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Jams may have come about through necessity; but creativity flavorfully fuels the business

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By Beccy Tanner

Four years ago, Glora Batten started her journey into canning.

A friend asked her to come over to their house and help can pickles.

“We got started and made a batch of pickles and I just thought it was very fun,” the 29-year-old St. John woman said.

That moment started her thinking about the possibilities of canning more foods.

Soon, she had created an array of jams and jellies, pickles, relishes, and syrups.

Currently, Batten says she is in a canning hiatus.

Her youngest daughter, Charlotte, was born last June and is taking much of Batten’s daily attention.

But she is hopeful to get back into the full canning swing later this spring where she can offer sometimes as many as 30 different varieties of items.

When she does, Batten said she plans on using the new commercial kitchen in the Stafford County Annex.

“I have filled up my dining room table laying down jars and canning equipment,” she said. “I always go through a deep cleaning before I make anything, so it will be nice to walk into a nice, clean kitchen (at the Stafford County Annex) and just simply get the process going.”

Her business is called Preserved Goodness and she sells all over Central Kansas – Salina, Hutchinson, Wichita and Great Bend — and on Facebook.

“I’ve done a lot of pop-up markets over the last couple of years,” she said. “And I’ve been invited to sell products in a couple of stores and in different small businesses … I’ve always enjoyed cooking. I have a good friend. Her name is Phyllis, and she runs Dilly and Doc (a creative studio in Great Bend). She kept telling me I should have a booth with my jams and jellies.

“I didn’t think I had the audacity to do such a thing. I kept telling her so. And then, I went down in my basement after a day of canning, and I realized that I had filled up an entire room with probably 400 to 500 jars of jelly.”

Batten and her husband, Shawn, have four girls – Talley, 10; Rebekah, 4; Savannah, 3; and Charlotte, 7 months.

“My oldest daughter likes to do lemonade stands at the farmers markets,” Batten said. “This summer, I am hoping to go with her and have a few jellies to sell. And then, we will start back up doing random pop-up markets this fall.”

Until then, Batten said she can take small orders with advance notice.

She makes pepper jams, sandhill plum jelly, mulberry and blackberry jams. She has traditional flavors of jams and then, some not so traditional – think chocolate strawberry, blueberry-strawberry, carrot cake, monkey butters and tropical jams.

She sells half pint jars, typically around $7 each.

“Anything that looks fun, I usually try.”

To check out Glora’s business, see Preserved Goodness Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/preserved_goodness .

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Stafford county youth entrepreneurs advance to state final

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By Beccy Tanner

Two teams and four St. John High School students are the county winners in this year’s Youth Entrepreneurship Challenge.

Ryer Ward, placed first in the contest, which was held Feb. 7 at the Stafford County Annex.

He receives $750 and a chance to compete at the state competition on April 16th at Kansas State University in Manhattan.

His entry was called “The Pocket Shop” and details a business that would make breakfast rolls or pockets with filling.

Second place winners are Garrett McAlister, Willow Murphy, and Uricke Engelbrecht for their entry of “Unraveling Fibers.” Their business would include a subscription service for crocheting and needlework projects.

They receive $500 and have a chance at applying to be a wild card team in the statewide contest.

To participate, students must submit an executive summary of a business proposal and do an in-person presentation.

Each team is then judged on their business’s marketability, niche, and ability to grow their company as well as model.

This year’s judges included: Lea Ann Seiler, from Network Kansas; Trisha Greene, 21st Central District K-State Extension; Angela Peterson, St. John-Hudson USD 350 elementary principal; and Ryan Russell, director of Stafford County Economic Development.

Stafford County Economic Development with funding from South Central Community Foundation hosted the local YEC competition and sponsors the students to attend the state-wide competition.

 EcoDevo is a 501c3 nonprofit organization with a mission to promote economic and population growth throughout the county by assisting local businesses, engaging in community activities, and promoting Stafford County as a great place to live, work, and play.

