Green, Greener, Greensburg - Part II

Slogan on a t-shirt

"Because of the tornado, we have the opportunity to be a living laboratory."

Bob Dixson, Greensburg Mayor

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This is the second post from our PEO road trip to Greensburg. In one day, we didn't see everything we would have liked. I'd love to go back and see the new BTI (John Deere) dealership, tour the churches and visit more of the downtown stores. As Greensburg continues to rebuild, there will be much more to see in the months and years ahead.

Ruth Ann Wedel at Greensburg Greentown says that they are relying on eco-tourism to continue to rebuild their community. They are now offering "Green Tours" to fit pretty much any family or group. It's a road trip that's inspiring and well worth your time. (Click on the Greentown link to learn more.) Plus, you'll be helping to rebuild Greensburg. And you didn't even have to bring a hammer!

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The 5.4.7 Arts Center

If you know me, you know what a huge K-State fan I am. But I have to give it to KU. They helped give Greensburg a spectacular arts center. Studio 804, the 3rd year graduate students in architecture at KU, built the 5.4.7 Arts Center at a reduced cost.

It was the first LEED Platinum building in Kansas. This is the highest certification of "green" building, using wind turbines, solar panels and green building materials.

Stacey Barnes gave us a tour of the center. This Greenburg native also manages the Big Well Gift Shop.

The arts center offers display space for local, area and even national artists. It also has classes and artist demonstrations that promote both visual and performing arts.

One of the gallery's huge photographs shows how the arts center was transported to Greensburg after being built in sections by the KU students. What a convoy!

A metal awning covers the windows, but it can be raised and the series of doors can be opened to allow visitors to use both indoor and outdoor space for events.

High school students and advisers made this bench from "found" items after the tornado. It sits outside the arts center.

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Kiowa County Hospital

I didn't get a great photo of the outside of the new Kiowa County Memorial Hospital. I would have had to traipse across U.S. 54 for that. But the hospital, like the other new buildings in Greensburg, is impressive.

Our tour guide Carolyn Irvin was the perfect cheerleader for the progress made in the health care community as they've rebuilt from the May 2007 tornado. They've been in their new building for a little more than a year now.

When you walk in the door, you see this message: To improve lives through compassionate, quality health care.

At the front door, you hear the peaceful trickle of water, but it's not until you go to the basement that you see the water feature below the mission statement.


Like the other buildings in Greensburg, natural light is a centerpiece of the construction.

It's a 15-bed hospital served by one M.D., two nurse-practitioners and one physician's assistant. Other physicians visit Kiowa County for periodic specialty clinics. The medical clinic is attached to the hospital for one-stop medical care.

Tomorrow, one more post from Greensburg, as we continue to explore this story of resurrection and rebirth during this Easter season.

Green, Greener, Greensburg - Part I

I remember a long ago field trip to the Big Well in Greensburg. Back when I was growing up, that's what Greensburg was known for. Billboards outside Pratt said, "Visit the World's Largest Hand-Dug Well."

During a school field trip, we did just that. We descended the 105 steps into the Big Well, tossed a few pennies in the well and then marched back up.

On May 4, 2007, an EF5 tornado ripped through the town of Greensburg and changed it forever. The Big Well was something that the tornado couldn't take away from the town's identity, though the landmarks around the site were swept away.

A photo from 2005 from the Big Well website

Currently, the well is full of debris from the tornado, but there are plans to clean it out and build a new gift shop and museum. For now, the new modern water tower replaced the old metal tower I remember as a child.

So far, they've left a bent flag pole in place and left the stone border (compare it to the 2005 photo.) Resurrecting this site where more than 3 million people have visited since 1888 is on the to-do list. But in four years, it's amazing how many of the "to-dos" have been crossed off.

Nobody would ever believe that a natural disaster that caused death and destruction is a good thing. But it has given Greensburg a unique opportunity.

