Ron Wilson is director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.
By RON WILSON Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development
Friendship and food. That’s what a person can expect to find in a special restaurant and bakery in a pretty small town setting in a northeast Kansas community. This enterprise has also significantly expanded its catering business in the region.
Mike Pray and Jake Trummer are co-owners of the Friendship House in Wamego, Kansas. The rich history of this eating establishment goes back to the 1980s.
In 1988, an old Dutch windmill was relocated into Wamego’s City Park and used as a site to grind flour. The production of the stone-ground wheat flour gave birth to an idea: Why not bake the flour into a finished product for Wamego’s visitors and residents? Three Wamego women purchased a house adjoining the city park to establish such a place.
Rosemary Crilly, Barbara Meinhardt, and Kathy Freeze went together to establish this business. Those three women named it Friendship House. “They were just looking for a friendly place to get together for a cup of coffee and a roll,” Mike Pray said. Baked goods and tasty lunches were the key elements of their offerings.
After 11 years, the restaurant was purchased by the Feyh family which operated it for another nine years. As the Feyhs neared retirement, they announced that the Friendship House would close if no one purchased it. Mike and Margo Pray bought it in 2008.
Mike had traveled the world in an Air Force family. He came back to the Wamego area where his grandparents lived, went to K-State, and worked in the fast food industry. After he bought the Friendship House, he was joined by Jake Trummer in 2009.
Jake had grown up in a big family at the rural community of Belvue, population 205 people. Now, that’s rural.
“We had a big garden and nine fruit trees,” Jake said. “I loved cooking and all aspects of food.” Jake worked in a butcher shop and then trained under a couple of chefs. Today he is head chef and part-owner with Mike of the Friendship House in Wamego.
“I fell in love with this little town,” Jake said. He and Mike have significantly expanded the business in the years since they began together.
Today, the Friendship House is open seven days a week for breakfast and lunch. A full homemade breakfast is available every day, with a brunch on Sundays from 11 to 2. On other days, the Friendship House is open till 3.
The goal continues to be “home cooking just like Grandma makes.” Baked goods are baked every day. This includes breads, cookies, bierocks, and delicious pastries. The menu includes soups, salads, sandwiches, gourmet burgers, daily specials, kids menu, and more.
A major change at the Friendship House has been the expansion of the catering business. “We are providing home-cooked food, prepared from scratch daily,” Jake said. “Not many caterers can provide dinner rolls that were baked fresh that day.”
The Friendship House got a contract to cater K-State football and basketball events, and is doing many more events of all kinds. In 2015, they converted the outside dining area into a catering kitchen to keep up with the demand. “When I started, catering was 5 to 10 percent of our revenue, and now it is 40 to 45 percent – while our overall revenue has grown much larger too,” Jake said.
“Wamego is a wonderful community,” Mike Pray said. “They do so many activities. The pyro crew that does the Fourth of July fireworks is amazing. Then there is the Oz Museum. I have pictures of me with the munchkins who come here for Oztoberfest.”
“People here really support you,” he said. “It’s like a family.”
Friendship and food. Those things and much more can be found at this remarkable eating establishment in Wamego. We salute Mike Pray, Jake Trummer, and all those involved with the Friendship House for making a difference with home-cooked food serving multiple communities. The goal continues to be fantastic food, fun friendships, and family feeling.
Harvey Richard “Dick” Adolph, 79, passed away peacefully in his sleep January 10, 2019, at his home in Colby.
Born June 10, 1939, in Milliken, Colo., Dick spent many childhood summers on a farm north of Levant. He eventually moved fulltime to Levant and attended Colby High School, graduating in 1958. On the farm he learned to fly and to drive fast.
Dick worked hard from an early age, and saved up to buy a new car at age 14. The car helped a few years later in 1958 when he met Julie Hess, a young woman who lived in Kansas City, Mo. One year and many road trips later, Dick and Julie married in Colby on September 1, 1959. They lived on the farm north of Levant. They later moved to Colby and lived there until 1972 when they moved to Topeka, so Dick could attend Washburn University. He received a Bachelor of Arts in Sociology. While attending school, Dick worked nights as a Licensed Mental Health Technician at the Menninger Foundation. He was also a member of National Guard.
After Dick’s education was complete, Dick and Julie moved back to Colby, where Dick farmed.
In retirement Dick pursued his passions of bowling with friends and gardening with Julie.
