Kansas State University

search

Kansas Profile

Tag: Ottawa

Ken Frank, PrimeTime Grille

Posted on by Pat Melgares
Portrait, man with short, dark hair smiling, Ken Frank
Dr. Ken Frank

What if you combined bowling and burgers? Steaks and strikes? Kansas and cuisine? The perfect entrée with a perfect game?

That remarkable combination was achieved by a group of Kansans who paired a bowling alley with a Kansas-themed restaurant to serve their community.

Dr. Ken Frank is an ophthalmologist in Ottawa. He and his wife Shelly and friends have launched a combination bowling alley and restaurant in their community.

Ken Frank has rural roots. He grew up on a farm near the rural community of Westphalia, population 128 people. Now, that’s rural.

After attending Garnett High School, he went to the University of Kansas where he graduated with highest distinction while earning a degree in cellular biology. He also met and married Shelly.

Frank graduated top in his class at the University of Kansas School of Medicine and completed an ophthalmology residency-training program in Texas. “We had various opportunities but we knew we wanted to come back to Kansas,” Frank said.

Continue reading “Ken Frank, PrimeTime Grille” →

Carolyn Dunn, rural grocery

Posted on by Pat Melgares

“Nothing changes if nothing changes.”

View from street, White's Foodliner grocery store in St. Johns, Kansas
White’s Foodliner, St. Johns

That quote was cited by K-State sportswriter D. Scott Fritchen in an article about a young ballplayer who used the transfer portal and became an impact player at her new school. The young player posted that quote on her mirror to remind herself that sometimes we have to make a change if we are to better our situation.

Is this true for communities as well? Today we’ll meet another woman who has been a leading force for positive change in her community.

Carolyn Dunn is president of the Stafford County Port Authority and past director of economic development in Stafford County. She has seen change firsthand.

Dunn grew up on a farm near the rural community of Ottawa, population 12,625 people. Now, that’s rural. She studied agricultural economics at K-State and worked in Washington, D.C. before meeting and marrying Brian Dunn and moving back to his farm in Stafford County, Kansas.

By 2011, she was the mother of three boys and serving on the local school board. “We were talking about declining enrollments,” Dunn said. “I commented that we didn’t even have an economic development program in the county and we need one.” Continue reading “Carolyn Dunn, rural grocery” →

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Julie Riggins, Goat Milk Soap Store

Posted on by Jason Hackett

By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.

“Get steamed!” No, I don’t mean get mad. I mean this might be a time to try steam aromatherapy with natural products made from goat milk. Today we’ll learn about an innovative Kansas business that has created an entire line of goat milk products, including shower steamers, and is marketing those products across America and beyond.

Goat Milk Soap Store
Goat Milk Soap Store

Julie Riggins and her family are owners and creators of the Goat Milk Soap Store. Julie was living in Texas with her husband when his business transferred him to Kansas City. She left her corporate job to follow his career and became a stay-at-home mom. They chose to adopt additional children, and ultimately decided to move out of the city so the kids could grow up in a small-town environment.

They found a farm in Franklin County, Kansas, and decided they should try to grow their own food. They bought some chickens and made a big garden.

“Two of our kids are (cow milk) lactose intolerant, so I figured I should get dairy goats,” Julie said. The Riggins family bought a herd of LaMancha dairy goats from a man in Missouri. They loved the goats. They also found themselves in a constant cycle of feeding and watering. Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Julie Riggins, Goat Milk Soap Store” →

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Lyndsi Oestman, Loma Vista Nursery

Posted on by Jason Hackett

By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.

From pitches to plants. From hardballs to hibiscus. From the strike zone to the root zone. Those phrases are a way of describing the transition made by a Major League Baseball player who, with his daughter, has developed one of the leading plant nurseries in the nation.

Lyndsi Oestman is vice president of Loma Vista Nursery in Ottawa, Kansas. She shared this remarkable story.

Lyndsi’s dad, Mark Clear, grew up in California where he worked at his best friend’s family’s avocado ranch. Mark enjoyed tree pruning and avocado picking. He also enjoyed baseball. In fact, he was such a good player that he was drafted into Major League Baseball as a pitcher.

While being developed in the minor leagues, he was playing in Des Moines when he met the young woman who would become his wife. He went on to a 17-year major-league career, serving as a two-time all-star relief pitcher for the California Angels, Boston Red Sox and Milwaukee Brewers.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Lyndsi Oestman, Loma Vista Nursery” →