NEVADA T H E
M A G A Z I N E
Featuring Vernon County’s People and Towns
The Lady Who Makes Cheese THROUGH the
Kitchen Door
Neptunes’
Fun & Success Vol. #3 ISSUE 4
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2015
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Advocate for those with special needs, Gundy finds rewards Time with daughters and horses provides another outlet BY MICHELLE WORKMAN
After completing her college education out of town, Nevada native Jennifer Gundy began to invest herself in her community and continues to remain involved in numerous organizations and activities around town. After completing her undergraduate degree in psychology at Missouri Southern and her master’s degree in social work at the University of Kansas, Gundy began working for the department of mental health as well as working as a caseworker and therapist before becoming director of the local On My Own organization eight years ago. “I had always had a desire to do administrative-type work,” Gundy said, saying that is what first drew her to the non-profit organization. With On My Own, Gundy helps keep its programs running and also participates in legislative issues on the state level, having been appointed by the governor to the Missouri Quality Home Care Council to help with the union and recent legislation concerning services available to those with disabilities. Because of her commitment to help at the state level on top of her work in Nevada, Gundy said she spends much of her time in Jefferson City as an advocate. “That’s taken up a lot of my time,” Gundy said. Gundy also works locally with Healthy Nevada and the City of Nevada to make sure areas of town remain accessible to those who face physical challenges. “The city has been great to work with,” Gundy said. Just recently, On My Own put in a fully accessible garden with raised beds bordered by concrete to make it easily accessible. Because On My Own is a non-profit, Gundy said she helps organize fundraisers for the organization while also raising disability awareness. She is also involved in other areas of town such as through First Baptist Church, Celebrate Recovery, state boards and associations and as president of the Nevada Rotary Club. “I’m too busy, probably,” Gundy said, but added she enjoys the work she does and plans to remain involved. When she is not working in those different positions, Gundy said she remains involved in barrel racing, a hobby which she developed when she was a teenager. She grew up around horses and took classes in how to show horses, but transitioned to barrel racing when she turned 16 years old. When she got her driver’s license, she began attending rodeos. “I really enjoy barrel racing because I don’t have to think about work,” Gundy admits, saying it serves as a release away from her sometimes stressful responsibilities and an opportunity for her to spend time with her two teenage daughters, whom she trained herself. Gundy’s oldest daughter won her first barrel racing competition when she was just 5 years old, and Gundy said since then, her daughters have raised their own money needed to enter the competitions and have also started training their own horses, a task that saves 2 | NEVADA the MAGAZINE 2 | NEVADA the MAGAZINE
money but also requires diligence. “It builds character,” Gundy said of all the work and patience needed to train the horses. Currently Gundy and her daughters compete in a circuit competition a couple times a month, traveling around Missouri and even out of state. “It’s very rewarding, but it’s also very trying at times,” Gundy said of the investment the hobby requires. “It’s been good because we spend a lot of time together.” While they enjoy the hobby and the opportunity to participate in it together, Gundy said it can also bring stress, such as when her daughter had to retire the horse she had been riding since she was just 2 years old. She started anew with a young mare. She also reflected on the times when they had to spend hours trying to get their horses into their trailer. But Gundy said it also brings them closer together as they prepare for competitions. Gundy said she has had some horses that were better at barrel racing than others over the years. The one she uses now is not as fast as she would like, but noted she is currently working with a colt she won in a drawing at the state fair recently. “I have big plans for this colt,” Gundy said. “I’ve waited a really long time to have another good barrel horse.” While continuing to compete themselves in barrel racing, just recently Gundy and her oldest daughter had the opportunity to teach a group of girls at the rodeo Bible camp hosted by Riverside Cowboy Church this summer. Gundy said they look forward to meeting again with some of the girls who showed interest in learning more.
