COMING DOWN — Revelers react as balloons fall from the ceiling as 8 p.m. — dubbed “Kids’ Midnight” — strikes during the Family New Year’s Eve Pajama Jam, Tuesday, Dec. 31, 2024, at the Flint Hills Discovery Center in Manhattan. The event featured food, music and activities to help welcome in 2025.
Staff photo by Lewis Marien
Lewis Marien, Mercury staff photographer, documents the month of December. Happy New Year!
GOOD AS NEW — Repairing and resurfacing of Anderson Avenue in Manhattan between Wreath Avenue and Seth Child Road recently finished, as seen Tuesday, Dec. 3, 2024. Ebert Construction had been working on the road since August.
FUNDING — Bridgette Jobe, tourism director for the Kansas Department of Commerce, right, presents a check to Clay and Emily Graber, and their children, Ayda, 4, and Theodore, 2, on Wednesday, Dec. 4, 2024, at an old schoolhouse located at 38130 Elm St. in rural Wamego. Clay Graber is spearheading a project to renovate the schoolhouse — which was believed to have been built at some point in the 19th century — into a vacation rental.
COLD START — A K-State student walks near Leasure Hall Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. Temperatures started out in the low 20s after sunrise and the high was expected to only reach 31 degrees.
NEW ERA — Kansas State athletics director Gene Taylor, left, introduces new head women’s soccer coach Colleen Corbin during a news conference Thursday, Dec. 5, 2024. Corbin succeeds Mike Dibbini, who was the first head coach of the program since it began in 2016. He resigned after the 2024 season.
COMING ALONG — Construction continues Friday, Dec. 6, 2024, on the new Riley County Emergency Medical Services headquarters in Manhattan. The 15,000-square-foot building, which will house administrative services and Station No. 1 for EMS, is scheduled to be open and operational by next July. Features of the new headquarters include a training and conference room, a full-time staffed ambulance and backup ambulances.
ALOHA — Customers dine in Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024, at Hawaiian Bros Island Grill, 325 E. Poyntz Ave. in Manhattan. After two years in the making, the restaurant officially opened Dec. 9 in the former Panera Bread space.
HOLIDAY GREETINGS — Santa Claus reaches out to high-five Kai Waggoner, 3, on Friday, Dec. 20, 2024, at Manhattan Town Center.
SKATE ON — Alexa Myers, 12, dresses for the holidays while ice skating Saturday, Dec. 21, 2024, at Wefald Pavilion in Manhattan’s City Park. The ice rink held its annual “Skate with Santa” event, drawing people in to have a good time as winter break is underway for K-State and local school districts.
CHANGE-UP AT THE BALL FIELD — Workers from Bayer Construction Company demolish the ball fields at CiCo Park’s Lud Fiser Youth Sports Complex in Manhattan, Thursday, Dec. 26, 2024. Construction will start in 2025 on a new project in the park, which includes four new fields. An anticipated grand opening is scheduled for 2026.
GATHERING — Community members light candles on menorahs during the Manhattan Jewish Congregation’s annual Hanukkah celebration Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. Saturday marked the fourth night of Hanukkah, which commemorates the victory of the Maccabees over the Syrian Greek army and the subsequent rededication of the Holy Temple in ancient Jerusalem. About 40 people attended the celebration, featuring kid-friendly activities and homemade dishes.
HOME SWEET HOME — Members of K-State’s “Pride of Wildcat Land” marching band hop off a bus as they arrive at Tracz Family Band Hall on the Manhattan campus late Saturday, Dec. 28, 2024. The band bussed home from Arizona for the Rate Bowl game, which the Wildcat football team won 44-41.
