Flyover People - Daily News

August 2005 News

 

August 31, 2005 Wednesday


View more photos from the opening

Homage to the Flint Hills - tonight was the reception at the Emporia Arts Center.

It's an incredible traveling exhibit with, I think, 12 stops in Kansas. It's here through the end of September.

Awhile back I received a CD of poetry in the mail, "Waking in the Flint Hills" by Steven Hind, but the package came without a name or return address so I had no one to thank.

Tonight got to meet Steven Hind and thank him. Hind, of Hucthinson and formerly of Madison, read poetry at the reception.

Jim Hoy, ESU English professor and Director of Great Plains Studies, introduced Hind to the audience, saying, "I think he is the best Kansas poet writing."

And I had the chance to visit with Louis Copt, a famous and former Emporian, who along with Stan Herd, painted the Flint Hills mural in downtown Emporia.

Stan Herd was not present but he has finished his quarter art. To commemorate the launching of the Kansas quarter Sept. 9, Stan Herd worked up a "crop art" quarter near Hutchinson.

I'd urge anyone in the area to stop by and see the exhibit at the Arts Center and at Bank of America.

If you love the Flint Hills, then you will enjoy this art work - 37 pieces in all.

(For more info on this exhibit, scroll down to 8/24 entry below.)

And, it's with sadness that I mention our fearless Arts Council director, Catherine Rickbone, is ending her reign here. Today was her last day of work. She's headed off to Oregon. Catherine has been a bright and guiding star in the art world here--ever energetic and open to ideas. She will be greatly missed in this community.

Well, Steven Hind gave me a copy of a book of his poetry, "In a Place With No Map," so I'm going to sit back a read a few poems.

 

August 30, 2005 Tuesday

Such gloom, misery and devastation: Mississippi, Louisiana. Disaster, big time.

Around here, gas was $2.55 yesterday, $2.75 at noon today, $2.89 in some places at 4 p.m.

Too much depressing news.

So, to change the subject.... I've got pieces of April--but it's an evening in August.

The lilac is blooming again. It's an April-and-August blooming lilac. The August blooms tend to be kind of puny, but fragrant nevertheless.

 

August 29, 2005 Monday

Yesterday in Lawrence, I ate a late lunch at the Aladdin Cafe and spent a little time walking around downtown.

 

Breezeway downtown Lawrence

A breezeway between New Hampshire

and Massachusetts Streets.

 

Boheme Clothing Store

Boheme - a colorful storefront on Mass St.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

August 28, 2005 Sunday

Bob McWilliams

"Joni Mitchell opens up this hour of Trail Mix..." Bob McWilliams tells Kansas Public Radio listeners.

 

 

I've mentioned Trail Mix on this site before because I'm hooked on the program.

On Sunday afternoons from 1-7 p.m., Bob McWilliams plays six hours of music: singer-songwriter, newgrass, bluegrass, traditional folk, old-time, Celtic, and so on.

Today I had the great pleasure of spending a couple of hours with Bob McWilliams, visiting with him and watching him broadcast Trail Mix over the airwaves. Bob is just as nice in person as he sounds on the radio, and his enthusiasm for the music and the artists, well, that's real too.

It's the song lyrics that pull me in to Trail Mix. Maybe it's just the writer in me, but I'm a sucker for the words. I mean, who else but John Prine would even think to rhyme everybody and karate?

Trail Mix introduced me to Cheryl Wheeler and her song "Since You've Been Gone." As I recall, it relates to her father's death. It's a very moving song with words like, "...and there's nothing that's touching me now."

"What I like to think the show offers is a variety of music that really speaks to people very directly," Bob said.

"I think a lot of the people working in the contemporary folk, singer-songwriter vein really are great truth-tellers and prophets of our time, are really speaking to the conditions of our time with lyrics that are extremely meaningful... . "

Bob has been at Kansas Public Radio since 1983. Sure, he could be in an office or a courtroom using his law degree from Harvard, but some things are more important--like doing what you love to do.

Bob McWilliams
On the program, Bob often gives away CDs or tickets to concerts. Here he talks on the phone to caller No. 15, the winner of a CD by the group Greencard.

