Discover Eudora | fall/winter 2021 by Sunflower Publishing

FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 1

Adventure is Back The Return of the Great Kaw Adventure Race (and why that is good news for Eudora)

Eudora Schools'

Expanded

Meal Power Meet & Greet

Local Biz

Leaders Jeff Burey’s Global

and

Local Golf

Youcare careabout about the the future. future. II care You careabout aboutyou. you. Mycommitment commitmentto toyou you and and to to our our community community isis not My notchanging. changing.I Iremain remain focused on providing the service you need during these uncertain times. focused on providing the service you need during these uncertain times. I’m just a phone call or email away. I’m just a phone call or email away. Anthony Brown Anthony Brown 101 W. 10th St., Ste. A 101 W. 10th St., Ste. A Eudora, KS Eudora, KS 785.615.0516 785.615.0516 AnthonyBrown.fbfsagents.com AnthonyBrown.fbfsagents.com

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D I SCOVE R

EUDORA a community guide.

FALL/WINTER ’21

Discover Eudora is an official publication of the City of Eudora, the Eudora School District and the Eudora Chamber of Commerce, with editorial, design and advertising placement provided by Sunflower Publishing.

City Liaison Chamber Liaison School District Liaison Editor Art Director Copy Editor Advertising Photographers Writers

Director Karen Boyer President Jannell Lorenz

cityofeudoraks.gov Mayor Tim Reazin City Manager Barack Matite

Kevyn Gero Karen Boyer Mark Dodge Nathan Pettengill Alex Tatro Leslie Andres Angie Taylor Jason Dailey Bill Stephens Cindy Higgins Seth Jones

eudoraschools.org School District Superintendent Stu Moeckel

sunflowerpub.com Director Bob Cucciniello Publisher Bill Uhler All material and photographs copyright Sunflower Publishing, 2021. For editorial queries: Nathan Pettengill (785) 832-7287 npettengill@sunflowerpub.com

in this issue departments. 04

Meet and Greet with Chris Gillespie

Meet and Greet with Jacqueline and Matthew Long

Breakfast and Lunch, for All Eudora school cafeterias provide free breakfasts and lunches for all students as part of evolving, post-pandemic changes

GKAR-V Part athletic feat, part adventure challenge, part trivia contest, and part block party, GKAR—or the Great Kaw Adventure Race—looks to return this September for its fifth running

The New Eudora Strippers A few decades after Eudora was founded, several residents—from physicians to the “watermelon man”— rushed south to claim land in the Oklahoma Territory

feature. 20

A Storybook Life Jeff Burey writes a charity memoir about playing the world’s courses and bringing his golf bag to Eudora

in every issue. 15

Calendar of Events

Chamber of Commerce Member Directory

Quick Guide FA L L / W I N T E R 2 0 2 1

For advertising queries: Angie Taylor (785) 832-7236

Adventure is Back The Return of the Great Kaw Adventure Race (and why that is good news for Eudora)

ataylor@sunflowerpub.com

Eudora Schools'

Expanded Meal Power Me e t & G re e t

Local Biz

Leaders Jeff Burey’s Global

and

Local Golf

cityofeudoraks.gov

on the cover. A race team begins the river portion of the Great Kaw Adventure Race. Sunflower Publishing archive photo.

CHAMBER

cityofeudoraks.gov

Photograph by Bill Stephens

meet & greet with…

Chris Gillespie Owner of Cornerstone Custom Contractors, Cornerstone Storage, The Christopher-Michael, and Mulberry Agricultural Enterprises Incorporated

What was your first job?

I grew up in Eudora, got married at 16, took my GED, went to Lawrence in 1990, and started working full time in construction. Did dry wall for a little while, then trim-wall for a little while, then taught myself everything else. The internet is great for that now, but I didn’t have that back then!

You have been building houses in Eudora since 2001. What do you think will be the residential construction trends for Eudora in the next 20 years? There is talk about in-fill and more subdivisions. When I was a kid, there was always talk that Lawrence and Eudora would eventually meet, but that hasn’t happened. Now, residential development is planned to go east and out toward the school, so we’ll see. I think, for now, we’ll continue developing to the south.

Chris Gillespie stands in front of his new storage facility near K-10 in east Eudora.

What is something you like about doing business in Eudora?

