Those observations describe the positive momentum that is happening in a rural community in central Kansas.
Dave Mueller has played a leading role in the resurgence of the town of Tampa in Marion County. Mueller grew up on a farm near Tampa. After attending K-State, he worked for a national feed company before coming back to join his father on the farm. Mueller raises crops and runs a cow-calf operation on the family farm today.
Tampa is a historic community. It was a frequent stop for wagon trains traveling along the Santa Fe Trail. Over time, it experienced the typical struggles of smaller rural Kansas communities, such as declining population and outmigration. By the late 2000s, most of the businesses in downtown Tampa had closed.
“My aunt and uncle, Butch and Phyllis, had operated Butch’s Café (in Tampa) since 1980,” Mueller said. By 2009, Butch had passed and Phyllis was wanting to retire. “I bought the building so that the café could continue to operate.”
Next door to the café was an abandoned building. Mueller approached that building’s owner about purchasing it, but the owner was unwilling to sell. One day while Mueller’s crew was replacing the roof on the café building, the roof on the abandoned building next door collapsed. Continue reading “Dave Mueller, Tampa Trail Stop”→
But these horses aren’t running away; they are standing strong for their community.
These are dala horses, the beautifully decorated horse-shaped figures that are a symbol of Sweden. Today we will visit a rural Kansas community that is using dala horses to beautify the town and engage its people.
Tami Howland is president of Olsburg’s Kansas PRIDE program, now known as Kansas Community Empowerment. Howland also works at Union State Bank in Olsburg.
The town was founded in 1880 by an immigrant Swede named Ole Thrulson. Originally named Olesburgh, the name was later shortened to Olsburg. One Swedish tradition is the display of dala horses: wooden carvings of horses that are painted and displayed outside homes and businesses.
PRIDE members wanted to enhance the community. In 2021, they received an anonymous donor’s gift to be used for beautification.
Using the Swedish theme, PRIDE members decided to launch a public art project consisting of large dala horses to be decorated by local businesses and organizations. The project received a matching grant from the Kansas Creative Arts Industries Commission, which is supported by the National Endowment for the Arts. PRIDE members contacted a Nebraska company that produced fiberglass dala horses 3 1/2 feet tall.
Some people minister from the pulpit. Some can minister with a paintbrush. Deborah Hanes-Nelson is a person who can do both.
Deb Hanes-Nelson
Today we’ll meet this talented woman who has been both a preacher and a painter in rural Kansas.
Deb Hanes-Nelson is a watercolorist. She was born in Florence but her family moved around Kansas because her father was a relief foreman for the Santa Fe Railroad. “When you’re out somewhere and you don’t know anybody, you can pick up a pad of paper and draw,” Hanes-Nelson said. “I’ve always enjoyed drawing and painting.”
Her high school didn’t offer art classes, but Hanes-Nelson took lessons from a local woman. After high school, she moved to Topeka, where she felt called to the ministry. She attended Washburn University and then St. Paul Theology School in Kansas City, launching a 35-year career serving as a pastor in the United Methodist Church.
She also met and married her husband, Doug, who is a finish carpenter and custom woodworker. They had one son.
“I am only one, but I am one. I cannot do everything, but I can do something.” ― Edward Everett Hale.
That quote might describe many volunteers across the nation who seek something specific – large or small – that they can do to benefit their community. Today we’ll meet a volunteer who is doing it with flowers
(l to r) Ruth Shearer, Donna Liddle, Rose Garrison, Pat Otter
in the community of Norton.
Rose Garrison grew up in Beaver City, Nebraska. After graduation, she moved to Norton, Kansas to work for Southwestern Bell Telephone and to marry her future husband, Duaine Garrison, who managed the Harding Glass Company store in Norton.
After their marriage, Rose also went to work for Harding Glass as office manager for the Norton store. They had three daughters and one son.
The Garrisons were very committed to the community. Rose volunteered for the Chamber of Commerce, church, school and various other projects.
One day her boss (who was also her husband) noted she was tying up the business phone line with community service-related calls. Rose then called the telephone company she had worked for and asked if they would install another line to the office.
“That began my volunteer life for Norton and pleased my husband/boss,” Rose said.
One spring, Rose helped several other lady volunteers beautify the community by planting flowers in the downtown business district. This began 40 years of planting flowers, installing window displays, creating new parks, and beautifying parking lots, the swimming pool area, medians and the town. It was appreciated by many people in the community.
“I loved the work,” Rose said. It was giving back to the community that had been good to their family.
Years later, Darla Beasley, director of the Norton Chamber of Commerce, contacted Rose and asked for help in locating space for a bronze statue and bench that were being given by an anonymous donor. Rose was told that the statue and bench were being donated by a family in recognition for a loved one who had supported Norton.
Darla and Rose looked around the community but weren’t sure where the statue should be situated. They asked Warren Bullock, a long time contributor to Norton, where he thought it should be placed. He suggested the Norton Library courtyard. Everyone agreed. The process of designing and installing the statue and bench followed.
A date was set for the statue’s dedication and the public was invited. All of Rose and Duaine’s children came home that weekend from long distances so Rose figured she would stay home from the dedication and visit with them.
“Oh no,” the children said. “We want to find out who the statue is for. You should go, we will go with you.”
The presentation began and speeches were made. Then came the surprise announcement of the person being honored: “Rose, please come forward.”
Her tears flowed with deep appreciation to her community and especially for her family who had made the donation. They dedicated the bronze statue of a little girl watering her flowers, near a bench on which to rest.
“My heart was full,” Rose said. “I only wished that my husband who had passed could have been there.”
In 2022, Rose was given the Chamber Citizen of the Year Award. The tears flowed again. Rose stated, “This award is for all of you and for all that you contribute to our town. What I do is not for credit but in thanks for a community that has given us so much. It’s the least I can do!”
Rose continues to work with other volunteers to help keep Norton a pleasant place to live. “It is home. The people who live here are our friends,” Rose said. “Volunteering gives you a satisfaction that you are doing something for others and for the place you live.”
Volunteers like Rose are especially important for rural communities such as Norton, population 2,841 people. Now, that’s rural.
“I cannot do everything, but I can do something.” Rose Garrison has found a way to make a difference in her community by planting flowers. For her, voluntary service has blossomed.
Life includes all ages and stages. What if there was a place that could integrate facilities in a way that would beneficially serve multiple ages together?
Such a new facility is being created in rural Kansas. Thanks to the Phillips County Review and writer Brennan Engle for much of the following information.
Cy Moyer was a retired banker, outstanding community leader, great gentleman, and a long-time board member of the Huck Boyd Foundation and the Dane G. Hansen Foundation in Phillips County.
He was also a personal friend of mine and a co-founder of the Huck Boyd Institute. Cy passed away on April 7, 2023 at age 88. Sixteen days before his passing, Cy’s last public official act was to participate in the groundbreaking of an innovative new project of which he had been a strong supporter.
The project is called Logan Intergenerational Family and Education Center, or LIFE Center. It’s to be located in the Phillips County community of Logan.
Logan school principal David Kirkendall was living near Greensburg when he saw that community devastated by the 2007 tornado. As he saw public facilities rebuilt – including the hospital, school and nursing home — he wondered if they could have been combined.
Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University writes Kansas Profile. The weekly posts highlight individuals or companies in rural Kansas who are making a difference to their community and state.
The Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development is a public / private partnership between Kansas State University and the Huck Boyd Foundation. The mission of the institute is to help rural people help themselves. Learn more at www.huckboydinstitute.org.
