SUNFLOWE R LIVING S a l i n a a r e a ’ s p r e m i e r M a g a z i n e o n P e o p l e , Pl a c e s & S t y l e
BowHunting W ay o f L i f e
New Deal
Legacies
Gat h e r , C u t & B u r n
The Culture of Traditional Cold-Season Heating
$
winter 2015
of Wood:
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warmth
SUNFLOWER LIVING
FEATURES
volume 05 / issue 04
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photographers
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artist
Cedar Van Tassel
Production and editorial services for Sunflower Living provided by: Editor Nathan Pettengill art director Jenni Leiste Chief Photographer Jason Dailey copy editor Deron Lee General Manager Bert Hull executive editor Katy Ibsen e-mail Comments to
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28.
38.
When deer breed, hunters follow
The woodburning lifestyle is built around a seasoned wood stash
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Sunflower living winter 2015
Loggin’ it
contents
winter 2015
DEPARTMENTS
08.
Sign Here Patricia Little creates nostalgia as art
12.
Who Ya Gonna Call?
When there’s something strange in their big machines, farmers across the globe dial Abilene Machine
16.
The Best Bakings Come in Threes
A trio of Veachfamily generations shares recipes, tips, kitchen mishaps and a slice of the pie
22.
24.
Salina structures bear the mark of an enduring New Deal legacy
True tales of hardship on the prairie
Built to Last
THE GOOD OL’ DAYS
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from the editor
about the contributors
Patricia e. Ackerman
Patricia Ackerman is a professor of language arts at Kansas State University–Salina. In addition to writing, she enjoys traveling, gardening and spending time with her family.
David Clouston
David Clouston is a Salinabased writer who enjoys cooking, photography, music and exploring and writing about Kansas.
Chelsey crawford
AIMING
TRUE
Photography for our cover story on bowhunting began approximately one year ago, as Larry Harwood accompanied Michael Speany through snowswept fields for a frigid, but authentic documentation of his sport. It was a bone-chilling and realistic introduction to the hobby and way of life that demands persistence, preparation, patience and the belief that everything you waited for could suddenly appear in the coming seconds … or tomorrow … or not at all. As we went to press, this year’s bowhunting season was at its height. Of our three subjects, Jamie and Izzaiah Durham had already bagged one deer, while Michael Speany and Keri Levendofsky Griffin (in the photograph above) were still waiting for their buck. We wish them luck, but know now that bagging a deer is only part of their reason for hunting. Other equally important reasons, including the beauty of sunrises and the joy of spending time with loved ones, are explored in Chelsey on the Crawford’s essay and interviews with the hunters. We cover: Eric Puvogel, hope you enjoy reading about their experience, as well Tim Puvogel about the other hobbies, work and interests—from and Jason Montague painting vintage billboard signs to baking winter pies— cut firewood shared in this issue. for the winter. Photograph by Happy hunting, for whatever you pursue this season, Karen Mikols and best wishes for finding unexpected beauty and Bonar. warmth along the way. -Nathan
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Chelsey Crawford is a freelance writer based out of Salina. She attended the University of Kansas, studying history and literature. In her spare time she enjoys reading, gardening and spending time with family.
judy lilLy
Lifelong Kansan Judy Lilly is the former Kansas history librarian at the Salina Public Library. Now retired, she attends writing groups, reads, researches and travels with her husband, Dennis.
Chelsea karma mckee
Chelsea Karma McKee is an Abilene-based artist who received her fine arts degree from Emporia State University.
meta newell west
Meta Newell West spends a lot of time in her Abilene kitchen. She and her husband, Barry, also team up to teach cooking classes.
LISA EASTMAN
Lisa Eastman is an Abilene-based photographer who has contributed to Sunflower Living since the first issue in 2010. Look for her work on Facebook by searching for ProPhotoKS.
LARRY HARWOOD
A Glasco native and graduate of the photography school at Brooks Institute in Santa Barbara, Larry Harwood showcases his work at larryharwoodphoto.photoshelter.com.
FRITZ MENDELL
Fritz Mendell is a veteran Salina-based analog photographer, now mastering digital. You can see what Fritz has been shooting by subscribing to his free mailing list at fmendell@att.net.
BILL STEPHENS
Bill Stephens is a Topeka-based photographer with years of work in the Salina area for magazines such as Kansas! and Sunflower Living. You can see more of his photography at billandleann.com.
TATON TUBBS
Taton Tubbs is a Lindsborg-based photographer. You can see more of his work by searching for “Through My Eyes” on Facebook.
CEDAR VAN TASSEL
Cedar Van Tassel lives and draws at his home near Gypsum. His illustrations have appeared in The Common magazine and regularly on his website, comicnuggets.com.
PREVIOUSLY Letters, Comments and Observations about our Previous Editions
winter 2015
Karen Mikols Bonar owns Heartland Photography, a Salina-based wedding and portrait studio. You can see more of her work at heartlandphotography.org.
contents
KAREN MIKOLS BONAR
Different Dogs
Now, that’s a spider …
Thanks for many positive comments about Fritz Mendell’s photographic essay on nature closeups that appeared in our previous edition. Leroy Harris responded by sharing with us two of his own close-up images, each of a garden spider eating prey. Great detail— and a bit horrific if you happen to be a grasshopper. But that’s nature.
Our article on trained service and companion dogs that appeared in the fall 2014 issue misidentified the two German shepherds on pages 14 and 15. Griffin—the certified therapy dog who lives with trainer Dale Reitz—is the black-haired German shepherd whose photo appeared on page 14. The black-and-tan-haired dog whose photo was included on pages 14 and 15 is Hudson. We regret this error and apologize to Griffin, Hudson and their people. Reitz reports that both Hudson and Griffin are doing well. Hudson has finished his training and currently lives with a young couple on 10 acres near Enterprise, Kansas. Griffin has enjoyed spending the first part of winter on vacation in Florida, where he celebrated Thanksgiving by swimming in a pool under a warm sun. Now that is a dog’s life.
