Great audience, Guitars, and Saltwater Taffy

WenDee and I had lots of fun doing a power point on Kansas at the Wichita library yesterday. About a dozen Kansas Explorer Club members were among the audience of 100+. We showed pictures of the 24 finalists of our first three 8 Wonders contests. It seems that people just can't get enough of hearing about Kansas. Once they are primed they love to tell you stories about their trips around the state and ask for ideas on places to go. One lady had come to a program I had done years earlier and she remembered the phrase, "Explorers like to pay full price." That's right! Shop local, we say! Feel good about spending money in small towns!

Explorers Rita and Dean Pressnall were in attendance. Tomorrow Dean and his son Brian are heading out to rural northeast Kansas to go exploring. They'll make stops in Atchison and Leavenworth but also in Troy, White Cloud, the ghost town of Doniphan and more. I hope they stop in Robinson to buy some items at the community-owned grocery store and in Denton to buy stamps at the most nostalgic post office in the state.

Jamie Frazier Tracy, a friend of KSF assistant director WenDee LaPlant, was also at the program. Afterwards we walked across the street to her place of employement -- the Wichita-Sedgwick County Historical Museum in the majestic 1892 limestone former city hall. What a beautiful building! We met the new museum director, Eric Cale, and Jamie also showed us the new and very cool electric guitar display! Hope you get to see it! WenDee is going to post pictures and hours for the museum.

We stopped at the Sedgwick County Extension Office to present Bob Neier with the Fromme-Birney Round Barn beveled masonite poster. The round barn near Mullinville was one of the top 8 Wonders of Kansas Architecture. Guess where he's going to put the poster first? In the hallway of the Bucklin Nursing Home. Why's that? That's where Mrs. Fromme and also Bob's dad now reside. That kind of reasoning is what I love about Kansas.

We went to the state fair for a bit today. Fun to see people like Sally Fuller who has been there every minute promoting Liberal as a place to visit. We saw Jennifer Mueller urging people to vote for the Blue Sky sculpture for the 8 Wonders of Kansas Art. Dennis Katzenmeier was all dressed up in his cowboy duds promoting Ellsworth, the National Drovers Hall of Fame, and Kansas Cattletowns. After we got some biscuits and gravy and huge cinnamon roll from the Wheatland Cafe (Hudson) booth we bumped into Clara Kilbourn and Sandra Melbourn from the Hutchinson News. We sat down beside them and before I could blink Clara had dived into my B&G and deemed it terrific! And it was. We got a little rowdy but it was fun. When they got their notepads out we knew it was time to leave. We saw Clara later at the pig races. We couldn't leave the fair without a Pronto Pup and now I'm sitting in my office back at the barn and I can't stop eating the saltwater taffy that you just have to buy at the fair. I only have one left. I'll finally stop.

A post from Marci Penner, KE #2

PROGRAM DAY!

We're off to Wichita this afternoon to do a program at the public library. It's always fun to have a chance to show pictures of Kansas to an audience and inspire travel. This will be the first program where we're switching from my old-fashioned slide shows to a modern power point presentation. Thank goodness assistant WenDee knows how to do all the techy things. I'll still narrate each picture but they will be more clear and vivid. We're going to show the finalists for the 8 Wonders contests that we've done so far (overall, architecture, art). I know we'll get lots of oohs and aahs and people will definitely want to go see some of these places. It's so fun to help folks see their state with new eyes.

We'll also deliver posters around Wichita to the winners and finalists of the previous 8 Wonders contests. That means we'll get to see Bob Neier representing the Fromme-Birney round barn (Mullinville) and Barbara Hammond of the Wichita Preservation Office who helped with the John Mack Bridge and Wichita Carthalite entries.

For now, I've got to get to work on the next We Kan! newsletter. This is a membership newsletter that goes to people working to sustain their communities. We share all sorts of grassroots information.

Can't Keep My Eye on the Road!

Fall is a great time to see Kansas! In fact, it's downright hard to keep your eye on the road. The eye wants to be in the ditches and pastures viewing the wildflowers and grasses!

