Travel/Recreation

If That Don't Beat OZ: Kansas Architecture

editor — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 15:25:49 -0700

The Cooper Barn outside Colby, reportedly the largest barn in Kansas,
built in 1936
Photo: Marci Penner

People thought we were a little crazy when we started our 8 Wonders of Kansas project. Everyone knows about the Seven Wonders of the World so they were a little amused, or thought we were confused, when we decided to go for one more.

Why eight?

In 1990 my dad, Milferd Penner, and I toured the state and put together our first guidebook, Kansas Weekend Guide. When we’d stop in a city and ask what it had to offer, often people would chuckle. They’d tell us there was nothing in their town that a visitor would want to see. We heard this too many times—and it started to hurt!

So we came up with eight things that every town has, no matter the size. The eight categories are architecture, art, commerce, cuisine, customs, geography, history, and people. In combination, they are our definition of rural culture. Maybe the physical evidence of one or more of these things has disappeared in a town, but a story remains. Looking for any of those elements helps you focus and see a town more clearly.

We then formed the Kansas Sampler Foundation to help educate Kansans about Kansas and we’ve been using those eight rural culture elements ever since.

Athletic Recruiters Steer toward Rural Schools

editor — Mon, 14 Jul 2008 15:45:59 -0700

From the small town of Washington, Indiana, Tyler Zeller played in the McDonald's All American Game; University of North Carolina recruited him to join the Tarheels this year.
Photo: maxpreps.com

Tyler Zeller is a 6-foot-11, 215 pound center from Washington, IN, population 11,380. Rivals.com, a highly respected online recruiting service, ranks Tyler the 33rd best men's high school basketball prospect in the country. Tyler has committed to play basketball at the University of North Carolina.

Darius Miller is a 6-foot-6, 215 pound forward from Maysville, KY, population 8,993. Rivals ranks Darius the 43rd best basketball prospect in the US. Darius will play at the University of Kentucky for second-year head coach Billy Gillispie -- himself from Graford, TX, population 578.

Frankie Sullivan is a 6-foot-1, 185 pound guard from Uniontown, AL, population 1,636. Frankie is the 105th best basketball prospect in the country, according to Rivals, and will play for the Tigers of Auburn University this year.

These young men have two things in common—they are all top nationally ranked basketball recruits and they all hail from smaller communities, as do growing numbers of recruits in major college sports.

Five years ago in 2003, 16 of the top 150 college basketball prospects according to Rivals.com were from counties that could be considered rural (according to the Index of Relative Rurality). In 2008, that number has nearly doubled: 30 of the top 150 Rivals.com basketball prospects are from smaller towns. This trend seems to suggest that more and more recruiters are finding quality players away from the city.

Wake Up, Driver! Michigan Installs Rural Rumble Strips

editor — Wed, 4 Jun 2008 10:16:58 -0700

This hideous accident occured outside Matamoros, Mexico, when a driver fell asleep at the wheel a

Letter from Langdon: Checking My Hip Waders

editor — Sun, 1 Jun 2008 14:12:21 -0700

Memorable and soon to be muddy -- Langdon, Missouri, August 1, 1993
Photo: Richard Oswald

When it rains, it pours.

That’s how most floods start.

Wet springs make me a bit queasy, because I’ve lived through two all-out floods and several other close calls. The first big river flood took place here in 1952. My recollection of that is a little hazy. The second one came in 1993. Those memories are crystal clear.

Like this year, the spring of ’93 was wet. Getting field work done was an uphill battle, but most of the crops were seeded when an early June dry spell gave everyone a chance to plant. After a brief respite, the rains came again, and kept coming…and coming.

The Corps of Engineers did their best to hold water behind the dams up north on the Missouri, but when the glass is full it has to run over somewhere.

Why Rural AND Urban Pennsylvania Might Be Bitter

editor — Wed, 16 Apr 2008 10:07:58 -0700

HOUSEHOLD INCOMES IN PENNSYLVANIA, 2000
Counties with median incomes below the national median in brown; in green, counties with median incomes above the national average
Map: Tim Murphy, for Daily Yonder

If economic distress causes bitterness, as Sen. Barack Obama surmised last week, then it's not just rural Pennsylvania that should be feeling resentful. Nearly the entire state has seen its fortunes diminish over the last 30 years as the demise of the Pennsylvania economy has been both an urban and a rural phenomenon.

Now, in a state that once was the home of the nation's manufacturing base, the largest private employer is Wal-Mart.

In 1970, nearly nine out of every 10 counties in Pennsylvania had median incomes that were above the national county median. Thirty years later, there's a different story. In 2000, less than half of Pennsylvania's counties had median incomes that exceeded the national median.

In 1970, a better picture in Pennsylvania: many more counties had median household incomes above the national median (green)
Map: Tim Murphy