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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Dane Hansen – Part 1

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

What do you do with 100 extra mules? That’s probably not a problem you’ve dealt with lately, but it’s an interesting sidelight on the early career of a Kansas entrepreneur years ago. He became a titan of Kansas business, a behind-the-scenes leader in the nation’s government, and a tremendous benefactor of rural Kansas.

Dane Hansen was born in 1883 to pioneer parents. His father was a Danish immigrant who came to Kansas and met and married a young schoolteacher in Logan. Logan is in Phillips County in northwest Kansas.

Dane grew up in Logan. He had the mind of an entrepreneur. As a child, his father had a grist mill. Young Dane would go to the river crossing to watch for farmers bringing wagon loads of wheat to town to be processed. Dane would ask for a ride and then direct them to his father’s mill, until it was time to go again for the next prospective customer.  That’s pretty creative.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Dane Hansen – Part 1” →

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Russ Fulmer – Fulmer’s Kansas Premium Meats and Eatery

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Quality: It’s defined by Merriam-Webster as “degree of excellence” or “superiority in kind.” One Kansas entrepreneur set out to achieve and share high quality with meat, and that has led to a unique retail store for Kansas products.

Russ Fulmer and wife Roxey are the owners of Fulmer’s Kansas Premium Meats and Eatery near Belvue. Russ is a third-generation farmer and cattle feeder in Pottawatomie County, so he knows first-hand the importance of feeding and handling cattle properly in order to achieve the best results. When a farmer-owned cooperative named U.S. Premium Beef devised a system for providing compensation for higher-quality product, it helped beef quality to advance.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Russ Fulmer – Fulmer’s Kansas Premium Meats and Eatery” →

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Trudy Rice – National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

It was time to elect a new president. No, I’m not talking about the Electoral College. In this case, I’m referring to a national professional association which was electing new officers. When the voting was done, the new president of this national organization is a woman from rural Kansas.

Kansas native Trudy Rice is the incoming president of the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals

Trudy Rice is the incoming president of this organization known as the National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals, or NACDEP. That name is quite a mouthful, but it represents lots of important community development educational programming which is being carried out across the country.

Trudy grew up in western Kansas and graduated from Norton. She went to K-State and got a degree in education. She also met and married Ron Rice and returned with him to his family farm in Douglas County south of Lawrence.

Trudy began her career in extension as a 4-H agent in Douglas County and then took time off to stay home as she and Ron had children. She also owned and operated her own small business. When the kids were older, she returned to extension as a family and consumer sciences agent in Douglas County. Son Brad is now back on the farm and daughter Brandie is a faculty member at K-State.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Trudy Rice – National Association of Community Development Extension Professionals” →

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Walter Anderson – First Fast Food Hamburger Chain – White Castle

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

What was the first fast food hamburger chain in the world, and where did it begin? You are correct if you answered White Castle in Wichita.  This innovative company was begun by a man from rural Kansas.  It’s today’s Kansas Profile.

Walter Anderson, who grew up in St. Mary’s, Kansas was co-founder of White Castle, considered to be the first fast food hamburger chain.

Walter Anderson was born in 1880. He became a short order cook. In 1916, he opened his first diner in a converted streetcar in downtown Wichita.

Walt Anderson liked to experiment in the kitchen. According to legend, one day he became so frustrated with how his meatballs were sticking to the griddle that he smashed one with a spatula. With that, the flat patty was born.

Anderson found that starting with a mound of fresh beef, pressing it into a flat square and poking five well-placed holes in the meat meant that he could cook the burger thoroughly without having to flip it. He also found that cooking the patty on a bed of chopped onions on the grill with the bun on top permitted all of the flavors to permeate the bun.

His hamburgers were so popular that he wanted to expand to additional locations. He enlisted the help of a real estate agent named Billy Ingram. As the men got acquainted, they decided to go into business together on a hamburger restaurant.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Rosie Bosse – Author

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“Grandma, tell me a story!” Those words are a call for storytime. In the case of one rural Kansas woman, those words would ultimately inspire a book and the beginning of a series.

Kansas native Rosie Bosse is the author of How Clicker the Dog Earned his Name.
Kansas native Rosie Bosse is the author of “How Clicker, the Dog, Earned his Name.”

Rosie Bosse lives with her husband J.R. on the family farm near Onaga, Kansas. Rosie grew up on a farm in Jewell County. She got a degree in home economics education from K-State. One night she went out dancing and met her future husband, J.R.

“We said we would wait five years to have children,” Rosie said with a smile. “Well, our first one was born nine months and three days after the wedding.” Within six years they had four children. Rosie chose to stay at home with the kids. She worked as a substitute teacher and got involved with Tupperware.

“I wanted a set of cereal bowls that I couldn’t afford, but I could get the kit free if I held four Tupperware parties so that’s what I did,” Rosie said. After hosting, she found she really liked the products and people. In fact, she was eventually promoted to a director with the company. She now has 55 people on her team. Hers is one of the most successful sales teams in Kansas.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Joy Miller – New Horizon Ranch – Part 2

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Reuse, recycle, rebuckle. That’s not exactly the popular environmental slogan, but it describes a remarkable therapeutic riding center that is using creative ways to benefit the lives of its students.

