“A lot of places, when you are a backpacker, they will look right past you. They ask lots of questions,” Cantwell said. “I started asking ‘what is going one here?’ Everyone is very inquisitive, and very friendly. Visits to the police station, New Jerusalem Mission and an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting house. He talks of meeting the owners a thrift store, who gave him a cross to wear. Dixon is a little smaller than here,” Cantwell said. He took a great thrill in finding the name of a person from Dixon on a piano at the Harvey County Historical Society – a piano that was signed by travelers stopping at the Newton Train Station back in the 1940s. He also found a place to stay, as he was planning to camp at Camp Hawk. After my kids were raised and my divorce, life fell apart.”Ĭantwell said at the AA facility he found a “really great group” that cares about healing people. “Stay sober is to find purpose and meaning. “This is part of my purpose,” Cantwell said. In Newton he found the Alcoholics Anonymous facility on SE 14th, and celebrated his one year anniversary of sobriety. It was on that trail he found Herrington, and headed westward to Hillsboro before coming southbound for Newton. He picked up the Katy Trail, which followed the old Katy Railroad lines, leaving the Katy for the Flint Hills trail. He started his trek – a hike – in Missouri, headed for Arizona. … People’s hearts are open in this community.” It is a pure expression of the heartland. “I want people to know how appreciative I am of every place I have been too, and every person I have met in this community. “I was like, what is going on? It is just so receptive for people,” Cantwell said. When he got to Newton it had been weeks since he’d had a shower, and he found one – no questions asked – at the Newton Recreation Commission. This is a wonderful community that is very open and welcoming.” “The story is I came into this town and it has been so welcoming. “I have made my way all around this town,” Cantwell said. He started to notice it as he hiked through Herrington, and then Hillsboro. But Alan feels like he has found something in central Kansas. “Tell these people they are loved,” he said.Īll those details of his trip are important pieces to the story. He wants it to be about where he is – physically – and the people he has found. He doesn’t want it to be about his journey of self discovery, poetry, sobriety anniversary or that much of his camping gear (which he carries on his back in a 40 pound backpack from town to town) was stolen in Newton. Kansas Newspapers Obituaries Archive - Numerous newspapers listed from the 1980's to the current time.ĭeath Notices of Members of Kansas Fraternal Orders - 50,000 entries.Alan Cantwell from Dixon, Illinois, doesn’t want the local news coverage of his trek across half of the United States to be about him. The Kansas Genealogical Society and Online Library offers a name index of their Obituary Collections for newspapers of many Kansas counties. The Kansas Genealogical Society Online Library obituary collection, index.1980-2014 United States, GenealogyBank Obituaries, 1980-2014 at FamilySearch - How to Use this Collection index & images.1899-2012 United States, Obituaries, American Historical Society of Germans from Russia, 1899-2012 at FamilySearch - index and images - How to Use this Collection.1873-1969 Kansas, Fraternal Order Death Index, 1873-1969 at Kansas Historical Societey - index Also at MyHeritage ($). 1841-1981 Kansas Newspaper Archives (1841–1981) at Genealogy Bank.
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