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Heather Hartman, Mitchell County Strong

By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.

“Hungry Hungry Heroes.” Hmm, that sounds like the game called Hungry Hungry Hippos. This variation on that name is one example of the creative ways that leaders in Mitchell County supported their communities during the pandemic with a collaboration called Mitchell County Strong.

Mitchell County Strong
Mitchell County Strong

Heather Hartman is Mitchell County director of community development. A Beloit native, she had been a small business owner in Mitchell County before becoming county community development director in 2012.

“When the pandemic hit, it was scary,” Heather said. “There were projections that 30% of locally owned small businesses would close.” Heather’s office in Beloit is co-located with two other offices: the Chamber of Commerce and the community foundation. “Each of us was a separate organization, but what we did would never have happened if we weren’t all here together,” Heather said.

As shutdown orders were being issued, the three directors of these units immediately met to discuss what could be done. “Our main goal was to help these businesses and nonprofit organizations stay afloat,” Heather said. Continue reading “Heather Hartman, Mitchell County Strong”

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Linda Clover, World’s Largest Ball of Twine

“The belle of the ball.” That phrase may call to mind a pretty girl dancing in a fancy ballroom, but in this case, it refers to a different kind of ball. This belle is the woman who serves as the volunteer caretaker of the world’s largest ball of twine. She’s helping people from around the world enjoy this unique rural attraction.

Linda Clover explained that Frank Stoeber was farming near Cawker City in Mitchell County in 1953. As he fed small bales of hay to his cows, he began to accumulate the loose balestrings made of sisal twine.

World’s Largest Ball of Twine in Cawker City, Kansas

“He was a child of the Depression, so he didn’t throw anything away,” Linda said.  Rather than burning or discarding the twine, he started winding it into a ball. By the time he was done cleaning up his barn, he had a ball as big as his barn door.

Over time, he continued to add to the ball. Friends and neighbors started donating their twine to the project and the ball became massive. In 1956, when the Salina Journal wrote an article about it, the ball measured seven feet five inches and weighed 4,035 pounds.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Linda Clover, World’s Largest Ball of Twine”