This is where I grew up; this is where I want to be working. For this latest project, the storage units, I put the roads in with 8 inches of concrete that could hold the biggest fire truck you can imagine. I built and attached the roofs so that nothing can tear them off. There is an inch and a half lift around the whole building, so the doors go down an inch and a half below the unit and you would have to have an actual monsoon for any water to get into a unit. I’m building for the future; I’m building a business for my kids now.

cityofeudoraks.gov

What future developments do you expect for business construction? Well, I’m excited for the new development of Nottingham. This type of commercial development is good. I think Eudora could use a breakfast place, like a little waffle house. Some smaller specialty shops could do well in Eudora. But for construction, what we really need are trades. Nobody wants to do this work. To find a framer or a dry wall guy right now is really difficult. We lost a whole bunch of builders in 2008 with the housing crisis. Now, not just Eudora, but everywhere, needs skilled trades.

What is your advice to someone starting a new business in Eudora? Be prepared. Starting any new business is tough and, unfortunately, part of any business is going into debt.

Discover Eudora | Fall/Winter ’21

CHAMBER

cityofeudoraks.gov

Photograph by Jason Dailey

meet & greet with…

Jacqueline and Matthew Long Owners of Long Lasting Lighting & Landscaping

Where were you born, and when did you come to Eudora?

Matt was born in Springfield, Missouri, and Jacqueline was born in Hackensack, New Jersey. We moved to Eudora in July 2019 and are looking forward to opening our office in the near future at 924 Locust St Suite B & C. We have been completely renovating the inside of the building.

What has the pandemic taught you about doing business?

It has reminded us to give our praises to God for blessing us with the opportunity to continue our services during the pandemic and our continued prayers for all of those who lost their jobs.

What lessons for your business specifically are you taking away from the pandemic?

We are extremely blessed to be in the profession we are in. We have had the opportunity to continue offering services throughout this pandemic and have created a way that we can help our clients get the services they need by offering financing with low, affordable monthly payment options.

Complete the following sentences:

Many people think our profession is about lighting & landscaping, but actually it is much more about building trusting relationships with our clients as we listen to their needs, helping them find the right options for all of their outdoor projects. Our three pieces of advice for someone just starting out in my profession would be: maintain your integrity, listen to clients’ needs, and never cut corners.

Discover Eudora | Fall/Winter ’21

Matthew Long (in orange work shirt) directs his crews in setting up Eudora's Downtown Holiday Lights display.

What do you like about owning and running a family business?

When we started our business in 2016, our oldest child started alongside with us. Since then, Nicodemus (21), Sequoia (17), Sebastian (9), and even Demetrius (6) all have had their hands in building our family business.

cityofeudoraks.gov

SCHOOL

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Story by Nathan Pettengill Photography by Bill Stephens

Breakfast and Lunch, for All Eudora school cafeterias provide free breakfasts and lunches for all students as part of evolving, post-pandemic changes

t’s salad bar time at the Eudora Middle School cafeteria. An oversized bin of the surprise popular item—steamed carrots—leads off the choices that include broccoli, bell peppers, chickpeas, grape tomatoes and more. “We’ve noticed the kids really going for the fruit and vegetable bars. Of course, pizza is the main meal that never gets refused, but we’re also introducing some dishes like a chicken Alfredo and a chicken fajita,” says Robert Wood, food and nutrition director for Eudora Public Schools. Wood, who is still in his first full year in his post, brings a background in the restaurant and catering industry. He has worked in the kitchens of Free State Brewery, headed up meal programs at the University of Kansas’ Hilltop Childhood Development Center, and worked for a contract meal company to supervise a three-state region that included Kansas. So he knows Midwest cuisine and

cityofeudoraks.gov

local taste, where it is and where it is going. And he’s worked in the past to expand school menus to introduce dishes that became popular such as a variety of Indian cuisine, Swedish meatballs and breaded catfish. But even with that experience, some things baffle him. “Bagels,” he says with a shake of his head, “I’m told they used to serve them and the kids never ate them. Who doesn’t like bagels?” Standing in the kitchen of the cafeteria—now spotless after the day’s preparations—Wood outlines a few of the menu changes he would like to introduce, but for the most part his and his staff’s mission remains providing quality dishes that expand students’ tastes. “I hear that kids won’t eat something or another, but I think we should reverse the script and say, ‘Try it, you might like it.’”

Discover Eudora | Fall/Winter ’21

SCHOOL

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Perhaps this year, students will be open to trying new tastes. After all, so much has changed in their daily lives since the pandemic, and so much has changed for the federal agencies, local educators and volunteers ensuring that Eudora’s students have access to nutritious and appetizing meals.

