Lawrence Magazine

lawrence MAGAZINE

Spring 2009

like mother, like daughter

Courtney and Deanna Ricketts brighten up Lawrence retail

The Haines home–a Kansas classic Picture-perfect bouquets for Mother’s Day Meet Jez Luckett, Lawrence’s lucky ‘loser’

$3.00

editor’s

note

spring 2009 publisher/Art Director

Darby Oppold editor

Nathan Pettengill copy editor

Susie Fagan

Lawrence Magazine photographer Jason Dailey is many things, but he isn’t a mother.

advertising representative

Neither am I.

Ad Designers

Nonetheless, one spring day last year Jason and I were treated to what was possibly one of the best Mother’s Day gifts: a procession of fresh bouquets and arrangements, designed by Lawrence area florists and nurseries and delivered to our studio for a photo session that would lead to the spread that Jason and publisher/art director Darby Oppold prepared in this issue.

From layers of papyrus to clusters of blue verbena, the arrangements were a delight of texture and color. And their fragrance lingered long after Jason finished lining up the vases and pots under his lights.

I am not saying I would necessarily agree to go through a protracted and painful labor to earn the right to wake up to a surprise gift of these flowers. But if I had earned the right to motherhood, this certainly would have been a just reward.

Perhaps what I liked best about these flower gift ideas was that they represented a rehabilitation of what has unfortunately become the cliché present. Available at any convenience or big-box store, flowers are too often the lazy person’s “Oh-I-forgot” fallback. But when done right—when a floral bouquet is planned to match a certain individual’s personality or likes—there are few gifts that rival in beauty and splendor.

Doing things right with thought and foresight is one of the reoccurring themes of Lawrence Magazine. In each issue, we highlight the achievements and successes found in the community and in people’s personal lives. This spring issue includes a profile of a cooking couple to help you serve a delicious lemon shallot chicken right from your oven, as well as interviews with transplanted New Orleans natives who share insights on authentic Mardi Gras traditions. We talk to two homeowners who have worked to restore 19th century farm homes and with one homeowner couple who have brought a prominent 20th century Lawrence residence back to life. There are stories of trail runners who combine fitness with adventure and of a Haskell-based drummer who is on the forefront of reviving and revising American Indian song traditions. And, bridging an approach to doing things right with motherhood, there is this issue’s cover story about Deanna Ricketts, her daughter Courtney and their work as successful business owners with separate downtown retail stores only one block apart.

Life moves quickly around us. For that reason, there are shortcuts, safety nets and even flowers at the gas station checkout lane. But all these conveniences are best when they open time to dedicate yourself to what matters most in your life. We hope you are able to spend your time this spring gathering the perfect bouquet or doing whatever brings you and those around you the most joy.

Best wishes for your Lawrence spring,

John W. Kramer (785) 856-7705

Shelly Kemph Tamra Rolf Photographers

Jason Dailey Mark Hutchinson Contributing Writers

Lauren Beatty Becky Bridson Katherine Dinsdale Cathy Hamilton Suzanne Heck Barbara Higgins-Dover Mary R. Gage Susan Kraus Emily Lubliner Paula Naughtin Cheryl Nelsen Rachel Nyp Jennifer Oldridge Debra Simon Julie Tollefson manager

Bert Hull marketing assistant

Faryle Scott

Subscriptions

$21.50 for a one-year subscription to Lawrence Magazine.

For subscription information, please contact:

Christopher Bell 609 New Hampshire, P.O. Box 888 Lawrence, KS 66044 (800) 578-8748 • Fax (785) 331-0633 Or e-mail comments to lawrencemagazine@ljworld.com

-Nathan Pettengill

Lawrence Magazine is a publication of Sunflower Publishing, a division of The World Company. www.sunflowerpub.com

contents spring

on the cover:

2009

Courtney and Deanna Ricketts.

Photo by Jason Dailey The Haines home–a Kansas classic 16 Picture-perfect bouquets for Mother’s Day 90 Meet Jez Luckett, Lawrence’s lucky ‘loser’ 56

departments lawrence living

Rock Chalk residence 8

features local profiles

what’s hot in lawrence

Buy that man an apple!

This historic stone farmhouse

48

Second-time-around scouting 82

makes a comfortable modern

Writer Cheryl Nelsen

Several area residents

home, drafts, bats and all

introduces the men who teach

discover that there is still a

first through third grade in

chance to sleep outdoors,

Lawrence’s public schools

paddle a canoe and live the

Revival of a campus classic 12

life of a Girl Scout—this time

the ‘Raney house’ back from

If it ain’t broke, then you can’t Chaussee it 52

years of neglect

Damaged tables, broken plates

and the cookies just as

and discarded skateboards

delicious

A Lawrence couple bring

lawrence businesses

Take two chocolates and call Ricetta in the morning 25

are just what one couple need to create mosaic masterpieces

Nothing left to lose 56

as adult volunteers. Decades later, the songs are still catchy

Lawri Gras 86 Despite the long transplant to Lawrence, some native

Shedding weight on the TV

A Lawrence-based

Louisianans keep the best

show The Biggest Loser was

chocolatier plays up the

Mardi Gras traditions alive

the first part of Jez Luckett’s

curative power of cocoa

ongoing transformation

beans and the sweet benefits of handmade desserts

Midland’s constant connection 29 A small store at a big junction plays a large role in the lives

Two generations, neither a gap 60 A mother and daughter share the same retail world, thanks to a trip around the globe and mutual encouragement

of neighbors and surrounding farms

health & fitness

Q&A with Elena Ivanov

105 boomergirl.com

Polish pottery 106

Kansas vernacular 16

It all began with a beguiling

A 19th century farm home serves as a haven for turtles, butterflies, plants and one weathered John Brown scarecrow

peacock-motif dinner plate.

And now, more than 100 pieces later, Cathy Hamilton of Boomergirl.com recounts her

Turning over a new Bay Leaf 33

Trailing along 64

A downtown institution opens

themselves over the Kaw and

a larger space for customers

through the woods, up the

and a new kitchen for chefs

hills and into the mud

lawrence lifestyles

Tribal drummer 36

A chef’s table: Sam and Tanya Sieber 68

A Grammy Award-winning

This cooking couple return

American Indian musician

to the farm for a fresh chicken

Lawrence Magazine travel

dinner

writer Susan Kraus explains

passes on his tradition to the

Area runners push

gardening tips

severe weather and signal

Small plots, unlimited imaginations 74

early warnings

For two local gardeners, tiny

Volunteer spotters chase

Flower her 90 We rediscover the felicitous attraction of flowers for the classic Mother’s Day gift

travel ideas

Festival fun 108 Sometimes the best-planned vacations aren’t planned at all. And they aren’t found in well-known destinations.

how she learned this lesson,

next generation

Skywarners 40

pottery obsession

surprisingly, in Germany

spaces seed the biggest ideas

Old cemeteries 44 Writer Paula Naughtin

Unpredictable growth

describes her fascination with

78

and respect for the region’s

Sue and Pat Shea grow a

earliest graveyards

garden of contained chaos and whimsical surprise

Lawrence Magazine 7

Lawrence living Written by Emily Lubliner Photography by Jason Dailey

Rock Chalk Residence

This historic stone farmhouse makes a comfortable modern home, drafts, bats and all

8 Lawrence Magazine

Address 1734 Kent Terrace

Bedrooms Four

Homeowners Jim Clark and Shelley Hickman Clark

bathrooms Two

Year built Original wooden structure in 1855; stone structure believed to be from the 1860s (exact date unknown) square feet 3,636

floors Two plus attic and basement, including a sunroom, library and small screen porch style of house Stone vernacular

The home that Shelley Hickman Clark shares with her husband, Jim, encompasses one of the oldest residential structures in present-day Lawrence. Built in 1855, the original

wooden house was finished the following spring after the city of Lawrence was founded. A large stone farmhouse addition was later built on the property. And although changes have been made over time, the home retains many original features, such as the distinctive square nails pounded in by pioneer Joseph Savage.

As one of the earliest European settlers in the Kansas Territory, Savage traveled from Vermont to join the fight against slavery and establish Kansas as a free state. The house he built in what would become Wakarusa Township secured his claim on a 160-acre farm that stretched from approximately 23rd to 27th streets and from Iowa Street to Naismith Drive.

Out of respect for their home’s provenance, the Clarks choose to focus their repairs and changes on recovering the home’s historical appearance rather than on applying new designs.

Repairs and changes are allowed, but only up to the point where the Clarks discover framework marked by Savage’s square nails.

“That’s when we stop,” says Shelley. “We’ve done a lot of work like that.”

Although they now revere the home’s historical significance, Shelley and her family did not come to know the house’s past until daughter Kelley took a history class in high school that led to an exploration of it.

“We’d lived here for 10 or 12 years at least before I really started getting interested in it,” Shelley says. “So by that time, it was just my house. I didn’t walk into it thinking, ‘Oh my gosh, I’m moving into a historic home.’”

With all that she now knows, Shelley can’t help but reminisce about her house and what it has withstood. When she approaches her home from the east, she imagines the property as it once was: a lone structure atop the hill, with a band of cedar trees sloping gently up toward the house.

Lawrence living

Please share any additional history you’re aware of: Shelley: Joseph Savage, a member of New England Emigrant Aid Company’s second party and the home’s original builder, was a lay member of the KU Science Club in the 1880s. He often hosted the annual meeting of the Science Club at the farm, and it was at one of these meetings that the Science Club adopted the Rock Chalk chant. Joseph Savage also donated and planted the lilac bushes that became Lilac Lane on the KU campus.

How has the house changed or enriched your life?

Shelley: The history of Lawrence and the family who built the house is intertwined with our own history. Alfred Alford was the grandson of Joseph Savage, who built the home. He became a model for the KU law student for the bronze sculpture in front of the original Green Hall (law

school), which is now Lippincott Hall.

Jim and I both attended law school in old Green, and I now teach there. We have also become very interested in historic preservation law, which I now teach at the law school.

How long have you lived here?

Shelley: 30 years.

How did this house come to be yours?

Shelley: We knew the prior owners and came out on a dark Friday night to see it just before the owners put it on the market. I walked into the sunroom, the kitchen, and sat down in the living room.

By the time I sat down, I felt like I was at home. I had not seen the outside; I hadn’t seen the rest of the house. It was just truly an emotional decision. So we bought it that evening.

In the spring, Shelley Hickman Clark’s home is covered with ivy and surrounded by lilac bushes. Most of the lilacs are modern volunteers, but they are also a tribute to the home’s original owner who planted Lilac Lane on campus.

10 Lawrence Magazine

What appealed to you when you first saw this house?

Shelley: I knew it was a stone house. It was a farmhouse, and I had always loved the idea of living in a farmhouse. There’s just a feeling about this house that I can’t really describe. … It just feels like home, and it always has.

What’s your favorite room and why?

Shelley: The study/TV room, because it’s the oldest part of house, and it feels like the center or heart of the house.

What’s the house’s most unique feature?

Shelley: The fact that it is made of native limestone and built by hand.

What one thing would you change about the house?

Shelley: Windows without drafts.

An old stone house built onto the original wooden frame, the Clark home is a combination of sturdy architecture and comfortable living quarters such as the guest room (top) and the living room.

Lawrence living

Do you have plans for more improvements in the future?

Shelley: Maybe fixing the sloping floor in the upstairs landing.

What are your family’s and friends’ reactions to the house?

Shelley: Always positive, sometimes a little envious, always reassuring when we have a major breakdown (leaky roof and fireplace, bats and squirrels in the attic, kitchen fireplace falling away from the house, etc.).

How does it feel to live in such an old structure?

Shelley: As I’ve come to learn the history, I really have appreciated it. And you do feel an obligation to try to keep it up and try to take care of it, because you would like to pass it on to another family, another generation. •

Joseph Savage’s recollections, transcribed

by Shelley Hickman Clark, are posted on the Territorial Kansas online project, a collaboration of the Kansas State Historical Society of Topeka, Kansas, and the Kansas Collection of the Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas, with funding from the Institute of Museum and Library Services. Go to www.territorialkansasonline.org and type in “Joseph Savage” in the onsite search engine.

Shelley Hickman Clark laments the home’s drafty windows surrounded by stone, but the stonework also allows for fascinating details such as this decorative niche in one corner.

Shelley sits in her library, which was originally the home’s kitchen.

Lawrence Magazine 11

Lawrence living

Written by Mary R. Gage Photography by Jason Dailey

Revival of a Campus Classic

A few blocks west of the University of Kansas campus, anchoring a spacious corner lot, stands the elegant home of Linda and Mike Elwell. The structure’s simple, rectangular

A Lawrence couple bring the ‘Raney house’—powder room, serpentine knobs and all—back from years of neglect

12 Lawrence Magazine

facade wrapped in blonde brick belies its rich history and interior details fashioned by colorful owners.

“This will always be the Raney house,” says Mike, referring to Mildred and Richard Raney, who finished building the house in 1962 and owned Raney Drug Store, a leading Lawrence business for many years.

“It’s really true,” continues Mike, “because it was their concept, and due to her [Mildred’s] flair for entertaining and decorating, it immediately stood out. It was a little out of character compared to what was up and down the street.”

Linda describes old photographs she’s seen of Mildred on the back patio dressed in white, surrounded by tables— covered in red and white cloths—placed around the fountain awaiting guests.

“She was very into entertaining,” says Linda. “She even had a full soda fountain with a booth set up in the basement.”

By the time the Elwells, owners of Abe and Jake’s Landing west of Lawrence’s Riverfront Mall, looked at the house in 2002, it had been through several owners, including the latest, who had been using it as a warehouse for a rock ’n’ roll memorabilia business. It was obvious the house had passed its prime and significant effort would be required to resurrect the structure.

“It was just dark and depressing in here,” recalls Linda.

“It reminded me of the inside of a boat salon,” adds Mike.

“There was dark paneling everywhere, dark ceilings and walls.”

After years of living in the country south of Lawrence and bemoaning the lack of walking space on gravel roads plagued by fast-moving traffic, the Elwells were anxious to move back into town and were drawn to the campus area with its generous sidewalks and pastoral setting. The Raney house—despite a crumbling foundation, rec-room paneling and layers of grime— attracted them as well.

“The place had potential,” says Mike. “The entry, the fireplaces, the upper decks—I could see what it could be.”

Lawrence living

The sitting room of the Elwell home—once used as a warehouse—has been restored to a comfortable atmosphere.

“It was completely trashed,” adds Linda. “We had to jack it up in places and pour a new foundation. Everything was taken down to the studs except for the foyer and the living room.”

