By ROBERT PIERCE • Leader & Times The year 2026 has found millions of Americans celebrating the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The year likewise marks the landmark 25th anniversary of a more tragic event in the nation’s history. Sept. 11, 2001, two jetliners slammed into the World Trade Center’s Twin Towers in New York City, while another crashed into the pentagon in Arlington, Va. While the Twin Towers collapsed, passengers on Flight 93 averted even more destruction by trying to regain control of that airplane, and as a result, the hijackers downed it in a field outside of Shanksville, Pa. As the days following 9/11 continued, first responders, including firefighters, were left picking up the wreckage of what was left of the Twin Towers. In the more than two decades later, many schools and organizations throughout America have honored the nation’s first responders with ceremonies. Since 2003, Liberal’s Cottonwood Elementary School has honored local first responders with its annual Patriot Day ceremony, and in 2025, the Seward County Fire Department joined the school with an observance of its own. The fire department marked the day with a 9/11 Stair Climb, the first of which took place to support the mission of the National Fallen Firefighters Foundation on Sept. 11, 2005. That year, five Colorado firefighters convened at a high-rise building in downtown Denver to climb 110 flights of stairs in memory of their Fire Department of New York brothers who were killed in the 9/11 attacks. Saturday morning, Sept. 12, the SCFD will have its second annual climb at Redskin Field at Liberal High School. The climb is being coordinated by Lt. Joann Rivera and Public Information Officer Morgan West. West said the 110 flights of stairs of the climb were simulated at Redskin Field prior to last year’s event. “We counted the steps so we could do what they did that day on 9/11,” she said. Rivera said she got the idea for a local event after being invited to a climb a few years ago in Pratt. “Due to staffing, I couldn’t go, and no one else could go,” she said. “It was something I thought about. I kept thinking about it.” Rivera later brought the idea up to West and Deputy Fire Chief Jacob Winters, and the group talked and planned the event out, eventually making the climb a group project. “We did our own thing last year,” Rivera said. “Last year was rushed. We didn’t know what to do, how to do it. This year, we’re a little more ahead of the game.” Rivera said T-shirts have been ordered for this year’s climb, and anyone who participates will receive a patch. “It’s a $5 sign-up if you don’t want a T-shirt,” she said. “They get a patch from our department. It was in the works for a couple of years, but we didn’t get to do anything until last year.” Rivera said West had reminded her of the landmark 25th anniversary, and this is where the group got the idea of making the day even more special with T-shirts. Rivera too has been a participant for several years in Cottonwood’s Patriot Day, but West said doing an event like the climb in firefighter gear made the event more real. “It’s like this is what they went through,” West said. “We can take breaks and have a water break, but they couldn’t.” West said Rivera, neither of whom were alive at the time of 9/11, wanted to do the climb to provide another honor for local first responders. “For us, it’s nice to see we have people from Meade County, Beaver County, Seward County, city fire,” West said. “I like that comradery of everyone coming together to do something important.” West said this year’s climb will likely have more representation from area first responders than last year’s, and Rivera said she felt excitement as others joined in the ceremony as well for the event’s first edition. “The run club joined us last year,” Rivera said. “I sent an e-mail out, and someone from the college was in the run club. She informed everyone from the run club, and they showed up. They were the ones who were asking me a couple times throughout the year, ‘Are we doing it again this year?’ I made sure I invited them. I had a city firefighter tell me he used to do the stair climb at a gym on a stairmaster.” West said the run club is back for this year’s climb, and county firefighters have some friends and family joining them for the event as well. “We put it out there for everyone to join if they want to,” she said. The local 9/11 Stair Climb will take place starting at 6 a.m. Sept. 12 at Redskin Field. Participants will need to register and can do so on the Seward County Fire Department Facebook page. “There’s a couple posts that have the registration,” West said. “They need to fill it out so we get their information. Either the day of, we’ll collect their registration fee, or they can come in and pay it throughout the week.” As the day event draws closer, West, Rivera and Fire Chief Mike Rice are getting more excited about the climb. “There’s been a couple of them within the vicinity of Liberal, but last year was the first time there’d been one here,” Rice said. “We did one for a couple of years, and it fell off. I think Perryton did it one year.” Rivera said LHS officials have been very cooperative about the use of Redskin Field for the event. “I talked to the high school about the stadium, if we could use it, and they said ‘Yeah,’” she said. “I was like, ‘Alright, we can go up and down the stairs and make up for whatever.’” Rice said the climb will make a great addition to Patriot Day. “It’s a really big deal especially in big cities,” he said of the climb. Likewise, Rice said Cottonwood does an excellent program for Patriot Day. “They’ve done great, and I love it,” he said.