The Pandemic Response For many years, Eudora school lunches have been served under a tiered price system of free, reduced cost and full cost. This was a standard method followed by most American public schools and supported by the United States Department of Agriculture’s National School Lunch Program. But, the pandemic upended this approach.

When schools shut down in March 2020, the Eudora Schools food service staff tapped a federal program to provide no-cost pick-up meals for students and families. Once the school year finished, community members rallied to address food insecurity during the summer. From June to August, the school district worked with volunteer organizations and churches, accessing $15,000 in grants from the Kansas Health Foundation and the Douglas County Community Foundation to provide five free lunch meals each week through the Feeding Eudora program. Some of this grant money was also used to provide fresh produce from area farms to families free of charge every Wednesday; a partnership with

Discover Eudora | Fall/Winter ’21

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SCHOOL

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Harvesters International provided an additional daily meal that students could bring home to their families. Shanda Hurla, who helped with many of these programs in her role as executive director of the Eudora Schools Foundation, describes the community response as generous and necessary. “There was a huge spirit of giving and wanting to help out,” says Hurla. “People wanted to help their community members.” Once the 2020–2021 school year began, federal programs were in place to provide schools with compensation for free breakfasts and lunches to students, programs renewed for 2021–2022. In Eudora, the schools also set up on-site food pantries so that students could access snack foods and bring meals home to their families if necessary. Counselors became increasingly proactive in helping families affected by the pandemic connect with programs and resources. While the first devastating wave of the pandemic has passed, its effect of increasing schools’ roles as nutrition and resource centers has remained. “The pandemic definitely changed things,” says Hurla. “And I think one change is that families are

cityofeudoraks.gov

COVID-19

VACCINATED

Discover Eudora | Fall/Winter ’21

THERE’S NO PLACE LIKE

HOMESTEAD OF EUDORA

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SCHOOL

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looking more and more to school districts to help them navigate some of those resources that they may not know are out there or available in our county.”

The Lunch Trays Back in the kitchen of Eudora Middle School, Robert Wood says he and his staff continue to be affected by the fallout of the pandemic. On the positive side, the new guaranteed federal reimbursements eliminate some paperwork for the food staff and increase funding for the district meal programs. But there are other difficulties, ones dogging any kitchen or restaurant in the region. “My kitchens are really good at what they do, so the preparation isn’t the problem. We’re actually having problems with the supply chain,” Wood says, pointing to powdered milk as an example. “All my schools ordered powdered milk because we bake our own buns and rolls, and we use it for recipes because it is cheaper than bulk milk. But it won’t be in the warehouse until the end of the month.” Wood notes that, in response, some federal regulations have eased to allow substitutions when needed. For example, if he cannot get full-grain tortillas delivered, he might be able to swap them out with white-flour tortillas. But, in general, Wood supports guidelines that enforce nutritious ingredients and the quality of meals now being provided at no cost to all Eudora students. “It’s been 15 years or so since a lot of the nutritional guidelines were put in place, and you are seeing more of an acceptance of this,” Wood says. “You are seeing middle school kids go through the lines and grabbing their vegetables. They might not eat all of them, but at least we can serve it to them and set an example for them. If we can change a couple of dietary habits over the years, then it is worth it. We all can eat better.”

Discover Eudora | Fall/Winter ’21

THE IMPORTANCE

OF THE HOUSEHOLD

ECONOMIC

SURVEY FORM With Eudora School District providing breakfast and lunch at no cost, families no longer need to fill out the Free and Reduced Meals application, which, in the past, determined eligibility for free and reduced-cost meals. But because the form also allowed school districts to apply for other federal funding based on district household income levels, school officials across the nation have turned to another form to obtain this information. In Eudora, school district officials are strongly requesting families to fill out the Household Economic Survey. This one-page form asks families to list their income and their students who attend Eudora public schools. With this information, the federal government will determine Eudora’s eligibility for various funding programs; the district has used this federal funding to support at-risk reading program staff and after-school assistance programs. The form has been sent out to home but can be filled out at any time by going online to the district website or plugging in the direct URL of https://bit.ly/491HES2021.