"(The tornado) forced people to make change. It forced people to say, 'You know what we have is an opportunity unlike any other community gets. To change the way we are going. To reverse the trend. To not lose the kids, but to bring our kids back. To invest back in the community so that after they graduate they can have new jobs and new opportunities.’ "

Former Greensburg City Administrator Steve Hewitt

During this week of Easter, a time when we celebrate resurrection and rebirth, I'd like to give you an outsider's glimpse of Greensburg. I was there two weeks ago with six others from my PEO group. I guess you never outgrow field trips!

In one day, I certainly didn't see all I'd like to see. But the progress is truly amazing. Here are just a few of the highlights. I'll be showing you more in this 3-part series from Greensburg.

Kiowa County Commons

This facility isn't yet open, but I took the photo from the top of the nearby Silo-Eco Home. The building will contain the Kiowa County Library, the Historical Museum, the Kansas State Extension Service and a Community Media Center, which will house an internet radio station, an internet TV station and a web portal capable of delivering news and events throughout the county. A sentimental feature of the Commons will be the inclusion of a reconstructed version of the soda fountain visited by many at Hunter Drug before the tornado. The building is projected to be Platinum LEED certified, the highest certification in "green" building.

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Greensburg's Downtown

The only downtown building that stood on the morning of May 5, 2007, was this red brick building. As the city began to rebuild, city planners left that building in place, tying it in with the new storefronts to the north and across the street.

In the foreground, you can see a sign for cans. Members of the community are collecting cans in an effort to rebuild The Twilight Theater, a 400-seat auditorium that will be used for both the community and Kiowa County Schools. They are, of course, doing other fundraisers and seeking grants for the project.

Here's the streetscape in downtown Greensburg. In the far background, you can see the grain elevator, one of the only structures that survived the tornado's fury. Greensburg's first model eco-home is patterned after the grain elevator, with a rounded living space and 6-inch thick concrete walls.

We went into Greensburg's City Hall. One of the ladies wanted to see the pallasite meteorite, which she remembered seeing as a kid during a trip to the Big Well. (She thought it would be bigger: We reminded her that's how most childhood memories end up.) The 1,000-pound Space Wanderer meteorite is on display at the City Hall until the new Big Well Museum can be built.

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Business Incubator

Just south of the intersection of U.S. Highway 54 and Main Street, the Sun Chips Business Incubator gives new and returning businesses a place for a jump start. Some of the businesses featured in the linked brochure, which began in the incubator, have now moved on to their own storefronts. The Green Bean, where we ate lunch, and Studio 54, are now in their own buildings across Main Street. So the business incubator is accomplishing what it was designed to do.

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Kiowa County Schools USD 422

A middle school student led our tour of the new Kiowa County Schools, which opened in time for this year's school year. The $52 million school is filled with "green" features.


One of the things that is most striking is all the natural light that pours into the facility.

They collect rainwater and it eventually ends up in storage tanks, where it's used for watering the grounds, etc.

Here's a link to a student-produced video at Kiowa County Schools that features an interview with Superintendent Darin Headrick, and shows more than I can with still photos.

Interview with Superintendent Darin Headrick from kcmavericks on Vimeo.

Tomorrow ... more from Greensburg.

This Dessert Is A Winner ... Really!

I made a dessert for a church potluck last Sunday. At the time, I didn't know I was serving a national award winner.

I made Ann Brubaker's Double Berry Cheesecake Bars for a supper to honor our graduating seniors and eighth graders. I had seen a feature in The Pratt Tribune in February about her entry in the Martha White contest and had printed the recipe and purchased the muffin mixes to try it out.

Ann is the wife of my classmate, Kent Brubaker. I went online to vote for her recipe, which was one of eight finalists. I just know it was my vote that pushed her over the edge. (And maybe a few more from other loyal Skyline High graduates or Sawyer, Kansas, buddies.)

