Decatur County Community High School
605 E Commercial St, Oberlin, KS 67749
November 5, 2023 (Schedule at the bottom, Skip What You Want)
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Decatur Community,
As I sit here on my front porch, it's yet another tradition that I am experiencing for the first time. This time, it's the annual scavenger hunt. I figured I would go ahead and get started, as it is a beautiful evening. It's a second picturesque evening in a row following Friday's Halloween Clean-Up.
This week it's on to Veteran's Day, a holiday that has always been so tightly tied to the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month.
As a history teacher, I have always been fascinated by the origins of our holidays. I won't go too deep here, but a few facts that you may or may not have known:
1. It was November 11th, 1918 when both sides fighting in World War I decided to call for an armistice or cease fire. It was signed at 5:45 am in a railroad car in France with an agreement to stop fighting by 11:00am.
2. The day was originally known as Armistice Day.
3. Over time, many groups changed the name. Many countries celebrate this day, and most now call it Remembrance Day.
4. The United States changed the name to Veterans' Day in 1954 under president Eisenhower.
5. The number 11 is very significant with Veterans' Day, and the armistice became official on the 11th hour in France. France is 7 hours ahead of us. That means that it was 10:45 pm on November 10th when they signed the agreement and that famous 11th hour would have been 4:00am in the morning here in Kansas.
Most holidays are far more broad in their celebration, spanning the entire day. Veterans' Day is a rare holiday that connects so much to not only a day, but also a moment in time.
For you early risers, maybe note that moment Saturday morning at 4:00am with a slight sign of respect for this, the 105th anniversary.
We have a lot of Halloween Clean-Up shout outs this week.
Shoutout to all of the students that participated in Halloween Clean-Up this past week. The weather was absolutely beautiful. It's great to have an event like this that took place while students were still able to wear their shorts and t-shirts.
Shoutout to the city for purchasing the 200 hotdogs and 200 bags of hot dog buns to contribute to the tradition. A bonus for making sure that the siren went off at 7:00 to call back the trucks. Hopefully our new families weren't too concerned with the sirens.
Shoutout to Rayes' Grocery for making sure to put back the stock for the event.
Shoutout to the Lions Club and the Booster Club for continuing the tradition of grilling the hot dogs for us.
Shoutout to our 4 truck drivers that drove the trucks this year. Thank you to board member Monte Moore, recent graduate Teague Morford, Nolan Wasson, and Tom Wasson.
Shoutout to my 4 staff sponsors. Each truck had one high school teacher with them as the sponsor to help the captains keep things going. Mr. Williams was the 5th/9th sponsor, Mr. Bricker the 6th/10th sponsor, Ms. Saul the 7th/11th sponsor, and Mr. Ketterl the 8th/12th sponsor. Every truck did a great job, and it couldn't happen without them. I appreciate their dedication and time.
Shoutout one more time to our Halloween Clean-Up General Ana Freeman (who continued the tradition of driving around with the principal and making sure peanuts were on hand) and captains Shakira Cook, Cheyanna Hale, Kamryn Oien, Aidyn Witt and Lukas Zodrow. It was the effort of this group that made it all possible. They got the trucks, spoke to the 5th grade class about expectations, reached out about the town siren, and kept order during the whole event. This was a great group to do this.
Shoutout to Mrs. Springer for working with these five students to make sure that they had all of their ducks in a row and for providing instructions and maps for each group. Mrs. Springer has done a great job of being involved with each activity this year and helping students make the best out of every event.
Shoutout to Mrs. Dreher for fielding all of the calls these past few weeks from patrons about getting their lawns raked. By the end, their were almost 40 lawns on the list. If your name was down and we didn't get to you, we apologize. This was a large list this year.
Shoutout to Mrs. Brenda Breth and her informative and entertaining write up on the history of Halloween Clean-Up. It's an amazing article that digs deeply into the history of Halloween Clean-Up and includes names of past generals and captains. Here's the link:
Mrs. Breth's Halloween Clean-Up Writeup
Shoutout to both our boys and girls JH basketball teams for starting off their seasons with wins this past Thursday. Both A and B teams were successful in their debut contest against St. Francis.