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CITY

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Story by Nathan Pettengill Photography by Sunflower Publishing and Katie Lewis, courtesy GKAR

GKAR-V Part athletic feat, part adventure challenge, part trivia contest, and part block party, GKAR—or the Great Kaw Adventure Race—looks to return this September for its fifth running

nswer quickly: Who’s the oldest resident of the Eudora Cemetery? What are three things in the Eudora Community Museum that come from the 1950s? What was the first year that GKAR was held? If you’re quick with your response, or if you at least have an idea of how to find these answers, then consider yourself already in fit condition for the Great Kaw Adventure Race, or at least for the trivia sections that don’t involve orienteering, running, cycling or paddling anywhere from 24 to 30 miles. If you aren’t familiar with adventure racing— and most people are not—the sport typically has competitors race over a course (at least part of which they have to discover or chart through maps and orienteering skills), usually with running, cycling and paddling segments, but also with challenge segments that could include anything from riding camels, climbing walls or—as in the case with GKAR in the past—archery stations and math problems. The events are both serious and quirky, and races similar to GKAR have taken off in recent years with the popularity of reality television shows documenting extreme versions of the contests. In Eudora, the Great Kaw Adventure Race began in 2015 (there’s an answer to one of your questions!) as a trial run with 7 two-person teams and a course that brought participants along the Kaw River and into De Soto on canoes, back through town on bicycles, and then orienteering around Eudora on foot. That course and approach held for the next few years as the race grew in popularity, peaking in 2017 with 54 teams (108 participants), drawn approximately in equal thirds from Eudora, Lawrence and the Kansas City region. “That year was probably the most volunteers we’ve ever had, around 40 people,” says Justin Eddings, the event director since its inception. That level of

cityofeudoraks.gov

Discover Eudora | Fall/Winter ’21

CITY

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support, Eddings believes, showed that GKAR was “definitely a Eudora event. We love welcoming people to Eudora, and we love getting them on the river because that is such a cool part of what Eudora is.” But the river has its own plans, and in 2019 the river decided to run high and at speeds too dangerous for racing. Eddings followed the advice of one of the partner groups, the Friends of the Kaw, and canceled the event. And then came the pandemic, forcing a 2020 cancellation. Now, Eddings and his volunteer organizers are looking to bring the event back to Eudora, to bring visitors, tourism dollars, excitement and racing adventure back for the official fifth running of GKAR. Ensuring the success of the 2021 race “is a pretty big deal,” says Eddings. “I feel like if we’re

going to recapture the magic, this is the moment.”

The 2021 Race As far as the racing portion goes, the 2021 GKAR on September 25 will be much the same as previous years. Participants will paddle down the Kaw until they arrive at the De Soto river access site, race their bikes back to Eudora, and then follow a set of directions and clues to navigate a path across the city on foot. Along the way, there will be surprise skill challenges. Eddings expects most racers to enroll and compete in teams of two, but he has added individual categories this year, both for the entire route and for portions of it. Regardless of how the participants compete, they will follow a similar course, starting near CPA Park at

Discover Eudora | Fall/Winter ’21

Ninth and Main streets at 9 a.m., and ending at this same location from noon to 1 p.m., with an award ceremony, musical performance and block party afterward. Planning the staggered start times, creating a formula for determining a winner based on race time and challenge points, and ensuring everyone’s safety are just a few of the many logistical arrangements Eddings and organizers have been going over in consultations with city authorities, medical and law enforcement officials from two counties, state game wardens, sponsors and volunteer organizations. It’s an enormous amount of time and resources for a single event, but tourism experts are confident the time spent planning this race is an investment that will pay off for both adventure enthusiasts and for Eudora.

cityofeudoraks.gov

“I’M HONORED TO BE SERVING THE COMMUNITY OF EUDORA. I LOOK FORWARD TO MEETING YOU AND YOUR FAMILY.”

DR. LOGAN

eudora dental 78 5-542- 2993 103 W . 10 t h ST E UDORA , KS 6 6025 DR. LOGAN MALLICOAT GENERAL DENTIST

