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Jason Smith, Smart Rural Communities

Posted on by Pat Melgares

Logo, Smart Rural CommunityIt is one thing to be a rural community. It’s another to be a Smart Rural Community.

The designation — “Smart Rural Community” — was created by a national association to recognize rural telecommunication companies that are providing superior broadband service in their areas. And many of those are found in Kansas.

Last week we met Jason Smith, general manager and CEO of Rainbow Communications in Everest, Kansas. In 2015, Rainbow Communications was one of 10 rural telecomm companies across the nation to earn the Smart Rural Communities Showcase Award.

The award is presented to those rural telecommunications companies that demonstrate superior broadband service in the regions they serve. The Smart Rural Communities designation has now been broadened to include any community that is served by a telecomm company that meets certain high standards.

This is a project of NTCA, the national rural broadband association. NTCA works on behalf of more than 850 small independent businesses and cooperatives that provide broadband service in rural communities. These businesses cover approximately one-third of the nation’s land mass.

Continue reading “Jason Smith, Smart Rural Communities” →

Vickie Vandement, alpacas

Posted on by Pat Melgares
Woman sandwiched by two brown alpaca
Princess the alpaca and Vickie Vandement

Here’s a riddle: What will I do to keep warm when it gets cold on a long trip?

Answer: Al-pac-a sweater. I’ll-pack-a sweater….

Okay, maybe it’s not the funniest riddle of all time, but it does remind us of the warm quality of genuine alpaca fiber. Today we’ll meet a rural Kansas alpaca producer who has marketed alpaca products to customers from across the nation and beyond.

Vickie Vandement is the owner of North 40 Alpacas near Osborne. She grew up in Osborne and studied speech pathology at Fort Hays State. She married Mitch, a fellow Osborne resident who studied business at K-State and came back to the community. Vickie is now a speech therapist for two nearby county hospitals.

In the early 2000s, after years in the cattle business, the Vandements thought about producing a different type of animal. In 2004, they got three alpacas and found they really enjoyed them. They grew the herd from there.

Alpacas are members of the camelid family, along with llamas. All of the Vandement alpacas are named and registered. “We breed for good personality and color,” Vandament said. Continue reading “Vickie Vandement, alpacas” →

Collen and Mike McGee, Rowantree Farm

Posted on by Jason Hackett

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

Would you like to hear a yarn? Today we’ll meet a Kansas family that has established a farm of specialty animals producing fiber which can be woven into yarn and other products.

Collen and Mike McGee (and Iona the goat)
From left, Collen and Mike McGee (and Iona the goat)

Collen and Mike McGee are the owners of Rowantree Farm near Abilene. Collen grew up in Washington state, served in the military, and joined the civil service after military retirement. Then she met and married Mike, who also served in the Army.

“In 2014, Fort Riley called,” Collen said. She had the opportunity to join the public affairs office, and Mike had the opportunity to be a counselor at Fort Riley, so they drove to Kansas. “Our first stop was at Milford Lake,” Collen recalled. “We said, ‘Yes, we could live here.’”

Collen and Mike decided they wanted a more rural lifestyle, so they found a place to live outside of Abilene. It had a building and livestock pens where they began their farm. The McGees named their farm Rowantree Farm, which is a play on Collen’s maiden name of Roundtree. Continue reading “Collen and Mike McGee, Rowantree Farm” →