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Author: Mary Lou Peter

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Jessica Busteed, Cornerstone Bakery

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Donuts. Muffins. Scones. Hope. Wait a minute, what was that last one? Today we’ll meet a young entrepreneur who has started a bakery in her rural community. In addition to baked goods, coffee, and lunches, the ultimate item which she intends to provide to her community is hope for the future.

Jessica Busteed and her mother-in-law, Linda Busteed, are the owners and founders of Cornerstone Bakery in Yates Center. Jessica grew up in the area, near the rural community of Toronto, population 281 people. Now, that’s rural.

Jessica Busteed and Linda Busteed

After living in Texas for a time, she and her husband came back to Kansas. He is now the elementary and middle school principal at Yates Center. For several years, Jessica telecommuted to her job in Houston.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Farmer Bob Ralph, Princeton Popcorn

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

100 to 1 return. Wow, that sounds like a remarkable return on investment. In this case, it doesn’t refer to a financial investment as much as it describes the process of growing a crop and multiplying the grain. Today we’ll learn about an innovative first-generation farmer who is finding his reward in multiplying his crop of popcorn. Thanks to Marlin Bates of K-State Research and Extension – Douglas County for this story idea.

“Farmer Bob” Ralph

Robert Ralph, also known as Farmer Bob, is the founder of Princeton Popcorn. Bob grew up in Overland Park when farm ground was still intermingled with the suburbs. “I was three or four years old and I remember petting cows through a barbed wire fence,” Bob said. That experience encouraged a lifelong interest in agriculture. He bought a small herd of cows and kept them with a friend outside of town.

After a few years, Bob bought some farmland of his own near Princeton, Kansas in Franklin County. The acreage had some timber, but no fences. “A friend of mine bulldozed a 30-foot path through the trees so I could build fence,” Bob said. “When I burned the brush pile and spread the ashes, I found that it enriched the soil.”

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Chris Broeckelman, Natoma woodworking

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“If you can dream it, you can do it.” That inspirational slogan might describe the work of Chris Broeckelman and his industrial technology students at Natoma High School. They are using their classes to develop skills, not just in the shop, but in life. It’s today’s Kansas Profile.

Chris Broeckelman

Chris Broeckelman is the industrial technology instructor at Natoma High School in northwest Kansas. Chris grew up on a farm near Selden, one of eight children of Joe and Cathy Broeckelman.

“I always had an interest in carpentry,” Chris said. During high school, he worked at the local lumberyard. “I had a high school woodworking teacher that I thought very highly of.”

Chris studied Technology Studies and Secondary Education at Fort Hays State with a minor in business. He also worked at a cabinet shop. After graduation, he took the teaching position at Natoma. He married Megan. They now have six children.

“When I was five or six years old, I said I wanted to be a carpenter or a vegetable farmer when I grew up,” Chris said. “Now I’m teaching woodworking and have a big garden, so I’m about there.”

His industrial technology program begins with basic mechanical drafting, autocad, and woodworking classes during junior high. At the high school level, the elective classes in computer aided design and woodworking become progressively more challenging each year.

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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: Teresa Arnold, Kansas’s Biggest Barn Quilt

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Think big! That can be a challenge, but today we’ll meet a woman whose thoughts turned into a big community project which is encouraging tourism in southwest Kansas.  Thanks to Connie Larson of Manhattan for this story idea.

Teresa Arnold is the person who helped inspire this project. She grew up on a farm, married and settled in Ashland, the county seat of Clark County.

A few years ago, Teresa took an interest in barn quilts. Barn quilts are those colored designs of quilt squares, painted on panels that are attached to barns or sheds. These colorful works of art have become quite popular. There is a barn quilt trail one can follow in the Flint Hills, for example.

After attending a barn quilt class, Teresa called her sister-in-law Beth DeMont who had retired as an art teacher at Herington. “You ought to give painting these barn quilts a try, it’s fun,” Teresa told Beth. Her sister-in-law did try it and found she enjoyed it. She painted several of them, as did Teresa and her other friends.

