Posts

Stafford County Eco Devo Participates in South Central Community Foundation’s Matching Day to Spur Economic Growth in Food Sector and Youth Entrepreneurship

,

By Ryan Russell

Stafford County leaders have been working to finalize details in opening a commercial kitchen at the Stafford County Annex in St. John.

While some of the initial construction has yet to be completed, the county commission has generously given to help get the kitchen going.  In addition, Stafford County Economic Development Inc. was awarded a grant by South Central Community Foundation to hold Youth Entrepreneur Challenge (YEC) this year with a focus being on value added food creation. 

The YEC youth are challenged to create a business concept and compete against each other.

Stafford County Economic Development will offer an entrepreneurship training program in 2024 — that is food related, once the kitchen is completed and licensed.

Additional programming will be in partnership with 4H extension with their youth programs to create commercially viable products.  We will also work with 4H extension to create year-round programming.

The idea behind this is that Stafford County has an abundance of raw food materials from the flour mill, produce farmers, a number of small farms producing high-quality meat and dairy products; however, there is a lack of value-added products that are marketable.

Additional funds are needed.

The goal is to raise $10,000 for the operational and programming costs connected to the Commercial Kitchen.  This will include the costs of bringing in people with the technical skills and knowledge to help with training in packaging and food processing.  We will also be putting in a gas stove and other equipment that may be needed depending on who uses the kitchen.

Here’s how that money can be raised:

Beginning in November, South Central Community Foundation is doing a matching day on Giving Tuesday.  They have a pool of $70,000 to use in matching.  Each organization has an opportunity to get the funds they’ve raised matched, and an endowment created that will gain interest every year to be used for whatever projects an organization has to fund. 

Though Giving Tuesday is the Tuesday after Thanksgiving, individuals can give throughout the month of November. Stafford County Economic Development is participating in South Central Community Foundations month of giving.  

So, give generously this November and help Stafford County Economic Development spur economic growth in Stafford County’s nascent food product industry.  To donate to support this important program, click on the link. https://www.sccfmatchday.org/nonprofits.cfm?id=1830

/by

Eco Devo Rents all properties but one, 412 W. Halveson, Macksville still needs a tenant

Stafford County Economic Development has been working hard the last 2 years to complete 10 houses that are in St. John, Stafford, Hudson, and Macksville respectively. These houses have government requirements for income and age and meet the need of a critical group in our community. We are now looking for a lucky person or family to move into the last house in Macksville. The 412 W. Halveson house has a large yard and has 3 bedrooms and 2 full bathrooms. The other houses in the county are now called for. The house on First and Monroe in St. John was recently filled and the house in Hudson has someone moving into it starting in November. If you or someone you know needs housing in Macksville please contact Housing Opportunities Incorporated (HOI) our partner who manages the houses. Reach out to HOI by phone (620) 792-3299.

/by

Partnership formed between Grays Photo Studio and Stafford County Economic Development to aid in renovation efforts

, ,

By Beccy Tanner

St. John’s century-old photo studio, placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2013, is about to get an interior make-over.

The board at the W.R. Gray Photo Studio at 116 N. Main has created a partnership with Stafford County’s Economic Development office to help finish the building’s interior.

 The building was constructed at the turn of the 20th century.

“We’ve signed an agreement with Eco-Devo to complete the restoration of the building,” said Carol Long, president of the Gray Studio Restoration Board. “Basically, it is just for that. It’s not a longtime administration agreement. It’s just to complete the building.”

Ryan Russell, executive director of Stafford Count’s Economic Development, said his office would help write grants.

“We are an administrative and fiscal sponsor,” Russell says. “So, what that means, is that we will help them find the money to do the project.”

For years, the building sat vacant and neglected until Long and others within the community began a concentrated effort in trying to save it.

That’s when it was listed on the national register and a new roof was installed. Then, the building’s exterior was painted: windows were repaired on the structure’s iconic northern skylight and, the interior was essentially taken down to the studs and beams.

Now, it is time to finish the rest of the work.

“They need help with the finishing projects,” Russell said. “And, we are going to be looking at selling some tax credits and obtaining grants.”

Long said the goal for the building will be turn a portion of the space into a residential artist apartment.

However, the bulk of space will be utilized for a classroom and special events.

“This is not some favor to Gray Studio,” Long said of the help provided by Eco-Devo.

“They are getting compensation for their work … The reason this has happened is that we need somebody to have their mind on Gray Studio all the time – somebody skilled and with connections to grant writing and organizations that build the grants,” she said.

“We needed people in the know.”

Long said that for the past decade, the members of the Gray Studio board have been working on getting the building completed.

“We want to do programs when the building is done,” she said. “The building will house a workspace for classes and maybe a place for a resident artist to work. It will have a little retail space and museum.”

The reason the photo studio is so important to Stafford County is because it documented the early families who lived in the area.

The Gray family took photos in Stafford County for 76 years.