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This Thanksgiving look at Grandmas or Great Grandmas Recipes

By: Ryan Russell and Beccy Tanner

It’s Thanksgiving week and you might be needing a little help thinking of some new recipes to try.  Why try to find new things when you have the best from the old recipe books that grandma had laying around.  In 1979 the town of St. John put together a great recipe book to celebrate the cities centennial.  Here are some oldies but goodies straight from that cookbook.  But before we get to these timeless recipes let’s look at the Golden Rules for the kitchen.  These Golden Rules are also found in the St. John 1979 Centennial Cookbook but look even further back to the Century Cookbook form 1892. 

GOLDEN RULES FOR THE KITCHEN

  1. Without cleanliness and punctuality good cooking is impossible.
  2. Leave nothing dirty; clean and clear as you go.
  3. A time for everything; and everything in time.
  4. A good cook wastes nothing.
  5. An hour lost in the morning has to be run after all day.
  6. Haste without hurry saves worry, fuss and flurry.
  7. Stew boiled is stew spoiled.
  8. Strong fire for Roasting; clear fire for Broiling.
  9. Wash vegetables in three waters.
  10. Boil fish quickly, meat slowly.

(From Century Cookbook 1892, Belonged to Mrs. James Harris, grandmother of Helen and Ralph Waters.)

These recipes are sure to be a hit.  I’m personally a pecan pie lover! Don’t forget the whipped cream!

CORN BREAD

Lucille Hall

(From Her Mother, Mrs. T. W. Hall)

1 c. flour
2 c. corn meal
1 tsp. salt
2 T. sugar
1 tsp. baking powder		3/4 tsp. soda
1 egg (beaten together)
2 c. sour milk
1 c. sour cream

Beat together the egg, milk and cream. Sift together the dry ingredients and add to the first mixture.

Pour into a 9×13 inch greased pan and bake at 400° for about 1/2 hour or when done by tooth pick test.

DOWN HOME PECAN PIE

Beccy Tanner

3 eggs
1 c. corn syrup
1/8 tsp. salt
1 tsp. vanilla  		2 T. melted margarine
1 c. pecan halves
1 c. brown sugar
9 in. unbaked pie shell  

Preheat oven to 400. Beat eggs with fork or eggbeater, add remaining ingredients and mix well by hand. Add pecans last, and place into the unbaked pie shell. Bake 15 minutes. Reduce heat to 350° and bake for 30 minutes or until pie is set.

TURKEY CASSEROLE

Elnor Shulz

1/2 c. oleo
2 cans (3 oz.) drained chopped mushrooms
3 T. flour
3 c. fat free chicken broth
3/4 c. cream or half and half  		2 T. pimiento (chopped)
3/4 c. grated cheese
4 c. cubed turkey
1 pkg. (12 oz.) medium egg noodles (cooked)  

Cook noodles. Heat margarine in pan, add flour. Remove, stir in broth, stirring to keep smooth. Add cream and cook till thickened. Stir in mushrooms, pimiento, and cubed turkey. Arrange layers of noodles and turkey mixture in greased casserole. Sprinkle with grated cheese. Bake at 350° for 45 minutes.

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September 2023 Radio Show

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This is our September 2023 Radio show with our director Ryan Russel

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St. John’s Homecoming Festival promises old-fashioned fun, games, concert, and prizes

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By Beccy Tanner

Mark your calendars for Oct. 21st for our Homecoming Festival.
The all-day event includes a chili cook off, concert, a pickleball tournament, horseshoe tournament, face-painting, a petting zoo, carnival games, free barbecue and so much more.
Most of the events will be in and around the square. 

“Well, I think it’s a great community event where it will bring people of all ages out to enjoy the beautiful square and hopefully, we will have beautiful weather that day,” said Cami Raines, the festival’s committee chair.

“It’s a great event for families with small children because we have lots of activities planned for them – that will not cost a single penny, thanks to our very generous sponsors.”
Nationally-acclaimed photographer Bo Rader will present demonstrations of wet-plate photography — the kind of photography W.R. Gray worked with —and what the St. John Homecoming Hall and Museum is using to document the diverse cultures who have lived in Stafford County. Those demonstrations will be in the W.R. Gray Studio from noon to 4 pm.

