August marks the transition from summer to fall for many people. Even though summer doesn’t officially end until sometime in September, for many, the start of school marks the end of the summer. For others, it’s Labor Day weekend. Either way, August is the final stretch of summer for many.
But summer is not over just yet. A few weeks still exists before the school bells ring and the halls are bustling once again with students eager to learn.
For those in Great Bend and the surrounding area, there is still a big Party in Park just more than one week away. One of the wild events that takes place as part of the Party in the Park is the popular Mud Volleyball event - known as Oozefest. The city is still looking for teams. The deadline for registration is Aug. 9 and tghe fee is $75. Stop by the Great Bend Rec office for more information.
Another big event set for August is the 2018 election primary. That will be held across the city and state Tuesday. There are some big positions up for election this year, including several spots on the Great Bend City Council as well as the Governor here is Kansas.
And no, there is no correlation meant between mud and politics. They just happen to be in back-to-back paragraphs. So get out and vote or go play in the mud or do both.
It’s the final leg of summer, enjoy it.

Prep Thoughts
The final high school football game of the past season, so to speak, is now in the books. The 2018 version of the Kansas Shrine Bowl is complete.
The East jumped to a big 21-0 halftime lead and held on for a 21-14 win over the West. Among those on the West squad was Great Bend’s Aaron Clark. Aaron started on the offensive line for the West, playing a part in the comeback that fell just short. He will now turn his focus to Emporia State the beginning of his collegiate career.
Good luck, big fella. Serve up some pancakes on that line for the Hornets.

Former Barton
Athlete/Coach update
Former Barton 2-sport star ChrisDell Harris is back at it for another season in the Legends Football League - formerly known as the Lingerie Football League.
Harris is in her first year with the Atlanta Steam after playing her first seven years with the Chicago Bliss. The Ferrari, as she is known, made her debut with the Steam recently, rolling up 184 yards rushing on 22 carries to go with three touchdowns. That puts her at the top of the LFL rushing totals despite playing just the one game while others behind her have played three and four games.
ChrisDell played basketball and ran track for the Cougars. She went on to Western Illinois where she ran track for two years, setting a school record in the 60m indoors and was a 3-time Summit League champion.

And Finally
Being a college, Barton has several security cameras around campus. They can come in handy. Recently, I needed to gather some information and went to security to pull up the camera footage from about a week ago.
While I was able to obtain the information I was after, I came to the conclusion our cameras have defects – at least the one I was looking at.
You see, the camera is about 10-12 feet high. The angle gives a great view of the top of your head. This is where the defect in the camera came about.
The camera was not correctly showing the amount of hair I have on the top of my head. Now, I can’t see the top of my head, but I rub my hand over it and I feel a lot of hair. A full head of hair. The camera showed to the contrary.
It didn’t matter where I went, the flaw in the camera remained.
It didn’t help matters the security guard watching with me commented that it was a good thing the cameras were non-glare cameras. Thanks for that, Joe.
I am convinced something is wrong with the camera. I am not sure I can trust them anymore.
So while I did get the information I was looking for, I am not sure it is correct. After all, if is removes hair from my head, how can I be sure the camera is accurate.
Just in case, I think I am going shopping for some more hats.

Mike Marzolf is a guest columnist for the Great Bend Tribune and his views don’t necessarily reflect those of the paper. He can be reached at MarzolfM@bartonccc.edu.