KE #4558 Phyllis Scherich of Comanche County has this wildflower report for the Gyp Hills (Red Hills). She says: "...and we don't want to forget the grasses which are at their glory right now and for the next few weeks. The variations in size, color, texture, and form of the blooming and fruiting grasses are fascinating and intriguing. From the beautiful Indian grass to the nuisance sand burs to the little and big bluestems - they are worth taking a close look at. If anyone is interested in identifying grasses, this is the time!

Phyllis has seen the following bloom this week in Comanche - Barber counties.

Sunflowers
Stenosiphon
Wax Goldenweed
Cut-leaf Gaillardia
Pitcher Sage
Mentzelia (opens late afternoon)
Fendler's Aster
Dotted Gayfeather
Crotons
Ipomopsis
Clammy Weed
Some Prickly Poppy
a few Englemann's Daisy
Broomweeds
Goldenrods
Stiffleaf False Goldenaster
Sumpweed
Camphor Weed
Showy Partridge Pea
Purple Ground Cherry
Silver Leaf Nightshade
Scratch Daisy

Barber County had more rain than Comanche so may have more abundance of wildflowers.

Get more info here on Kansas Wildflowers

Being Director of Cool is not always cool!

It feels strange to refer to myself as the "Director of Cool" for the Kansas Sampler Foundation. Of course, this is just an honorary handle, and one given because I'm the most savvy employee about computers out of a total of two and a half staff members. (The "half" is VLee, Marci's mom who does the bookwork, mowing, mailing, but most important of all, the cookie baking!)

I never considered myself cool - always wanted to be - but just didn't have the right gene or something. So, this whole cool thing seems to have put a little more pressure on me to perform some nifty tech things. Problem is, it seems to take longer to learn everything just to be cool.

I was jumping around the barn, scattering dustbunnies everywhere, in excitement about learning how to embed a YouTube video of the B.Y.O.L.C. visit to Stark. It's not hard, just a little - okay, a lot - time consuming. I keep telling myself I'll get better and faster but just when you think you've caught up with the techie world, it's headed off in another direction or added some junket that you didn't take time to read about in the last Computer World journal.

The next steps are to get a Kansas Sampler Foundation or Kansas Explorers Club group on Facebook and use that social stepladder to enlarge our network. Then we enter the world of Blackberry's or IPhones. We haven't decided which one would best fit our use so if you want to leave a comment about your preference that would be "cool."

Our use would not only be to communicate while we're "doing dirt" or "seeing Kansas with new eyes" but also to "TWITTER" folks who are in the Twitter network to let them know in a nanosecond where we are, what we're doing and to invite them to be there, get there and do it now! To find out about Twittering log onto: http://www.twitter.com/ and learn all about it. It's now the Cool Thing. It basically is - and this is directly from their website: "... a service for friends, family, and co–workers to communicate and stay connected through the exchange of quick, frequent answers to one simple question: What are you doing?"

Sounds simple huh? We'll see.

Enough for now. Stay tuned for the next cool report from the Barn on Section 27, McPherson County, Kansas, coming soon.

A State Worth Loving

Do Kansans have an inferiority complex? Do we think we don't have much to offer? Have you ever heard someone say that small towns aren't worth saving? Here's a short story for you.

Kansas Explorer Club member "B" is from a big city. He has shown up at group Explorer activities in places like Osborne County, Leoti, Marquette, and Stark. He'll either bring his Dad, wife, sister, kids, or some combination. And lately he's been searching for out-of-the-way places to visit. Explorer blood is obviously starting to run through his veins.

When I researched for the Kansas guidebook by going to every city (627) in the state, my affection grew the more I knew the state. Some would say that's just a feel good statement. I think it's much more. Good feeling turns into belief which turns into action. Belief and action for rural communities creates opportunities -- which creates sustainability.

So when I got an e-mail yesterday from Explorer B I just wanted to melt. He said, "The more of Kansas that I see, the more I love it."

