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September 4, 2024
The Kansas Sampler Foundation is a 501c3 nonprofit located near Inman.
Our mission is to preserve and sustain rural culture.
Follow Kansas Sampler Foundation on Facebook.
You can support our work, including these We Kan! Tidbits, at our support page here.
Link (conta.cc/3YVkdfF) to this Tidbits
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TIPS FROM THE KSF PowerUp MANAGER
The power of fun: One of the values of the Kansas Sampler Foundation is that fun is motivating. This interview with Catherine Price, author of The Power of Fun: How to Feel Alive Again, dives into the three components of fun - playfulness, connection, and flow. We'd love to know how you add any of these elements to your meetings and routines to stay motivated and make a difference for folks of all ages. Email your thoughts to Simone Elder, KSF PowerUp Manager at simone.elder@kansassampler.org.
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KSF's next Do-alogue
Language Exchange
Intercambio de Idiomas
A do-alogue for connecting through language
October 1, Tuesday
10 a.m. - 2 p.m., Emporia
$30 (includes lunch)
Register here. Limit of 30.
photo credit: Emporia Spanish Speakers Facebook page
The Language Exchange Do-alogue is for community leaders, do-ers, and business owners who have a desire to learn how to connect across cultures and languages and would benefit from a space to experience, experiment and learn how to be more confident in those skills. Learn basic language with the aid of cheat sheets and flash cards but also see and hear ways to invest in diverse groups of people in a way that will make your community more inclusive and dynamic. The home of the Emporia Spanish Speakers will be a safe place to gain skills and confidence to interact. This event will help improve the quality of life for both English and Spanish speakers.
We’ll take a short walk to see murals in downtown Emporia that highlight the area’s Latin culture and wrap up with Q and A over lunch at a locally owned Mexican restaurant.
Some knowledge of Spanish may be helpful but absolutely not necessary. The most important prerequisite is an interest in finding more ways to have authentic connections. You’ll come away with tools and ideas to take home.
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).
Those of you who register will receive additional information.
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PROMOTING KANSAS MUSICIANS: Nick Carswell is the new specialist for Music Ecosystem development at the Kansas Arts Commission. He’s starting a radio show with KPR in Lawrence that will highlight Kansas musicians performing live in the studio. His goal is to feature musicians/music from every county in the state. Contact Nick here for more details. | |
KANSAS ARTISTS ROSTER: The Kansas Arts Commission is now accepting applications from artists for the Kansas Touring Roster. | |
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WHERE ART MEETS AG: Great job to Clay Center on their web site. The look is clean and the copy is well developed and a theme carried throughout. They've done a great job using their murals as promotion to visitors and locals (quality of life) and have found a way to monetize the murals, too!
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MONUMENTS & MEMORIALS: This is a competitive grant for Midwest U.S. communities but if you have a great proposal supporting diverse stories through monuments and memorials, check this out. There are some other criteria, too.
Thanks Kate VS.
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PART-TIME POSITION WITH KANSAS TOURISM: Want to be a Tourism Inspiration Agent? Five of them are needed. The Inspiration Agent will accompany the Mobile Visitors Center, serving as a dynamic ambassador for the great state of Kansas. See details and official job description here. | |
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KANSAS TOURISM: Applications for Attraction Development Grants are being accepted until October 1st. This is for new, or the enhancement of existing, tourism attractions in the state that will create economic impact through job creation, capital investment, revenue, and increased visitation.
Final tallies are in from the Sunflower Summer program and 497,573 total tickets were claimed. This was a 55% percent increase year over year. If your attraction participated please make sure to fill out the survey here. If you have friends or family who used the program they may also fill out a survey.
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GRANTS FROM STATE PROGRAMS: Kansas Department of Commerce grants calendar includes grants for tourism, art, Office of Rural Prosperity programs, and more. | |
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OFFICE OF RURAL PROSPERITY: The ORP newsletter is filled with excellent information from funding outcome examples, announcements, helpful events, and information about support your can get from Grassroots Strategy Developers.
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LOCAL FOOD BUSINESS GRANTS: A new USDA grant is available for local and regional food businesses. The Business Builder Grant, available through the Heartland Regional Food Business Center, is designed to promote business expansion, job creation, business capacity building, and increase local products in the local market throughout the Heartland Region, including Kansas. The grant provides the chance to be awarded $5,000 to $50,000 that can be used for consultants, staffing for projects, supplies, equipment and more. The deadline for applying for the grant is October 15. Complete the contact form at heartlandfoodbusiness.org/contact/ or email heartlandrfbc@ksu.edu to learn more. | |
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EFFECTIVE WEB PAGE: City of Augusta, great job with your "I want to know" page to help citizens know where to apply for things, browse for city information, contact people, pay for things, report, request, or reserve venues.
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BIG KANSAS ROAD TRIP POP UP: A win for all
This Kansas Sampler Foundation event took place Saturday, August 24, in Blue Rapids.
The showcase city was Blue Rapids, population 922. Exposure to many people who had never been to this Marshall County city was extensive and the dollars spent in town had a direct impact. Blue Rapids did a great job rolling out the red carpet for visitors.
