News

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

This year’s Southwest Community Fiesta festivities took place this weekend, and a major part of the festivities was the crowning of the new Miss Southwest Heritage.

Sofia Martinez ultimately ended up with the crown Saturday evening, and she said she was very excited to receive the honor.

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s National Preparedness Month has been celebrated since 2004, and the month is a great time to take small steps to make a big difference in being prepared.

Locally, Christina Baeza, the public health emergency preparedness coordinator and marketing coordinator at the Seward County Health Department, has been helping residents plan for emergencies for four years.

A Liberal native, Baeza has a bachelor’s degree in business from Fort Hays State University, and before coming to SCHD, she has owned businesses in the community. In addition to her responsibilities with the health department, she is co-owner of an event business in the Southgate Mall.

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

For years, Chayli Hammond worked with the area Christian radio station KJIL and as the area coordinator of the Operation Christmas Child team.

Later, Hammond would work with the faith-based non-profit Teen Reach, and after adopting an international child, she has now taken her works to the Third World in the continent of Asia.

The Southwest Kansas native’s efforts are now being focused on the not-for-profit Agape Asia, which Hammond said serves and changes the lives of vulnerable children across the continent, empowers communities and offers discipleship through its partners.

“It’s amazing to see the changes of kids,” she said.

ELLY GRIMM

   • Leader & Times

The Liberal AirFair is right around the corner, and the Trojan Phlyers will be part of this year’s high-flying entertainment.

As current member Chip Lamb tells it, the Phlyers are no stranger to air shows.

“The Trojan Phlyers group was formed in 1996, and I've been with the group for the past 25 years of that, and we've been flying air shows since about 1999. Originally, the group raced at Reno in 1996, 1997 and 1998 and ultimate took gold and bronze medals from those events,” Lamb said. “But the Reno air races decided they didn't want to have a T-28 racing class, so they did away with that. When I joined the group in 2000, that's what I was hoping to do, I had been looking forward to racing at Reno, but it didn't happen. We ended up deciding to participate in various air shows, so we started doing those locally in Texas and over time, we've done shows in New Jersey, California, Mexico and South Dakota, among other places. But the truth is, we really like performing closer to home in Texas and Oklahoma and Kansas and our more immediate area because it's much easier for us in terms of travel, and the majority of the shows we do are in our more immediate area.”