“The local PRIDE committee put barn quilts on the lampposts in Ashland,” Teresa said.  As the barn quilts multiplied, Teresa and her friends needed more places to display them.

“I was driving with a friend and we were brainstorming about barn quilts,” Teresa said.  “We knew we wanted to promote Ashland. I finally said, `If Cawker City can have the largest ball of twine, why can’t we have the largest barn quilt?’” Teresa said. The idea took hold.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Mike and Amy Jensen, Jensen Farms, Professor’s Classic Sandwich Shop & More

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“Kansas: The Mushroom State.” No, mushrooms have not surpassed wheat or sunflowers as a leading product in Kansas. In fact, today we’ll meet the only certified and inspected mushroom grower in the state. He and his family are growing and marketing mushrooms and honey as healthy, tasty foods. Thanks to Doug and Linda Beech for this story idea.

Mike and Amy Jensen are the owners of Jensen Farms and Professor’s Classic Sandwich Shop & More in Hays. Mike grew up on a farm northwest of Hays near the site of Yocemento. Amy grew up at Hays, came to K-State on a golf scholarship, and finished her degree at Fort Hays State. They met and married.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Buddy Williams, Custom Rope

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Let’s go to the ore mines in Nevada. Huge trucks are carrying heavy loads of minerals from the mines. When those trucks get stuck, they use a high capacity tow rope made by a company in rural Kansas. Today we’ll learn about the remarkable ruralpreneur whose company is producing and marketing these products coast to coast. Thanks to Justin Goodno of K-State Research and Extension – Barber County for this story idea.

Buddy Williams is the founder of this remarkable company known as Custom Rope. He was born in 1942 and has had a fascinating life.

Buddy was born in Elgin, Kansas. “I never made it past the third grade,” Buddy said. He met and married Donnamae and served in the Marines.

Buddy found work as a jockey. “I rode racehorses across the country,” Buddy said. “I was licensed to ride in 31 states.”

He remembers an occasion where he was in a bad horse accident at a racetrack in Enid.  He was taken to the hospital, not breathing and without a detectable heartbeat, but survived. After two and a half days unconscious, he recovered – and rode the following weekend. “If you don’t ride, you don’t get paid – and I had mouths to feed,” Buddy said.

Working with horses meant he also worked with rope. “Ropemaking goes back nine generations in my family,” he said. His family also had an eye for finding a better way to do things. “My granddad patented the first corn picker that John Deere manufactured,” he said. Buddy himself invented several items such as a cattle waterer, post puller, and hay knife.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Mike and Donna Uhl, Allen Meat Processing

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

What do you get when you combine a cattleman and a chef? In this case, you get a couple who can operate a meat processing business that produces high quality, tasty cuts of meat. Today we’ll learn about an entrepreneurial couple who are expanding their meat processing business while serving their community.

Mike and Donna Uhl are the owners of Allen Meat Processing in Allen, Kansas. Mike grew up working on ranches and feedyards around Coldwater. He got a position managing a feedyard in north Lyon County.

Donna grew up at Emporia. She went to culinary arts school in Kansas City and later got her bachelor’s degree. Donna worked as catering director at Emporia State and executive dining director at Moorhead State in Kentucky. She came back to Kansas and was a chef at a hotel in Emporia when she met and married Mike. Donna is now working at the Kansas Department of Health and Environment in Topeka.

The Uhls settled near the town of Admire. Mike managed the feedyard and raised cows of his own. They occasionally took a steer in to the local butcher shop in Allen. A few years ago, Mike noticed that the owners were getting close to retirement. He and a friend approached them about buying the shop, but the owners were not interested at the time.

In 2019, the owner contacted Mike and said he was interested in retiring. Mike and Donna looked into it and on July 1, they became the new owners of Allen Meat Processing.

“With my background in culinary arts, I felt totally at home here,” Donna said. Her knowledge of food safety and handling standards made it a great fit.

Titi, the butcher who worked for the previous owner, is staying on with the Uhls. “He is absolutely wonderful and talented,” Mike said.