At 2:30 pm in the square on the 21st, plan on learning more about the St. John Homecoming Hall and Museum’s recent Humanities Kansas Grant that allows Rader and museum staff to photograph, video and write stories about Native American tribes who once lived in Stafford County.

This year, we have invited some Native Americans to attend our festival to tell us more about their culture.

The festival focuses on the different cultures that have lived in Stafford County.

“It’s just good to focus on the cultures that helped start the county and the state and to encourage people to think about the past, our ancestors and support their local museums,” Raines said.

One of the highlights of our festival will be a concert featuring Jim and Salli Ratts with Ernie Martinez.

Their concert starts at 3:30 pm. In the square.

Jim grew up in Stafford County. The Ratts farm was a few miles northwest of St. John. The love of music has been passed down from generation to generation in the Ratts family. Many will remember Jim’s father, Loyd Ratts who lived to be 103 years old. He died in 2018.

Loyd Ratts’ legacy was not only as a farmer and inventor, but also as a musician. During the 1930s, Loyd Ratts, along with his two sisters, Vida and Thelma, would travel through central and southwest Kansas to local radio stations and perform live for their radio listeners.

Jim Ratts is considered a musical storyteller and is a solid fixture of the Denver music scene, having fronted his country-folk-rock band Runaway Express with his wife, Salli for more than 30 years.

Some of Jim Ratts’ songs have been recorded by artists such as Sam Bush (the bluegrass chart hit “Howlin’ at the Moon” and the Dillards. In the 1990s, he was one third of the Wild Jimbos with Nitty Gritty Dirt Band’s Jimmy Ibbotson.


Besides the concert, there will be an Old Coots table in the square beginning at 1 p.m., where local personalities have been invited to share their wisdom on random questions. They may not offer the right advice but really, who cares if it tickles the funny bones!
There will be raffle tickets and prizes, cotton candy and who knows what else!

“Free food,” Raines said.

What? There is no such thing.

“Oh, it’s free,” she said. “If you happen to be one of the first 200, it’s free. And, it’s a yes for old-fashioned popcorn, peanuts and cotton candy.”

Indeed, Equity Bank is providing a free barbecue for the first 200 participants at the festival, beginning at noon.
In addition, beginning at 6:30 p.m. on Oct. 21, David Dalke, author of “Knees Lifted High and Toes Pointed” will be making a presentation on the second floor of the St. John museum about how the St. John Marching Band back in the 1930s became national champions.

 The St. John Homecoming Hall and Museum has produced a video that highlights those champion years and what Dalke’s father, Jake, experienced in creating that band.

So come to the festival.

There will be prizes.

And lots of fun.

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Stafford County zoning commission gives approval for Port Authority permit

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By Beccy Tanner

The Stafford County Zoning Commission has unanimously given their approval for a special use permit that help sets the stage for constructing the Port Authority of Stafford County.

Final approval, though, lies in the hands of the Stafford County Commission, which are set to hear the zoning case in October.  

The Port Authority of Stafford County will be located near the junction of US-50 and US 281 highways, near a BNSF railroad mainline. 

It is a site where hundreds of cars and trucks pass daily.

And while those vehicles will continue to pass daily by the site, there is hope that a 256-acre site will soon be constructed and handle full-size grain trains of more than 100 railcars and semi-trucks that can carry more than just grain but merchandise and consumer goods that may eventually pump as much as $7-to-9 million into the local economy.

The new Port Authority will in fact be a transportation and shipping hub.

Carolyn Dunn, president of the Port Authority and who currently is the Stafford County Economic Development’s Strategic Projects Manager presented the case to the zoning board, Sept. 12.

Dunn is also the county’s former economic development director and has been involved in the county’s development for the past 12 years.

“I was made aware that we were missing some critical business opportunities in the very first few months of economic development being in existence in 2011,” Dunn told the board. “We had a company at the time that was interested in putting a unit car loading facility here and had some purchase options on land but then decided to locate somewhere in Nebraska, instead. We subsequently had two other companies that considered Stafford County closely but invested somewhere else.”

Stafford County, because of its rural population, does not have a large labor force to attract manufacturers. But it does have agricultural products that can bring investment opportunities into the county.

