Home

Olathe News - Mar. 31 '08

  • Olathe Teen Council Accepting Applications for 2008-09 School Year
  • Olathe Police Department Joins with Kansas City Wizards and Other Agencies for Drug Free Youth Night Event
  • Highly-Anticipated Mahaffie Heritage Center Opens This Weekend
  • Olathe City Council to Recognize Olathe Students as Champions
  • Council to Discuss Several Development Services Items Regarding Rock Quarry Property
  • Local Girl Scout Troop Earns Award for Mahaffie Volunteer Projects

Olathe Teen Council Accepting Applications for 2008-09 School Year
The Olathe Teen Council is now accepting applications for membership for the 2008-09 school year. The Olathe Teen Council is a representative body of students with delegates recruited from each of the local four senior high schools, the eight junior high schools and the Kansas School for the Deaf. Modeled after the City Council, Teen Council serves as the youth voice to city government and also as a service group for projects designed to improve the quality of life for the citizens of Olathe.

Olathe Teen Council meets on a monthly basis at Olathe City Hall, 100 E. Santa Fe. Elected officers conduct all meetings with some formalism, which prepares the students with the basic protocols of conducting their business at hand, efficiently and respectfully.

Applications are due Thursday, May 1 and are available at www.olatheks.org/NHS/HumanServices/YouthServices/TeenCouncil.

"Being involved in Olathe Teen Council has given me opportunities to work with Olathe's city council and mayor," said Devin Smith, Olathe Youth Congress member. "It also introduced me to the National League of Cities, in which I became more involved by being one of three youth from across the nation to sit on the Youth, Education and Families Council. This was a once in a lifetime opportunity that allowed me to travel the country, meet our nation's leaders, and direct policy discussions. All of this stemmed from my involvement in Olathe Teen Council here in Olathe."

Routine functions of the Olathe Teen Council include: assisting in the implementation of Olathe Youth Congress priorities, participating in City boards and task forces, acting as the eyes and ears of their peers, serving as the avenue through which youth can submit ideas or concerns to the Olathe City Council or other appropriate organizations, and the implementation of special projects
such as Splash Night, which helps support local children's literacy programs.

For more information about Olathe Teen Council, contact Tabitha Davis, youth programs specialist, (913) 971-6287.

Olathe Teen Council is a partnership of the City of Olathe, Olathe District Schools, Kansas School for the Deaf and Olathe Children's Initiatives.

Olathe Police Department Joins with Kansas City Wizards and Other Agencies for Drug Free Youth Night Event
The Olathe Police Department is partnering with the Kansas City Wizards and other KC Metro area police departments and drug free programs to provide a Drug Free Youth Night with the Kansas City Wizards on Saturday, April 12. The game begins at 7 p.m. at the Community America Ballpark in Kansas City, Kansas, located near the Legends shopping center.

This event is available to any student in Kansas or Missouri who is involved with a drug free awareness/prevention program, such as Project ALERT, in elementary, middle, junior or senior high school and their families. Informational booths and free activities will be available and after the game children can participate in an autograph/photo session.

Print a flier and ticket order form at www.olatheks.org or contact Brian Roth, 913-387-3839 for more information.

Highly-Anticipated Mahaffie Heritage Center Opens This Weekend
The much-anticipated opening of the Mahaffie Heritage Center will become a reality April 4 when the facility opens its doors for the first time to tell the story of the Mahaffie family and their connection with Olathe, Johnson County, Kan., and the Santa Fe Trail.

The celebration for the new Heritage Center kicks off with a ribbon-cutting ceremony from 11 a.m. to noon on April 4. A Heritage Center public Open House will be from noon to 4 p.m. April 5.

Visitors to the Heritage Center during the public open house will be able to tour the new facility, view historical exhibits, listen to live period music and special presentations on Mahaffie history and enjoy refreshments. Also, the Mahaffie home will be open with cooking demonstrations and other living history activities in the historic house and the stagecoach will be operating with a fee per rider.

The 10,000-square-foot Heritage Center is built on about eight acres at the northwest corner of Kansas City Road and Ridgeview Road. The Heritage Center features a 2,300-square-foot assembly room with a working fireplace and adjacent catering kitchen facilities with a pass-thru window to the outdoor patio. Besides the assembly space, the new facility features a gift shop, exhibit galleries for Mahaffie and the Olathe Historical Society, offices, and restrooms.