Parks and Rec Director serves Nevada through grant writing By Noah Jones The department of parks and recreation in Nevada is hard at work to create space among their 300 acres of land to give citizens something everyone can enjoy. Dana Redburn, director of parks and recreation, has multiple ongoing projects, but perhaps one of the most important projects, in terms of getting to the end of parks’ goals is grant writing. Redburn said she writes one major grant a year and several smaller grants in a year. The parks department just received a grant from the department of natural resources and that is to utilize scrap tire material and make them the rubberized mulch that goes around playgrounds. Redburn said because of community communication in the Governors walk, Nevada was given interactive playground and sidewalk that is compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act. Redburn sited the cost of this project at $6,000 but said the grant will cover 100 percent of this cost. “My staff will do a lot of the site preparation,” Redburn said. “Which will include pouring a concrete pad and reinstalling the equipment, which is no big deal —bolting it down to the surface. So there’s no real cost to the city. Last year, Redburn said her department purchased over 100 trees with help of a Trim grant from the department of conservation. “You put your kids out there, and it was just sun,” Redburn said. “While the trees are young, give them ten years, and that will be a really nice place. “If we can find those grants out there and I have the time to write for those grants, that’s the way to do it. Those grants are important.” Redburn said she consistently is looking at grants to write proposals for, but it is hard to find ones that work well with what the department is looking to fulfill with the community. “I try to write one big [grant] a year, Redburn said. If there is a smaller grant, I’ll write for it. I figure the more I write, the more experience it gives me and the better chance I have of getting it.” She said she uses a website she received after taking a course through Healthy Nevada. Redburn said she has a grant she has started working on from the department of transportation. This grant would help develop walking trails. “What I’ve found is when I start working on big grants, it often leads me to something smaller.” Redburn said, Most grants require a match. This means for every dollar the government spends, the department must match that money commitment. “I have to be very cautious about where that match is going to come from,” said Redburn. “For instance if there is a match for $20,000 dollars, I have to figure out where our $20,000 is going to come from. It’s kind of playing with those numbers, trying to figure out how to make them work. There is a lot of hard work to go into writing a grant.
Redburn said the process of writing a grant starts with research. Calling the entity and find out what they are looking for. “A lot of times you think you may have a fit, and it doesn’t work,” she said. “You’ve got to make sure you have all the qualifications and you have a project in mind.” After learning more about the grant’s qualifications, putting numbers together and presenting statistics and information in a way that moves Nevada’s case ahead of others. “You may have 1,000 people that you are competing against,” she said. The next step is writing the grant, figuring out labor hours, where matching funds are coming from and present the city of Nevada in a positive light. “We’re not just standing outside looking for free money,” she said. “[Nevada] will promote your company or your organization and this will be a partnership.” Redburn said it takes about three to five months to hear back from the grant funders. Redburn said she tries not to think about it during that time, but when she does hear back she has to present the grant to the committee to decide on weather or not to accept it. Redburn said she has to be willing to change and look toward the future. “Sitting in my position, you want to make sure that you are providing for the majority of the community. It’s not about me — not about what I want. It’s what people are going to participate (in).” Most of Redburn’s job is thinking about what the citizens want. “I have to look past my passions through my goals and look at what the majority of the community want.”