Dick was preceded in death by his Aunt Veda and husband Chet Moore, and granddaughter Candace (Adolph) Gay. Surviving are wife Julie, Colby; son Kerry and wife Kathi Adolph, Lawrence; daughter Jennifer and husband Ab Smith, Sharon Springs; daughter Kristin and husband Greg Issinghoff, Clovis, Calif; sister Jean Richers, Saint Francis, and five grandchildren.
A memorial service will be held at 1 p.m. on Monday, January 14, 2019 at Baalmann Mortuary in Colby. Burial will follow at Beulah Cemetery, Colby. Memorials are suggested to Citizens Medical Center, in care of Baalmann Mortuary, PO Box 391, Colby, KS 67701.
BARTON COUNTY — Law enforcement authorities are investigating a stabbing.
Timothy Chism -photo Great Bend policeChism photo Barton Co.
Just after 10p.m. Thursday, police were dispatched to 1120 Morton Street, in reference to a stabbing, according to a media release.
Upon officers’ arrival, a 19-year old female was contacted. The victim and other witnesses stated Timothy Chism, a 34-year old white male, cut her throat and he fled from the residence on foot.
The victim was transported to the hospital in Great Bend and was reported in stable condition.
Police issued an attempt to locate for Chism for Aggravated Battery and he was still at large late Friday morning, according to police.
Anyone with any information, please contact the Great Bend Police Department at (620) 793-4120 or Crime Stoppers at (620) 792-1300.
BARRON, Wis. (AP) — A 21-year-old man is jailed in the deaths of a Wisconsin couple he killed because he wanted to kidnap their teenage daughter, investigators said Friday, a day after the girl approached a stranger along a rural road saying she’d been abducted in October and held against her will.
Jake Patterson -photo Barron County, Wisconsin sheriff
Jake Thomas Patterson was taken into custody shortly after 13-year-old Jayme Closs sought help from a woman walking her dog in a rural, heavily wooded neighborhood near the small town of Gordon, about 60 miles north of Barron. Jayme disappeared from her family’s home in Barron when her parents were killed Oct. 15.
During a news conference Friday, Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said Jayme was taken against her will. The sheriff also said investigators don’t believe Patterson had any contact with the family.
Fitzgerald said investigators believe Patterson killed Jayme’s parents because he wanted to abduct her, and that Patterson “planned his actions and took many steps to hide his identity.”
Fitzgerald said investigators believe the girl was “the only target.”
A woman said she was walking her dog along a rural road Thursday afternoon when a disheveled teenage girl called out to her for help, quickly grabbed her and told her she was lost. Only then did the girl reveal her name.
Jeanne Nutter said Friday that Jayme told her she had walked away from a cabin where she’d been held captive, a cabin not far from Nutter’s home.
“I was terrified, but I didn’t want to show her that,” Nutter, a social worker who spent years working in child protection, told The Associated Press on Friday. “She just yelled please help me I don’t know where I am. I’m lost.”
Nutter said she didn’t want to bring Jayme to her nearby home because it was too close to where she’d been found, and she didn’t want them to be alone. She said: “My only thought was to get her to a safe place.”
The two went elsewhere in the neighborhood, to the home of Peter and Kristin Kasinskas. Jayme was skinny and dirty, wearing shoes too big for her feet, but appeared outwardly OK, the neighbors said.
“I honestly still think I’m dreaming right now. It was like I was seeing a ghost,” Peter Kasinskas told the Minneapolis Star Tribune. “My jaw just went to the floor.”
Image courtesy Barron Co. Wisconsin Sheriff
Jayme went missing after police discovered someone had broken into the family’s home outside Barron and fatally shot her parents, James and Denise Closs. Jayme was nowhere to be found. The Barron County Sheriff’s Department said the girl had likely been abducted.
Detectives pursued thousands of tips, watched dozens of surveillance videos and conducted numerous searches in the effort to find Jayme. Some tips led officials to recruit 2,000 volunteers for a massive ground search on Oct. 23, but it yielded no clues.
Barron County Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald said in Novemberthat he kept similar cases in the back of his mind as he worked to find Jayme, including the abduction of Elizabeth Smart, who was 14 when she was taken from her Salt Lake City home in 2002. She was rescued nine months later with the help of two witnesses who recognized her abductors from an “America’s Most Wanted” episode.
“I have a gut feeling she’s (Jayme’s) still alive,” Fitzgerald said at the time.
He was right.
During the 20 minutes Jayme was in their home, Peter and Kristin Kasinskas said they tried to make her feel more comfortable. They offered her water and food, but she declined both. Jayme was quiet, her emotions “pretty flat,” Peter Kasinskas said.