The couple installed new walls, windows and floors throughout the first floor. The Elwells reconfigured the kitchen with new cabinets, countertops and appliances. And they cleaned—beginning with the marble floor in the foyer.

“I thought the floor was black and brown,” laughs Linda, “because that’s what it looked like.”

Now, after professional cleaning and refinishing, the floor shimmers in checkerboard squares of charcoal and white marble. The marble accents a grand stairway with a unique wrought-iron grapevine balustrade. Large windows beyond the stairway frame the patio’s decorative pool and fountain. To the right of the stairway is a small powder room that Mike insisted on saving. Its sink is inlaid with a golden Grecian scene, matched by gold serpentine knobs, faucet and towel bar.

Mike suspects most people back in the ’60s “hadn’t seen a bathroom quite like that.”

Saving unique elements of the original house suits Mike, an artist himself and former owner of Lawrence’s Oxbow Foundry. Many creative and unusual pieces from his collection decorate the light, airy, renovated home.

Of all the sculptures, paintings and oddities that enrich the smooth walls and shelves, few are Elwell originals. Many of his pieces are quite large and more suited to the open space at Abe and Jake’s Landing. The inspiration for the name of the riverfront tavern and for the signature sculpture by Elwell is an old photograph occupying a prime spot in his home office.

“It’s a photo of Abe Burns and Jake Washington from around 1891,” gestures Mike. “So this was the sculpture I did down at Abe and Jake’s and why I named it Abe and Jake’s. They had a fishing cottage right down there on the riverbank, and here

14 Lawrence Magazine

The Elwells were drawn to a home that had open, green space connected by sidewalks to the neighborhood campus community.

Mike and Linda Elwell sit by their dogs in the foyer of their home. The foyer’s marble floor was one of the first and most visible transformations in the home’s restoration process.

they are holding 110- and 90-pound blue cats. That’s a neat photograph.”

Much of the artwork at his tavern and home was acquired through trades.

“Some of the artists who don’t have the money to cast, particularly on a large piece, I’d say, ‘Hey, I’ll cast one for you if I can have one.’ Then I started doing my own big pieces and stayed with that for a long time.”

Smaller pieces adorning the Elwells’ home include a round-bellied sumo wrestler by Kwan Wu, the sculptor of the Phog Allen bronze outside Allen Fieldhouse, and a replica of the large marble Justice sculpture for the Kansas Supreme Court designed by Bernard “Poco” Frazier.

The Elwell home now reverberates with fresh, bright air and new life. Once on a downward slope, this modern classic has been revived. And a step or two out the front door, with a turn to the east where the afternoon sun catches the towers of Fraser Hall and turns them a golden hue, is a walk waiting to be taken. •

S t o r y b y J e n n i f e r Ol d r i d g e Ph o t o g ra p h y b y J as o n Da i l e y

A 1 9 th- c e n t u r y farm home serves as a haven for turtles, butterflies, plants and one weathered John Brown scarecrow

Originally

built

in

1872,

the

Haines

home

retains

its original rough, stone wall texture throughout the i n t e r i o r. T h e g u e s t r o o m w a l l , b o t t o m r i g h t , h i g h l i g h t s the layers of stone while the entry dining room wall, right, is softened by warm colors, plush carpets and delicate details such as the vases in the upper windows and the artwork along the wall.

he stone home of Cynthia and Jim Haines stands against an enormous skyline on a tapestry of rolling hills west of Lawrence. Originally crafted by an Italian stonemason in 1872, the home has seen additions and modernizations over the past 137 years but has retained its original feel of an isolated farm home.

Cynthia, a film critic and master gardener, and Jim, a Clark distinguished professor of business at Washburn University, have owned the home for five years and work to preserve its historical integrity. The Haineses have maintained the natural landscape of open land with pockets of woods while adding a butterfly way station, a certified wildlife habitat and a well-tended garden.

The master bedroom blends comfort with nature. The doors and windows open to the garden while elements of nature are brought into the interior structure—such as the log rail i n t h e u p p e r f r a m e o f t h e e n t r y d o o r.

Cynthia Haines relaxes in the sitting room, above. A noted movie critic, Cynthia screens films from inside a n o l d g r a n a r y, b e l o w l e f t a n d r i g h t , t h a t h a s b e e n reconstructed to meet modern building codes.

Cynthia points out various plantings amid the robust, layered rows of the courtyard garden as Jim ambles in from a bike ride with a new pet tucked under his arm. Apparently, this is not a rare occurrence.

“We found our first turtle on a road in the Flint Hills and saved it from certain death,” explains Jim. “He’s thriving in the courtyard, which is devoid of natural predators, and now he has a few friends.”

Jim goes on to describe his collection of garden turtles as “wonderful pets” capable of disappearing for five months every year and requiring no feeding or attention apart from a piece of fresh fruit every now and then. On top of that, the turtles devour crickets and potential garden pests.

The turtles are more kind to the sculptures that sit throughout the Haines garden. The shelled creatures make their way around Governor Rakehead, a whimsical sculpture welded from found objects, and seem to have made their peace with Breach, a large metal sculpture in the shape of a whale rising from the surface of the ocean. Cynthia points out that the whale itself seems perfectly at home in “an ocean of prairie grass.”

Beyond the whale, a tall fence protects an ample garden from becoming a turtle and critter allyou-can-eat smorgasbord. Inside the fencing, John Brown Scarecrow protects the garden from hungry flying creatures.

Cynthia says woodcarver Mark Bjersted from Colorado originally named the scarecrow Moses, but she and Jim changed the name thinking that the wooden man bore a stronger resemblance to the radical abolitionist. “Plus,” adds Cynthia, “we thought the birds would be more fearful of John Brown.”

Were any animal to get beyond the defenses of John Brown, it would find numerous earthly delights such as asparagus, radishes, potatoes, peas, spinach, onion, strawberries, turnips, tomatoes, peppers, raspberries, sweet potatoes, squash, beets, okra, cantaloupe, watermelon, cucumbers, eggplant, carrots, parsley, sage, dill, cilantro, thyme and basil. The garden is cultivated without chemical additives, and the Haineses enjoy eating and sharing what they grow.

A m a s t e r g a r d e n e r, C y n t h i a g r o w s v e g e t a b l e s a n d flowers in her yard for her own use and to share with others. “It is a privilege to be stewards of a piece of land,” she says.

An old granary stands next to the bountiful garden. The Haineses have converted this structure into a movie house where Cynthia screens films.

In an effort to keep the structure up to code but not ruin the building’s integrity, the couple disassembled the granary and rebuilt it around a steel frame using most of the original materials.

The meeting of old and new in the granary is a symbol of how the Haineses have worked to preserve the past while enjoying the present and the prospects of the future on their beautiful home and land. • The John Brown Scarecrow sculpture, top, stands guard in the middle of the Haines g a r d e n . T h e w o o d e n M r. B r o w n i s t h e l a s t d e f e n s e a g a i n s t a n y h u n g r y c r e a t u r e n o t s c a r e d by the clanking of empty bottles or deterred by a formidable garden fence. Bottom: A stone-laid fence leads to the Haines home west of Lawrence.

Lawrence businesses

Take Two Chocolates

and c a l l R i c e t t a i n th e m or n i n g Written by Julie Tollefson / Photography by Mark Hutchinson

A Lawrence-based chocolatier plays up the curative power of cocoa beans and the sweet benefits of handmade desserts

Cheryl Wetherington lives the dream of a child in a candy store—every day, seven days a week, up to 20 hours a day.

As owner of Ricetta Artisan Chocolates, with stores in Lawrence and Gardner, Wetherington fills her workplace with cherry, raspberry and espresso truffles, peppermint and marshmallow crèmes, caramel apples and Rice Krispie treat “greeting cards” the size of cakes.

“Just the fact that I get to play in chocolate all day long, for me, it’s a really great job,” Wetherington says.

Riverfront to Ricetta

Wetherington launched her business in 2002 as Riverfront Chocolates in Lawrence’s Riverfront Mall. For the next six years, the site served triple duty as Wetherington and a small group of employees produced, sold and shipped chocolates in the increasingly cramped space. In 2008, Wetherington expanded the business, moving the Lawrence location to 3115 W. Sixth St., Suite F, and opening a second store in Gardner.

Because the Gardner location was not on a river, Wetherington realized the name Riverfront Chocolates no longer seemed to apply.

She began casting around for an alternative and finally settled on Ricetta, an Italian word pronounced “richet-a” and meaning “prescription, remedy or formula.”

People may have trouble pronouncing the name, but its meaning was a perfect fit with the owner’s vision for the business.

“We thought chocolate is the ultimate remedy—milk, dark or white,” Wetherington explains.

Wetherington’s website plays up the medicinal theme by offering gift box selections with names of Cure-All (a “chocolate emergency kit suitable for any occasion”), Intensive Care (“some situations deserve extra attention”) and Ultimate Therapy (“an affordable luxury”).

Signature chocolates

Now working from their two locations, Wetherington and her employees have the elbowroom they require to create their handmade chocolates using a time-consuming and uncommon method called shelling.

While most modern chocolate manufacturers use conveyor belts and chocolate “curtains” to turn out nearly identical products, Ricetta’s shelling method—filling molds with melted chocolate, allowing the excess to drip out, loading the hollows with ganache or other fillings and sealing it with a chocolate back— results in chocolates with character.

“If you look at our pieces, every single one is very unique. It’s because each one is individually molded,” Wetherington says.

Lawrence Magazine 25

Lawrence businesses

Ricetta Artisan Chocolates 3115 W. Sixth St., Suite F (785) 749-4211 www.ricettachocolates.com

The icing on the truffle is the Ricetta “signature,” the final decorative accents added to each piece. Those in the know can distinguish an Irish crème truffle from an amaretto truffle just by looking at the signature.

Although customer favorites such as caramel pecan clusters and milk chocolate truffles are available year-round, other pieces change with the season.

“I like options,” says Wetherington, who continues to experiment with new recipes and new methods, much to the delight of the “taste testers” who work for her.

This season, look for custom Easter baskets, chocolate bunnies, handdipped and decorated crème eggs, chocolate flowers and the return of the limited-edition lime truffle, which Wetherington describes as a “fresh and clean” taste that conveys the “flavor” of spring.

Chocolate childhood

With both locations, Ricetta employs a total of six people, counting Wetherington and her husband,

26 Lawrence Magazine

who makes all of Ricetta’s caramel apples and fudge in addition to working full time for the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office.

Wetherington’s children, too, have carved their own niches within the business.

“My youngest used to sleep in a corner. My oldest is turning into the chocolate salesperson,” Wetherington says of her 8- and 10-year-olds, who have grown up with the business.

“They don’t get nearly as much chocolate as they think they should.”

Wetherington herself eats chocolate every day.

“We call it quality control,” she says. “You have to know your product.” •

Lawrence businesses

Midland’s Constant

Owner Rick Grimmett (above) loads feed while Kevin Kufahl fixes a tire at Midland.

connection Written by Barbara Higgins-Dover / Photography by Jason Dailey

A small store at a big junction plays a large role in the lives of neighbors and surrounding farms

Midland Farm Store stands some four miles north of Lawrence, in the evening shade of four large grain elevators and close enough to the Union Pacific railroad line that the windows shake as the train rolls by.

The store’s rough and tattered milkpaint exterior of beaten siding provides no hint of the warm friendships, rich history and conversation found inside its two wide front doors that swing outward and resemble the entryway of an Old West saloon.

Most mornings, the store’s interior is a gathering spot for local farmers, residents, retirees and a few commuters who sit near the counter and sip on a cup of black coffee. Midget the cat is the regular with the most consistent appearances.

She usually slumbers away the mornings in a basket placed high on a shelf and just below the brightly lit Nutrena Feeds sign. But there are numerous reg-

ulars who linger after a purchase, halflistening to the static-filled sounds of country music from a nearby radio and sometimes engaging in conversations that cover politics, fence building, tractor repairs, the economic situation and hog prices.

Rick Grimmett, the store’s owner, understands the importance of this rural watering hole and remains on a firstname basis with his customers. He reels off their names, the crops or animals they own, and whether they farm in the bottoms by the river or “clear up into Oski.”

Grimmett stocks his wooden shelves with many items found in most convenience stores. But the black chalkboards with hand-scratched updates on grain, seed and feed prices and the countertops covered with notices of upcoming livestock auctions, pictures of lost farm pets or donation buckets for neighbors

Midland Farm Store stands four miles north of downtown Lawrence.

Lawrence Magazine 29

Lawrence businesses

Midland Farm Store 1401 N. Diagonal Road (785) 841-8544

in need indicate the store’s strong links to its past.

Midland Farm Store was the place to dance and listen to live music in the 1920s and 1930s. Farm boys and girls—and often their families in tow—climbed up to the store’s now empty and cavernous second story for legendary entertainment.

You can still imagine the echoes of laughter in the hall, which is largely silent now but houses the occasional community meeting.

When the dancing wasn’t in swing, the store was filled with noises from the family of Russell Shaw, the owner in the early 1920s who lived and raised his family on the premises

while selling groceries in the front of the building.

Much of Shaw’s old-fashioned hospitality still can be found in the homemade peanut brittle for sale by the register, with the hand-posted notes placed on the front door by locals with items to sell and on the faces of the regulars when a neighbor walks through the door.

The store itself remains involved in the community as a strong financial supporter for area 4-H projects revolving around farming and livestock, local humane societies, seed and fence donations to the city of Lawrence and community outreach for any local resident facing hard times.

In a sense, Midland is a landlocked lighthouse—a business that evolved to serve the industry around it, a beacon across the expanse, something the regulars and neighbors know will be there as they approach home. •

Gary Seifert, left, talks with Larry Miskimen underneath a board showing current feed prices. Midland’s central location, constant black coffee and familiarity with the needs of rural homeowners make it a favorite gathering spot.

Lawrence businesses

Turning Over

a new Bay Leaf Written by Debra Simon / Photography by Jason Dailey

A downtown institution opens a larger space for customers and a new kitchen for chefs

The aroma of gourmet coffee greets visitors to the The Bay Leaf, a fixture in downtown Lawrence that has sold unique kitchenware, coffees, teas and other creative gift ideas since the 1970s. In early 2008 the shop moved up the block to a larger building at 717 Massachusetts St.

“We are the new and improved Bay Leaf,” owner Geri Riekhof says, noting that the new store has about twice the space of the previous location.

Riekhof, who worked as a Bay Leaf employee in the 1980s and bought the store in 2001, designed the bright and open space of the new location with the customer’s comfort in mind. Colorful pottery and a variety of kitchen items such as whistling tea kettles, stainless stockpots and Bundt brownie pans fill the front of the shop with a sense of homey cheer. Her most notable addition is a state-of-the-art kitchen at the back of the store.

