By John Robinson john @ emporia . com

Prizes were won , funnel cake was served and the Ferris wheel started spinning as the carnival opened at the Lyon County Fair on Thursday .

Open every day from 6 - 10 p . m . until Aug . 13 , the carnival marked the continuation of a longtime tradition for Emporian Chris Jackson .

“ Multiple times ,” Jackson said , recounting the amount of trips he ’ s taken to the fair over the years . Now Jackson is helping play the role of chaperone watching his son Zarek Jackson , age 7 , enjoy his time at the carnival . “ It ’ s good times . He ’ s having fun and Emporia is a great community .”

Zarek , who was engaged in a duel of plastic swords with Nicholas Weller , age 8 , said he was a fan of the “ Ring of Fire ,” an attraction which takes riders around a circular track at high speeds .

“ It ’ s pretty scary and it makes ( go ) you upside down ,” Zarek said .

Jackson said he also enjoys the 4-H events which take place over the course of the fair .

“ It ’ s a great thing for the community with all the 4-H events going on ,” he said . “ Stimulates the economy with the agriculture and everything . Just a great thing for the community .”

Nicholas was also a fan of the “ Ring of Fire ,” but also had high praise for the fishing game where both he and Zarek won their swords .

“ You can also get other cool stuff like a little stuffed animal ,” Nicholas said . “ How we got these was we traded our two stuffed animals in for a bigger prize .”

For Nicholas , his enjoyment of the fair was boiled down to one word : rides .

“ It ’ s this big place with insane rides and little rides ,” he said . “ For older kids and younger kids , and also , the one-and-only Ferris wheel .”

JOHN ROBINSON / GAZETTE

JAN BUCKMAN / SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

JAN BUCKMAN / SPECIAL TO THE GAZETTE

JOHN ROBINSON / GAZETTE

By Mary Ann Redeker maryann @ emporia . com

Those who have never played disc golf before but have thought about it have a great opportunity this weekend .

Dynamic Discs , Eagles Wings Disc Golf and First Baptist Church will present a free world championship disc golf clinic from 6 to 7:30 p . m . Sunday at Jones Park under the tents .

The event is family oriented and a great experience for every skill level , even for those who have never thrown a disc before .

Doug Bjerkaas , Professional Disc Golf World Championships director and events coordinator for Dynamic Discs , said the clinic was a great way to grow the sport and help promote disc golf .

“ If people want to do something that is healthy and gets them outside , then they should come to this clinic ,” Bjerkaas said . “ Disc golf is relatively inexpensive compared to other sports and is an awesome sport to play . For anyone who has never played disc golf , they should come and check out this clinic .

“ It ’ s a great week to do that with the Professional World Disc Golf Championships going on . We want the community to come out and experience disc golf . It ’ s nice to be able to promote that . We just want to expose more people to disc golf , whether they ’ ve played it a lot or have never played it at all .”

The event will feature Rick

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Voakes , nine-time world champion and hall of fame member and Sylvia Voakes , a 6-time world champion and hall of fame member . Also , Hannah Leatherman , 2015 women ’ s national champion ; Jim Schultz , 1998 amateur master world champion ; and Jim Oates , four-time world champion , hall of fame member and golf ambassador for Faithful Stewards Ministry .

“ There are several former world champions who will be in attendance at this clinic ,” Bjerkaas said . “ They will be teaching disc golf to anybody and everybody who shows up . This is a great group . Anytime you have former world champions and national champions giving a clinic and teaching the sport , it ’ s an awesome opportunity .”

There will be prizes and giveaways at the clinic also .

“ Dynamic Discs will be donating some discs , hats and some disc golf towels that will be given away ,” Bjerkaas said . “ Those are just some of the prizes . Eagles Wings will also have some prizes to give away .”

Bjerkaas said the Emporia area has some great disc golf courses

that people should get out and enjoy .

“ The courses are nationally known ,” he said . “ It ’ s very ironic that when I moved here from Denver , where hundreds and hundreds of people play disc golf , we didn ’ t have that many courses . The courses there are usually packed and the quality of the courses is relatively low compared to the quality of courses here in Emporia . It blows my mind that the courses get packed every time we host a tournament here but when there isn ’ t a tournament and it ’ s a normal weekend , you don ’ t see a lot of people on the courses . I would love to see Emporia embrace disc golf not just as a host , but as something that everyone gets out and enjoys .”

The event is sponsored by The Emporia Gazette and Navrat ’ s Office Products .

“ When I moved here from Colorado at the beginning of the year , one of the things Chris Walker told me was , ‘ Emporia has a lot of walkers ,’ Bjerkaas said . “ People like to walk in Emporia . If you ’ re going to walk in Emporia , you may as well throw a Frisbee while you ’ re doing it . Another thing that is awesome about disc golf is that men , women , children and older folks can play . It ’ s the type of sport that people can do at any level and still have a lot of fun .”

By Mary Ann Redeker maryann @ emporia . com

An academic agreement signed by officials from Emporia State University and Flint Hills Technical College will now benefit nursing students at both institutions .

The agreement , signed Thursday morning in the Clinical Simulation Lab at Newman Regional Health , will allow FHTC students who successfully complete the associate of applied science degree in healthcare administration and management , to seamlessly transfer to the ESU nursing program .

“ FHTC is so excited to be able to offer an opportunity to our students and graduates to advance their education and nursing career without having to repeat classes they have already taken ,” Savannah Phillips , FHTC practical nursing program director said . “ With this agreement , students will get credit for the education they have already completed toward a bachelor of science in nursing .”

The articulation agreement between the two institutions means that both have agreed to accept coursework from each

Please see Nursing , Page 3