The Barton County Association of Retired School Personnel met at 11:30 a.m. on May 6 at the Club at Stone Ridge. President Rose Kelly opened the meeting with the flag salute and Becky Dudrey gave the invocation. Forty-two members and one guest, Joe Boley, were present. Birthdays for March, April and May were recognized.
Laverne Lessor reported that the KARSP newsletter is now available by email, and members should let the state know if they wish to receive it electronically. At the state convention on June 15-17, there will be a cookout and four tours available, including a new one on social networking. We cannot have homemade cookies in the hospitality room due to a health department rule requiring cookies to be bagged individually. The necrology report was made by Rose Kelly, who read memorials for Hazel Broberg, Elizabeth Gunn and Emerson MacDonald.
Vice-President Mary Bieberle introduced Joe Boley who presented a program on “Kansas Quacker(s),” traveling doctors who were quacks. In 1885, Dr. John Richard Brinkley developed a goat salve for sexual deficiency and bought a medical license in Kansas for $40.00. In Milford, Kansas he started goat gland surgery, transplanting goat gonads into human males. Later, he started radio station KFKB in California and gave medical advice on the radio. The treatment, of course, was to buy medications from him. The editor of the AMA Journal began to uncover quacks, and in 1930 Dr. Brinkley’s license was revoked and in 1931 his radio station stopped.
Running unsuccessfully as an independent candidate for governor of Kansas in 1930, 1932 and 1934, he nevertheless was responsible for changing political campaign methods through his use of planes, limousines, sound trucks and radio appeals. In Del Rio, Texas he began selling over radio station XER. In 1936 he built an adobe mansion in Del Rio, which remains today as a memorial. In 1938 he moved to Little Rock, Arkansas where he had a mansion with a golf course. He finally went bankrupt and in 1941 was indicted for medical malpractice. In 1946 he died of a heart attack. Although he was an egotistical loose cannon, he set the tone for radio advertising.
Any newly eligible retired school personnel interested in joining may contact membership chairman Kayleen Kern or president Rose Kelly. Members get together for luncheons in September, December, March and May. The next meeting will be at 11:30 a.m. on September 2 at the Club at StoneRidge. The program will be “Zoo News” by Scot Gregory.