G&G
WPS
Scotch & Beer
Pairings.
What are you looking forward
to this school year? Page 7
Page 16
EGW
AUGUST 13 AND 14, 2016
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PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1895
WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM
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The gift of giving
Ember Mendoza
makes donation
to CASA of the
Flint Hills
When Ember recently celebrated her sixth birthday with a
party, instead of gifts for herself,
she asked her friends to bring
items to donate to CASA (Court
Appointed Special Advocates) of
the Flint Hills.
“It’s exciting for me to donate
to the CASA kids,” Ember said. “I
By Mary Ann Redeker
knew I could have gotten some [email protected]
ally cool birthday gifts, but I knew
I had to help the CASA kids. I knew
F o r 6 - y e a r - o l d E m b e r they didn’t have anything and I
M e n d o z a , b i r t h d a y g i f t s knew I had to help them.”
Ember said she thought of the
aren’t a big deal. Helping other
idea to help others when she saw
children is.
her older sister, Avery, do something similar a couple years ago.
“I thought about it when my sister donated,” she said. “I wanted to
do the same thing. I didn’t expect
that the kids who came to my party
would give this much stuff. I feel
really proud to donate.”
Avery Mendoza said she helped
her sister with the idea and was excited to make the donation.
“I feel like we both have done a
really a good job of getting things
done to help others,” she said. “I
helped Ember go shopping to buy
some of the items we donated, too.
I feel that Ember did a really good
thing in making her choice. Good
job, Ember!”
A tearful Dena Russell, director
of CASA of the Flint Hills, said she
was thrilled to be receiving the donation on behalf of CASA.
“It’s so awesome to receive all
of these wonderful items today,”
Russell said. “Like Ember said,
the kids we serve have nothing.
To see another child donate and
understand that these kids don’t
have their mom or the soap that
they’re used to — it’s such a heartfelt thing. They are given what
they are given. For us, these things
are things we take for granted every day but for these kids, it’s huge
for them to be able to receive these
items. Thank you so much, Ember.”
Some of the items CASA received to distribute to children in
need were scrapbooking materials,
gift cards for clothing and shoes,
socks and underwear, toiletries,
hair accessories, Legos and gift
cards for picture development and
photo albums.
Please see Mendoza, Page 3
GRAND LEGENDS PLAY OWN
DIVISION IN PDGA WORLDS
REBECCA HEIAM/SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE
MCBETH AND LOCASTRO PUSH,
BUT WYSOCKI HOLDS STEADY
DYLAN SHERWOOD/GAZETTE
Carlos Rigby (left) and Ron Byrd were the only two players competing in the Grand
Masters Division of this week’s PDGA World Championships in Emporia. Both men
are more than 80 years old and hope to attract more senior citizens to the game.
By Dylan Sherwood
[email protected]
Looking at the world of
professional disc golf, some
might think it’s a young person’s game.
That’s not the case for
two members of the hundreds of professionals who
came to Emporia during
the past week to play in
the 2016 PDGA Professional Disc Golf World
Championships presented
by Dynamic Discs.
Carlos Rigby of Alexandria, Virginia, and Ron Byrd
of Rio Rancho, New Mexico,
were in a division of their
own known as the Grand
Legends in this year’s event.
Both Rigby and Byrd — who
are 80 and 84, respectively
— were introduced to disc
golf by their sons. Rigby’s
son, Ross, taught him when
he was 68 years old, while
Byrd’s son, Alan, taught him
when he was 70 years old.
Both men are really inspired to play the game,
but Rigby got his start for
Good Evening
a different reason. Before
he picked up the game,
he became pre - diabetic
and his blood
pressure was
going up.
“I needed
to increase
my activity doing
something,”
Rigby said.
“Running
was not an
option. I looked
Please see Legends, Page 3
Pierce comes
back to take
lead heading
into finals
By Steve Hill
Ultiworld Disc Golf
Paul McBeth
and Nikko Locastro came
out swinging during
round four
of the PDGA
Professional
Disc Golf
World Championships on
Friday, pushing
the limits of the Emporia Country Club’s out-of-
bounds lines with aggressive routes and powerful
distance.
But for every risk they
took, there was little reward
to be had, as Ricky Wysocki
— despite showing a few
chinks in his armor for the
first time this tournament
— continued his consistent
play and still holds substantial leads over the field.
Wysocki’s 7-under par 56
— although it was his highest—scoring performance
of the week — brought him
to a 46-under par 202 after
72 holes of golf. Locastro
managed to chip one shot
off his deficit and remains
in second place after firing
off an 8-under par 55 for the
day, while McBeth mirrored
Wysocki’s score — but not
the path to it — and sits at
a 37-under par 211 overall,
VOL. 125, NO. 37
Compassion is a gift in itself.
nine back of the lead.
Wysocki made a couple
uncharacteristic mistakes
early in the round, tossing
his upshot out of bounds
as he approached on Hole 3
and recording a rare in-thecircle miss as he putted for
birdie on Hole 4 to start the
round at even par.
“I didn’t have it, I didn’t
execute my gameplan today,” Wysocki said. “That’s
where I faltered a little bit,
but I still managed to stay
in there and I’m happy with
where I’m at still.”
McBeth, meanwhile,
started off strong by carding a birdie after a massive
hyzer drive on Hole 1. He
then went out-of-bounds off
the tee on Hole 2 before finishing the hole with a bogey,
Please see PDGA, Page 3