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FEATURES ADVOCATE FOR THOSE WITH SPECIAL NEEDS, GUNDY FINDS REWARDS Jennifer Gundy................................................... 2
PARKS & RECREATION Grant Writing..................................................... 3
THE LADY WHO MAKES CHEESE Amy Buckner....................................................... 6
THROUGH THE KITCHEN DOOR with Geneva Blurton.......................................... 8
NEPTUNES’ HEAD COACH
8
Karen Claypool................................................. 10
BIRTHRIGHT Safe Place for Expectant Mothers................. 12
HUMMINGBIRD HAVEN Cecil and Phyllis Caldwell.............................. 13
NEVADA SCENE Facetime in Nevada ....................................... 14
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THE COVER
NEVADA T H E
M A G A Z I N E
Featuring Vernon County’s People and Towns
10
The Lady Who Makes Cheese THROUGH the
Kitchen Door
Neptunes’
Fun & Success Vol. #3 ISSUE 4
m
2015
m
$3.99
Thomas Prewitt with the Nevada Neptunes takes to the water during the swim club team’s home meet. Photo by Noah Jones
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Amy Buckner — the Lady who Makes Cheese By Neoma Foreman
Mozzarella, cheddar and ricotta among the varieties “All varieties of cheese are the same. It is just the technique that makes it different. You use exactly the same ingredients, but it is all in the processing. Also, all cheese is originally white. It is the additives that make the color. We eat all white cheese at our farm.” Amy Buckner and her husband, Jeff, who live near Stockton, do not make cheese to sell, or for others, but they have a dairy and they like to utilize their own product for themselves. “We didn’t know anything about making cheese so we attended a two-day class in St. Louis. That surely didn’t make us professionals, but opened our eyes to the many different kinds of cheeses. “The teacher had gone all over the world making cheese and teaching how to make it. We learned so many fascinating facts about cheese, one of which blew me away. They add propionic shermanii powder to the cheese mixture. It adds no flavor at all, but makes the holes for Swiss cheese!” Cheese has been around for at least 8,000 years. According to ancient records passed down through the centuries, the first cheese probably curdled into being when some camel rider jogged along in the desert sun with an animal-stomach pouch of ewe’s milk slung over his shoulder. The rennet, or enzyme, in the lining of the pouch, combined with the heat of the sun, caused the milk to separate into curds and whey. The rennet is necessary for the production of cheese, and Amy purchases hers from stores. She purchases the citric acid culture at a store in Ozark, which sells cheese-making products. One name is mesophilic and the other is thermophilic. Since it is live, it grows. She processes the culture and then pours it into ice cube trays and keeps it in the freezer. That way she doesn’t have to keep buying culture. Amy’s husband made the molds and presses, which she said made them even more special. They bought their basic utensils at the store in Ozark. All of the pans and stirring equipment — even the thermometers — have to be stainless steel, as using aluminum will stain the cheese. She said they were careful what they purchased as you can invest a lot of money. “We haven’t had much luck with making cheeses that age, but we make cheddar, mozzarella, and our kid’s favorite, ricotta.” To make mozzarella, Amy uses about five gallons of their whole milk, but only makes one gallon at a time, as her pan won’t hold more. When she begins, the temperature of the raw milk fresh from the cow is about 90 degrees. She adds the citric acid culture. After adding the culture, she waits a few minutes and then adds the rennet, which will make the cheese firm. The milk is gradually warmed to 101 degrees. 6 | NEVADA the MAGAZINE 6 | NEVADA the MAGAZINE
Amy Buckner with her heart-shaped cheese mold.
Cheese mold made by her husband, Jeff, from PVC pipe.
A homemade mold fits into a homemade press.
The cheese press, which Jeff made, serves the purpose effectively. Amy uses a stainless steel ladle to stir the cheese in the big pan. She also uses it to dip the cheese into the colander.
She uses a gallon-sized pan to make a batch of cheese.
Amy shows a package of culture, which she buys and refrigerates until use.
Amy held up a stainless steel sieve. “When the milk hits 101 degrees, it immediately separates into cheese. I cut it into strings and then squares with my ladle and then pour it through this colander in which I have placed cheesecloth. “I wring out as much as I can. With mozzarella, it has to be heated to keep working out the whey so I put it in the microwave for about a minute. You can eat it right then, but it is hot like melted cheese. “We put it in the refrigerator and cool it and then mold it. It takes only about 30 minutes and you have delicious cheese ready to eat.” For one gallon of milk, you get about 1 to 1 ¼ pounds of cheese. They have four gallons of whey left over from the five gallons of milk. Since they end up with an abundance of whey, they have discovered it is a natural fertilizer and have purchased a sprayer they can use to spray it on their garden and flowers. However, their favorite way of using the leftover whey is when Amy makes their children’s favorite cheese, ricotta. She heats the whey to 165 degrees and adds 1 cup of vinegar. It immediately makes curds. As soon as the curds and whey separate, she turns off the heat and allows it to sit undisturbed for about 10 minutes. She carefully ladles the curds into the colander and lets the whey go out for 20 to 30 minutes. “You can press it and it won’t melt like the cheese in the supermarket, and is not mushy. My kids take pressed ricotta, slice, roll in milk and egg, and press into breadcrumbs. Then they bake it for 10 minutes at 425 degrees. They love it.” The Buckners said they feel they make a superior product to what you can purchase because they do not use preservatives, and they save money by making their own cheese.
