Concordia Blade-Empire

07/11/2025

07/11/2025

Within the green and gold-trimmed walls of the historic Brown Grand Theatre this week, a little more than five dozen children learned about theatrical arts while rehearsing for “Hansel and Gretel” adapted by Jim Caron.

Within the green and gold-trimmed walls of the historic Brown Grand Theatre this week, a little more than five dozen children learned about theatrical arts while rehearsing for “Hansel and …

07/10/2025

Agriculture, performance and talents will all visit Concordia this weekend, with the 72nd NCK Rodeo beginning this weekend right before the annual Cloud County Fair.

Agriculture, performance and talents will all visit Concordia this weekend, with the 72nd NCK Rodeo beginning this weekend right before the annual Cloud County Fair. Rodeo arena lights will dance in …

07/09/2025

Twelfth Judicial District Chief Judge Kim Cudney has dismissed all attempted murder charges and an aggravated battery charge against Concordia resident Nathan Robinson. Read more in the link below -
https://www.bladeempire.com/stories/judge-dismisses-all-attempted-murder-charges-from-2024-stabbing,125045?

Twelfth Judicial District Chief Judge Kim Cudney has dismissed all attempted murder charges and an aggravated battery charge against Concordia resident Nathan Robinson. Judge Cudney said the …

07/03/2025

Congratulations to Boone Richard for being named Sports In Kansas 4A second-team all-state, and Drake Blochlinger and Ayden Krier for being honorable mentions!

07/02/2025

The 2025 Jamestown Jamboree celebrated with a parade, myriad activities and a firework finale - see all the photos on the Concordia Blade-Empire website: https://www.bladeempire.com/stories/2025-jamestown-jamboree,124378

07/01/2025

A LIFE DEFINED BY A UNIQUE THERAPY
by Russell Gagnon

For John Paul Breault, horticulture is a way of life.
Spend a few minutes visiting with Breault and you will clearly understand that the science and art of cultivating plants - flowers, shrubs, fruits, and vegetables - is not a hobby or a job. It has defined who he is since he was a young boy.
"When I was little I used to help my grandmother in her garden," said Breault. "She had this little strawberry basket with tools, and we'd go to work planting things. My grandparents and parents were very active gardeners, and I just fell in love with it."

Breault's path in life had been set at an early age, and he never wavered. "When I graduated (Concordia High School), I wanted to go to the Cliff Mann Floral Design School in Denver," he said. "But my parents convinced me to give Cloud (Cloud County Community College) a try first. So I did that."
Breault earned an associate degree in Agriculture from CCCC, and then followed the additional advice of friends. "I had some friends going to K-State, so I thought I'd go to. I'm glad I did."

Kansas State University was offering a degree in a new field: Horticulture Therapy. "I was just fascinated by it," Breault said. "When I graduated in 1976, I was only the ninth person in the United States with a degree in horticulture therapy."
Breault became a registered horticulture therapist. "We use horticulture as part of a treatment program to improve the mind, body, and spirit," he said.

Breault spent 25 years working with psychiatric patients at two hospitals in Georgia: one in Rome, and the other in Savannah. "I just loved the job," he said. "It was all mental health. And there were some very serious cases. We dealt with depression a lot."
Breault said that there were different levels of therapy and different goals. "You strive to improve someone's health, and it really is amazing what can happen to someone who is facing challenges. They put their hands in the dirt, they plant and nurture and grow things, and that can be very therapeutic for some people."

Breault retired from the state of Georgia 11 years ago and moved back to Concordia. "I wanted to come home and help take care of my mom," he said.
He immediately set to work on the yard of his house on West 7th Street. "When I first started, there were only three shrubs in the yard," he recalled with a smile.

Eleven years later, Breault has transformed the property, with landscaping and planting, into a cornucopia of color. When asked how many plants and shrubs are growing on the property now, he slowly shakes his head. "You know, I couldn't even estimate. Hundreds. Many hundreds."

