Lawrence Central along with the help from the Lawrence Monday Noon Rotary and District 5710 grants were able to purchase 3 ShelterBoxes last year.
Shelterbox is a Rotary-based organization that responds instantly following natural and other disasters by delivering boxes of aid to those who need it most. Each ShelterBox supplies an extended family with a tent and essential equipment to use while they are displaced or homeless. ShelterBox is now firmly established at the forefront of disaster relief and our work constantly earns the respect of outside agencies.
We recently received news that the second box we purchased was deployed to Myanmar for refugees who have lost everything due to the ongoing conflict in Kachin state in northern Myanmar.
We’ll be tracking the last one and will post updates on where it went.
At the same hour on August 21 that Quantrill’s Raiders burned the Eldridge Hotel 150 years to the day, almost 90 members of Lawrence Central Rotary Club and their guests packed the Crystal Ballroom of the risen-from-the-ashes Eldridge to hear Lawrence historian Katie Armitage read first hand accounts from hotel guests who survived.
The day in 1863 the day started with raiders surrounding the hotel. Out of town guests staying at the hotel negotiated amnesty from Quantrill after hanging a bedsheet from a window as a flag of surrender. Only then, guests were evacuated from the hotel which was then destroyed. Many recorded their experiences in journals or in letters home which have been preserved and are at the Watkins Museum new permanent exhibit that highlights Quantrill’s Raid survival stories both small and large.
Katie Armitage and Margaret Shirk whose relative on mother’s side survived Quantrill’s Raid
Present day events started on a lighter note with a buffet that Eldridge Sous Chef Nick Haxton using recipes taken from pioneer cook books of the day. Eldridge General Manager and Lawrence Rotarian Nancy Longhurst also gave a welcome to everyone in attendance and the lecture closed with a question and answer session with Armitage, an expert on the Raid and its aftermath.
8/18 UPDATE: We’ve been working with the staff of the Eldridge on the event and Exec Sous Chef Nicholas Haxton is planning a special meal for all of the people who decide to have lunch with us on Wednesday. Here’s a snippet of an email from late last week:
“Here is my idea for the buffet. I have in my cookbook collection a book titled The Kansas Home Cook Book and it was printed in 1882 from Leavenworth. One on the great things about it is that it contains authentic recipes from the time period but it also has where the recipe came from. So for the buffet I came up with a menu that is not only historically appropriate, but it also utilizes some recipes from people that actually lived in Lawrence during that time:
Roast chicken served with Mrs. A.M. Jenkins chow chow Mrs. O.B. Gunn nice muffins (how it’s really listed in the book!) Kansas prairie salad served with Fannie Woodard dressing Mrs. G.E. Jones baked sweet corn”
We’ve had a lot of people RSVP and if you plan on coming please try and RSVP by the end of the day Monday 8/19/13 to lawrencecentralrotary@gmail.com.
This image of border raids appeared in Harper’s Weekly 9/5/1863. Courtesy Kansas State Historical Society.
Did you know that the Eldridge Hotel where Lawrence Central Rotary holds our weekly meetings was burned and destroyed during Quantrill’s Raid in 1863, but what happened to the guests who were staying there? You may be surprised to learn that most of them escaped harm. Provost Marshall Alexander Banks, a hotel guest, called out to Quantrill to allow guests to leave before the hotel was burned, and they were escorted to the City Hotel for safekeeping during the raid.
At Lawrence Central’s August 21st meeting local historian and author of “Lawrence Survivors of Quantrill’s Raid” Katie Armitage will present a talk about this horrific event and explain what happened to the Eldridge Hotel guests, on the exact one-hundred and fiftieth anniversary of the raid, August 21, 2013.
Please join the Eldridge Hotel and Lawrence Central Rotary for this special event in the Crystal Ballroom of the at noon to approximately 1pm for this special presentation.
We have planned a buffet lunch that includes coffee, tea, or water for those who wish to partake for the cost of $12 (includes, tax and tip.)
If you plan to attend please RSVP to lawrencecentralrotary@gmail.com
Brenna Young discussing boarder raids on Lawrence including the 1863 Quantrill’s Raid effect of architecture.
At our 8/7 meeting local architectural historian Brenna Young spoke about the 1863 Commemorate Lawrence activities and her exploration and interesting findings of the historic buildings in downtown Lawrence. Working on her PhD at KU she’s been the project manager for the 1863 Commemorate Lawrence Project and has researched older buildings in downtown Lawrence and found that several more survived Quantrill’s Raid than originally thought. She’s quick to point out that Lawrence wasn’t burned down entirely – the main downtown district that was burned during the raid.
She also gave us a preview of the events planned for the 150th anniversary that she’s been working on including the website www.1863lawrence.com.
The date of the raid is 8/21 (check out the event we have planned that day during our normal meeting) which is on a Wednesday. So the city’s has planned a special City Band performance in historic South Park on Sunday 8/18 to commemorate the 150th anniversary of Quantrill’s Raid on Lawrence from 6:30 to 8:00 pm.
During the program, Jonathan Earle, Associate Professor of History from the University of Kansas, will provide a brief presentation of the history and significance of Quantrill’s Raid to the Lawrence Community.
A special reading of the victims’ names of Quantrill’s Raid will also occur. After the evening’s speakers, the City Band will perform specially selected works that are representative of the music of the 1860’s and have significance to the Lawrence community.
The city will provide cold refreshments to enjoy during the performance.
Lawrence Central President Tobin Neis and visiting Rotarian Bob Haladay from the Rotary Club of Albuquerque
Last week we had a visiting Rotarian from the Rotary Club of Albuquerque. Bob Haladay came to lunch and presented us with one of their woven banners and told us about their work they’ve done over the last 97 years! We’ll get a scan of it posted to the Banner page soon. We’ve just ordered a new batch of Lawrence Central banners so the second they appear on our stoop we’ll have one in the mail to the fine folks in Albuquerque.
Here’s a great video from their club about the club and the work they do.
Lawrence Central along with the help from the Lawrence Monday Noon Rotary and District 5710 grants were able to purchase 3 ShelterBoxes last year.