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The Kansas Explorers Club members and other visitors had a grand day "rounding the squircle (square circle)" in non-motorized methods and enjoying the people and many attractions in this hospitable community.
The Kansas Sampler Foundation furthered their objective to educate Kansans about Kansas in a way that creates a thoughtful audience for rural.
And, FUN was had by all!
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RAISE KANSAS: STEMMFIRE.org and the Science and Mathematics Education Institute at Fort Hays State University have formed a partnership (funded in part by a grant from the Patterson Family Foundation) to create Raise Kansas (Rural Alliance Investing in STEMM Education). This partnership will allow the STEMM Fire Foundation to reach more students across Kansas with this "Educonomy" pilot program to build support and resources for rural STEMM educators.
STEMM provides awareness into the industries of science, technology, engineering, Math, and Medical. If you'd like to know more about how you could bring STEMM career exploration to your school for a day, contact Lindsay Schmidt.
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RURAL AND FRONTIER MENTAL HEALTH SUMMIT: The Morton County Health Department is sponsoring a one-day summit focused on addressing mental health challenges in rural and frontier communities. Participants will explore solutions and share best practices for improving access to mental health services in under-served areas. This free event will take place in Elkhart on September 24. Continuing education credits will be available. Register for the summit by September 19 at namikansas.org/sitg.
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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. Contact them here to get support for your efforts. | |
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GRANT WRITING BASICS: K-State Research & Extension has two classes this month. One is online September 24. The other is in St. John on September 27. $60. Experts from from Kansas Hub, Kansas Rural
Water Association, Kansas Housing Resources Corporation, and Commerce will be there. Register by contacting Ryan at ryan@staffordecodevo.com or call 620.314.5561. Deadline is September 20.
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UNCLAIMED PROPERTY: Go here to look for unclaimed property! You might be surprised. | |
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CONFERENCES:
Kansas Inclusion Summit, Sept. 17, Prairie Band Casino & Resort, Mayetta.
Learn more.
Workforce Innovation Conference, Oct. 1-2, Salina. Learn more.
Kansas Arts Council Symposium, Oct. 9-10, Salina. Learn more.
Kansas YP Summit, Oct. 10, Salina. Learn more.
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.
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NATIONAL CONFERENCE FOR RURAL:
Radically Rural - The in-person summit on Sept. 24-25 in Keene, New Hampshire will focus on ways to "Regenerate Rural." Learn more and register here. KSF PowerUp and Engagement Manager, Simone Elder, will be speaking at this conference and KSF co-director Sarah Green will moderate that session.
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ONE THING
Kansas Sampler Foundation co-directors Sarah Green and Marci Penner are on a statewide journey to every incorporated city. As of September 4, 2024 they have completed research in 23 counties and 120 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? Below are "One Things" from the nine cities we've done since the last Tidbits. See "One Thing" from our earlier stops here.
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Bird City, population 449
Oh, if every city could have a community foundation like Bird City/Century II. They invest back into the community by building a house to be used as a group home for child care, owning the grocery store building, building residential houses, and supporting economic development efforts, co-working space, a business incubator and MORE! Their investments also led to a huge fiber expansion. All in a city of under 500 people.
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St. Francis, population 1,278
What a plus the "202" is--a combination art gallery (Hardt Gallery) and meeting venue. Both are first class and add beauty, light and elegance to "Sainty." Courtyard space will give the community even more of which to be proud.
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Goodland, population 4,390
Northwest Tech has recently partnered with Fort Hays State University and North Central Tech to now be called Fort Hays Tech Northwest. With a visionary president like Ben Schears to new degree programs like Crypto/Cloud Computing, this is a very bright spot in Goodland and Northwest Kansas.
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Kanorado, population 149
The town name is a portmanteau of Kansas and Colorado. The exit off I-70 coming from Colorado is Exit 1 in Kansas.
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Brewster, population 289
What a cozy scene in the Brewster Senior Center and a good view of main street happenings. Some start their day with coffee at the men's table at the grocery store and then come next door to the senior center for another cup on their way to pick up their mail at the post office.
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Colby, population 5,577
Opened in 2021, the Colby Event Center is used for sports with Colby Community College and the local school district, family reunions, wedding receptions and other events. What a great asset!
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Gem, population 94
This former church now serves as the community building where city council, Lions Club, and 4-H meet.
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Menlo, population 34
As a nod to the youngest in this town with a small population, having a playground was a priority.
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Rexford, population 197
Students from the Rexford and Selden area attend Golden Plains school district. Those in 6th-12th grade come to Rexford.
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Near Rexford, McCarty Dairy
The Judy McCarty Dairy Learning Center is a high-tech, engaging view into the dairy industry and is open to the public. Excellent displays explain how the McCarty dairies operate and a large window shows a view of the milking cows on a moving platform.
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WHERE WE'VE BEEN: As of September 4, we've 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. Two additional counties have been started. | |
SIGN UP FOR THIS NEWSLETTER: Go here to sign up for We Kan! Tidbits. Find the KSF Facebook page here. | |
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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.
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