Odysseus Abroad: Marion, Kansas

Marion - Lindsborg - Pilsen - Diamond Creek - Goessel - Cottonwood Falls

Elgin Hotel, Marion, Kansas

The elegance of The Elgin Hotel attracted us to visit Marion in central Kansas for four days between Christmas and the New Year 2022-23. Harking back to my early years in Kansas during the 1990's when I used to explore backroads, ghost towns and the fascinating history of the state, I took Annette out to explore the the hinterlands of Marion County on the edge of the Flint Hills of her home state. Although quite familiar to me, this was unexplored territory for Annette, even thought it is only a few score miles from her birthplace. Bank robbers, Bonnie & Clyde Barrow liked Kansas due to the extensive grid of roads, mostly unpaved, set longitudinally and latitudinally on a one mile spacing, allowing for easy get-away. We were back on these roads to explore after so many years, and first stop was a ghost town of Bushong, Kansas, named after "Doc" Bushong, a famous baseball player after he won the 1886 world series, a town which started with a bright future, built on a rail road line, access to land and a growing population attracting schools, churches, businesses and a bank. A fire in the business district and the depression reversed fortunes and the slow decline in population from a height of 250 in early 1900's to 27 today is reflected state of the town today. A Veterans Memorial stands in the town as one of the few modern installations and is ground for gatherings for the many who have served in military from Lyon County. The rail line now serves as a long distance nature trail and bike path running 118 miles from Herrington to Osawatomie through Bushong. Further south the optimistically named railway town of Americus, after Amerigo Vespucci, is more lively and has doubled it's population over the last century. From there we drove along the north side of the Neosho River to the ghost town of Dunlap, named for the Indian agent for the Kanza tribe who lived there before being shipped off the Oklahoma. The town got a real boost with the arrival of Benjamin "Pap" Singleton, a freed slave from Tennessee who encouraged freed African Americans to develop the area. Many came after the civil war when they realized freedom in the South would not work in practice. Towns like Nicodemus, North West Kansas, as opportunity for former slaves, called "Exodusters", after the civil war and as Dunlap continued to grow there was some prejudice with white townspeople, nothing as severe as Jim Crow South, but which resulted in the African American community developing it's own facilities. The last African Americans resident of the dwindling town today was buried in Dunlap's segregated "colored" cemetery, which stands a mile away from the white cemetery today. We traveled to Marion across the remote country roads of gravel, mud and ice. Lake Kahola stood frozen but for a patch of open water kept by hundreds of geese. Crossing Buckeye Creek, I accelerated to ensure we got across the ice covered stream, but with the momentum the front left tire was punctured by some debris on the roadside. With the sun declining I got the car up on the jack, but it slipped in the icy rough terrain, a bit worrying with no cell phone signal, but I managed to get the jack unstuck and the spare on - it was almost flat, so we drove slowly for the 10 miles to reach an air pump, finally getting to Marion at dusk with the thermometer still sinking past -15C. During our days in Marion we would see a low of -20C rising each day to +17C on our departure. Marion Center established in 1860 was named for Francis Marion, The Swamp Fox, of revolutionary fame about whom books abound in the rooms of the Elgin Hotel and built upon he classic American hero story, part truth, part fiction and partly unknown.

Still being a national holiday, December 26th, there were no staff at the Elgin Hotel which was great, as we had a code for the door and as Annette ordered pizza at Gambino's around the corner, I got things moved to our wonderful room, Number 209. We had the kitchen and living room to ourselves to relax for the evening. Each of the three floors, served with elevator and stairs, also had an extensive open sitting area and full kitchen which made our stay all the more wonderful (note the 3rd floor is even better than the 2nd). The Elgin Hotel was an ambitious project intended to play a part in realizing the town's potential, but did not attract a developer, so the townspeople funded it's construction by issuing stock and it was completed in 1886. For a town of Marion's size it was and remains an asset for the community, and in many ways it is a miracle that it survived when so many 19th century hotels in rural areas perished. An oil boom in 1950's brought some life back to the hotel under ownership of Dick Lundgren, but it fell into dereliction by the 1970's when a church bought it to recycle the stone for a new place of worship - fortunately they ran out of funds and The Elgin survived as an apartment house for a few decades until bought for restoration as a hotel and residence for the Cloutier family (coincidence - there was a Cloutier family involved in regeneration of Humboldt Kansas also) in 2006. In 2016 it was bought by the Ensey family who returned the residence part to hotel rooms, expanding the capacity and have developed a restaurant, Parlor 1886, run by Kari Newell (who would come to worldwide attention a year later, see last paragraph). We met Tammy Ensey on our second day and had a long visit discussing the history and progress. We booked Room 209 as it was available and slightly larger, but also liked rooms 309 and 312 for a future visit - also the third floor kitchen is larger and there is a reading library there.