His two favorite plants are coleus and geraniums. "The geraniums are for my mom. I always planted those for her when I was growing up. It also made a connection with my dad. He built me a little shelf in his garage where I could over-winter my geraniums."
Breault loves to grow coleus for its vibrant and varied color. "I plant a lot of coleus because of all the different colors and all the different shades."

Breault often spends two to four hours a day working in his yard. "It's just a way of life for me. To me, horticulture is very interactive. It engages people. There's nothing I like better than when someone says 'I drove by your house and I loved this plant I saw growing; or 'What is it you have blooming?'"

Breault did something unusual this past winter: he 'grew' plants outdoors for everyone to see. "I made ice globes for my flower pots," he said. "I filled water balloons with water and froze them outside. Then I put them in the flower pots and lit them with lights underneath so you could see them at night. My flower pots came to life in the wintertime!"

Breault feels that, with horticulture, he has lived a life fulfilled. ""You have a career where you share what you love with others, and it helps them heal in some ways. To me, that has been the most rewarding part of my life. The patients I worked with knew that I cared for them, and they knew that when we were together, working with horticulture, it was a safe place for them to be. And that's just a great feeling to have."

SEE THE FULL STORY IN THURSDAY'S BLADE-EMPIRE NEWSPAPER, OR VISIT THE BLADE WEBSITE bladeempire.com

06/25/2025

Legendary Cloud County Track and Field Coach Harry Kitchener Announces Retirement

By Toby Nosker, CCCC SID

Harry Kitchener, a legendary NJCAA track and field coach who won two national championships and turned Cloud County Community College into a consistent national title contender, announced his retirement after 48 years in Concordia.

"I have been so proud to coach and work for Cloud County for 48 years," coach Kitchener said in a statement. "Serving as head women's and men's cross country coach, head men's track and field coach, and director of cross country/track and field has been an amazing career. We have accomplished so much and have made so many connections with wonderful people, it is hard for me to end my coaching career."

Kitchener, the longest-tenured coach in Cloud County history, was inducted into the Cloud County Athletics Hall of Fame in 2006 and the National Junior College Athletics Association (NJCAA) Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 2017. He was named Region 6 Coach of the Year five times (1999, 2001, 2006, 2008, 2019), and NJCAA Indoor Coach of the Year in 1994 and 2006.

Under Kitchener, Cloud County reached remarkable heights, winning twenty consecutive Prairie Junior College Conference championships, seventeen Kansas Jayhawk Community College Conference - West Division championships, and eight Region 6 championships. Kitchener led the T-Birds to its first-ever NJCAA Outdoor Track and Field Championship in 2019. Kitchener was named that year's Region 6 Men's Coach of the Year, Central Region Coach of the Year, and NJCAA Men's Coach of the Year by the United States Track & Field and Cross Country Coaches Association (USTFCCCA).

SEE THE FULL STORY ON THE BLADE'S WEBSITE bladeempire.com

06/25/2025

Congratulations to Kenlee Williams for being named Sports In Kansas 4A All-State Honorable Mention!

06/24/2025

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) arrested a former Cloud County Sheriff’s Office corrections officer for child s*x crimes on Monday this week.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation (KBI) arrested a former Cloud County Sheriff’s Office corrections officer for child s*x crimes on Monday this week. According to a press release, KBI …

06/19/2025

Extreme heat has arrived in northern Kansas this year, with the National Weather Service (NWS) issuing a heat advisory for the entire northern edge of Kansas.

Extreme heat has arrived in northern Kansas this year, with the National Weather Service (NWS) issuing a heat advisory for the entire northern edge of Kansas. According to NWS forecasters, …

06/19/2025

The Concordia Post Office will be closed all day today, causing a delay in print editions reaching subscriber mailboxes.

The Concordia Post Office will be closed all day on Thursday, June 19, in observance of the Juneteenth federal holiday. Concordia Blade-Empire print subscribers who receive their newspaper …