OLATHE — Craig Adams and Madlyn Ostrander were among the candidates vying for Humboldt High School Sweetheart King and Queen 51 years ago. The two have been sweethearts ever since.
The long-time tradition of selecting candidates, casting votes and the crowning ceremony is something the student body anticipates annually during the month marked with hearts and flowers.
As freshmen candidates, Adams and Ostrander didn’t receive crowns that night in 1961, but the ceremony and dance following the basketball game is labeled as their first “real” date.
“We met at Garvie’s Drug Store when we were in sixth grade,” Madlyn said. “I went to Catholic school and was waiting on my brothers to get out of football practice. Craig was there, he was flirting and I was in love at first sight.”
Both were born in Humboldt. He a “city slicker,” she a “farm girl, milking cows and baling hay with 12 other siblings.”
“Craig would ride his bike five miles out to our farm. He would help me drive the tractor in the fields and bale hay,” she recalled.
The Ostranders were a large Catholic, farming family that didn’t have a lot of money, Madlyn said. “For my parents to buy me a formal dress was the biggest event in my life. It was my first store-bought dress; I was so proud of it. Getting to be a queen candidate was an unbelievable honor to me. I was sure I was Cinderella!”
Through the remainder of their high school career, both excelled academically, were active in various school organizations and participated in sports. Adams was a standout on the basketball court and the football field and Ostrander a four-year cheerleader.
After graduation in 1964, Adams went on to Pittsburg State University to earn a degree in industrial arts education. Ostrander graduated from Emporia State with a physical education degree.
They were married on June 2, 1968 and will celebrate their 44th wedding anniversary this year.
They have three grown children, Travis, Joshua and Ashli, and four grandchildren. They both taught at the high school in Wellsville where they lived 34 years before moving to Olathe 10 years ago.
“We taught school, coached sports, sponsored senior trips and proms and raised our family (in Wellsville). It was a ball,” Madlyn said.
But, the Humboldt and Iola area is where they return to be with brothers and sisters and old friends.
“We came to the Old Grads reunion last year for the first time,” Madlyn said. “It was so much fun seeing our classmates and the new field house is totally awesome. It’s so great for the high school kids to enjoy.”
On Valentine’s Day these “sweethearts” plan to have a dinner date, exchange romantic cards and possibly a surprise gift and maybe reminisce about their first date when they were Sweetheart King and Queen candidates.
