Urban
Bees (and one man who keeps them) + Dr. Tiffany Anderson +The art of Carol Emert + Bierocks from the farm
4
FROM THE EDITOR
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017
SPRING 2017 | VOLUME 11, NO. 2
When we think of Kansas being settled in the mid-1800s, we often think of wagons, makeshift structures, stockades and foraged meals. Andrew Jackson Huntoon was thinking of all those things in 1860, but he was also thinking of gardens. Huntoon was with the early groups of northern settlers who traveled to the Kansas Territories, circumventing the pro-slavery stronghold of Missouri, in order to boost the numbers of voting white men who would support keeping slavery out of the land. Leaving his young family back East to homestead a spot of land that is now in the Forbes Field region, Huntoon was immediately faced with the very basic—and very pressing—concern of survival. Missourians were holding up the delivery of essential supplies, wolves were killing off the region’s farm animals,
snow was falling in deep blankets over roads (so the trip from Topeka to Lawrence took an entire day), the Osage were driving back the EuroAmericans, the Cherokee were possibly preparing to strike, and Huntoon could practically sniff an inevitable war between the North and the South. But as Huntoon worried and struggled, he gardened. And in his letters, which are now stored and available to read at the archives of the Kansas State Historical Society, he almost seems to be wooing his wife to cross the country to him by bragging of his summer squash, his “beets as large round as a dollar & green tomatoes large as turkey eggs. Don’t you wish you were here?” And then there were the flowers. After Huntoon survived his first winter, he wrote happily of “those little bell shaped” prairie
flowers that appeared after the April storms. He collected specimens of wild beauties and mailed those to his wife, along with the suggestion that she could bring fresh flower seeds when she arrived to him. There’s a line of thought among cultural historians that before the late 1800s, Americans had practical food gardens. And then advertising came in the late 1800s, pushing the trend toward decorative, highly trimmed English-style gardens. That’s a simplification of the analysis, but looking at seed catalogs from that time, you can see this trend. I think thrift and beauty, however, were always a part of the gardens in this area—they were here at least since Huntoon guarded over his large tomatoes and cared for transplanted prairie flowers. Huntoon’s experience is our heritage, a regard for a land that is practical and inspiring. And it is a theme we explore in this issue with stories on gardens, food, homes, hives, farms and harvests. Here’s to a beautiful spring!
— NAT H A N P E T T E N G I L L , E D I T O R
Please contact us at topekamagazine@sunflowerpub.com for all comments, subscription and editorial queries.
Editor Nathan Pettengill Art Director/Designer
Jenni Leiste
Copy Editor
Leslie Andres
Advertising Peterson Publications, Inc. publish@petersonpublications.com Representative (785) 271-5801 Ad Designer Jenni Leiste Contributing Katie Moore Photographers Bill Stephens
Contributing Writers
Linda A. Ditch Jeffrey Ann Goudie Carolyn Kaberline Christine Steinkuehler Barbara Waterman-Peters
Subscriptions $27 for a one-year subscription, including Topeka SR; order at sunflowerpub.com Sunflower Publishing GENERAL MANAGER
Katy Ibsen
Production Team Leader
Shelly Bryant
Topeka Magazine is a publication of Sunflower Publishing, a division of Ogden Publications. Ogden Publications 1503 SW 42nd St Topeka, KS 66609
sunflowerpub.com topekamag.com
6
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017
WHAT’S INSIDE SPRING 2017 | VOLUME 11, NO. 2
TOPEKANS 10 RETURN JOURNEY
A Topeka artist returns to art after decades of rewarding alternate careers.
14 DR. 501
The superintendent for Topeka’s central school district brings ‘byany-means-necessary’ thinking for the benefit of student education.
APPETITE 18 BEYOND THE TRACTOR
A farmer combines old and new approaches when raising and preparing her family’s dinner.
LOCALE 22 BARNDOMINIUM LIFE
Want to be roomies with your horse? A new trend in rural living makes that possible.
A N N I VE R S A RY 27 INTEGRATION, ALL
PERSONNEL RESPOND...
For Topeka firefighters, the 1962 integration of black and white units came as an unexpected decree. The struggle was not in breaking the color barriers, but in understanding how to respond.
W H AT ’S H A P P E N I N G 33 MARCH 34 APRIL 35 MAY F E AT U R E S 38 HIVES & HONEY IN THE HEARTLAND
Topeka beekeeper continues tradition of harvesting honey from home.
46 EQUALLY DELICATE & HARDY
An Elmhurst gardener creates a yard that thrives with subtle beauty in the shade.
On the Cover Urban
Bees (and one man who keeps them) + Dr. Tiffany Anderson +The art of Carol Emert + Bierocks from the farm
Tony Proctor wears his beekeeping bonnet while caring for his hives. Photograph by Bill Stephens.
8
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017
TOPEKA TALK
Fall/Winter 2016-17
Katie's Victory Meet Kathleen SherroW: a real-liFe roSie the riveter Who helped Win WW ii
+Being Santa, Naturally +Retiring with Alpacas +Preserving Trojan History
Calendar coverage … Our magazine is dedicated to covering city and regional highlights. Each edition, we include our pick of 33 upcoming seasonal events. But sometimes our print schedule simply does not overlap with important opportunities. Case in point, this year’s Prairie Band Potawatomi Powwow. One of the premier powwows in the Midwest, this event will fall on the first weekend of June 2017, the blind-spot in our calendar where we are waiting for our summer issue to arrive. For that reason, we wanted to include a short reminder and long look-ahead here, in this spring edition about the powwow.
WE WANT TO HEAR FROM YOU
topekamagazine@sunflowerpub.com
10 Years
Tribal members likely have the event on their calendar. But for those of us that are not tribal members, it is worth considering scheduling it into our plans and taking the opportunity to travel into Mayetta and visit what is, legally, a sovereign nation. The border crossing is hassle-free and we are welcomed on the other side of with a rich cultural celebration of song, dance and worship. For more information, final schedule and latest updates, look for the Prairie Band Potawatomi Powwow page on Facebook, visit the nation’s website at pbpindiantribe. com or call (785) 966-4000.
facebook.com/topekamag
@TopekaMagazine
We are celebrating 10 years of publication by reprinting some of our favorite content from the past decade. Look for special anniversary sections in this and the next two issues as well as for material online.
Topeka SR Look for the next issue of our sister publication, Topeka SR, to be released this May. We’ll have resources and tips for senior living as well as interesting profiles of area seniors and their interests.
Next Edition Our summer issue focuses on photography. We’re looking forward to sharing some of the city’s best images as well as presenting a special interview and phone-camera photography tips from Kansas photography legend Jim Richardson.
10
TOPEKANS
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017 STORY BY
Barbara Waterman-Peters |
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
Katie Moore
Return
JOURNEY A Topeka artist returns to art after decades of rewarding alternate careers
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
C
arol Emert’s early education at a rural school in Fredonia gave her many gifts, but she particularly recalls hours of looking out the school’s window at the surrounding nature, especially the light on the trees. In high school, she encountered an excellent art teacher who helped her translate these observations into sketches. Emert might have continued her studies in art as she enrolled at Pittsburg State University, but after one year in college she took a chance to pursue another interest in life— travel and aviation.
