Opinion: Making history requires preserving it

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By Gina Long

Saturday evening, I attended a critical fundraiser for the Reno County Museum.

“Bootleggers, Bandits & Booze” was a well-attended murder mystery and dinner party, one that should have been unnecessary if the Reno County Commission had bothered to read about the museum’s history and the historic Nov. 8, 1988 ballot question vote, in which the county’s citizens approved a minuscule 0.4 mill funding requirement. The approved 2025 budgeted amount, $140,000, represents 0.158 mills, slightly less than 40 percent of the required funding.

Had the commission maintained the same level of funding as they did in 2000, the museum’s allocation would stand at roughly $250,000.

The museum cannot afford an archivist and is rapidly reaching its capacity to accept new historical items. Cataloging, digitizing and indexing the collection takes equipment and effort, and posting those items on the internet require network servers and support.

The building is aging and will soon need urgent repairs.

I did note that none of the commissioners attended the event, but one did donate to the fundraiser.

Fundraising is critical because the Reno County Commission defied the will of the people and slashed the museum’s budget by nearly 25%.

Perhaps the commissioners who supported the reduction are ignorant that the decision is still in effect, ironically supporting the need to preserve history.

Perhaps they realize that history is made in the present, and they fear that their decisions today will reflect poorly, coming across as short-sighted and illogical. In two years, five years, twenty years or a hundred years from now how do we explain $45,000 in the context of bonding $1.45 million for a shooting range at the landfill? More than $300,000 purportedly has already been spent on that project.

Of course, law enforcement needs constant firearms training and practice because it is a critical component of their work, and I do not think that the RCSO is pushing for a Taj Mahal range. Do they need more than $1.5 million to build an adequate facility? Certainly not. Are they building a golf course-style clubhouse? Hotel space? A Quaniticoesque Hogan’s Alley? Landscaping to mitigate the landfill’s odors?

An idea is circulating that the facility will be used as a money-generator by renting it out for law enforcement special training. We have a law enforcement training center less than 10 miles south of Hutchinson. Presumably, their facilities aren’t as luxurious. But does Reno County belong in the hospitality business?

I suggest investing in transparency first.

At least one commissioner in the past floated the idea of making the range available to the public. His proposal fizzled immediately when the skyrocketing cost of insuring a range for public use would severely crimp the county’s budget. To my chagrin, the question of whether the government should compete against an upcoming privately owned indoor range was not raised.

These are the critical questions of today, and Reno County citizens voted to preserve them.

History is instructive, informative, and commemorative. The Reno County Museum is worth the investment.

Gina Long is the co-founding and managing editor of The Hutchinson Tribune. She can be contacted at glong@hutchtribune.com

By Gina Long Saturday evening, I attended a critical fundraiser for the Reno County Museum. "Bootleggers, Bandits & Booze" was a well-attended murder mystery and dinner party, one that should have been unnecessary if the Reno County Commission had bothered to read about the museum's history and

Opinion: Dear TC Theatre,

CAPTION: The cast of Trinity Catholic High School’s “Mary Poppins.”

By Michael Glenn

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It all started with a way to get out of sports. 

This weekend is my last musical at Trinity, and we are doing “Mary Poppins,” most famously known as the 1964 film starring Julie Andrews and Dick Van Dyke. 

I am playing Van Dyke’s part, Bert, as the chimney sweep in the musical. 

Theatre has been one of the most fulfilling parts of my high school career, and I’ve been involved all four years. 

In August 2021, I auditioned for “High School Musical 2” and had no idea what to expect. I knew I didn’t want to play football or basketball anymore, but my parents still wanted me to be involved at school in some way. My debate coach, Mrs. Karin Neal, was also the theatre director and encouraged me to audition. 

The show was a large musical, and there were probably about 30 people in the cast in total. I don’t remember much from the production, but I do remember getting sick during the tech week and learning the dance for “Humuhumunukunukuapua’a” the week of the show. 

I didn’t think I would miss the show that much, but the night evening the show concluded, I was hooked.

Theatre would become one of the most important parts of my life. 

The seniors of that class during my freshman year also enjoyed theatre very much and convinced Mrs. Neal to do a second musical AND a play that year. That second musical became the best three months of my life: “Little Shop of Horrors.”

