Have you ever stepped into the water on the first fishing trip of the spring only to find your waders leaked? Or lost a nice fish because the line on your reel was old and snapped? Or even found while trying to make the first cast of the year that your reel wouldn’t work at all? All of the above are scenarios that can easily be avoided with a little prior planning. So here are a few tips to help make you ready for action when your buddy calls and screams into the phone “The fish are bitin’!”

Check your gear early. We all lose tackle each year to rocks and “stick fish,” so go through your tackle box, make a list and stock up. Check your waders for leaks. If they didn’t leak the last time you took them off, they probably won’t leak now, but be sure; it’s better than an unexpected boot full of cold water.

Line on fishing reels should be changed every few years; the more often you use it the more often it should be changed. You can buys spools of line and DIY, or most sporting goods stores have a machine to do it for a small fee. If you fish from a boat, hopefully you’ve gone over it by now to make sure the batteries are good, the motor starts and runs well and the trailer tires aren’t flat. Also be certain to have life preservers on board for every passenger, because if stopped by wildlife and parks on the water or at the dock, they will check that. If you hate wearing life jackets while fishing like most of us do, look into some of the new technology that now allows life jackets to be much smaller, thinner and less obstructing.

We were just leaving town the other day when my wife snapped her fingers in the air and stated “Darn, I forgot to get my new fishing license.” That excuse won’t fly with a game warden if you get checked only to discover your fishing (or hunting) license has expired, so be sure yours is up-to-date. If you are 65, you can purchase a lifetime combination hunting / fishing license for only $42.50 that’s good until you turn 74 and no longer need a license; it’s the deal of the century! Have you ever bought your hunting license late in the season, and grumbled about it only being good for a short time until New Year’s Eve?

Well grumble no more as that now has changed. Now all annual licenses (NOT special permits like deer and turkey tags and fur harvester’s permits) are valid for 365 days from the time you purchase them. So, for example, if you buy a hunting license just in time for the November pheasant opener, that license will be good until that date the following year. And to take convenience one step further, if you purchase licenses online, you can now sign up for a feature called “auto renew” that will send you a notice a few weeks before your new license is due each year, then automatically renew it and charge it to a credit or debit card.

Along with possessing the proper licenses and permits, comes knowledge of all Kansas fishing rules and regulations. Some regulations are statewide and apply to every cubic inch of Kansas water, whether lake, river, stream or reservoir. Some lakes and reservoirs however have length limits, etc that are unique to that water. That’s why every Kansas fisherman’s tackle box should contain a copy of the 2018 Kansas Fishing regulations Summary, a 48 page pamphlet that lists all that information for all Kansas lakes, reservoirs, state fishing lakes and community fishing lakes, so you should never get “caught” with your hook bare, so to speak. These should be available everywhere tackle and licenses are sold.

If you’re like me, and not a died-in-the-wool fisherman, it’s handy to know what lakes and reservoirs are best for what fish species. Another handy booklet no Kansas fisherman should be without is the 2018 Fishing Forecast. This forecast is assembled by Kansas fisheries biologists using data gathered when they sample lakes in each of their jurisdictions. For each fish species, it rates lakes, reservoirs, state fishing lakes and community fishing lakes for largest fish and largest fish populations. These forecasts are available at all Kansas Dept of Wildlife, Parks and Tourism offices and to download online from the website at www.ksoutdoors.com.

So instead of helping put the “pro” in procrastinate, take care of business by getting your fishing stuff in order, making certain your license is up-to-date, arm yourselves with all the available information readily available about Kansas fishing regulations and opportunities, and take someone along who’s new to fishing as you continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors!

Steve Gilliland, Inman, can be contacted by email at [email protected].

Following the Civil War, many officers born and raised in the East found themselves serving their country on the Kansas frontier. One such man was Captain Albert Barnitz, born in Pennsylvania in 1835 and reared in Ohio. He studied first at Kenyon College and later continued his education at Cleveland Law College. While there, he published a book of poetry titled Mystic Delvings. This hinted at innate writing tendencies that modern readers still enjoy.

Barnitz’s road to the Kansas frontier began after the death of his first wife who died in childbirth in 1860. Still grieving, he soon joined the 13th Ohio Infantry as a three-month volunteer in 1861. Following that service, he enlisted in the 2nd Ohio Cavalry as a sergeant. By 1863, Barnitz achieved senior captain rank.

Following his recovery from severe injuries, Barnitz returned to serve under the command of George A. Custer in the Shenandoah Valley and fought his last battle at Appomattox. He returned briefly to civilian life, but received a captain’s commission in the U.S. Army in 1866. The following year he married his second wife Jennie Platt, and they began their Great Plains adventure that included writing and saving a series of letters and journals which shed light on military and social life of the time.

During his military career, Barnitz served at several frontier forts, including Leavenworth, Riley, and Harker. His wife Jennie joined him at several of these postings. When they weren’t together, they wrote one another regularly. Albert also kept a journal of his experiences over decades. Fortunately for posterity, they saved these documents.

