Faces and places

Cris Smith, Lawrence, has joined Douglas County Bank as vice president of loan services. He is responsible for business and personal loans and development of new customer relationships. He has 18 years of lending and bank experience. He previously was a senior lender and regional manager in the Kansas City area.

The board of directors of Kansas Farm Bureau has selected Harry Watts, Manhattan, as director of public policy. Watts will lead a statewide volunteer grassroots process designed to affect local, state and federal government laws, ordinances and regulations that touch agriculture and rural Kansas. Watts previously worked for the Manhattan Chamber of Commerce as vice president for economic development.

Jeanne Czoch, Oskaloosa, recently became a consultant for Tastefully Simple Inc., a national direct sales company based in Alexandria, Minn. As a consultant, Czoch conducts in-home presentations of upscale, convenience-driven gourmet foods. For more information on Tastefully Simple, contact Czoch at 832-2359 or visit the Web site www.tastefullysimple.com.

Rachel Koch has joined the staff of Lawrence Therapy Services as a full-time receptionist. She is pursuing a physical therapy assistant degree at Kansas City Kansas Community College.

Lawrence residents Michael Dever and Andy Clayton announce the opening of Kansas City, Mo.-based GuideWire Consulting, which offers environmental guidance and support services to businesses such as Target Corp. retail stores, A.G. Edwards Trust Co., Beverly Enterprises and Reliant Energy Pipeline Services.

Dever is president of GuideWire, and Clayton is vice president. GuideWire specializes in environmental assessment and compliance services for clients

Kara Vogl, a physical therapist assistant at TherapyWorks, recently attended a course “Orthopedic Rehabilitation of the Shoulder and Knee.” The course focused on closed kinetic chain and manual exercises for the knee and shoulder. Vogl specializes in orthopedic and sports rehabilitation.

Chris Burk and Debbie Larson have completed certification with the National Foundation for Credit Counseling. They are counselors employed by Consumer Credit Counseling Service, Topeka. Certification demonstrates to the community a degree of professional knowledge and skill in providing quality services.

Consumer Credit Counseling Service is a division of Housing & Credit Counseling, which has offices in Lawrence and Topeka.

Barbara Braa, a trust officer at CornerBank in Lawrence, attended the 23rd annual MoKan Midwest Trust & Financial Services conference May 1-3 in Kansas City, Mo.

Conference topics included new trends in estate planning, developments in employee benefits, economic environment, Washington legal and regulatory changes, management of unique assets and specializing in caring for an aging population.

Lawrence resident Carlton Ricketts has been selected to serve in an executive leadership position for Missouri Gas Energy. Ricketts, appointed vice president of business services, will be responsible for a number of customer service functions, including overall operation of the customer contact center, credit and collections, sales, strategic planning and the business services department.

Ricketts has nearly 20 years of utility experience at Western Resources, where he served as vice president of labor relations, vice president of corporate development and most recently as vice president of investor relations. He joined the Western Resources engineering department in 1982 and progressed through the management ranks leading combined electric and natural gas operations throughout Kansas.

Ross Keeling has joined Elements Architectural Design of Lawrence as director of field operations. Since joining the firm, Keeling has completed renovations to the Women’s Health Care Center in Overland Park and is working on a residential addition in Old West Lawrence. Keeling has eight years of experience as a commercial superintendent and cost estimator.

Honors and awards

AAA Kansas is being recognized by the national office of the American Automobile Assn. for achieving the highest year-to-date growth in membership and largest increase in retention rate of membership in their club size category. The awards were presented May 17 to Jim Hanni, president and CEO of AAA Kansas, at AAA’s Lawrence office

A highlight of National Nurses’ Week at Lawrence Memorial Hospital was the presentation of two nursing scholarships at a celebration in the hospital’s atrium. Isabel Schmedemann, director of the Maternal/Child Department, and Eric Moore, a groundskeeper at LMH who is entering nursing school in June, were the recipients of two scholarships, which are given by the LMH Endowment Assn.

Schmedemann received the LMH Belot Nursing Scholarship, an award of $1,000 which was created to enhance the delivery of nursing care through career development in the nursing profession and to facilitate innovations for the delivery of nursing care in the 21st century at LMH. Schmedemann earned an associate of nursing degree from Barton County Community College and a bachelor’s degree in business administration at Baker University. She is enrolled in the registered nursing program at Kansas University.

Moore, who will enter the School of Nursing at the KU Medical Center in June, earned a degree in horticulture from Kansas State University and has been employed as the hospital’s groundskeeper the past year. He received a $1,000 scholarship from the Naomi Lescher Scholarship Fund, which was established to recognize Naomi Lescher, a long-time night shift nursing supervisor at LMH who died in October 2000.

Pancho’s Restaurant, Lawrence, was honored as an Outstanding Community Employer by JobLink, a division of Cottonwood. The restaurant received the award at the Cottonwood Classies, Cottonwood’s 30th anniversary celebration and awards ceremony. Pancho’s has been a JobLink business partner for 11 years, employing several persons with barriers to employment.

Coming events

The Lawrence Human Relations Commission, the Lawrence Human Relations/Human Resources Department and The Landlords of Lawrence Assn. will sponsor a seminar for landlords and property managers on fair housing.

The seminar will be from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. June 7 in the Eldridge Hotel’s Crystal Room, 700 Mass.

Presenters at the educational seminar will be Toni Ramirez Wheeler, city of Lawrence staff attorney; Darryl Graves, attorney; Cornell Mayfield, Housing and Credit Counseling; Jo Hardesty, Kansas University Legal Services; and Kathy Kirk, Mediation Services.

The free seminar is open to the public. Pre-registration is required. To register or for more information, call 832-3310.

Roger Butcher, real estate trainer and speaker, will conduct a training program from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. June 18 at the Holiday Inn in Overland Park. Butcher will share his methods regarding listings, selling, time management, self-promotion, telephone skills, buyer agency, closing techniques, effective mailers, personal assistant and building referrals.

For more information, call (800) 422-1462.

Consumer Credit Counseling Services will present “Discover More Dollars” from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. June 3 at the United Way Building, 2518 Ridge Court. The workshop will cover topics such as financial goal setting, developing a realistic budget, cutting costs, evaluating spending habits and starting a savings plan.

The workshop is free, but reservations are requested. To reserve a space, call 749-4224, ext. 369 or (800) 383-0217.

The workshop is presented by Housing & Credit Counseling, which has offices in Lawrence and Topeka.

The Reuter Organ Company announces its first public open house since relocating last year. Reuter’s new manufacturing facility and corporate headquarters will be open from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. June 9 at 1220 Timberedge Road.

In addition to an open shop with explanations of the pipe organ production process, a Reuter instrument will be assembled and playing. Internationally renowned organists will demonstrate the new organ in mini-recitals scheduled throughout the day. The organ they will be playing is headed to First Presbyterian Church in Lincoln, Neb.

More information about the company and directions to the facility can be found on the Internet at www.reuterorgan. com/openhouse.htm.