Shoutout to every student that dressed up for Halloween this year. Students paid $2 at the door to dress up in costume. The students were great, and the funds will go right back into STUCO for future events.
Shoutout to STUCO president Michaela Wasson for having the courage to ask me if they could do a Halloween costume fundraiser and to Weston Barnes in helping her organize the event.
Shoutout once again to Mrs. Springer for taking pictures and organizing and sending out a form for students to vote for a winner. Here are many of the pictures she took.
The first big picture is of our winners. Sophomores Brylee Minnick and Shelbi Weigel dressed up as the brothers from the Will Ferrell movie Step Brothers.
Shoutout to Senior Kamryn Oien
Shoutout to Sophomore Brylee Minnick
Veterans Day Assembly on Friday, November 10th at 11:00.
This Friday, November 10th, DCHS will be hosting the 2023 Veterans' Day Program. The public is invited, especially our veterans. The DCHS National Honors Society is putting on the program which will begin at the iconic 11th hour. Please see the attached flyer.
High School Musical: South Pacific
High School Musical
Mrs. Tally and her students have been working hard, and this year's musical, South Pacific, will have two showings:
Saturday, November 11 at 7:30
Sunday, November 12 at 2:00
Synopsis:
Set against the dramatic background of an idyllic South Pacific island during WWII, Rodgers and Hammerstein’s South Pacific intertwines the themes of romance, duty, and prejudice to create a story that is all at once hilarious, heartbreaking, and thought-provoking. Based on the anecdotes of a real-life U.S. Navy commander who was stationed on an island, the musical follows two intercultural love stories: Nellie, a spunky nurse from Arkansas, falls in love with Emile, a French plantation owner on the island who has two children from his late Polynesian wife; at the same time, U.S. Lieutenant Cable falls for a beautiful island native named Liat. Both Americans find themselves struggling to reconcile their own cultural prejudices with their amorous feelings, all the while under the dark cloud of a war that is coming ever closer to their island paradise.
DCHS Senior Citizens' Thanksgiving Lunch
UPDATE: We have over 20 people signed up already! Keep it coming!
On Thursday, November 16th, we will have our first Senior Citizens' Thanksgiving Lunch. This event will be open to any senior citizen. Doors will open at 10:30 with a small program beginning at 10:45 in the cafeteria. Lunch will be served at 11:00.
A golf cart will be available to allow for easy access to and from the entrance to the parking lot.
Coats will be hung by students upon arrival.
MENU: Turkey, mashed potatoes, stuffing, cheesy green beans, roll, pumpkin pie, and Homemade Ice Cream made by DCHS students (pumpkin or vanilla).
Parents and students, please spread the word. We would really like to get a head count so that we can be prepared.
Please reach out to the DCHS office at 1-785-475-2231 or by direct email to jholloway@usd294.org to let us know that you will be attending.
Sincerely,
Jeremy Holloway
DCHS Principal
Halloween Clean-Up, Scavenger Hunts, Veterans' Day, South Pacific, and the inaugural Senior Citizens Thanksgiving Lunch. November is the quietest month of the year at DCHS, at least as far as athletics go, but one thing is for sure about November in Oberlin.
November is about community.
Until next week,
Jeremy Holloway
Go Big Red!
Monday, October 30, 2023
Tuesday, October 31, 2023
4:00 HS Scholars Bowl home
Wednesday, November 1, 2023
Thursday, November 2, 2023
4:30 JH BB @ Greely Co.
Friday, November 3, 2023
11:00 Veterans Day Assembly
Saturday, November 4, 2023
7:30 High School Musical
Sunday, November 5, 2023
2:00 High School Musical
Decatur County Community Junior/Senior High School
Email: jholloway@usd294.org
Website: https://www.usd294.org/vnews/display.v/SEC/DCHS
Location: 605 East Commercial Street, Oberlin, KS, USA
Phone: 785-475-2231
Twitter: @DCHSREDDEVILS