Through these letters and journals, readers can time travel to the years 1866 – 1869 on the Plains. Robert Utley collected and edited them into the book Life in Custer’s 7th Cavalry. Barnitz and Jennie write about military experiences, life on the prairie, Hancock’s failed expedition, a battle with Indians at Fort Wallace, Camp Alfred Gibbs (near the town of Ellis, Kansas), and Jennie surviving a flash flood at the site of the first Fort Hays.

Of interest to history buffs, Albert and Jennie’s letters reveal personal information about the Custers, Colonel Alfred Gibbs, Major Joel Elliott, Miles Keogh, and other famous colleagues. Through this couple’s running commentary, readers see these historical personages as real people with their strengths and frailties. In addition, readers see the evolution of Barnitz’s attitudes about these individuals and realize Captain Barnitz and Jennie’s opinions weren’t static. This couple’s correspondence must’ve engaged Robert Utley completely as he studied their decades of text.

Their letters reveal Albert and Jennie’s love story, his desire to be a good officer, and his disgust with fellow officers who drank too much or abused their troops. Interested in nature, he provides excellent accounts of wildlife, plants, and weather in this region as well.

Because Barnitz had the observational and writing skills of a poet, he thoroughly recorded the essence of military life during one of the frontier’s most active periods, providing a time machine-like glimpse into a vanished era. Life in Custer’s Cavalry is more than communication between a man and woman. It’s an invitation to visit their world.

Native Kansan Karen Madorin is a local writer and retired teacher who loves sharing stories about places, people, critters, plants, food, and history of the High Plains.

By RON WILSON
Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development

Is there an electronic piano keyboard gathering dust at your house? I‘m afraid there is at mine. We don’t seem to find much time to use it. Today, we’ll learn about a high school music teacher who is helping students with their keyboard skills. In doing so, he’s building on the tradition of one of the world’s most famous musical instructors. She came from this very same hometown.

Last week we learned about Dorothy DeLay, one of the world’s most famous violin teachers. Miss DeLay graduated from Neodesha High School in 1933.

Ray Essington is the music teacher at Neodesha today. He grew up at Council Grove. Ray got a bachelor’s degree in music at KU, taught in Arkansas and then earned his master’s in music education at Kansas State.

Ray’s first Kansas school music teaching job was at Thayer, a rural community of 497 people. Now, that’s rural.

He then moved to Neodesha to become vocal music director for the middle school and high school. Here he met and married his wife, Ghendi.

Through the years, one trend he noticed was the reduced number of private piano teachers. Such teachers used to be quite common everywhere. When Neodesha High School changed from a block schedule to an eight-hour day, Ray got permission to start a piano class.

“I was convinced that parents had bought their kids keyboards which were sitting at home gathering dust,” Ray said. “(Musical keyboarding) is becoming a lost art,” he said. “With the support of the school district and the counselors, we were able to start a piano class.”

The class was held in the high school choir room. “We pull out four big tables with Yamaha keyboards and this becomes the piano lab,” Ray said. “We have the smaller 61-keyboards as well as the full size 88 key boards,” he said. This helps students learn the piano and perhaps to use keyboards which they might have at home.

Meanwhile, Ray had been somewhat aware of the name of Dorothy DeLay. Just before Ray came, Neodesha High School had honored Miss DeLay with one of its alumni awards. Then Ray remembered that his high school principal at Council Grove was named Dennis DeLay. Was it possible that there was a connection?

Sure enough, there was. Dorothy DeLay was the principal’s cousin. Ray’s principal had grown up at Yates Center, where the name of the principal’s father – Calvin DeLay – is on the old school stadium.

The more Ray learned about Dorothy DeLay, the more interested he became. The fact that she was one of the world’s most noted violin teachers and had graduated from Neodesha High School made it especially interesting.

“I got in touch with Dorothy DeLay’s daughter Alison,” Ray said. “We went to Boston for three days and she let me go through her keepsakes. It was awesome to see things like the picture of President Clinton presenting her with the National Medal of the Arts.”

It further inspired Ray to do more to honor Dorothy DeLay back home in Neodesha. He founded the Dorothy DeLay String Academy to teach violin to his students. It started as a volunteer program after school two years ago and is now part of the federally-funded after-school program. Twenty-one elementary school students, including Ray’s daughter, are part of the Dorothy DeLay String Academy today.

“The house Dorothy DeLay grew up in still stands here in Neodesha,” Ray said. “I would love to see it become a museum.”

Ray Essington is retiring from teaching in May 2018. “I plan to build a shadow-box display of Miss DeLay’s artifacts which will go in the foyer of the school auditorium,” he said. Through his creative use of keyboards and his string academy, he is building the musical capacity of his students.

Do you have an electronic keyboard at your house gathering dust? I do. We salute Ray Essington for making a difference with his creative teaching of piano keyboards and his efforts to build on the history of Dorothy DeLay. I think such creative teaching methods are key.