Whisper. When someone lowers his or her voice to say something in a whisper, do you want to come closer and learn more? Today we’ll meet an executive of an innovative marketing agency named WHISPER. This New York City executive comes from rural Kansas.
Steve Cranford is co-founder of WHISPER. Steve’s father was career Navy so Steve moved a lot as a child. His mother is from Arkansas City, Kansas. When his father retired, the family moved to Arkansas City.
Leaf through the November issue of the national magazine Christianity Today and you will find an excerpt of a new book. The book focuses on the dynamics of the rural church in America today and was written by a young pastor in rural Kansas.
Brad Roth is the pastor of West Zion Mennonite Church in Moundridge, Kansas, where he lives with his wife Lici and their two children. Brad grew up on a farm in Illinois, went to Augustana College and then to Harvard Divinity School.
When asked by a fellow Ivy League student where he came from, Brad replied, “Illinois.” His classmate responded that this was “flyover country.” “Where are you from?” Brad asked. “New York City,” said the classmate. Brad responded, “Don’t you know where your food comes from?” It was a classic example of rural meets urban.
“Let’s go to the lumber yard.” At our house, that usually means we need supplies for carpentry repairs or a do-it-yourself project. Today we’ll learn about a lumber yard where one can find a whole different set of supplies. Instead of wood, we find wine. Instead of hardware, we find hamburgers. Instead of stacks of lumber, we find steak dinners. This business is owned by a pioneering cattleman from rural Kansas.
The Lumber Yard Steakhouse is in Zenda, Kansas.
Last week we learned about the community of Zenda. One of the prominent businesses in Zenda is the Lumber Yard Steakhouse, now owned by local rancher Mike Molitor. Special thanks to Kansas writer Steve Suther and the Angus Journal whose 2014 article provides background about the Molitors.
If a centennial is 100 years and a sesquicentennial is 150 years, what is 130 years? Whatever that number of years might be called, in 2017 it is the basis of a celebration of the founding of a historic community in rural Kansas.
Zenda, Kansas will celebrate its 130th anniversary on Sept. 2.
A team of volunteers has come together to celebrate the 130th anniversary of the founding of Zenda, Kansas. Zenda was founded along a railroad line in Kingman County on Sept. 6, 1887.
The town was originally named New Rochester. However, the post office found that there were already 28 places named Rochester in the U.S. so the name needed to be changed to avoid confusion. The wife of a railroad employee had just read an 1884 novel called The Prisoner of Zenda, and she suggested Zenda because it was a pretty-sounding name. Another version of the story is that Zenda is the shortened form of an ancient religious term meaning “Good Prevails over Evil.” In any event, the town’s name was officially changed to Zenda in 1899.
“There oughta be an app for that.” This statement is frequently heard as there is increasing demand for applications on our portable electronic devices. Today we’ll learn about an innovative technical college which is helping students do the coding necessary to develop more software applications.
Ben Schears, president of Northwest Kansas Technical College.
Ben Schears is president of Northwest Kansas Technical College – called Northwest Tech for short – in Goodland.
Ben grew up in rural Lyon County between the towns of Olpe, population 548, and Hartford, population 371 people. Now, that’s rural.
“I admit, I was not the best student in high school and probably didn’t show much promise,” Ben said. “I was more interested in sports and girls.” At the urging of his school counselor, he went to Flint Hills Technical College in Emporia during his last two years of high school where he learned heating and cooling technical skills.
“A once-in-a-lifetime experience.” That phrase is often overused in our modern society, but it would apply literally to an upcoming event in Kansas: A total eclipse of the sun. The last time a total solar eclipse was visible in Kansas was 99 years ago. In August 2017, a total eclipse of the sun will be visible in northeast Kansas.
Adrienne Korson is director of economic development for Doniphan County in the northeast corner of Kansas. Adrienne grew up in Indiana. While exploring colleges, she made the impulsive decision to take a road trip to Kansas. Here she found Benedictine College. “It was a perfect fit,” Adrienne said.