CITY

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GKAR BASICS WHAT IS IT? The Great Kaw Adventure Race is a competitive race where participants will paddle down the Kaw River to De Soto, bike back to Eudora, and use a map to race around town to find check-in points. They will also have to stop at certain stations along the route to overcome challenges that might include math problems, trivia, scavenger hunts or something else innocuous but weird. The route will cover 24 to 30 miles, depending on how good the participant is at orienteering. WHEN IS IT? September 25; races start at 9 a.m. and 9:05 a.m.; award ceremony and postrace party begins at 2 p.m. WHERE IS IT? Races start and end at CPA Park (Ninth and Main), but participants will be all across town in an open-roads race; drivers are asked to be particularly cautious, courteous and aware of racers on this day. WHERE DO I SIGN UP TO RACE OR VOLUNTEER? Go online to greatkawadventurerace.com NO WAY AM I RACING, BUT WHERE IS THE BEST SPOT TO ENJOY WATCHING OTHERS EXHAUST THEMSELVES? Ninth and Main, CPA Park. Not only is this the starting and finishing line, but the racers will cross here several times. SO, WHO IS THE OLDEST RESIDENT OF THE EUDORA CEMETERY? According to historian Cindy Higgins, the first recorded burial in Eudora Cemetery was Georg Buttner, on May 28, 1858. But GKAR trivia questions can be intentionally tricky, so check the exact wording of the question you are given. AND THE THREE THINGS IN THE MUSEUM FROM THE 1950S? There are several items, but the quick fix is to bring three people born in the 1950s with you on the day of the race and have them walk right in with you. To the swift and clever belong the spoils, eh?

cityofeudoraks.gov

Justin Eddings and volunteers are preparing to bring the Great Kaw Adventure Race to Eudora's streets on September 25.

GKAR Tourism The river may be moody and the pandemic unpredictable, but GKAR organizers can count on one thing breaking their way—their model of drawing participants from surrounding regions. “After that initial jolt of shock from 9/11, we all eventually went back to travel, but we took shorter trips, closer to home,” says Jim Zaleski, president of the Tourism Industry Association of Kansas. “Now, after the pandemic, we are dealing with a similar aftermath. People are looking for shorter trips closer to home … and events like these that draw from the surrounding areas are great examples of what we call ‘one-tankful trips.’” While tourists coming into Eudora for GKAR do not typically stay overnight, that is not necessarily a drawback in a community without extensive overnight accommodations. What is important is that these onetankful race participants remain in town for the day and usually bring people with them. Eddings estimates that for every GKAR racer who arrives in Eudora, four others come to support them. That’s a number that Bridgette Jobe, director of Kansas Tourism, says is in line with studies she has seen and with numbers from events in Kansas cities of similar size. “Travel has changed,” says Jobe. “And one of things that this event has going for it is that the pandemic has made us appreciate outdoor activities in a way we haven’t done in a long time. It has opened our eyes to backyard opportunities. It is Kansans rediscovering Kansas … and events like this can be a lifeline for smaller communities as visitors spend money across the board, eating, visiting and even just filling up with gas.” Eddings says that by concentrating the beginning and ending of the race at Ninth and Main, the event will bring visitors’ focus onto Downtown Eudora. “What we are doing is really drawing people to Downtown by centering it around CPA Park,” says Eddings. “People will wander around town and explore the town, so my hope is that people will stop by Twill, Zeb’s, and other areas and get to know our great community.”

Discover Eudora | Fall/Winter ’21

cityofeudoraks.gov

CITY

Sunday Worship 10:30 AM, Grow Groups 9:00 AM

To Race Again One of the best and most challenging factors for annual events is precedent. If tourists enjoy themselves one year, they are more likely to return the next. “An event itself becomes a sales piece. Once you get visitors there once, then the experience they have at the event will be what brings them back,” Zaleski says. And while Zaleski says that a quality event is the first and most important factor in determining if visitors will return, he also emphasizes that any event has to have community support. A great experience at a race can be ruined by a terrible experience at a local restaurant or store. Jobe agrees and adds that great events delight visitors and residents alike. “Successful events have community buy-in,” she explains. “People tend to visit or do things that are celebrated by the locals. When the locals love the event, then that showcases the community at large.” Eddings, who is in the process of lining up entertainment for the after-race and exploring possible future tie-ins with other Eudora and county events, says he is keenly aware of making GKAR an event for racers and the community. There are ambitious plans to expand … but first, the race has to get back on track after two years of unforeseen and hopefully never-seen-again forces majeures. “It’s an important year. It’s important for all of us, because we want to get back out there. We want to experience things that we have not been able to over the last year or two. We want to show we can be safe and be together to an extent. This race is a silly, amazing thing that we do in Eudora which nobody else does,” Eddings says. “It is a great race and it is a great community.”

