HEY, KANSAS EXPLORER CLUB MEMBERS: Share Your Kansas Exploration Songs!

For years its been a tradition of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) to invite various celebrities to list their Top Ten songs they would like to have with them if they were ever stranded on an deserted island.

Now, I'm not asking each Explorer to list their Desert Island Discs here.  Rather, what I want to do is to ask every Explorer to list their Top Ten songs that (a) either get them in the mood for Exploring, or (b) they actually play in the car while Exploring.   And then send their Kansas Exploration Songs to me at vonrothenberger@gmail.com from now until December 15th, I will post them this blog.

What will we learn from this? Probably nothing. But we might, just might gain a little insight into the already interesting minds of the average Kansas Explorer, and thereby hopefully maybe quite possibly learn a little more about ourselves and this great state. The variety of songs alone mentioned should be incredible.

To kick this off I've created my own list of inspirational Kansas Exploration Songs, after a lot of soul-searching and also a little searching of the actual music in my car. Oddly, of all the songs possible, the following showed up over and over:

(1) Don't Pass Me By, the Georgia Satellites.
Talk about an adrenalin rush! One listen to this high energy remake of the old Beatles tune is the equivalent of downing three cups of coffee, of guzzling a 64 oz. of pop, of seeing that first look of yourself in the mirror each morning. Guaranteed to get me motivated to do just about anything.

(2) I Got a Name, Jim Croce.
Visons of the road abound with this song. Best to watch the accelerator while playing in car.

(3) Runnin' Down a Dream, Tom Petty.
Sequel to the above. Watch that Speedometer. No need to get to know your local Kansas State Trooper on a business level.

(4) Matthew, John Denver.
Denver's ode to his uncle "born just south of Colby, Kansas" always provokes an honest feel for Kansas both in theme and in spirit.

(5) In My Car, Joe Walsh.
This native Kansan is obviously an Explorer at heart, and this song proves it.

(6) Downstream, the Rainmakers.
The Kansas City band tells of traveling down the Mississippi to the Atlantic Ocean and beyond - in other words, a spiritual journey, which is actually very Kansan.

(7) Looking for Space, John Denver.
Again, the spiritual journey is Explored. After all, Kansas IS a state of mind.

(8) Along the Road, Dan Fogelberg.
This quiet ballad is excellent when contemplating St. Jacob's Well, or the Blue Sky Sculpture, or a particularly succulent piece of Crawford County chicken. It's the little things that makes Kansas a great place to Explore.

(9) Walking Where the Roses Grow, Katrina & the Waves.
Written in England about the memory of a Kansas garden, this bouncy sing-a-long will give a you great feeling as you wander Kansas.

(10) Two For the Road, Bruce Springsteen.
It's always more fun to have someone else to Explore with. Words of wisdom from the eternally- wise Boss.

HALL OF FAME:  Kansas . . . Come and Get It!
This one is already at the top of all lists.  Let's all go out there and Get It!

Scenes From the 2009 Sunflower State Book Festival

Back in 2006 a number of Kansas state agencies led by the Kansas Center for the book staged the first ever Kansas Book Festival in Wichita.  The event drew thousands to meet and greet authors, publishers, illustrators, and others on the Kansas literary scene.  It was a celebration of the rich legacy of the Sunflower State in word.

The first Kansas Book Festival was held in Wichita, Kansas, in 2006 and brought together authors, small publishers, illustrators, and the public to both celebrate the rich literary legacy of Kansas and to encourage new writers to enter the field and write about the Sunflower State. The event was held again in Wichita in 2007 but not renewed in 2008.

In early 2009 a few Kansas authors called for the Festival to be restarted, and in May Osborne in the Solomon Valley of north-central Kansas was the city asked to do so, thanks to recent work by area volunteers in promoting the books "Sod & Stubble" and "Sod-House Days," two nationally-recognized classic Kansas stories  published in the 1930s and set in Osborne County. Osborne County is also the self-proclaimed "Homestead Literature Capital of Kansas," a designation that factored greatly in the request.