“Since we are a kitchen store, I felt this would bring us to the next level of making a connection with customers and their interests in cooking,” Riekhof explains.

Frank Krizman, owner of Krizman Carpentry and Construction in rural Lawrence, installed the kitchen. Riekhof already had a good idea of what she wanted and had architectural plans for Krizman to follow, but he was able to make a few suggestions to improve the durability of the kitchen, which offers individual cooking areas for each class participant.

“It was a fun little project. We offered suggestions about endurance, like steel countertops,” he says.

Riekhof began the remodeling in January 2008, when she conducted a survey of about 200 of her customers to find out what they wanted in a cooking class.

She chose topics based on their input. In June she began offering 10-15 classes per month that cost $20 and up. Classes meet on nights and weekends. Several instructors teach single sessions on anything from stews to desserts to ethnic cooking.

Local guest chef-instructors include Robert and Molly Krause, whose classes include an intensive two-day session on how to prepare four-course meals; Nora Kaschube, who offers her expertise as a pastry chef with classes such as “The Magic of Meringues,” and Dawn Haverkate-Ens, who has shown cooking enthusiasts that Thai food does not have to be delivered from a restaurant.

If you’re looking for the perfect chocolate cake or breakfast tart (filled with salmon, dill, bacon or blue cheese), the Bay Leaf course to take is taught by Anne Broz.

Broz, who attended the Westlake Culinary Institute in Westlake Village, California, has been the pastry chef at a restaurant on the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City, Missouri, and a caterer. She considers the class area at the Bay Leaf to be a great asset to the community that helps people “feel more comfortable in the kitchen.”

Bay Leaf’s new store features this kitchen.

Bay Leaf owner Geri Riekhof in the new store.

Colorful colanders are part of the store’s kitchen supplies.

Lawrence Magazine 33

Lawrence businesses

The Bay Leaf 717 Massachusetts St. (785) 842-4544 www.thebayleaf.com

Broz says she regularly draws on The Bay Leaf for “the perfect spatula” and gourmet coffee.

Finding unusual spatulas and other kitchen items is a knack that Riekhof has perfected with regular trips to New York and Chicago, where she seeks brands, patterns and gift ideas that can’t be found locally. Many come from the New York International Gift Fair, where Riekhof sorts through the wares of hundreds of companies from across the world.

But Riekhof says any good kitchen starts with the basics. She recommends giving first priority to a good set of knives.

“If you don’t have good knives, the kitchen is drudgery,” says Riekhof.

After that, she suggests lining up spatulas, accurate measuring cups and spoons, baking pans and mixing bowls, as well as a reliable garlic press and a Microplane grater.

34 Lawrence Magazine

Bay Leaf’s new location offers more retail space and the same pleasant smell of gourmet coffee.

Riekhof acknowledges that having the right equipment will not guarantee you instant celebrity chef status.

But she has set up the new Bay Leaf on the belief that knowledge and good equipment lead to confidence in the kitchen—and that’s a recipe for culinary success. •

Lawrence lifestyles

Tribal Drummer A Grammy Award-winning American Indian musician passes on his tradition to the next generation Written by Suzanne Heck Photography by Jason Dailey

Award-winning musician Jeremy Shield leads a drum circle at Haskell Indian Nations University.

If you don’t know Jeremy Shield, you might recognize the sound of his voice or the beat of his drum.

Shield, a 32-year-old Crow/Oglala Sioux Indian, is the singer and drum leader for opening ceremonies at Haskell Indian Nations University.

“We try and use Jeremy as much as we can to provide a traditional element to our events,” says Haskell President Linda Warner. “It is rare for a person as young as Jeremy to have the knowledge and skills that he does for our ceremonies. Many schools have to rely on recordings or tapes, so having a live performance is special indeed. We are fortunate to have Jeremy at our school.”

True to ancient traditions, Shield never formally learned his drumming skills. He grew into them as a young boy in Crow Agency, Montana.

“When I was growing up, it was common for members of my family to sing together,” says Shield. “It was a way of enjoying life and expressing yourself, and something the family always did together.”

Shield’s family, which includes many Haskell graduates, also influenced his choice in schools. Arriving at Lawrence in 1995, Shield began studies at Haskell that would lead to an associate of arts degree in business manage-

36 Lawrence Magazine

ment. He also formed a friendship with Wayne Silas Jr., a Menominee/Oneida student who shared an interest in traditional native music.

Silas and Shield began gathering men from many tribes in Haskell’s Student Union to form a drum and song group that eventually became Tha Tribe. At first an informal student group, Tha Tribe started performing at regional powwows and releasing studio recordings. Soon, Tha Tribe was one of the top American Indian drumming groups.

Top: A family of artists, Jeremy and Robin Shield sit with son Jerron and daughter Jolana (in foreground). Robin’s beadwork is spread out on their table. Bottom: Shield, once a student at Haskell Indian Nations University, now works, teaches and drums on campus.

In 2000, Tha Tribe won a Grammy in the category of Best Native American Music Album as well as a Nammy (Native American Music Awards) for the Best Pow Wow Recordings.

Backed by American Indian music studio giant Canyon Records, Tha Tribe is unusual for its blending of traditional music with modern lyrics and humor. Its recordings include modern slang and a faux radio advertisement for “The Fry Bread Hut.” Tha Tribe features women in its roster of regular performers—a significant break from traditional groups— to give the songs a broader depth in range and talent. It is also composed of members from many tribes who switch across languages and traditions when they perform.

Like any long-living, hardworking, traveling band, Tha Tribe has seen many members come and go since it began as a student drum group. Shield is not always able to join lead singer Silas, who now lives in Wisconsin, for each performance. But he has contributed to recent recordings, joins the group for its annual reunion performance at Haskell and remains a crucial figure.

“Jeremy is a powerful singer, and a lot of the songs that we sing today were composed by him,” explains Silas.

“The traditional knowledge that Jeremy has that has come from his family, and his knowledge of other tribes, has helped make our group famous and elevated us to where we are today.”

While Shield collaborates with Tha Tribe, he continues native traditions closer to home. He works as a volunteer cultural enhancement instructor at Haskell and heads two local drumming groups: The Agency and Thundershield.

Shield also teaches his children the drumming and song traditions that he learned as a child. Shield’s 3-year-old son Jerron is already learning rhythms while 11-year-old daughter Jolana has a performance credit on Tha Tribe’s 2005 recording, Blue Scout.

Jeremy’s wife, Robin, also performed on the same album. A former Haskell and Jayhawk basketball player, Robin is better known in American Indian circles as a leading beadwork artist who has created crowns and sashes for powwow dancers and princesses. Her necklaces, earrings, lanyards, belt buckles and other creations are highly sought after as well.

Having his own family continue the native songs and traditions is important to Shield, who points out that his ancestors were forbidden to perform traditional music when they went to Haskell. He says that each performance helps him reflect on his ancestors’ plight and makes him grateful that he can sing openly in a culture where the native voice and drum can bring a new generation into the circle. •

Lawrence lifestyles

Skywarners Volunteer spotters chase severe weather and signal early warnings

Written by Paula Naughtin Photography by Jason Dailey

Skywarn volunteer Rod Heine will be one of the trained spotters monitoring severe weather this spring.

When thunder, lightning, wall clouds or tornadoes sweep through the Kansas skies—as they inevitably do—most people head for shelter.

There are some people, however, who rush in the opposite direction as soon as they spot threatening weather—and we should be glad they do, because it is the dedication and expertise of this small, stalwart group that keep everyone else safer.

These are the volunteers of the Skywarn program. They have completed extensive training in weather spotting, radio operation and emergency procedures and are committed to joining the staff of the Douglas County Emergency Management Department (EMD) in the worst weather conditions to monitor the skies and warn residents of danger.

Teri Smith, director of the Douglas County EMD, says Skywarn volunteers come from across the county with a variety of backgrounds. There are professors, city employees, university students and a sheriff’s dispatcher among

40 Lawrence Magazine

Lawrence lifestyles Heine has worked with Skywarn, spotting and chasing severe weather with staff and other volunteers for more than eight years. “It’s a good group of people from top to bottom,” says Heine.

the group. Two volunteers have been spotting for more than 35 years. Smith notes that the county could not afford a safety net of staff with this much experience and expertise.

“It’s overwhelming to think you have so much commitment from them,” says Smith.

Chasing a vortex

Rod Heine is one of these volunteers. His job in his family excavating business usually allows him to be available during stormy weather. After all, you can’t dig when it’s raining. Of course, it helps that he loves weather. Heine says sky-watching has always “intrigued” him and he enjoys “the severe aspect as storms are developing.”

Heine joined Skywarn at his wife’s suggestion eight years ago and responds to almost all of the activations (more than 12 in 2008). Although the nearest spotter site for Heine is 2½ miles from his house in rural Douglas County, he is often assigned to more distant locations depending on the direction a storm is heading.

Heine was one of only two spotters who were immediately available on September 12, 2008, when a tornado touched down outside Eudora. Because of the small number of spotters, Heine was asked to “chase” the vortex instead of calling in reports from a stationary position.

This proximity to danger has taught Heine to not fear funnels but respect a storm’s power. “I feel very comfortable out in the field with the [EMD] staff,” says Heine. “It’s a good group of people from top to bottom. If [a] radio quits, they send someone to look. And for safety’s sake, if you have to move, they have you move first and then call in.”

When severe weather threatens, be sure to tune into Sunflower Broadband’s Channel 6 for live, comprehensive coverage.

Severe weather updates also available at ljworld.com

42 Lawrence Magazine

Top: Jillian Blair points to regions monitored by Skywarn volunteers. Bottom: Teri Smith, director of the Douglas County Emergency Management Department, coordinates volunteers from her office.

Lawrence lifestyles

‘As dark and scary as it could possibly be’

Aman Reaka’s fascination with weather began early, when his father would gather the kids out in their driveway as the skies clouded and the winds picked up.

“I love it,” he says. “There’s that smell in the air and you can feel it coming.”

Reaka says he wanted to become a meteorologist but thought he lacked some skills.

“I’m bad at math,” he confesses. “I’m an artist.”

Still, while an undergraduate in the graphic design program at the University of Kansas, Reaka took as many meteorology classes as he could.

While he isn’t always able to leave work for Skywarn activations, Reaka usually keeps in close contact through the internet, checks the radar and stays in touch with EMD staff.

On the day of the Eudora tornado, Reaka knew there would be a good chance for severe weather so he e-mailed his wife, Laura, and asked her to “be ready to roll” as soon as work ended. Returning from their jobs to volunteer as spotters, they came over a hill near De Soto and saw a sky that Reaka recalls being “as dark and scary as it could possibly be.”

Two seconds later, they spotted a tornado and called in to the Emergency Operations Center. They heard the sirens go off moments later.

“The twister was probably 300 yards away when it lifted up, dissipated and then sat back down,” recalls Reaka.

Volunteering at Skywarn provides Reaka a purpose to witness storms that he admits he probably would want to go out and see in any case. The difference now is that in his official role, he helps pass on warnings that possibly save lives.

Like Heine, Reaka praises the staff and volunteers back at headquarters and says there is always a new skill to develop. For him, the hardest and most dangerous task is spotting at night when only flashes of lightning illuminate the clouds, and perhaps funnels.

These situations are probably why some people tell Reaka he is foolish to volunteer with Skywarn, but others envy him.

“Some people think it’s cool, some think you’re crazy,” says Reaka, “and some ask how they can do it.” • The chance to observe severe weather, such as this shelf cloud, attracts many Skywarn volunteers.

Photo courtesy Aman Reaka

The elements of Skywarn Teamwork

When severe weather threatens, Skywarn volunteers receive a pager-message activation request.

Once a volunteer responds with a confirmation to participate, he or she is given marching orders to one of the 30 regular spotter locations in Douglas County and is expected to radio in to headquarters upon arrival.

Volunteers do more than watch the sky. Some are on call at night and on the weekends to set up and maintain a network of watchers until staff can get the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) up and running.

Some, such as Kate Dinneen, are duty officers and help at the EOC. Dinneen started as a Skywarn watcher and is now a part-time staffer.

Other volunteers are part of the Auxiliary Communications Team, comprised of ham radio operators, including Andy Anderson, who has been transmitting for 73 years. The operators relay instructions and keep in constant communication with the people in the field. “I know they have my back,” says Skywarn field volunteer Aman Reaka.

Training and commitment

Skywarn volunteers, as you would expect, receive extensive weather training, not only when they initially volunteer but also in annual refresher courses. They attend National Weather Service seminars and conferences, continually practice with weather photos, attend meetings and participate in weather simulations. Volunteer Rod Heine says the simulations are his favorite way to train because they allow volunteers to get out in the field and work with new team members.

Skywarn volunteers are also trained as members of the Community Emergency Response Team, with basic first aid and fire suppression lessons as well as limited search-and-rescue instruction.

To remain active, a volunteer must participate in the annual training and respond to at least 25 percent of activations.

Volunteer opportunities

Applications to join the Skywarn team are accepted every October through December. The volunteers, both new and returning, engage in intense instruction during January, February and March.

Neophyte watchers are always paired with a veteran during the first year. After that they are allowed to go out alone. Reaka says, “We need more spotters. … It’s very rewarding and you might save a life.”

For more information, call the Douglas County Emergency Management at (785) 832-5259.

Lawrence Magazine 43

Lawrence lifestyles

Old Cemeteries Writer Paula Naughtin describes her fascination with and respect for the region’s earliest graveyards Written by Paula Naughtin Photography by Jason Dailey

A monument to James Arthur Adams, who was less than 3 years old when he died in 1887, stands at Oak Hill Cemetery in Lawrence.

It’s an unusual habit, I admit, but for many years my family and I have included trips to old cemeteries as part of our outings, our vacations and simply as something to do on a Saturday afternoon.

Old cemeteries hold an appeal that modern ones do not. Modern cemeteries are all about efficiency and uniformity—vast expanses of rolling green punctuated with tasteful squares of bronze, all neatly laid flush with the earth. Certainly, the mourners who gather at these graves grieve just as deeply as those who gathered in ages past.

And certainly there is a sacred dignity to the precise rows of a modern or old military graveyard. But the pioneer cemeteries are places where sorrow is clearly carved in stone, where grief is truly monumental.

Perhaps this is because death came differently in the 1800s.

As surely as there is an unfathomable divide between the life of a parent who has been forced to bury a child and the life of a parent who sees this scene only in nightmares or flashes of foreboding, there is a chasm between a 19th-century Lawrencian’s concept of death and our present sensibilities.