Discover Eudora | Fall/Winter ’21

Wednesday 6:00 PM AWANA, 7:00 PM Students VISIT OUR WEBSITE FOR CURRENT GROW GROUP INFORMATION

525 W 20th Street, Eudora, KS 66025 (785) 542-2734 eudorabc.org | office@eudorabc.org

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The Eudora High School Science Olympiad team begins this school year as the defending state champion.

SEPTEMBER

Calendar of Events 2–3

Eudora History Program A Facebook live stream honors volunteers and community donors who made the renovation of the Eudora Community Museum possible. cityofeudoraks.gov/100/Eudora-CommunityMuseum

Kim & The Quake One of the top regional cover bands performs at D-Dubs Bar and Grill. “ddubsbar” on Facebook

Great Kaw Adventure Race Eudora’s signature orienteering, obstaclecourse, problem-solving team race adventure by boat, bike and foot; come to run or cheer on athletes and stay for post-event concerts. greatkawadventurerace.com OCTOBER

EudoraFest Downtown community celebration marks 25 years with the theme “Home is Where it Happens.” Attractions include a community business expo, a children’s corner and the all-new “After 5 Music & Street Dance Afterfest,” with beer, wine and live music. Afterfest sponsored by Eudora Chamber, Eudora CVB, Farm Bureau Financial Services and Barbwire Barbecue.

Discover Eudora | Fall/Winter ’21

Kaw Valley Farm Tour For one weekend, dozens of farms, ranches and wineries across the Kaw Valley open up for visitors and the chance to meet the people who bring produce to local tables. kawvalleyfarmtour.org

Homecoming Eudora High School Football Homecoming Game

22–26

No School All Eudora Public School classes closed for Thanksgiving break.

Annual Dinner The Eudora Chamber of Commerce hosts its annual dinner at Bluejacket Crossing Vineyard and Winery

DECEMBER

TBD

Holiday Lights Hayrides Eudora Parks and Recreation Department hosts hayrides through downtown Eudora to view holiday lights.

No School Eudora High School parent-teacher conferences; Eudora Elementary and Middle schools teacher workdays.

21–22

No School Eudora High School teacher workdays; Eudora Elementary and Middle schools parentteacher conferences.

Eudora History Program Janet Campbell presents a history of the 1864 Holy Family Catholic Church building and efforts to get the building on the National Historic Register. This is a Facebook live stream hosted by the Eudora Area Historical Society. cityofeudoraks.gov/100/Eudora-CommunityMuseum

21–31

No School Eudora teacher workday and winter holiday break for all public schools.

NOVEMBER

TBD

Holiday Lights The Eudora Chamber and Eudora CVB host Downtown Lighting Ceremony and Candy Cane Lane Express with Santa

cityofeudoraks.gov

JANUARY

Classes Resume All public school classes return. FEBRUARY

No School All public schools on holiday.

HISTORY

cityofeudoraks.gov

Story by Cindy Higgins Photography courtesy Oklahoma Historical Society

The New Eudora Strippers A few decades after Eudora was founded, several residents—from physicians to the “watermelon man”—rushed south to claim land in the Oklahoma Territory

Hopeful new landowners gather around a makeshift market in Enid, Oklahoma, before the 1893 run.

hen the federal government forced the removal of Kansas tribes around 1870, tribe members in the Eudora area were sent just south of the state border. The Shawnee, Delaware and Kansa would all give up land around Eudora and head into what is now the state of Oklahoma, to reservations near Miami, Bartlesville and Kay County, respectively. A decade later, the federal government opened up more regions in and around what was known as “Indian Territory,” but this time for non-Native settlers. This opportunity for free land, organized in seven separate rushes, lured Eudorans south, where they would join in a frenzied stampede to lay claims, form a “New Eudora,” and bring home tales of adventure previously unimagined. The U.S. government opened the first section of modern Oklahoma, an area then called the Unassigned Territories since it had not been designated as the treaty land of any tribe, in 1889. Potential land owners assembled at the edge of the territory, and then charged in on horses, with wagons or any way possible to assert their claims once the official signals were given at noon on April 22. One of

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the settlers in this group was Eudora resident Sino Stanley, who secured his 160-acre Oklahoma farm that year. In the next few years, more Eudorans would arrive and claim land as the federal government conducted six more separate land grabs. In the third land rush of 1893, Richard Tarpy, James Corel, Kate Wilson, Maymie Wilson, and W. R. Hughes obtained land in Custer County near the claims of the Charles Redmond, John Heaton and Dave Garvin families—all Eudora residents. But the biggest thrust to receive lands in Oklahoma came with the fourth run, when Eudora residents swarmed to the Cherokee Outlet Opening of September 16, 1893. With fellow “Strippers,” they went to take a claim in the nearly two million acres—226 miles from east to west, and 58 miles north to south—of the Cherokee Strip that would be handed over to non-Native settlers willing to race for, and lay claim to, what they and the federal government regarded as free and open land. The Cal Perkins family set off in mid-August because the trip by horse-drawn wagons took 20 days. Other Strippers, such as Clinton Buttler and