For a young woman who had always idolized Amelia Earhart, news that TWA was interviewing provided an opportunity that could not be missed. Emert jumped at the chance. Rules for “flight hostesses” were extremely strict in 1967. Emert’s height—she needed to be tall enough to reach the evacuation mechanisms—was fine, but she was two pounds over the catwalk-model standard weight limit, so Emert was sent home to lose them. Lighter, she returned for a second interview and was sent to Kansas City for six weeks of training. For the next four years, Emert was based in Kansas City, where she flew domestic routes with a few international charter flights. She ended her career after she married Ray Emert. Though some airlines at that time required flight attendants to remain unmarried, TWA was an exception (though it did require attendants to remain childless). The couple settled down in Pennsylvania and then Topeka, where Emert enrolled in Washburn University and majored in art. Emert completed her degree at Washburn in 1984, and went on to work under the late Jim Hunt, chair of the art department from 1963 to 1981 and director of the Mulvane Art Museum until 1986.
11
12
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017
TOPEKANS
An image might take an entire month to complete.
TOP: A detail from Emert’s recent work, Neighbors, shows the thousands of small, paper layers that go into creating her art. ABOVE: Emert holds, Neighbors, a recent work from her mirror series.
“I didn’t have plans to go into museum work,” Emert says, “but I helped Jim Hunt put up exhibits once a month. He was thinking of retiring and wanted someone to come in 15 hours a week to inventory the collection on campus.” Emert also served as registrar/ preparator and then later as curator of collections and exhibitions under numerous directors. Through studying, reading, workshops and consulting with staff of other museums, such matters as collections management, storage, climate control, security, mounting exhibitions and lighting were demystified. Later, she mastered artist contracts, loan agreements, insurance arrangements and exhibit transportation. Expertise in her museum field caught the attention of the Kansas International Museum, which invited her to be assistant curator for “Treasures of the Czars,” a hugely successful exhibition in Topeka in 1995. Emert worked with the Russian curators at the Kremlin Museum in Moscow in 2002 to bring “Czars: 400 Years of Imperial Grandeur” here as well. She went on to serve twice
as the Mulvane’s interim director and was awarded the museum’s honorary title of Eminentes Universetatis. Because life has a way of coming full circle, another opportunity came Emert’s way toward the end of her long career. Walking through the Kansas City airport a few years ago, Emert spotted archival TWA material displayed in glass cases. Intrigued, she contacted TWA staff who said they were in the process of moving the material to the original TWA building at the Kansas City Municipal Airport. Emert offered the TWA museum her 25 years of museum experience and familiarity with TWA. In 2011, she began serving as an adviser and board member; since 2013 she has been archivist. The museum has grown from two rooms to four galleries, a storage area, a library, an education center and a gift shop. One room, called The Scout, houses some of the original tables. A hangar in Los Angeles was torn down and all the equipment is now included in the museum’s holdings. “We have events and still wear our uniforms,” she says proudly.
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
The Art of Carol Emert Even while Carol Emert succeeded at two professional careers, she never abandoned her art. In fact, she was a founding member and officer in the early days of the Collective Art Gallery, an artists’ cooperative in Topeka (1987–2014) and has developed a distinct style. “I don’t care for painting,” she explains when discussing her pieces. Instead, Emert combines colored pencil drawing with collage in an unusual and meticulous method. Her earlier works with this approach resulted in delicate, luminous small-scale images often of figures in a mysterious and rather haunting situations. Emert’s newer series of works has taken on more dimensionality, incorporating a framed mirror. Tiny bits of colored paper, cut in narrow rectangles, are carefully matched to create subtle color transitions around the frame. Other photographic and hand-drawn elements are added, gradually building the same mysterious atmosphere as earlier work. An image might take an entire month to complete. “What I do is slow,” Emert explains. Appropriately named the “Mirror Series,” this reflective art literally brings the viewer’s image into the artwork, making them a part of it or asking them to respond to the artwork around their reflection. An example is the work “Neighbors,” which depicts two entirely different homes, symbols of everything from shelter to status. Emert says the titles and themes of these works are chosen deliberately, inspired by a variety of things “from a sentence I’ve read or about regrets, moments and opportunities never to be retrieved.” It is a rewarding conversation between the viewer and an artist able to draw upon a rich variety of life experiences and observations.
About the Writer: Barbara Waterman-Peters writes, paints, exhibits, teaches and manages Studio 831 in the North Topeka Arts District (NOTO).
13
14
TOPEKANS
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017 STORY BY
Jeffrey Ann Goudie |
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
Bill Stephens
DR. 501 The superintendent for Topeka’s central school district brings ‘by-any-means-necessary’ thinking for the benefit of student education
TOPEKANS
D
r. Tiffany Anderson, USD 501 superintendent since July 2016, is an agent of change. Anderson gained national attention through the dramatic progress she achieved in the Jennings School District outside St. Louis, adjacent to Ferguson, Missouri, the district she served prior to Topeka. In the space of four years, she steered the 3,000-student, largely AfricanAmerican district to a place where 93 percent of high school students graduated on schedule, and the district met full accreditation for the first time in years. The Washington Post published an article about her titled, “This superintendent has figured out how to make school work for poor kids.” An impressive side note to these achievements is that Anderson accomplished them despite serious travel time each week. Making her home in Overland Park with her spouse, a surgeon, Anderson had a four-hour commute into Jennings, although she had an apartment there. She continues making a much shorter commute to Topeka, but also leases an apartment near the Capitol. Anderson says the shorter commute was only one factor attracting her to Topeka. She says the city’s downtown revitalization efforts suggested “that there’s a very forward-thinking community to be served here.” In a district that made history because Topeka families defeated official segregation in the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education of Topeka decision, Anderson knows she is making history as the district’s first black female superintendent. But her focus is on what comes next. “Because if you don’t have a first, you’ll never have a second,” she explains. In her first year at Topeka, Anderson has shown a keen awareness for building community, leading by example and tapping into symbolism. As an administrator, she pairs a traditional suit with white tennis shoes so she can be ready to perform whatever job will keep Topeka Public Schools running smoothly. She worked throughout August and September as a crossing guard at Ross Elementary, and she has assisted at Eisenhower Middle School as a “lunch lady.” She also has taught at State Street Elementary and at the Rescue Mission, where some of her district’s students will be staying at any given time. “She’s a by-any-means-necessary thinker,” says Dr. Deborah Holmes, a retired St. Louis area principal and administrator. “She’s not afraid to be the role model.” Holmes and Anderson go a long way back. Holmes was Anderson’s elementary school principal and an assistant superintendent in a suburban St. Louis school district where Anderson was an elementary school teacher. The Highland Park High School graduate has already been brought in by Anderson to do equity training for the Topeka school district.
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
DR. TIFFANY ANDERSON ON … TEACHING
“I thought I would retire as a teacher, and in some ways, I’m still a teacher. My classroom just looks different. Just larger.” DR. TIFFANY ANDERSON ON … TOPEKA
“Topeka is an amazing place. I think we are an incredible place and we have to be very intentional about telling our story, because we have a really rich story to tell that’s very positive.”
15
16
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017
TOPEKANS
Anderson visits with Topeka West High School Principal Dustin Dick after attending a TWHS staff meeting.