Death then was something that brushed more regularly against the woof of life, something on more intimate terms with infants, the elderly or with a city like Lawrence steeped in bloody battle. And death was more final: Loved

44 Lawrence Magazine

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Lawrence lifestyles

ones in the 19th century rarely left behind endowments, photographs, possessions, legacies or website tributes. In that time, graveyard memorials were truly the greatest, most lasting memorials offered to the dead.

Visiting old cemeteries is not a macabre fascination with death, but an effort to understand how people who lived here before us worked to create a lasting statement to the loved ones they bore, nursed, raised and—so untimely—committed to the grave.

They wrote these epitaphs and tributes perhaps not only for themselves but also for us, so that we would read them, so that we would say the names of their beloved. So that lives precariously led and cruelly, quickly ended would, in some sense, live on.

Oak Hill Cemetery, Lawrence

Have you driven east on 15th Street and wondered about that poignant tombstone in Oak Hill Cemetery, the one of the young girl with her head bent over a book? You can see her profile from the street, a little bucket hat shielding her face. If you stop and look more closely, you can read that her parents have proclaimed their grief in a poem engraved on her statue.

We had a little treasure once,

She was our joy and pride.

We loved her, ah, perhaps too well

For soon she slept & died.

All is dark within our dwelling,

Lonely are our hearts today

For the one we loved so dearly

Has forever passed away.

Oak Hill also contains the burial sites for many founding families of Lawrence, even if there are no longer townspeople bearing their name. There they lie, for example, father, mother, children and grandchildren with some birthdates predating the settlement of Lawrence. The Barteldes are one such family at Oak Hill. Their patriarch, Friedrich, was born in 1814 and died in 1886.

Walk on at Oak Hill. There are angels, Grecian columns, twining ivy, clasping hands carved from marble, granite and limestone. A few take the shape of tree trunks, marking the graves of members of Woodmen of the World, a fraternal benefit organization that no longer provides those unusual symbols.

A shrouded woman mourns by a memorial to soldiers who died in the Spanish-American War.

There is also, quite literally, the House of Usher. In this case it is not the same family in Edgar Allan Poe’s gothic tale, but a family mausoleum with “USHER” carved over a door, where an ornamental metal grate guards the remains of one of the city’s prominent families.

Top: A book placed on top of a scroll serves as a monument to Anna Hedlund, who died in 1891. Middle: Oak Hill Cemetery includes this “reading girl” monument. Bottom: A 1917 mausoleum at Oak Hill is one several found in older cemeteries throughout the region.

46 Lawrence Magazine

Lawrence lifestyles

Further afield

You can travel to well-known regional monuments such as Liberty Memorial in Kansas City, Missouri, or the monumentally quirky Garden of Eden in Lucas or the Davis Memorial in Hiawatha. But you can also meander up nearby, narrow country roads and find iron gates framing a cemetery entrance. Most places welcome well-meaning visitors.

Often, there are clusters of stones with non-English inscriptions; one secluded rural cemetery in northeast Kansas has dozens of French epitaphs.

As you walk down the paths, you find that some of the given names on the markers are familiar. Others are as old-fashioned as the graves. You may frequently encounter the quaint-sounding “Myrtle,” “Ida” and “Lucy.”

Some names are unforgettable, such as Amaryllis Sturdy. She was buried more than 100 years ago in Vinland’s small graveyard south of Lawrence. Her flowering first name clashes with her solid surname. Was she an elegant, delicate bloom? Or stolid and earthy?

Pioneer Cemetery

Old cemeteries contain the sad graves of the young and the tombstones attesting to a life of many years. As spring warms the land and the grass greens as trees bud, take a walk in one of the nearby old cemeteries. There is much to contemplate in the ingenious ways that people remembered their loved ones.

Some inspire. Some sadden. Often, a few words can bring forth profound emotions.

On the grave of a young man in the University of Kansas’ Pioneer Cemetery is an epitaph with three—just three—words.

“Far from Home.”

After nearly a century and a half, those words still resound. They are all you need to feel a mother’s grief and loneliness. •

Top: The Usher family mausoleum stands at Oak Hill Cemetery. Middle: J.A. Taylor, who died in December 1886, was one of the Woodmen of the World, whose graves are marked with the organization’s unique treetrunk monument. Bottom: Union Cemetery, south of Lawrence, contains many old pioneer tombstones and monuments.

Lawrence Magazine 47

Local profiles

Four men work as homeroom teachers for grades 1-3 in the Lawrence public school system. They are, clockwise from upper left, Don Dorsey, John Bode, Jim Rome and Shawn Fowler.

48 Lawrence Magazine

Local profiles

Written by Cheryl Nelsen Photography by Mark Hutchinson

Buy that man an apple!

Writer Cheryl Nelsen introduces the men who teach first through third grade in Lawrence’s public schools

Long-term teachers are rare, as a third of all new teachers leave the profession within their first five years. Long-term male teachers are even more rare—and long-term early-elementary male teachers are perhaps the rarest of educators.

There are four men who work as homeroom teachers for the early elementary grades of the Lawrence public school system. Any of them might jokingly give advice to those contemplating education careers to have wealthy spouses or max out their Roth IRAs every year. But when talk turns serious, the four men admit they are motivated by their enjoyment of working with young learners and the opportunity to influence their students for the better.

Shawn Fowler School: Quail Run Elementary Teaches: Second Grade Age: 43

“I have an appreciation for the impact that you can have on primary-age students academically, instilling reading skills and math skills that will carry them through for the rest of their education.”

Before joining Quail Run, Fowler taught at Prairie Park and Sunset Hill schools. He also has worked as a public school administrator in Goddard and operated his own education service business.

“I wanted to get back in touch with education and find out what were the trends that were going on in the classroom,” Fowler says.

Working in the education services industry is something he says he could see himself doing again. Until then, he is excited to be in the classroom.

“I think experiencing a child grasp a concept is really an intrinsic motivator. At the end of the day if you’ve experienced that, then that’s the reward,” he says.

Lawrence Magazine 49

Local profiles

John Bode School: New York Elementary Teaches: Third Grade Age: 49

“I’ve always wanted some kind of job where I wasn’t just generating wealth for the owner of a company or I wasn’t making bombs to be used somewhere or something, but where I was helping make the world a better place. I can’t think of a better job than teaching for doing that. A good education is the basis of making a better world.”

After starting his career as a speech language pathologist planning to work with the elderly, John Bode found he enjoyed working with preschoolers.

“Because there were so few males in speech, they kept placing me in the preschool setting at the Language Acquisition Preschool. I saw how much impact working with children at preschool had in their later school years—preventing reading problems and things like that. And so I saw the benefit of early intervention from that experience,” Bode says.

Early in his career Bode learned teaching is more than following a curriculum, and realized children look up to and rely on their teachers. Because children do not always have two parents in the home, Bode says male teachers in particular can be a consistent and influential role model.

He recalls his first day as a teacher at a large public elementary school. Students ran up and greeted him with warm welcomes before he even started his first class. It was at that moment that he realized his students needed him as a role model, even if that was never part of the job description or something taught in education courses.

After 18 years of teaching, Bode would like to see a change in the state curriculum, which he believes is overregulated and focuses too much on standardization.

“That has taken some of the art out of teaching, and it’s taken some of the joy out of being a child and discovering things in a way that’s more natural for children,” says Bode.

Children, however, will continue to be children, Bode says. He describes most of the changes he has noticed through the years as superficial. Boys didn’t used to be so concerned about what clothes they wore, nor did they wear hair products while in elementary school.

“It used to be if you got new sneakers, the first thing you did was rub dirt all over them to take the newness off,” he says.

50 Lawrence Magazine

Don Dorsey School: Deerfield Elementary Teaches: First Grade Age: 62

“Teaching reading is the most rewarding and satisfying thing that I do, and it also feels socially useful, like I’m doing something that matters. I just love it when the kids get excited about doing something that they couldn’t do. In the morning they couldn’t read a book, and by the afternoon they can. That’s very exciting.”

Don Dorsey describes himself as something like an uncle to his classroom full of first-graders.

He sometimes jokes with his students that if they aren’t good, they will have to wash the motorcycle he rides to school.

He knows he would have plenty of volunteers if water and suds were involved.

“I joke and tease with the children quite a bit. When we play, we play; when we’re serious, we’re serious. I have a pretty structured classroom. The kids know what to do and where to be,” he says.

Dorsey says he tries to teach his students things that are beyond first-grade concepts to extend their learning. He says

Jim Rome School: New York Elementary Teaches: Second Grade Age: 59 “One time a principal at Hillcrest told me he sort of envied the classroom teacher because you are surrounding yourself with innocence all day long. Children are innocent, even though some of them have problems. There’s a certain innocence there.”

he is very fundamental about reading and math instruction but builds from that foundation.

“What I want from a school district is support and encouragement to do my job, to accomplish what I’m supposed to. If I can’t get that, what I’ll settle for is just leave me alone. If I can’t get that, try not to be too disruptive of the teaching process. Try not to take up too much of my time and energy doing things that aren’t related to kids learning,” Dorsey says.

He, like many other teachers, sometimes thinks time spent in education classes or staff training is not helpful. Reading, practicing teaching and trading information with his colleagues are what Dorsey sees as beneficial.

“I think teachers are like comedians. We steal the best from each other. We’re willing to share what works with each other,” Dorsey says.

Dorsey also enjoys his relationship with his students’ parents. He says the key to communicating well is to let parents know that you care about their children.

“The kids I have show lots of kindness to me. That plus my colleagues are the things that make this job so rewarding,” Dorsey says.

In 33 years of teaching, Jim Rome has seen several changes in elementary students. On a positive note, Rome says students are more involved in electronics and computers. When the schools first got computers, he had to include mouse practice in his lesson plans. Now kindergarten students are experts on computers, he says.

One negative change, Rome believes, is the number of children who live with one parent or their grandparents.

“I heard a speech once that children are on the cutting edge of society.

The changes that come to society first affect the children,” Rome says.

Because of some of these changes, Rome is conscientious about being a role model to his students. When students first come into his classroom, he says, they don’t know him, but before long they see him as a parent figure.

They bring things to show him and he enjoys the relationship he builds with the class.

“Six or seven hours a day, five days a week, I see them more than their parents do. It’s not that I am more important, but I would miss that relationship,” Rome says.

Another thing Rome enjoys but says is a small, silly thing is being the line leader.

“Kids fight to be first in line. They get angry. I tell them, ‘You grow up to be a teacher and you can be first in line every day!’”

Some of the simple experiences with children make teaching enjoyable, Rome says.

“If you really want to just get into it [teaching] to teach long A’s and addition facts, that’s probably not a good enough reason. You probably ought to do it because you enjoy the society of children,” Rome says.

When the day is finished and Rome goes home, he finds that some of the techniques he learned from teaching children apply to the music lessons he gives to adults. He says age may have slowed him a bit, but the stress of teaching also contributes to the exhaustion teachers feel when they are away from school.

“There ought to be a little more time for you to plan what you need to do, a little more time to plan to do a good job,” he says. •

Lawrence Magazine 51

Paul and Deb Chaussee create mosaics at their home studio, including the skateboard bananaholder at bottom right.

52 Lawrence Magazine

Local profiles

Written by Cheryl Nelsen Photography by Mark Hutchinson

If it ain’t broke, then you can’t Chaussee it Damaged tables, broken plates and discarded skateboards are just what one couple need to create mosaic masterpieces

Stained-glass pieces in vivid reds, cobalt blues and a myriad of other colors form the mosaic art of Paul and Deb Chaussee. So, however, do marbles, pictures, dollar bills, broken glass and other pieces abandoned by others and recycled by the Lawrence artists.

“We keep a lot of furniture out of the landfill. Why reinvent the wheel when you can find it?” Paul asks.

A real find for the pair would be a table with a damaged top.

“That’s just what we’d want,” Deb says.

Paul adds, “It might have an ornate base or a really nice wood base. I’d strip it down and refinish it on the sides and then put a new mosaic top on it.”

Paul, 56, and Deb, 54, began creating mosaics nine years ago. Deb has been inspired to create art since spending time in her grandparents’ hobby shop in Hutchinson, which featured a blue tile mosaic sign out front. After doing projects in the hobby shop, she knitted her first sweater in fourth grade, started sewing and worked with fabrics extensively. In the late 1980s she made dolls and other Wizard of Oz items when doing a catalog featuring Kansas crafts. Mosaics intrigued her, but she didn’t pursue this art until she met Paul in the late 1990s.

“I just hadn’t given mosaics a try until Paul and I got together. It’s like we are able to push the envelope for each other to try bigger, more creative things. I found a wrought-iron clock face that had a broken mirror behind it. I knew I could use the broken mirror for something else, and I thought he could cut me a big, brown wooden piece to do that,” Deb says.

Paul decided he could do more than that and made a grandfather clock. Now covered in stained glass, the intricately adorned clock tells time in a Florida beach home.

“I think the clock was the most difficult, hands down,” Deb says. “Oh, what a pun.”

Some pieces, such as sun catchers, are simply eye candy, but others are practical and beautiful. One of Deb’s favorite functional fantasies is the banana holder in their kitchen. An antique skateboard is the base and sparkling colored glass adorns the hook where the bananas hang.

“When she said, ‘I want this to be a banana holder,’ I raised the old eyebrows. But it’s OK. It was fun, too,” Paul says.

Besides creating special orders for individuals and selling creations at art shows, the Chaussees have mosaics on display in Lawrence at Local Burger and in Kansas City, Missouri, at the American Jazz Museum and Gifted Hands, a store in Crown Center that features the couple’s mosaics in the store’s soffits.

Their favorite art shows include the Lenexa Spinach Festival, Kansas City’s Plaza Art Fair and in Lawrence the Bizarre Bazaar and the Lawrence Art Auction at the Lawrence Arts Center.

Paul says, “The art auction is so energizing. Everybody brings in his best piece or newest. It’s a really fun … kind of hard-todescribe event.”

Deb finds the words and Paul agrees when she says, “Artists have a way of appreciating each other’s creativity.”

The Chaussees know the value of art for the artist as well. For Paul, after a day of work as facility manager for the Golf Course

Deb savors stepping back 10 paces and studying

the

piece

once

is

finally

it

complete.

Lawrence Magazine 53

Superintendents Association of America, the art projects are therapeutic.

“For me, when doing this everything else goes away.

When I’m doing a project, no matter what my day was like, I’m so focused on this,” Paul says.

Deb savors stepping back 10 paces and studying the piece once it is finally complete.

“It’s the anticipation of it all; to see if your design actually turns out. I never cease to get excited about that. And sometimes you hit and sometimes you don’t,” she says.