Adrienne graduated in economics and business management. She had gotten an internship with Doniphan County and then served as interim director of economic development. On April 1, 2016, she took the permanent position as director.
July 14, 2015. An amazing scientific moment occurs, as a satellite from earth flies directly by the dwarf planet Pluto. Just like the man who originally discovered Pluto 85 years ago, the man who helped lead this mission to Pluto came from rural Kansas.
NASA’s New Horizons Project Manager Glen Fountain of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory (APL) gave a thumbs up to news that a flyby of Pluto was accomplished. Photo Credit: (NASA/Joel Kowsky)
During the last two weeks, we have learned about the discoverer of Pluto, Clyde Tombaugh, and his boyhood home of Burdett, Kansas. Today, in the third and final profile in this series, we will learn about the man who was the project manager for the modern-day exploration of Pluto.
Glen Fountain is the recently-retired project manager for NASA’s New Horizons Pluto-Kuiper Belt mission at the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory in Laurel, Maryland. Glen grew up in western Reno County, Kansas. As a child, he was interested in science, and he found that his involvement in Boy Scouts broadened his horizons and encouraged his work ethic.
Along Kansas Highway 156 about fifty miles west of Great Bend is the rural community of Burdett. Next to the water tower is a roadside park with a historical marker devoted to a local boy who became the discoverer of the planet Pluto.
Last week we learned about Clyde Tombaugh, the local farm boy whose interest in astronomy would lead to his discovery of another planet. Don Cloutman is one of the citizens of Burdett who is seeking to continue to honor Tombaugh’s legacy.
Don grew up southwest of Burdett in another rural community, the town of Minneola, population 717 people. Now, that’s rural.
Don studied zoology at Fort Hays State where he met his wife who is from Burdett. After serving in the Army, he went to graduate school at Arkansas, became a fisheries biologist at Duke Power Company in North Carolina, and earned a Ph.D. at Mississippi State. Dr. Cloutman became a professor of biology at Bemidji State University before he and his wife retired to Burdett.
Feb. 18, 1930. A young man is studying outer space at an observatory in Arizona. He is comparing telescopic, photographic images of the distant night sky. Suddenly a terrific thrill comes over him as he realizes that the image he has just seen provides the scientific evidence of a historic discovery: He has discovered a planet. It was a remarkable accomplishment for a young farm boy from Kansas.
Clyde Tombaugh is credited with discovering Pluto in 1930.
Clyde Tombaugh is the man who discovered Pluto. In his autobiography, Out of the Darkness, Tombaugh describes how it all began. He was born on a farm in Illinois. In 1922, his family moved to a wheat farm near Burdett, Kansas.
While studying geography in the sixth grade, Tombaugh thought: “What would the geography on other planets be like?” Clyde’s uncle Lee lived on a farm nearby. He was an amateur astronomer. Lee lent him a simple telescope and an astronomy book which Clyde found fascinating. Scientists like Galileo became his childhood heroes.
“Our biggest export from rural Kansas isn’t wheat or corn – it’s our young people.” That statement describes one of our rural communities’ major dilemmas, which is the outmigration of youth. Today we’ll learn about an initiative in north central Kansas which is helping make young people aware of the opportunities they have locally without having to move away.
Doug McKinney is executive director of the North Central Regional Planning Commission which serves 12 counties in north central Kansas, plus providing other services beyond that region. The commission’s main office is centrally located in the region, in Beloit.
Doug explained that he and other community representatives were invited to a Kansas Department of Education forum in Topeka in December 2016. State Commissioner of Education Randy Watson invited school districts and others to come to this forum on the topic of summertime career exploration and leadership development. The one-day forum featured a school district in New York state that used summer programming to address several problems found in that school district.
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.
Steve Cranford is co-founder of WHISPER. Steve’s father was career Navy so Steve moved a lot as a child. His mother is from Arkansas City, Kansas. When his father retired, the family moved to Arkansas City.