A Festival Committee was quickly formed and by July firm plans were in place and being set in motion.  The Committee consisted of Karen Wallace, librarian of the Osborne KS Public Library, and Sherry Knouf of the Downs KS Carnegie Library; Carolyn Wiliams, Alton KS; Betty Pruter, Natoma, KS; Laura McClure, Osborne KS; and Von Rothenberger, Osborne, KS.   The Committee worked to bring the Festival together under the umbrella of the non-profit Northern Kansas Association of Osborne, with the date of Saturday, October 10th decided upon for the event.

The reborn and renamed Sunflower State Book Festival continued the concept of celebrating the rich literary legacy of Kansas.  Therefore only Kansas authors or books about Kansas were allowed to be part of the Festival.   Authors across the state were contacted and invited to take part.  The Festival would be held in the "New Gym," as it was locally known, at Osborne High School.  Advertising was then put into motion across all of Kansas and through southern Nebraska for this unique event, and sponsors were lined up both statewide and local.  In the end the major sponsors of the event were the Kansas Humanities Council, the Kansas Center of the Book, the Central Kansas Library System, the Osborne Public Library, the Downs Carnegie Library, the State Bank of Downs, Farmers Bank of Osborne, the Dane G. Hansen Foundation, the Sarver Charitable Trust, and the McFadden Charitable Trust. 

For all the work done in preparation of the event, some major last-minute obstacles threatened to dreail the entire Festival.  Some anticipated funding in the form of grants finally appeared only scant days before the event.  Then, on the Tuesday before, tragedy struck the Osborne community when Mark and Deb Morrison, a popular local couple, lost their lives in a traffic accident in Oklahoma.  The only building large enough in the city to hold their funeral was the New Gym, and that meant moving the entire Festival to a new location and inform both the coming authors and the public in general of this in only four days. 

The immediate problem was solved when the school district offered to let the Festival be moved into the "Old Gym," located across the street inside of Osborne High School.  Both the Kansas Center for the Book and the Central Kansas Lybrary System in Great Bend helped spread the word across the state of the new location.

A last obstacle arrived that Saturday morning in the form of freezing rain and even a chance of snow.  This threat kept away any anticipated crowd.

But in spite of it all the Festival went on as scheduled and the doors were opened at 9:00AM, with nearly thirty authors and other organizations in attendance.  The diverse genres of books available to the general public included childrens, poetry, action/adventure, genealogy, Kansas & Western history, and several more.

Admission to the Festival was free, and the concession stand was operated out of the school's Home Economics kitchen by the local DaddyO's Diner of Osborne.

Two views of the Festival from the balcony of the 1929-era "Old Gym" of Osborne High School.   The "New Gym," located across the street to the south, was contructed in 1960.  To date the argument still rages over what to officially call it.

The authors all had a great time mingling and talking with each other, and buying each other's books as well!  Organizations such as the Kansas Center for the Book and the Central Kansas Library System of Great Bend, KS featured displays and even a free book table. 

A number of volunteers from all over the area came to help with the Festival.  Both Ida Terry of Paradise, KS (25 miles away) and Betty Pruter of Natoma, KS (33 miles away) braved the bad weather to man the Sign-In Table.  Those who did attend the Festival each received a souvenir brochure, bookmark, and postcard.

In addition to a small fee for table space at the Festival, each auther was asked to donate a signed copy of their book to be given away as door prizes at the top of each hour.  Here Von Rothenberger and Kathy Bristol are shown choosing books for Laura McClure, foreground, to announce who the lucky winners are.

And the winner of one of the signed books was Eileen Wilson of Osborne. 

Merlyn Brown of Merlyn Entertainment of Osborne  was busy throughout the day taking still photos of each author.

These photos would be made available to the authors for publicity purposes as well as being placed later on the Festival's website of http://www.sunflowerbookfest.com/.  Here Chris Rippel of the Central Kansas Library System gets his portrait taken.

Merlyn also interviewed each author and allowed them to plug their book and other activities.  These interviews will also be made available both on the Festival website and on YouTube and other Internet locations.

What follows are some of the still portraits taken by Merlyn Entertainment at the Festival.  Seen here is Jim Gray of Ellsworth, KS, who has a book entitled Desperate Seed, concerning the early history of Ellsworth. 

Jerry Engler of Marion, KS has no less than three successful books to his credit.