For more information about the Mahaffie Heritage Center and the Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop & Farm Historic Site, 1100 Kansas City Rd., Olathe, call (913) 971-5111.

 

Olathe City Council to Recognize Olathe Students as Champions
The City Council will recognize at the April 1 Council meeting Olathe students who contributed to Olathe's standing as a City of Champions through their accomplishments. Olathe prides itself on being a City of Champions, encompassing a wide variety of talents, including both academic achievements and top finishes in competitive sports. The following high school state championships and student academic achievements will be honored:

  • Matt Washford, Bowling, Olathe Northwest
  • Olathe East Gymnastics Team
  • Taylor Berggren, Gymnastics - Balance Beam and Vault, Olathe East
  • Austin Acheson, Swimming - 500-Yard Freestyle (Boys), Olathe East
  • Bryson Cramer, Cris Smith, Austin Acheson, Joe Knight, Swimming - 400-Yard Freestyle Relay (Boys), Olathe East
  • Feiyang Sun, Perfect ACT Score, Olathe East

 

Council to Discuss Several Development Services Items Regarding Rock Quarry Property
The City Council will discuss quarry and construction and demolition landfill renewals, quarry and construction and demolition landfill expansions and commercial/industrial rezoning for the southwest corner of 151st and Lone Elm at their Tuesday, April 1 meeting. This discussion was originally scheduled in February.

Items include:

  • Quarry and Construction and Demolition Landfill Renewal Cases SU-07-023 and SU-07-024
  • Quarry and Construction and Demolition Landfill Expansion Cases SU-07-021, SU-07-022 and RZ-07-038
  • Commercial and Industrial Zoning at the southwest corner of 151st and Lone Elm RZ-07-039 and RZ-07-040

For more information, call the Development Services Department, (913) 971-8750, or go to www.olatheks.org/Development/News.

 

Local Girl Scout Troop Earns Award for Mahaffie Volunteer Projects
Girl Scout Troop #1001 was presented with the Carrie Newson Youth Volunteer Award at the annual Friends and Volunteer Banquet at Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm on Friday, February 29. The award was started in honor of Carrie Newson, daughter of Mike and Lynette Newson of Olathe. Carrie was a volunteer in 1996 and helped give tours of the Mahaffie house and helped in the gift shop. Carrie was tragically killed in a car accident in March of 1998.

Members of the Girl Scout Troop are Natalie Flaucher, Tallin LaRue, Randi Beggs and Emerald McAdams. The troop is led by Lisa Flaucher. The Troop earned their Silver Award on Saturday, March 29 because of their dedicated service to Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm. They helped with Cemetery Tours, assisted with Brownie Girl Scout Day, conducted a program of Trailside cooking and modern dutch oven cooking for the event, Chautauqua West: Wagons, Wit and Wisdom in August 2007 as part of the City of Olathe's 150th celebration, helped research and select merchandise for the new gift shop in the Heritage Center at Mahaffie, and helped develop a program for Girl Scouts, the Historic Value of Valentines held each January. Each Scout contributed over 50 hours during 2007 for a total of over 200 hours for 2007. The girls are exploring the option of continuing their service to Mahaffie in 2008 for the next level, the Gold Award.

Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop is very grateful for the many hours the Girl Scout Troop has contributed and is honored to give them this great award.

The Mahaffie Stagecoach Stop and Farm Historic Site is operated by the City of Olathe. Open hours, stagecoach operations, living history activities, special events and programs vary seasonally. Access is limited in the winter months and the site is closed all major holidays. Please call or visit our website for current times and dates, www.olatheks.org/Visitors/Mahaffie, (913) 971-5111.

For more up-to-date City of Olathe info. including Construction Alerts and Job Opportunities, visit the City website at www.olatheks.org.

To unsubscribe to this newsgroup go to http://www.olatheks.org/news/list.

You may also receive the citizen newsletter via e-mail; go to http://www.olatheks.org/News/OlatheLink.

100 E. Santa Fe; Olathe, KS 66061
913-971-8700