YOUR TURN
If you have something to share about this edition of Sunflower Living, please send an email to sunflowerliving@sunflowerpub.com or write to us at Sunflower Living / PO Box 740 / Salina, KS 67402. We are always eager to hear from you.
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behind the
scenes
Good Material
Many of the nature scenes in Patricia Little’s work are inspired from memories of hunting and outdoor trips with her father.
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Patricia Little
Sign Here
G
PROFILE
Patricia Little creates nostalgia as art
Story by Chelsea Karma McKee
Photography by Bill Stephens
rowing up, Patricia Little learned tough lessons about art and critical response. “I had teachers in grade school who confiscated my horse drawings,” she says. “It was always horses.” Thankfully, she refused to allow that criticism to keep her from her art.
Artist Patricia Little sits in front of some of her original work.
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Years later, the Dickinson County artist has earned a reputation for unique works—some of them featuring horses—that are a blend of classical paintings and commercial sign art. Perhaps best described as “vintage American nostalgia,” Little’s creations are made predominantly with acrylic paint applied to a custom-made wood canvas. This wood is salvaged from a variety of sources: old barns, antique doors and repurposed laths. Little will cut, bend or nail together the wood to create custom sizes and shapes for each hand-painted sign. To create these works, Little has assembled her own resource library over the last 50 years, comprised of shelves packed with picture books and binders full of old advertisements, as well as photos of fruits, flowers and animals. She brings these different elements together with carefully selected lettering to evoke authentic vintage signs, which were often the work of anonymous artists. “I loved the old sign artists because not only did they do the lettering, they did these great characters,” says Little. Little has produced commercial sign work for businesses and rodeos. She has also traveled around the United States, selling her artwork at shows from coast to coast. Locally, she regularly shows at festivals in Hillsboro, Kansas and in Bella Vista, Arkansas. Little brings mostly commercial signs to these festivals, but the works she enjoys painting the most are custom commissions. By their nature, these pieces will vary greatly, but they usually include a family name lettered across the front. Sometimes, the text is styled to resemble an old advertisement for products such as agricultural seeds or duck decoys. “I have people who will send me pictures of their front porch, or of flowers, or their dogs and say, ‘Paint my house with all these things on the front.’ I love that. That’s the kind of work I love,” says Little. That love for painting beloved places can be better understood from her studio nestled snugly between her home and her horse corral. This natural setting looks, for all the world, like many of the landscapes found in Little’s works of art. Who knew? Many of these popular, oldfashioned billboards sent out across the nation are also road signs quietly pointing back to our own region, and more specifically, to the artist’s rural home.
Patricia Little
PROFILE Little’s art includes commercial billboards, history and nature scenes.
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behind the
scenes
The Team
Abilene Machine owner and CEO Randy Roelofsen credits longtime workers such as Dody Bricker, above, for his firm’s success.
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Abilene Machine
PROFILE Photography by Fritz Mendell Story by Patricia E. Ackerman
Who Ya Gonna
Call?
When there’s something strange in their big machines, farmers across the globe dial Abilene Machine
Abilene Machine includes, from left: Kenny Roelefson (online sales and marketing), Todd Roelefson (vice president), Andrew Roelefson (outside sales manager), Randy Roelefson (CEO/owner), Tom Roelefson (purchasing manager) and Mike Aufdenberg (operations manager).
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Raw material, top, remains after tractors and combines, center left, are salvaged. A robotic welder, center right, assembles combine concaves. A line of combines, bottom left, provides spare parts, which are stored in the warehouse, bottom right.
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Abilene Machine
fab shop, hydraulic shop, and professional office complex. And this only accounts for operations at their original location in Solomon. The company also operates branch locations in South Carolina, California, Iowa, and South Dakota. “Our business started out locally and has become a global operation,” says Roelofsen. Abilene Machine’s store in California ships parts to Asia, and the distribution center in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, guarantees next-day delivery to farmers in America’s breadbasket. These emergency shipments, Roelofsen says, can make the difference between a successful harvest and financial ruin for a farmer. Over the years the company has transitioned into becoming a primary distributor for new agricultural machinery parts. As the company has grown, so have the number of opportunities for employees. Dody Bricker, who has worked with the company for 25 years, says she has been grateful for the opportunity to travel across the States as Abilene Machine has opened new locations. A single mother, she says she also appreciates the company’s “support and understanding of family needs.” Roelofsen, in turn, says the success of Abilene Machine would not have been possible without the dedication and hard work of long-standing employees—and their families. His sons have grown up working part-time in the company and all three have chosen to build their careers at Abilene Machine after graduating from college. “I like to think this is because it is a good place to work. These people’s hearts are in this company,” Roelofsen says.
PROFILE
I
f a combine breaks down in the middle of a wheat field, a farmer’s entire harvest could depend on locating a very specialized part in a matter of hours. This urgent need led to the founding of a specialized agricultural business in 1980. Nearly 35 years later, that company continues to thrive from its headquarters in Solomon and has expanded across the nation. This agricultural implement company—Abilene Machine—is now run by Randy Roelofsen. As a high school student in Toronto, South Dakota, Roelofsen worked for Loren Engle, the same man who would bring him to Kansas to work at Solomon Electric and then hire him in 1980 when he founded Abilene Machine. Together, Engle and Roelofsen traveled across the country, promoting their business at trade shows, dealerships, and repair shops. They built their reputation without the aid of computers, internet, or cell phones, advertising in local papers and agricultural trade magazines. “We started out working with dealers who took in used implements, trading for parts,” says Roelofsen. “We would buy equipment and tear it down. Then we started rebuilding parts, like injection pumps.” Engle and Roelofsen paid close attention to high-wear items and tried to keep them readily available. It’s a strategy that continued as Engle retired in 1991 and Roelofsen stepped up to run the company, which now consists of 137 employees in 20 buildings, totaling 225,000 square feet on 145 acres. This includes a warehouse, distribution center, shop, combine department, prep shop, paint shop,
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behind the
scenes
Rolling Along
It might not affect the taste of his pies, but the roller that John Veach uses for his dough has tremendous value—a gift to him and his wife given at their wedding, 27 years ago.