Amy uses a special kind of cheesecloth to put in the sieve to drain the whey. NEVADA the MAGAZINE | 7 NEVADA the MAGAZINE | 7
Garden, orchard provides bountiful variety for Geneva Blurton Vegetables come from heirloom plants
Through the
KITCHEN DOOR . . . Martha Meinsen Scott
...and into the kitchen of
Geneva Blurton Visiting with Geneva Blurton is like visiting the pages of “Country Living” magazine. Her country farmhouse, country gardens and “country” food exude the charm of that magazine. Not a Nevada native, Geneva grew up in Coffeyville, Kan., and moved to Fort Scott to go to nursing school, where she met her husband. Upon graduation, they traveled almost a year, working as nurses in both California and Washington State. But when it came time to start a family, they wanted to “come back home.” Home now is a new “old” farmhouse on 38 plus acres near Milo. Geneva now works as a PRN at both Mercy in Fort Scott, where her dad, David Goodyear, works, and at Nevada Regional Medical Center, while her husband Jacob is a nurse for Med Flight of Nevada. They have two girls, Eleanor and Harper. She learned to cook growing up. Her mom, Gretchen Goodyear, is a great cook and her grandmother is as well as her aunt, she said. She grew up appreciating good food. And growing up, mealtimes meant eating at home, for often the budget would not allow meals out, she recalled. Although most of their acreage is woods, there is a garden. In the summer, the family eats from the garden — lots of seasonal things. They also enjoy lots of pasta. Husband Jacob grills a lot. In fact, he is adding an outdoor kitchen on their property, she said. Even with all the fresh summer vegetables, Geneva doesn’t spend much time canning or freezing produce, although she does sun dry tomatoes and does store them in the freezer, she said. Her garden is a regular vegetable garden. However, the plants are heirloom varieties. She prefers those, especially the heirloom tomatoes. In addition to vegetables, she also grows flowers. There is an orchard that they are establishing on the property, which has peach, cherry, apple and pear trees. A bed of blueberries produced enough this year, she said, to pro-
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vide nice handfuls to munch on when they were out in the garden. “The girls,” she said, “especially liked munching on the blueberries.” Geneva doesn’t watch Food Network, for the family doesn’t own a television. But she does subscribe to “Bon Appetit” and “Eating Well” and a lot of her recipes come from there as well as “Country Living” and “Midwest Living” magazines. Although she doesn’t watch celebrity cooks on television, she does like Ree Drummond, the Pioneer Woman, for she uses ingredients that you can find in small town America, she said. “My cousin Marjorie is my favorite ‘celebrity’ chef,” Geneva said with a laugh. “Recipes are just a guide, unless I’m baking.” She loves to cook and she “likes” to bake, she said. She has a three-ring binder filled with recipes that she has cut out and she said she “collects recipes” rather than cookbooks. Her garden produces more flowers and vegetables and herbs than the family can use and so with her garden surplus (from both the flower and vegetable gardens), plus eggs from the neighbor, granola that she makes, and batches of what she calls “The Best Ever Chocolate Chip Cookie,” she has a booth at the Nevada Farmers’ Market. She calls her stand “Homegrown Farm and Flowers.” As to the chocolate chip cookie recipe, she won’t budge on giving that out. It’s her own recipe that she’s developed and she sells out every Saturday. “Sometimes as early as 9 a.m.,” she said. Geneva tries to grow organic in her garden, preferring not to use chemicals to control bugs and she likes the idea of knowing where her food comes from which is why she buys her beef from her neighbor and why the family eats a lot of venison as well. Geneva uses venison interchangeably with ground beef. And they usually have a good supply of venison in the freezer because both she and her husband hunt deer every year with bow and arrow, she said. Her favorite foods include pasta, fresh pesto, shrimp scampi, lasagna and homemade grilled pizza. She said she does like to eat out when she’s in the city. Her cousin is a chef at Beer Kitchen so they frequently eat there. The family enjoys Bristol for seafood and Lidia’s for pasta, she noted. Her garden of flowers and vegetables also include herbs and she said she loves using the herbs from that garden in family meals. One of her favorites is butternut squash ravioli with sage butter and toasted walnuts. She uses that same sage butter on roasted new potatoes that she roasts with rosemary and garlic. Geneva is sharing a recipe for Skillet Biscuits with Berries (and Rhubarb), a family favorite in late spring.