The beauty of doing mosaics, Deb says, is that they can be recycled. At Art in the Park one year when wind knocked down a shelf and crashed their creations, they took it in stride.

“Well, it’s going to be something else now,” Paul recalls saying.

Their attitude that art is fun was reflected in their North Lawrence-based business, Riverfront Mosaics, which opened in 2003 and operated for three years.

There the Chaussees offered a spot for people to create their own art.

“That was such fun having that shop. People would come in and be hesitant that they weren’t creative. We’d be able to show them that they were. You just need the right ingredients and a little coaxing once in a while,” Deb says.

The right ingredients—particularly the Chaussees’ fondness for broken plates—are an element of their art that causes apprehension among their close friends.

Paul jokes, “When we get invited to dinner, people serve us on paper plates. They don’t bring out the good china.” •

This grandfather clock was one of the most challenging works for Deb and Paul Chaussee.

Photo courtesy the Chaussees

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Local profiles

Helloooo, Mr. Luckett! A trimmed-down, transformed Jez Luckett makes his home in Lawrenceâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;strolling down Mass. Street and hitting the coffee shopsâ&#x20AC;&#x201D;after making a name for himself on national television.

56 Lawrence Magazine

Local profiles

Written by Rachel Nyp Photography by Jason Dailey

Nothing left to lose Shedding weight on the TV show The Biggest Loser was the first part of Jez Luckett’s ongoing transformation

What’s left of Jez Luckett has landed in Lawrence, standing on the cusp of happily ever after.

“I have no excuse to not do anything in my life,” says the 26-year-old of his extraordinary weight-loss experience. “It has left me with the realization that there is nothing in this world that I can’t do—if I can get over this hurdle that I thought was going to plague me for the rest of my life.”

Luckett got a golden ticket to the fourth season of NBC’s weight-loss reality show The Biggest Loser nearly two years ago. In front of a national audience, he sweated it out and shed the weight equivalent of a whole person in the process.

“Like a lot of men, I can do one thing at a time very well,” laughs Luckett, who downplays his brush with fame.

Network ‘Loser’

Going into the program at 345 pounds and facing a family history of diabetes, the Garden City native knew the show would be his best shot at winning the battle against obesity.

He remembers the first few weeks on the The Biggest Loser ranch as pure torture and likens it to rehab. “It was kind of like going through detox, being flushed of all of the toxins, additives and preservatives that had built up in my body.”

As a sweet and lovable personality who gathered a fan base, Luckett says his only beef with his portrayal on the show was that they didn’t capture his ornery side. “I have a little bit of ‘darn the man’ in me,” laughs Luckett.

The seventh contestant to leave the show, Luckett was eliminated from competition through bloc voting and a controversial strategic move by another participant that had the show’s participants in an uproar. But he walked out of the network fitness boot

camp 56 pounds lighter and, as he told the audience, “with my character intact … and some raging triceps.”

Luckett counts the show as the first step in his overall weight-loss picture.

“I’m so thankful for where it got me and what it sparked. … It was a catalyst for something completely different and for me to start going toward having the life that I always wanted,” Luckett says.

Off-air transformation

Since the program, Luckett’s life has been a study in extremes, from L.A. to his hometown Garden City, from 345 pounds to a trim 195, from pizza to all-natural fare.

Arriving in Lawrence in the summer of 2008, Luckett took a position as refrigerator manager at The Community Mercantile, biking from his downtown apartment and up the formidable Ninth Street hill to work— weather permitting—and walking to any social engagements. Whether it be a live show at the Jackpot, a cup of joe at La Prima Tazza or a movie run to Liberty Hall, you’ll find Luckett taking to Mass Street most nights.

Luckett says his new home of Lawrence is “a Midwest, down-home, lovely place, but also progressive,” and finds it to be a good balance between the excitement of the city and the friendly atmosphere of rural life.

His life is all about balance these days.

Losing the weight was hard, but keeping it off has been even harder. “I continue to try to make more good decisions than bad.”

“It has left me with the realization that there is nothing in this world that I can’t do.”

– Jez Luckett

Lawrence Magazine 57

Unlike some winners and contestants from the show, Luckett has stayed within 10 pounds of his final weight and marked the one-year anniversary in December.

“There’s definitely a journey ahead of me.” He makes no qualms about struggling with temptations, finding time to work out and dealing with the general pressures of life outside the show. “But at the end of the day, I know that I never want to go back to how I felt.”

Living a more healthy life has taken Luckett to new places, including love. Young and single, the bachelor is dating. “It’s made me a lot more open to the idea of being loved and being in love,” says Luckett, who has a special someone but will leave it at that. “I had to get to the point where I was pleased with the person that I was before I could ever let anyone in.”

Keeper of all things cool by day, his true passion lies in fighting childhood obesity. A former case manager for severe emotionally disturbed children, Luckett moonlights as a motivational speaker. Having a purpose, a plan and support is the message that he takes to schools and residence halls.

“After knowing what it was like to live as an overweight child, I just know that it’s what I owe myself to continue doing,” says Luckett, who adds that he would like to make a career out of banishing the disease that got him to 340-plus pounds. “I’m not just satisfied any more with status quo.”

Set to do his part to fight the nation’s obesity problem, Luckett is the first to tell you that he’s just a regular guy with a broccoli power tattoo. For someone who bared his man-boobies for all the world to see, he has nothing to hide and is honest about where he’s been and what it takes to get his happily ever after. •

Jez Luckett on …

The Biggest Loser weight-loss trainer Jillian Michaels: She’s a puppy dog with rabies.

Positive role models for children: I had role models in my life, but no one who would challenge me and show me that it was possible to lose weight. It’s so possible. It’s just possible for everyone to do it.

The quick fix: The secret is there’s no secret; it’s hard work, and it takes discipline.

Life as a slimmer man: It has opened doors, but at the same time you have to walk through the doors, and you have to be willing to do what it takes to get what you want.

Local profiles

Courtney Ricketts and mother Deanna Ricketts, wearing black sweater, own separate shops one block apart in downtown Lawrence.

60 Lawrence Magazine

Local profiles

Written by Debra Simon Photography by Jason Dailey

Two generations, neither a gap A mother and daughter share the same retail world, thanks to a trip around the globe and mutual encouragement

During school breaks, Courtney Ricketts would help at her mother’s store in Parkville, Missouri. She worked the counter of Boheme and joined mom Deanna Ricketts on trips to buy the store’s trademark unconventional apparel.

“I’ve always loved to treasure hunt,” Courtney says.

But it was a treasure-hunting expedition halfway around the world that would bring Courtney back to the retail world and forge another connection with her mother.

Traveling in Turkey in 2004, Courtney found 11 carpets that she had to have. But with no home to place them, she brought them back to her mother’s store and decided to sell them.

Carpets were not the only thing Courtney discovered on that trip. While visiting a tree-house hotel in Olympos near the shores of the Mediterranean, Courtney met hotel owner Suleyman Vardar. He helped her carry those carpets and develop a fascination with the history of his country, whose cultural roots as a crossroad of the world can be traced through the Romans, Greeks and Hittites.

Courtney and Suleyman married and arrived in September 2006 in Lawrence, where they set about opening Magic Carpet Traveler, a tourist agency and later a boutique offering travel gear and world apparel.

While setting up a new venture in a new town, it only seemed natural for the novice retailers to call in the expert—mom.

Deanna, who had sold her Parkville store and moved with her husband to a rural home just north of Lawrence, was excited for her daughter.

“I’ve always loved the whole retail process, and I knew it would be a good fit for

Courtney. She’s creative, she’s good with people, she’s a natural,” says Deanna.

While helping her daughter set up Magic Carpet Traveler, Deanna realized that she missed having her own storefront.

“I suppose I would have opened a store anyway, but the fact that Courtney had a store made me want to do it somewhat more,” explains Deanna.

A few months later, she opened BoMo at 725 Massachusetts St., just a block from her daughter’s present location at 745 New Hampshire St.

Although couples as business partners and family-owned businesses are rather common in the thriving downtown Lawrence retail scene, the combination of motherdaughter storefronts is rare.

Neither entirely business partners nor rivals, Courtney and Deanna have forged a strong working relationship.

Mom is careful not to intrude on her daughter’s territory. Unlike her old store that featured clothing, BoMo focuses on vintage furniture, home décor and artisan creations such as old automobile hoods refashioned into birds or flowers.

“It’s everything I love,” says Deanna, “but I also didn’t want to compete with Courtney.

I focus more on items; she does more outfits and wardrobes.”

Both mother and daughter refer customers to each other’s store and pool information on retail trends and business developments.

Neither entirely business partners nor rivals, Courtney and Deanna have forged a strong working relationship.

Lawrence Magazine 61

Local profiles

“We go to market together,” adds Courtney. “And it’s nice to have her there and to get her opinion on certain items.”

For Deanna, the chance to travel with her daughter and benefit from having her as a colleague brings rewards beyond the ledger books.

“It keeps me connected,” she says. “We’re in the same world.” •

The Mother BoMo 725 Massachusetts St. (785) 841-8100 The Daughter Magic Carpet Traveler 745 New Hampshire St., Suite 8 (785) 856-0240 www.magiccarpettraveler.com

Health & fitness

Trailing along Area runners push themselves over the Kaw and through the woods, up the hills and into the mud Written by Becky Bridson Photography by Jason Dailey

Veteran trail runner Gary Henry is flanked by “Babes and Nerds” from the Lawrence trail running club.

64 Lawrence Magazine

The Trail Nerds and Mud Babes have a short route tonight—only seven miles. In preparation for their weekly Wednesday evening run on the trails between the levee and the river just north of downtown Lawrence, the runners grab handheld flashlights or don headlamps, gloves and trail shoes. Some attach drop bags or even a knife in case cougar encounters occur. For now, the only thing that has any bite to it is the cold, crisp air that will be several degrees cooler at spots along the trail closest to the river. By then, however, the runners will be so warm they will hardly notice.

As the runners leave behind the illuminating city lights, they stride into darkness and fall into their individual rhythms, each pace marked by a bouncing light. For these athletes, leaving the glow of the city and the safe footing of the levee path is as common and automatic as running itself.

“If I didn’t run, I’d be like tapioca,” says Gary “The Luddite” Henry, a Lawrence Trail Nerd.

Henry is among those in Lawrence who run the trails together for support and motivation. Their individual goals vary, but many are preparing for ultramarathon competitions— off-road races ranging in distance from 31 to 100 miles and staged across trail courses, including desert or mountain routes that can take up to 30 hours to complete.

Christy Craig, a local Mud Babe who recently moved from Colorado, says she fell in love with Lawrence because of the trails and “the great friendships and connections” she has made through the group.

Being a part of this group, say many runners, allows them to improve as individuals.

“For somebody like me, what they call a mid- or back-ofthe-packer, the competition is always against myself,” Henry says. “When you get to the finish line of your first 100-miler, you will have discovered depths in yourself that you never ever would have suspected were there.”

The number of runners in any ultra, which many describe as a spiritual or life-changing experience, varies from a couple dozen to hundreds. On average, 60 percent of runners will drop out or be eliminated by injury, illness or fatigue, which results in the dreaded “DNF” or “did not finish.” Nevertheless, racers are lining up for ultras, and the most popular races hold lotteries to accommodate the swelling number of entrants.

“The fact is modern day life just doesn’t challenge us physically very much, so some people seek out that challenge,” Henry says. “People want to really see what they’ve got inside.

The only way to do that is to go farther and faster than you ever have before.”

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Health & fitness

On the Kaw trails, there is always plenty of room for participants. Steady conversation continues even as unsteady terrain emerges under the caps of leafless branches and the dark blanket of sky. The runners have learned not to look up and admire the view unless they are willing to risk a branch in the face or a tumble on the trail. In fact, it is not unheard of for even an attentive trail runner to break a nose, run into a bear or fall off a cliff.

“That’s when a lot of people might want to quit,” Henry says. “That’s where ultrarunners look down at their knee and go, ‘Oh man, I can’t wait to show this off to somebody.

This is great.’”

Henry, who describes trail ultrarunning as “the world beyond 50 miles,” provides the caboose to tonight’s “conga line,” ensuring no one falls too far behind. “Bad” Ben Holmes of Kansas City runs a few paces ahead of Henry and discusses the group’s inception.

Although ultras on trails as well as pavement have been around for decades, the path for locals began in 2001, which occurred due to the diligent efforts of Holmes and Kyle Amos who, appropriately, met on area trails and cofounded a club. Henry and Greg “Big Dawg” Burger were the first regular Lawrence runners, followed by many others. Today, 150 area members pay dues, and the group’s website houses 450 registered users. Henry’s one criteria for potential Nerds and Babes is simple: “Must love dirt.”

Coleen “Cynical Mud Babe” Voeks and Sophia “Mud Stud Mud Babe” Spencer welcome dirt and mud as they lead the line of Wednesday night’s motivated runners. The two started what they call “a movement within a movement.” As their website asserts, “Being a Mud Babe is all about attitude. It’s about having fun while pushing your limits, and not being afraid to get dirty or even grotesquely muddy doing so.”

During the final leg, the pace quickens as city lights reappear and runners transition from the soft, smooth dirt to the crunch of the levee’s grainy, graveled path. Although tonight’s quick jaunt posed little challenge to the team of experienced Nerds and Babes, the trails are rarely this merciless. It’s an adventuresome world where heightened beauty, but also risk, appears at every twisted turn, rocky ravine and delicate decline. It’s a world of group unification as well as solitary exploration through extreme terrains and temperatures with some mud and blood along the way. •

66 Lawrence Magazine

Ready to hit the trails?

Nerds and Babes are always looking for more of their kind.

Their runs are free and open to anyone, though the club keeps a “no whiners allowed” motto and requests an annual membership fee of $15. Race costs are separate. Opportunities to train include four to eight planned group runs a week, two of which are in Lawrence: the Wednesday night nontechnical or smoother run and a longer, more technical or rougher Saturday morning run on the North Shore Trail System at Clinton Lake.

There also are plenty of opportunities to compete. Lawrence Nerds and Babes organize three races per year at Clinton Lake: the 100-kilometer (62 miles) and 40-mile ultras and 26.2-mile trail marathon that make up the Free State Trail Run in April, the 8.5-mile Northshore Trail Run and the 5K Pod Trod MP3 Mile Challenge, both of which are in September.

The Pod Trod’s three courses are the Lumbering Luddite, Mud Babe’s Revenge and Clinton Cornfusion. Participants download the course of their choice onto iPods the night before or the morning of competition and follow digital directions. The race requires runners to pick up “trail tokens” along the way to prove completion. The only clues to indicate level of difficulty appear in cryptic descriptions available online.