Mona Kennedy of Luray, KS earlier in 2009 wrote an autobiography of her early life on the family farm.

Current student math teacher Kelli LaRosh of rural Bloomington, KS spent part of her senior year at Sterling College and a military tour of Iraq to write and illustrate her childrens book What's Math Got to Do with Farming? 

Denver attorney Steven Wood, a graduate of the University of Kansas, is receiving rave reviews nationally for his new book Survival of Rural America:  Small Victories and Bitter Harvests. 

Construction worker-turned author Richard Luallin of Lincoln, KS had a great time at his first ever event of this kind, touting his very first book, Maroons: A Human Epic.

Jean McKay of Zenda, KS wrote the true story Chronicles of the Farm Woman, the Story of Mary Frances McKinney.  Unfortunately she could not attend the Festival, and so Kathleen Whitmer of Zenda, the daughter of Mary Frances McKinney, agreed to appear in her stead. 

At 11AM the ceremony for the presentation of the inaugural Don Coldsmith Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement began.  Roy Bird of the Kansas Center for the Book in Topeka, KS gave a ten-minute overview of the literary accomplishments of the recipient, professor Dr. James F. Hoy of Emporia State University in Emporia, KS.

Jim Hoy, left, voices his appreciation of receiving the Coldsmith Award, named after the famous Kansas author and a close friend of Dr. Hoy.  Seen at right is Von Rothenberger, co-owner of Ad Astra Publishing of Osborne, sponsors of the annual Coldsmith Award. 

The formal photo, with Von Rothenberger, Jim Hoy, and Roy Bird. 

At about 2:30PM word reached the Festival that the weather was turning worse in other parts of Kansas, and so several authors began to leave in order to beat the weather back to their various homes across the state.  But before they left, all expressed their belief that the Festival was in spite of everything a success and asked to be included in the next year's event as well.  As the Festival closed at 4:00PM all involved agreed that several lessons were learned and that the 2010 Festival will be even bigger and better. 

Sunflower State Book Festival Kicks off with Open House October 9th at Osborne Public Library

The first-ever Sunflower State Book Festival saw its inaugural festivities begin on Friday, October 9th at the Osborne Public Library in Osborne.  For three hours, from four in the afternoon to seven in the evening, library played host to an open house held in honor of Dr. James F. Hoy, Emporia State University professor and recipient of the very first Don Coldsmith Award for Lifetime Literary Achievement. 

Don Coldsmith (shown above) was a longtime Emporia, Kansas doctor who later in life turned to writing stories - about among other things - a Spaniard and his descendants living with Plains Indians in the 1500s and onward, inadvertedly inventing in the process an entirely new genre of American Western writing.  He passed away on June 25, 2009, having written 40 novels, 150 articles, 1600 newspaper columns, served a stint as president of the Western Writers Association of America, and recently was named one of the 50 greatest Western writers of all time.  Naming a Kansas literature award after this internationally-celebrated author was pretty much a no-brainer. 

The Don Coldsmith Award is sponsored annually by Ad Astra Publishing LLC of Osborne, Kansas - the co-owners of which are David Readio of Westminster, Colorado, and yours truly - and will be presented to a distinquished living Kansas author each year at the Sunflower State Book Festival.  

Karen Wallace, head librarian, made sure that cookies and cake were in readiness for the open house.

Dr. Hoy may have thought that the cake was a good enough award in itself!

Shown left to right are Roy Bird, Kansas State Librarian; Cathy (Mrs. James) Hoy; Jim Hoy; and Pamela Schrader of the Kansas State Library.

Karen Wallace and Roy Bird.

Cathy and Jim Hoy conversing with author Jerry Engler.

Joe Hubbard, local innkeeper of Riverbend Bed & Breakfast, shares a conversation with Merlyn Brown of Merlin Entertainment of Osborne, who filmed part of the open house.

Von Rothenberger of Osborne, left, makes a point with Carolyn and Bill Williams of Alton, Kansas.

Book Festival volunteer Kathy Bristol, center, and Osborne City Councilman John McClure, right, converse with KDSN FM personality covering the event.