SKILLET BISCUITS WITH BERRIES (AND RHUBARB) 1 1/4 c. flour 2 T. brown sugar 1 1/2 t. baking powder `1/2 t. alt 1 1/2 sticks cold butter, cut into 1/4 inch pieces 1/3 c. half and half 1/2 c. sugar (ore more to taste) 3 cups rhubarb, sliced* 3 c. strawberries, sliced* Zest from 1 lemon 1 t. pure vanilla Turbinada sugar (for sprinkling) In large bowl, combine flour, brown sugar, baking powder, and salt. Using a pastry blender, cut in butter, until the mixture resembles coarse meal. Add half and half and stir until dough is evenly moistened (do not overwork). Using a large spoon or ice cream scoop, scoop dough into 8 loose mounds and place on cookie sheet (line with parchment paper for easy clean up). Preheat broiler — place an oven rack 6 inches from heat. In a large, deep cast iron skillet, combine sugar with rhubarb and strawberries, lemon zest and vanilla and 1 cup of water. Bring to a boil. Reduce heat and simmer, stirring occasionally until rhubarb and berries are broken down and juicy — about 10 to 15 minutes. Arrange dough mounds on top of fruit. Cover and simmer on stovetop over low heat until biscuits are springy to the touch and cooked through — 15 to 20 minutes. Sprinkle biscuit tops with turbaned sugar and broil for 4 to 6 minutes, rotating until biscuits are lightly browned on top. Serve with whipped cream or vanilla ice cream. Garnish with fresh mint and more fresh strawberries, if desired. HOMEMADE WHIPPED CREAM 1/2 c. heavy whipping cream 1/2 c. plain Greek yogurt 2 T. powdered sugar (more or less to taste) 1 t. pure vanilla Beat all ingredients with electric mixer until soft peaks form. Chill. Will keep in refrigerator up to 3 days. *May substitute any available seasonal fruit or berries
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Neptunes’
head coach preaches technique, mixes fun with success By Noah Jones
The Nevada Neptunes Swim Club is off to a strong start through six meets this season thanks to its training by head coach Karen Claypool. Claypool, 45, is in the midst of her 11th straight season at the helm of the swim club, and her 15th year total. The Neptunes swim team is comprised of about 80 youth from 4 years old to 18. Kids can swim “when ever they can move forward” in the water, Claypool said. “A lot of these kids are siblings,” Claypool said. “They’ve been dragged around to all of the meets watching the big kids, so they’re ready to go (at a younger age). Most kids start around age 5.” Claypool said the swim team is very competitive, and the youth need to be comfortable swimming. She holds a pre-season practice from April to the first of June at the Osage Prairie YMCA where she can see all the new hopefuls interested in the swim club and determine if they are ready for Neptune swimming. “This is a competitive swim team, so we’re not teaching floating and what not,” Claypool said. “If they are crying and holding on to the wall, then they probably are not ready for competitive swimming and should stay with lessons.” “It gives them an idea of what competitive swimming is all about — do you like to race, do you like to compete?” Claypool’s philosophy is technique. She said she feels like as long as technique is as good as possible, swimming with good form can beat size and strength. “I’ve learned I could have a super strong person and if his strokes are not as good as this little girl, this little girl can swim faster than him. If I can get the technique right, I can get a little girl to swim faster than a big strong guy like that,” Claypool said. “That’s huge.” .If a swimmer is not fast, Claypool said there is a reason. Using her cell phone to video record her athletes in the water, she is able to show the swimmers where their technique is going wrong. .