I should have checked The Tribune before I went to the potluck so I'd know she won! Still, I didn't need to tell people it was a national award winner for them to dig in. Much to Randy's dismay, we only came home with one bar left.

It would be a perfect dessert to serve for Easter. Maybe Randy will get another chance at this dessert on Easter Sunday.

Double Berry Cheesecake Bars

Crust:
2 7-oz. pkgs. Martha White Strawberry Muffin Mix
1/2 cup butter, softened
1 large egg

Filling:
2 8-oz. pkg. cream cheese, softened
1/2 cup sour cream
2/3 cup sugar
3 tbsp. flour
2 tsp. almond extract
2 large eggs
2/3 cup seedless red raspberry jam

Garnish (Optional):
1/2 cup whipping cream
2 tbsp. powdered sugar
2/3 cup seedless red raspberry jam

Heat oven to 325 degrees. Spray bottom of 13- by 9- by 2-inch baking pan with cooking spray. Beat muffin mix, butter and 1 egg in large bowl until dough forms. Press lightly in bottom of prepared pan.

Beat cream cheese and sour cream in large bowl until smooth. Add sugar, flour and almond extract. Beat until blended. Add 2 eggs, one at a time, beating just until blended. Pour filling over crust.

Drop 2/3 cup raspberry jam by spoonfuls randomly over filling. For swirl effect, pull knife through batter in wide curves. Turn pan and repeat. Bake for 35 to 40 minutes or until center is set and edges are light golden brown. Cool 30 minutes. Chill 1 hour before serving. Cut into bars.

If desired, just before serving, beat whipping cream and powdered sugar in medium bowl until stiff peaks form. Spoon a small dollop of the remaining 2/3 cup raspberry jam on each bar. Spread jam into a small circle. Pipe a small rosette of whipped cream on each serving.

Store bars in refrigerator.

Notes:

This is how the bars looked after baking.

I took the easy way out on garnishing. I used Cool Whip and put it in a decorator tube. Then I piped a rosette on each bar. (You could simplify further and use the topping in a can.) If fresh raspberries were in season, putting one on top of the whipped topping would be a beautiful garnish.

I couldn't find seedless raspberry jam. The seeded kind was tasty, though some people would probably prefer the smoother texture. Randy said it was good anyway.

Recipes from the other finalists can be found on the Martha White website. I just may have to try some of them, too.

Sleek Lines, High Performance

Randy's is enjoying a new vibrant red and yellow contraption with sleek lines.

Nope, he hasn't chosen a sports car or one of those fancy, souped up motorcycles. It's a self-water unit for the cattle. Two of them, no less. (Might as well dream big, right?)

He and Jake worked on installing them. They only had to call in the professionals once. Let's just say there's a reason plumbers go to trade school: They can install water lines and still leave a family with water at the end of the day. (Jake's family ended up going to grandma's house for showers one night. That came after repeated trips to Hutchinson for repairs.)

Before this, the corral water pumps have been on timers or the guys have had to manually turn them on to fill the tanks.

Randy says the inside works on the same principle as a toilet. (I won't tell the cattle: I don't want to compare their drinking water to a toilet bowl.)

Our cattle have always drunk from tanks, so I didn't know what the learning curve would be. But they seem to have figured it out. They press down on the rounded spheres, and they can slurp up water to their heart's content.

Since it's double sided, it's like a buffet: The cattle in the corral can drink from one side and the cattle in the pasture from the other.

Hey, no elbowing guys!

Talking Turkey

Ham is on the County Line Easter menu. Jill and Eric are coming, and Jill says it's not Easter dinner without ham and cheesy potatoes.

But, depending upon how many other family members RSVP for the holiday meal, I may add Herbed Turkey Breast to the menu, too.

It is a recipe from my friend, Kelly Ballard. She shared the recipe for my cookbook project for Jill and Eric prior to their August 2009 wedding.

I've talked before about my massive, I'll-try-that-recipe-sometime pile. My back porch freezer defrost gave "sometime" the opportunity to arrive.

