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Tag: Now That’s Rural

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Dr. Deb Mangelsdorf – A Dog’s Purpose

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

The book was on the New York Times bestseller list for 52 weeks. In the acknowledgements section of the best-selling sequel to this book, the author expressed his thanks to several people – including a woman veterinarian from rural Kansas.

Dr. Deb Mangelsdorf is the veterinarian who is credited in this remarkable book by W. Bruce Cameron. The book is titled A Dog’s Journey.

Deb Mangelsdorf grew up in Prairie Village where her father, a K-State alum, worked in the seed business. “I always wanted to be a veterinarian,” she said.

Deb went to Shawnee Mission East High School. Among her classmates was W. Bruce Cameron who was born in Michigan and then moved to the Kansas City area. “He was the class clown,” Deb said. “I tutored him in math.”

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Ben Schears – Northwest Tech

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“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.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Adrienne Korson – Solar Eclipse

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“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.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Glen Fountain – Pluto flyby

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

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.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Clyde Tombaugh – Burdett

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

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.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Clyde Tombaugh – Pluto

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

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.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Doug McKinney – Career Exploration

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“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.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Earl Roemer – Nu Life Market

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Food is necessary for life. For those with food allergies, the right kind of food is vital.  When someone with gluten intolerance or another food allergy finds a tasty food which is healthy for them, it can be like a new lease on life. Today we’ll meet a Kansas entrepreneur whose company is helping supply those needs with a Farm to Family food safety program.

Earl Roemer

Earl Roemer is founder and president of Nu Life Market in Scott City. Nu Life Market business development manager Rachel Klataske shared his story with me.

Earl’s family has farmed in the High Plains of Kansas for four generations. As do many western Kansas farmers, his family grew grain sorghum – also called milo – as a feed grain crop for livestock.

Earl became intrigued by grain sorghum’s potential as a human food source. “Earl is a scientist by training and a farmer by background,” Rachel said.

He started researching the potential use of grain sorghum as a human food crop.  According to one account, the early grain sorghum products “tasted like cardboard and the texture was like sand.” Now they are much improved. K-State food science professor Dr. Fadi Aramouni helped with research which significantly improved the quality and appeal of the product. K-State researchers even developed an award-winning recipe based on sorghum flour.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Steve and Jane Fry – Elk Falls Pottery

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Let’s go to the Pentagon. Here on a desk is a personalized mug from a pottery studio halfway across the country in rural Kansas. It’s the classic type of stoneware pottery that has been made for centuries.

Steve Fry

Steve and Jane Fry are owners of Elk Falls Pottery, the source of this personalized mug.  Jane grew up near Hesston and Steve came from Great Bend in Barton County. As a teenager, Steve and his friends rode motorcycles in a nearby area they called the clay pits, where a local brick company had mined for clay.

Steve was always interested in art. At Hesston College he took a sculpture class and then was introduced to pottery. The professor took the students on a field trip to a high quality clay deposit in Barton County.

The professor taught them the art of making pottery. “I fell in love with clay and the potter’s wheel,” Steve said. He also met Jane and fell in love with her. They were married after college Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Steve and Jane Fry – Elk Falls Pottery” →

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Millie Horlacher – Seasons of Salt

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Let’s go to Wyoming. A pastor is using a devotional book with the members of his congregation.  This particular book was written by an author from rural Kansas. The book is titled Seasons of Salt.

Seasons of Salt is a book of meditations by Kansan Millie Horlacher.

Last week we learned about Wayne and Millie Horlacher in Colby. Wayne is the retired owner of Horlacher Jewelers. Millie is an author.

Millie grew up on a farm in northeast Kansas, south of the rural community of Horton, population 1,776 people. Now, that’s rural. Millie was one of eight children raised on that farm. Her parents stressed education. All eight of those children went on to higher education after high school.  Four of them got master’s degrees.

Millie went to K-State and met Wayne when they were both playing in the K-State band. She and Wayne were married and, after his service in the military, came to Colby where Wayne joined his father’s jewelry store business. Millie and Wayne had four children.

Their faith is very important to Millie and Wayne. They continued their involvement in United Methodist churches and the community. Millie became a certified lay speaker for the United Methodist Church. She served as spiritual growth coordinator for the United Methodist Women at the local, district, and conference levels.

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