And that is what local business and agriculture leaders are hoping to draw on.

“We are at the crossroads of two U.S. highways that intersect with the mainline railroad,” Dunn said. “It’s not an accident. Some of these companies that were considering Stafford County as a location is because we do have that strategic location when it comes to transportation.”

Additionally, there are few other public points of entry to a major railroad in the western 2/3 of Kansas. Those that do have rail service are owned by private companies, who control who uses the tracks.

“So, that is something we can put out there as an advantage that we could offer for developing,” Dunn said.  “Our purpose here is to create more and better-quality jobs that diversify the economy. One of the biggest goals for me is to increase the tax base with the goal of preserving essential services and quality of life.”

Because construction of the Port Authority will be costly, Dunn said, she wanted to do it in such a way that local taxpayers would not have to pay for it.

“We’ve made an application to the Federal Railroad administration … There is no way we would have even had an application worth sending in if we hadn’t already had over $5 million secured and other components already in place. It’s a very long process,” Dunn has said previously. “There have been a lot of different entities along the way that have been willing to be open and helpful to us. I feel we have the kind of support that the FRA looks for from the Kansas Department of Commerce, Department of Agriculture and the Department of Transportation. We have the support of both our U.S. Senators, US Representatives, and State Rep. Brett Fairchild, and local representatives who have endorsed us.”

The $5 million that has already secured for the Port came from a $2.5 million BASE grant through the Kansas Department of Commerce and a $2.5 million appropriation in the Omnibus Appropriations Bill (HB 2510).  Another $800,000 was awarded to Stafford County Economic Development to loan to the Port Authority with flexible repayment terms. 

Yet, more money is needed – at least another $5 million—which Dunn has applied for and is hopeful the county will receive.

That’s why the special use permit is needed – as part of the process.

“What we have is agriculture and we are missing the opportunities to capture some investment in the benefits that that brings because we maybe didn’t have the right tools to really make it an appealing investment for potential businesses,” Dunn said.

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Jaffle Sandwiches part of Kansas State Fair’s annual tradition

It was in 1980 when Leanne and Wade Russell began their Jaffle Sandwich pilgrimages to the Kansas State Fair.

The couple from Hudson have always been great cooks. But that year, before the fair started, they were looking for something a bit different to try.

The Russells had a café in Sterling. And, in 1980, were searching for a way to take their food on the road.

When they are not at the state fair, Wade is the minister at Trinity Community Church in Hudson.  Leanne is a diagnostic therapist at the Center for Consultation and Counseling in Great Bend.

And they are parents to Ryan Russell, Stafford County’s Economic Development director.

But 43 years ago, they were looking for another way to share their love for cooking.

“Well, we just sold our restaurant in Sterling and were looking for something else to do,” said Leanne Russell. “And Wade found out that a space was open at the State Fair. So, he sent off for some information about some products for Turo. The guy sent back 30 pages about the Turo and one page about the Jaffle Sandwich.

“We looked at that one page and I said ‘the Jaffle Sandwich sounds good.’ So, we went with that.”

Jaffle is Australian meaning … well, sandwich.

But the Jaffle Sandwich is so much more than a sandwich.

“The cowboys would bake them with cast iron grills that had both top and bottoms,” Leanne said. “They would put the bread in and the filling and toast them over a fire.”

For those who are long-time fairgoers, the Russell’s Jaffle Sandwich booth is located across from Ye Old Mill.

“The first year we did this, we had to buy bread in Canada,” Leanne said. “The man we bought the Jaffle bakers from sold us the bakers but said we would have to buy the bread from him. His bread was quite expensive for back then.

“It was 80 cents for 1,000 loaves.”

Eight hundred dollars, a hefty price no matter what year it was sold.

Wade had to pick the loaves of bread up in Ontario, Canada.

Leanne had helpers but that first year and the sandwiches sold out, despite the fact that some Kansans can be picky eaters when it comes to trying something new.

The Russells invested in another 1,000 loaves to take their Jaffle Sandwiches on the road – to other events – next in line was the Neewollah Festival in Independence.