“One of my swimmers was doing freestyle earlier, and her arm was too bent,” she said. “She was coming in and her elbow was too close to her head. I film it and show her, then draw [on the video] and they can see it. She fixed it like that and her speed was immediately better. .“If they are doing something incorrectly, I’d rather stop my kids than push through a hard set. If you push through a hard 10 | NEVADA the MAGAZINE
set, and you are doing something wrong, then you’ve basically wasted that set,” she said, noting muscle memory’s importance. The Neptunes compete against 13 teams in four . states. Claypool said her swimmers are better and faster in the water because they do the strokes correctly. “Coaches who scream, ‘Go’ and make their kids keep going — my swimmers are going to pass them. They may have done less yards during the week, but they are better swimmers so they’re going to win,” she said. “You can always fix technique.” .According to Claypool, you either love swimming or you hate it, and you have to love it with all the practicing it takes to be proficient. .Claypool is aware of the demand she has for her students, and she knows that it takes a lot of hard work to help her athletes develop into strong swimmers. “Swimming’s hard work,” Claypool said. “These kids swim 10 hours a week at practice, 25,000 yards a week. That’s a lot of swimming.” Claypool wants to have fun with her athletes. She said she likes to play games with her team members to keep their swimming passions ongoing. .The Neptunes have Fun Friday every week, where coaches and athletes play games together to help the athletes bond together. .“ This is a lot of drudgery for a little kid. They don’t get to sleep in like the rest of the town, and they have a meet every weekend. I’m firm; I’m a tough coach. I’m also fun, and if I don’t keep it fun, you’ll lose them. They’ll sleep in or go to baseball or something.” .Claypool started swimming competitively when she was 4 and kept swimming until she was 21 years old. She went to college at Kansas University and William Jewel, where she swam. She said she began coaching at 18. Her passion for developmental coaching and having fun with her athletes is paying off. Claypool said many of her kids stay until they graduate high school. She said she is able to coach and use her collegiate studies to benefit each. She studied occupational therapy in college and runs a pediatric occupational therapy business, Outreach Occupational Therapy. She works within school districts and with infants to 3 year olds who need help strengthening their muscles. .“It really compliments my swimming because usually, I am looking at their body positioning (for occupational therapy) figuring out why they can’t sit, and I can look at (Neptunes) swimming and understand why they aren’t swimming right,” Claypool said. “It’s pretty congruent. All day long I am looking at why a body can’t do something and trying to get it to work right. Either way, I’m doing the same thing. The difference is in their age and where they are supposed to be.” .Claypool’s love of swimming has lasted for 45 years, and she shows no signs of slowing down. “My husband says I have chlorine in my veins, I can smell a pool miles away,” She said. With a smile she added, “This is what I love to do.”