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W
hen three generations of the Veach family gather in one kitchen, excess flour spills onto the counter, dirty bowls begin to pile up, sweet aromas waft through the air and distinct cooking styles flow together. Family matriarch Dorothy Veach specializes in yeast breads and is known for her cinnamon and dinner rolls. For years she filled holiday orders for friends, and she continues to bake cream pies for potluck dinners held at the housing complex where she resides. “They’re gone about as soon as I put them out,” she says. Her son, John, always appreciated his mom’s culinary skills, but it wasn’t until he was living in a college apartment that he began to experiment in the kitchen. “I liked to eat, so I learned to cook and bake,” he says. While Dorothy has a precise baking style that tends to follow written recipes, John admits he’d rather make up his own directions than follow those in a book. John’s daughter, Sarah, takes her inspiration in the kitchen from her grandmother. Sarah remembers helping make apple doughnuts and cinnamon rolls as a child. “She was so young that about halfway through a recipe, she’d be ready to move onto something else,” Dorothy recalls. By age 8, Sarah had moved on to deviled eggs. “I cut the cooked eggs in half crosswise instead of lengthwise just because I didn’t know any better,” she explains. By the time Sarah realized her mistake, she decided she preferred that unique method despite mild protests from some family members. Although she doesn’t mention any names, Sarah does give her dad a knowing look as she shares that particular story. As the trio work together to create one of the family’s favorite pies, John and Dorothy compare methodology. As he easily manhandles the rolled dough, picking it up in his hands and laying it in the pie crust, Dorothy notes, “I fold my dough in half after rolling, and then unfold it as I lay it inside the pie pan.” John adds, “Another difference is that she understands the chemistry of baking and how different ingredients affect the end result. I just throw things together, and as long as it turns out good I’m happy.” One particularly happy occasion occurred in 2013, when John entered and won first place in the special baking division at Abilene’s Central Kansas Free Fair. He credits his victory, in part, to a mistake. When mixing up the frosting, he ran out of vanilla, so he grabbed another bottle. “I didn’t realize until too late that it Sunflower living winter 2015
Veach pie
chef’s table
A trio of Veach-family generations shares recipes, tips, kitchen mishaps and a slice of the pie
Photography by Lisa Eastman
Come in Threes
Story by Meta Newell West
The Best Bakings
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flour ice-cold water
salt shortening
sugar
frozen strawberry
PIE BASICS—THE INGREDIENTS butter frozen rhubarb
Rustic Apple Galette—Dorothy Veach rolls out leftover dough into a small round that she places in a pie pan. She then fills the center with chunked apples, adding enough sugar and cinnamon for sweetness, and a little all-purpose flour to thicken the fruit filling. She leaves a 2-inch border of dough around the outside of the round, which she then folds up over the apples, pleating and folding crust as needed to create a free-form rustic tart, referred to in France as a galette. It goes into a 425-degree preheated oven for about 20 minutes, or until the apples are tender and the crust is nicely browned.
WHAT TO DO WITH LEFTOVER PIE DOUGH?
Though the baking world is full of pieingredient trends such as vinegar or vodka, John Veach sticks to the basics: flour, shortening, salt and ice-cold water. However, he has increased the amounts of each ingredient so that he has extra dough. “It makes rolling easier, and I always know I’ll have enough dough to fit the pie pan,” he says. He also prefers a high proportion of icecold water, enough so that the dough sticks together and is manageable. “The first time I made a crust, I followed a standard recipe and ended up with a dry, crumbly crust that was hard to work with.”
Cinnamon Rounds—Sarah Veach will take leftover dough, add cinnamon and sugar, roll it up and cut it into ½-inch rounds. After placing the rounds on a baking sheet—standing seam-side down—she puts them in a 425-degree preheated oven for about 10 minutes, watching carefully to prevent burning.
Pie Making/Baking Tips:
• Once water is added to the flour mixture, the proteins in the flour become activated, creating gluten. As gluten is manipulated (by stirring, stretching or kneading) its structural network develops and becomes firm; this is great in breads, but it can create a tough piecrust. So once water is added and the pie dough is formed into a ball, the trick is to manipulate it as little as possible. • For well-baked, tender and browned under-crust, select heat-resistant glass or ceramic pans, enamelware, or darkened aluminum pans with a dull finish. Shiny metal pans deflect (rather than absorb) heat and may create a soggy under-crust.