For the club’s weekly schedule, which includes detailed descriptions and locations of trails and times, visit www.psychowyco.com.

Additional information can be found at: www.ultrastory.com http://sports.groups.yahoo.com/group/kctrailrunning www.kctrailnerds.blogspot.com www.badbenkc.blogspot.com

Health & fitness

A Chef’s Table:

Sam and Tanya Sieber

This cooking couple return to the farm for a fresh chicken dinner Written by Katherine Dinsdale Photography by Jason Dailey

Tanya and Sam Sieber prepare a meal of lemon shallot chicken in their kitchen.

Editor’s note: In this issue, writer Katherine Dinsdale opens a new series focusing on local chefs and their secrets for creating healthful, local, seasonal and tasty meals in their home kitchen.

Sam Sieber, operations manager at Pachamama’s, pulls a perfectly golden fryer out of his home oven. She’s a young chicken he can remember not quite by name, but at least by breed. The Buff Orpington is from his very own coop. His grandmother helped him butcher it. Maybe, just maybe, this is as close as a chef gets to heaven on earth.

Out the kitchen window, there are birds on feeders: finches and chickadees eating thistle seed. Beyond the home’s barn is a green and windswept scene of fruit trees just beginning to blossom: peach trees, cherry trees, apple trees and a single pear.

Sam slides the pan onto the counter, sips a bit of wine and grabs his favorite chef’s knife, a LamsonSharp. He is deft with his blade and not at all ashamed as he pops the very best bite of the bird—called the pope’s nose—directly into his mouth.

He gallantly sets aside the other choice bit, also carved from a little-known hiding place just behind the chicken’s thighs, for his wife. Tanya, also a chef, knows where to look for this small succulent bite called the oyster. She would know it was missing if Sam didn’t share. Tanya licks her fingers and tells son Jacoby, 5, and daughter Adeline, nearly 3, that dinner’s almost ready.

Moments like these are the stuff of life—maybe even the staff of life—for Sam and Tanya Sieber.

“For me, food is the single most important vehicle for transmitting culture from one generation to the next,” says Tanya, who is assistant director of food services at Baker University. “I really want our children to grow up surrounded by

Favorite tool:

Various Microplanes. “Forget zesters!” says Sam, who uses a Microplane to lovingly zest lemon, nutmeg and Parmesan cheese.

Favorite knife:

A LamsonSharp chef’s knife.

68 Lawrence Magazine

Health & fitness

these dishes and the feelings they provoke. There’s no better way to build memories than by cooking and eating together.”

The cooking and eating bit started early for this pair. The two met in a hotel kitchen in Chicago where Tanya was an employee. Sam visited the kitchen as a student of the Cooking and Hospitality Institute of Chicago. Tanya told herself then and there that Sam would be her husband. She had grown up in a “displaced” Jewish home in southern Louisiana and came to Chicago after chef’s school in Austin. Sam is from a Mennonite family in Kansas and began baking bread while his mother still held him slung on her hip at the bakery his grandparents then owned, the Mixing Bowl in Hesston.

Tanya loves to learn from the example of Sam’s mom, Annette Sieber, and grandmother, Jeanette Wedel. “Farming is all very new to me,” Tanya says. “I watch Sam’s mother and grandmother work in their gardens and kitchens, and I want to learn everything I can. So many of their skills are dying arts, and I know that we are the only ones who can pass these skills on to the next generation. I get a sense of peace knowing I’m not dependent on a grocery store. I know where the food I feed my children comes from. ‘These are the cherries we picked,’ I can tell my son. We are very blessed.” •

The Sieber menu

The Siebers suggest buying all the main ingredients at the Downtown Lawrence Farmers’ Market if a homegrown hen isn’t around to cooperate.

Lemon Shallot Chicken

“A bright, fresh spring taste.” — Sam Sieber Makes approximately 4 servings

Fresh fryer (The chicken should be small, no more than 4 pounds.

Estimated serving size is 1 pound of raw bird per person or 6 ounces cooked per person. Cook multiple birds for a large group.)

One large shallot, minced Softened butter (approximately one stick per bird) Zest of two lemons (Reserve zested lemons to quarter and stuff in bird.)

Two yellow or white onions, peeled and quartered

Preheat oven to 350 degrees.

Remove and discard giblets and neck from chicken. Rinse chicken with cold water; pat dry. Starting at neck cavity, loosen skin from breast and drumsticks by inserting fingers, gently pushing between skin and meat. Rub mixture of butter, minced shallot and lemon zest under loosened skin and over breast and drumsticks.

Stuff cavity with reserved lemons and onions. Lift wing tips up and over back; tuck under chicken.

Place chicken, breast side down, in a roasting pan, preferably on a rack coated with cooking spray. (Cook’s note from Sam: Chicken cooked breast down is moister.

Flip up the chicken breast to crisp and brown the skin in the last moments of cooking for a more attractive appearance.) Bake chicken at 350 degrees for about 45 minutes, checking internal temperature with thermometer after 30 minutes. Remove from oven at 155 degrees. (Cook’s note from Sam: Meat carries more than 5 degrees after being removed from the oven. Poultry is fully cooked at 160 degrees. Let chicken rest until thermometer registers 160 degrees.)

Reserve chicken stock and pan drippings for another use.

Serving suggestion from Sam: Carve the chicken into eight pieces. Cut the whole breast off and slice it. The hindquarters are easier to carve by removing the leg and thigh at once.

Separate the two by holding the leg and slicing at the joint.

Arrange the chicken pieces on a platter and surround them with grilled ramps (wild onions with flat, broad leaves; substitute green onions, leeks or scallions in a pinch).

Serve each person a mix of light and dark meat, with a section of breast meat and a drumstick or thigh.

70 Lawrence Magazine

Cherry Cobbler

“This is yummy! Cobblers are just as good and less intimidating for the cook than a tart. For tarts you need tart pans, etc.” — Tanya Sieber Makes 12 servings

∕3 cup sugar 1 tablespoon cornstarch 1 cup water 3 cups pitted tart cherries 2

Mix sugar, cornstarch and water in a saucepan. Bring to a simmer until slightly thickened. Remove from heat and add cherries. Pour into greased 9-inch square baking pan.

Topping: 1 cup flour 2 tablespoons sugar 1½ teaspoons baking powder ½ teaspoon salt 3 tablespoons margarine ½ cup milk

Combine dry ingredients in a bowl. Cut margarine into dry ingredients and add milk. Mix well and drop by teaspoons on top of the hot fruit mixture. Bake at 375 degrees for 25-30 minutes. Serve warm.

New Potatoes with Fresh Baby Greens and Cream

Recipe from Sam’s Grandmother Krehbiel Makes 4 servings

1 teaspoon white vinegar 1 cup heavy whipping cream 1½ pounds Yukon gold potatoes Fresh young lettuce, cook’s choice Salt and pepper Fresh onion, minced

Mix together vinegar and whipping cream. Vinegar will thicken the cream. Set aside.

Place potatoes in cold water.

Bring to a boil and boil for about 10 minutes or until potatoes are tender.

Drain. Partially smash potatoes with a fork.

Top potatoes with greens and cream in a serving bowl. Season with salt, pepper and minced onion to taste.

Gardening tips

Small Plots, Unlimited Imaginations

For two local gardeners, tiny spaces seed the biggest ideas Written by Jennifer Oldridge Photography by Jason Dailey

The dream of a large, lush garden lies

really change the appearance of the garden.”

Rasch, who has been sowing her plot in central Lawrence for almost two decades, points out that a small garden offers its own rewards.

“Gardening in a small space takes less time to maintain and it requires much less investment in plants,” she says. “Time and money—two things we could all use more of.”

In the shaded back streets of the Pinckney neighborhood, Cary Allen has been toiling away to erect raised geometric beds and fashion walkways around a central goldfish pond to create an outdoor room for family in the front yard.

“Since it takes less time to keep it looking nice,” says Allen, “we have more time to enjoy it.”

Allen’s easy-maintenance garden has a surprisingly large feel, perhaps because of her choice to curve walkways around the flowerbeds and incorporate diverse plantings.

Both gardens are proof that limited space should not stifle imagination. A little garden can change as frequently as your moods. It can be low-maintenance and allow a few plantings to make a huge impression. As the old saying goes, the best things come in small packages—and that seems to hold true for gardens as well. •

Carla Rasch relaxes in her garden.

An extended garden and water feature replaced portions of the driveway at Cary Allen’s home.

dormant in every gardener, even those with a minimal amount of space. But the scope of a garden does not matter as much as the gardener’s ability to bring in diversity and intriguing plantings.

Carla Rasch and Cary Allen are two

Lawrence gardeners who have created pleasing gardens in petite plots.

“You have to be creative,” explains Rasch.

“Putting together plants with different textures, colors, heights and in different locations can

Gardening tips

Tips for Small Gardens Know Your Plants: One of the keys to microgardening is knowing what plants start small and how large each plant will become. Remember to leave space so you can repeat certain plants and provide continuity. Know the seasonal colors of each plant so the plot has a pleasing palette throughout the growing periods.

Trick Your Eyes: There are many “tricks of the eye” that can make a small space appear larger. Mirrors are a great way to expand space. Play up perspective: Create an outdoor path that actually becomes narrower the farther it extends from the house, or plant progressively smaller plants toward the garden edges.

Creating sections or “rooms” in a garden also adds space and a sense of wonder. Arrange plantings or features so the entire garden cannot be seen from any one perspective. Obscure views and create hidden areas behind a trellised wall or a tall shrub.

Wind Your Paths: A meandering path sets a more relaxed pace for anyone who strolls through your garden. Place colorful flowers along the walkway to create areas that deserve attention and slow the journey.

Call on Your Neighbors: Look beyond the yard for interesting views off in the distance.

Take advantage of that “borrowed” landscape to draw eyes farther along the horizon and create an illusion of more space. Use vertical elements such as trellises, raised beds and fences to expand the space in a yard.

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Gardening tips

Unpredictable Growth Sue and Pat Shea grow a garden of contained chaos and whimsical surprise Written by Jennifer Oldridge Photography by Jason Dailey

Sue Shea has a philosophy for gardening: “Gardens shouldn’t be predictable. You can’t be shy about gardening. Try new things, redo things that aren’t growing and get in there and plant.”

True to her words, Sue and husband Pat have done a phenomenal amount of creative work in the four short years they have cultivated their garden in northwest Lawrence.

Their garden began when the Sheas decided to move into a townhouse with less indoor living space.

“We downsized the home,” laughs Sue, “but not the garden by any means.”

The Sheas inherited what was effectively a blank slate in their yard. They tore down a stand-alone garage and began to create their garden around an enormous weeping willow that could not help but be a focal point.

Bit by bit, the Sheas added annuals, such as a grove of hardy banana trees, and features such as a water pond that Pat dug by hand.

One of their most innovative ideas is their use of portable potted plants to create a moveable feast for the eyes. In the warm months, additional banana trees, palms and other potted tropicals take up temporary residence around the Sheas’ garden trails.

78 Lawrence Magazine

The placement of the plants gives the garden an unexpected and natural feel, but the growth isn’t entirely random.

Sue describes it as “contained chaos,” and she adjusts the plants to catch the eye of anyone who walks into the garden.

The tropical beauty is accented by selectively placed lighting features that bring out the vivid blooms and extend the hours when the garden can be enjoyed.

Sue says her goal is to make “the night as lovely as the day.”

The intentional cultivation of an evening garden allows the Sheas to turn their back deck into an outdoor dining room with a relaxing view of their plants and the soothing sounds of the garden waterfall splashing melodically against the rocks.

The garden’s beauty extends into the winter when Japanese lanterns and pond lights create a stunning display on snowy evenings.

It’s a delightfully private oasis that the Sheas enjoy opening to friends, neighbors and fellow gardeners.

“A garden is made to be shared with others that love gardening,” explains Sue. “All are more than welcome to pull weeds when they visit!” •

Sue Shea stands underneath the weeping willow in her garden.

Gardening tips

Sue and Pat Sheaâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s garden is one of several Lawrence gardens open to the public for the Extension Master Gardeners Douglas County Garden Tour in the first week in June.

Shade gardens, English gardens, annual gardens, artistic gardens, organic gardens, poolside gardens and combination gardens are all open to visitors.

Dan and Carol Abrahamson garden, 944 Lawrence Ave. Combination of seasonal blooms and beautiful hardscape of water features, birdhouses and brick work Douglas County Extension Gardens, 2110 Harper St. Demonstration garden Jeanne Klein garden, 824 Greever Terrace Beautiful hostas; relaxing shade garden Monarch Watch garden, near Foley Hall, University of Kansas campus Butterfly-delight garden Barbara Nordling garden, 4404 Nicklaus Drive Extensive shade garden; wonderful impatiens Paulette Schwerdt garden, 2221 Killarney Court Secluded poolside garden Sue and Pat Shea garden, 4700 Moundridge Court Tropical container garden Terry Smith garden, 2142 Owens Lane Pesticide-free, chemical-free garden Gardens will be open from 9:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, June 6, and from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Sunday, June 7.

Tickets can be purchased in advance at most local nurseries for $8 per person or on the day of the tour at any of the garden locations for $10 per person.

80 Lawrence Magazine

What’s Hot in lawrence

Second-time-around

Scouting

Several area residents discover that there is still a chance to sleep outdoors, paddle a canoe and live the life of a Girl Scout—this time as adult volunteers. Decades later, the songs are still catchy and the cookies just as delicious

Technically, there is no such thing as a “Woman Scout.” But there are nearly a million adults who routinely attend campouts, join in friendship circles and sell cookies as advisers to Girl Scout troops across the country.

These advisers play a key role in the Girl Scout institution. They’re organizers, chaperones and chauffeurs, but also mentors and friends, to the 2.7 million children and teenagers who participate in Girl Scouts.

Lawrence residents Lynne Bodle, Jean Martin, Mary Jo Mensie, Marcia West and Ann Wimmer all were Girl Scouts as kids. Now, as advisers, they’re Scouting for the second time around— and loving every minute.

Stepping up to the plate

Though its official name and number have changed several times, Girl Scout Troop 7660 has been a part of the Lawrence community for more than 50 years, and is one of the longest continuously active troops in the area. Founded as a Mariner Troop by Lucy McAllister, the first “Skipper” and youth leader, the troop benefited from the help of McAllister’s mother, Mariana Remple, and father, Henry Remple. When McAllister left home, her mother took leadership of the troop and continued working with new groups of girls until she died in 2000.

