St. Joseph News-Press from St. Joseph, Missouri • 7

1 HUJJ NOW IN ST. JOSEPH Holden pays inaugural debt See Page B4. St. Joseph News-Press We match any one-way rates. Newest trucks ig Thursday 1 in the rental July 26, 2001 Nwt story or photo Idea? Call City Editor Steve Booherat 271-8583.

Or email Steve at stevebOnpgco. com Local rates alto available. Metro industry. Belt Messanie 233-1480 or 238-2955 Hook, line and sinker 1 too (nr Mm, Tw. 'A -'A Young exhibitors quick to note they don 7 drag you around like cattle By SUSAN MIRES susanmnpgco.com St.

Joseph News-Press TROY, Kan. Sure, it's not as serious as a sheep show. Maybe not as competitive as a cattle contest. But the rabbit show held its own at the Doniphan County Fair on Wednesday morning. The annual event drew about 30 rabbits and their young owners, along with parents, siblings and 4-H leaders, to the fairgrounds.

DANIELU-RAPPAPORTSt. Joseph News-Press Shakelah Jones, 8, playfully pushes her counselor, the Muchenberger Center went fishing Wednes-Ace Chandler, 18, at the pond where children from day. Fishing bug bites city children The exhibitors carefully groomed their rabbits, then presented them to the judge, Bob Bergene, who examined each one top to bottom and awarded ribbons. Jocelyn Bishop has been in the rabbit business for a few years and showed five froy Muchenberger Center trip offers taste of the outdoors DONIPHAN rri imtv iisiyf ill 1 to go fishing at his place. "I like working with kids, and I like fishing so we did our first one last year," Mr.

Bonebrake said. "Lots of kids don't get a chance to get out of the city." That most kids don't get enough fresh air away from the city was one of the reasons Jack Peters, former Muchenberger Center assistant director, suggested a fishing trip, said Jim Arnold, executive director of the center. quickly reeled in her catch and examined it. "Oh, it's just grass," she said before casting out again. But when Jennifer reeled in her line again, there was a wiggling, jiggling sun perch dangling on the hook.

"Oh, he's so cute," she squealed. Her squeals of joy were added to the chorus of laughter from more than 30 other children who went fishing at Jim Bonebrake's farm pond Wednesday This was the second year the Platts-burg, schoolteacher invited the children from Muchenberger Center animals Wednesday. She likes rabbits because they are, in a word, cute. "When they're little they look just like a plush toy," Jocelyn said. But even the cutest rabbits need a little help to look their best on show day.

Andrew Meng gave his rabbit a peculiar beauty regimen: He sprayed the fur with a mixture of water and vinegar, then rubbed in dry cornmeal. By ALONZO WESTON alonzownpgco.com St. Joseph News-Press Wednesday was a perfect day for fishing. The sun chased away the early morning rain clouds. There were plenty of soda pop and bait, and the fish were biting well, "I got something, I got a "biggie," screamed Jennifer Cordonnier as she Please see CityPage B4 Please see RabbitsPage B4 Big Red Apple helped put Wathena, on the map Tales of the Freedom Fest to have scavenger hunt The first-annual Freedom Fest scavenger hunt will be Sunday in Northwest Missouri and Northeast Kansas.

The event will begin with registration at 10 a.m. in the parking lot at St. Joe Harley Davidson, 4020 S. U.S. Highway 169 in St.

Joseph. Riders will be given a route and item list at registration. The hunt will begin at 11 a.m. and end at 5 p.m. at Peters Creek Bar and Grill, 320 St.

Joseph St. in Wathena, Kan. The cost is $10 per person. All bikes are welcome. For more information, call (660) 928-3324.

YWC A holds family night on Friday The YWCA Aquatic Center, 802 Jules St. in St. Joseph, will hold a "Friday Night Family Night" swim from 7 to 9 p.m. Friday at the aquatic center. The cost is $2 per person.

For more information, call 232-9099. Rosendale blood drive to be held on Friday ROSENDALE, Mo. The Community Blood Center and the Rosendale Lions Club will hold a blood drive from 2:30 to 6:30 p.m. Friday at Rosendale Community Center." The center is at Missouri-Highway 48 and State Route in Rosendale. Appointments are needed to help Community Blood Center project the amount of blood that will be available for local hospital patients.

Because blood has a limited shelf life, it can't be stockpiled and must be collected regularly to ensure the supply remains at a safe and adequate level. Community Blood Center needs to collect 550 to 600 units of blood daily to ensure enough is available for those who need it. To donate blood, a person must be in good health, be at least 17 years old and weigh at least 110 pounds. Cholesterol testing is performed on each blood donation, and the result will be mailed to the donor within four to six weeks. For more information, or to make an appointment, call (816) 567-3535, or the Community Blood Center at (800) 725791.