I guess that's why I hope everyone learns how to explore, either through our club's mindset or their own. This is a state worth loving and all we have to do to get to that point, is just get to know it.

Exploring Gets In Your Blood!

I love Willie Mays, country living, and a good Crepe Paper Festival. But I also just love it when a true believer is born -- an explorer believer that is. Some don't have to convert far from loving to travel and see the world or the state but there's something different about waking up one day and knowing that it's now exploring blood that runs through your veins, that your eyes now see a new perspective, and that your heart has warmly melded with the drama of rural community survival.

Here is an example of one of those spine-tingling e-mails we get or stories that we hear about another Explorer being born.

These folks will be called He and She. They are of retirement age and happened to get ahold of that book that I've heard about, "The Kansas Guidebook for Explorers." It became their traveling bible and after they had gone on numerous trips they soon started to just jump in the car and head out in any direction. They get near a town and flip open the book to get started. They recently found themselves in the city of Anthony (pop. 2,300) and followed book guidance to Mueller Bros., a men and women's clothing store with shoes and athletic gear as well. Mueller's has been a stalwart business in Anthony since 1907. The building is complete with pressed-tin ceiling, old shelving, marvelous old-time woodwork and lighting. Explorer "He" bought a pair of dress pants and both He and She bought shoes. They had a great experience and enjoyed exceedingly friendly service. When they got home, they opened one of the bags and found a handwritten thank you note. As wonderful as that was they have become accustomed to having all sorts of Explorer moments with small towns.

To finish this story of He and She... Friends recently suggested a structured Kansas day trip plan. He and She just couldn't do it. They convinced the other traveling companions to just head out, flip open that guidebook, and enjoy the journey. That, my friends, is the mind of a true explorer.

The Successful Combustion of Locals and Explorers

Stark. Population 105. Located in Neosho County, 20 miles east of Chanute.

Kansas Explorers Club members coming from all over the state.

Yes, indeed. It was exhilirating that 100+ people brought lawn chairs to Stark's main street on August 30 to respond to our (Kansas Sampler Foundation) invitation to come to Stark for a "Bring Your Own Lawn Chair" event. It's really a rural community awareness event but the B.Y.O.L.C. name is alot more appealing.

Cars kept rolling into town. Many were sporting a Kansas Explorers Club license plate or a car flag. The lawn chair formation kept growing and growing until we took over half of main street. But the biggest indication that this was a big thing in Stark was that the county sheriff rolled into town to check out the situation.

Out there in the street we listened to Portia Murphy, owner of Murphy's Mercantile; the town historian (no, Stark founders did NOT claim that land stark naked); and the grandson of artist Vera Ungler. It was obvious that these speakers and the locals in the crowd just love their town of 105.

Listening to the realities and opportunities of small town living is the official part of the B.Y.O.L.C.'s but the real fun is how we all "do" the town. Before and after our official lawn chair meeting we broke the revenue record at the post office, we stuck our heads into the historic red-brick post office that was being touched up and gave encouragement, we bought fabric at the little shop connected to a house, we ate the biggest portions of made-from-scratch food you've ever seen at Cherokee's Grill, and we bought plants out of the back of a pick-up that were brought from a Walnut nursery (Walnut is the name of a town).

But we also thoroughly enjoyed the main feature -- Murphy's Mercantile. It's pretty cool how a destination business like Murphy's can attract out-of-town traffic but still be a great asset to the local needs. We shopped for groceries and staples, ate cinnamon rolls, a light lunch, and/or HOMEMADE PIES, we basked in the friendliness of Portia and her employees, and we oohed and aahed at the look and feel of this nostalgic store. Portia, family, and friends sure used a lot of elbow grease to convert this long-time grocery into this store that makes you feel good just stepping inside.

The beauty of this comes from both sides of the coin. The folks that love their small towns and contribute in any way they can to help it survive is one side. The explorer-types who search for these kind of places and feel good about spending money and showing interest are the other side of the equation.

These are two great groups. Can both groups grow? If so, we can just push the refresh button on rural Kansas and there will be a whole new look!