Across the street each morning we would get coffee Zera Coffee, a great resource for the town. Zera means seed in Hebrew and the the shop is run by a religious charity, Freedom House Ministries, from Denton, Texas. The Ensey's had a coffee shop there, but closed it down in Covid and encourages the folks in Denton to come and operate a café in Marion, which seems to be a great success. The owner shared their story and seem to be a solid addition to the community in Marion. The charitable part revolves around a men's home for down and out or those recovering from hard times in Denton, something they look to mirror with a women's home in Marion. While one can debate whether it is better for the state or religion to provide such services, it is clear Zera Cafe is a positive impact on Marion. Speaking of religion, there is seven churches in the town, all Christian, for a population of 1900, or 250 people per church allowing for a few atheists. Anyway, the coffee was good, from Galva up the road I was told, and with a good community atmosphere, with tables and games for entertainment and usually some locals hanging at the counter chatting to the owners about town affairs. Another great asset to Marion is the Taco's Food Truck on East Main Street. When rural food options are often limited to fast food or the gas station, I usually look for Mexican for healthy options and the food truck did not disappointed and not surprisingly when we learned the owner, from the area, had become a gourmet Chef in Kansas City, but when Covid hit decided to return and run this business. Across the street T.C.'s What Not Shop was less about antiques that display of about everything not town out from houses around town run by a friendly Asian American lady, an interesting tour of 1960's to 1980's. "Barely Making It Antiques" up on Timber Road west of town was a much larger collection in large barns and many of the large items outdoors in rows on the yard, but was closed during our visit and being holiday season we didn't bother going to The Copper Shed, a set of antique barns on a homestead six miles south of town built by Ernest E. Hett who was born in Aulne nearby in 1922. Little remains in Aulne, but a Methodist Church, a few buildings and the Aulne Bank, long shut down. Ern Hett built upon his farming and welding to produce sculpture art and became well known in the state, being nominated artist of the year in 1985.

I could make out on a sign at a derelict shop front west side of town on Main Street the name "JR Hatters Mercantile", harking back to a day when hats were standard wear and was encourages when we found another shop open in town center, JR Hatters Mercantile. We met the owner Johsie Reed who makes unique custom hats and leader goods. She mentioned having moved from the west side location recently and was now owner of the property which used to be a store run by her uncle where she worked when she was a child. She learned the craft in Los Angeles and worked for other hatters before staring JR Hatters a number of years ago based in Marion. She makes hats the traditional way with tools over a century old, but doesn't use some of the harmful chemicals like mercury, which was apparently the cause of the crazy hatter syndrome leading to the term "the mad hatter". Fitting a hat can take an hour, so she got a beer license so people can relax while waiting. Besides hats, Johsie also crafts purses, leather goods and jewelry. She had a large trailer and packs up to attend rodeos regularly, a great way to connect with customers. She mentioned a rodeo I Strong City and also a regular one in the small town of Canton, just twenty miles west of town, where she was even considering moving in future. Although things were quiet in town during the winter holidays, Marion has many unique and interesting business plus festivals in the summer time which is when more tourists visit - personally I like visiting offseason - we were the only visitors to the museum in town, plus those in Goessel and Lindsborg, having the wealth of history all to ourselves.