Jayme told the couple she didn’t know where she was or anything about Gordon. From what she told them, they believed she was there for most of her disappearance.
Gordon is about 40 miles (64.4 kilometers) south of Lake Superior and about 65 miles (104.6 kilometers) north of Barron, Jayme’s hometown. Gordon is home to about 645 people in a heavily forested region where logging is the top industry.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Office confirmed on its website that Jayme was found in the town at 4:43 p.m. Thursday, and that a suspect was taken into custody 11 minutes later.
Sue Allard, Jayme’s aunt, told the Star Tribune that she could barely express her joy after learning the news Thursday night.
“Praise the Lord,” Allard said between sobs. “It’s the news we’ve been waiting on for three months. I can’t wait to get my arms around her. I just can’t wait.”
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BARRON, Wis. (AP) — The Latest on authorities in Wisconsin finding 13-year-old Jayme Closs alive nearly three months after her parents were killed and she disappeared (all times local):
Image courtesy Barron Co. Wisconsin Sheriff
A Wisconsin couple is describing the dramatic moments when a neighbor pounded on their door to say she had stumbled across Jayme Closs, a 13-year-old girl who had been missing nearly three months.
Kristin and Peter Kasinskas say their neighbor had a skinny, dirty girl with matted hair standing next to her. The neighbor shouted, “This is Jayme Closs! Call 911!”
Peter Kasinskas tells the Minneapolis Star Tribune that Jayme was quiet and showed little emotion. He says she told them she didn’t know where she was or anything about Gordon, the small town near where she was found.
Jayme’s parents were killed in October at the family’s home near Barron and Jayme went missing. The place where she was found is a little more than an hour’s drive to the north.
Authorities say they have a suspect in custody and planned to release more information Friday.
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10:50 p.m.
A town official says a Wisconsin girl who turned up safe after being missing nearly three months was found in a small forested area of cabin-like homes about 6 miles east of the small Town of Gordon.
Jayme Closs was found Thursday afternoon in northwestern Wisconsin, about 65 miles north of where her parents were shot to death and Jayme vanished from their home in October.
Denny Kline, board chairman in the Town of Gordon, says he first learned Jayme was found while listening to a police scanner, which he has for work. He says he heard Jayme was walking down the road and someone stopped near her.
Kline says he heard on the scanner that Jayme told them who she was, and they brought her to their home.
The Associated Press was not able to verify Kline’s account with authorities late Thursday. The non-emergency line at the Douglas County Sheriff’s Office rang unanswered and Sheriff Thomas Dalbec didn’t respond to an email.
Authorities say a suspect is in custody but aren’t giving other details ahead of a Friday news conference.
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9:40 p.m.
Wisconsin authorities say a teenager missing since her parents were killed in October was found alive in a tiny town about 40 miles south of Lake Superior.
Thirteen-year-old Jayme Closs went missing Oct. 15 when her parents were found dead in the family’s home near Barron in northwestern Wisconsin. The Barron County Sheriff’s Department posted on its Facebook page Thursday evening that she had been found alive in Douglas County, Wisconsin, which borders Lake Superior.
The Douglas County Sheriff’s Department posted a note on its website saying Jayme was “located” in the Town of Gordon at 4:43 p.m. Thursday and a suspect was apprehended in the town about 10 minutes later. The note offered no other details. The department’s non-emergency line rang unanswered Thursday evening and Sheriff Thomas Dalbec didn’t immediately respond to an email.
The Town of Gordon lies about 65 miles north of Barron.
Jayme’s grandfather, Robert Naiberg, tells the Minneapolis Star Tribune that the teen was being treated at a hospital before being reunited with family.
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9 p.m.
A Wisconsin mayor says he’s overjoyed that a teenager missing since her parents were killed in October has been found alive
Thirteen-year-old Jayme Closs went missing Oct. 15, when her parents were found dead in the family’s home near Barron in northwestern Wisconsin. The Barron County Sheriff’s Department posted on its Facebook page Thursday evening that Jayme had been found alive in Douglas County, Wisconsin, which borders Lake Superior.
Authorities are planning a news conference Friday morning. They say they have a suspect in custody but won’t give more details until then.
Barron Mayor Ron Fladten says he hasn’t heard any details about Closs’ discovery. He says knowing she’s been found is “unbelievable. It’s like taking a big black cloud in the sky and getting rid of it and the sun comes out again.”