Bob has met quite a

few of the artists

whose CDs he plays. When he can, he

travels to music

festivals and concerts.

This summer Bob was

the host for a musical tour of Ireland.

He's been a driving force

in an organization

called West Side Folk which brings musicians

to the Lawrence area.

In addition to Trail Mix, Bob hosts Jazz in the Night weeknights on

KPR.

And Bob teaches at Johnson County Community College.

(He also has a Masters Degree in History

from KU.)

What would Bob like for listeners to get from Trail Mix?

"I hope that there are some songs that grab people and they have to stop what they're doing on a Sunday and just listen to the song. If that happens two or three times a day, I think I'd be thrilled."

 * * *

Kansas Public Radio comes to us from the University of Kansas in Lawrence.

Learn more about Kansas Public Radio and Trail Mix (and enter a drawing for a chance to win a CD). Read more about Radio Bob McWilliams.

 

Kansas Public Radio

Don't live in Northeast or North Central Kansas?

You can listen to KPR over the Internet.

Click on the KPR icon.

 

August 27, 2005 Saturday

The spillway, usually visible below the old mill at Cedar Point, is obscured by the high waters of the Cottonwood River

Here's a wider view of the scene

Coming Soon: Cedar Point in the small towns gallery

 

August 26, 2005 Friday

Perhaps the rain is over for awhile.

According to the Emporia Gazette, we've had 4.55 inches in the past couple of days, bringing August's total to 7.13.

So that's what all those gray days were about.

Needless to say, the rivers are full. And then some.

The price of gas jumped yesterday to $2.64, breaking yet another record. But today it's back down, in some places anyway, to $2.55-2.59.

 

August 24, 2005 Wednesday

 

Homage to the Flint Hills display

HOMAGE TO THE FLINT HILLS

EMPORIA ARTS CENTER

August 16-September 30

Reception: Wednesday August 31, 6 p.m.

A portion of the exhibit is at the Bank of America Building, 6th & Commercial.

Wow.

This traveling exhibit was Don Lambert's idea. Don Lambert, of Topeka, is a writer and promoter of Arts in Kansas, and the person who brought attention to the works of Grandma Elizabeth Layton.

Twenty-seven pieces hang in the Arts Center at 618 Mechanic and 10 more art pieces are on display in the Bank of America Building at Sixth and Commercial.

Emporia is the eighth stop on this traveling exhibit. On October 16, it opens in Great Bend, January 1 in Wichita, February 3 in El Dorado and March 14 in North Newton.

It's definitely worth a viewing. Beautiful work. And each artist has a comment about the Flint Hills.

Terry Evans, of Chicago, formerly of Salina, said, "I have never been able to capture that feeling of space and of light moving across the Flint Hills, but I don't mind. It would be a shame to be done working there."

Reception

Wednesday, August 31, 2005

5:30 - 6:00 p.m. View part of exhibit at Bank of America (enter at main door on east side)

6:00 p.m. Proceed to Emporia Arts Center, 618 Merchant

6:15 p.m. Opening remarks by Don Lambert, curator and organizer of exhibit

6:30 p.m. Allan Pollom, State Director of Kansas Chapter of Nature Conservancy, "Ecological Significance of the Flint Hills"

6:45 Kansas Land Trust, Exective Director, RoxAnne Miller "Flint Hills Preservation Program of Kansas Land Trust"

7:00 p.m. Steven Hind, poet, "Poems of the Flint Hills"

7:15 p.m. Jim Hoy, Director of the Great Plains Studies, "Folk Culture of the Flint Hills."