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Birthright provides safe place for expectant mothers Women’s vision born anew after initial effort closed
By Michelle Workman
Beginning in the 1980s, a crisis pregnancy center came to Vernon County, before it closed its doors in the early 2000s. Just two years ago, that service was once again made available to area women through Birthright of Nevada. After having been closed for under a decade, Rachel Middendorf decided to take steps to reopen the center, contacting Ruth Ann Painter, the current president of the board behind the center, in the spring of 2012. “She shared with my husband and myself her vision,” Painter said, saying she had been involved with similar centers in the past before moving to Nevada 11 years ago. “We were excited.” With a launch fundraiser and the organization of the board, Birthright of Nevada opened its doors to the public on May 6, 2013, and has been providing services to the women of the community since that time. Open three days a week, the local branch of the international organization offers a place for women in an unplanned or unwanted pregnancy to come for advice, pregnancy tests and support, when some may not have insurance, a job, transportation or even a home. Birthright is nondenominational and provides its free and confidential services to any woman, regardless of age, marital or economic status. “They have a situation where we at Birthright have resources to help them,” said Director Jill Sparks, who took over that position after Middendorf moved away. Sparks said they have helped about 250 women a year since reopening and are currently helping 26 expectant mothers, whom they contact weekly and provide necessary items for both before and after the baby is born. “I think it’s important to have someone to talk to,” Sparks said. Sparks said not only do they provide counseling and a reliable relationship for the expectant or new mothers, but they also promise confidentiality. Even board members such as Painter do not know the names of those who come to Birthright. “It’s a good place to come,” Sparks said. “It’s a safe place.” The non-profit center is funded by individual supporters as well as churches and other area organizations that donate finances as well as items the center needs.
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“It’s been a great blessing,” Painter said of the support they receive, such as funding from United Way, which has increased over the past couple of years. Other churches and groups, even from outside of Vernon County, also provide homemade gifts such as quilts, blankets and bags. A couple of times a year, Birthright holds its baby bottle boomerang campaign, when they distribute baby bottles to different churches, organizations and other members of the community, who fill them with change and return them to Birthright. Painter also said all positions at Birthright are filled by volunteers who receive no payment for their work, but are looking for an opportunity to help the women of the community. Painter added they could always use assistance from other volunteers who could offer even just a few hours each week. “It’s not very big,” Sparks said of their location at the corner of Cedar and Hunter near downtown Nevada. “But some days we’re swamped.” Sparks said each volunteer must read the charter of the organization to make sure they agree with their purpose and belief that every woman has the right to “give birth to her child in dignity,” while each baby has the right to be born. “It’s very rewarding to volunteer,” Sparks said. “And I think it’s a great way to serve the community.” Birthright also accepts both monetary and other donations in the form of maternity clothes, baby clothes, bags, towels and toys. Sparks said they are constantly in need of diapers and wipes, so they can provide those to new or expectant mothers who come to them for assistance. Because they are a non-profit and tax-exempt organization, all donations are tax deductible and donations of $100 or more receive a 50 percent Missouri Tax Credit. Those interested in that credit must inform Birthright of that intention and fill out the appropriate paperwork. Birthright is open Monday, Wednesday and Friday each week, from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Caldwells offer Hummingbird Haven Husband and wife team offer sweet nectar for birds By Neoma Foreman
At Right: Cecil Caldwell at his home northeast of Nevada tells how to enjoy feeding hummingbirds. At Left: The fast-flying jewels haven’t time to pose for photos.
Cecil and Phyllis Caldwell have created a hummingbird haven on their farm northeast of Nevada. “We put out one to two gallons of our homemade syrup daily from April to September,” Cecil said. “And they come in droves.” “Yes,” Phyllis agreed. “Ten pounds of sugar doesn’t last long around here. We make our syrup from four parts of water to 1 part of sugar.” “We only add red food coloring to help us see the level of the feed in the feeder,” Cecil added. Since the Caldwells maintain five hummingbird feeders, it keeps them busy. When their children grew up and left home, they turned part of the swing set into a hummingbird feeder holder. The iron bars serve a dual purpose as they keep orange halves and grape jelly out for the Baltimore Oriole. “But it’s so much fun,” Phyllis said with a laugh. “What’s really funny is when Cecil feeds them — and he does almost all of the filling of the feeders — the birds flock around and over him. They do not have a lot of patience and wait in line by double-decking!” Phyllis and Cecil have four feeders on the west side of their house just outside their dining room window. They enjoy watching the birds chow down at their feeders while they eat their meals, also. “We always know when the feeders are running low,” Cecil said, “because they swarm to the feeder on the east side of the house. The birds at that feeder are pretty protective of their territory, but they can’t fight off the horde and we know to refill them all.”