Four miles west and three miles south of Marion stands the Marion County Poor Asylum which voters agreed to build using county funds to provide welfare and a home to people with diminished capacity, either physically, mentally or due to old age. Situated on 160 acres it was intended the residents would farm and make a living from the 160 acres. A master stone mason, Fred Schaefler of Hillsboro crafted the enormous mansion an impressive investment for the poor, showing the caring side of society at that time to ensure people in need from the community were supported and in a manner equal to any in the community. Twelve residents, half men half women were living there in the earl years. Unwed mothers without means were also housed there, their children given for adoption. Although some were too disabled to contribute and work, many were quite productive and the house were able to return $200 a year back to the country treasury in the early years. By 1950 the home needed renovation, which was funded by sale of 120 acres and reopened as renamed Cedar Rest to remove the association with the prior asylum and the people called residents rather than inmates. In 1964 it was closed and auctioned off mainly for the land which had value and the house was rented out to tenants until the house and 2.5 acres was abought by Art and Virginia Miles in 1967 and converted into a restaurant, Cedar Villa in 1968, which didn't last too long, closing a year later. Pastor Bill Cowel bought the house in 1971 to develop as a youth center, which never materialized. As it became rundown it was again sold in 1973 to Nancy Marr and her husband, Wendell Hendricks, as a fix up project and get-away home from their busy lives with their four children in Wichita. The house was a country getaway for the Marr family in the early years, but they divorced in 1978 and Nancy got the house, where she has lived ever since. Besides a family retreat, the house has served as a youth hostel, Christian retreat, curiosity for tourists and target for vandals since then. I would like to have met Nancy on my visit as I had read she was open to visitors, at least those with good intensions, but I could see from the undisturbed snow a week old that no-one was home at least for the holidays, or she may have gone to the city for winter. Nancy is reported to be a lovely lady who just wants to live in peace and who has opened her home to so many over the past 60 years, but also experienced the damage society instills in vandalism and the property shows signs of such attack. Not wanting to intrude, I just walked around the periphery to get a view of the architecture and could see some doors wedged open and windows smashed, repaired with wood and cardboard. She had places some signs around the house making it clear it was not abandoned and should not be vandalized. Unfortunate that security, one of our most ancient needs, is not afforded to Nancy in her old age caring for an historic treasure. While there is a large impetus to extract from the land, it is a pity to see the same is not true in preserving these historic houses as Nancy would surely like to see. North of the main house stood a small well built stone house which was sadly going to ruin, it's finely carved solid sandstone blocks holding up well on at least three sides. This was the W.E. Glover house and was on the property before the county decided to build the poorhouse nearly. The Glover house is such a beautiful stone structure and sad to see it being let back to nature. A little further north a graveyard beside whose flat gravestones were invisible under the snow hid the names, including one marked "Negro Boy".

That afternoon we would venture further afield. In 1869 a Pastor Olof Olsson led a group of Swedes from remote Varmland, Sweden to settle in McPherson County, Kansas, along the Smoky Hill River, seeking to prosper on the fertile plains. Lindsborg in Smokey Valley was the town which emerged around them, named for the Linden Tree, common in Varmland. While many small plains towns struggle today, Lindsborg is thriving and is a gem in the center of the state. We started with a visit to Coronado Heights Castle northeast of town situated on a bluff 300ft, which is as good as a mountain among the flatness, with an expansive view over the county. Apparently the Spanish conquistador Francisco Vázquez de Coronado got a fever to search for the "Seven Cities of Gold" a 16th century rumor of wealth cities in the US continent, on his expedition from Mexico in 1540-42, which he had heard from an old native who had been held as a slave in his youth in Cicuye where he heard stories about Quivira, which he interpreted the city of wealth. About to kill "The Turk", as they called the old man, he offered to guide them to the location to save his life. They rode east north east and after nine days reached the open buffalo plains, continuing on from today's New Mexico, across the Texas panhandle into Kansas to the Arkansas River and Cicuye. The Indian guides disputed each other and they finally got "The Turk" to admit he was lying, but they continued anyway in search the Quivira, which the found. The Quivira were a tribe of natives in central Kansas, part of the Wichita tribe near present day Salina, not far from Lindsborg. Coronado's expedition was epic in nature, and all the found along the way were native tribes, rough terrain, and strife. Although no gold or treasure in Quivira, he did recognize the richness of the land, the food and the native people, their health good and height over six foot for the post part, described as "large people of good build". He surely would have stopped at Coronado Heights as it would have been a strategic viewing point on his travels, and some Spanish artifacts have been unearth in the area. During the depression a castle was built upon the peak under the Works Progress Administration, which was setup to provide employment to the poor and unemployed.