New Horizon Ranch near Rantoul, Kansas offers equine-assisted therapy and educational programs.
New Horizon Ranch near Rantoul, Kansas offers equine-assisted therapy and educational programs.

Last week we met Joy and Brian Miller, co-founders of New Horizon Ranch near Rantoul. New Horizon Ranch is a non-profit therapeutic horseback riding center which offers various kinds of equine-assisted activities and learning, psychotherapy, and summer day camp programs for individuals of all ages with physical and mental disabilities.

In therapeutic riding, people with disabilities learn horsemanship and riding skills which can also benefit communication, social skills, decision-making, balance, and strength.  For example, if someone is wheelchair-bound, the horse’s gait simulates the movement and benefit of walking. Joy has also observed how horses can bond with the rider in beneficial ways.

“A horse has a magical ability to connect with people,” Joy said. “Macho kids from inner Kansas City will come out here and say, `This is dumb,’ but within thirty minutes they’re petting the horses….every time!”

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Joy Miller – New Horizon Ranch – Part 1

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

What is that light that we see? It’s the light of a new day, a new horizon. Today we’ll learn about a remarkable equestrian facility which is bringing new light into the lives of children and adults with disabilities.

Joy Miller is a founder of New Horizon Ranch.
Joy Miller is a founder of New Horizon Ranch.

Joy Miller is co-founder of New Horizon Ranch, located near Rantoul in Franklin County.  New Horizon Ranch is a therapeutic horseback riding center. It offers various kinds of equine-assisted activities and learning, psychotherapy, and summer day camp programs to individuals of all ages with physical, cognitive, social, emotional and learning disabilities.

Joy grew up in rural California. As a high schooler, she was selected for the National FFA Band which meant she came to perform at the National FFA Convention which was held in Kansas City at the time. While in Kansas City, she learned about Mid-America Nazarene University in Olathe and ultimately came there as a student.

Her faith and Christian service are important to Joy. “I thought I would be going into international missions someday, so I majored in international agribusiness so I could help developing countries,” Joy said.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Homegrown football players

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Identifying local talent and helping it to succeed: That’s part of the formula for successful local economic development. It’s also part of the formula for building a successful collegiate football program. Today we’ll learn about some of the in-state talent which is part of the bowl-bound Kansas State University Wildcat football team.

Many of the players on the 2016 Kansas State University football team grew up in Kansas.
Many of the players on the 2016 Kansas State University football team grew up in Kansas.

The K-State Wildcats are headed to a seventh consecutive bowl game. As they prepare for the game, it is interesting to look at K-State’s 120-man roster. It includes high profile recruits from around the nation, as one would expect on a power five conference team, but by far the largest number of players on the roster from any state come from Kansas itself. Forty-nine of the 120 players list Kansas as home.

They come from cities small and large. Their hometowns span the alphabet from Atchison to Wamego, and geographically from Kansas City to Ulysses. As one would expect, several come from the Wichita and KC areas.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Richard Corbin – Fulton Valley Farms – Part 2

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“On Dasher, on Dancer, on Prancer and Vixen! On Comet, on Cupid, on Donner and Blitzen!” Those words tell us that Santa’s reindeer are on their way. But what if we could see an actual, living reindeer? Today, in the conclusion of this special two-part holiday Kansas Profile, we’ll learn about a rural Kansas family that is incorporating reindeer into their remarkable agritourism operation.

reindeerLast week we learned about the Corbin family at Fulton Valley Farms in Butler County.  David and Betty Corbin are the fifth generation on their family farm. Through the years, they diversified the operation to include a commodities brokerage and a wedding venue.  Their son Richard is now a part of the operation.

One year they needed a venue for their son’s wedding reception. The wedding was in a small church but there was not enough room in the fellowship hall. They decided to clean out a barn and host the wedding reception themselves, right there on the family farmstead. It was so successful that another lady wanted to use the barn for her reception.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Richard Corbin – Fulton Valley Farms – Part 2” →

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Richard Corbin – Part 1

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“Boot scootin’.” The term brings to mind a fun country line dance. Today we’ll meet a rural Kansas family who began with a boot scootin’ barn and grew their enterprise into a remarkable agritourism enterprise.

Fulton Valley Farms near Towanda, Kansas is a venue for social events and business meetings.
Fulton Valley Farms near Towanda, Kansas is a venue for social events and business meetings.

David Corbin is the fifth generation owner of Fulton Valley Farms in Butler County, Kansas. David and Betty’s son Richard told me about it.

Their ancestors came from Ohio and settled here in 1863. The maternal side of the family was named Fulton – related to the Robert Fulton who invented the steamboat. A Fulton married a Corbin and the farm continued to grow.

The farm is located south of Towanda, west of El Dorado, north of Augusta and east of the rural community of Benton, population 821 people. Now, that’s rural.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Richard Corbin – Part 1” →