“She’s accessible so people can see where she’s taking them.” – Highland Park principal Dr. Beryl New on Dr. Tiffany Anderson
“She can be very creative about some of her solutions,” says Holmes. When Anderson was confronted with the shortage of school counselors in the 14,000-student Topeka district, she demonstrated that creative problem-solving by instituting a voluntary program that tapped the district’s administration building employees to mentor high school seniors about career and college plans. About 40 staff members have monthly contact with students targeted by their schools as needing “additional personalized counseling.” Anderson has instituted other changes to address needs in the urban district, where 77 percent of students qualify for free or reduced meals. Early on she expanded a mobile food pantry in conjunction with
Harvesters that gives out 8,000 pounds of food a month through a monthly drive-up distribution, open to anyone in need. And equally important to the program is the involvement of students from Capital City, a USD 501 facility that serves students in grades 6–12 with behavioral or emotional issues. “It’s all manned by students at Capital City,” says Anderson. “Students who are the most vulnerable get a chance to give back.” Dr. Beryl New, principal at Highland Park High School, praises Anderson’s “visionary leadership” as seen in the Capital City volunteer program and numerous other small gestures and daily practices. “She has welcomed cafeteria workers, bus drivers, custodians, to have conversa-
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
tions with her,” says New about Anderson. “She’s accessible so people can see where she’s taking them.” Anderson literally takes people with her. In fall 2016, New, a school counselor and four seniors from Highland Park joined Anderson at a national conference on children and homelessness in Florida. Anderson says she routinely asks organizations inviting her to speak to provide financial support to bring students on out-of-state trips, where they might expand their horizons. The 44-year-old Anderson comes by her dedication to public service naturally. The daughter of a pastor and a principal sometimes references her faith. “From a spiritual perspective,” says Anderson, “the Lord gives you what you need to do and you need to do it.” She attended both public and private schools in St. Louis before ultimately earning her Ed.D. from St. Louis University, a private Jesuit college. Her two college-aged children attended both private and public schools as well, so she has an appreciation of the personalized attention that often comes in a private school setting. And she’s trying to provide that same level of attention to her public school kids. Dr. Peg McCarthy, a Topeka School Board member and a parent of a Topeka High School senior, says that people tend to be so dazzled by Anderson’s antipoverty work that her equal commitment to expanding opportunities for the highest-achieving students is overlooked. For example, in her first year Anderson has expanded honors offerings. Previously, middle school students had to travel to high school to take some honors classes now available at their schools. “It’s really about making services accessible to all families: high income, middle income, low income … so the platform is available to everybody,” says Anderson. The author of two books on school transformation, Anderson draws plaudits from McCarthy, who says the superintendent not only has an unusual ability to connect with people but also possesses deep academic and policy knowledge. It’s a combination of talents that Topeka has come to appreciate as Anderson nears the completion of her first year of service. It’s unlikely anyone is surprised; after all, those tennis shoes and business suits were telling us what to expect from the very start.
About the Writer: Jeffrey Ann Goudie, former newspaper columnist, is a freelance writer and book reviewer whose work has appeared in the Huffington Post and the Kansas City Star. For Topeka Magazine, she profiles Topekans who are making a positive difference in the community.
17
18
APPETITE
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017 STORY BY
Linda A. Ditch |
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
Bill Stephens
Beyond the
TRACTOR A farmer combines old and new approaches when raising and preparing her family’s dinner
APPETITE
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
L
19
aVell Winsor watches her seven-year-old son, Brayden, play with a toy tractor in front of their farm home surrounded by fields soon to be planted with corn and soybeans. In many ways, it is a typical farm scene, but Winsor explains the reality of modern farming is different from the traditional image. “Most people are three to five generations removed from a farm family. They view farm life as the red barn, milk cows, and chickens,” says Winsor. “But agriculture now is so much more specialized. We have the science now to help do the work well.” The Winsor Farm is a 4,000-acre operation that consists of multiple locations just northeast of Topeka, around Grantville, where they grow corn, soybeans and wheat and raise beef cattle. While it is a large farm, three families depend on it for their income, including Winsor, her husband Andy, and their two boys, along with Andy’s parents and his brother’s family. Winsor always knew she liked the farm life. She grew up on one east of Denver, and she graduated with an agricultural business degree from Colorado State. Winsor handles her mom duties with love and aplomb. She is taxi driver, cook, homework monitor, housekeeper, and cheerleader. But she also manages and merchandises the farm’s grain sales and oversees the operation’s finances. In addition to filling these roles, Winsor holds a separate fulltime job as a consultant helping other farmers with their business and risk-management plans. These duties are part of the farm’s focus on the land and hi-tech approaches to harvesting. When seeds are planted at the Winsor farm, the tractor doing the work streams data via a cell tower into a management system that tracks the amount of seed planted in each field. That system also keeps an inventory of the needed seed, fertilizer, and pesticides, while alerting the farmer if inventory is low. This approach, in addition to traditional on-the-ground crop checks, allows the Winsors to know where every seed in every field is planted to within two inches of its actual location. And the family is able to check on how the seeds are growing by flying a drone over the fields. These tasks are much different than the traditional farm chores that were in place even one generation ago when Winsor’s mother-in-law, Patricia, began managing the tasks and filling the role of “farmer’s wife.”
20
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017
APPETITE
“I drove tractors and combines,” Patricia recalls. “I filled in when Andy was in college out in the fields. And I did all the gardening, cooking, and bookkeeping. Today, farmers use computers to track the grain and the financials. The guys don’t have time to do that after being in the fields, so it’s left to the farmer’s wife to do.” Winsor says, with a grin, “I think my mom might think I’m a failure as a farm wife. People sometimes ask me ‘Do you drive a tractor?’ I hate that question.”
For Brayden, all of this discussion about the future of farming seems to have little relevance, even though he is still busy with his toy tractor. When asked if he wants to be a farmer when he grows up, Brayden shakes his head. Winsor smiles and says, “Usually it’s a ninja warrior, a fireman, and then an army man.” Brayden quickly replies, “Not a fireman! I want to be an army man.” But if he changes his mind, the Winsors say the farm will still be there for his generation.
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
LaVell Winsor’s Bierock Bake How do you run a modern, hi-tech farm and keep a young family fed? Easy, says LaVell Winsor, you just adapt time-tested recipes. During the hectic spring planting and fall harvest seasons, one of Winsor’s goto recipes is bierock bake, a casserole recipe that is a combination of a college roommate’s cabbage rolls, a Mennonite family’s carrot bierocks and a brother-inlaw’s suggestion of an extra cheese layer. “Before harvest or planting, I freeze four zipper bags full of the filling,” says Winsor. “When I’m ready to use it, I just defrost the mixture, spread it in the pan, add the cheese and crescent rolls, and bake. Quick and easy.” Feeds: 4-6 adults Prep time: 1 hour Ingredients 1 pound ground beef 6 ounces shredded cabbage ½ large onion, chopped 2 medium carrots, shredded
½ teaspoon salt ½ teaspoon pepper 1 to 2 cups shredded cheddar cheese 1 8-ounce can Pillsbury crescent rolls
Instructions 1. Preheat the oven to 350 degrees. 2. In a large skillet, begin browning ground beef. When the meat starts to brown, add cabbage, onion, carrots, salt, and pepper. Once the meat cooks, drain off the excess fat, and then pour the mixture into a 7- x 11-inch baking pan. 3. Sprinkle the shredded cheese over the meat mixture. Remove the crescent dough from the can and roll out into one flat sheet. Place the sheet on top of the cheese to create a crust. 4. Place the baking dish into the oven and bake for 25 minutes or until the top is brown.
About the Writer: Linda A. Ditch is a Topeka-based writer and writing workshop leader who specializes in culinary stories.
21
22
LOCALE
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017 STORY BY
Carolyn Kaberline |
PHOTOGRAPHY BY
Bill Stephens
LOCALE
Barndominium
LIFE Want to be roomies with your horse? A new trend in rural living makes that possible.
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
23
24
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017
Liz Osborne’s barndominium is a one-floor structure with separate, distinct living sections for horse and human, but with easy access between the areas.
