The line for chicken dinners stretches past the parish hall and to the historic St. Joseph Church in Flush as nearly 1,200 people stand in line for the fried chicken dinner, cooked by the women of the parish. Around 1,600 people came to the church for the evening’s events, which included games for the children.

Dalton Whitwater, 5, of Westmorland, eagerly awaits his ride on a train with John Ebert as engineer. Ebert made two trains out of barrels and donated materials. The trains are pulled around the parking lot by lawn mowers.

George Ebert encourages Larry Bach of Flush while Bach throws a ball in order to win one of the many hats donated by area businesses for the “hat stand.” The stand was begun many years ago by Kenneth “Pete” Ebert.

Mary Siderewicz helps one of the 1,200 people who came for a fried chicken dinner choose a piece of pie. The picnic has been held annually since 1934.

Ramona Stueve of Wamego and Louise Dieter of Maple Hill shop for home-made jams at the Annual Flush Picnic held July 29. All the items on sale were donated by area residents and members of the St. Joseph church.

This time I had a real assignment - from the Manhattan Mercury - to cover the Flush community picnic, sponsored by St. Joseph Church, my own church. It worked out well, since I was planning on being there anyhow! The people in the parish are so welcoming and it was a pleasure to do the assignment.

Barton County Fair

Total concentration - This young woman at the Barton County Fair in central Kansas on July 11 displays the total concentration that marks success in the ring.

Simple joy - This little girl enjoys the carnival.

Miniature success - A grandmother points out features on a miniature farm scene at the fair.

Mutton busting - This young rider can get his full ride if he just hangs on for a moment, in the mutton busting event for children.

Preparing to show - An exhibitor prepares his sheep just prior to the final sheep show of the day.

The Barton County Fair was our destination on Saturday, July 11, and once again, I gave myself an assignment to shoot the fair and see what interesting things I could come up with. Here are five examples. One of the joys of shooting for myself is I don't have to get IDs.

In the swimming hole

Kids and a swimming hole just seem to go together, as this trip up the Hopkins Creek at the Wiexelman Family Reunion on the Ebert farm, just south of Flush shows.

Fourth of July

At the Fourth of July parade in Wamego, I decided to treat it as a mini-assignment, and ended up with a couple of photos I thought were worth posting. On a real assignment, I would have been more aggressive and pushed through the crowd, but without press credentials, nor a "real" reason to be out front, I held back. But it was still a lot of fun.