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SVHA News ARCHIVE
2008-2009 |
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October, 2008
Glasco Awarded Fundraising Tax Credits The Kansas State Historical Society announced that Partnership Historic Sites tax credits have been granted to 12 historic Kansas sites for the 2009 fiscal year, including the Glasco Community Foundation, for the Glasco Downtown Historic District. The Partnership Historic Sites program seeks to recognize and aid nonprofit organizations that are making a contribution to Kansas history and its interpretation. Qualifying organizations across the state may apply to be a Partnership Site, thus making them eligible for the Partnership Historic Sites Tax Credits. The program allows partnership sites additional opportunities for the preservation and interpretation of Kansas History. Donors making gifts to these sites receive a tax credit equal to 50% of their donation. For more information on the Partnership Historic Sites program, visit www.kshs.org/ resource/partnership or call 785-272-8681, ext.240. Congratulations Glasco! October, 2008 The proposed US Highway 24 Museum is a dream the Heritage Alliance is working to see a reality. We have faith the compelling story of the transitions in transportation, the “who” behind the road, the “where” of the road, will be a historical drama commanding respect. Two opportunities are outgrowths of this museum focus. One, the Partnership Historic Site designation for three fragile historic buildings in Glasco’s Downtown Historic District (National Register of Historic Sites 2002), and their preservation for appropriate reuse: honoring the Main Street of the US on the Main Street of Glasco. Glasco Community Foundation has been granted 2008-2009 tax credits for contributions to this Partnership Historic site project. Please contact Joan Nothern for more information. The second opportunity begins the storytelling process. Journey stories are the underlying themes of the proposed US Highway 24 Museum. Being selected as a site for the Journey Stories, Museum on Main Street Smithsonian Exhibit sets the stage for our long term goal. June, 2008 DONOR HONOR ROLL THE SV24 Alliance is pleased to acknowledge the following donations for the Chautauqua Fund & Brochure Fund. Chautauqua Fund Eileen Wilson, Osborne Mildred Morgan, Osborne Charley & Faye Minium, Morland Carldon Broadbent, Beloit Rollie & Joan Nothern, Glasco Glasco Community Foundation, Glasco Western Hills Motel, Hill City Rooks County Economic Development, Stockton Citizens State Bank, Morland Glasco Arts Council, Glasco Linda Clover, Cawker City Brochure Fund City of Morland, Morland Graham County Economic Development, Hill City June, 2008 Kansas Sampler Festival One of the best ways we have to know ourselves better as a place, a destination for visitors to come to know, is to tell others about who we are in the Solomon Valley. The annual Kansas Sampler Festival brings together rural communities from all over Kansas so they might portray their unique qualities and celebrate Kansasness. This year the Sampler Festival will be held at Concordia, in Cloud County. It means we will be speaking to friends who won’t say “Where? The Solomon Valley? Is that in Kansas?” We will be saying, “It’s just down the road.” This will be a different experience for us, one we look forward to. We will be making special preparations, trying to include every Highway 24 community. The Kansas Sampler Festival will be Saturday and Sunday, May 3 and 4. Please take note and try to attend. The panorama that is Kansas is coming right into the neighborhood. June, 2008 Nicodemus 130th Emancipation Celebration The 130th annual Nicodemus emancipation celebration or homecoming is scheduled for July 24-27, 2008. There will be food, special programs, entertainment, and church services on Sunday. June, 2008 Sheridan County Museum Has New Exhibit With a grant from the Kansas Humanities Council, Mickey’s Museum in Hoxie, recently opened a new exhibit, “Pioneer Settlements: Legends of the Prairie.” It features information about 19 communities, featuring maps, photos, and narrative. Be sure to visit the museum when in the area. June, 2008 8 Wonders of Kansas Architecture Two of the finalists for the 8 Wonders of Kansas Architecture are part of the Solomon Valley Highway 24 Heritage Alliance. The Osborne County Court- house in Osborne and St. Joseph’s Church in Damar are among the 24 finalists. Solomon Valley’s own Von Rothenberger brought the initial idea to the Kansas Sampler Foundation for the 7 Wonders of Kansas, but by the end of the discussion it was decided to feature the eight elements of rural culture as promoted by the Foundation. In 2007, the public voted on the original 8 Wonders of Kansas. The winners were announced by Governor Sebelius on Kansas Day. Now each of the eight elements, as featured in the SV24 Alliance kiosks, will be showcased in its own contest. The one underway at this time is Architecture. Voting will end June 15, and the winners will be announced June 30, 2008. The project is designed to educate the public about the state and to encourage travel. June, 2008 Annual Meeting at Hill City THE SV24 annual meeting at Hill City on January 19, 2008, was a memorable evening with good food, recognition of the winning entries of the Third Call for Voices, a