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
W
25
hen Liz Osborne decided to move back to Topeka last year, her priority was having a place to keep her two horses. Since she already owned 30 acres with a barn on the west side of town, she decided that adding a small apartment to the barn would be the most practical solution. Often referred to as “barndominiums,” barns with living quarters are becoming increasingly common in the area. “The convenience of a compact living quarters and being able to check on horses at a minute’s notice appealed to me as a horse owner,” Osborne says. “If I had a horse in a debilitated condition that needed to be checked on, it would be very handy.” Osborne sees no drawbacks to the arrangement at all—regular cleaning ensured that flies are not a problem during the warm months, and the tack room between the house and barn areas provides a buffer zone to keep dust out. Osborne describes her barn style as “industrial frontier” from the outside, but the interior provides space for her horses and a comfortable wood-floor kitchen and rooms for herself (and her corgis). The barn is also one floor, a comfortable and accessible layout that appeals to her even more as she contemplates growing older. Osborne is not the only one in the area to combine horsekeeping with her living quarters. The barndominium trend has been big for the past two years among ranchers and is showing up more frequently around Topeka. Many are combination apartment and horse stalls, while others combine an apartment with stalls for other farm animals or storage areas for machinery. When Carol Retzer and her husband, Rick Antisdel, decided to build on their 60 acres south of town almost 20 years ago, they wanted a structure that would incorporate their interests in horses and the outdoors. The result was a building containing two-story living quarters at the south end for them, an area for up to eight stalls at the north end and a 60x80-foot indoor arena in between. Retzer notes that the barndominium combines everything important to the couple at much less cost than a traditional home and barn. That combination of cost-savings and practicality has been noticed. “We were the first in our area to build one, and now there are many others,” Retzer says. “We’ve even had people inquire if we’d be interested in selling ours.” For now, however, they are happy with their hoofed roommates and their shared love of the rural surroundings.
About the Writer: A teacher, journalist and avid equestrian, Carolyn Kaberline would rank horses fairly high on a list of potential roommates.
ANNIVERSARY STORY BY
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
Cheryl Nelsen | PHOTOGRAPHY FROM Joe Douglas Collection, Kenneth Spencer Research Library, University of Kansas
As part of our 10-year anniversary series (winter 2016-fall 2017), Topeka Magazine is reprinting some of our favorite articles, photos and art from our first decade of publication. A version of this article originally appeared in the spring 2009 edition of Topeka Magazine.
INTEGRATION, all personnel respond …
For Topeka firefighters, the 1962 integration of black and white units came as an unexpected decree. The struggle was not in breaking the color barriers, but in understanding how to respond.
G
rowing up in east Topeka in the 1930s, Joe Douglas Jr. passed fire station No. 3 at 312 S.E. Jefferson St. hundreds of times. That building, which housed all the city’s black firefighters, was a source of pride for Douglas and for Topeka’s black community. Since September 11, 1882, the station’s allblack fire unit protected not only the east Topeka areas where much of the black community lived, but also the heart of the capital city—the downtown district and right up to the Statehouse. After Douglas joined the fire department in 1950, he realized again and again just how important that station was to his fellow blacks. In the evenings, Topeka’s black families would visit the station with their children or use the station’s telephone if they didn’t have one of their own. Men from the neighborhood would set up lawn chairs around the station’s
television—one of the few televisions in the area—and watch the big boxing matches. Firefighters’ families would gather at the station for barbecues and holiday parties. “The camaraderie we had with the people in the area— they were family. We knew all of them. We had a candy machine and a pop machine. They all came down and we visited. We just had a good rapport down there. They were very proud of us,” Douglas recalls. Leslie Newman, another firefighter who began his career at Station No. 3 in 1955, has similar fond memories. “We had lots of fun. We played horseshoes together and with the neighbors quite a bit. Right down on the corner was Pedro Lopez’s store. We used to go down there and get stuff like chili and different items,” Newman says. This arrangement, however, was about to be swept aside by national events.
An afternoon domino game takes place at Fire Station No. 3 circa late-1950s. Playing are firefighter Irvin Blackwell (top left), police detective Harry McCord (top center), visitor Bob Freeman (top right), firefighter Charles Shinn, Jr. (bottom right) and Capt. Louis Napue (bottom left). Though the station was segregated for work, it was not segregated for visitors.
27
28
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017
ANNIVERSARY
The “B Shift” of Fire Station No. 3 poses with their 1934 Dodge ladder truck in this picture from approximately 1955. Seated inside the truck is driver James Preston Trice. The other members are, from left to right, Captain Albert Evans, Firefighter First Class Arland Jones, Firefighter First Class Joe Douglas Jr., driver Walter T. Jones and Senior Captain Clarence Foster.
The firehouse exception
For Topeka in the early 1960s, that was still a rather radical idea.
In the 1950s and 1960s, Topeka was in many ways at the focal point of the civil rights movement, at least in the courtroom, where local residents had launched a successful challenge to official school segregation in the Brown v. Board of Education Supreme Court decision of 1954. Gradually, school groups, sports teams, church organizations and social clubs were integrating. But not the Topeka Fire Department. Not yet. The veterans of station No. 3 believe this was probably because integration of the fire department would mean more than having blacks and whites climbing the same ladders or fighting the same fires. Black and white firefighters had worked together in Topeka since station No. 3 opened, but they always had separate home stations and had no history of living together. Any fire station integration entailed blacks and whites sharing the “domestic” arrangements. It meant integrating kitchens, bathrooms, shower rooms and, perhaps most delicately, beds. Because they worked in
shifts, two firefighters would share the same bed—each one using it when he was on duty and then turning it over to the man who would replace him when he was off duty. For Topeka in the early 1960s, that was still a rather radical idea. So, despite the national trends, there was a good deal of surprise when the firefighters began hearing talk of integration in the summer of 1962. In early August, white firefighters were asked to volunteer for transfer into the black station. Shortly afterward, others were told they were going to work with their black colleagues. Back at station No. 3, some firefighters got word about a possible integration. Others found out only the night before it happened when McKinley Burnett, president of the Topeka NAACP and a key player in the Brown v. Board of Education case, walked into their station and broke the news. On August 16, 1962, six white firefighters were assigned to station No. 3 and six black firefighters began being transferred to other Topeka stations. It was integration.
30
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017
ANNIVERSARY
An integrated grade school class visits the segregated Fire Station No. 3 in this picture believed to be taken in the late 1950s. Although the 1954 Brown v. Board of Education court case would result in the city fully integrating its school system, several issues kept authorities from bringing the same integration to the fire department.
But without any preparation or guidelines, it was an integration little celebrated by either side. “It needed to be planned. There should have been some rules,” says Douglas. “They just threw us out there, and the only rule was that no two blacks would work on the same shift at any time. … Nobody was happy about it.”
Something to prove For Douglas, integration eventually meant being uprooted from his home station. He received orders to move from Station No. 3 to Station No. 2. Douglas recalls the transfer as difficult because men of different races had never lodged together and because integration still did not exist in many areas of life in 1962. “There was a totally different attitude in the thinking of the white firefighters at that time. They knew us, but they didn’t really know us. It wasn’t only the fire department but everything. A lot of things were segregated then,” recalls Douglas.
The move was complicated, Douglas says, because there were no instructions or guidelines given about how to decide what he calls the “sticky wicket” issues of the two races eating together, how they would share the bedding, and whether senior-ranking black firefighters would be respected by lower-ranking white firefighters. “There were no rules, and I resent very much the fact that neither the NAACP, nor the city commission, nor the mayor, nor any city entity was overseeing what we did. I don’t think they realized the necessity of providing guidelines for problems that were sure to come up,” says Douglas. Absent any supervision, Douglas says he felt that he had to prove himself to his new colleagues while drawing on the selfrespect that he was taught by his father. “I couldn’t change the condition that I was in, but I could resist the temptation to succumb to the fact that they’re saying that I’m less. So I tried all the time to prove that I’m more. I tried to do that rather than say, ‘Well, I’m less, so I can’t do anything about it.’”