The man of the hour, Jim Hoy, then spoke for nearly an hour to end the evening.  A Cassoday, Kansas native, Hoy talked to an appreciative audience about his research and writing on ranching life not only of the Flint Hills and the Great Plains but from around the world as well.  Hoy fielded numerous questions on his style of writing and his lengthy teaching and literary career.  

From Tornadoes to Turkville: Touring The Bemis Oil Field Region of Ellis County, KS

Saturday, October 3, 2009 was a perfect Kansas fall day of reasonably warm temperatures and calm winds - just perfect for a driving tour of the Bemis Oil Field region amid the hills of southeast Rooks, northeast Ellis, and northwest Russell Counties in North-Central Kansas.  The tour was sponsored by the Natoma Heritage Seekers of Natoma, Kansas, and by Osborne County Tourism of Osborne County, Kansas.

The tour group of eleven people met at 10:00AM at the community center in downtown Natoma.  Tour vehicles were organized and the caravan then headed west on Kansas Highway 18.

Ed Bright of the Natoma Heritage Seekers served as tour guide.

The first stop on the tour was in the small town of Codell in southwestern Rooks County.  Codell will forever be famous - or infamous - for being the only known community to ever be hit on the same day for three straight years by a tornado.  Because of the events of May 20, 1916, May 20, 1917, and May 20, 1918, the twentieth of May each year is still known as Tornado Day. 

Shown here photographing the former downtown of Codell, a newspaper reporter from the Hays Daily News tagged along for the tour. 

This concrete building in Codell used to house the Masonic Lodge.

The former Union Pacific Depot in Natoma was sold and moved here to Codell, where now it is a private residence.

Heading south from Codell, the next tour stop was at the Rooks-Ellis county line.  Known as King Hill, this point overlooks a section of road seen in the last cinematic shot of the 1973 movie Paper Moon.

A few more miles south and a winding oil road a mile or so west led the group to view the only original oil derrick still standing in Ellis County.  The oil well beneath is still producing.

The tour continued west and north along oil rock roads.  Each curve brought a new vista that topped each previously topless scenic vistas.  In many instances the shale underlying the limestone outcropping each hill was visible amid the turning red sumac.

The rugged hill country is still dotted with oil well after oil well, reflecting the recent rise in oil prices.

Amid the myriad of oil roads is Indian Head Rock, a largely-unknown Ellis County landmark that usually only oil workers get to see.

The base of Indian Head Rock is an area where the shale rock formation is accessible.  Found there are several examples of Septarian Concretions, a rock that has become the symbol of the Blue Hills of this region of Kansas.  Note the dark veins of calcite in the concretion.  The whitish remains of a marine fossil can also be seen throughout the rock.

From Indian Head Rock the tour headed north a few miles to the former community of Turkville, where a Bring Your Own Lawn Chair lunch break was taken.

One of the historical sites in the now ghost town of Turkville is the location of the Hilltop Cafe, which existed from the mid-1930s through the 1950s.  Never to be confused with an Architectural Wonder of Kansas, the small building nonetheless was known far and wide for its excellent food.

A neglected barn is all that now remains of one of Turkville's homesteads.

The ghost town does sport a native garden of yucca plants amid the sumac turned red by the cool fall weather.

A colony from Tennessee came to Ellis County in 1876 and founded the community of Turkville.  This group of Baptists founded the first Baptist church in Ellis County, and Reverend Allen D. King was the first pastor.  Most of its members were from King's extended family.  This foundation is now all that is left of the Turkville Baptist Church. 

East of the Turkville community is located the Norman Cemetery.  Each cemetery has its own charm and interesting tombstones, and this burial ground was no exception. 

This unusual marble stone memorializes William J. McAuley, a Civil War veteran who served in Company F of the 20th Regiment of the Connecticut Volunteers.

Turkville was named for colonist Ben Turk, who passed away in 1879.  The grave of his infant son and namesake lies in the Norman Cemetery.

The final tour stop was at Doug Pruter's elk herd in the extreme northeastern portion of Ellis County.  Pruter has been maintaining this herd for the past eight years, averaging around 55 to 60 animals. 

About 4:00PM the tour ended and was deemed a great success.  Everyone agreed that there is a lot to see and do in Rural Kansas!