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Ron Evans, astronaut

Posted on by Pat Melgares

From open plains to outer space, Ron Evans experienced a remarkable journey. He was a Kansan who played a record-setting role in the United States’ final mission to the moon.

Portrait, astronaut Ron Evans
Ron Evans

The year was 1972. NASA had planned for a series of moon missions but budget limitations cancelled additional lunar flights. Instead, NASA changed the focus of future flights to the space shuttle and lower earth orbital flights.

Meanwhile, NASA moved forward with what would be the final deep space manned mission to date. It was named Apollo 17. The person selected to serve as command module pilot on Apollo 17 was a Kansan, Ron Evans.

Evans was born in the rural northwest Kansas community of St. Francis, population 1,329 people. Now, that’s rural.

Evans had two younger brothers, Larry and Jay. When Larry came down with liver cancer, the family relocated to Topeka to be closer to treatment. Unfortunately, Larry passed away in 1951.

Brother Jay played football for K-State. By his senior year, he was team captain and was second in the Big 8 in yards receiving. Jay went on to play in the NFL for the Denver Broncos.

Continue reading “Ron Evans, astronaut” →

Now That’s Rural: Kale Dankenbring and Heidi Plumb, Part 3 – High Plains Moto

Posted on by Jason Hackett

PART THREE OF A THREE-PART SERIES

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

High speed on the High Plains. That is what one can find when we see the product of the work done by an innovative entrepreneur in rural northwest Kansas.

High Plains Moto
High Plains Moto

During the last two weeks we have learned about Heidi Plumb and Kale Dankenbring, who traveled around the globe as newlyweds. They came back to Kale’s hometown of St. Francis to become the founders and co-owners of Fresh Seven Coffee, plus a business next door named High Plains Moto. This business services and sells products for motorcycles and other, smaller motorized vehicles such as ATVs.

When Kale was 10 years old, his cousin was involved in a bad motorcycle accident. Some years later, Kale was riding on a motorcycle with his father’s friend when they crashed on a muddy road. Continue reading “Now That’s Rural: Kale Dankenbring and Heidi Plumb, Part 3 – High Plains Moto” →

Now That’s Rural: Kale Dankenbring and Heidi Plumb, Part 2 – Fresh Seven Coffee

Posted on by Jason Hackett

PART TWO OF A THREE-PART SERIES

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

Davenport, Florida: A specialty package of Fresh Seven Coffee arrives to a customer. This coffee was carefully selected and roasted by a family halfway across the continent in rural Kansas.

Fresh Seven Coffee
Fresh Seven Coffee

Last week we met Heidi Plumb and Kale Dankenbring, who made a trip around the globe as newlyweds. They had met in Arizona. Kale worked in information technology and ran a motorcycle shop on the side.

Heidi worked at a roastery in Phoenix and learned the science of coffee production and roasting. “We just love coffee,” she said.

While traveling, Kale and Heidi were at a community coffee shop in India and got to talking about having a coffee shop of their own back in the United States. Kale suggested his hometown of St. Francis where there was an abandoned building for sale. Through Kale’s dad, they bought the building sight unseen, thinking this could serve as a place for their coffee roastery and motorcycle shop. Continue reading “Now That’s Rural: Kale Dankenbring and Heidi Plumb, Part 2 – Fresh Seven Coffee” →

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Kale Dankenbring and Heidi Plumb, Part 1 – travelers

Posted on by Jason Hackett

PART ONE OF A THREE-PART SERIES

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

“Let’s go one lap around.” That sounds easy. But what if that one lap didn’t refer to the local walking track? What if it referred to one lap – around the entire globe? This week, we’ll meet a young Kansas couple who took on the amazing goal of circumnavigating the globe by themselves.

Heidi Plumb and Kale Dankenbring
Heidi Plumb and Kale Dankenbring

Heidi Plumb and Kale Dankenbring are the remarkable young couple who made this amazing journey. Heidi grew up near Dallas. Kale grew up at St. Francis, Kansas. He studied information technology at Northwest Kansas Technical College in Goodland, a rural community of 4,489 people. Now, that’s rural.

After graduation, Kale’s IT career took him to Phoenix where he met Heidi. The two shared lots of interests, including nutrition, coffee and travel. They had an incredible idea: What if they could travel around the world on a shoestring budget?

They made it happen. Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Kale Dankenbring and Heidi Plumb, Part 1 – travelers” →

Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Janet Carman – Cheyenne County Historical Society

Posted on by Mary Lou Peter

“Connecting the dots.” That was a fun game to play when I was a kid.  Today we’ll learn about an initiative in northwest Kansas which used the term “connect the dots” to describe its purpose in preserving the unique family histories in the county. It is bringing together the family stories of people from all ages and all walks of life.

Janet Carman is a volunteer with the Cheyenne County Historical Society and Cheyenne County Museum.  The museum is located in St. Francis, the county seat of Cheyenne County.

Janet has deep roots in Cheyenne County, which is in the very northwest corner of Kansas. Her great-grandfather came west and homesteaded here. His rural location was south of Wheeler, which today is an unincorporated town with a population of perhaps 20 people. Now, that’s rural.

Janet grew up in Cheyenne County and went to K-State where she studied education.  She met her husband and they eventually moved to Dallas where they spent 36 years and Janet taught for 22. A few years ago, they had the opportunity to buy her great-grandfather’s house. They bought the house, moved back, and restored it. “It was a labor of love,” Janet said.

Continue reading “Kansas Profile – Now That’s Rural: Janet Carman – Cheyenne County Historical Society” →