Discover Eudora | Fall/Winter ’21

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HISTORY

Patrick Jankowski, DDS

Charles Ziesenis, boarded the crowded Texas-bound Atchison, Topeka & Santa Fe trains at the Eudora depot two weeks before the opening. Four days before the opening, Ed Perkins and William Young left with 15 others from De Soto. When they arrived at the outskirts of the land, several Eudorans stayed at Durr’s Camp with brothers Al and Carl Durr. “New Eudora,” as they also called it, was a few miles from the Perry land registration office and temporarily hosted Eudora’s grocer (Melvon Wilson), tinsmith (Christian Fischer who came with son Edward), butcher (Henry Hagenbuch), tobacconist and butcher (Bernard Hammert), physician (C. E. Taylor), mill co-owner (C. Mathews), future newspaper editor (Will Stadler), and 16 others. Three Eudorans in the 1893 rush already had claimed land and wanted more: Martin Gufler, who sold his 320-acre farm east of Eudora in 1891, to reside on an Oklahoma tract with his son, George; Charles Mathews who had left Hesper 18 months earlier to live in Oklahoma City; and Thomas Hughes. With others, they took up positions at the edge of the soon-to-be-opened territory where they endured miles-long registration lines, heat, drunken fights, prairie fire smoke, dust, and lack of water before gunshots signaled the stampede for claims. Two hours after the border opened, the chaotic rush was over with more losers than winners, and some whose status remained unclear. Of the New Eudora group, Albert Knop staked a claim that was later disputed. Henry Oberholtzer got possession of a quarter section the next year, but it came with a tenacious squatter. Doug “Dug” Smith, who fished the Kansas River and shipped out barrels of his catch on the local train, was the first one back to Eudora. He summarized his experience as “crowds and a lot of dust.” The Eudora newspaper described the return of the Strippers who hadn’t succeeded or hadn’t chosen to remain on their new land: “The boys were objects of interest when they got off here.

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HISTORY

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ABOVE LEFT: Prospective land owners gather in Arkansas City before the 1893 run. ABOVE: Riders and wagon drivers race to stake land in the 1893 run.

Dirty beyond description; some without coats; some with only a pair of overalls and thin undershirt, hatless, bootless, oh! They were a sight to behold.” Several, however, journeyed back to set up permanent residence. Taylor moved his family to Perry two months after the run. Wilson went to El Reno, and Hammert to Anadarko where operated a butcher shop. Eudorans Tom Darling, a Mr. Hollowell, and Jaspar Mondy set up homesteads a few miles from Hammert. In addition to his claim, Jesse Marley paid $150 for a 160-acre homestead 60 miles from Guthrie. White, a former school teacher and son of the Eudora pharmacist,

tried Ponca and later settled in Muskogee. Other Eudora residents continued to try for free land; Jeff Beatty made an 1898 claim, and Charles Gilliland got a tract by Anadarko in the 1901 land lottery. Others simply paid, such as Chris Kaiser who bought 100 acres near Perry where he moved in 1899. Henry Westerhouse almost moved to the Perry area that same year and even sold off his household and farm implements, but he didn’t make the move. Not all stayed in their new Oklahoma homes. Some held on to their Eudora farms and periodically returned. Dan Suiter, “the watermelon man of Kaw

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Valley,” for example, came back each April to plant his melons. Frank Schafer, Eudora mail deliverer; Henry Abels, Eudora postmaster; and Herman Gabriel had claims in Custer County, yet resided in Eudora. Marley, who bought land near Guthrie, spent two years before returning. The Corels came back, but kept making required improvements on their Oklahoma claim. Tom Hughes lived in Oklahoma for nine years with his wife and five children. When he died of tuberculosis, his brother, W. R., who kept his Eudora land and his Oklahoma claim, brought Tom back home to Eudora and then buried him near their parents in Oak Hill Cemetery.

