Updated Jan 01, 2013 @ 07:26 PM
It is time to move forward and take on the challenges of 2013. First though, I need to share one last long look back at the past year through the photos of 2012. All the photos that I capture mean something to me. I can look at a photo I made years ago and be taken back to the spot. I may have forgotten all about that day but when I see the photo I remember what was happening at the assignment. I think that this is one of the main reasons why photography is such an important part of who I am. I capture moments in time that I can look back and reflect on and hopefully others might see a photo that I made and do the same. That is why I do this job all day everyday. I am a visual historian of everyday life and I am thankful I get to do it. I have added a collection of photos that sum up for me what this past year was like for Pittsburg and the surrounding area through my eyes. Happy New Year!
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Teri McThompson, owner of Splash Pool and Spa, covered her entire business with red plastic table lining Friday morning with the help of four Pittsburg State University volunteers for the Paint The Town Red business competition. Her mother came down from Chetopa to paint the gorilla on the shop’s front window. Businesses around Pittsburg took their decorations to a whole new level this year.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Pittsburg State University student Rashid Bey is covered with colored powder thrown on him by other participants in the Indian spring Festival of Colors known as Holi Saturday morning at Gorilla Village. The Pittsburg State University Indian Student Association sponsored this annual celebration.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Via Christi Hospital physical therapist Elly Wilber works on sitting balance and strength training with Abilene resident Linda Mills Saturday morning as Mills’ husband, Rex, encourages her. Mills underwent surgery in September to have both of her legs amputated above the knee and will be released from Via Christi this week. She was transferred to Via Christi to be near their daughter, Amy Price, who lives in Frontenac.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Lakeside Elementary School first grader Garrett Hanson adds ingredients to his baking soda volcano experiment Thursday evening at the school’s annual science fair. There were 44 entrants this year.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Heather Arnett, 8, of Pittsburg, holds still while Pittsburg State linebacker Nate Dreiling adds his autograph to the list of Pittsburg State football players who signed her sweatshirt Saturday afternoon after a Community pep rally at Pritchett Pavilion.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Buildings in downtown Pittsburg near 4th and Broadway streets are reflected in a Colonial Fox Theatre Foundation office window Monday evening, where an artist’s rendering of future plans for the theatre is displayed.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Pittsburg Public Library Homework Center coordinator Rachel Martin helps Kadeyn Dixon with some of his homework Tuesday afternoon.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Project manager Glenn Wocca, of Dallas-based company Hanita Coatings, wedges protective film onto a lobby window on the fourth floor of Via Christi Hospital Thursday morning. The hospital is installing the coating, which is a thousandth of an inch thick yet strong enough to prevent projectiles from shattering and penetrating the glass in the event of tornado-strength winds, on 88 corridor windows and the five labor and delivery rooms on the new third floor women’s center.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Shyane Woods, a seventh grader at Pittsburg Community Middle School, concentrates on her homework on one of a row of tables in the school cafeteria. After studying, Shyane joined a group educational module Monday afternoon during the new after school program at PCMS called FIRE, which stands for Fun, Interactive, Recreational, Enriching.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Lady Macbeth, portrayed by Krista Jarboe, is stalked by a demon, played by Emily Rawlings, who influences her and her husband to commit the murder of a king in this scene from “Tres Brujas,” based on Shakespeare’s “Macbeth.” The play will be presented at 7 p.m. today and Saturday and 2 p.m. Sunday in the John E. Shireman Performing Arts Center, Girard High School.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Meadowlark Elementary School counselor Melinda DeGruson listens as students sing “You Are My Sunshine,” to her during a surprise assembly Friday afternoon.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
From left, Frontenac volunteer firefighters Ethan Ketterman, Keaton Brown, Brandon Long, Cody Lindbloom, Tim Tompkins and Nick Stroud were the first group to take part in the 2012 Pittsburg Polar Plunge Saturday morning at the Crimson Villas apartments.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Jane Crumpacker, rural Cherokee, carries a kid in search of its mother. She raises and sells goats, with some help from her husband, Carl, and the human kids in the family. A total of 64 kids have been born so far this season, and she has 15 more does (female goats) who are expecting.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
