solidifies that girls’ wrestling is here to stay.

15- On March 11, Sumner Newscow asks for a second time whether they were concerned about the coronavirus. The poll nearly doubles in participants from February with 47 percent saying “yes” and 40 percent saying “No, it is overhyped media hooey.”

16- In a stunner, Sumner Community Hospital closes its doors with no warning, ending a long struggle to keep hospital healthcare in the community.

17- On the exact night that the hospital closes, the pandemic begins. Wellington, as is the nation and world, starts closing down and going into quarantine.

18- The Wellington Healthcare Authority issues a letter to the community expressing sorrow with the closing of the hospital. It states: “The reasons that our community could not sustain a hospital are complex; multi-faceted; and, subject to now pointless debate.”

19- Sumner Newscow starts a coronavirus pandemic cancelation list: it gets very long very quickly.

20- Sumner County schools close their doors to in-person learning for the year. Impromptu online learning begins, which proves to be a bit futile in the early going.

Makayla Brownlee

21- Brownlee advances to the Hollywood Round of American Idol.

22- You know the coronavirus is serious when the Kansas Star Casino closed its doors on March 18 due to the pandemic.

23 – Sumner County Health Officer Laura Rettig confirms on March 18, there have been no COVID-19 cases in Sumner County.

24 – On March 25, Rettig issues a ‘stay-at-home’ order for Sumner County – three days before the state of Kansas does. One day later, the health department officially announces Sumner County has its first positive COVID-19 case. The patient is a man in his 60s who resides in the northern part of the county.

25 – A home at 911 Orchard, just east of Wellington Eisenhower Elementary School, is destroyed by fire. Arson is suspected.

26 – While everything is closed, taxes are due as scheduled. H&R and other tax services offer curbside services.

27 – Both Municipal and District Court services are shut down, leaving the legal profession and the people they serve in limbo.

28- Wellington EMS department experiences a true quandary. With the closing of the hospital, the staff expected increased calls but doesn’t due to the pandemic quarantine. Nevertheless, Chief Tim Hay requests for another ambulance and more personnel that will cost more than $350,000.

29- Brownlee gets eliminated during Hawaii Week from the American Idol competition, just one round short of the final in which the audience votes.

30- Lincoln Elementary teachers put on a parade for their students by driving by their houses and waving to them throughout town.

31- Wellington Dillon’s Store allows a maximum capacity of 253 customers or 50 percent capacity.

32- On April 9, the first Sumner County coronavirus patient dies while hospitalized in a Sedgwick County hospital.

33- Easter 2020 is like no other. Area churches hold Easter services online.

34- Prom is canceled, but the graduation ceremony is put on hold. Wellington school board moves the tentative date to July 25.

35- Several Wellington residents participate in a cruise night downtown, much to the chagrin of health officer Rettig.

36- Former Sedgwick County Sheriff Deputy Derick Chandler, who once lived in Wellington, is charged with five counts of ‘sexual misconduct with an underage female.” Trouble is, he is still at large in Europe, for at least a couple of years, avoiding prosecution.

37 – One month into the quarantine, Sumner County confirms three COVID cases and one death on April 15.

Barbara White

38 – Former Wellington instructors Barbara White and Connie Frederking is named to the Kansas Teachers’ Hall of Fame.

39 – In what hopefully was a once-in-a-lifetime series, Sumner Newscow featured “what-might-have-been” sports stories for the no longer spring teams. The Wellington High School boys golf team was supposed to be really, really good and might have won a state championship.

40 – In early May, Governor Laura Kelley announces the re-opening plan in four phases. But Wellington leaders were very uncertain. With summer fast approaching, nobody knew the plans for such routine things as the pool reopening and summer team workout schedules.

41- In May, Sumner Newscow readers are evenly split about Kelly’s reopening plans. Twenty-eight percent said the plan seemed reckless, 27 percent did not know the answer at the time and 25 percent said the governor didn’t go far enough and everything needed to be reopened.

42- Ascension Via Christi asks Wellington City Council to approve the opening of an emergency health facility in the same building that once housed SRMC. The new facility, expected to open in February 2021, would cost about $2 million to open with the city kicking in $700,000.

43- The Wellington Heat cancels the 2020 season due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Proposed BNSF yard office is slated for east of Wellington. (Click to enlarge).

44- BNSF announces it will be opening a yard office on U.S. 160, east of Meridian Street. Wellington City Council votes to annex 2.99 acres. Then by a 4-2 vote, the council controversially allows Sumner-Cowley Electric to service the new yard’s electricity.

45 – Wellington school board votes in a contentious meeting to eliminate the Summit curriculum – the computer-based program used as part of the Redesign process.

46 – As if Wellington needed more bad news, a Wichita State University study paints a bleak picture of the future housing market (see study here).

47 – For the first time since 1982, the Avenue of Flags would not be erected at Prairie Lawn Cemetery on Memorial Day weekend. In years past the cemetery displayed over 1,200 flags recognizing those who had served.

48 – By late May, the reopening process has begun. Many churches reopened as did Drury Park and Wellington Lake. Local restaurants, banks, the Kansas Star Casino, Wellington Regent, Mid-America Dragway among other venues were also reopening. Still, everyone agrees, this summer was going to be a lot different.

49 – Just as many businesses reopen, Wellington Area Chamber of Commerce announces the 2020 Kansas Wheat Festival would be canceled.