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8:55 p.m.
The cousin of a 13-year-old Wisconsin girl who was missing almost three months before being found safe Thursday is thanking law enforcement and the community for support.
Lacey Naiberg posted on Facebook after the Barron County sheriff reported that Jayme Closs had been found. Jayme went missing in October after her parents were killed at the family home in northern Wisconsin.
Naiberg wrote “there are no words to describe” the feeling of having so many people come together to help. She asks people to continue to pray for “Jayme’s well-being and our families healing.”
Authorities say a suspect is in custody, but say they won’t release any more information ahead of a news conference Friday.
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8:29 p.m.
Authorities in northwestern Wisconsin say a 13-year-old girl who went missing in October after her parents were killed has been found alive.
The Barron County Sheriff’s Department said on its Facebook page that Jayme Closs has been located Thursday and that a suspect was taken into custody.
Sheriff Chris Fitzgerald says the sheriff’s office in Douglas County, about 70 miles north of Barron County, located the girl. A suspect was apprehended a short time later. The statement did not say where Jayme was found or give any further information about the suspect.
The sheriff’s office plans to hold a news conference Friday morning to discuss the case.
Jayme Closs has been missing since her parents were found dead Oct. 15 at the family’s home near Barron.
SALINE COUNTY — A Kansas man critically injured in a January 5 accident in Saline County has died.
photos courtesy Saline County Sheriff’s Office
A 1998 Chevy S10 pickup driven by Craig McCombs, 37, rural Saline County, was westbound in the 6200 block of West State Street and North Hohneck west of Salina according to Saline County Sheriff Roger Soldan.
The driver who was ejected, sustained substantial injuries, including injuries to the head, Soldan said.
He was transported by EMS to Salina Regional Health Center and then flown to a Wichita hospital in critical condition and died Thursday, according to Soldan
A witness driving behind McCombs told deputies that he reported the accident within two minutes of it happening.
When deputies arrived approximately four minutes later, there was a small fire in the engine compartment of the pickup. The fire then spread, engulfing the pickup, Soldan said.
There was evidence of alcohol at the scene, according to Soldan.
RUSSELL COUNTY — An investigation that began at about 5 a.m. Friday in Russell County is now being investigated as an apparent suicide.
Law enforcement authorities initially believed the incident to be fatal hit-and-run accident.
But at approximately 1 p.m. Friday, the KHP said it was investigating the incident as an apparent suicide.
“Info will not be posted on the KHP Crash Logs,” Trooper Tod Hileman reported via social media. “We are investigating this incident as an apparent suicide, therefore I will not be releasing names at this point. Thank you all for your understanding.”
Ref. the incident this morning on I-70 at milepost 200 EB.
Info will not be posted on the KHP Crash Logs as earlier stated. We are investigating this incident as an apparent suicide, therefore I will not be releasing names at this point.
Donna Marie Nuttle, 94, passed away on January 9, 2019 at the Trego-Lempke Memorial Hospital in Wakeeney, Kansas. She was born on January 1, 1925 in McCracken, Kansas the daughter of Bud and Nellie (Stoskopf) Foster.
Graveside service will be on Monday, January 14, 2019, 2:00 P.M., at the Arnold Cemetery, Arnold, Kansas. Friends may call at Fitzgerald Funeral Home on Sunday, January 13, from 10:00 A.M. to 9:00 P.M. with the family present from 4:00 P.M. to 6:00 P.M.
What began as the dream of a unique visionary and philanthropist is now celebrating its 20th year.
Rolling Hills Zoo officials announced Thursday morning the zoo will have a year-long celebration in 2019 for its 20th anniversary.
More than 250 people were at the zoo on opening day (Oct. 27, 1999) to see the late Charlie Walker’s dream come to life. Today, more than 87,000 people visit RHZ annually. More than 68 percent of those people come from outside Saline County.
And while RHZ has changed over the past 20 years, Walker’s standard for excellence remains a guiding force in all that is done at RHZ, according to Robert Jenkins, RHZ executive director. That standard, Jenkins said, is “if you can’t do it right, don’t do it.”
Jenkins attributed RHZ becoming a top regional tourist attraction to Walker and his vision for building an outstanding facility, the quality of the staff, and the quality of the animals.
RHZ employees 40 full-time employees and 41 seasonal employees. It has five interns and 168 community volunteers. RHZ generates annually nearly $128,000 in payroll taxes and more than $70,000 in sales taxes. Additionally, RHZ spends more than $4 million each year on goods and services, with a majority of those expenditures recirculating in the local economy. In fact, since its beginning, RHZ has contributed to the economy more than $20 million in capital costs and more than $73 million in operating costs, a majority of which was spent locally.
