We Kan! Tidbits

October 11, 2024

The Kansas Sampler Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit located near Inman.

Our mission is to preserve and sustain rural culture.

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You can support our work, including these We Kan! Tidbits, at our support page here.

Link (conta.cc/3BBODtv ) to this Tidbits

TIPS FROM THE KSF PowerUp MANAGER

The power of accepting change: It is a beautiful thing to feel convicted in being rural by choice, to know that of all the options, you made the right choice. Sometimes a PowerUp can do all the right things and still feel as though they are not in the right place. This piece from a mayor of a small Texas town talks about the importance of the community’s role to make space to see people how they are now, not who they were before. Regardless of age, we each have a role in accepting changes of people and helping them see their way in the community. That’s what the PowerUp Movement is all about. If you know a young person in Kansas who may need support, email Simone Elder, KSF PowerUp Manager.

Photos above are of a PowerUp, Sailor-Anne Seiler as a teenager and then pictured below presenting at the 2024 WeKan Conference. She lives in her hometown of Hanston and works for RAISE Kansas.

YOUR DONATIONS HELP US DO THIS WORK: Please consider becoming a KSF Supporter to keep our work going. The two main components of our work - to connect and support rural Kansans and their communities, and to educate Kansans about Kansas in order to create a thoughtful audience for rural - help leverage and complement new and existing programs, and fill gaps of knowledge and information. See who has invested in our work. Are you on the list?

LANGUAGE EXCHANGE: Thirteen people had much fun learning basic Spanish at the "Language Exchange/Intercambio de Idiomas"

Do-alogue organized by the Kansas Sampler Foundation on October 1 in Emporia. The group practiced speaking Spanish words and phrases, played language games, and went home with helpful-hint sheets and more confidence in using Google Translate to navigate in-person conversations. Lelan and Luisana of Emporia Spanish Speakers did a great job as our hosts. The day included a walk to view murals and understand the multiple ways that Emporia is investing in diverse groups of people.

The purpose of a Do-alogue is to bring a small group to a site where something excellent is happening and learn the details from those who are doing the work so you can go home ready for action (or doing).

SO MANY VOICES: Scan this QR code to hear the many ways to say "welcome" in Garden City. It's so good!

3D BUILDING SCANNER: Rural communities, do you need to create a drawing package of your existing building for planning purposes? K-State's Technology Development Institute is able to provide a service (NavVis VLX scanning system) that creates a digital twin of a historic building. The technology generates both panoramic images as well as point cloud data that allows the dimensions of the facility to be captured within 5 mm accuracy and are stored on cloud based servers so that the files can be accessed from any location. Once processed, the files can be downloaded in a range of file formats that can then be used for additional processing or modification.

They can do two to three scans a month as a service to rural cities for buildings that will serve a useful purpose to the community. How to apply? Contact Bret at blanz@ksu.edu..

RURAL CHAMPIONS 2024: Here is the list of 2024 Rural Champion communities. Thanks, Office of Rural Prosperity, for this great program. Find the 2023 Rural Champion Project Guidebook at the bottom of this page.

THANKS PRESERVATIONISTS: Thanks to all the groups, like the Lecompton Historical Society, who preserve older gravestones by cleaning them, repairing cracks, pinning, patching and resetting. Here are some hints from the National Park Service (and photo credit to them).

TOURISM ECONOMIC IMPACT REPORT: The 2023 Regional & County Economic Impact Reports are now available. See the Economic Impact of Travel in Kansas here.

SUBSTANCE ABUSE : Join the community conversation on substance use and the impact of stigma in your community. Insights from over 400 Kansans will be discussed and the group will explore a developing network map of substance use providers and resources, plus brainstorm ways to strengthen the collective impact.

Event Details:

Colby Community Meeting: Thursday, October 24 from 12-2 p.m. (lunch provided)

at Colby Community College, Student Union – Building 7, 1255 S. Range Ave.

Dodge City Community Meeting: Friday, October 25 from 12-2 p.m. (lunch provided)

at Dodge City Public Library, 1001 N. 2nd Ave.

Link here for more information. This programming comes from KU's Center for Public Programming and Research.

DISTRIBUTE NATURE CHAPBOOKS: Humanities Kansas will launch a free poetry and nature chapbook later this month. Following in the steps of the popular Words of a Feather and Wild Words publications, Written in the Stars takes us to the night sky with all its beauty, mystery, and histories. Museums, historical societies, nature centers, public libraries, and others are welcome to sign up to distribute this chapbook for free. Selected organizations will be notified by October 14. Click here to get started. Then, fill out the form titled “Written in the Stars Distribution Partner Application Accepting Submissions”. Learn more here.

GRANTS FOR COMMUNITY-LED CHILD COALITIONS: Child Care Aware is offering support to community-led coalitions with a focus on advancing child care capacity in your community. Application deadline is October 31. Learn more here.