True confessions: The boned turkey breast was past its "best when used by" date. But the creamy sauce provided the additional moisture needed to resurrect the meat.

Even my beef-loving husband really liked this meal. I served it with stuffing (also from the freezer), a green salad and some lightly sauted zucchini.

The hardest part of this recipe was getting the garden-flavored cream cheese. My local grocery store didn't have it, so I had to wait until I went out of town for that ingredient. It was definitely worth the wait.

Enjoy - whether you use it for Easter dinner or an everyday meal!

Herbed Turkey Breast

1 turkey breast (4-5 pounds)
2 tbsp. butter or margarine
1/4 cup garden vegetable-flavored whipped cream cheese
1 tbsp. soy sauce
1 tbsp. fresh minced parsley
1/2 tsp. each basil leaves, rubbed sage and thyme
1/4 tsp. ground black pepper
1/4 tsp. garlic powder

Place turkey in Crock pot. Combine remaining ingredients and brush over turkey. Cover and cook on Low for 10 to 12 hours or High for 5 to 6 hours.

Sowing (Wild) Oats

Admit it. When you read "wild oats," you thought maybe this was true confessions or something. Nope, just boring old me.

But I guess Facebook thought I was all racy last week. When I tried to post my working cattle tales last week, I got a message saying I was being blocked because of offensive content.

Offensive content?! Who me? I finally figured out that maybe they weren't happy about me using the term "castration." (There I go again: I'll probably get blocked today, too. Will I ever learn?!)

I had to type the information into the little form, telling them why I believed it was an error that I got the blocked message. Long story (albeit not so short), I figured out how to post it anyway. Take that, Facebook.

But that's about as wild as I get around here.

We did, however, plant some oats this spring. This is how the oats look, right out of the seed sack.

Oats are not typically in our crop rotation. This year, Randy planted the oats on March 1 in an old alfalfa field.

He used the drill to sow the oats (which weren't wild, by the way).

(This photo was taken during wheat planting, but it shows the drill.)

He planted oats in the alfalfa so that he could get one more cutting from the field before he worked it up. An alfalfa field is productive about 7 to 8 years.

The oats are also a good source of nutrition for our cattle herd. At the end of May or the first part of June, he will swath the field and then bale it.

Even though we usually don't turn down a rain, he'll be hoping for no moisture on the swathed oats. Oats spoil more quickly than alfalfa if it's rained on.

This photo makes the plants look huge, but it's perspective. I had the camera on the ground and in the "close-up" mode. Still, I wanted to show the two different plants. The "bushy" plant is alfalfa and the grass-like plant is the oats.

It costs about $25.00 per acre to plant the oats, figuring cost of seed and use of the machinery. But it should yield a couple of tons of oats and alfalfa for that last cutting. That will increase the value of the last cutting of the hay and provide good feed for feeder cattle.

And there you have it: Not so wild oats on the County Line.

Dew Tell!

“Every dew drop and raindrop had a whole heaven within it.”

Henry Wadsworth Longfellow

It was one of those mornings when I really shouldn't have taken the time. But I couldn't resist.

Thankfully, my freelance writing assignment in Hutchinson on Friday wasn't until later in the morning. So before, during and after my 4-mile trek, I took photos.

It was a foggy morning and the dew was heavy on the budding trees and branches.

Socrates had it right: "Man's life is like a drop of dew on a leaf."

There was no waiting until I got home from Hutchinson to capture the ethereal loveliness of a dew-filled spring morning. The sun would have chased away the suspended droplets and the glistening moment would be gone.

"Morning is the best of all times in the garden. The sun is not yet hot. Sweet vapors rise from the earth. Night dew clings to the soil and makes plants glisten. Birds call to one another."

William Longgood

It was just another reminder of the many blessings I have. If I hurry through the simple moments, I may not see them.

Was it worth every extra moment on a busy morning? Yes indeed.