A layer of snow covers a farmer’s field Monday morning north of Pittsburg. Despite the snow, temperatures are expected to rise to the upper 40s today and into the 50s later this week.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Members of the Joplin-based Tristatemen Barbershop Chorus serenade The Little Shop of Flowers employee Brenda Mallett Tuesday morning. Mallett was making flower bouquets to be delivered by Pittsburg’s Sunrise Rotary, which collects the delivery fees as its annual fundraiser. Mallett’s husband, Keith, commissioned the singing quartet for Valentine’s Day.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Christy Randall, sitting, of Toddler Time Daycare, brought out from left, Ryder Hensley, Cooper Rakes, Jace Forkner, Cooper Jordan and Joshua Clark to witness history as workers from Tilton and Sons House Moving relocate the tender car from Engine No. 1023 from Schlanger Park to a new home at the Carona Depot. Also with the group, standing in back, is Judy Strahan.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Fourth grader Sydney Linahan wears a Mardi Gras sticker on her cheek as she takes part in the activities Tuesday afternoon at Lakeside. Linahan was the queen in her classroom.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Emilee May, left, and classmate Emma Eckstein, kindergartners in Dwayne Taylor’s class at Frank Layden Elementary, read the books they created, during the Young Authors Conference Friday morning in the school gymnasium.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Clayton Burton, 10, left, and Avery Bass, 10, both Webelos with Pack 75 in Columbus keep an eye on the action during the pinewood derby Saturday morning at Meadowbrook Mall.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Straight-line winds estimated at 120 mph snapped even the burliest of trees in Highland Park Cemetery late Tuesday night. Crews from M&M Construction Services continue the daunting task of cleaning up the 40-acre cemetery, but Joe Naylor, president of the cemetery and Bath-Naylor Funeral Home, said volunteers are welcome to help as well.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Straight-line winds estimated at 120 mph toppled monuments and head stones and snapped trees in Highland Park Cemetery late Tuesday night. This monument of the Virgin Mary remained largely unscathed, though.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Crews are demolishing bridges on Kansas Highway 47 between U.S. Highway 69 and Girard. The highway will be closed to through traffic for months while crews replace three derelict bridges on the route. The replacement bridges will be 44 feet wide, with 12-foot lanes and 10-foot shoulders.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Pittsburg State senior guard Courtney Tate entertains the crowd and the Pitt State women’s basketball team after head coach Lane Lord gave her the microphone to address the gathered fans sending off the PSU women to the Division II Elite Eight in San Antonio.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Pittsburg State University freshman Shelbi Hussong is framed by tulips as she relaxes under a tree on the PSU Oval Monday afternoon. Classes resumed Monday after a week off for Spring Break, and students took advantage of the warmer-than-normal weather.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Here, Pitt State ROTC cadet Kristina Willis goes down the zip line at the outdoor high ropes course at the Southeast Kansas Education Center at Greenbush back in March.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Trent Schenck, who turned 2 on Saturday, hunts for eggs at Ted Carnino Field during the annual McDonalds Easter egg hunt co-sponsored by the Pittsburg Parks and Recreation Department, Pittsburg Young Professionals and the Pittsburg Area Family YMCA.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Pittsburg State sophomore Erin Schulz paints part of the new mural being added to a wall at Wheat State Pizza Monday evening. The students, members of the University Art Association, hope to have the mural done by the end of the spring semester.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Sisters Madilynn, 1, and Sydney, 3, Walter eagerly await the start of the annual Girard Easter egg hunt Saturday morning on the Crawford County Court House lawn.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Detroit, Mi., residents Kaitlyn Wilson and her father Steve dressed in Civil War era clothing at the Fort Scott National Historic Site Saturday afternoon. Kaitlyn’s aunt, Suzy Brown, and her fiance, Dave Ryan, are re-enactors and got married in an 1860s-style wedding Saturday night that was open to the public.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Sigma Sigma Sigma sophomore Rachel McConnell leads her team during a tug of war competition on the Oval Wednesday afternoon during Pittsburg State University’s annual Greek Games.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
A squad of PSU ROTC cadets fire upon “enemy combatants” during an aviation lab/training exercise Thursday afternoon at Plagens Conservation Area south of Pittsburg. Students were flown into the site on a UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter to practice insertion techniques before beginning their simulated mission.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Jessica Stice wears fire fighting gear as she uses the powerful stream of water from a hose to knock down an obstacle during a task Saturday evening. Teammate Kylie Ludwig, who accomplished the task first, offers support during the stop at Pittsburg Firestation #1, one of the Pittsburg Area Young Professionals Amazing Race challenges Saturday evening.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
From left, Polona Kalan, Paris Taylor and Ana Marija Kalan walk with numerous others around the track at Hutchinson Field during the second annual Get Busy Livin’ 5K Run and Walk Saturday morning.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Sarah Silva and Pittsburg State ROTC cadet Hal Rivard pull a giant tire, one of numerous challenges competitors faced as they completed the Gorilla Dash Saturday.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
A park bench at Lincoln Park rests partially submerged in the rising water from Cow Creek Monday after heavy rains moved through the area over night.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN FILE PHOTO
