Prairie Sunset Finale: Symphony of the Flint Hills

There couldn't have been a more fitting theme for the 20th and final rendition of the Symphony in the Flint Hills. The concert - Prairie Sunset - was Saturday, June 14, at the Evans Family Ranch in Chase County, Kansas. The wildflower-dotted rolling hills and overcast sky provided the dramatic backdrop for this grand finale concert of the Kansas City Symphony Orchestra set in the Flint Hills. 

 

It began in 2006 with the mission to heighten appreciate and knowledge of the Flint Hills tallgrass prairie. 

Rooted in these hills, like the enduring bluestem itself, Symphony in the Flint Hills, Inc., works to build awareness for the last stand of tallgrass prairie. ... The landscape's stone, soil, flora, fauna and skies above pull on our souls and care for us, and we are called to care for this place in return. ... We envision a future where our efforts encourage people to strengthen the Kansas prairie by sustaining the region's unique culture and landscape.

From the Mission Statement - Symphony of the Flint Hills 

This was not downtown Kansas City - by any stretch of the imagination. While city drivers sometimes have to dodge potholes after a brutal winter, they don't come across too many signs like this:

 

There was only one way in and out of the concert venue, set in the pasture in rural Strong City. It created a different kind of traffic jam as vehicles made their way north of U.S. 50 and down roads white with the dust of the area's limestone. (It took us 2 hours to travel the seven or so miles from the highway to the pasture.)

As we placed our water jug and program between our lawn chairs, we saw evidence that this was a working pasture and felt right at home. (For the uninitiated, those are a couple of dried cow patties.)

 

After 20 years, the concert volunteers had the logistics down to a science. Once we arrived, we quickly parked and caught a ride on a pickup-pulled wagon to the tents set up in the pasture. 

Unfortunately, because of traffic, we didn't arrive in time for any of the afternoon seminars. 

 

They delayed the concert start for 30 minutes, hoping to get more of the concert goers to the venue in time to hear the opening strains of the Celebration Overture by Peter Boyle. That same piece had opened the 2016 version of the Symphony of the Flint Hills - the only other time I'd attended, that time with Brent. This was Randy's first time, since he had been baling in 2016 and couldn't make the trip with me. When he saw it was the final opportunity, he got tickets to celebrate our 44th wedding anniversary. 

 

It was the perfect gift and well worth the wait.  

While making our way from the highway to the concert site, we'd seen lots of wildflowers lining the ditches in a rainbow of colors. I did think about jumping out of the car to take photos, but didn't. I didn't find as many in the pasture itself, though I did take photos of a few. 

 

This was right by our seats. It was still standing at the end of the night, surviving all the visitors.

During intermission, I wandered over to an electric fence for some photos of the prairie beyond.

 The purple lupine was a favorite wildflower.

The Flint Hills are part of the tallgrass prairie. In Kansas, they stretch from Marshall County in the north down through Riley, Geary, Pottawatomie, Wabaunsee, Morris, Lyon, Chase, Greenwood, Butler, Elk, Cowley and Chautauqua Counties and then into Oklahoma, where they are called the Osage Hills. These 5 million acres comprise the largest expanse of tallgrass prairie in the world.

The Flint Hills began as a vast inland sea 270 million years ago, which left scattered limestone and shallow soil behind. With the rocks less than a foot down, this part of the prairie was spared the plow and left in native grass. It’s the prairie mosaic that author William Least Heat-Moon called “360 degrees of sky.”

While it certainly isn't the mountains of Colorado, it's also very different from the stereotypical flat lands of Kansas. 

I'm a fan of clouds during sunset because they provide such a vivid painting as the light seeps through them. It was a constantly evolving scene as the light of day began to fade into a mild Kansas evening. 

 

The light and shadows played hide-and-seek in the gentle nooks and crannies of the rolling Plains covered in lush grass after plentiful spring rains. 

 

Kansas City Symphony Conductor Daniel Wiley directed a program that also included John Henry and Saturday Night Waltz by Aaron Copland, as well as George Gershwin's Summertime and Dvorak's finale from The New World Symphony. As the orchestra's notes rose and fell, it certainly seemed like the perfect celebration of music and nature's beauty. 

I am used to seeing cattle in pastures, but watching the cowboys drive the cattle across the landscape while an orchestra played was a little different from our 4-wheeler round-ups. (My photos aren't great of the cattle drive and cowboys.)