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Story by Seth Jones Photography by Jason Dailey

A Storybook

Life

Jeff Burey writes a charity memoir about playing the world’s courses and bringing his golf bag to Eudora

ince 1991 Jeff Burey has been an important part of the Eudora community. As the owner/ operator of Twin Oaks Golf Complex, Burey has worked countless hours at the golf facility doing it all—giving lessons, mowing greens, running the cash register and even cleaning the bathrooms. Burey, now 72, has enjoyed a storied life in the golf business beyond his time at Twin Oaks. With stints at big-name operations like Pinehurst Resort in North Carolina and Wolf Creek in Olathe, Kansas, the longtime golf professional has met and worked with many of the game’s brightest stars, including Sam Snead, Arnold Palmer and Tom Watson. Now his memorable career has been recounted in a book of anecdotes and photos, Blessed! Stories in the Life of a Golf Professional! Beginning with a foreword from Tom Watson and featuring endorsements from other sport luminaries such as George Brett, the 144-page book is a chronological series of stories and photographs documenting the encounters and greens that made Burey’s life so fascinating. “Having fun with photography and taking a lot of pictures, I kept a record of my life,” Burey says. “The places I’ve been, the things I’ve done—it’s almost unbelievable.”

Discover Eudora | Fall/Winter ’21

Faces and places The beginning of Burey’s career as a caddie in Connecticut comes with a surprise appearance of a big celebrity who resurfaced in Burey’s life years later (we won’t spoil it here). Other chapters are loaded with golf star power, like the time Burey, then an assistant professional, bumped into Arnold Palmer as the head pro was helping Palmer adjust the face of his wedge. Any golf fan would envy the time Burey was tasked with riding in a golf cart with World Golf Hall of Famer Sam Snead. Burey drove around Pinehurst No. 2 with Slammin’ Sammy for two hours. “I just had a notepad and took down his recollections,” Burey recalls. “How many people can say they did that?” Burey says one of the stories he is asked most about is his service in the Navy. Many people are unaware that the Navy enabled Burey to travel the world—with golf bag in tow—at a young age. As an interior communications electrician, he traveled the world and played courses in England, Scotland, Cuba, Puerto Rico, Italy and Greece, among others. “The Navy experience was a case of being very lucky,” Burey recalls. “Sometimes you are lucky, and sometimes you work hard to make things happen—in this case I got lucky. I had options for jobs in the Navy, and the job I chose gave me a storage room and permission from my officers to keep some personal gear there, and that allowed me to bring my clubs.”

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A charitable cause For those who know Burey, it’s easy to believe this next part: he’s donating the all proceeds from the sale of every $50 book to area youth golf organizations. Those organizations are the First Tee of Greater Kansas City, the Kansas Golf Foundation, the Youth on Course Initiative, the Midwest PGA Section Foundation, and the Kaw Valley Junior Golf Foundation, which supports Eudora youth. Burey says he and his wife, Cathy, agreed to “share it in a way that gives back a little.” So far, the book has raised more than $35,000, marking a significant contribution to youth golf. “I’ve always had a heart for kids. I love this game, from when I started as a caddie to right now being 72 years old. I knew I wanted to do something with the book that would be different.” For a man who has accomplished much in his lifetime, the feeling of holding his own book was a new thrill for Burey. The old golf pro is generous with advice on anyone’s golf swing, but he’s just as willing to share suggestions for those who have ever considered writing their own book but dismissed the goal as a pipe dream. “Keep track of the interesting things in their lives and someday put them together in some format,” Burey advises. “It’s exciting to have a book.”

But how did a man so well known for coaching others and being on a mower at the corner of K-10 and 1900th Road find the time to write a book? That’s easy: doctor’s orders back in 2019. “I had a procedure on my legs and I was homebound,” Burey recalls. “I started writing outlines. I posted them on social media, and I got a lot of feedback. I decided to put it together in a book. Like a lot of people, I have a lot of ideas and dreams. A lot of times you just don’t work hard enough to make them happen. The fact that this got finished is really satisfying.” Burey has mailed copies of his book across America and overseas. Social media has created excitement for his book and helped spread the word. An added bonus is the book has reconnected him with old friends he had lost touch with over the years. And it’s also been a way for his local friends and customers, who maybe knew a little of his background, to learn the chapters of his story before he came to town. “Since 1991, Eudora has been a gigantic part of my life,” Burey says. “Eudora is a unique place … there are wonderful people, and really good things happen in this town. I’m happy to be a part of it.”

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