Douglas also noticed that many of his new white colleagues were proving something to him—that they were willing to bring him into their station. Douglas recalls a white firefighter going to the station chief to assure him that the ranks wanted Douglas to join them in communal meals. “It wasn’t all what the black firefighters did to make it work,” says Douglas. “It was what the blacks and whites did together.” A decorated fire chief and respected veteran, Douglas retired in 1989 in an entirely different department, one that included all firefighters with paramedic training and women as a part of the team. “I hired women on the job. You’d be amazed at the resistance I received— from blacks and from whites—when I was trying to do that,” Douglas says. Perhaps drawing on his experience in the first racially integrated department, Douglas summarizes his approach to bringing in the first female firefighters: “It’s not up to me to tell you what you can’t do. I have to give you an opportunity to do whatever you can do.”
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
Reverse integration ‘worked out real good’ Douglas’ history followed the more common model for racial integration in the United States, where a minority group is brought into an institution controlled by the majority. Think, for example, of Jackie Robinson joining the Dodgers or of the 101st Airborne escorting black schoolchildren to a previously all-white school in Little Rock, Arkansas. But at Station No. 3, the six white firefighters would be in the minority. It was, according to the structure of American society at the time, integration in reverse. And it seemed equally uncomfortable for both groups. A couple of the white arrivals brought Visqueen (a plastic covering) to drape over their beds before laying down sheets. They ate with their own silverware, glasses and cups. One firefighter quit because of the integration policy. “He was from the South and he just flat didn’t play that kind of card,” says Frank Leathers, one of the first white firefighters to come into Station No. 3. Leathers had served in the Army’s integrated 1st Calvary Division and been exposed to cross-racial service. He remembers stopping by Station No. 3 to introduce himself to his black colleagues before the integration day. Other white firefighters came in with more trepidation. Alva Miller recalls being reluctant to go into Station No. 3. “I’m from a small town and had never gone to school with blacks or been associated with them in any way whatsoever. I was just apprehensive,” says Miller. One of his worries was that he might use a derogatory word by mistake. Leathers says there were mistakes like that, but it soon became apparent to the whites and blacks that it wasn’t necessarily what you said, but how you said it—as long as there was respect. And, gradually, call after call, fire after fire, respect began to grow between the two groups. Miller, a young firefighter at the time, recalls developing a friendship with his new colleagues, especially Irvin Blackwell. “He enlightened me on a lot of the culture and background of No. 3 station,” says Miller who, in turn, went on to win the respect of his new station, retiring decades later as a shift commander. Ultimately, it was this type of mutual education between the whites and blacks that saw through the unplanned integration. “When you sleep in the same room, and you wake up, when they integrated and everything, it felt kind of strange,” recalls Newman, who went on to become a district chief before retiring. “But it just worked itself out and it worked out real good.”
31
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
MARCH MARCH FEATURED EVENT:
St. Patrick’s Day Parade March 11
Downtown Topeka
In its 38th year, the annual Topeka celebration features one of the state’s largest and most extensive o’parades that kicks off at noon. But the day also features numerous side events, each with their own loyal following. The Meter Dei Fun Run and Leprechaun Dash starts off at 9 a.m. from Eighth and Jackson. The annual Great Topeka Bed Race begins at 10 a.m. at Sixth and Jackson and teams race beds on wheels to benefit Housing and Credit Counseling, Inc. At the same time, the Irish singalong begins at 10 a.m. in Assumption Church, moving to St. Patrick’s Day Mass at 10:30. The parade kick-off also marks the opening of street concerts and a beer garden that will serve food and drink until 6 p.m. For parade registration, route information or more details on any of the events, go online at topekastpats.com
March 1–7
Topeka Restaurant Week Area restaurants offer special menus and drinks with a portion of each bill going to support Harvesters BackSnack (a non-profit program providing nutritious snacks to students in need) | For more information on participating venues, look for postings of Topeka Restaurant Week on Facebook
Photographs courtesy, from top: Shutterstock, Sabatini Art Gallery and Nathan Ham Photography
March 1–27
March 18
Alice C. Sabatini Gallery, Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library | An exploration of language-inspired art | Free and open to public tscpl.org/gallery
Topeka Symphony Orchestra with music by Stravinsky and Strauss with the Kansas premiere of “Dreamtime Ancestors” by Christopher Theofanidis; also featuring the orchestra’s lead violist Mei-Chu Chen in William Walton’s “Viola Concerto” | For ticket reservations or more information, go online at topekasymphony.org
txt me
March 3–April 1 Rock of Ages
Topeka Civic Theatre | A musical stage production of legendary rock songs (and the long, luxurious hair that went with them) from the 1980s | For times and ticket reservations, go online at topekacivictheatre.com
March 4
Texas Tenors Topeka Performing Arts Center (TPAC) | Three long, tall Texans and their celebrated voices present a concert blending hip-hop, classical tunes and, of course, country; show begins at 7:30 p.m. | For ticket reservations and more information, go online at topekaperformingarts.org
March 12, 16–19
Topeka NCAA Bracket Challenge and Watch Party Topeka and Shawnee County Public Library sponsors a city-wide March Madness tournament bracket challenge | Entry is free, and the winner’s name is placed on the library’s plaque of tournament glory | The library is also hosting big-screen watch parties in the auditoriums for the opening rounds of competition, March 16–19
March 17–24
Gage Park Mini-Train and Carousel Spring Break Runs Two of the city’s favorite family attractions open for the warm (well, warmer) weather season with a special spring run, weather permitting, from 10:30 a.m.–6 p.m. | Tickets for train and carousel are sold on location at Gage Park.
Lovers and Dreamers
March 24–May 21 Beyond Words
Alice C. Sabatini Gallery, Topeka & Shawnee County Public Library | Exhibition of books as art. | Free admission during library hours | For more information, go online at tscpl.org/gallery
March 25
First “Test and Tune” Day for 2017 open drag-racing competition Heartland Park | Topeka’s world-class racing venue begins its drag-racing season, the competition where anyone can show up with their I-70 commute car or home-made Formula 1 model to take on the competition | For more information and a schedule of all upcoming amateur and professional events, go online at heartlandpark.com
March 26
Country Gold Tour Topeka Performing Arts Center (TPAC) | Some of country’s greatest hits performed by five national musicians; show begins at 3 p.m. | For ticket reservations and more information, go online at topekaperformingarts.org
33
34
WHAT’S HAPPENING
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017
APRIL APRIL FEATURED EVENT
Topeka Symphony Orchestra Season Closer April 29
White Concert Hall | Washburn University
Appearing with the Washburn University Chorus and the Topeka Festival Singers, the Topeka Symphony presents a monumental work in the classical canon—Mahler’s Symphony No. 2, The Resurrection. Originally performed in 1895, the work retains its powerful, inspiring (and sometimes confounding) impact. Part mournful requiem, part snappy march motif, part existentialist anthem and all magnificence, the symphony is known for its difficult scoring and exhilarating vocal/ orchestral powerpunch of an ending. The Resurrection is a riveting evening of music, a chance for Topeka’s musicians to showcase their ability to interpret an iconic composition and to bring an unforgettable finish to the orchestra’s 2016–2017 season theme of “Lovers, Villains and Legends.”
