G&G
Engagement
A worthy warrior
Page 8
Tabares-Jones
Page 5
EGW
SATURDAY, JANUARY 9, 2016
V V V
PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
S I S T E R S ,
A
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1895
L I F E L O N G
WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM
V V V
B O N D
LONG LOST SISTERS
REUNITED AFTER
NEARLY 50 YEARS
By Robin Wunderlich
The Eureka Herald
COURTESY PHOTO
Laura Haselhorst, center, her twin Tera Titus, left, and best friend Alex, right, have
been close friends since first grade. This winter formal was one of many things they’ve
done together growing up. With Tera’s eggs and Alex as a gestational carrier, Laura’s
dream of having a baby of her own is closer to becoming true than ever before.
TWIN SISTER AND BEST
FRIEND HELP FULFILL
DREAM OF HAVING BABY
By Tammy Seimears
The Madison News
Trey and Laura Haselhorst’s dream of having a
baby of their own is closer
to becoming reality than
ever before with the help
of Laura’s twin sister and a
dear friend.
Like any other little girl
growing up, Laura dreamt
about someday being a
mommy and having children. After having been
born with a condition called
sacral agenesis, where the
lower half of her body did
not fully develop and connect correctly, Laura knew
that there would come a
Please see Twins, Page 3
For many, the start of a
new year is all about resolutions and setting goals.
But for the family of Tonya
Whitaker Kellett, Jan. 1,
2016 was the day they reunited with the loved one
they lost nearly 50 years
ago.
Last Friday, Tonya made
the nine and a half hour trip
from Hendersonville, Tennessee to Eureka, where she
was united with a sister she
hadn’t seen since 1966, as
well as many other family
members.
Tonya and her sister Troy
Whitaker Shaw, of Eureka,
were separated in June of
1966, when they were just
4 years and 18-months-old,
respectively. Their parents,
Doris Winn and Jay Whitaker, were going through a
divorce. The life-altering
event took place when Doris took the girls to visit
their Aunt Donna in Coffey
County.
COURTESY PHOTO
The Whitaker sisters were reunited after a DNA search
on Ancestry.com located Tonya, who was kidnaped in
1966, then given up for adoption.
The girls’ father abductSecrets and lies
ed Tonya from the home,
changed her name and birthBeing four years old at
day, and two years later gave the time, Tonya has vague
her to a family in Sikeston, memories of the day she was
Missouri, who later adopted
her.
Please see Reunited, Page 3
COURTESY PHOTO
Trey and Laura Haselhorst’s dream of having a baby of
their own is closer to reality with the help of Laura’s
twin sister and a dear friend.
COUTESY PHOTO
Tonya, left, and Troy sit on a swing. The sisters were reunited New Year’s Day after
almost 50 years of separation.
MAX’S NOW FUELING DOWNTOWN EMPORIA
By Cathryne Scharton
[email protected]
Haag Oil Company of Topeka
opened a new BP station at Sixth
Avenue and Market Street.
The gas station, Max’s, is the
only fuel station that carries diesel
in downtown Emporia and is open
daily from 6 a.m. to 11 p.m. The
gas station had limited hours on
Dec. 23 and 24 and opened permanently Dec. 26.
“Haag Oil Company is proud
to enter the Emporia market at its
Max’s BP location at 202 E. Sixth
Ave. The location was formerly
Scotty’s Midtown before closing
February of 2014, due to the previous owner retiring. Haag Real Estate L.C. purchased the site in June
of 2015 and has been busy remodeling over the last four months,”
said owner Gary Haag.
The renovations totaled approximately $400,000. The old station
only had two pumps. Crews demolished the old canopy, installed
four new pumps, new lines and
two new tanks to accommodate
the diesel fuel. Max’s offers three
grades of gasoline along with Clear
Diesel Fuel at all eight pumping locations.
“We have desired to enter the
Emporia market for quite some
time now. We were a very close
second-place bid on the Emporia
Turnpike location two years ago
and we have been looking for opportunities in the market over the
past five years. We have locations
in both Council Grove and Strong
City, so the Emporia market makes
sense for our company,” said Haag.
“We will continue to monitor additional opportunities that present
themselves in the market. Ideally,
we would like to find additional locations in Emporia.”
In the near future, the station
will offer customers Hunt Brother’s Pizza.
“Hunt Brothers Pizza recommended that we wait a few weeks
before going live with the pizza
program,” Haag said. “Hunt Brothers will be in town on Jan. 12 to
give away free samples and kick off
the pizza program. Pizza and boneless wings will be served daily. We
highly recommend the breakfast
pizza!”
In addition to Hunt Brothers
Pizza the station offers all standard
conveniences, biscuits and gravy
served daily, an ATM machine and
has a FedEx Express dropbox located outside.
According to the company history provided by Haag, Thomas
J. Haag began working at his first
Good Evening
KENDRA JOHNSON/GAZETTE
Max’s, a gas station located at Sixth Avenue and Market Street, recently opened up on Dec. 26, 2015.
The gas station is owned by the Haag Oil Company in Topeka.
Amoco service station on the Emporia turnpike in 1966. Haag went
on to own an Amoco located in
Topeka in 1970. Over the years
the company grew significantly. In
2001, Haag Oil purchased Decker
Oil, a three-generation, familyrun business that had been in the
Wholesale Oil and Fuel business
since the 1950s.
Today, Haag Oil supplies over
30 million gallons of oil and fuel
annually to retail gas stations,
government entities, public and
private businesses, farmers and
families in Topeka and surrounding communities. Haag Oil operKENDRA JOHNSON/GAZETTE
ates 33 retail gas stations under
the BP, Phillips 66 and Cenex Max’s, a ne rv27FF