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Veach pie
chef’s table
was maple flavoring rather than vanilla,” he admits. The frosting turned out to be the perfect accompaniment to his coffee cake, and John received compliments from fellow bakers saying he had upped the ante for future competitions. A competitive spirit seems to run in the family. In 1981, one of Dorothy’s fancy yeast breads was selected as the sweepstakes winner for the Abilene Reflector-Chronicle cooking contest. In 1998, Dorothy’s dinner rolls took second place in the Kansas Wheat Commission’s Kansas Festival of Breads Bake-Off. In 2002, her glazed almond coffee cake won second place in the bread and roll division in the Salina Journal Holiday Cookbook competition. And in 2014, Dorothy’s braided pineapple coffee cake won second place in the adult breads division of Memorial Health System’s Volunteer Corps Gold Medal Baking Contest. During that same contest, Sarah won first place in the youth cake and pie division. In keeping with a “groovy” theme, she divided vanilla cake batter into small bowls, added different food colors to each and then spooned the colored batters into cupcake tins. The tie-dye effect earned Overall Theme Winner. John, however—remember that competitive streak?—points out that the judges’ written remarks mentioned that they were impressed with the frosting, the same maple frosting he used on his winning coffee cake. While some kitchen mishaps win prizes, others just make for memorable stories. John reminds Sarah of the cookies she once served the family. “I used salt instead of sugar, and after one bite knew they were terrible,” Sarah confesses. Instead of throwing them out, she sandwiched frosting between two of them and served her creation to the family. “I was so young that they pretended to like them, at least for awhile,” she says. Sarah, in turn, prods her dad to tell about his chocolate chip cookies. “This was a recipe that I’d made over and over, but all of a sudden every time I made them they just turned into goop as they baked,” John recalls. Determined to try one more time, he had the ingredients assembled when his wife, Molly, walked through the kitchen. She took one look and asked why he was using powdered sugar instead of flour. As the trio joke about kitchen mishaps, Sarah points out everyone is destined to make a few. “I’ve learned you just accept them and then strive to do better.” Her grandmother adds, “Practice is essential. You can’t always expect to have perfect results the first few times you try.” There are, however, few if any mistakes when the entire family gathers to share tried-and-true favorites. Everyone in the family, including John and Molly’s younger son, Ben, enjoys bowls of Dorothy’s potato or taco soup, or her chicken or beef noodle dinners. Other times, John throws together a stew that is just as popular with Sarah’s teenage friends as it is with his family. And, with three bakers in the family, chances are good that most meals will end with dessert.
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recipe The Veach RhubarbStrawberry Pie PREPARATION TIME: Approximately 1 hour serves: 6-8 (One 9-inch pie) ABOUT THE RECIPE — Pies are John Veach’s specialty. He can have one ready for the oven in just about 15 minutes. Because this particular pie relies on frozen fruit, it can be made year-round. Besides that, Dorothy Veach points out, “The frozen rhubarb is always nice and red.”
ingredients John’s Pie crust
Bottom Crust: 1. Measure flour, salt and shortening in a bowl. Using a fork or pastry blender, cut the shortening into the flour until the mixture resembles coarse cornmeal. 2. Start with ½ cup of cold water, and add enough so that the dough forms a cohesive ball—one that holds together and does not crumble. Once dough is shaped into a ball, cut it in half. 3. On a floured surface, flatten half the dough into a circle to provide a starting point for rolling out the pastry. 4. Using a rolling pin, roll from center to outside edges in all four directions. Keep pastry circular and with uniform thickness; roll it about 1½ inches larger than the pie pan. 5. Transfer rolled pastry to pie pan. Without stretching the dough, gently press the pastry into the sides of the pan; trim off excess dough along the top edge of the pie pan.
Veach pie
chef’s table
Cooking Instructions
(Makes enough for a double-crust 9-inch pie)
2 ½ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional flour for use when rolling out crust 1 teaspoon salt 1 heaping cup shortening (about 1 to 2 extra tablespoons more than a cup) Approximately ½ cup ice-cold water (John adds ice cubes to chill the water) Fruit Filling 8 ounces frozen unsweetened strawberries—do not thaw 8 ounces frozen unsweetened rhubarb—do not thaw ⅓ cup all-purpose flour 1⅓ cups granulated sugar, plus extra for sprinkling on top of pie 3 tablespoons butter, cut into chunks
Filling: Break up frozen pieces of fruit; cut larger pieces so that all chunks of fruit are similar in size. Place fruit, flour and sugar in a bowl and mix well before adding to the prepared bottom crust. Dot top of fruit with chunks of butter. Top Crust: Roll out the second half of dough as described for bottom crust (steps 3-4). Lay top crust over fruit filling; cut vents in top crust, trim off excess along the pie’s edge and crimp to seal. Sprinkle top with about 1 tablespoon granulated sugar. Baking: Cover edges of pie with foil strips and then place on the center rack of a preheated 425-degree oven. Bake for 30 minutes; remove foil strips and continue to bake another 15 minutes until fruit is tender and crust is nicely browned.
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behind the
scenes
New Deal Spirit
This mural, Painting depicting the activities of the National Youth Administration, was created in 1936 by Alden Krider, who was working for the Kansas National Youth Administration. The painting is reprinted here courtesy Franklin D. Roosevelt Presidential Library and Museum, Hyde Park, NY.
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built to
last
Salina structures bear the mark of an enduring New Deal legacy
Sunflower living winter 2015
NYA Projects
landmarks
such subjects as mechanics, welding, sheet metal, woodcraft, homemaking, stenography and health care. Throughout the seven years that the program operated, both the NYA and WPA built a number of stone structures that are still scattered about Salina. The Salina Journal reported in April 1939 that 35 NYA youths, working part-time and using rubble masonry, were hired to construct “ten dead-end walls” on streets that terminated at the Smoky Hill River. Remnants of these walls can be seen at both ends of Second and Third Streets; behind the Community Theatre; at the south ends of Penn, Columbia and Kansas avenues; and running along Kenwood Park Drive. The rock wall at the south end of Third Street bears an NYA plaque. Three other rock buildings still carry these plaques: the Kiva in Thomas Park, used for many years by the Girl Scouts; the shop building in Sunset Park, which doubled as a voting station in the 1950s; and the old shop in Gypsum Hill Cemetery. Other stone legacies from Depression days include rock picnic areas and two restrooms in Oakdale Park; two restrooms in Sunset Park; and a restroom in Kenwood Park. The buildings and picnic centers at Coronado Heights in southern Saline County were built by WPA workers. The NYA dissolved in 1943 after being transferred first to the Federal Security Agency and then to the War Manpower Commission. Although the NYA was unable to reach every young American in need, the monies appropriated for its operation were valuable investments. As Eleanor Roosevelt hoped, educational opportunities, work experience and active participation in the community encouraged young people to feel necessary and productive—and the results of their work still stand throughout our communities.