brief business meeting and election of officers and board members for 2008 (see names on page 2), and an entertaining and informative program by Erika Nelson on roadside vernacular architecture. The authors of the winning entries in the 2007 Call for Voices writing contest were honored, with awards presented to the top three submissions in each category. The first-place authors read their entries. The 92 entries in five categories were judged by a panel of five eminent Kansas authors (Denise Low, Mary O’Connell, Bob Day, Jim Hoy, and Fred Whitehead). The following writers received awards, and their writings will be published during the coming year in the Solomon Valley Anthology, beginning with this issue. writers who entered the contest. March, 2008 Superintendent Changes at Nicodemus NHS Nicodemus National Historic Site Superintendent Sherda Williams will be transferred to the President James A. Garfield Home in Ohio after the end of March. Williams has been a great supporter of the Solomon Valley Highway 24 Heritage Alliance, and we will miss her enthusiasm, professionalism, and friendship. Mark Weaver has been appointed acting superintendent at Nicodemus while a search is underway for a new superintendent. We wish Sherda Williams the best of everything as she makes this move from our wonderful Solomon Valley. March, 2008 New signs for Cottonwood Ranch along I-70 NEW billboard signs along I-70 will soon direct travelers to Cottonwood Ranch State Historic Site located along U.S. 24 in the South Solomon Valley near Studley. The funds for the billboards came from the Pratt Family Charitable Trust and were channeled through the Morland Community Foundation, Inc. The design for the signs was selected by Teresa Jenkins and others with the Kansas Historical Society in Topeka. The composition includes a colored picture of the house at Cottonwood Ranch, a black and white photo of John Fenton Pratt (the ranch's original owner and developer), white on black directions, the Kansas Historical Society logo on a light yellow background, and the current theme of the state agency; “Real People, Real Stories.” These new billboards are scheduled to be installed within the next two months. As your friends and relatives travel I-70 (because we know that Real People with Real Stories travel U.S. 24) they will see a billboard of 24’ X 8’ west of WaKeeney for westbound traffic and the other, larger billboard measuring 36’ X 12’ near Oakley for eastbound traffic. Hopefully these two billboards will convince some people to leave the “super-slab” and casually travel the scenic Solomon Valley. |
September, 2009 Rural Kansas: Come…and Get It! The first phase of the 2009 partnership between the Kansas Sampler Foundation and the state tourism office, with rural tourism and heritage groups, was completed with 79 communities participating in the two-day training sessions. Volunteer-led teams sharpened their skills to use the eight rural culture elements to research their own towns and then present them on the “Rural Kansas: Come…and Get It!” web site in an exciting way. Six SV24 communities are among those who graduated from the training: Beloit, Cawker City, Downs, Glasco, Morland, and Stockton. The Alliance supports this statewide initiative to attract visitors to know and experience rural Kansas. More training opportunities will be offered in 2010. September, 2009 Nicodemus Historical Society Angela Bates, executive director of the Nicodemus Historical Society, now produces the Society’s newsletter online. Please consider joining the Society. Contact Angela at [email protected] or visit the web site www.nicodemushistoricalsociety.comnwhere you can download the membership application. Nicodemus is one of the real gems on Highway 24 along the South Solomon River. It is also a National Historic Site, administered by the National Park Service, one of only five National Parks in Kansas. The NPS web site is www.nps.gov/nico. The annual Christmas tree decoration program was held in the Visitors’ Center on December 5, as these photos show. July, 2009 MUSEUM MUSINGS US HIGHWAY 24 MUSEUM ---by Joan Nothern THE concept of a National US Highway 24 Museum has received respectful consideration from several entities. The Kansas State Historical Society granted Historical Partnership Site designation to three buildings on Glasco’s Main Street: 102, 104, and 106 East Main. Work has started on the 102 E Main building, stabilizing the stone back wall and roofing it. Donations for this work were granted 50% Kansas tax credits. The Kansas Humanities Council sees sharing the history of US 24 as Glasco’s contributing local exhibit for the Journey Stories Smithsonian exhibit at Glasco, August 14 through September 27, 2009. The local companion exhibit explores nearly 100 years of history of Highway 24–from mud to two-lane hard surfaces, from Red Line to stream lined. This local exhibit will be shared with museums in the Solomon Valley in the future. It builds on the history of the road research project conducted collaboratively through the Alliance. The SV24 Alliance and the Glasco Community Foundation have entered into an agreement to develop the US 24 Museum together. It is anticipated this will become a center of research on the impact of transportation on the development of Kansas. July, 2009 Cottonwood Ranch State Historic Site to Close The Kansas