Participating Artists

Zak Barnes- Cottonwood Falls

Barbara Bulloch -Wichita

Gordon Bulloch - Wichita

Donna Carrington - Overland Park

Kim Casebeer - Lenexa

John Charlton - Lawrence

James Cook - Tuscon, AZ

Louis Copt - Lecompton

Patricia DeBose Duncan - Rockport, ME

Phil Epp - Newton

Terry Evans - Chicago, IL

Mark Flickinger - Arkansas City

Ralph  Fontenot - Manhattan

Jerry Gaddis - Topeka

Anne Gagel - Kansas City, MO

Hugh Greer - Wichita

Marilyn Grisham - Wichita

Lisa Grossman - Lawrence

Dale Hartley - Emporia

 

Dana Hassett- Burns

Stan Herd- Lawrence

Paul Hotvedt - Lawrence

Cally Krallman - Topeka

Judy Love - Manhattan

Peggy Lyon - Emporia

Judith Mackey - Cottonwood Falls

Todd Matson - Valley Center

James Nedresky, Omaha, NE

Joan Parker -Westwood

Jim Richardson - Lindsborg

Judith L. Sabatini - Topeka

Deb Schroer - Strong City

Larry Schwarm - Emporia

Kevin Sink - Roeland Park

Edward Starr - Manhattan

Robert Sudlow - Lawrence

Rodney Troth - Baldwin City

 

August 23, 2005 Tuesday

I've been reading "A View from the Heartland" by David Chartrand, a newspaper columnist from Olathe.

His book has a section called "Everyday Tears," and he's written several heartbreaking stories.

In one piece, Chartrand visits with the mother of a teenage boy who had committed suicide.

The mother told Chartrand, "We were talking and we were trying to help him. It never really sank in that I, with all my special-ed and counseling experience, I could lose my boy."

"Cindy didn't get weepy when she said this. She gave me her stern, Midwest schoolteacher look. At teachers' college she must have majored in Strong Eye Contact."

I knew that look, that "stern, Midwest schoolteacher look." With this sentence, I felt like I was sitting with them at the coffee shop table.

Chartrand pulls you into the pain, but he also shows the stubborn and courageous strength of individuals and families.

And wisely, he follows those stories with a section called "Everyday Laughter."

 

August 21, 2005 Sunday

Flyoverpeople Weather: What's it been now, a week of clouds? Maybe it's only been a few days. I lose track of time when we're living in a gray world. The clouds and the rain have cooled the August temperatures down into the 80s, which is welcome, as is the little bit of moisture that we've had. Or have we had rain? My mind is going....get me out of these clouds and into some sunlight!

Friday afternoon was stormy across the state. Great Bend had two tornadoes Friday causing at least 12 minor injuries, an estimated damage of $4 million, and power outages across town.

I noticed yesterday that one gas station dropped its gas price from $2.59 to 2.55. At least that's the right direction.

 

Full Moon at Dawn

Yesterday, Dave caught the full moon at dawn.

He's added it to the Kansas Skies gallery.

 

August 20, 2005 Saturday

As long as I'm showing Emporia's murals, here are a couple more.

It appears that the Daily News page has become a photo page, doesn't it?

Words? Words? Who needs stinkin' words?

 

jazz band mural

On the alley side of Flint Hills Music is this jazz band mural, painted, by Joshua Finley, musician and artist.

 

At 11th and Commercial, this mural was initiated by a Leadership Emporia class and was painted (I believe) by Marilyn Dailey. Veterans flag/eagle mural

 

August 19, 2005 Friday

There was summertime activity at Peter Pan Park tonight. Above: an ESU band performance and picnic at the new shelterhouse. Below: competitors face off at Bocce Ball at the Corporate Challenge games while children play nearby.

 

August 18, 2005 Thursday

Americana flag mural
And right around the corner from the "Home on the Range" mural in the alley is this Americana flag mural. We have at least five murals in town that I can think of, not counting the Coca-Cola and the Coors silos.

I've been using a lot more photos on the Daily News and I hope that everyone is able to open the page OK.

 

August 17, 2005 Wednesday

Yesterday morning, gas was $2.49 and that price had been steady for two days. Yesterday afternoon it hit $2.59. I don't have the courage to look anymore.

breezeway downtown Emporia

I don't normally have a reason to walk through this breezeway, but one day this summer I happened upon this "Home on the Range" mural.

There are about seven or eight verses painted on the wall.

It's in the 700 block of Commercial Street between the offices of Dr. Steve Jones, DDS and Cable One.