As the concert came to an end, the 8,000 or so spectators, donors and volunteers stood and sang "Home on the Range," a tradition of Symphony in the Flint Hills.

I thought about the words to a less-familiar verse of Kansas' state song, "Home on the Range," words that we'd just sung in unison:

How often at night when the heavens are bright

With the light from the glittering stars

Have I stood there amazed and asked as I gazed

If their glory exceeds that of ours.

Yes ... indeed.

We didn't think there was any need to hurry away from the concert site. We decided we'd much rather take in the after-concert activities than sit in the car in stop-and-go traffic. 

 Lots of us watched the powwow dancers. The area now known as the Flint Hills was once the ancestral homelands of the Kansa (Kaw) and Osage Nations and the traditional hunting grounds of Siouan, Wichita and Pawnee people who relied on the great herds of bison once so abundant there. 

Country singer and Kansas native Logan Mize had sung his song, “Welcome to Prairieville,.”with the symphony. After leading the audience-participation rendition of Home on the Range,  he moved to the beverage tent to entertain into the evening. 

 We didn't get home until after 1:30 AM, but it was worth the late night (early morning). 

The Flint Hills don't take your breath away. 

They give you a chance to catch your breath.

Jim Hoy - Cowboy and historian - 1939-2025 

 

What a wonderful grand finale! Thank you to all the volunteers who made it possible.  

As directed, I didn't record any of the concert. But with no wind, the sound was spectacular. I found this short clip online - just in case you're interested. (CLICK HERE.)

Topeka Tourist

 

 

When Randy and I went to the Kanza Cooperative Association annual meeting in April, I expected to learn about how the co-op was faring financially and hear a synopsis of its future direction.

 

We got that, so mission accomplished. 

 

But we didn't expect to discover a new field trip in Topeka. During dinner prior to the meeting, we sat near another couple from a different part of the co-op's service area. In the course of our visiting, we mentioned frequent trips to Topeka to see Jill's family. The woman grew up in Topeka and asked if we'd ever seen the stained glass windows in the Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library. Since we hadn't, that led to exploring the recently-renovated library. 

And bonus: I was able to pick up a couple of books that were next in a series on Brooke's reading list. 

Six stained glass windows were from the original library building located on the Kansas State Capitol grounds at 8th and Jackson from 1883 to 1953. When that building was torn down and the new library built, the windows were auctioned off. In 1999, Topeka philanthropist Connie Menninger led the efforts to secure the six stained glass windows. She was able to reunite five of the six windows in time for the library’s earlier renovation project in 1999. The sixth one had been purchased by a family and had ended up in a home in Michigan. Eventually, that family also donated their window to the library, reuniting all six windows in 2007.

 

 

Three of the windows had ribbons with topics of study: History, Science, and Art. 

 

 

The other three held phrases featuring a quote by Francis Bacon: “Reading Maketh a Full Man; Conference a Ready Man; Writing an Exact Man." At the time we were looking at the windows, I didn't know about the quote, but I'd already chosen my favorites - the Reading and Writing windows. (I'm sure that comes as a big surprise.) And in the current environment, I like them even better as a little food for thought. As Brooke would say, I "searched it up" and found this explanation of the quote:

 

 

Reading makes a man full:  Reading, according to Bacon, provides a wealth of knowledge and insight, "filling" a person's mind with information and ideas.

 

 

Conference makes a man ready: Engaging in discussions and debates sharpens a person's ability to communicate and think on their feet, making them "ready" to participate in conversations and share their thoughts.

Writing makes a man exact: Writing, with its emphasis on clarity, precision, and logical structure, helps individuals develop a keen sense of detail and accuracy in their thinking and expression. 

In my later research, I found a YouTube video in which Walt Menninger talks about the windows. Click HERE.

Those weren't the last of the stained glass windows. The Genealogy Computer Room in the library's Topeka Room includes windows from the Chester Woodward home. Woodward's library was a 25- by 40-foot room patterned after the library of Sir Walter Scott in Abbotsford, Scotland. The windows were originally in a Lawrence home until Chester Woodward relocated his family to Topeka circa 1920.

The figures refer to pharmacy and medicine.

This window also was in the Topeka Room. I'm not sure of its origin.