Just two miles south of the Heights on the left side of the road is the Hoglund Dugout, which was the first dwelling built by one of the earliest Swedish settlers, Gustaf and Mary Hoglund, from Fernebo, Sweden who made a claim on 80 acres and built the underground dwelling in the summer of 1868, using their wagon cover as a roof. They lived there for two years while the built a larger stone house above ground where the brought up their seven children for 20 years before building a larger wooden house. Imagine living in that dug-out through two winters when a cold sweep from the north brings 50 KMH winds at -20C and many feet of snow. These were hardy practical people and the dug-out was a common first year(s) dwelling for the earliest settlers, before towns built up to stock supplies to build a cabin. The last of the Hoglunds died in 1975 and the property was left to local charities, but for an acre around the dug-out, which was willed to the local historical society and now stands as a park.

Our first stop in Lindsborg was the Birger Sandzen Memorial Art Gallery, a wonderful resource for the town and an inspiration for budding artists of Kansas, many of whose works were on display and for sale at the gallery. Birger Sandzen was a Swedish painter who settled in Lindsborg and was professor or art and language at Bethany College there. We were the only visitors and the curator spent a good amount of time explaining the background of the gallery as well as viewing some exhibits not on display. Worlds Fairs were a way to bring international exhibits to people in USA, the 1904 Fair being held in St Louis, Missouri, from which the Swedish pavilion has ended up in Riverside Park, Lindsborg, alongside a number of museums, including the Old Mill & Swedish Heritage Museum which we visited. The mill must be one of the best preserves water wheel drive grain mills producing purified "Smoky Valley" brand flour. On the way back to Marion we picked up wonderful food at Pueblo Viejo Mexican in Hillsboro. One of the advantages of the Elgin Hotel is access to a fridge, microwave and full kitchen making food management easy.

A few miles northeast of Marion water spring from the floor of the low creek which would have been an important source for the Kanza tribe during dry periods. The new Euro-American landowner drilled for coal, but found nothing. Having spent his savings, he leased the springs out to a developer, Dr. Piper, who built a resort and marketed the waters as Chingawassa Springs, named for an Osage Chief killed by a Kanza Chief in the area. Mineral springs were all the rage for cures before modern science kicked in and reported cures included: rheumatism, paralysis, skin and blood diseases, kidney and liver complaints, chronic constipation, hemorrhoids, nervous conditions, and more. A rail line was built from Marion to the site and tourists came from as far as Chicago for cures at the springs. It didn't last but a few years and nothing remains there today.

Northeast of Marion stands an empty quarter parts of which probably look like the the land was before arrival of Europeans, buffalo and all. Traversing this area on unpaved roads tracking Diamond Creek northwest to southeast one can let lost in an old world, which I did, but first had to stop over in the village of Pilsen eight miles north of town, settled by Czechs and named after the famous beer and town in Bohemia at that time. Centered around a Catholic church, St John Nepomucene, large for a community of that size even back in 1915 when it was built for a handy $30,000. Emil Kapaun was a son of the area who studied theology in St Louis and became a priest, serving his first mass in Pilsen during world war two, followed by a stint in the army. He survived the war, but later on an assignment in Korea was taken prisoner and died under the harsh conditions of the camp. In the cool morning sun I walked around the peaceful village. A set of ancient gas pumps stood restored to their past glory at the road side entering town overlooking the plains. Hett Oil runs a facility south of Pilsen and owns over 200 wells in the region northeast of Marion, some pumping and many idle. Old cars and machinery were strewn across a field nearby living their weather beaten downfall in the elements