Pittsburg High School track athletes go through stretching drills Wednesday during a practice session on the school’s brand new track. The old track was not regulation size and did not have a rubber surface, which caused injuries. The coaches and athletes have been waiting for the track to be finished for a year.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Covenant Harvest School second graders from left, Ayla Ford, Kiersten Diereling, Rylee Scott, Ellis Hurt and Gabriel Helms wait for their opportunity to model clothing they made with non traditional materials in their art class during a fashion show Friday for residents at the Arma Care Center.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Third grader Evan Harries gets some help from Roy Parsons of McCune while learning to make a lasso Friday morning at one of the exhibits during the annual Pioneer Day at Lakeside Elementary School. Parsons brought several hand crank rope makers with which the students, with his help, made their own ropes. Harries made his using twine and a 1911 New Era Rope Machine.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Newly-commissioned 2nd Lt. Callie Wheeler receives her first salute as a commissioned officer in the United States Army from her grandfather, retired Navy Chief Petty Officer Karl Nelson, Friday morning during a commissioning ceremony at Pittsburg State University’s Veterans Memorial Amphitheater. During the ceremony, 17 cadets from the Gorilla Battalion were sworn into the Army, given the shoulder bars that indicate their rank, and received their first salute, from a sergeant, as per Army tradition.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
George Nettel Elementary students (from left) Ashleigh Henderson, Greely Arck, Kelsey Lee, and Malia Esposito concentrate on their tickets as numbers are called out during a raffle for prizes Thursday evening during a USD 250 elementary school family night at Gorilla Village.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Pittsburg State University students Brooke Henderson and Jake Gehlbach practice an underwater rescue Friday afternoon in PSU’s aquatic center in the Weede Physical Education Building. They are part of a five-member group of lifeguards the City of Pittsburg is training this year as the pool season nears. When they finish the 25-hour course, they will be certified Red Cross lifeguards.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Members of the Pittsburg High School Class of 2012 celebrate their accomplishment at the conclusion of the 124th commencement exercises at Pittsburg High School Saturday afternoon.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
President Barack Obama greets Joplin residents shortly after landing at Joplin Regional Airport. Obama spoke at the Joplin High School commencement ceremony almost one year after a tornado devastated the school and the city.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Thousands of people taking part in the Walk of Unity travel along the path of the tornado on 20th street Tuesday afternoon. The walk, which was part of the Joplin Day of Unity, marked the one year anniversary of the E5 tornado that destroyed a third of the city and claimed 161 lives.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Dakota Reese, 8, a member of Cub Scout Pack 151, and Tim Dainty, Chairman of the Pittsburg Avenue of Flags, prepare a flag to be raised for Memorial Day at Highland Park Cemetery in Pittsburg Monday morning.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
The noon sun shines over the Crawford County Courthouse in a fisheye view of the building on Thursday afternoon. The courthouse was dedicated 90 years ago today and underwent an exterior renovation 20 years ago.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
“Bella”, owned by Landon Hise of Hulbert, Ok., makes a leap of more than twenty feet during one of her jumps in the DockDogs Big Air competition Friday morning. The event is one of the activities taking place this weekend during the Good Ol’ Days festival in Fort Scott.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
People gathered by the dozens at Pittsburg State University’s bell tower Tuesday afternoon to witness the transit of Venus, the last time it will occur until the year 2117. A transit of Venus occurs about every 100 years when the planet passes directly between the sun and Earth. The event generally happens in twos — there was another transit in 2004. Here, Tuesday’s transit is magnified 80 times through one of the physics department’s catadioptric telescopes, which use lenses and curved mirrors as opposed to lens-only dioptric telescopes. The photo was taken using a cell phone's camera pressed against the telescope's eyepiece.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Matt Brown gives his son Gabriel, 2, some help to view the transit of Venus in one of the telescopes set up at Pittsburg State University as siblings Lily, 5, and Jayden, 4, wait for their turn Tuesday evening.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Jocelyn, 4, swings around her father, Sgt. Joshua Karhoff, Claremore, Okla., while her sister, Amelia Grace, 1, laughs after a homecoming ceremony Thursday morning at Hangar 680 in Topeka’s Forbes Field. Karhoff was one of 60 returning soldiers from Agribusiness Development Team 4’s deployment to Afghanistan.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Teams compete in the hillbilly laundry event Wednesday afternoon during the Hillbilly Games, a Fourth of July tradition in Hepler. In this event teams put on overalls, climbed into a stock tank full of water, raced down to the other end of the course wearing their wet clothing, then hang the overalls on a hay circle before carrying the hay circle back to the starting line as a team to complete the race.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Kiser Wiatrak, 7, of St. Paul, holds on during his first place ride in the Hepler Ruritan Rodeo mutton busting competition Tuesday evening.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Wyatt Forester, 5, of Fort Scott, watches the Hepler Ruritan Rodeo Tuesday evening.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Local women recreated the historic 1921 Amazon Army March Friday on a country road near Capaldo. The march was taped and will form part of a segment on the march for the PBS TV program “Sunflower Journeys.” In the march, wives, sweethearts, daughters and sisters marched in support of striking coal miners who were seeking decent wages and safer working conditions.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Five-year-old Ryddr Grosstephan watches the Arma V-J Homecoming parade Saturday morning.