The Caldwells have tried almost every kind of feeder, but what they have now are their very favorite. All are glass, none are plastic. The latest Phyllis purchased has a dome to try and help keep the water out of the feed. They haven’t decided if that has helped or not, with all the rain this year. “I know it seems against nature,” Cecil said, “but when it rains, the feeder fills with water even though there are just tiny places for it to get into. We have to toss it all out and start over after a big rain. Another thing, we can always tell when a storm is coming as they (the birds) really gather in and eat. ” Since it was a clear sunny day, there were not nearly as many hummers in to eat. They hang the feeders high so the cats can’t bother them. The birds scatter when the dogs run through, but soon regroup. The hummingbird is the smallest bird in the world. The humming sound made by its wings gives the hummingbird its name. Most of the flying jewels weigh no more than an 1/8 of an ounce. However, the bird’s wing muscles are very large and account for 25 to 30 percent of its entire body weight. Those wings beat about 53 times per second and can fly up to 27 mph, according to birding statistics. Even though insects are an important part of the hummingbirds’ diet, they must consume half their weight in sugar each day. Even though the Caldwells have flowers everywhere, they are helping the birds by providing sugar water. A hummingbird needs about 155,000 calories a day to lead its ordinary life. A man’s actual daily energy output requires about 3,500
calories. If we convert these figures to food intake, the results are amazing. A normal man will consume 2 to 2 ½ pounds of food daily. If his energy output were that of a hummingbird, he would have to consume 285 pounds of hamburgers, or 370 pounds of boiled potatoes. The ruby-throated hummingbird is the only kind we have in Missouri and packs a lot in a little package, according to various studies. The male has a bright red throat while the female has a white throat. Both male and female have brilliant metallic green feathers on the upper parts of their bodies. The hummingbird’s nest is as tiny and dainty as the bird itself. The whole bird home is not much bigger than a thimble. The mother lays two navy bean-sized white eggs, which hatch in two weeks. The baby hummingbirds have no feathers and cannot see. By the time two or three weeks have passed, they are fully feathered and can leave their nest. More than 400 kinds of hummingbirds are known, but only 10 kinds live in the United States, according to various birding websites. You can invite the busy birds to your yard by planting flowers and bushes in your garden to attract them. Some are bee balm, begonia, dianthus, petunia, and zinnia. The hummingbirds particularly like trumpet honeysuckle. Both Cecil and Phyllis agree that feeding hummingbirds is a commitment, but an enjoyable one. Cecil said, “The little birds are small and weak when they first come around in the spring from wherever they spent the winter in the south. It’s a joy to watch them thrive.” NEVADA the MAGAZINE
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Drs. Glenn and Judy Rogers get hugs and greetings from well-wishers on their retirement. Dr. Judy Rogers was recognized for her service as the 11th Cottey College president at a celebration honoring their service to the college and community. College and community members, along with members of the P.E.O. Sisterhood, were on hand for the event, which took place in the Haidee and Allen Wild Center for the Arts.
Lori Thorp and Dawn Arens take time out for their work with the Young Authors Conference.
Franci Pettibon, Mina Query, and Erin Morris with the Young Authors event.
Willow Morgan and Isaac Hargrove were among the students who took part in the annual Bryan Carnival as students and parents enjoyed a variety of activities, including a bounce house, sand art, bowling, face painting, ring toss, silent auction, raffle baskets, entertainment, concessions, and the performances of comedian and ventriloquist Kevin Horner.
Cindy Neely, co-coordinator of the Young Authors Conference, author Judy Young, author/illustrator Brad Sneed, and Fran Furry, co-coordinator for the YAC, enjoy a moment during this year’s event. 14 | NEVADA the MAGAZINE
Young Authors Conference teachers Kendra Byers, Dawn Arens, and Jackie Shadden share a lighthearted moment.
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