By ROBERT PIERCE • Leader & Times Sept. 11, 2001, planes flew into the iconic Twin Towers of the World Trade Center in New York City, marking what many call one of the darkest days in America’s history. In 2003, Liberal’s Cottonwood Elementary School began marking the date to salute the nation’s military and first responders with the school’s annual Patriot Day ceremony. At 9:30 a.m. this Friday, the school will again host the event, and with that day being the 25th anniversary of 9/11, music teacher Aspen Jaramillo-Martinez said this year’s Patriot Day will be bigger than ever. “The program will include the presentation of colors, the national anthem, student performances, a guest presentation from the Liberal High School band, Seymour Rogers Middle School band, Eisenhower Middle School band along with all Liberal first responders and veterans,” she said. Jaramillo-Martinez has been planning Patriot Day for several years now, following in the footsteps of the event’s founder, former Cottonwood music teacher Becky Robison and others, and she said with each year, planning becomes more meaningful. “We continue to build on previous ceremonies while looking for new ways to honor those we’ve lost and recognize the heroes who serve our country,” Jaramillo-Martinez said. “We want every program to be respectful, educational and memorable for our students and community.” Jaramillo-Martinez was but 2 years old when the events of 9/11 took place, and she said planning Patriot Day has encouraged her to learn more about that day. “The more I research, the greater my appreciation becomes for the courage, sacrifice and resilience shown that day and in the years that followed,” she said. Jaramillo-Martinez said it is an honor to recognize the nation’s heroes, and being able to create a meaningful tribute such as Patriot Day is a responsibility she takes quite seriously. “My hope is everyone who attends leaves with a deeper appreciation for those who sacrificed so much,” she said. With Jaramillo-Martinez’s current students being born long after 9/11, she said Patriot Day is likely their first opportunity to learn about the tragedy in a meaningful way. “It helps them understand the importance of service, patriotism and remembering history,” she said. “They do take great pride in being part of the ceremony.” Likewise, Jaramillo-Martinez said teaching students who were not alive at the time of 9/11 means helping them understand history still matters. “I focus on sharing the facts while emphasizing courage, compassion, service and the importance of remembering,” she said. For Jaramillo-Martinez, Patriot Day is a time to remember lives lost, to honor heroes who responded and reflect on the strength and unity the country demonstrated, and it is also an opportunity to teach the next generation why they must never forget. The 2024 Patriot Day ceremony saw Liberal’s Prairie View Elementary joining Cottonwood’s students, which Jaramillo-Martinez said was wonderful. “They helped to make the ceremony more meaningful,” she said. Prairie View will not be joining this year’s event, but Jaramillo-Martinez said with bands from LHS, Seymour Rogers and Eisenhower coming, excitement will continue for this landmark edition of Patriot Day. With the event seemingly growing each year, Jaramillo-Martinez too would like to see more schools and community organizations become involved in the future. With this being the 25th anniversary of 9/11, Jaramillo-Martinez said she was even more intentional with the planning of this year’s Patriot Day. “I wanted this year’s ceremony to be especially meaningful by adding thoughtful moments of reflection and recognizing the significance of this milestone while maintaining a respectful tone throughout the program,” she said. For Jaramillo-Martinez, her excitement for Patriot Day comes from seeing the USD 480 school district and the Liberal community come together for one purpose along with elementary students performing alongside the bands at the event. “It’s a powerful reminder that remembering our nation’s history is something every generation can take part in,” she said. “We are very proud to help create this experience, and the students are excited to contribute in a meaningful way.” Cottonwood Principal Traci Mettlen gave much of the credit for the current success of Patriot Day to Jaramillo-Martinez, and that success started with Robison and former Principal Donna Sill. “I’ve had music teachers who have led the program, but what I love about Aspen is she’s from this community, and it’s more meaningful to bring the community together because you’re from here,” Mettlen said. “It makes it even better.”

By EARL WATT • Leader & Times After receiving an initial vote from the Seward County Commission to use Seward County Treasurer state-reimbursed funds for raises for staff, and then having the commission rescind those raises two weeks later, Seward County Treasurer Mary Rose filed a lawsuit against the Seward County Commission for what she claims to be retaliatory action against her. The lawsuit alleges that despite the commission not having oversight of the elected treasurer’s statutory duties, the commission was “upset that the Treasurer would not simply hand over certain documents pertaining to the Board’s illegal imposition of a mill levy.” The suit alleges that counsel for the Seward County Commission also requested tax payer information from Rose pertaining to the mill levy that was revoked after the resignations of Scott Carr, Tammy Sutherland-Abbott and Presephoni Fuller, the three commissioners who voted in favor of the 17-mill tax increase in late 12025, and after the Republican Party replaced them with Jairo Vazquez, Clay Louderback and John Mettlen, the tax hike was revoked when the commission opted to voluntarily support hose who filed protests with the Kansas Board of Tax Appeals and returned to revenue neutral. When county counselor Forrest Rhodes requested the information on those who filed protests, the filing alleges that “Counsel contacts the Board of Revenue and determined the board could get the information in discovery of those cases that were not being dropped. Again, the Board did not like this outcome.” In past years, Rose has given her surplus funds to the county’s general fund, but this year she sought to bring her employees in line with others without needing to raise local taxes since the funds form the State are in the exclusive control to the treasurer. But because she opted to use those funds in her own department rather than turn them over to the general fund, and because she did not cooperate with what she believed attempts to violate statute, that the Board’s “desire for her to hand over her Treasurer’s fund surplus instead of spending it on her employees caused the board to retaliate against the Treasurer and revoke the office raise the day with was implemented.” The suit seeks an injunction against rescinding the pay raises for the Treasurer’s department as well as enjoining the Board from any other attempts at revoking the pay raise and “otherwise targeting the Treasurer’s office.”

ROBERT PIERCE

   • Leader & Times

 

Liberal’s Baker Arts Center has many fun activities for children of all ages throughout the year, and several of those take place during the summer season.

Two of those activities recently took place, and Baker Director Misty Martin said both the theater camp in July and Art Night in August at the Five State Fair went quite well.

The theater camp, Martin said, was very fun, and kids had a good time. She said with many of Baker Arts’ activities focused on visual arts such as painting, drawing and pottery, she felt performing arts often get overlooked.