photo by: Elvyn Jones

Chad Meyers, operations field manager for RG Fiber of Baldwin City, installs gigabit-capacity cable to the Sigma Phi Epsilon fraternity just off the Baker University campus in January 2016.

Eudora residents can look for RG Fiber to start installing the backbone of a system that will provide that community with gigabit Internet service within a few weeks. RG Fiber CEO Mike Bosch said all is ready for the installation of the backbone along 12th Street and the east side of Elm Street.

Eudora residents can expect to see a stepped-up marketing campaign soon, which will include door hangers, Bosch said.

Preparations have gone further than that. Bosch said the company has an engineering design in place to serve 100 percent of the residents of the community and grow. But that advanced preparation won’t mean instant service. Just how long it takes to “light up” customers depends on where they live in relation to existing fiber lines and the customer base in the area.

That connection process is now ongoing in Baldwin City. RG Fiber first lit up Baker University in October and started connecting other customers in December. The first customers to be connected were those living near RG Fiber’s main fiber line to the community along Sixth Street in Baldwin City or near the Baldwin school district cable it is leasing, Bosch said. Service is now or will soon be extended to the Santa Fe Depot and the southwest side of the city, the north side of High Street from Sixth to Eighth streets and businesses northeast of U.S. Highway 56 and Sixth Street, he said.

Priority is given to areas with a high number of signups. There’s no bias, and the customer base in his own neighborhood has not yet justified running a line to the subdivision or his home, he said. Customers eager to get connected can help by recruiting others in the neighborhood to apply for service, as one woman recently did in Baldwin City, Bosch said.

“Our vendors are telling us we are moving very fast, and our customers are saying we’re going too slow,” he said. “Building a fiber network is not a fast process. We are moving as fast as we can.”

RG Fiber plans to extend service to Lawrence. Bosch has approached the city of Lawrence about changes to the easement permitting process that would make installation in the city less costly and time consuming for his company. Bosch said the “ball is in his court” to write a proposal on how that could be accomplished. With his focus on connecting Baldwin City and Eudora, he has not addressed that task, he said.

One of the men behind a planned Wakarusa Brewery in Eudora can relate to the frustrations involved with starting a new business.

“This has taken longer than I expected,” said John Randtke.

He and his associate, brewmaster James Hightree, have put three-and-a-half years into the project, Randtke said. Much of that time was spent on renovations on what is to be the downtown brewery’s home. Extensive interior and structural work was completed on the building in the 700 block of Main Street that was once home to the Eudora Antique Mall, Randtke said.

“We pretty much have all the architectural modifications done inside,” he said. “What’s ahead of us now is getting all the brew kettles and fermenters installed.”

Randtke said he has applied for an E-Community gap loan as a supplement to a private sector loan to finance the equipment purchase. It is his hope Wakarusa Brewery will be open for business in September, in time to celebrate Octoberfest.

The start of summer vacation means trips to the pool and carefree days without the stress of homework for young students. But for some, it can also mean missing the meals they regularly enjoyed at school.

Stepping up to help address that gap are the Eudora Ministerial Alliance and the Friends of the Eudora Public Library. The partners will serve free picnic lunches to children 18 years of age and younger from noon to 1 p.m. on Tuesday and Thursdays at the Eudora Public Library. The meal program will start Tuesday and continue through June 23.

Baldwin and Eudora high school graduations have made for a slow activity weekend in the two communities. The BHS graduation will be at 10 a.m. Saturday at the Baldwin Junior High School Gymnasium, and the EHS commencement will be a 1 p.m. Saturday at EHS gymnasium. The Eudora Ministerial Alliance will have a baccalaureate for the Class of 2016 at 11 a.m. Saturday at the district performing arts center.