From Lost Spring I headed east along part of the route of the Santa Fe Trail toward Diamond Spring which was founded in 1830. The little town of Burdick along the way stood silent, the rail road long gone, the Diamond Valley High School having closed in 1957 and now destroyed by what must have been a tornado, the Burdick Meat Locker still hanging in there having been in business for over a century. As people made it west on the trails in the mid 19th century water was an important commodity, especially as the creeks dried up in summer months, so any natural springs were anchor points as became Diamond Springs on the Santa Fe Trail. West of the springs the trail was called "Gornada Del Muerte" or "Journey of the Dead" for the bones of men and animals alike, felled by natives or lack of water. The town was mostly destroyed by confederate guerillas during the civil war who killed the station manager Augustus Howell. A year or tow later a traveler Samuel Kingman wrote in his diary, “We passed Diamond Springs. The remains of three stone buildings two stories high tell their story of violence. A good monument for the builder. A small room used as a dramshop is all that’s left fit for use save a large stone corral surrounding 5 or 6 acres with a small supply of hay.”. A railroad finally came and there was a depot at Diamond Springs by 1890 helping provide transport for he large ranches which thrives from the fertile valley. The town never really thrived, but many homesteads were successful in the area including the Loomis, Rude, Rice, Harris, Phillips, Stanley, and Stephens families. Nothing remains of the town today, but a cross roads and a few stone ruins on private land. Nearby a graveyard is home to many locals who have passed, including homesteaders as written on a headstone there, "John Veal and Susannah Lee were both born in Ely Cambridgeshire, England, married in Ely Cathedral Nov 17 1866. They emigrated to Minneapolis Kansas in 1870 and homesteaded in Ottawa County in 1871 undergoing all of the privations and hardships of pioneer days. In 1918 they came to Diamond Springs where the remainder of their lives were spent." They died in 1934 and 1932 respectively. William Quentin Jr., a Sky Bum, was buried there in 1954, "a skier who spent almost the entirety of his life in sky resorts. The rest of his life sharpening, purchasing skies or is back home in rural Kansas". With sadness another grave marked only "Our babe born Oct 9th and died Oct 11th 1875". Half way down the valley I came to a large stock yard packed with buffalo. Hymer Station was an important location when a railroad line through the valley brought cattle from Texas for fattening on he flint hills grasslands in the late 19th century, but the line is no longer, the rails removed and a wonderful pathway to hike or bike is the legacy. On the hill east of the rail line the stone outline of decaying buildings which made up Hymer Station. My wandering of Diamond Creek ended near the ghost town of Elmdale which I had visited three decades prior. The ghost town of 40 people looks much worse today than then. The old bank, workshop and store at town center are still there as they were for the most part, but many of the houses were derelict and decrepit, their yards strewn with junk. Elmdale Trading Post - Antiques - Fuel - Food - Groc. - Guns - Ammo - Pawn looked mostly like a gun shop. A little west of Elmdale lays the vast expansive grasslands of Mystery foundation Clover Cliff Ranch, which maintains a large herd of buffalo who roam freely, a scene reminsent of pre-settlement times. I could have mistaken a three leaf clover in the emblem of the ranch as the Irish Shamrock, but learned it represented the leaf of young Alfalfa, a crop pioneered by the original range owner, Jacob Blackshere.

That afternoon we fond ourselves in Goessel, Kansas, a Mennonite settlement from the 1870's. The museum there was closed for winter, but I called ahead and would be met there by the curator. On the way we passed the grand white Alexanderwohl Mennonite Church, named for the town in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine from where the original Mennonite community came in 1874, attracted by the new lands opening up, but also due to the immanent lapse of their exemption from tax and military service in Ukraine which was extended to them by Catherine the Great to attract them to Ukraine in the first place. Actually they were originally Netherlanders, but as Anabaptists who belief in baptism only upon coming of age (18 years old) and whose demand for radical reform, sometimes violent, of the Catholic status quo of the time resulted in their persecution. They included people like Menno Simons (1496 - 1561) who were in a hurry, as they believed the end of the world was imminent and only their lot would be gifted heaven. Many were non-violent and would not bear arms, as these would be irrelevant when the end would come. A group left and settled in Poland in the 16th century and moved to Ukraine at the invitation of Catherine in the late 18th century.

The town was named after a famous Captain Kurt van Goessel who perished with his ship after being rammed in 1895, but there is no direct connection with the town. Apparently they could not agree on a number of original names, so someone picked the Goessel name as a neutral option. We were met by Fern Bartel, who is related to a prominent Mennonite family, the Schmidts, and spent two hours generously walking us through the seven buildings of the Goessel Museum. In the main museum, each family had a slot for display in which important family heirlooms, including some items from their time in Ukraine. From some of the Ukrainian farm tools are on display, like a concrete grain thresher, farming technology from Zaporizhzhia from the 19th century was pretty basic. Within a generation of having moved to Kansas, farming was already becoming industrialized with fast paced technology development and engine drives, many of which are on display in building no two. Fern handed me a small glass jar of winter wheat seeds as a gift. Winter wheat they brought over from Ukraine and worked very well in the climate they settled in Kansas, planting in the fall to get a head start and growing fast early in the spring. Maps and pictured from the village near Molotschna, Russia (now Ukraine) show the names of original families who moved, along with the church in the old country. A "Non-Resistance" certificate on the wall dated from 1914 declared that the Mennonite could not take up arms for religious reasons. In the school houses were a lists of rules for teachers and students, mostly quite strick, but with some interesting ones:

Men teachers may take one evening each week for courting, or two if they go to church regularly.
Women teachers who marry of engage in unseemly conduct will be dismissed.