LOCAL FOOD: The October Local Food Virtual Town Hall will be on Wednesday, October 30 at 11 a.m. The two featured presentations will be about the SNAP-Ed program and Double Up Food Bucks. They will celebrate the end of Farm to School month with a Crunch Off, so be sure to bring a local product to "crunch" on during the town hall. Register here.

GREAT STATEMENT: Tracy Million of Meadowlark Press found the perfect tone to let readers know how much their partronage means to them.

"We count on the support of readers like you: When you order a book direct from a small press, you become our partner in this journey. When you order a book early—before it is released—your confidence and contribution help us to grow a bigger, stronger Meadowlark. Books purchased directly from Meadowlark are handled by us, packaged by us, and carried to the post office by us. We hope you feel our love and dedication, to our authors and to our readers, when you open that package. We hope you enjoy our tokens of gratitude tucked within, be it a bookmark, an extra poem for your pocket, or a flash of fiction by one of our authors. If you believe in good vibes, a package shipped direct from Meadowlark Press is full of them. Thank you for buying a Meadowlark Book. Thank you for sharing the love."

MEADOWLARK 105 READER: The mission is

to create a forum for sharing the work of Kansas writers,

to build and uplift the community of Kansas writers, and

to share and promote resources for Kansas writers.

105 Meadowlark Reader will strive to represent the diversity of writers in Kansas.

105 Meadowlark Reader is a journal of creative nonfiction by and for writers who live or have lived in Kansas.

Each issue will contain a directory of area resources for writers. Publishers, printers, editors, book designers, cover/interior artists, bookstores, writing clubs, and anyone who provides services to writers is invited to submit details for our directory at no charge.

If you would like to place an advertisement in the journal, see this page for details.

Dave Leiker photo for Fall 2024 Fall Meadowlark 105 Reader

GRANTS FROM STATE PROGRAMS: Kansas Department of Commerce grants calendar includes grants for tourism, art, Office of Rural Prosperity programs, and more.

SEED GRANT DEADLINE IS NOVEMBER 8. The Kansas Department of Commerce is offering grants of up to $25,000 in counties of 5,000 population or less in the categories of:

Kansas Childcare and senior programming
Community vibrancy
Food retail
Libraries

To learn more details go here.

JOBS AT FORT HAYS STATE UNIVERSITY: Click here to find jobs open at Fort Hays State University including the state director job for the Kansas Small Business Development Center Network.

HEALTHY FOOD ACCESS GRANTS: The HFFI Food Access and Retail Expansion Fund (HFFI FARE Fund) is now accepting applications for 2024-2025. This grant offers loans, grants, and technical assistance to improve access to healthy foods in underserved areas. The letter of inquiry is due by midnight October 14. For more information, go here.

SERVICES OF EMPORIA SPANISH SPEAKERS (ESS): Emporia Spanish Speakers offers 1) professional translation services, 2) comprehensive verification services to ensure the proficiency of your bilingual employees, and 3) custom language learning courses designed specifically for professionals. Learn more about these services.

ZEPHYR: The latest publication from the Kansas Historical Society is here.

CONFERENCES:

Annual National 2024 Conference for Growing Community Foundations. Hosted by

Kansas Association of Community Foundations. Oct. 16-18, Wichita. Learn more.

Kansas Tourism Conference, Oct. 21-23, Olathe. Learn more.

ONE THING

Kansas Sampler Foundation co-directors Sarah Green and Marci Penner are on a statewide journey to every incorporated city. As of Sept. 17, 2024 they have completed research in 23 counties and 123 cities, with 502 to go. Their mission is to see how cities are doing in their present day environment and learn thoughts about their future. What are their hopes and dreams, roadblocks and setbacks, and solutions to move forward?

As of October 10, we've also been to every city in the following counties: Cherokee, Cheyenne, Clark, Comanche, Doniphan, Douglas, Hamilton, Harper, Harvey, Kingman, Lane, Morris, Morton, Norton, Pawnee, Rice, Scott, Sherman, Stafford, Stanton, Sumner, Thomas and Wilson. See "One Thing" from those 120 cities here.

Photo is of the Trail City Bed and Breakfast in Coolidge.

SAVE THE DATE: 2025 is the year for the Kansas Sampler Foundation's Big Rural Brainstorm. It will take place in McPherson on April 3.

SEE PREVIOUS TIDBITS: The mid-September We Kan! Tidbits was full of excellent information.

BECOME A KANSAS EXPLORER CLUB MEMBER: For 31 years Kansas Explorer Club members have received six print newsletters a year, chock full of things to see and do in the nooks and crannies in the state with guidance to 1) dare to do dirt, 2) interact with the locals, 3) feel good about spending money in independently-owned stores, 4) enjoy the journey -- and more! For $18.61 you can become an individual member or spring for $30 so the everyone in the family gets their name listed. The club was created to inspire, educate, and encourage the exploration and appreciation of Kansas...and to have fun doing it! The main goal is to create a thoughtful audience for Kansas communities. Join today or renew. Members also receive an online Explorer Extras.