Recent Work (7/26/13)

This is just a collection of some of my favorite photos from the last week or so. Enjoy.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Tim Burton, with Emporia Construction and Remodeling, plugs in a fan to blow out concrete dust while working on a remodel for the new location of Sweet Granada at 803 Commercial St. Thursday, July 25, 2013, in Emporia, Kan.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Tim Burton, with Emporia Construction and Remodeling, cuts concrete while working on a remodel for the new location of Sweet Granada at 803 Commercial St. Thursday, July 25, 2013, in Emporia, Kan.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Emporia State University Student Manna Shintani, of Tokyo, Japan, plays "Cantabile" by Niccolo Paganini on violin Thursday, July 25, 2013, along side Wooster Lake on the ESU Campus in Emporia, Kan.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette  | Kyle Deets hits the ball on hole 12 of the Emporia Municipal Golf Course south of Emporia, Kan., Saturday, July 20, 2013, during a golf tournament as a part of Clint Bowyer's Support Emporia 2013 Charity Event supporting the Emporia Community Foundation 79 Fund.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Kyle Deets, left, and Scott Crawford inspect the green on hole 12 of the Emporia Municipal Golf Course south of Emporia, Kan., Saturday, July 20, 2013, during a golf tournament as a part of Clint Bowyer's Support Emporia 2013 Charity Event supporting the Emporia Community Foundation 79 Fund.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Ed Moyer weighs an onion for a customer Wednesday evening, July 17, 2013, at the Emporia Farmers Market in downtown Emporia, Kan. Moyer has been coming to the Farmers Market for 31 years, he said.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Harold Brenzikofer, left center, and his wife Naoma Brenzikofer help customers at their produce stand Wednesday evening, July 17, 2013, at the Emporia Farmers Market in downtown Emporia, Kan.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Lorrin Ochs, 19, of Emporia blows up inflatable cows Wednesday, July 24, 2013, at the Emporia Granada Theatre in Emporia, Kan., for their presentation of the movie, "Twister" as a fundraising event for  the Lyon County, Kan., and Hill County, Mont., 4-H Exchange Group. The cows will be handed out to everyone who buys a ticket for the movie, Ochs said. Movie-goers will then be allowed to toss the cows during the movie. "You have to give people more than just a movie ticket and popcorn," said Bryan Williams, executive director of the Granada Theatre. The movie will start at 7 p.m. Thursday and the doors will open around 6:15 p.m., Williams said.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Ira Francis, of Emporia, Kan., cuts hay at the Welsh Farmstead outside the Richard Howe House Friday, July 19, 2013, in Emporia, Kan.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Cristopher Hernandez, 3, of Emporia, Kan., builds a fortress out of LEGO Duplo Thursday, July 18, 2013, at the Emporia Public Library in Emporia, Kan. "We usually come here at least once or twice a week," said Carlos Hernandez, the boy's father. "He just loves coming here to play," Carlos explained. 

Summer Camp

When I was younger I never went to Summer Camp.

I'm not bummed about it or anything like that. I lived outside of town, and we had horses, kittens, we played in the woods all day, I had a BB gun to shoot cans with, and a number of other things to do. So my brother, my friends and I were always busy.

Last week I had the opportunity to visit Camp Wood YMCA for a Saturday package at the Gazette. It was my first experience at Summer Camp.

It was pretty much exactly how I imagined.

There was a lake, complete with a water slide and a beach. Kids fished, participated in team-building exercises, fished, swam, climbed The Tower, and played games.

It looked like a pretty good time.

That being said, growing up in the woods in northern Minnesota, playing with friends, going to the beach, fishing, and whatever else we got ourselves into couldn't have been a better way to grow up.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Josh Creel, 10, of Fort Leavenworth, Kan., makes a cast while fishing Thursday afternoon, July 18, 2013, at Camp Wood YMCA in Chase County, Kan.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Tyler Blochlinger, 13, of Kipp, Kan., climbs The Tower Thursday afternoon, July 18, 2013, at Camp Wood YMCA in Chase County, Kan.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Micah Smith, 12, of Springfield, Mass., makes a sand angel on the beach Thursday afternoon, July 18, 2013, at Camp Wood YMCA in Chase County, Kan.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Ben Dill, 13, of Emporia, Kan., jumps off of a raft while swimming Thursday afternoon, July 18, 2013, at Camp Wood YMCA in Chase County, Kan.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Isabel Tiller, 12, Baldwin City, Kan., climbs The Tower Thursday afternoon, July 18, 2013, at Camp Wood YMCA in Chase County, Kan.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Campers check in with their buddies at the beach as a part of a safety check Thursday afternoon, July 18, 2013, at Camp Wood YMCA in Chase County, Kan.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | People play Ga-Ga ball, where your objective is to hit your opponent below the knees with a ball in order to take them out of the game, Thursday afternoon, July 18, 2013, at Camp Wood YMCA in Chase County, Kan.

