RURAL VALUES

     I have written before about the KANSAS SAMPLER FOUNDATION and all the efforts they make to help promote rural Kansas and the lifestyle we enjoy.  I just came back from the WE KAN conference that is held every two years at Salina at the great Webster Conference Center.  My head is just swimming.  I intentionally went for the first day that was for Geeks.  I am not electronically savvy and I was hoping to at least absorb some understanding even if I don't know what it is all about.  And I was right my head is just spinning about everything I never knew even existed out there in cyber space.
     Makes it look how peaceful plowing was (and that is out of date even).  There are some very exciting people that are coming back home and others discovering what a great place Kansas really is.  We all know that rural life is changing but there are some great ideas and a lot of moral support.  There is even some physical support.  Like the group of Explorers that will be traveling to help create a baseball museum out of a water tower.  Does Hall of Famer Joe Tinker ring a bell.  Look into it.
     A marketing genius just moved from California back home to Kansas and is making a difference in his new home town of Mead.  He also is going to make a big impact on all rural Kansas.  Remember the name Basil.
     If you do not think you have anything in your community that would interest anyone from elsewhere, stop to realize that there are people that want to see a cow, and real crops.  They want to meet real farmers and ranchers and cowboys.  If you have an old building that is setting not being used there is someone somewhere that would love to do something with it. 
     Many rural people lament the fact that the kids all leave and never come back.  There is example after example in little towns and communities that there are kids coming back and are rural by choice.  Before you make the statement that your young people are just waiting to leave maybe you need to ask them what they want and work with them to stay.
     Maybe you need to quit asking newly arrived people "how in the world did you get stuck in Kansas" and say "welcome what attracted you to believe in our area?"
      I can be perceived as a grumpy old man but I prefer not to accept the unacceptable.  I love living in the Gypsum Hills and am not afraid to say it.  I also believe in shopping locally.  One community in our state has a 'buy it locally' program.  They focused on toilet paper.  If everyone in town bought all there toilet paper from local merchants it is over a hundred thousand dollar amount of money that stays in the local economy.  Apply that to most of your groceries and take the savings in gas and see how it affects your area.  I would rather my money stay local than be sent directly of Cincinnati or Bentonville.
      Besides you have never seen pictures of shoppers at the grocery that you do with the crowd at the late night Walley World stores.
     If you want to know more about Kansas, or what you can do in Kansas I encourage you to check out the KANSAS SAMPLER FOUNDATION website and start getting rural.