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Tag: Now That’s Rural

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.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Joy Miller – New Horizon Ranch – Part 1” →

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” →

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Allen Bailey – Marshal of Dodge City

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

Illesheim, Germany. This audience is excited because authentic cowboys from Kansas are performing cowboy music. One of them is even the official marshal of Dodge City.  He’s a man of many talents who comes from rural Kansas.

Allen Bailey is the marshal of Dodge City, Kansas.
Allen Bailey is the marshal of Dodge City, Kansas.

Allen Bailey is the western performer who carries the title of Dodge City marshal. Allen grew up at Cimarron, Kansas and went on to a varied career, working for the gas company, building saddles and cleaning hats, working for a hospital and senior citizens home and then in education.

Several key interests surfaced early in his life. First of all, his dad had a cow-calf operation. Allen loved horses and the cowboy life. Second, he enjoyed history – especially Kansas history. Third, he liked to draw and create art. Fourth, he enjoyed music.

“One guy called me a Renaissance man but I told him I’m just a nut who likes to do lots of things,” Allen said. “I do love Kansas.”

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Greg Wolf – Family Food Store

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

San Diego, California. A package of delicious cherry rolls is being delivered to a customer. Would you believe, these baked goods were prepared by a family living half a continent away in rural Kansas?

The Family Food Store in Sawyer sells an assortment of freshly-baked breads.
The Family Food Store in Sawyer sells an assortment of freshly-baked breads.

Greg and Ruby Wolf are the owners of the Family Food Store, source of the cherry rolls that went to California. Greg grew up on a farm near Quinter during the farm crisis of the 1980s.

“I grew up thinking I was going to farm, but the farm economy took me away from that,” Greg said. “It gave me a desire to help farm families.”

Greg grew up in the Old German Baptist Brethren church. “We’re a conservative church somewhat similar to the Amish and Mennonite,” Greg said. “We drive cars, but we choose a simple lifestyle with no television, radio, or Internet.” It’s a close-knit fellowship, with lots of connections between churches.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Svetlana Hutfles – Community Foundations Conference

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“The power of together.” That’s a powerful phrase. It was a powerful theme for a conference in Kansas which attracted people from across the nation. This annual conference is helping build capacity of community foundations which assist Kansans and others to leave a legacy to make their communities better.

kacfconferenceSvetlana Hutfles is executive director of the Kansas Association of Community Foundations. She explained that community foundations are community-based non-profit philanthropic institutions which receive funds from various donors for charitable investments in their communities.

There are currently 87 community foundation members of KACF: The Kansas Association of Community Foundations. They’re found in the state’s largest cities, communities like Manhattan, and even rural places such as Kensington, population 518, and Sylvan Grove, population 319 people. Now, that’s rural.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Heather Morgan – Project 17 – Part 2

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

T, W, and S are three letters which are sometimes used to precede the title of a project in southeast Kansas. What does TWS stand for? The Weather System? Toward West and South? Some company? No, in this case, it stands for “Together We Succeed,” which is an apt description of the mindset which drives Project 17 in southeast Kansas.

Pictured left to right: Heather Morgan, Project 17 director; April Mason, K-State Provost; and Jeff Tucker, director of the Advanced Manufacturing Institute.
Pictured left to right: Heather Morgan, Project 17 director; April Mason, K-State Provost; and Jeff Tucker, director of the Advanced Manufacturing Institute.

Last week we learned about Project 17, which uses Together We Succeed as an unofficial motto. Heather Morgan is the executive director. She grew up in Pratt, did undergraduate work at Kansas Wesleyan and then got her master’s in public administration at K-State while working with the women’s basketball team and K-State Athletics.

After graduation, Heather worked in the governor’s budget office in Topeka. She joined the state Juvenile Justice Authority where she became assistant commissioner and also served for a time as a county manager.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Heather Morgan – Project 17

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

What’s your platform? No, not fancy shoes or the policy statements which are debated and adopted by the political parties every four years. I’m talking about what has been referred to as a “regional change platform.” In fact, it is a grassroots network that is working to improve the lives of citizens across a multi-county region of southeast Kansas.

project17logoProject 17 is the name of this project for regional economic development and community engagement in the southeast region of the state, led by the Advanced Manufacturing Institute (AMI) within Kansas State University’s College of Engineering. Jeff Tucker is executive director of AMI. Since 2004 AMI has been working with companies, communities, and regions throughout Kansas to help cultivate rural, innovation-based economies.

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Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Jacob Grinstead

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“Learning to do, doing to learn, earning to live, living to serve.” That’s the motto of the National FFA Organization for high school agriculture students, and it’s an apt description of the equine career development of a young man from rural Kansas.

Kansas State University student Jacob Grinstead of Buhler, Kansas, has already held numerous leadership positions.
Kansas State University student Jacob Grinstead of Buhler, Kansas, has already held numerous leadership positions.

Jacob Grinstead is from south central Kansas. His family lives between Hutchinson and Buhler, where Jacob went to high school. At an early age, he was exposed to his family’s love of horses. The Grinstead family raises, shows and markets performance horses.

“My first memories were sitting in the bleachers at jackpots (competitions) watching dad rope,” Jacob said. He helped with chores as a kid. When his older sister went to college, his interests and opportunities grew. He showed horses in regional shows and developed interests in other aspects of the equine industry.

Jacob enrolled in agricultural education classes at Buhler High School and joined FFA where he practiced and developed his equestrian skills. As the FFA motto says, he was learning to do and doing to learn.

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