The Topeka Room contains books and other materials written, illustrated, produced or published by Topekans or about Topeka and Shawnee County history. Many of the furnishings were donated by Topeka families. These included the 1871 Chickering Square Grand Piano.

Square pianos were made for people who didn't have enough space for large grand pianos. Ichabod Washburn's fortune came from making wire for hoop skits and twisted piano wire. The suggestion for twisted wire was made to Washburn in 1856 by Jonas Chickering, founder of the Chickering company. It's possible that Washburn's company made the wire for the displayed piano (according to a placard on the piano). 

It wasn't the only thing in the room that makes music. We asked the librarian to play the music box there.

Check out the bees, dragonflies and butterflies that help create the music.

While these things are on permanent display, we also toured the art gallery on the ground floor. It includes revolving displays, featuring both area artists and those from across the country.

 

 

"Tiny Library Adventure" caught my eye. The artist is Jenny Dowd from Prairie Grove, Ark., who had the following to say: The limitless possibility for adventure, escape and knowledge can be found in a bookshelf of any size. I sure can't argue with that.

 

"The Reader" was by Michaela Valli Groeblacher of Lindsborg. The nearby plaque had this explanation: The essential psychological and spiritual aspects of a human's vulnerability versus strength interest me primarily. The faces and bodies of older people depict both aspects while exuding the beauty of experience. The Reader depicts an old person's reflection on their long life.

 

If you're looking to have a Kansas Staycation this summer, the library in Topeka should be added to the list. 

 

Up next: More Topeka staycation options. 

Note: We did this Topeka exploration in May, but I hadn't yet written about it. 

Celebrating Rainfall and Fishing

The Ninnescah River looked a little like the wash cycle in a clothes washing machine with lots of little bubbles frothing to the surface. 

But nobody had gotten careless with the detergent. Instead, the frothiness was caused by the pressure of water rushing through a dam there. 

It had been years since we'd seen that much water and flow at the Ninnescah River pasture where some of our cows and calves spend their summer vacations.

 

There was even water working its way from water holes north of the river and spilling into it. 

 

 

Randy and I had taken the Gator to the pasture for fishing Friday afternoon (May 30). During the past month, we've received between 5 and 6 inches of rain. As we approached the dam, both of us commented on how the rainfall should help the Cheney Watershed, which has suffered from persistent drought in the past few years. 

From https://www.cheneylakewatershed.org

The Cheney Lake Watershed (North Fork Ninnescah River) covers 633,000 acres within five counties in south central Kansas including portions of Reno, Stafford, Pratt, Kingman, and Kiowa counties. More than 99 percent of the watershed is used for agricultural purposes. Also included is the Cheney Reservoir, an important source of drinking water and recreation for the City of Wichita and surrounding communities. More than 70 percent of Wichita's water is taken from the reservoir. 

Since last summer, weather forecasters on the Wichita television stations have reported on the low water levels at Cheney Lake. Ross Jansen, KWCH-TV's chief meteorologist, shared this map:

Here's what the graphic had to say: Where does the rain need to fall in order to fill up Cheney Lake? Other than the obvious (right over the lake), here's a map to show the watershed.

Looking at the water just before it reaches the dam - no "foam" on this side.

According to news reports, our May rains did have an impact on Cheney Lake, which was up more than 17 inches since the morning of Saturday, May 24, and up 7.68 inches since Wednesday, May 28, at 7 a.m. That’s  more than 3.2 billion gallons of water, according to KWCH. 

The lake now sits at 6.60 feet below normal. However, Wichita remains under Stage 2 drought restrictions, which it implemented August 2024. The yearly average water level at Cheney Reservoir must be at least 70 percent for the drought restrictions to be lifted.

But, it is good news for Cheney Reservoir and the city of Wichita. And it's a boon for all the farmers and ranchers who rely on the Ninnescah for their livelihoods.  

 

Thankfully, we don't rely on fishing to put meat on the table, though we do rely on the Ninnescah to provide water and rich vegetation for our mamas and baby calves. 

 

We wondered if the water was moving too quickly for Randy to even get a bite.  

However, success! 

 

He caught a 4-pound catfish. He had another catfish on the line (he says), but it got away. 

 

I can neither affirm or deny this fish tale. I had cataract and glaucoma stent surgery on my left eye May 19, so I'm not seeing particularly well at the moment. Thank goodness for iphone cameras to capture the moment easily. It was enough for a tasty fried fish supper at The County Line.