Recent Work (7/17/13)

It's been a couple of weeks since my last post.

The last couple of weeks have found me doing all kinds of assignments.

I flew around with a teenager trying to get his pilots license. I spent part of an afternoon covering the PDGA Amateur & Junior Disc Golf World Championships. Hung out with some kids and robots. Covered Emporia's first-ever Twinkies Festival. And that's just to name a few.

Oh, and I also happened upon a family on a cross-country road trip while feature hunting.

I'll keep my comments to a minimum up here and let you just enjoy some photos.

Here are some of my favorites from the last couple of weeks. Thanks for looking.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Ruth Miller, a personal trainer, works with a client Tuesday, July 2, 2013, at Emporia Fitness.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Tucker Lee, 16, of Emporia, goes through his pre-flight routine, before taking off in a Cherokee 180 with instructor, Dan Dewald Wednesday, July 3, 2013, from Coffey County Airport.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Tucker Lee, 16, of Emporia, flies a Cherokee 180 with instructor, Dan Dewald Wednesday, July 3, 2013, after taking off from Coffey County Airport.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Tucker Lee, 16, of Emporia, goes through his pre-flight routine, before taking off in a Cherokee 180 with instrucor, Dan Dewald Wednesday, July 3, 2013, from Coffey County Airport.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Tucker Lee, 16, of Emporia, flies a Cherokee 180 with instrucor, Dan Dewald over Melvern Lake Wednesday, July 3, 2013, after taking off from Coffey County Airport.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Tucker Lee, 16, of Emporia, goes through his pre-flight routine, before taking off in a Cherokee 180 with instructor, Dan Dewald Wednesday, July 3, 2013, from Coffey County Airport.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Drew Cook, from left, Becky Cook, Leah Cook, 12, and Madlyn Cook, 9, all of Willow Spring, N.C., eat lunch Monday, July 8, 2013, at Do-B's in Emporia, Kan. The Cooks are part-way through a cross-country road trip starting in Willow Spring, N.C., and ending at the Grand Canyon, Drew said. They chose to eat lunch at Do-B's after doing a Google search for places to eat, Drew explained, and they thought they would take a chance and try Do-B's. 

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Larry Grossman, of Tarpon Springs, Fla., winds up for a throw at Jones Park Thursday, July 4, 2013, while playing a practice round for the upcoming 2013 PDGA Amateur & Junior Disc Golf World Championships.

 Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Brad Ramsay, of Lincoln, Neb., putts on the first hole of the Emporia Municipal Golf Course's disc golf course Wednesday, July 10, 2013, during the PDGA Amateur & Junior Disc Golf World Championships.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | From left, Dave Wehrenberg, of Roxboro, N.C., Billy Swanson, of Tulsa, Okla., Brad Ramsay, of Lincoln, Neb., and Kevin Ellis, of Oklahoma City, Okla., discuss strategy before playing the third hole of the Emporia Municipal Golf Course's disc golf course Wednesday, July 10, 2013, during the PDGA Amateur & Junior Disc Golf World Championships.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Rick Carson, of Emporia, plays the piano Thursday night, July 11, 2013, Emporia Main Street's Midnight Madness.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Noah Ray, 12, of Emporia, (left) reacts after placing second in his heat of a Twinkie eating contest Monday, July 15, 2013, during the first ever Twinkies Festival outside the Flinthills Mall.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Zander Keosybounheuang, 7, of Emporia, participates in a Twinkie eating contest Monday, July 15, 2013, during the first ever Twinkies Festival outside the Flinthills Mall.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Olivia Tuttle, 7, of Emporia, raises her hands after completing her heat of a Twinkie eating contest in first place Monday, July 15, 2013, during the first ever Twinkies Festival outside the Flinthills Mall.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Chris Magnuson, of Wichita, receives a deep-fried Twinkie at the Little Red Caboose Funnel Cake stand Monday, July 15, 2013, during the first ever Twinkies Festival outside the Flinthills Mall.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Thayne Schmidt, 7, of Olpe, uses a remote-controlled robot to pick up aluminum foil "Mercury rocks" Tuesday, July 16, 2013, during the Mining Robots event put on by the Emporia State University Elementary Science Education students at the Emporia Public Library.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | Cooper Legako, 4, of Emporia, peaks through a window to see the DEPCO LLC's autonomic robot named NAO Tuesday, July 16, 2013, during the Mining Robots event put on by the Emporia State University Elementary Science Education students at the Emporia Public Library.

Joe Ahlquist/Gazette | DEPCO LLC's autonomic robot named NAO Tuesday, July 16, 2013, during the Mining Robots event put on by the Emporia State University Elementary Science Education students at the Emporia Public Library.