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Dean Dalinghaus, Frankfort High School and Emilee Ebert, K-State basketball

Posted on by Pat Melgares
Emilee Ebert, K-State basketball player, shooting the basketball
Emilee Ebert, K-State basketball

It’s game day. The high school athlete has her jersey on and prepares to go into action. All eyes are on her as she makes her move. But right now this athlete isn’t using a ball, she’s using a book.

On game days at Frankfort High School, the athletes don’t just perform on the court, they read to younger kids in the classroom. This is small town athletics at its best.

Dean Dalinghaus is principal at Frankfort High School, home of the Wildcats. He went to high school at B&B, graduated from K-State, and has been principal at Frankfort since 2006. He has observed the significance of hometown sports teams in rural communities.

“I think it brings the community together,” he said. “It creates a sense of pride. It’s the joy of seeing the kids put their heart and soul on the line, for the (town) name on the front of the jersey.”

Among the competitive athletes who recently came from his school is Emilee Ebert. In fact, her parents are directly involved with the school. Her father Brian is a teacher and was Emilee’s basketball coach at Frankfort. Her mother Jennifer is the school librarian. Continue reading “Dean Dalinghaus, Frankfort High School and Emilee Ebert, K-State basketball” →

Joe Sedlacek, Lazy J Longhorns

Posted on by Pat Melgares

A crew from the Guinness Book of World Records is recording a video of a new world record holder. And where do you suppose this world record holder is found? Would you believe, in rural Kansas?

Steer with very long horns
Lazy J Longhorn steer

Today we’ll meet a family that is producing longhorn cattle that are setting global records.

Joe Sedlacek is the owner of Lazy J Longhorns near Greenleaf, Kan. He was born in the nearby rural community of Frankfort, population 726 people. Now, that’s rural.

Joe grew up around cattle as his father ran an Angus cowherd. But Joe became interested in another kind of cattle: Texas longhorns.

“I was always fascinated with longhorns,” Joe said. “I’d watch every old western just to catch a glimpse of a longhorn. If we were traveling and happened to see a longhorn, we’d have to stop and take a picture.”

In August, 1996 when Joe was 15, he bought three longhorns as a hobby. “By Christmas of that year, I had 50 head,” Joe said. That is definitely a hobby that grew. After graduation, Joe did accounting work to keep books for several companies while growing his longhorn herd.

“Those book-keeping skills would come in handy (for the longhorn business) because you have to track a lot of data and measurements,” Joe said. In 2005, he married Stephanie who had grown up in nearby Hanover. They bought ground and built a home near Greenleaf.

Continue reading “Joe Sedlacek, Lazy J Longhorns” →

Nan Lisher, Elsie Grace’s

Posted on by Pat Melgares

“Bake the world a better place.” Not just “Make the world a better place,” but “Bake the world a better place.”

That sounds like a baker’s motto, and it would certainly apply to this bakery and gift shop in rural Kansas.

two women standing behind a bakery counter
Sara Colvin and Nan Lisher

Nan Lisher is owner and founder of Elsie Grace’s Gift Shoppe and Bakery in Frankfort. As a kid, Nan was close to her grandmother, Elsie Grace Tilley. “She taught me a lot about baking and cooking,” Nan said. Nan and her cousin Sara even dreamed of running a restaurant someday.

That dream came true when Nan opened Nan’s Cooking Nook in Frankfort, with Sara’s help. They served homemade food. Their pies were especially popular. The restaurant operated until 1992.

Then Nan started formulating dry mixes for her snack dips, soups and pies. She formed a company to market these products and named it in honor of her grandmother, Elsie Grace’s. Nan and Sara marketed the dry mixes across northeast Kansas.

In downtown Frankfort, an older lady operated a small gift shop and fudge factory. One day in 1999, Nan stopped in to visit the lady and said, “If you ever want to sell this place, keep me in mind.” One month later, Nan owned the store. Talk about good timing.

Elsie Grace’s Gift Shoppe and Bakery now operates in that location, with Nan and her cousin Sara Colvin. The store offers a wide variety of gifts plus homemade pies, hot lunch meals and fudge. “There’s been fudge produced at this corner of town for 32 years,” Nan said.

Continue reading “Nan Lisher, Elsie Grace’s” →