 

Home on the Range mural/lyrics

 

Home on the Range mural/lyrics

I have no idea how long this mural has been there--it's pretty cool though.

 

August 16, 2005 Tuesday

 

Caitlin

The incredible Caitlin, our niece, turned 11 today!

Happy Birthday, Caitlin!

 

August 14, 2005 Sunday

Today, we have two new pages to offer:

Burns and Cassoday

These tiny towns rest deep in the Flint Hills of Kansas.

Inside Cassoday Cafe
Inside the Cassoday Cafe.

 

August 13, 2005 Saturday

Gas prices are ridiculously high, but hey, there's always virtual traveling.

While wandering around the world of blogs on the Internet, I visited Montana. Bozeman, specifically. Population 27,509. It's a college town about the size of Emporia. This new Bozeman blog shows photos around the area, and more so than many blogs, gives a sense of place.

A sense of place is what I've always tried to show in my newspaper columns and here on the Flyover People web site--show what it's like to live here, in rural Kansas, in small-town Kansas, in Emporia, Kansas.

* * *

Baby Snapper

Dave: I spent the morning at Peter Pan park playing disc golf with friends. After a good rain that means a lot of time is spent in the mud chasing down discs.

This cute little baby snapping turtle was found along the bank of the creek. After posing for a couple glamour shots he was released back into the wild.

To give a sense of scale his (her) shell was approx two inches long.

 

August 12, 2005 Friday

 

Dave's Helpful Hint

I had always eaten watermelon slices from regular dinner plates.

When I met Dave and we had watermelon for the first time, he went straight for the pie pan.

All those years, I didn't know how to eat watermelon.

watermelon in pie pan

* * *

Summer Clouds

Clouds. Thunder. Sprinkles. Rain.

 

Clouds build, merge, swap their fluffy whiteness for flat gray. Like a headache, thunder rolls across the sky.

Rain draws straight lines, connecting clouds to earth. Drops bounce on the street, white bubbles, boiling water.

 

August 11, 2005 Thursday

At 5:30 p.m., gas was $2.45 per gallon. Who knows what it's up to by now.

I'd go take a photograph of a gas station sign, but I'd have to drive to do it and, well, you can just use your imagination.

 

August 10, 2005 Wednesday

 

Just your typical August day in Kansas, 99 degrees and the afternoon's not over yet.

It is supposed to cool down (to 85-90 degrees) in a few days.

Summer forecasts tend to be more reliable than those in the winter.

99 degrees at Commerce Bank

 

August 9, 2005 Tuesday

Emporia is falling apart. First, Dillons West grocery store closed, and, what was it (?), 80-some employees lost work, then Modine Manufacturing closed, leaving 130 without jobs, now Birch Telecom has laid off at least 50 people.

Wonder if those potential new businesses (Lowe's, Home Depot, Walgreens) that were fighting over us a few months ago, still want us now? 

 

Gas Price $2.37

Gas prices in town today ranged from $2.29 to 2.39.

I think that's the first time gas has topped $2.29.

 

 

August 8, 2005 Monday

A scene from our Saturday trip through the Flint Hills.

Burns street scene
A downtown street in Burns showing the Flint Hills Junction and the Burns Cafe and Bakery.

I had been in the house most of the day, trying to pull a column out of the air, and when I got in the car to go to the insurance office to pay a bill, I was surprised when the car's thermometer read 111. Well, it simmered down to 106 and later 101, so who knows how hot it really was.

 

Tiger staring at treats
Tiger gives subtle hints. Well, sort of subtle.

 

August 7, 2005 Sunday

Yesterday, we journeyed into the hills.

We had never eaten at the famous Cassoday Cafe. I don't think it's world famous, but it attracts a crowd, especially on Biker Sundays.

There are only about 10 tables in the place. I don't know how they deal with hundreds of bikers on Sunday mornings, but we managed to get a table around 1 p.m. on a Saturday afternoon.

Cassoday Cafe

The buffet at the Cassoday Cafe served chicken strips and beef and noodles with mashed potatoes in addition to side dishes and desserts.