And then on to the Tulsa fair.

“So, through all that, we got to selling Jaffle sandwiches,” Leanne said. “People would try them and absolutely love them.”

But, at first, it was hard to get people to try the sandwiches.

“We never had any trouble getting people to try the Jaffles at Neewollah, but at the Kansas State Fair, it was hard, at first.”

But once they did, the Jaffles became a fair favorite!

“Each year, it is a lot of work, but we do enjoy seeing the people,” Leanne said. “People come by and say hi to us.”

Leanne said they even have a few truck driver customers who park outside the fair grounds and walk in – just to buy the Jaffle sandwiches.

“They tell the guys at the gate, ‘We’re just getting Jaffles!”

So, how many Jaffle sandwich varieties are there?

Five.

There is the Meat Jaffle.

“We called it that because 43 years ago, they wouldn’t let us call it the Pizza Jaffle,” Leanne said. “It has sausage, pepperoni, mozzarella cheese and a sauce,” she said. “That’s the most popular and then, we have chicken, ham and cheese, veggie and then the Dessert Jaffle – with an apple pie filling.”

And then, they also have Lemonade.

Pure lemonade made from scratch, none of that powdery stuff.

“We make it with fresh squeezed lemons and our own sugar water. It’s just pure juice,” Leanne said. “It’s pretty yummy.”

Leanne says that she and Wade plan on manning their Jaffle Sandwiches booth at the Kansas State Fair for many more years, until they can no longer do it.

Then, they hope, their grown children will take over their long-standing tradition.

“I just have felt all along that the kids were going to take over,” she said.

And, in his spare time, Leanne said, that Ryan will be helping out his parents this year at the fair.

And that’s always a good fair tradition when families get together.

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Abilene Meat Processing Site Visit

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Stafford County Economic Development (EcoDevo) has been looking into different concepts that might work with the growing need of the county’s beef producers to slaughter, process, and package meat to sell directly to consumers.  After talking with Kansas Commerce and Land of Kansas, EcoDevo organized a site visit to see Midwest Meats mobile beef slaughter trailer in Abilene, KS.  On June 23rd a group of 5 people including Billy Milton, Lisa Cornwell, Scott and Jennifer Pfortmiller, and EcoDevo’s Ryan Russell went to Abilene to meet with Troy and Brian Leith of Midwest Meats.  

The group first went to lunch and discussed Midwest Meats journey of over 2 years in trying to figure out how to create a system of farm to table beef products.  The main challenge had been city ordinances which stopped them from doing beef slaughter within city limits.  Now they were operating and had followed guidelines to be Federally approved.  Troy said, “All small towns in Kansas should be replicating this, it’s the only way forward economically allowing small beef producers to slaughter, butcher, and sell directly to customers.  Our goal at Midwest Meats is to promote branded beef specific to beef producer farms’.” 

 The concept they had built was a 13 ft tall trailer that had cooling capacity for 5-6 slaughtered cattle.  They could drive it to any farm in their county, set it up with a 3 man crew, and complete the slaughter process of  a cow within 40 minutes of setup.  After that, drive the cooling beef to their butcher shop and transfer them from the trailer for processing at their butcher/retail shop.  The trailer has on board electricity and water.  They have plans to set up slaughter staging stations at all the farms they worked with, equipping them with a concrete slab and electrical hookups for their trailer.

The trip made all participants intrigued about what might be possible for beef producers in Stafford County.  This is the starting point in the due diligence process to create a project that fits the needs of beef producers in Stafford County.  There will be a followup meeting with all beef producers interested in entering the discussion on how to go about getting beef slaughter and processing into Stafford County. More information about next steps will be available on EcoDevo’s facebook page soon.

If you have any questions or interest please contact Ryan Russell at [email protected] or 620-314-5561. 

Midwest Meats Trip Media

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2023 Photo Contest

Stafford County Economic Development sponsors an annual photography contest for images that will be used on promotional materials and/or our website. A $25.00 prize will be given to the winner in each of the 3 categories listed below, and an unlimited amount of honorable mention winners will receive a $5.00 prize for each entry.

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