McAllister’s father also served as an adviser and—at the age of 100—continues to

82 Lawrence Magazine

host troop meetings every other week at his house. The teenagers mingle easily with Remple, affectionately known as “Henry D.” For his birthday in November 2008, the girls made up a little ditty and sang it to him. The advisers looked on proudly and joined in the chorus before passing out cake and hot cider.

Day-to-day leadership of the troop falls on five women who stepped into the gap left by Mariana Remple. Martin and the other new leaders cited Mariana’s dedication to and love for the troop as reasons they were willing to take over its leadership. But each woman had other individual reasons for becoming an adult volunteer.

Wimmer was a dropout scout, but she returned to the fold two generations later in order to spend time with her granddaughter.

“When I got to be a junior in high school, I dropped out of Scouts because there was no troop for me. I told my granddaughter that as long as she wanted to be in, I’d be there with her,” says Wimmer.

Bodle has been a troop adviser to Mariner Girl Scout Troop 7660 for more than 20 years. Even though her children and grandchildren have graduated from Girl Scouts, Bodle continues to serve because she deeply appreciates what the organization offers to young women.

“It gives kids an opportunity to do things they might never had gotten to do otherwise,” she says.

Written by Lauren Beatty Photography by Jason Dailey

Henry Remple and Lucy McAllister continue to advise Troop 7660 more than 50 years after McAllister developed an interest in canoeing that led to the founding of the troop.

What’s Hot in lawrence

A new generation of adult leaders and young members fills Troop 7660, but “Henry D.” remains an informal adviser past his 100th birthday.

Martin started volunteering about 12 years ago.

“My girls had moved on from Girl Scouts, but I was ready to get back and get involved again,” says Martin.

Girls on the go

Troop 7660 participates in a variety of social and service activities. One of the group’s favorites is attending performances at the Coterie Theatre in Kansas City, Missouri; recently they saw a production about Holocaust victim and diarist Anne Frank. The girls love to go camping, and their advisers are right with them, sleeping in tents and cooking dinner over an open flame.

The girls also participate in community service activities and plan events for the younger Scouts, known as Brownies and Daisies. Of course, being Mariners, the troop members are active in water sports such as swimming and canoeing.

84 Lawrence Magazine

“We still sell cookies, you know,” reminds troop member Marisa Billie, 14.

Ah yes, Girl Scout cookies—Thin Mints, Peanut Butter Patties, Caramel deLites. Everyone has a favorite flavor. But these tasty little icons do more than satisfy a sweet tooth. Troop leaders, who often oversee the girls as they peddle the confections, stress that cookie sales help provide needed funds for all those parties and campouts.

Rewarding experience

Courage, confidence and character to make the world a better place: That is the Girl Scout creed. And that’s what the advisers hope they are passing on to the younger generation.

“Girl Scouts gives them a moral compass as they begin to make decisions for themselves,” says Mary Jo Mensie. “There are many more opportunities for girls today than there was 20 years ago. We guide them through that, and it’s interesting to see them grow.”

As far as the drawbacks of being an adviser, it seems there are few. When asked how these women—some of them grandmothers—keep up with 12 energetic and excitable teenagers, there is much laughter.

“Oh, it’s easy,” replies West. “What, you thought it would be difficult?” •

What’s Hot in lawrence

Lawri Gras

Written by Mary R. Gage Photography by Jason Dailey

Despite the long transplant to Lawrence, some native Louisianans keep the best Mardi Gras traditions alive

For those born and raised in Louisiana, Mardi Gras celebrations are a tradition woven into the calendar as firmly as summer lemonade and the blooming of azaleas. Here in Lawrence, a couple of Southern transplants—one from the small town of Bunkie in southern Louisiana and the other a native of New Orleans—re-create the customs, colors and foods of traditional Mardi Gras to reel in their ties to “home.”

Newsome’s new Kansas Krewe

Tecile Newsome was born and raised in New Orleans, the birthplace of American Mardi Gras tradition. Newsome (her first name reflects the French heritage of the region—it’s a conjunction of petit, French for “little,” and her given name, Cecile) remembers the whole city shutting down for the actual day of Mardi Gras—“Fat Tuesday”—and for several days before.

“For us, it was the biggest holiday of the year,” she says. “We’d get up early, get our spot on the street and set up our ladders. Everyone had ladders.

They were custom-made with benches across the top for the children to sit on so they could see the parades. We’d pack our lunches and bring ice chests full of snacks and King Cake and spend the day at the ladders watching the parades. It’s just an all-day party.”

The holiday is reminiscent of what many associate with Halloween—all the kids wear costumes, dressing up as animals or storybook characters, and bring big bags for the goodies. The difference is the goodies typically are not edible.

“We’d get lots and lots of beads and trinkets and doubloons,” says Newsome.

Doubloons?

86 Lawrence Magazine

“Every parade is sponsored by an organization or ‘krewe,’” she explains, “and each organization makes their own special doubloon [aluminum souvenir coin]. Parades go on every day for a couple of weeks before the actual day of Mardi Gras.”

Coming from a family so steeped in the venerable New Orleans tradition that its members sponsored parades, attended masked balls and rode floats in the parades, Newsome has kept alive the celebratory spirit.

Since moving to Lawrence in 1997, Newsome has ordered traditional King Cakes—lots of them. She has two favorite bakeries in New Orleans: Frances’ and Haydel’s. They send their sweet confections north, to the delight of Newsome’s friends, neighbors and acquaintances.

“They ship King Cakes all over the country,” says Newsome, “but you can only get them from Epiphany or King’s Day on January 6 until Mardi Gras.

Then you have to give them up for Lent and they stop making them. So I order several for friends and neighbors and for my kids to share with their classrooms, but also just to put in the freezer to have throughout the year.”

Newsome also decorates her house each year with beads and other trinkets in the customary green, gold and purple colors of Mardi Gras. She cooks traditional Louisiana foods such as gumbo, red beans and rice, jambalaya and po’ boys. And, tapping into a uniquely New Orleans custom, she helps her children make, as she did growing up, miniature Mardi Gras floats out of shoeboxes, construction paper and beads.

“The older I get and the longer I live away from home the more important it becomes for my children to know

Top: Tecile Newsome keeps Mardi Gras alive as a transplanted New Orleans native.

Bottom: Children Charlie and Rosemary are learning Mardi Gras traditions such as making miniature floats.

What’s Hot in lawrence

where I came from, what my environment was like when I was a child,” says Newsome.

Manda’s Gumbo country

Kathy Manda hails from Cajun country—specifically the village of Bunkie in south-central Louisiana—where her smalltown upbringing meant the closeness of a big, extended family, an abundance of gumbo and homemade rolls, and a much more low-key observance of Mardi Gras.

“Growing up, Mardi Gras was more religious based,” Manda recalls. “So you might sit around at supper and say what you’re going to give up. Parents loved to hear you say you were going to clean your room more often. As a child that was where your awareness of Mardi Gras came, because that’s your deadline to get organized for Lent.”

There were no Mardi Gras parades in Manda’s small town—it was all about family, food, friends and casual gettogethers. And regarding the food, let there be no mistake: Bunkie is gumbo country.

“I can tell you two things I never had in my family growing up,” says Manda. “We never had chili and we never had a casserole. When we moved back here [to Lawrence], I realized that this was chili country, not gumbo country, so I had to go slowly.

I must say, some people are leery about gumbo if they’ve never had it. Very leery.”

Manda started to celebrate Mardi Gras in Lawrence partly to remind her of home, but also to gather friends in the winter and share her traditions.

“Our favorite thing really is just to open it up and have people come in and out real casually. I like to do several small get-togethers,” she says, “and I try to keep it simple—gumbo, French bread, salad—and I always have a bread pudding with pecans, and the pecans always come from home. My daddy has about 45 native pecan trees of different varieties.”

Manda begins decorating for Mardi Gras soon after the holidays by leaving up her greenery. She removes the Christmas-themed ribbons and ornaments and replaces them with balls and bows of purple, green and gold. And then she just keeps adding to it.

“My sister says, ‘If it isn’t gaudy, it isn’t Mardi Gras, and when it’s really gaudy, you know you’re getting there,’” she laughs. “So I just keep layering it, layer beads everywhere— over the lights, in the bathroom, down the center of the table. … It’s so much fun.”

One of Manda’s favorite entertaining moments came when she invited an acquaintance who had grown up in New Orleans.

“He walked right into my kitchen and started stirring and smelling the soup,” she recalls. “And I just melted. You know, you’re much more formal here in Lawrence, Kansas—people just don’t do that. But I loved it. It was the closest thing to home I’d experienced in a while.” •

88 Lawrence Magazine

Mardi Gras 101 The Season, aka Carnival – Begins on January 6, the Twelfth Night/the Feast of the Epiphany/King’s Day, and lasts until the Tuesday (Fat Tuesday) before Ash Wednesday. Because the date of Ash Wednesday is determined by the variable date of Easter each year, the season can last anywhere from 28 to 63 days. This year, Fat Tuesday is February 24 and the season lasts for seven weeks.

The Colors – Green, gold and purple are the official colors of Mardi Gras. Green signifies faith, gold represents power and purple symbolizes justice.

King Cake – A round or oval sweet-dough confection baked with a small plastic baby tucked inside. The lucky recipient of the piece of cake containing the baby gets to throw the next party.

Krewe – Social organizations that organize and plan Mardi Gras parades.

Throws – The beads, trinkets and doubloons thrown by participants on the floats to the cheering spectators.

Doubloons – Aluminum souvenir coins imprinted with a krewe’s insignia or other symbols.

Gumbo – A roux-based soup or stew often thickened with okra, typically containing a variety of vegetables and seafood served over steamed rice.

flower her Yes, floral arrangements are the default present for Mother’s Day, but that doesn’t mean only uncreative gift-givers choose flowers. Together with local florists, writer Jennifer Oldridge and photographer Jason Dailey rediscover the felicitous attraction of this classic Mother’s Day gift

The ‘Mother Load’

“Hardest job on earth!” That phrase is often tossed around when referring to motherhood and sums it up pretty perfectly. Motherhood is habitually selfless and entirely humbling. It encompasses all 24 hours in a day with tantrums, bribery, compromise, deep breathing and fatigue. It is frustrating and often laborious. Mothers are frequently unshaven and unwashed on any token weekday. For hours unnoticed, crusty spit-up could fester in the tresses of her hair. A mother will roll out of bed and retrieve a child from a party, no questions asked; she’s just grateful someone had the sense to call. A mother will forgo her gym membership to afford piano lessons. She’ll peruse the sale racks for herself so that her child can be decked out in the latest fad. Yep, motherhood is standing shoulder to shoulder with sainthood.

Our calendars are marked with holidays for leprechauns, forgotten presidents and one lost explorer—none of whom can hold a candle to the masses of mothers who transform lives, build character, gently nudge children toward their dreams and then let their babies freely fly away. It’s fitting that we have a day for mothers when each of us should celebrate the person who gave us life with flowers that reflect her beauty, mirror her frailty and strength, and symbolize her layers of nurturing spirit.

She has the hardest job on earth. But finding the perfect way to thank her is easy.

90 Lawrence Magazine

“Mother’s Breakfast Delight”

What mom wouldn’t love to wake up to this beautiful fresh flower bouquet? The Hy-Vee florists lined the glass pedestal vase with juicy red cherries, adding a whimsical twist that also keeps the arrangement in place. The flowers are a symphony in soft pastel tones with pink peonies, sprigs of white genestra, blue delphinium and lemon leaf.

Hy-Vee Floral on Clinton Parkway

Lawrence Magazine 91

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Papyrus Pamperâ&#x20AC;?

This potted arrangement sings with a contemporary flair. Papyrus stems jut skyward and bring the eye full circle to savor every detail: bushy euphorbia, a touch of cape fuchsia and cardoon. This stunning display of texture and movement is sure to inspire mom.

Vinland Valley Nursery

92 Lawrence Magazine

“Sun Pot”

Here’s a great alternative to a cut-flower bouquet that should last and flourish for an entire growing season. Pam Hamill crowds in ‘Rustic Orange’ coleus, lantana, ‘Laguna Compact Blue’ lobelia, ‘Diamond Frost’ euphorbia and a smattering of other flora that will remain colorful and overflow from a sturdy ceramic pot well into autumn. This arrangement is a token of your admiration for the unflappable spirit of motherhood—a gift that keeps on giving.

Hamill’s Country Gardens

Lawrence Magazine 93

â&#x20AC;&#x153;A Tribute to Momâ&#x20AC;?

Bittersweet creates a sweet and ultra-feminine cut-flower bouquet with fronds of ferns, aromatic lilac, an upright iris, a splash of delphinium and, at the center, a burgundy Cattleya orchid. It is a classic arrangement that mom will cherish.

BitterSweet Floral and Design

94 Lawrence Magazine

â&#x20AC;&#x153;Alberta Skyâ&#x20AC;?

Margit and Bart Hall, owners of Prairie Star Farms, are known for splendid hanging baskets. This arrangement features colorful tendrils of lavender petunias, clusters of blue verbena and polka dots of petite orange blooms. Mom is sure to love this plentiful arrangement in a palette of complementary colors.

Prairie Star Farms

Lawrence Magazine 95

“Three’s A Charm”

Using three glass vases of varying shapes with petite pebbles to anchor fresh stems, Owens Flower Shop has fashioned a cluster of bouquets that should delight most moms. Creamy white hydrangeas, green vibernum, soft pink tulips and corkscrew-curly willow add height and color. Sprigs of deep red Japanese maple leaves lend the finishing drama to this stunning arrangement.

Owens Flower Shop

96 Lawrence Magazine

Make it Exciting to be at Home!

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Q&A

... with Elena Ivanov, executive director of the Douglas County AIDS Project (DCAP)

What are some of your favorite dishes from childhood?

Moussaka [an eggplant dish], gyuvetch [a beef and bell pepper dish] and Shopska salad, which is a fresh vegetable salad with cucumbers, tomatoes, olive oil, feta cheese and onions. And of course baklava.

What would the young, teenage version of Elena Ivanov say to you now, and what would you say to her?

I would have never imagined that I would be living in this country and away from the place I was born. But I always say that for me it is important to be with my family, and we decided that Lawrence, Kansas, was the place for us to live and to get an education for our children. I am proud that four members of my family—my husband, my two sons and I—are all Jayhawks. We have all graduated from KU.

What will you be doing the first nice, warm weekend this spring?

I like to go with my family and meet with friends, have a barbecue, play outside and cook out at the Bloomington area of Clinton Lake. I also love to go swimming. I like Lone Star Lake, which is kind of wild and doesn’t have a man-made feel to it. And it is nice to simply go out for walks.