Allen Meat Processing is currently licensed for custom processing only but is planning to expand. “We are working toward becoming a federally-inspected facility,” Donna said. “I want it to be possible for our local ranchers to have their own meat processed and marketed with their ranch name.” The company already markets retail cuts from boxed beef which they purchase.

“We age those steaks 30 days before we cut them,” Mike said.

The Uhls have lots of business ideas and have already made significant improvements, such as building a wall to separate and enhance their retail space. “I’m like the president, I’m building a wall,” Donna said with a smile. The wall’s front side has rustic tin and barn wood from a barn on her father’s farm, while the back side toward the processing space has a hard, sanitary finish for cleaning and food safety.

Beef cattle and hogs are the primary livestock they process, but they can handle sheep and goats as well as deer. “Lots of people are asking if they can bring their deer in here this fall,” Mike said.

Other than the nearby café which is only open between 11 and 2, there are no businesses in Allen. “It’s 20 miles one way to get a bottle of water or a pop,” Mike said.  In response to this need, the Uhls offer snacks and drinks. Longer term plans for their retail space include a bar and a pizza place that would be open in the evenings so as not to compete with the local café.

Rural business succession is a big issue in rural Kansas. In this case, it is good to see a younger generation assuming ownership. Allen is a rural community of 177 people.  Now, that’s rural.

Allen is located directly on the Flint Hills Trail State Park which has drawn lots of people. “We’ve had people bicycle in here who are from Chicago, Minnesota and New York,” Mike said.

For more information on the plant, see www.allenmeatprocessing.com.

What do you get when you combine a cattleman and a chef? The answer is, good meat.  We commend Mike and Donna Uhl for making a difference with entrepreneurship in local meat processing. I’m glad they had a chance to meet.

Audio and text files of Kansas Profiles are available at http://www.kansasprofile.com. For more information about the Huck Boyd Institute, interested persons can visit http://www.huckboydinstitute.org.

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Pathways to a Healthy Kansas

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

When on the move, it is always important to find the right pathway. Today we’ll learn about an organization which is helping local communities find the right pathways – in this case, toward healthier living.

During the past two weeks, we’ve learned about K-State Research and Extension’s Culture of Health initiative and local examples of initiatives to support healthy living.

Last week we learned about a food basket program in Leoti. That program was supported by a larger initiative which goes back more than 10 years.

In 2007, Wichita County launched a coalition with a great purpose and a great acronym.  The name was Wichita County AIM Coalition. The AIM stands for Add more fruits and vegetables, Increase physical activity, and Minimize screen time. Those are excellent goals toward which to, um, take aim.

The AIM Coalition, including K-State Research and Extension Wichita County, has been very active. They helped start the Healthy Check Challenge, began a 5K fun walk and run, purchased equipment at the fitness center, provided healthy snacks for events, supported walking trail kiosks and exercise stations, provided swimming lesson scholarships, encouraged participation in Walk Kansas, and more.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Jerad Gooch, Leoti Foods

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Shopping in the produce aisle can take time, if one stops to look and study all the fruits and vegetables on display. If only those fruits and vegetables could be packaged together – maybe even with a recipe to help my family use them. Today we’ll learn about an innovative program which is simplifying healthy food access, using a local food store and community support. Thanks to JoEllyn Argabright of K-State Research and Extension for this story idea.

Last week we learned about K-State Research and Extension’s Culture of Health initiative. Here is an example of a local initiative to support healthy eating.

Jerad Gooch is the owner of Leoti Foods in Leoti, Kansas. His family has deep roots in the grocery business. His grandfather Harold Gooch opened the store in Tribune in 1948. Harold’s son Dwight joined the business in 1972. Now the family owns three stores and Dwight’s three sons manage one each. Jerad has the store in Leoti.

(left to right) Nikki Bjurstrom, Aimee Baker, Lauren Gooch, and Jerad Gooch

In 2015, some people in Leoti started to participate in a produce basket purchasing program which utilized out-of-state goods. “I noticed these baskets coming into town and I wondered why we couldn’t do that with a local store,” Jerad said. That program ended after a few months, but Jerad met with people who were interested to see if his store could provide such produce baskets. 

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