Photography by Taton Tubbs
autonomous throughout its existence from June 1935 to September 1943. State project directors and division directors ran the program within each state, and projects were designed for local communities. Kansas Wesleyan University’s Glenn L. Martin Stadium was an NYA project constructed with stone masonry, like the building on West Crawford. Two Salina men, Warren Young and Bill Keeler, participated in this project as Wesleyan freshmen. “We went to class in the morning and worked in the afternoon,” says Young. That work—which went on for 22 months—involved removing stones from a county pasture, hauling them to town, unloading and washing them off before cementing the stones into the needed formation. Wages varied from project to project and depending on a worker’s age, from $6 to $30 a month. Officials promised wages “sufficient to provide for the youth’s subsistence,” with $10 extra for personal use. For students struggling to stay in school, NYA helped them land jobs in school libraries, playgrounds and school laboratories. In the case of the stadium, the workers’ earnings were capped at $16 a month. Keeler remembers being paid 25 cents an hour for four hours of labor each day. Young recalls applying all of his wages to his college tuition. For those who did not attend college, the NYA offered other opportunities. Work centers were set up across the state and operated under a “resident center plan.” In September 1940, 10 NYA boys were detailed to living quarters at the agricultural training center, which was formerly the Saline County “poor farm,” located 7 miles west of town. Depending on the focus of a particular center, each girl or boy was provided work and instruction in
Story by Judy Lilly
T
he cottage-style building at 216 West Crawford Street in Salina often catches the eye of passing motorists. “People pop their heads in to see what the inside looks like,” says Kelly Kitchener, who owns the building that currently houses his insurance business. Originally used as a precinct voting station and meeting place for the Boy Scouts, it was designed by Charles Shaver and constructed of locally available sandstone and limestone in the spring of 1940. The 22-by-50-foot building featured a central room with a small office and adjoining utility rooms in the projecting room. The city shared the $4,000 building costs with the federal government, which supplied about 70 percent of the financing. But perhaps the most unique aspect of the project was that it was carried out with largely inexperienced workers who were in their latter teens or early 20s—45 young men selected by the government on the basis of financial need. It also could be said that the little building, as well as several other structures in Salina, owe their existence to Eleanor Roosevelt, who warned that poverty, lack of advanced education and a dearth of job opportunities in the Great Depression would adversely impact the nation’s young people. “I live in real terror when I think we might be losing this generation,” she told a reporter for The New York Times in 1934. In response, Eleanor all but badgered her husband, President Franklin Delano Roosevelt, until he agreed to the formation of the National Youth Administration (NYA), a New Deal agency that focused on educating and training young people between 16 and 25. Although the NYA was a division of the Works Progress Administration (WPA), it remained remarkably
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Grasshopper Plague good ol’ days
THE GOOD ’ OL DAYS T ru e Ta l es o f Ha r d s h i p o n the P r a i r i e Text adapted from Pioneers on the Prairie: A History of Marquette, Kansas,
Illustration by Cedar Van Tassel
by Allan Lindfors and Eleanor Burnison
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With this issue, we begin a four-part series of illustrated histories based on primary sources. “The Good Ol’ Days,” drawn by Cedar Van Tassel, will explore different hardships faced by European settlers in the Salina region of the late-1800s.
Sunflower living winter 2015
Nobody expected them. They descended suddenly, as dark clouds, on July 25, 1874.
Pestilence
McPherson County, 1874
There were millions of them: Melanoplus spretus, Rocky Mountain locusts
—but people called them “grasshoppers.”
Grasshoppers flew like hail in the faces of men. Farm families rushed to protect the early harvest … but the grasshoppers ate the crops before they could be carried away.
No home, no person was safe. The grasshoppers ate the muslin curtains from Charles Broman’s windows.
They blocked the sun. The sky was so dark that the chickens, thinking it was night, went to roost in the afternoon.
They even ate Mrs. C.G. Burnison’s sunbonnet … as she was wearing it.
Grasshoppers were everywhere. A person could not walk without trampling dozens of insects with each step.
Then, on August 7, the grasshoppers flew away. They left behind a devastated land.
Two curtain specials, please!
Nobody knows exactly why they came, or why they left.
I have always suspected that the grasshoppers had been largely due to the great plowing of the native grasslands. Less than 10 years before, veterans of the Civil War began breaking new ground in the West. There was a pattern of plagues following episodes of agricultural expansion, but correlation alone never proves causation.
Wes Jackson, president of The Land Institute
… and some scientists believe that remnant populations may be alive, biding their time.
In the next issue … “Fire! Fire! Fire!”
features
28.
season of the bowhunter
38.
loggin’ it
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Season of th e
Bowhunter
When deer breed, hunters follow Story by Chelsey Crawford Photography by Larry Harwood and Bill Stephens
In these parts, the deer archery season usually lasts from September to January, with the last week of October or the first week of November being the best time to get a buck. This part of the year is the breeding season, or “the rut.” At other times, bucks stay in bachelor groups, but when the rut comes around they branch out trying to find their mate—casting their customary caution to the wind. Hunters use this momentary lapse in the bucks’ judgment to call in a deer and bring him down. After all, that is why a hunter heads into the fields. But not entirely. For bowhunters, the season of deer hunting is equally about the quiet times spent waiting, the beauty of one patch of land, the sunrises and the sunsets. Bowhunting rewards the patient, the persistent and the observant—and each hunter forms her or his own reasons for venturing into the cold.