Sean Steffen
Bret Crockett, a member of the Pittsburg Entertainment and Artists Cooperative Endeavor, walks along Broadway in the rain with a replica of “Lady with Ermine” by Leonardo da Vinci during Little Balkans Days Saturday morning.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Re-enactor Richard Elliott, a Edna, Kan., resident, takes his horses to graze on the natural grasses at Prairie State Park Saturday afternoon during the Prairie Jubilee.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Zombie sisters Kionah and Becca Frobish, of Columbus, cinch together the final pieces of their costumes in the waning hours of the day Friday before they man their station inside Dexter’s Haunted House of Horror in Columbus. The haunted house, which is being hosted by first-time proprietors Tammy and Tom Myers, of Joplin, Mo., is located in the former Simpson’s Funeral Home at 323 S. Kansas.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Crawford County and Jasper County firefighters unfurl a large American flag at the Girard High School football field Sunday afternoon. The firefighters and their families were gather for the 25th annual Fallen FIrefighters Memorial. The ceremony was moved to the stadium to allow Eagle Med to conduct a flyover with a rescue helicopter and land on the field.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Frank Layden Elementary School kindergarteners Emma McKay, 5.5, Lily Peterson, 5, and Skylynn Carter screech at the sight of spider webs, hanging bats and partially-buried skeletons while on a hayride through the “haunted” woods at the Wood Farms pumpkin patch Wednesday afternoon. By the time the patch closes for the season at the end of October, nearly 3,500 students from the Four State area will have visited.
Sean Steffen
Lakeside Elementary School fifth grader Skyla Wallace and her classmates recite the Pledge of Allegiance in the one-room schoolhouse in Cato Friday afternoon. More than 400 fourth and fifth grade students from Pittsburg, Frontenac, Arma and Uniontown participated in the second annual field day during the annual Cato Days festival in Cato.
Sean Steffen
Movers from Patton House and Building Movers, of Paola, Westar Energy linemen and area law enforcement officers worked together Thursday morning to move this former miner’s home from Frontenac to the Miners Hall Museum in Franklin. Here it clears the final tree on W. Seventh Street in Franklin before reaching the museum.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Joe Adams, who maintains Pittsburg’s Christmas decorations, replaces a blue bulb Saturday morning at a warehouse at Atkinson Municipal Airport in preparation for the annual hanging of the lights on Monday afternoon.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
R.V. Haderlein Elementary School third-graders Raelé Smith and Madelyn Knopp learn how to find directions using a compass Friday afternoon. Haderlein third graders spent the day at the Greenbush Science Center learning about magnetism and dissecting frogs as part of their science curriculum.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Pittsburg Area Young Professionals Ashley Conyers, left, and Amanda Sukraw load food and other goods into a waiting car for a family at the Pittsburg State University Student Recreation Center and Kansas National Guard Armory during the distribution Monday afternoon.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
Pittsburg Fire Department Capt. Taylor Cerne helps 6-year-old Westside Elementary School kindergartner Alucard Taylor pick out Christmas presents Tuesday afternoon at Walmart. Each year the department takes about 10 underprivileged kids from one of Pittsburg USD 250’s elementary schools to shop. Last year they took students from George Nettels Elementary School, and in 2010 they took students from Lakeside Elementary School.
SEAN STEFFEN/THE MORNING SUN
This puppy is one of many at the Southeast Kansas Humane Society animal shelter who are available for adoption. Also available at the shelter are adult dogs, cats and kittens. The SEK Humane Society has gift certificates available for purchase that will enable recipients to come and pick out a pet of their choice.