April 5
Sesame Street Live Kansas Expocentre presents the cast of puppets who might just be the only performers with a bigger fan base than Beyoncé | For tickets and more information, go online at ksexpo.com
April 7–23
April 21–May 6
Lake Shawnee and other locations | Nobody tells a tulip when to bloom, but the county parks and recreation department is betting that this time period marks our best chance to enjoy thousands of blooms; special twilight tulip tours are set for April 7–8 and a festival day on April 9, all at Lake Shawnee | Free admission with donations accepted | For more information and full listing of locations, go online at parks.snco.us
Topeka Civic Theater presents stage adaptation of Harper Lee’s literary classic | For times and ticket reservations, go online at topekacivictheatre.com
Tulip Time
April 8
Truckstop Honeymoon Jayhawk Theatre | Acclaimed Kansas roots duo | Part of the Last Minute Folk Concert Series | For ticket reservations and more information, go online at lastminutefolk.org
April 15
Easter Egg Hunt North Community Center | The county hosts a free community Easter egg hunt, open to ages 0–9 | For more information, go online at parks.snco.us
April 18, 21
Schooltime Theater Series Topeka Performing Arts Center hosts special school-hour productions for groups of students, as well as homeschoolers. The journey of two brave maidens, Mufaro’s Beautiful Daughters, takes the stage on April 18, followed by Ballet Midwest presenting Swan Lake on April 21. | For more information and to reserve individual or group tickets, go online at topekaperformingarts.org
Photographs courtesy, from top: Shutterstock, Mulvane Art Museum (Ernest C. Withers) and Nathan Ham Photography
To Kill a Mockingbird
April 27–30
Reach for the Stars Topeka Performing Arts Center hosts regional finals for vocal performance groups, such as hometown favorite Topeka Acappella Unlimited | For more information, go online at acappellaunlimited.com
April 27–May 25
For All the World to See Mulvane Art Museum | Washburn’s art gallery hosts a national exhibition sponsored by the National Endowment for the Humanites focusing on visual images in the struggle for civil rights and racial justice in the United States | washburn.edu/mulvane
April 28–May 13 Becky’s New Car
Helen Hocker Theatre presents a story of a woman, new cars and ethical quandries. | For ticket reservations and more information, go online at topekacivictheatre.com
April 29
Roar and Pour Wine Fest Topeka Zoological Park | The zoo hosts an adultsonly evening featuring live entertainment and wine samples from national wineries | Reduced prices for designated drivers | For reservations and more information, go online at topekazoo.org
WHAT’S HAPPENING
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
35
MAY MAY FEATURED EVENT
Captured: The Extraordinary Adventures of Colonel Hughes May 1–27
Kansas Museum of History
This is the last month to catch this year-long exhibit focusing on America’s involvement in two world wars through the experience of one Kansas soldier who was awarded the Legion of Merit. Topeka native James Clark Hughes enrolled in the Kansas National Guard as a trumpeter in 1905 and went on to serve in the U.S. Army from 1917–1948. His service included taking part in some of the last battles of World War I and commanding a group of Filipino-American forces that was forced to surrender to the Japanese. Hughes was 54 years old when captured, and spent April 1943–August 1945 as a POW. The exhibit displays artifacts from Hughes’ service as well as photographs that he took during the wars. For times, admission fees and more information, go online at kshs.org
May 2
May 18
Topeka Performing Arts Center | International music sensation group backed by Celtic dancers and musicians | For ticket reservations and more information, go online at topekaperformingarts.org
Topeka Performing Arts Center | This R-rated magic act combines two shirtless Aussies and sometimes a rabbit. Thank goodness they waited until May, otherwise the boys could have caught a cold in Kansas. | For more information, ticket reservations and (ahem) preview video, go online at topekaperformingarts.org
Celtic Women
May 3
Adult Beach Volleyball registration Deadline to register for season 1 (early summer) adult beach volleyball leagues through Shawnee County Parks and Recreation | For information and registration, go online at parks.snco.org
May 5
May 18–28
Evans United Shows Carnival Outside Kansas Expocentre | One of the Midwest’s largest travelling carnival attractions | For more information, go online at ksexpo.com
First Friday
May 19–21
Various locations Tour dozens of galleries, shops and artist studios to celebrate and support art in Topeka; held on first Friday of each month | For full listing of locations and times, go online at artsconnectopeka.org
The 29th Annual Menards NHRA Heartland Nationals Heartland Park | One of the region’s premier grandstand professional drag race events | For tickets and more information, go online at heartlandpark.com
May 7, or whenever
Tret Fure concert
MacLennan Park Trails
Springtime was meant for getting outside, and this month we’re likely to see great weather for family hikes, bike rides and more; this trail is one of our favorites, and like all public trails and parks in Topeka, it is free and always rewarding
May 12–14
Great Plains Cluster Dog Show Kansas Expocentre | One of the region’s largest kennelclub competitions | For more information and ticket information, go online at ksexpo.com
Photographs courtesy, from top: Kansas State Historical Society, Shutterstock and Tret Fure (tretfure.com)
Naked Magicians
May 20
Jayhawk Theatre | One of the pioneer “women’s music” singer-songwriters of the late 1980s and early 1990s takes the stage with a new collection of tunes; part of the Last Minute Folk Concert Series | For ticket reservations and more information, go online at lastminutefolk.org
May 30
Golden Giants Season Opener Lake Shawnee | Topeka’s hometown summer collegiate baseball team takes on Centennial All Stars to open 2017 season | For more info on 2017 schedule, times and tickets, go online at topekagoldengiantsbaseball.com
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
FEATURES
38
Hives & honey in the heartland
46
Equally delicate & hardy
37
38
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017
&
s e Hiv y e n Ho e h t in
t r a e H
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
39
d n a l t per e e k e e b a Topek of n o i t i d a r st me o h m continue o r f ney o h g n i t s harve ens Bill Steph graphy by o t o h P h c inda A. Dit Story by L
40
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017
Tony Proctor lays a cover of smoke over one of his hives. Smoking a hive is an effective and ancient (though still little understood) technique used by beekeepers to reduce a hive’s aggression.
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
Becoming a Beekeeper: Regional Courses and Resources
Since 2012, Tony Proctor has been a Westar employee during the day and a beekeeper in his spare time. He currently keeps approximately 20 hives, some in his backyard in west Topeka and some out in the country. In all, these hives produce a lot of honey. Last year, Proctor harvested 700 pounds of honey, which he gives to friends and family. But not the entire harvest. “I eat a lot of it,” Proctor says. “Eating locally harvested honey helps with allergies. I don’t have to use allergy medicine anymore. I also take some of it when a cold is coming on.” While most people think of beekeeping as a country activity, urban hives have become a trend in recent years. Beehives can now be found on top of high-rise buildings and in backyards in many major cities. Honeybees are so critical to agricultural success they were named the official Kansas state insect in 1976. According to findings from a 2016 White House task force charged with creating a national strategy to promote the health of honeybees and other pollinators, the honeybee population is responsible for adding more than $15 billion to the value of agricultural crops each year. Many new beekeepers get started to help combat the decline in bee colonies around the United States due to colony collapse disorder, which is the sudden, unexplained loss of thirty to ninety percent of the bees in a colony. However, Proctor got started when he took over hives from a friend who got stung one too many times. His beekeeping mentor was Nick Gieber, a retired Topeka USD 501 teacher and Proctor’s junior high gym coach. He also got how-to information from online articles and videos. Now Proctor mentors others in the beekeeping craft. Bees can be purchased, but Proctor increases his population by performing bee extractions. Someone will contact him, either through word of mouth or because of the “Honeybees Wanted” sign in his front yard, about a hive that has become a nuisance or needs to be removed before a remodeling project. These are typically located in a fallen tree, the siding or ceiling of a building, or other hollow spaces. He will safely extract the bees and their hive and add them to his own collection.