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“It’s more than just going out and shooting a deer.” -Jamie Durham
Pride and Nature
“It’s an indescribable feeling becoming one with nature,” Jamie Durham explains. “It’s one of those things you just will never know unless you have experienced it. Just sitting in a tree stand watching everything come to life, seeing the first movements of the day. It’s really just amazing.” For Durham, these experiences began in Oklahoma, going out with his dad and uncle when he was just 2 or 3 years old. At first, he was only observing, then shooting a pellet gun for practice, then carrying a rifle when he was about 7. When Durham was 9, he picked up a bow. “I really have not gone back to a gun since,” says Durham. “The whole bowhunting experience is different. It takes much more skill. It’s more than just going out and shooting a deer. You have to practice the patience it takes to sit in a stand or blind for hours, then you have to call the deer in. Once you see the deer, you have to keep your calm until you have the perfect shot. I take much more pride in bowhunting because of everything involved.” For the past couple of years, Durham has been teaching his son, Izzaiah, to bowhunt. Only 7, Izzaiah is too small to pull back the legal weight draw of a full bow, so he carries a starter bow and a crossbow into the fields. “Right now we are working on his patience and letting him learn by watching, but we do go practice on targets,” Durham says. “I learned everything from my father, and so now I am passing that along to my son. Though he hasn’t got his own deer yet, he really helps me get in and butcher the meat I have got, and he sure likes eating it.” Preparing and eating the deer meat is an important part of the lessons that Durham wants to pass on to his son. “I also really teach him about responsible hunting,” he says. “We hunt to eat. We use every part of the deer; we eat everything we can. This includes the liver and heart. We also use the scent glands, or fur patches on the back legs; it collects deer urine, so I hang it around where I am hunting to attract other deer. I personally can’t stand trophy hunters or poachers. It makes me very angry when I see someone just hunt for the rack of the deer.” For his part, Izzaiah is serious about practicing. “I have a toy deer that I hide around the house and I use my rubber band gun to get it. I have to practice stalking it,” he says. Even though he is still a little too young to spend a full day out in the cold, Izzaiah takes pride in what he has accomplished with his dad. “My dad was really proud of me the day that I walked the whole time myself,” Izzaiah says with a grin. His dad agrees. “Once he started walking the whole thing himself, it got a lot easier; then I didn’t have to carry him in a pack for 10 miles. I always bring snacks for him, but we had to stop bringing Cheetos; he would sit and crunch on them and scare all the deer away, so now we have to bring quieter things.”
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“I watch the same deer come through.” -Michael Speany
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The Waiting Game
Michael Speany has hunted one piece of land for his entire, fiveyear bowhunting career. Each season, he returns to the same tree stand overlooking some acres on his parents’ property. “I watch the same deer come through. There is one buck that I wanted this last year, but decided I would wait one more year just to let it grow a bit more,” says Speany, as he points out the scrapings from the buck’s antlers on a tree about 300 feet from his stand. Speany has spent hours observing that buck and other deer passing through, stopping to eat at his feeders filled with apple-flavored deer corn. And when he isn’t there to watch, his camera records everything that comes and goes. “Oh, you name it and I have seen it: bucks, does, raccoons, bobcats, coyotes—it’s really interesting not just to see what comes through, but the times that they come through,” he says. Speany grew up in a family full of rifle hunters, including his mother. He still hunts with a rifle, but prefers the bow and the rituals around it. “I try to get up in the stand an hour before sunrise. The whole experience is very calming; I love sitting in the stand becoming one and blending in with the environment.” His favorite time to hunt is when there is snow on the ground. “My feet definitely freeze. Sometimes the temperatures get almost unbearable with the wind chill, but that is when you usually have the best chance. The deer move around more in the cold because they are trying to stay warm. Also, it is a lot easier to see something moving with the white background of the snow.” This winter, Speany will be there, up in the trees where the snowflakes fall. And he will be waiting. “My goal is that buck I have been watching,” he says. “I think this year may just be the year.”
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One Day, in the Meadow
For Keri Levendofsky Griffin, bowhunting is associated with a pivotal time in her life. A friend introduced her to the sport while she was going through a divorce as a mother to two boys. “After the first time, I was completely hooked,” recalls Griffin. “It was not the hunt that captivated me, it was the surroundings. I had never felt such a feeling of calm before. I didn’t know where my life was headed. I had two young sons, was splitting up with my husband of 12 years; I felt completely lost. After the first day I went and bought the cheapest women’s bow I could find, and decided I wanted to do it again.” So she went out to the fields, with family, with friends and on her own. Until, on Thanksgiving Day 2012, she found herself with her bow, alone in a meadow. “That day was a hard day in my life. It was my first holiday without my boys. All I wanted to do was just go sit in the peace of nature,” Griffin says. “I was simply just sitting, meditating on where my life was headed, when I glanced up and saw a huge buck about 30 yards away from my blind I was sitting in. I was shocked. My brother and nieces had just tramped through the whole area, so I had no idea I would actually see anything. I drew back my bow and shot. It dropped right there! I had literally been hunting for six weeks and just shot a big buck. I knew right then that God had put that there for me. That was honestly a changing point of my life. I knew right away everything was going to be fine. I didn’t need a man for anything; my self-esteem and self-worth shot back up the moment that arrow left my bow.” She has now taken on the task of teaching her sons, Lane, 12, and Wyatt, 6, about bowhunting. Together, they go to a shooting range by Niles, and out to the family farm to practice. Griffin has become quite a good shot, placing at competitions. But she says her favorite part is spending time with her sons and meeting people. “I actually met my fiancé through our love of nature. He is an avid fisherman; he used to watch me target-shoot.” Together, they are planning a wedding in the meadow where she shot the buck. “That day in that meadow was the day my new life started, so I definitely would like to have my wedding there.”