Sobriety checkpoint to be held in August A sobriety checkpoint will be held sometime in August. The Missouri State Highway Patrol will conduct the checkpoint with the assistance of the St. Joseph Police Department and the Buchanan County Sheriff's Department. To report an impaired driver, call (800) 525-5555 or cellular 55. Turning back the pages 1 0O years ago: Noted lecturer Col.

L. F. Copland speaks at the Lake Contrary Chautauqua in St. Joseph. 50 years ago: A children's story, "She Earned Her Diploma," by Ada Claire Darby of St.

Joseph has been embossed in braille by the American Printing House for the Blind in Louisville, Ky. 10 years ago: St. Joseph set a new peak electrical power usage yesterday afternoon of 325,000 kilowatts as the temperature pushed near the 100-degree mark, St. Joseph Light Power Co. stated.

i nnronr Fred Hunt said. "Doniphan County, was a tremendous fruit producer, too." It was in the mid-1920s when James Hunt constructed the Big Red Apple. The structure stood 30 feet high and was 100 feet in circumference. It had a huge rectangular dance floor on the back. Mr.

Hunt remembered that the building could hold a number of people, which it often did on Friday and Saturday nights. "It was mainly for parties," Mr. Hunt said. "It was going good around the same time the Frog Hop was going in Missouri." Although Doris Widemer never went into the Red Apple she vividly remembered seeing it as a youngster growing up in Wathena. "I was just a little kid when it was swinging out there," she said.

known in the apple-growing business throughout the nation. It also has a unique history. The institution began sometime shortly after 1876 when retired St. Joseph physician G.W. Chase and his son, Ernest, opened G.W.

Chase and Son produce company. In 1904, Mr. Chase retired from the produce business, and the company was split between Ernest and James Hunt, who had married Mr. Chase's daughter, Clara. Ernest Chase took his share from the company and formed the now-famous Chase Candy while James Hunt took sole ownership of the fruit business.

It became Hunt Brothers Fruit Co. after Mr. Hunt brought his brothers, George and Luther, into the business. It, too, was a lucrative business. "At one time Missouri had more apple trees than any other state in the union," Fruit-shaped restaurant was even featured by Ripley By ALONZO WESTON alonzownpgco.com St.

Joseph News-Press WATHENA, Kan. Wathena was once known for growing some of the best and largest apples in the country. In fact, it once even had a two-story-high apple. The Big Red Apple was a restaurant and dance hall that sat just outside of this Northeast Kansas burgh on U.S. Highway 36.

People came from miles around just to see the huge, red, apple-shaped building. And it wasn't only a unique dining and entertainment spot, but a clever marketing stratagem dreamed up by James Hunt, one of the owners of the Hunt Brothers Fruit to help promote the local apple-growing business. "My dad wanted to publicize apples here so he built it to get people thinking about apples," said Fred Hunt, son of James Hunt. "It was a unique patented design." The Hunt Brothers Fruit Co. was well- Please see BigPage B4 5 Vfe, Butterfly Angel's answer is 'yes' mclsvcmlib But Ms.

Venable didn't mind. "It was perfect," she said. "What he had put together was really meaningful and symbolic of our relationship. It was just really sweet and really beautiful." Everything in the ad represented something to the couple. Butterfly Angel is his nickname for her; daisies are her school flower; and 143 stands for "I love you." "Whenever I buy her jewelry, instead of getting it engraved with 'I love I engrave it with 143," Mr.

Ambrozi said. "The 143 represents one letter in four letters in 'love' and three letters in The couple, which has known each other for five years, plans to wed after Ms. Venable finishes her schooling. She'll be a sophomore at Cottey College in Nevada, and plans to attend medical school. "I know this is what I want," Mr.

Ambrozi said. And with one word, his bride-to-be agreed: "yes." i. Proposal reply shows it pays to advertise By TARASA OLDRIDGE St. Joseph News-Press She said yes. And he breathed a sigh of relief.

After placing a full-page ad in Wednesday's St. Joseph News-Press asking his girlfriend, Danielle Venable, to marry him, Fritz Ambrozi II was nervous, to say the least. "We've talked about getting married, but this changes the whole ballgame. It makes it official," said Mr. Ambrozi as he helped design the ad Tuesday.

"This is a big step for me." The idea originated from the couple's tradition of going out for breakfast and reading the paper. He planned to take her out to breakfast early Wednesday morning with the surprise on Page A3. "She always said that she wanted something unique," he said. "She had mentioned hav- i We've talked about getting married, but this changes the whole ball-game. It makes it official.

Frttz Ambrozi II, future groom ing an airplane fly over, but I had to do my own idea." However, the plan didn't work as intended. There was no breakfast. "I forgot she had a doctor's appointment in Kansas City, this (Wednesday) morning and was spending the night at her aunt's house," he said. "So I had to get up at 4:30, buy a paper and drive to Kansas City. When she got in the car, she picked up the paper and saw it.

We were just driving down the street." i Fritz Ambrozi II and his fiancee, Danielle Venable, pose with the advertisement that Mr. Ambrozi put together to propose to Ms. Venable. JOSH BIGGS St. Joseph News-Press.