Resource/Course: Northeast Kansas Beekeepers’ Association Beekeeping Class * One of the Midwest’s leading apiary (beekeeping) groups * Sponsors 10-hour, two-session introductory courses * Holds “Bee Funday” info events * Regular meetings with more than 100 members willing to share advice * Meets at Douglas County Fairgrounds in Lawrence * Information, membership, newsletter and more at nekba.org Course: Becky and Steve Tipton’s Seasonal Instructions * Topeka-area master beekeepers guide through full season, set-up to harvest * Small groups provide individual instruction * Meets at Shawnee North Comm. Center; 3rd Wednesdays of month, 6:30-8:00 p.m. * Free of charge * For more information, email bstbees@embarqmail.com or call (785) 484-3710 Resource: Mother Earth News Fair * Nation’s leading natural living magazine brings experts to Topeka on Oct. 21-22 * Sessions by master beekeeper John Holzwart * For ticket reservations/more information, go online at motherearthnewsfair.com * Full disclosure: Topeka Magazine and Mother Earth News Fair are owned by the same parent company Resource: Tarwater Farm & Home Supply * Local store offering beekeeping equipment * Hours and directions available at tarwaters.com Course: Johnson County Community College * College credit for introductory and intermediate beekeeping courses * Taught on JCCC campus in Overland Park * For registration/more information, go online at jccc.edu
41
42
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
Like any beekeeper, Proctor’s work continues throughout the seasons as he constructs hives, provides pollination access, cares for the health of his brood, monitors their growth, extracts combs, harvests the honey, preserves and prepares the hive for hibernation.
Last summer Proctor removed three hives from an old schoolhouse in Emporia. He has a special shop vacuum made to suck up the bees without killing them. He transferred them to a brood box, hoping the queen bee was among the group to prevent the colony from dying off. One of Proctor’s more interesting extractions happened in Madison, Kansas. The hive was in a food pantry, and the only way to get to the bees was through the kitchen ceiling. Proctor remembers, “We cut through the ceiling. Bees, honey, and pieces of the hive were falling down on us. It was a mess.” Proctor’s college-age son, Skyler, helps with the beekeeping operation from time to time—despite an unfortunate 25-sting mishap at an extraction in Overbrook that saw him running down a road swatting at bees. Proctor’s wife, Jeannette, also has run-ins with the bees, though not to that extreme. Her stings happen occasionally when she’s gardening or mowing the lawn. Looking at Proctor with a smile, Jeannette says, “He sticks up for the bees. They’re his girls.” In Proctor’s opinion, the hardest part about beekeeping is making sure the bees stay alive. There are many reasons they don’t. Sometimes the queen quits laying eggs and the hive starts to die. Beatles and wax moths can also kill them off, or the hive can be robbed out by another bee colony. (Bees fight to the death.) As Proctor discovered last year, sometimes they disappear and you never know the reason. He says, “You think they’re doing really good, and then a couple of weeks go by and boom, they go south on you.” Why does he do it? Proctor shrugs and says, “It gets me out of the house and keeps me busy. It’s a hobby. A stress reliever. When you open up a hive, you have to really be concentrating. You can’t think about what happened at work or anything else.”
43
Is Beekeepin NO.
Are you ready to
This might not be your group. Beekeepers tend to become connected closely to the land and to stewardship of it.
save the world?
NO
YES!
Good for you. Not to be hyperbolic about beekeeping, but bees are essential to the plant pollination process. The United States Agricultural Department has estimated that honeybee pollination is a critical ink in the food chain, directly or indirectly responsible for 1/3 of our food.
OK. Can you be around people who blend practical farming with at least some idealism?
Cash Crop
Hobby
That makes things easier. But you can approach beekeeping wisely in order not to lose too much money.
YES.
OK. There are some who believe in apitherapy (intentional bee stings for health benefits), but direct, long-term benefits are not scientifically proven. In any event, this treatment is best done with medical consultation/ supervision.
Do you use pesticide/ fungicide/ herbicide in your yard? YES.
This could be fatal for your bees. The chemicals attach to bees who bring them back to the hive and feed the brood toxins that could start killing the population off after a few weeks.
This is probably the minimum amount of money you will need for one hive with your own equipment. However, beekeepers recommend starting off with two hives in case one dies, and each additional hive will cost about $250-$300. In short, be prepared to sink $800 for your first year.
Do you like being stung?
How much money do you have to invest?
How would you describe your approach to beekeeping?
This is possible, with creative accounting. Honey sells for about 6 dollars a pound in this region. If your hive produces a good harvest of 40-50 pounds of honey, then you could recover costs with more than 2 hives. But that doesn’t factor in your time. If you count labor, then you will definitely be losing money. “We work for nickels,” explains master beekeeper Becky Tipton.
SURE.
OK, consider saving the world as a side benefit.
More than $500
NO.
This is the safest approach for your hive. However, bees forage in a 2-mile radius and will be exposed to any chemicals in that region. For urban hives, this typically means lawn and garden applications. For rural areas, this often means corn and soy crops.
No, but I’m prepared for it. Good. You will be stung. But training can keep this to a minimum and help you minimize the times your bees will sting other people.
ng foryou? Less than $500
You might be able to pull this off with loaner equipment and a donated hive, but be sure to have everything lined up before you begin. Master beekeeper Becky Tipton suggests a bare minimum of $350 will need to be spent. Save up and return.
Yes.
Do you have neighbors close to you?
is a deal-breaker. Consider raising backyard chickens instead.
Do you have a beekeeping guru?
no.
But the bees might. Remember, bees forage a 2-mile radius. Consider that area their neighborhood in terms of access to pollens and exposure to chemicals.
No. I’m allergic or very sensitive to bee stings.This
The best single thing to do is to build a high fence in your yard, so that the bees have to fly up higher and naturally disperse their paths rather than going directly into your neighbor’s yard.
no.
This almost essential for successful beekeeping. See the resource section on page 41 for regional classes.
Beekeeping doesn’t seem to be for you ...but that doesn’t mean you can’t support beekeepers. Check out the Topeka Farmers Market this season and look for honey jars from Honey Creek Farm and other local beekeepers.
yes.
Have you taken a course?
That’s wise. After a few seasons, you’ll be ready to share your own beekeeping wisdom, along with your honey!
yes.
Good. Without basic knowledge, your hive will likely fail to thrive.
no.
Consider joining a group or establishing informal connections with other beekeepers. Even though some are in business to sell honey, the community is mostly made up of individuals who believe the bee population is at risk and who welcome all newcomers to help sustain honeybee populations.
You seem to be all set to begin! And, by the way, you look great in that beekeeper bonnet!
46
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017
AN ELMHURST GARDENER CREATES A YARD THAT THRIVES WITH SUBTLE BEAUTY IN THE SHADE
Story by Christine Steinkuehler Photography by Bill Stephens
I
t’s morning in Elmhurst. A rooster crows, a neighbor waves hello while picking up a paper, and a cat is busy rubbing against my legs as I sit with Marc Galbraith on the steps of his home. Sandwiched between busy one-way streets in the heart of the city, the Elmhurst neighborhood has a surprisingly rural small-town atmosphere. Once, it was the height of modernity—Elmhurst was Topeka’s first neighborhood to boast concrete sidewalks and telephone service. Today, the historic homes are beautiful examples of early-20th-century architecture. Some hold upstairs ballrooms and most have generous yards whose front porches align with one another and connect by walkways. Marc’s craftsman-style American foursquare is discreetly tucked behind trees toward the end of his block. He and his wife, Kay, have lived here for nearly three decades. “I like the block a lot,” says Marc. “Pretty place. Lots of nice people. Pretty quiet.” Marc, retired after 37 years with the state library, where he did policy research for state government, has taken his eye for detail and research methods and applied it to his home and garden. He has chosen plants to match his yard, a shaded region below a generous overlap of branches that filter out much of the summer sun. For example, Marc has planted pachysandra, an evergreen ground cover, to fill the “hell strip” (or verge) between the sidewalk and street, an area notoriously difficult to grow plants due to lack of water, heat reflected from paved surfaces and foot traffic.