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“I drew back my bow and shot.” -Keri Levendofsky Griffin
Sunflower living winter 2015
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Jamie’s
Must haves
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Deer Call
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Rattling Antlers
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Arrow Grip
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Scent Cover-up
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Binoculars
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Arrows in a quiver
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Story by David Clouston Photography by Karen Mikols Bonar
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The woodburning lifestyle is built around a seasoned wood stash Gathering firewood, the old saying goes, “warms you twice.” All that sawing, splitting and stacking, for sure, breaks a sweat. Then there’s the tranquility of working in a hedgerow or near a creek, alongside birds and other wildlife. “It’s not just something to do, it’s something I weirdly enjoy,” says Frank Owsley, 79, who gathers his stockpile of seasoned firewood for winter heating. The culture of woodcutting is diverse. Sunny fall mornings and crisp winter afternoons are times when firewood harvesters start eyeing prime timber spots like bees honing in on nectar. Others, like me, are more year-round in their prospecting. That pile of cut-up tree trunk and limbs you hauled from the backyard to the curb beckons me to stop, like a President’s Day sale at the hardware store. Got some medium-sized straight branches or trunks without knots or forks? Bonanza! June isn’t just for harvesting wheat. Tree-trimmers are out clearing the way for utility lines and pedestrian sidewalks. Golf courses trim and shape their treescape. For we wood scroungers, it’s manna. Ash, hedge (Osage orange), oak, mulberry, locust, hackberry, maple, elm— cottonwood in a pinch—piled up in perfect-cut or nearly-so rounds … those are prime pickings. I came late to the woodcutting party. For years, I worked alongside a group of people whose workday talk at varying times of the year centered on weekend plans to meet up at “wood heaven” (a countryside destination) for a cutting and splitting session. Woodstove owners all, they bragged about going deep into the winter months with little or no help from their furnace. It sounded like a fun money-saver. When my wife and I were designing a home, I knew I wanted a high-efficiency woodburning fireplace. Skeptical, my wife sided with a natural-gas-burning faux log unit. Flip a switch, instant flame–no muss, no mess, she said. To me, an anemic gas flame doesn’t cut it. A real fire crackles; its flames tower and recede, and its embers swirl. It is transfixing to watch, and it begins with wood. We went with the woodburner. And now, I’m part of the wood-seeking brigade. I keep my eyes open. We wood scroungers know where to look. Sure, I’ll cop to occasionally, when I’m filling up my car, snagging a $4.99 plastic-wrapped firewood bundle from the convenience store (mostly spruce and/or pine) to stretch out my dwindling stand of seasoned hardwood until spring arrives. But lately, I’ve been more aggressive at building a stockpile— inspired mostly from online postings at firewood-obsessed forums with their pictures of majestic, homebuilt woodcuring storage sheds and immaculately precise stacks of split wood stretching high and deep. I’m not there yet, but when the snow flies and frost glazes the trees and sidewalks, I can pause from reading or watching a movie on TV and look over at the cheery live flame flickering in the firebox, which alone is keeping our home a toasty 74 degrees. I can toss on another log or two—and know there’s more where that came from.
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T im P uvogel
Cutting and splitting wood each spring becomes less a chore if it’s a party, according to Tim Puvogel. Each April, Puvogel, his son and a small group of their friends gather over a couple of weekends to cut and split wood. They try to cut about 15 to 20 cords worth, enough to help everyone build up their stockpile. Puvogel runs a landscape company (“In our business, we get to take down trees,” he says) and has been heating with wood for more than 20 years, cutting firewood as a pastime for longer than that. The wood
“ I like oak , walnut — we ’ ll burn anything , but hedge burns hotter and cleaner . ” fuels a stove in his home and another in his workshop. “I like oak, walnut—we’ll burn anything, but hedge burns hotter and cleaner.” Cutting wood “isn’t a cheap deal any more” with the cost of travel and equipment, he says. “But it gives us some exercise, I guess. We just like to do it.” And the work pays off, especially when winter storms knock out electrical power and you live in the country. Puvogel’s family has a generator to keep the home appliances running, but he relies on the wood stove to handle the heating chores. “We enjoy the alternative heat. It’s nice to watch the fire on a cold evening.”
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“ I t ’ s not just something to do , it ’ s something I weirdly enjoy . ” When it comes to woodcutting, necessity has been the mother to Owsley’s inventiveness. On his Stihl model 192 chain saw, he used a vibrating engraver to carve a shallow groove on the casing, which he darkened with a Sharpie. From the tip of the saw’s bar to the mark is 16 inches—an easy way of measuring logs to be cut to length. The chain saw weighs about 7 pounds, and is powerful and maneuverable for its 14-inch size. “They’re a pricey little devil, but they’re sure easy on the back,” says Owsley. “When my back got bad, it was either quit cutting wood or get that lightweight saw.” Owsley also custom-built his own machine for woodcutting—a two-wheeler, resembling a giant-sized mover’s dolly, to move hedge rounds he’s cut from the woods to the pickup. It’s a great help considering some of these rounds can be 36 inches in diameter, or more. “It’s not just something to do, it’s something I weirdly enjoy,” says Owsley, of his woodcutting pastime. “I used to cut a big trailer full of wood and be back home by 2 or 3 o’clock in the afternoon. Now it takes me about three days to cut that. Since my back got bad, if I get out of breath a little bit I’ll sit on the tailgate for a little bit and watch the wildlife for a while.”
