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Council Grove

Posted on by Pat Melgares

“A few years ago, there were eight or nine empty buildings along our main street. Now, it’s hard to even find an open office space downtown.”

Welcome sign, Council Grove (Kan.)
Council Grove, Kan.

That quote comes from a businesswoman who has observed the resurgence of businesses in her community of Council Grove. This downtown, independent business renaissance has been led by women.

Last week we met Jennifer Kassebaum, who recently opened a bookstore in Council Grove. Her business is one of many new enterprises downtown. Julie Hower, president and CEO of Farmers & Drovers Bank in Council Grove, recently convened a group of downtown business owners. They met in the office of Zoey Bond, executive director of the Council Grove Area Trade and Tourism Association, and shared about their businesses.

For example:

Lindsey Forge is the owner of Weathered Wood Home, a vintage home décor furnishing business.

As a mother of four, she was a stay-at-home mom for eight years who found she enjoyed woodworking and building furniture. “This became a hobby that got out of control,” Lindsey said with a smile.

She started using reclaimed barn wood to make picture frames and expanded to offer candles and many other types of home décor products. In addition to her online business, she opened a downtown boutique in Council Grove in 2016. See www.weatheredwoodhome.com.

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Jennifer Kassebaum, Flint Hills Books

Posted on by Pat Melgares

“I cannot live without books,” said Thomas Jefferson.

Jennifer Kassebaum, in front of shelves of books
Jennifer Kassebaum, Flint Hills Books

Stephen King described books as “uniquely portable magic” and “the perfect entertainment: no commercials, no batteries, hours of enjoyment for each dollar spent.”

And author Jhumpa Lahiri wrote: “That’s the thing about books. They let you travel without moving your feet.”

The benefits of books are now being discovered and shared in a new, independent bookstore in a rural community of Kansas. Jennifer Kassebaum is the owner of Flint Hills Books in Council Grove.

Kassebaum went to the University of Kansas and earned a law degree at the KU law school, where she met and married Bill Kassebaum. They now have a cow-calf operation on a ranch near the rural community of Burdick, population 62 people. Now, that’s rural.

Kassebaum practiced law, worked as assistant general counsel at K-State and later at Wichita State before taking early retirement. As she thought about what she would like to be involved with next, one topic kept surfacing: Books.

“I always enjoyed books,” Kassebaum said. She thought about opening an independent bookstore. After researching the idea, including talking to several independent booksellers, Kassebaum leased a space in a beautiful former bank building in the nearby town of Council Grove.

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Deb Goodrich, Santa Fe Trail Association

Posted on by Pat Melgares

Can one man’s journey change history?

Portrait of woman with long brown hair
Deb Goodrich

“Yes,” said writer and historian Deb Goodrich. She points to William Becknell’s 1821 trade mission to Mexico as a pivotal point in the history of the west. Now she is leading the effort to commemorate the bicentennial of the Santa Fe Trail.

Goodrich is a journalist, historian and television host. A Virginia native, she was a student at Washburn University who became enamored of western history. She is now historian in residence at Fort Wallace in Kansas. Among many other things, she chairs the Santa Fe Trail 200 committee, which is commemorating the bicentennial of this historic trail.

“In 1821, change was racing across the west like a prairie fire,” Goodrich said. “Missouri was a brand new state and Mexico was a newly liberated nation.”

Missouri was also in a financial depression. A Missouri salt-maker named William Becknell was one of those in financial trouble. He was on the verge of going to jail because he could not pay his debts.

In September 1821, Becknell and five companions headed west to hunt and trade horses and mules. They traveled hundreds of miles by horseback through challenging territory. Nearly two-and-a-half months later, they arrived in Santa Fe.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Charles Curtis

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Who is the only native Kansan ever to be elected President or Vice President? (If you guessed Dwight D. Eisenhower, you would be wrong. Although Eisenhower claimed Abilene, Kansas as his home, he was born during his family’s brief stay in Texas.) Who is the first Native American Indian ever to be elected President or Vice President? The answer to that question is the same as the correct answer to the first one: Charles Curtis is the first native Kansan and first Native American Indian to be elected to the nation’s second-highest office. His life is an amazing example of how education and hard work created a rags-to-riches success story. Thanks to the Kansas Historical Society and the U.S. Senate website for this information.

Charles Curtis

Charles Curtis was born in north Topeka. His father was Orren Curtis and his mother was Ellen Pappan who was one-quarter Kaw Indian. Charles was the great-grandson of White Plume, a Kansa-Kaw chief who had offered assistance to the Lewis and Clark expedition. White Plume’s daughter married a French-Canadian trader, so Charles grew up speaking French and Kansa before he learned English.

His mother died in 1863 at about the time his father left to fight in the Civil War. Charles was raised by his grandparents at the Kaw Reservation near the rural community of Council Grove, population 2,051 people. Now, that’s rural.

Young Charley learned to ride Indian ponies bareback. He became a successful jockey.  He was also the hero of a cross-country run to warn Topeka about upcoming Cheyenne Indian raids.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Madonna of the Trail

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

The woman stands 8 feet tall and 3 feet wide. Wow, that would be quite a basketball player. But this is no basketball player, it is a statue.  Specifically, it is a monument to the pioneer women of America. It is one of only 12 such statues which are located across the nation. This one is found in rural Kansas.

This statue is located in Council Grove, county seat of Morris County. Diane Wolfe is the director of the Council Grove/Morris County Chamber of Commerce. I was referred to Diane by Kay Hutchinson, who recently retired after 22 years as executive director of the Greater Morris County Development Corporation.

Kay and Diane are strong advocates for Morris County. “There are more historic sites on a per capita basis in Morris County than Washington, D.C.,” Kay said. As a key community along the Santa Fe Trail, Council Grove is the location of the Custer Elm, Post Office Oak, and 20 or more other historic locations.

One prominent site in Council Grove is the Madonna of the Trail statue. The history of this statue goes back more than a century.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Deidre Knight, Council Grove Life Center

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Fun and fitness. Those two elements go together at the Council Grove Life Center, where the goal is to make rural life fun, entertaining, and long-lasting.

The Council Grove Life Center in Council Grove, Kansas has an indoor swimming pool, fitness studio, workout equipment, racquetball courts and more.

Deidre Knight is executive director of the Council Grove Life Center, a community fitness center in Council Grove. Deidre grew up in Salina and studied Family Studies and Human Services at K-State. She also met her husband, who grew up on a farm near the rural community of Alta Vista, population 444 people. Now, that’s rural.

Deidre and her husband moved to Kansas City after graduation. They eventually  moved back to Council Grove where she became the director of the Council Grove Life Center.

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