I had never seen the movie before, and when my parents found out we were putting on the show, they forced me to watch it. To this day, it is one of my comfort movies and I watch it occasionally. One character stood out to me in the performance, though, and I knew I had to get that part. 

Of course, that person was Orin Scrivello, D.D.S., who was played by Steve Martin in the movie. 

I worked on the audition for hours and hours, as all males were to sing “Grow for Me” as a sample. I sang my little freshman heart out and received a callback. After a seemingly endless week, the cast list finally came out. 

I got the part. 

Being one of the four main characters as a freshman was incredibly fun, and Ben Godina, the actor who played Seymour Krelbourn, is one of my best friends to this day. 

After freshman year came another challenging musical: “Curtains.” While I could dance and make the audience laugh as the dentist, I got cast in a much more dramatic and serious role as Aaron Fox, the composer of the musical-within-a-musical. That show caused me to truly work on my acting, singing and dancing in the very long musical, lasting almost three hours. 

My ex-wife-turned-wife-again Georgia Hendricks had an interesting relationship throughout the show and everything turned out all right in the end. 

“Curtains” was truly a difficult and fulfilling show. I loved every second of it and made friends which I still hang out with today. In fact, whenever I’m in Topeka covering the state house, I’m more than likely sleeping on the dorm floor of someone I’ve shared the stage with at Trinity.

Then came junior year. We lost a large part of the “theatre kids” sophomore year but quickly bounced back with new faces and a fairy-themed show lineup. 

We first did “Fairy Tale Courtroom,” a play where the Big Bad Wolf and the Wicked Witch of the West were on trial for their alleged crimes, and I played the defense attorney of Ms. Witch. I sometimes joke with my friends that in that production, I merely played myself on stage: an argumentative, legalistic and loud person in a suit and tie. 

The musical that year was “Wonderland High,” a cheerful spin on “Alice in Wonderland” in a high school setting. I played the hall monitor named “Harry,” who you could think of as the white rabbit in the original Wonderland. 

The show was very fun, and I got to learn how to ride an electric scooter for the first time with my friend Gabe who played the lead. One of the trickiest parts was when he had to jump on my scooter and we had to scoot off stage and also not hit somebody (which happened on opening night). 

Then came senior year, which is still in the process of writing. 

“Mary Poppins” has probably been the most difficult production I’ve ever been a part of. First off, it’s a longer show and I play one of the two leads, Bert. 

Bert is cheeky, funny and happy-go-lucky. And if you know me, you know that’s not who I am at all.

Filled with costume changes, difficult singing and cockney accents, I can say I’ve put in a lot of effort into this show. It’s truly magical, or, dare I say, “Supercalifragilisticexpialidocious,” how our cast put this show together.

It has been such a “Jolly Holiday” putting this performance on, and I didn’t need a “Spoonful of Sugar” to get me through it. Although, I had to learn how to “Step in Time” for some of the dance numbers. 

While I still have more TC Theatre to come, this will be the last performance where I’m singing and dancing in what I like to call the “Karin Neal Auditorium.” 

None of this would be possible without the adults who make it happen behind the scenes. Karin, I owe everything to you. You’re the one who makes this all happen. And to Sarah Reiss and Brian Davis, thanks for making the magic happen, whether it’s in our voices or how the stage looks. 

And to Rachel Thomson, our choreographer, thank you as well. Rachel moved to New York City recently to work in the theatre scene there, and I have no doubts she will put Hutchinson and Reno County on the map. Just wait. 

If you’re reading this the morning of publication, you still have a chance to see us on stage at 3 p.m. Sunday, Nov. 17. I’d encourage you to check it out, you won’t regret it. 

Theatre is where I’ve made lifelong friends, had many long nights and have grown in myself so much. 

Whenever anyone asks me how I started the Tribune or how I can speak in front of large audiences without many problems, it all goes back to theatre, debate and forensics. 

If you have a chance to audition for a community production or be involved in theatre, take it, you won’t regret it. 

Anything can happen if you let it. If you reach for the heavens, you get the stars thrown in. 

Love ya, TC Theatre. 

CAPTION: The cast of Trinity Catholic High School's "Mary Poppins." By Michael Glenn It all started with a way to get out of sports.  This weekend is my last musical at Trinity, and we are doing “Mary Poppins,” most famously known as the 1964 film starring Julie Andrews