We checked out Cassoday Antiques and visited with Harold Roberts who owns the sprawling business and with Mick Solliday whose parents have the Cassoday Lodging and RV Park. The Sollidays plan to open a BBQ restaurant.

 

Mars Attacks Rooster -1 Mars Attacks Rooster - 2

The "Mars Attacks" Rooster

Portions of the 1996 "Mars Attacks" movie were filmed in the area.

 

Roosters are all over Burns, in front of nearly every business and on the porches of many homes. Burns does roosters.

Burns Mural A mural of an old sidewalk scene livens up the side of the Buffalo Gulch Ranch House Restaurant in Burns.

 

August 6, 2005 Saturday

The Flint Hills called.

So off we went.

We visited Cassoday, Burns, Florence, Cedar Point and Elmdale-- all in the very heart of the Flint Hills.

I thought today was supposed to be coolish. It wasn't. I guess it's all relative. 93 is cooler than 100.

Freaky Doll

I'm not positive of the price, but I think for $4, this could be yours.

It's one of many, many items in the four-building business that is Cassoday Antiques, owned by Harold Roberts.

 

August 5, 2005 Friday

surprise lilies

Surprise!

From nowhere, lilies appear.

 

My new computer makes it a lot easier for me to add photographs. Just keep in mind that if the pictures are lousy, they're mine, not Dave's. Dave takes photographs. I take snaphots.

I used to be a photographer, but I got over it. I used to do F-stops and shutter speeds. Once upon a time I rolled my own film and developed it and I turned my fingernails orangey-brown by developing enlargements in Dektol.

But that was all black-and-white photography. And it was back in the days when I snuck into my brother's darkroom after he moved away to college.

Road Construction - Viaduct

The viaduct on E. 6th is closed.

They've removed about 18" of pavement.

Underneath the asphalt was dirt. Who knew?

man changing lightbulbs in carousel

A carnival worker replaces lightbulbs on the carousel.

The Lyon County Fair continues through Saturday night.

August 4, 2005 Thursday

 

Broken balloons on ground

At the fairgrounds: leftovers from

a water balloon fight.

No Animals Allowed Sign

No animals

on the

fairgrounds?

 

Somebody had better tell the 4-Hers to get their pigs and chickens and cattle out of there!

 

Dave and I went to the Lyon County Fair Tuesday evening, walked around the goats and the pigs--which, incidentally, sound like teenage boys in a belching contest, and we traipsed around the dusty and somewhat empty midway, looked at the exhibits in the Anderson Building and walked through the quonset huts without getting grabbed by ambitious salespeople.

Over the past few years the number of exhibits seems to be diminishing and it was really noticeable this year. Not as many vegetables or canned goods or baked items or even photographs. Fewer of everything. Even fewer animals.

Lots of people were in the grandstand watching the Buck, Rumble and Roll, so there weren't too many at the carnival, except teenagers looking for love, or whatever it is teenagers look for these days.

August 2, 2005 Tuesday

Lyon County Fair Carnival scene\
The Lyon County Fair and Carnival grounds

  * * *

Emporia's one and only roundabout is now open for traffic.

roundabout intersection

Round and round and round she goes, where she stops, nobody knows.

OK, I was driving so this is a lousy photo, but this is our brand new roundabout.

And, in the background, our Coca-Cola silo and also a gathering of farm tractors.

This intersection has a pedestrian crossing, but drivers will be so freaked out by the cars and school busses driving in circles that they won't notice any pedestrians.

My first roundabout experience was one on the KU campus, the circle with the fountain in front of the Chi-Omega house (I think.)

But I drove into my first unexpected cornerless intersection five or six years ago. We were on I -70 in Colorado and pulled into Vail for gas. Sailing down the exit ramp I saw an intersection that I did not recognize. What the heck?

"How are those intersections working out for you?" I asked the convenience store clerk.

"They're really a lot better than the stop signs, once you get used to them. The problem is that people coming off the interstate don't know what to do and they just stop, right in the middle of them. That's not good."

The roundabout is at Graphic Arts and 18th Street, near the high school and the Flint Hills Vo-Tech.

 

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