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F rank O wsley
For many years, before he retired from driving a truck for Yellow Freight in 1998 at age 63, Frank Owsley spent days off going to a friend’s place and helping to cut wood. In 2001, when he and his wife moved to their home in southeast Salina, he found himself with a woodstove—and motivation to stockpile his own wood stash, almost all of it hedge wood (the common name for Osage orange). “We haven’t turned our furnace on but twice since we’ve lived here, and that was just to check it,” Owsley says. To extend burn times and keep his stoves—the home now has two of them— heating at night, Owsley closes down the damper at bedtime nearly all the way, keeping oxygen to feed the fire at a minimum. “The thing about hedge is [how well] it’ll burn. We shoot for temperatures about 77 degrees at night when we go to bed about 9 p.m., and the next morning there’s still plenty [of hot coals] left to build the fire back up.”
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M ichael G utierre z 44
For 25 years, Michael Gutierrez has been cutting wood and going the distance to gather it, first at his in-laws’ farm near Downs, in Osborne County, and since 1993 around Salina.
“ I like being outdoors and around nature . ” “We like wood heat, how warm it feels,” Gutierrez says. “That’s really the main thing. Secondary would be cost, just saving on fuel bills.” He notes, however, that his transportation costs make gathering wood more of a break-even proposition. “So it’s really just liking wood heat. And I enjoy cutting.” Usually it takes him at least four trips to get three cords’ worth (a cord measures 4 feet high, 4 feet wide and 8 feet long). Three cords or less will suffice for their heating needs most winters, Gutierrez says. He tries to stockpile enough wood to stay one heating season ahead and give the freshly-cut wood—mostly oak, hackberry and ash—time to season. “I like being outdoors and around nature,” says Gutierrez, who grew to enjoy cutting wood when his interest in hunting waned. “I like the solitude of it, because I’m always by myself when I go.”
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A FA EMPIR BRIC THE PR E ON AIRIE
Just $25 per year! Steve Miles, co-owner of Salina’s Milestone Hearth Shoppe and Chimney Service, says more customers than ever are exploring alternative forms of heating, particularly with the last two years of harsh winter. Contemporary woodburning fireplaces and stoves tap catalytic-combustor technology to reduce particulate emissions—soot—by as much as 90 percent compared to conventional fireplaces. The EPA, fireplace and stove manufacturers and installers also recommend these tips for properly burning wood and getting the most BTUs—the measure of heat— from that fuel source. • Start with seasoned wood that’s been stored outdoors through the summer, ideally split and stacked off the ground on a wood rack or pallet and covered by a tarp or shed, for at least six months before it’s burned. • Never burn coated, painted or pressure-treated wood because it releases toxic chemicals when burned. • Maintain a hot fire. A smoldering fire is neither safe nor efficient. • Burn wood with less than 20 percent moisture content. Most hardware stores sell wood-moisture meters, which can be used to determine this percentage. • Have your chimney professionally inspected regularly and cleaned when necessary. • Go online at www.epa.gov/burnwise for more information.
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The bulk of Milestone’s sales are woodstoves and stoves that burn wood pellets. The woodburning units cost on average, with installation, from $4,500 to $5,500. Not interested in cutting wood yourself? A cord of wood (a stack 4 feet high, 4 feet wide and 8 feet long) can usually be purchased from $100 to $150. One cord will generally serve the average homeowner in Salina through a typical winter, Miles says
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Or call us at (785) 822-1467 / (800) 827-6363 ext. 347 Or e-mail at ckohler@salina.com Sunflower living winter 2015
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winter 2015
next round
photo contest
We want to feature your photograph in Sunflower Living magazine. We accept photograph submissions from readers with a permanent address within the greater Salina region. Our panel will judge the submitted photographs and select a winning image, which will run on this page in the following edition. The winning photographer will receive a prize of $50. Also, would you like to be a guest judge for our next photo contest? Look for and “Like” the announcement on our Facebook page to put your name into the drawing as a guest judge. We would love to have you on our panel. Submission Guidelines:
chosen by
Shelly Bryant Art director, Sunflower Publishing www.sunflowerpub.com
Jenni Leiste Designer, Sunflower Living www.sunflowerpub.com
Larry Harwood Photographer, Sunflower Living www.larryharwoodphoto.photoshelter.com
First Place
Theme: round
Danton McDiffett
Team Hands
For this issue’s contest, we invited readers to submit their photographic take on the theme “Round” Our panel of three judges awarded first prize to Danton McDiffett’s photograph of a junior high volleyball team that huddled in a circle with inspirational words written on each player’s arm. runner up:
readers’ choice:
Ferris Wheel at Saline County Fair
Ferris Wheel at Saline County Fair
Yee Mar
Yee Mar
chosen by
chosen by
jason dailey Chief photographer, Sunflower Publishing www.daileyimages.com
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Sunflower living winter 2015
lisa eastman Photographer, Sunflower Living
our online poll at www.facebook.com/ sunflowerliving
A) Email the image to sunflowerliving@ sunflowerpub.com with a heading of “Photo Contest.” Please include contact information. B) Submission must be made before February 14, 2015. C) Submit the image only if you are the photographer and the copyright holder of the image and if you live in the distribution area of Sunflower Living or Salina Journal. Photographs showing the image of a person must have that individual’s consent. D) Files should be in digital form, either JPEG or TIFF, that can be printed up to 8x10 at 300 dpi. E) By submitting an image, you consent to having the image published in the magazine and posted online in connection with the magazine. F) Please limit your submission to no more than two photographs.
Theme for the 2015 spring Edition:
“Love” Submission must be made before february 14, 2015