The 20th celebration will include a special exhibit in the Earl Bane Gallery that will visually take visitors back to the creation of the zoo, Jenkins said. The exhibit will include interactive displays, a build-a-zoo Lego construction site for children, and a memory wall on which visitors can share their memories of RHZ, Jenkins said. The exhibit is scheduled to open in April.
Linda Henderson talks about the 20th-anniversary documentary.
A “Remember When” documentary, featuring the stories of those involved with the zoo throughout the years is scheduled to be out this spring and will be shared a variety of ways, according to Linda Henderson, RHZ director of development and marketing.
Additionally, RHZ will have monthly specials including the following.
January — 20-percent-off admission on Sundays
February — Take gently used towels and blankets to the zoo by February 10 and receive 20 percent off your Wild at Heart order.
March — 20 cent fountain drinks at the Overlook Restaurant during Sprint Break: GO WILD! March 9-17.
April — Receive 20 percent off all items from the Elephant’s Trunk Gift Shop on April 27, the opening day of the 20th-anniversary exhibit in the Earl Bane Gallery.
May — 20-percent-off admission on Memorial Day (May 27).
June — $2 foot-long hot dogs at the Overlook Restaurant on Father’s Day (June 16).
July — 20 percent off Dippin’ Dots at the Overlook Restaurant on Sundays in July.
August — Back to School Blast 20th Anniversary Celebration — half-price admission for everyone.
September — 20 percent off adult admission with a paid child’s admission on Grandparents Day (September 8)
October — 20th-anniversary celebration party on October 26.
November — 20 cent hot chocolate at the Overlook Restaurant on Saturdays in November
December — 20 percent off at the Elephant’s Trunk Gift Shop for sales more than $50 on Saturdays and Sundays through Christmas.
Two registered nurses at HaysMed were honored recently at a recognition ceremony and luncheon. They completed the yearlong RN Residency Program offered at HaysMed, part of The University of Kansas Health System.
The program began a year ago in February 2018 and the nurses spent the first three weeks in a classroom setting. The remainder of training focused on clinical experience, one on one mentorship with their preceptor, high-fidelity simulations and on the job training. Additionally, nurses received training from professionals in several departments, such as radiology, pharmacy, cardiac care, peri-op and others.
The RN Residency class included Brandell Hecker, RN, and Kristen Jones, RN.
The RN Residency Program at HaysMed is one of only two in the state and has been offered since 2008. Shari Hertel, RN, heads the program and has oversight of all the training. HaysMed also works closely with critical access hospitals in the region through a rural residency program to provide training to nurses practicing in the rural setting.
“It is so important for new nursing graduates to have a group of peers and mentors who assist them in enhancing their skills and becoming comfortable with the challenges of practice,” Hertel said. “Our program is evidence based, with positive clinical outcomes that will help not only the participating nurses, but also our patients.”
Currently there are 5 nurses scheduled in the next program which begins Feb. 5. The program is open to newly graduated RNs and RNs that have less than one year of acute care experience.
According to the Kansas Water Office, Kansas is officially free of drought for the first time since June 2017.
The U.S. Drought Monitor released the latest maps on Thursday, showing no drought conditions in Kansas.
“Abnormally dry conditions began appearing on the (June 13, 2017) map, and DI-Moderate Drought first appeared on the map (July 18, 2017). Since that time, until (Jan. 1, 2019), drought conditions had affected various portions of KS,” the Kansas Water Office said.
Click HERE for more from the U.S. Drought Monitor.
KANSAS CITY, Kan. (AP) — The operators of a Kansas water park where a 10-year-old boy was decapitated aren’t saying whether the attraction will open for the upcoming season.
Photo courtesy Schlitterbahn
Schlitterbahn spokeswoman Winter Prosapio said Friday in an email that the Texas-based company doesn’t have an announcement “at this time” about the park where Caleb Schwab died in 2016 on a 17 story-slide that was billed as the world’s largest.
Work began last year to dismantle the slide — called Verruckt. And prosecutors have charged several people, alleging that shoddy planning and maintenance led to Caleb’s death.
Season passes for 2019 for the Kansas City, Kansas, park aren’t available on Schlitterbahn’s website. But they are available at the company’s four Texas locations, which open for spring break. Prosapio says those locations are a “focus.”