On the way back to Marion we stopped at Hillsboro Cove Lake - there was a sign at the entrance "Due to the lack of gate attendant interest, we have unfortunately have had to move our parks to 100% reservable online". The lake was frozen which offered a good reflection of the evening skies from the west. The morning we departed Marion we stopped at the Marion Kansas Historical Museum which is housed in a wonderful old Baptist Tabernacle Church which was converted to a county museum in 1956. As other towns started their own museums in the intervening years, it is not a city museum and would normally be closed for winter, but the curator was there and welcomed us in for a visit. Many historic items have been donated from families who settled the area. A collector of tow tanks and planes had donated his collection recently and it was strewn across the museum to be sorted during the winter closure. On the way home to Kansas City we stopped at the Bichet School just east of Florence, a wonderful solid stone building on the plains, with two outhouses, one for boys and one for girls. Further east the village of Cedar Point stands almost deserted and rundown, but for a wonderful water wheel driven grain mill. On the way home we would stop at Cottonwood Falls, passing Chase Lake Falls on the way. A small dammed lake important to the wildlife in the area, I first camped over there on my way back from Colorado the weekend before my wedding, early October 1999 while riding my motorcycle. I recall sensing some of the neighboring campers to be a bit odd as I camping there that evening, like maybe they lived there homeless or had drug problems. Passing the night safely, I was glad to be gone in the morning, stopping for coffee at a local diner in Cottonwood Falls, where I met T.J. and his wife, a character of kinds who referred to himself as the Texas Jew and drove a large Cadillac, living in a ranch nearby, he invited me to visit there, but I needed to get home. Cottonwood falls is a well preserved town with an antique business on Broadway Street, which leads to the court house, which we were advised to visit. We seemed to have free access to all floors of the Chase County Courthouse until I was asked by a clerk as I poured a glass of water in the staff kitchen what I was doing there - "on a courthouse tour" I said as I left the scene. Behind the main court room stood the original jail house well decorated with markings, names and counting the days by marking off lines in a row. We had entered central Kansas in brutally cold conditions, but conditions warmed to balmy by the time we departed, which is typical of winter weather due to the erratic jet stream. Great visit as always.

UPDATE August 2023: On Friday August 11th 2023, the offices of Marion County Record, home of the newspaper owners (Eric & Joan Meyer) and home of vice Mayor (Ruth Herbel) were searched by police on a flimsy warrant issued by Judge Laura Viar on the basis that a DUI record of restaurant operator of Parlor 1886 at the Elgin Hotel, Kari Newell, was procured and shared illegally, something which was already discussed and denied at a prior town council meeting. Coincidentally, The Record was investigating police chief, Gideon Cody, for sexual misconduct during his prior assignment. Why would he throw his entire police department under the bus and pursue an illegal raid in support of Ms Newell's claim, after all, shouldn't he be investigating the crime for which there was evidence - that of driving on a suspended license? One line of investigation could be in the relationship between Cody and Newell, but another more plausible scenario would to leverage such a spurious claim to get access to the investigation and sources from Cody's time being run off from Kansas City police department on sexual harassment claims (as reported in the Kansas City Star). The comedy continues when considering that Judge Laura Viar is reported to have her own DUI's, so should have recused herself from signing off on the warrant (for which she filed no reasoning), or should have rejected it as there was no basis for authorizing such a raid which would set precedence for erosion of journalistic freedom which is a foundation principle separating USA and countries like China, Russia (see how that works out). Tragically, Joan Meyer who was elderly but in good health dies the following day, reportedly due to stress from the raid. Back to the comedy, in step the Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) who narrow their scope of investigation to the claim by Cody/Newell, rather than take a holistic approach, which will require the FBI to intervene. The country attorney finally stepped up and rescinded the warrant, requesting the raided property be returned. How a simple liquor license application (which should of course be granted) turned into such a tragedy and comedy involve at least three errors of judgement, by Newell, Cody and Viar, and resulted in all of their secrets being revealed, from DUIs to reports of sexual harassment. I subscribed to the www.marionrecord.com as a way to support local newspapers and freedom or press and look forward to a full investigation by the Federal agency to make lessons on over-reach by enforcement clear.