How do you keep a sense of optimism when your work concentrates on a disease that has basically decimated portions of the world?

Elena Ivanov was born a “Sofianka”—a native of the Bulgarian capital of Sofia, an ancient intellectual and cultural center of the Balkans. She graduated from university in Sofia and joined the administrative ranks of the nation’s economic and trade ministry, where she coordinated exchange programs across the Soviet bloc, trading leather goods, vegetables and Bulgarian toothpaste for deficit items from sister cities in the U.S.S.R.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Ivanov and her husband left for Lawrence, where she returned to school at the University of Kansas for two new degrees, raised two sons and began a career in nonprofit community service organizations.

In 2007, Ivanov became the executive director of the Douglas County AIDS Project (DCAP), a nonprofit service organization dedicated to countering the spread of HIV and AIDS in Douglas, Franklin and Jefferson counties.

She works from an office in south-central Lawrence that is brightly painted and decorated with red ribbon tributes and artwork—a counterpoint to the grim reality of HIV/AIDS and a reflection of the determination of groups that have organized to combat it.

Everyone knows what they are doing when they choose their career. I believe that I am good at helping people, so I want to use my skills for that. We want to be a place that everyone feels comfortable coming to without any stigma attached to the disease—even if they come into the office at 5 p.m. at night.

We have a term in this office: “You can be quickly DCAPitated [decapitated],” and that means that you have eight hours every day at work and then you spend much more time putting together events and community outreach. But it is a good cause to commit yourself to. If you choose to be DCAP-itated, then you have the satisfaction that you are doing some good.

Interview conducted, condensed and edited by Lawrence Magazine.

Lawrence Magazine 105

Written by Cathy Hamilton

Polish Pottery It all began with a beguiling peacock-motif dinner plate. And now, more than 100 pieces later, Cathy Hamilton of Boomergirl.com recounts her pottery obsession

Some women think diamonds are to die for. Others go gaga for fur. The things that turn me on are imported from Boleslawiec, Poland, can go straight from oven to dining room table to dishwasher and are handcrafted in dazzling patterns using rich hues of blue, rust and green.

My love affair with Polish pottery began eight years ago when I spied a dinner plate in the front window of Stitch On Needlework Shop on Massachusetts Street.

When my eyes locked onto the dazzling peacock motif, an obsession was born.

More than 100 pieces later, I have officially earned “collector” status. And I’m not alone. Joleen Morris, owner of Old World Pottery at 822 Massachusetts St., says hard-core collectors are her bread and butter.

“I call them Polish pottery addicts,” Morris laughs. “I have several of them, multiple customers who are in here at least once a month. When we get in a new ship-

106 Lawrence Magazine

ment, they hit hard, always looking for the next new pattern.”

There are dozens of patterns—traditional and contemporary—designed by mostly female craftspeople from factories with names like Zaklady Boleslawiec, Ceramika Artystyczna, Manufaktura and Nika.

While the motifs range from intricate and geometric to feminine and floral, all pieces use the same colors, allowing for effortless mixing and matching.

Joe Flannery, president of Weaver’s Department Store at

Photography by Jason Dailey

901 Massachusetts St., has sold “signature” (hand-painted by a single artist) Polish pottery for several years.

“Blue has always been our most popular theme,” Flannery notes. “That seems to be what our customers have wanted.”

The predominance of blue with crimson accents lends itself perfectly to entertaining in Jayhawk country. I’ve set many a party table around KU centerpieces, and my tailgate group includes collectors who bring their casseroles and covered

dishes in complementary Polish serving pieces.

Most importantly, the stoneware is as durable as it is beautiful.

“It’s a lifetime product, and it’s pretty hard to break,” Flannery says. “People that have it will be able to hand it down for generations.”

Let’s hope my kids put Polish pottery high on their list of favorite things. •

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Travel ideas

Festival Fun Sometimes the best-planned vacations aren’t planned at all. And they aren’t found in well-known destinations.

Lawrence Magazine travel writer Susan Kraus explains how she learned this lesson, surprisingly, in Germany.

Written and photographed by Susan Kraus

It was the nice woman in the breakfast room of my hotel who turned me on to it.

“Ah,” she said. “It is the weekend for to make the wine fest in the Bernkastel-Kues.”

“And it is this day they make the parade,” she added. “You go. Now.” Bernkastel-Kues Wine Festival

Bernkastel-Kues is a delightful German village (two villages, actually, joined by a bridge) tucked along the Moselle River northeast of Trier. It is a blip on the map, easier reached by boat than by car. Vineyards cover steep hills made of the poor shale soil that produces good grapes.

The Bernkastel-Kues wine fest, like all German wine fests, has tradition and protocol.

Music is mandatory. On every corner is a different style band, from hunting horns to violins. People hang over balconies, clapping in rhythm, and find themselves driven by polka beats on the cobblestone streets.

Then there are rides and games. Like a state fair, there is a carnival section, plus rows of booths for shopping local crafts and food.

Wine rules. You pay about 2 euro for a wine glass at the start of the day. Then, all day long, you can get the glass filled at the countless vineyard stands throughout town for another 1 to 3 euros, depending on the quality of the wine. There are also smaller glasses that people wear around their necks on leather straps so they don’t have to carry their glass or worry about putting it down and forgetting to pick it up (an option I may consider next time around). At the end of the day, you turn in your glass and get your 2 euro back from any stand. Now, in the U.S., there would be a ban on real wine glasses for a variety of

108 Lawrence Magazine

Top: Families with young children gather for an informal festival in Frankfurt, Germany.

Bottom: Villagers parade in traditional clothing at the wine festival of Bernkastel-Kues, Germany.

Travel ideas

Bottom: A real-life G.I. Belgium Joe stands by his Jeep and flashes a near-authentic Hollywood smile at the Flikkendag festival in Ghent, Belgium.

reasons, and plastic cups would be mandated. What I couldn’t figure out is how, during eight hours, I never saw any broken glass.

The Germans love a parade. In Bernkastel-Kues, the floats were elaborate but handmade, not corporate sponsored. The people riding on them dressed as Roman goddesses, or decked out in other wine-related themes, are the same ones who probably spent hours covering chicken wire with paper flowers. Every vineyard (and there are lots of vineyards), town band or dance group for 100 miles made an appearance. Everyone was in costume, although they would not call it that.

“It is the clothing of my grandparents,” one woman told me. “The lace is special to my village.”

Just For Kids

Almost every summer weekend, there is some kind of outdoor event in most German cities. One of my favorites is a family festival in Frankfurt, where activities for children were set up in tents along the banks of the Main River. I sat on a park bench for hours, sipping a beer, chewing on a Turkish doner purchased from a boat stand, soaking up the sun. Something felt different, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on what it was at first. Then I realized—everything was more relaxed and less frenetic. It was life in the slow zone. And other differences emerged.

There were no barriers along the river itself, no “Caution” or “Danger” signs, and kids ran to the very edge to throw bread to the ducks and swans. Entire families arrived on bikes, having cycled in for miles from the suburbs. The “activities” were low-key: coloring, face-painting, a tent with toy trucks and stuff to build, a “ride” made of plastic cartons moving along slightly elevated metal rollers. There were big inflatable tents with balls and a massive trampoline with a harness so children could fly high into the sky. It was low-tech to no-tech. Almost everything fun was free. Families spread out on blankets as if they were spending a day at the beach.

Near the center of the festival was a huge, plastic wading pool. Parents stripped the clothes off their kids, with babies to 6-year-olds naked and the older ones in their underwear. When the kids finished shrieking and playing in the water, they ran around in the sun until they were dry enough for clothes again. It was, in its innocence, liberating.

Overall, what I saw is parents who were less anxious, whether about germs, accidents or boogeymen. (But then, German television doesn’t fixate on the stuff that makes U.S. parents neurotic-paranoid either.) And the small, local festivals reflected this relaxed approach.

Flikken Fun

Although I learned to appreciate local festivals in Germany, I find keeping an eye out for these events is a rewarding approach in most areas.

That’s how I met the Flikkens.

Flikken is a television series, a cop show, set in Ghent, Belgium. It blends crime solving with the private lives of the police. The name itself is Dutch-Flemish slang for “cops.”

The enormously popular show has been on for 10 years but is now in its final season. For several years, the city of Ghent has held an annual family-focused festival to celebrate the show, meet the actors and honor the real police of the city. We (my husband was along for this particular jaunt) had no idea we were arriving during Flikkendag and ended up driving down a pedestrian mall (I hate when that

Lawrence Magazine 109

Travel ideas

happens) after getting lost in a maze of closed-off streets until rescued by the Ghent police (the real-life Flikkens who really are very, very sweet).

During Flikkendag, downtown is closed to traffic. Parades twist through the streets. There are stages throughout the city with various musical groups. In one square, the military set up zip lines from the top of a building. There are games and events for kids, and a carnival atmosphere rules. On every corner, Flikken hats, shirts and posters are for sale.

On a side street by the cathedral, I strolled around a corner and found myself surrounded by American jeeps, trucks, flags and people in uniforms from World War II. There were a dozen groups from different parts of Belgium, all historical reenactors (similar to our Civil War buffs). They collect authentic paraphernalia, go to festivals, talk with people about their respective jeeps, do parades and re-create battles. It’s a major hobby. I’m not sure who plays the Germans.

Festival-bound

The improved dollar-to-euro exchange rate and lower airline fares have put Europe back on the map for bargain-seeking

tourists. But, as always, the best bargains are not in the LondonParis-Rome-level circuits. Very fine memories are to be found in places that never rate five stars and often are overlooked in the guidebooks. Cost does not equate value … or fun.

For my money, festivals are one of the best ways to share in a culture. They make it easier to move from tourist-observer to participant. Festivals make people more open. The locals are friendlier. Conversations strike up among people at tables in the café. Formalities diminish. Standing in line for a schnitzel is reason enough to chat. I’m not promoting the “biggies” such as Oktoberfest in Munich or St. Patrick’s Day in N.Y.C., but the regional or local festivities that belong to a community and reflect its history or passion.

I didn’t research the festivals described in this article. I just got lucky and stumbled into them. But from now on, I plan to do a bit more research before any trip to help that “serendipity” factor, because enjoying music, singing, drinking, parading and dancing in the streets like a local make for some really fun memories. •

events calendar february Junkyard Jazz

February 5.12, 19, 26, March 5, 12-19, 26, 2009 | American Legion | Junkyard Jazz is part of Lawrence’s many traditions, playing traditional jazz of the 1930s and ‘40s since 1981. The group plays from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. every Thursday evening at the American Legion, 3408 W. Sixth St., attracting musicians from northeast Kansas. Musicians are always welcome to sit in on Thursdays.

Have A Heart ,Van Go Valentine Art Show and Sale

February 6, 2009 | Van Go Mobile Arts | Join us at Van Go to celebrate the work of the Van Go teen artists and purchase wonderful gifts. Refreshments provided.

“What’s Up With That?” with Imani Winds

February 10, 2009 | Eldridge Hotel, Crystal Ballroom | During the Lied Center’s 2008-09 season, “What’s Up With That?” will host dialogue with artists from the Swarthout Music Series on the methods and approaches classically trained musicians use to perform jazz.

Songs for Sweethearts

February 14, 2009 | Maceli’s | Dinner with musical cabaret and auction.

Climate Change at the Poles: Analysis and Adaptation

February 21 to May 24, 2009 | Spencer Museum of Art University of Kansas| From the perspective of an art museum, the prospect of climate change raises some elemental questions.

Doubt

February 26-28, March 1,5-8, 2009 | Lawrence Community Theatre | This gripping story of suspicion is less about scandal than about fascinatingly nuanced questions of moral certainty.

City Youth Theatre’s Cabaret Showcase

February 27-28, 2009 | Lawrence Arts Center | Young performers sing and dance in this annual event.

march “Governor Andrew Reeder: At the Request of My President”

March 1, 2009 | Constitution Hall Lecompton | “Governor Andrew Reeder: At the Request of My President.” A firstperson portrayal by Rex Patty, re-enactor and living history educator. Part of the Bleeding Kansas 2009 series of talks and dramatic interpretations on the violent conflict over the slavery issue in the Kansas Territory from 1854 to 1861.

6 Gallery Exhibit “Old Age”

March 6-April 17, 2009 | 6 Gallery | 6 Gallery features group shows by Lawrence area artists. Each show is tied together by a common theme. Donations are accepted to various local causes.

Lawrence Youth Ballet Company

March 7-March 8, 2009 | Lawrence Arts Center | Each year, the Lawrence Youth Ballet Company presents a new and charming ballet, usually based on a favorite fairy tale or children’s classic.

St. Patrick’s Day Parade

March 17, 2009 | Begins at 11th and Massachusetts Streets | Annual parade featuring floats, bands, bagpipers and the St. Patrick’s Day Queen and her court.

Golden Dragon Acrobats

March 25, 2009 | Lied Center | Featuring dramatic stunt, astounding acrobats and champion contortionists, China’s Golden Dragon Acrobats present feats of strength, skill and ability in a balancing act of dazzle and risk.

april Ain’t Misbehavin’

April 4, 2009 | Lied Center | Ain’t Misbehavin’, the “Fats” Waller musical review, is a tribute to the music and black musicians of the Harlem Renaissance in the 1920s and 1930s. Starring American Idol 2003 winner Ruben Studdard and 2003 contestant Frenchie Davis.

Philip Glass An Evening of Chamber Music

April 7, 2009 | Lied Center | Widely known for his minimalist compositions, art music, repetitive structures and Academy Award-nominated soundtracks, Glass is one of the most influential contemporary composer/musicians of the late 20th century.

Annual Kansas Relays

April 16-18, 2009 | Memorial Stadium | Annual track and field events for regional college and high school students.

Moonlight and Magnolias

April 17-19, 23-26, 30, 2009 | Lawrence Community Theatre | When the screenplay for his new epic, Gone With the Wind, doesn’t work, legendary producer David Selznick sends for famed screenwriter Ben Hecht and pulls formidable director Victor Fleming from the set of The Wizard of Oz.

2009 Downtown Gallery Walk

April 24, 2009 | Downtown Lawrence | Participating galleries and the Lawrence Arts Center will stay open late to the public, featuring special exhibitions, demonstrations and other festivities.

Maps available at participating venues.

940 Dance New Works Concert

April 24-25, 2009 | Lawrence Arts Center | The annual concert of innovation and insight by the Lawrence Arts Center’s resident professional touring dance company.

All events are subject to change | Listings courtesy of the Lawrence Conventions & Visitors Bureau, visit www.visitlawrence.com for a complete listing of events E-mail your upcoming events for the calendar to lawrencemagazine@ljworld.com