May Update

SAD NEWS As most of you know, our family suffered a loss at the end of March when my brother, Phil Lacey, died from melanoma cancer. That, amid all else, has thrown me a bit off in keeping this site up to date, BUT,
never fear, the REUNION is still on.
We will very much miss Phil's presence at the reunion, especially because he was such a wealth of family history and lore, and he would have really enjoyed sharing that with all of you who will be attending.

ACTIVITIES I am in touch with the people who now own the old Finley house, and they are open to idea of hosting a tour for all of us who are interested. That will probably happen the afternoon of Tuesday, July 3, or morning of July 5. I haven't scheduled it yet.
I saw in the Chase County Leader that the courthouse was closed as of last week for renovation, so I will be speaking with someone at the Chamber of Commerce about a tour on either Tuesday or Thursday, and hopefully whatever renovation that is will not preclude our getting in there. We will also go to the grade school and view the old regulator clock from G.E. Finley and Son, Jewelers.

ON THE DAY Dick Hoffine is arranging for catering on July 4, at the community building in Swope Park. I think we'll try to do some golfing in the morning, and gather around noon in the park. We'll plan to be there for the afternoon, and in the evening we can set off fireworks. My cousin, Karla Edmiston, and her husband, Dean, have offered their backyard if we would like to gather there. The river borders the north of their property, so if the fireworks get out of hand, hopefully the fire wouldn't get beyond the river. If it does, well, no one cared so much about Strong City anyway.

LODGING Here is information on lodging in the area:

The old Grand Central Hotel right in the middle of downtown, has been completed renovated and is a first class operation now. The have a total of 10 rooms, though this is not the place for any of you who are on a budget.


The old Millstream Motel down by the river has been put back into operation, and seems to have nice, simple accomodations. I know some of the family are talking about staying there.

Close by is the Prairie Fire motel, in Strong City. It's right on the highway, but reasonably priced, and has a masseuse on staff. I know I'm hoping to book a room there.

In recent years, a number of B&B's and guest ranches have sprung up in the area. If you a larger group, that might be a nice idea.

Clovercliff Ranch in Elmdale.
www.clovercliff.com/

1874 Stonehouse
www.stonehousebandb.com/

Carol Country Inn
www.chasecountyks.org/lodging/carols.htm

Tallgrass Prairie Lodge
www.tallgrassprairielodge.com/

Pilgrim Ranch ( this is a hunting operation of some sort)
www.pilgrimranch.com/

Beyond those, there are many regular chain motels in Emporia, which is only 20 miles distant. I think as many of us as can will try to get in the Millstream and the Prairie Fire, and I don't know that everyone will fit into those.
www.discoverourtown.com/KS/Emporia/Lodging-3223.html

I don't know about everyone else, but we, the Bruce Laceys, are planning to drive to Cottonwood Falls with Ruthanne on Tuesday morning, and will plan to be there until Thursday afternoon.

WEDDING BELLS Also, for any of you who would like to stay in the area longer, Sharylyn would like to invite you to daughter Alexia Lacey's wedding in McPherson on Saturday, July 7. If you are planning to come, please let me know so that Sharylyn can send you an invitation, OR you can email her directly at: sharyphil@sbcglobal.net They would love to have extended family attend.

DON'T MISS OUT For those of you who are late planners, or have been on the fence about whether to come or not, we all sincerely hope you do. Now is the time to step up and buy those plane tickets and make those lodging reservations.
We're certainly hoping that all the surviving first cousins will be there, and at this point it looks like that will happen. For all you younger people, this is your chance to come see this charming little Kansas town that your family pioneered and was home to family members for over 100 years. I don't want to say this is your ONLY chance--I don't think the town is going anywhere--but for a gathering of the relatives who have the memories and know the stories...

For you lightweights...

...who don't enjoy boiling hot weather, you'll be happy to hear I spoke with Shirley, the city clerk of Cottonwood Falls, today and reserved the new community building in Swope Park for our gathering on July 4th. It's large (could hold about 300 Finleys), has tables and chairs, a full kitchen, bathrooms, and, best of all, AIR CONDITIONING! It also right across from the swimming pool, so there's another way to cool off very near.

I'll be posting information on lodging options in the area soon--when we get all the information rounded up. My cousin Karla (on the Lacey side) lives in Cottonwood Falls and is a good source of information. Dick Hoffine is talking to Tom Bell who has a total wealth of knowledge of the area. (Of course, the Bells have been friends of the Finleys for 3 or 4 generations now.)

Hello Everyone!

I was in Lawrence the weekend of January 13-14. It was Mom's (that's Aunt Ruthanne to many of you) 82nd birthday, and Dick and Carol Hoffine, and Sue and Jim Marvine were kind enough to brave an ice storm and drive from Kansas City to Lawrence for Ruthanne's birthday party. Phil and Sharylyn Lacey (my brother and his wife) were there from McPherson, Kansas, as was our sister, Jean, who lives outside of Boston.

Dick and I have been talking about a Finley reunion in Cottonwood Falls for a couple of years now, and Phil (my brother) and I had been thinking about one for a while before that.

So, one of the topics at the birthday party was the reunion, and we decided we'd better get in gear if it was going to happen this summer.

We're just getting started on this page, but I wanted to get the flyer out in the mail and have a place all could go to get information.

I'll add links for lodging in the area. Many of us will plan to be in Cottonwood for more than one day, but July 4th is the day we'd like everyone who can to be there.

We're planning a catered picnic, and are looking for the perfect location for that.

We'll also create a map for self-guided tours, with all the historic points of interest. Of course, we don't want anyone to get lost in Cottonwood.

We'd like to have a golf tournament at the country club. Many of you have never played on sand "greens". And some of you have maybe never played at all. But if you have any Finley blood in you, we'll want to see you out there on the links. Don't worry about clubs--if we have a bag or two to share from, we'll do fine. A set of lefties would just make it that much more fun. And since the golf course is the same land A. D. and Lucinda Findley settled on in 1858, evreyone will want to visit this site anyway.

Feel free to email or call me with any questions: 2laceys@gmail.com or 415.256.9500 (& that's in San Francisco, Pacific time)

Really hoping to see everyone this summer!

Bruce Lacey

Some Finley history

From Phil Lacey:

The A.D. Findley homestead was the Northwest Quarter of Section 33, Township 19 South, Range 8 East, Chase County, which is located at the very southeastern edge of the platted city of Cottonwood Falls. That is the location of the municipal golf course. (I think I verified the legal description years ago in the courthouse records, but didn't write it down. I couldn't find any maps on the internet that would verify other than the section location, and that the creek flows through it.) Anyway, it's close.

Gideon, born in Johnstown, PA in 1857, was brought to Kansas by Alexander D. and Lucinda his wife when they settled in the area (which was in about 1858, prior to passage of the Homestead Act by Congress in 1862). They spent about a year at Prairie City (Baldwin) after coming from PA before going on to Chase County. The claim is that Gideon was the first white child in Chase County. He was NOT the first white child BORN in Chase County, because he wasn't born there.

Gideon changed the spelling of the family name to Finley. I don't know exactly when that was, but I suspect about the time he became of age. His wife was Elvira (Ella) Seaman, and they were married in 1882.

I can supply about anything you want to know about the Finleys from my extensive archives saved from destruction in 2005!