Shade Showdown:
PA C H Y S A N D R A V S . V I N C A For decades, vinca has been a standard shade plant in Midwest gardens. But Marc Galbraith prefers pachysandra. Here’s his comparison of the two rivals. Leaf Structure Pachysandra: A broad leaf structure that provides visual interest and contrast with other shade plants such as boxwoods. Vinca: Smaller leaves that provide little contrast to boxwoods. Advantage: Pachysandra Height Pachysandra: Slightly taller, grows quickly. Vinca: Slightly shorter, takes longer to grow. Advantage: Pachysandra Invasiveness Pachysandra: Some varieties are considered invasive species; others are native to North America. Both can kill other plantings if not maintained or bordered. Vinca: Though commonly sold and used as a decorative element, vinca is regarded as an invasive plant. Advantage: Pachysandra (non-invasive varieties)
Spring 2017 | TOPEKA MAGAZINE
49
Marc has found that
carefully selecting trees has improved the look of his yard, increased the amount of shade
and influenced what he plants.
Is thatinsmile you? a s s i dy Orthodontics
Mailed directly to more than 10,500 homes each quarter Total circulation of over 14,500
Creating beautiful smiles for you and your family 600 Governor View | Topeka, Kansas | 785.233.0582
Typical readers are highly educated, homeowners, ages 35 – 65 If you want to reach this market, call your local representative today – Peterson Publications, Inc. 271-5801 or email gayla@petersonpublications.com
“It just looks so delicate, but it is hardy stuff,” Marc explains. Another hardy but beautiful plant is the multistemmed serviceberry that frames the front entry. One of Marc’s favorite trees, this is an American native originally from the Appalachian region. Its name is believed to come from its white flowers that bloom in the spring at the time when the traveling minister would come through to perform memorial services. Marc notes that his serviceberry should be slightly taller in order to fit in with his landscape, but it is easy to forgive a tree that blooms in the spring, colors in the fall and offers up tangy, rather rare berries. Marc has found that carefully selecting trees has improved the look of his yard, increased the amount of shade and influenced what he plants. “We took a silver maple down,” he says pointing to an empty area, “and the other silver maple just grew like crazy. So, we had more shade here, so we put some boxwoods here and hydrangea, a couple trees and some hosta. We may put a few more hosta in here something that makes more of a path here, something that would give it more definition.”
In fact, the yard is full of texture with Annabelle hydrangea, burning bush, pachysandra, spirea and tall phlox. Marc notes that his plants are also greatly affected by how he uses—or does not use—the yard. “I think that the people who lived here had three young kids—and there were more neighborhood kids then—and they would use this as a football field. So there was not much here. It was a mud pit.” Without the need to host sporting events, the yard can highlight pathways and plants. In many areas, Marc has planted contrasting groundcovers and repeating elements to visually connect different parts of the garden. At the concrete base of the porch steps, Marc has restored a diagonal pattern in the concrete that subtly emphasizes the entry and the steps. In the back, potted herbs line the deck and lead to raised vegetable beds with a colorful assortment, including rainbow chard, tomatoes and peppers. This is the area that was changed drastically after one of the silver maples was removed.
52
TOPEKA MAGAZINE | Spring 2017
Master Gardeners The Shawnee County Extension Master Gardener program is modeled on other master gardener programs throughout the nation and focuses on teaching and sharing knowledge about home horticulture. Members volunteer time at the local farmers’ market, through the resource call line and at other community events. Prospective members must complete a course, held each fall with registration usually beginning in July. For more information, go online at shawnee.ksu. edu (and follow the “Extension Master Gardener” link) or call (785) 232-0062. This is also the phone number for the resource line, open April–October, from 9 a.m.–noon and 1–4 p.m.
STUDY SKILLS
MATH
SAT/ACT PREP
WRITING
READING
HOMEWORK HELP
Learning
sm
“We have redone this many times,” says Marc. “We had a great big silver maple here; it got to the point that it began losing limbs and was a danger, so we had it taken out and then we had some sun and we put a garden in.” At the edge of the garden, near the alley, is a brick pillar, which was there when Marc and Kay bought the property. Someone told them that years ago there was a dairy on their property and speculated that the pillar might be from that time, but Marc has not found any evidence to confirm that. For now, the only farm animals on his lot are honeybees from a hive that Marc added several years ago. Over time, he and the hive have negotiated a delicate peace. Marc receives honey (the last harvest was approximately 4 gallons), and the bees receive uncontested rights to the yard. “I have to adjust when I do work out here now because the bees don’t really like me too close around here weeding and that sort of thing,” says Marc. But there remain plenty of tasks in other portions of the yard. Recently, Marc is contemplating moving the lilacs, which don’t get as much sun as they used to and consequently bloom less. No stranger to moving plants, Marc points to a border of liriope and says, “ I didn’t actually buy this. We had some; it was in a line, in a border, and it moves off a little bit, and I put them in here. It is pretty nice to be able to pull something out and just transplant it.” When he isn’t transplanting plants and caring for his own garden, Marc sometimes volunteers for the Shawnee County Extension Master Gardener program, answering phone calls and helping others solve gardening problems. If you call in with a question, the person on the other end might happen to be a retired legislative researcher who is now sharing a different type of knowledge.
Results Matter
Academic C heckup for $95 Offer valid at participating locations only. See center for details. Offer expires 5/31/17
Cannot combine with any other offers.
S Y LVA N L E A R N I N G O F T O P E K A 2800 Wanamaker | topdir@sylvanks.com sylvanlearning.com
785-272-6284
advertising/promotion
spotlight
five top picks the barn bed & breakfast inn
1
The Tasteful olive 2900 S.W. Oakley (Brookwood Center), thetastefulolive.com For Valentine’s or anytime! Combinations of oils and vinegars to please everyone’s taste buds. Use on salads, meats and veggies, in marinades, sauces and pasta dishes. More than 65 flavor choices. Sample before you buy. Shop online, too!
14910 Blue Mound Road in Valley Falls, thebarnbb.com For over 30 years, The Barn Bed & Breakfast Inn at Valley Falls has been providing guests a fun and relaxing country getaway. Whether you are a couple or large group looking for a special venue, The Barn’s amenities and staff create a memorable experience. For reservations, call (785) 945-3225.
2 diamonds by design 2121 S.W. Wanamaker Road, dbd.jewelershowcase.com Diamonds by Design is a full-service jewelry store with an in-house jeweler. We specialize in custom design. We have the largest bridal selection in Topeka, which when combined with our ability to customize gives our clients endless possibilities. Come and see us at Diamonds by Design!
3
Golden tuxedo 2930 S.W. McClure, goldentuxedo.com Golden Tuxedo is Topeka’s only locally owned and operated formalwear retailer, offering any color and all styles for your event needs. With individual service for each wedding and our perfect fit guarantee, Golden Tuxedo will make your wedding day the perfect day!
4
5
serendipity
820 N. Kansas Ave. (NOTO Arts District), serendipitytopeka.com Sometimes “Serendipity” intercedes to make a normal experience unforgettable. Our goal at Serendipity is to help you have an event that shows your personality and showcases all you have dreamed about, while we do the work. Whatever your special celebration is, we are here for you. Let us create the perfect event for you and feel confident you will have the best!