State Historical Society has announced that cutbacks due to budget cuts will result in the closing of Cottonwood Ranch State Historic Site at Studley in September. This is an important historic site in the Solomon Valley. Site administrator Don Rowlison will write more about the ranch for the next issue. July, 2009 Roy Peaslee Photo Collection The last issue of SVA included the story of the photos taken by Roy Frank Peaslee during the period 1900-1904. The entire collection will be placed on display later this year. A few of the photos are included here as a sample of this wonderful find, with apologies for the poor reproductions from the copy machine. Read More About the Collection April, 2009 Kansas Sampler Festival The annual Sampler Festival will be in Concordia, May 2-3, 2009. This event, sponsored by the Kansas Sampler Foundation, moves to different locations in the state every two years. It allows communities to showcase their special features and becomes a true celebration of what can be seen, tasted, and experienced in all Kansas. The SV24 Alliance will help tell our story in the Northwest Region tent, working with Northwest Kansas Travel Council. Admission is charged to enter the festival grounds at City Park, Concordia. April, 2009 8 Wonders of Kansas Cuisine The next 8 Wonders of Kansas contest will focus on cuisine. The 24 finalists will be announced soon by Marci Penner at the Kansas Sampler Foundation. Everyone is encouraged to vote for his or her choices for the final 8. It is recommended that everyone eat a meal at each of the places nominated before casting a ballot. This well could be the most broadening experience one can enjoy by participating in the 8 Wonders contests. Get out their and eat . . . and eat . . . and vote January, 2009 Nicodemus NHS Has New Superintendent In September of 2008, Mark Weaver joined Nicodemus National Historic Site as Park Superintendent. The history of Nicodemus is of great national importance and the plans to share this story with the nation include restoration of the AME Church, planning for a new Visitor Center, and preparation of a number of other planning and research documents that will lay a strong foundation for future action. Mark received his Bachelor of Landscape Architecture from Michigan State University in 1979 and his Master of Landscape Architecture from Virginia Tech in 1989. In between he worked in the private sector in Arizona, California and Michigan, planning and designing park and recreation facilities, and corporate and commercial landscapes. Following his marriage to Stephanie in 1988 and completion of his MLA, Mark taught Landscape Architecture at Auburn University leading undergraduate and graduate classes and design studios in systems, campus planning, and park and recreation design. In 1993 Mark, Stephanie, and son Sam moved to Van Buren, Missouri, where Mark joined the National Park Service at Ozark National Scenic Riverways as Park Landscape Architect. There, he prepared facilities improvements plans and provided overall design guidance for the park In 1998, Mark transferred to the Wisconsin office of the NPS Rivers, Trails and Conservation Assistance Program with the family and second son, Ben. There he partnered with many communities to develop comprehensive trails plans, green infrastructure plans, and assisted with nonprofit organizational development. Recently, Mark has detailed with the Department of the Interior International Technical Assistance Program consulting on eco- and cultural-tourism projects in Central and South America, most recently designing tourist facilities at the Mayan site of El Mirador in northern Guatemala. Mark welcomes your thoughts and opinions regarding the future of Nicodemus National Historic Site. You can contact him at 785-839-4321 or e-mail him at [email protected] April, 2009 The proposed US Highway 24 Museum is a dream the Heritage Alliance is working to see a reality. We have faith the compelling story of the transitions in transportation, the “who” behind the road, the “where” of the road, will be a historical drama commanding respect. Two opportunities are outgrowths of this museum focus. One, the Partnership Historic Site designation for three fragile historic buildings in Glasco’s Downtown Historic District (National Register of Historic Sites 2002), and their preservation for appropriate reuse: honoring the Main Street of the US on the Main Street of Glasco. Glasco Community Foundation has been granted 2008-2009 tax credits for contributions to this Partnership Historic site project. Please contact Joan Nothern for more information. The second opportunity begins the storytelling process. Journey stories are the underlying themes of the proposed US Highway 24 Museum. Being selected as a site for the Journey Stories, Museum on Main Street Smithsonian Exhibit sets the stage for our long term goal. April, 2009 Take to the Road Two spring weekends in the Solomon Valley feature unique annual events. April 24-25: Kansas Storytelling Festival in Downs. Events are scheduled all day Friday and Saturday. They appeal to all ages and interests. Make a special effort to take this in. Admission is charged. May 2-3: Sheep Dog Trials at Cottonwood Ranch at Studley, from 8 am to 5 pm. Spinning and weaving demonstrations complete the cycle from critter to creature comfort. No admission charged. |