The type of photography that the family used was glass plate photography, started in the 1850s and used up until the 1930s when Kodak’s Brownie camera and film became more accessible to most families.

William Gray moved to St. John in 1905 from Fall River. He operated the studio until his death in 1947. His daughter Jessie took over the business until her retirement in 1981.

In 1986, she donated the glass negatives to the Stafford County museum.

 No one knew what they really had until Stafford County Museum curator and project director Michael Hathaway brought the 30,000 glass plate negatives up from the basement of the town’s old bank building and moved them into the museum’s library next to his office.

That was in 2004.

Gray had kept 11 ledgers dutifully noting each of the 30,000 photos.

Those business ledgers indicate his clients came from all over Kansas. Many of the photos include portrait sittings but also street scenes, crime scenes, festivals and, of course, who can’t resist a picture of oversized produce?

Now, with this new partnership, the building can be completed and it’s legacy can continue as an important landmark of Stafford County.

/by

Stafford County’s Fair will have a new look next year as 70-year-old building is replaced

,

By Beccy Tanner

In its day, the old Quonset-style fair building on the Stafford County Fairgrounds was state-of-the-art.

It had an enclosed space, concrete floor, showers in the restrooms and giant electric fans that kept the air moving as fair-goers perused hundreds of 4-H projects.

That was more than 70 years ago.

In recent years as the steel framed-round top community building began to leak and rain water dripped on projects, the Stafford County Fair Board re-evaluated what they could do.

“The building’s roof had begun leaking and during heavy rains, it rained on photography exhibits and stuff like that,” said Billy Milton, fair board president. “We started looking into fixing the roof and got back an estimate that was going to cost between $30,000 to $40,000 to fix and that in 10 to 20 years, we’d have to do it again.

“We did not feel like that was the right area to pursue. It doesn’t make sense for us to be spend that much money. Our budget just is not that big to operate like that.”

A few weeks ago, the old 50 by 120-foot community building was removed from the fairgrounds.

And the ground has been prepared to receive a new building – a little bigger, 60 by 120-foot.

The construction will be more of a Morton-esque-style building.

The biggest hope and feature for it will be air conditioning, Milton said, and a more comfortable space for people to gather.

Using $250,000 in funds that was available to Stafford County to help stimulate the economy after the Covid pandemic, Milton said, the fair board was able to begin the process of replacing the old building. The money was awarded by Stafford County Commissioners with the stipulation it be spent by the summer of 2024.

“That led us to deciding to go ahead and replace the building,” he said. “It will suit our fair and the community a lot better than what we currently had … I have been on the fair board for the last six years and we’ve always kind of talked about wanting a new building – even back in the 1990s, there was talk about it.”

Milton said the fair board has partnered with Stafford County Economic Development to raise an additional $275,000 to pay for the building’s amenities – such as heating and air conditioning, a concession stand area with stove and refrigerator and install showers in the restrooms.

“The rest of it will be open for meetings, wedding receptions and reunions,” Milton said. “We entered into a fiscal sponsorship agreement with Stafford County Eco-Devo because our organization is not a 501-C nonprofit so that when people donate, they can still get the tax breaks and save a little bit of money with sales tax, also.”

The partnership allows for a tax-favored option.

People wanting to donate to the new building fund can do so by sending a check to the Stafford County Economic Development Office at P.O Box 233 at St. John, KS, 67576 or by calling 620-549-3527.

The checks can be made to Stafford County Eco-Devo with the words “Community Fair Building” in the memo portion of the check.

Donation levels include: Grand Champion level at $80,000 and up; Reserve Champion, $50,000 to $80,000; Champion, $20,000 to $49,000; Reserve, $10,000 to $19,000; Purple, $2,000 to $9,999; Blue, $500 to $1,999; Other and Add a Brick, $200 to $350.

A 4 x 8 brick with no clipart has three lines with 20 characters per line; the same size of brick with clipart has an equal number of lines with 15 characters per line; an 8 x 8 brick with no clipart has three lines with 20 characters per line; and with clipart, three lines with 20 characters.

People serving on the fundraising committee include Milton, Joanna McAlister, Barb Alpers and Sharilyn McNickle.

“Right now, with the amount of money we have, we have enough money to get the shell of a building. We can get it back to where we were before,” Milton said. “But the additional money will go towards plumbing, electrical, tables and chairs, a bathroom and kitchen area on the inside.”

/by

Oktoberfest in Stafford Starts Soooooon! Oct. 6th & 7th

,

Check out the schedule here and also the other festivities on their facebook page https://www.facebook.com/StaffordOktoberfest .

/by

Giving Tuesday is all about supporting your favorite local nonprofit organizations

, , , ,

By Beccy Tanner

Stafford County’s two area community foundations are gearing up one of the largest global giving days ever – Giving Tuesday, which falls this year on Nov. 28.

Worldwide, it’s a movement that promotes “radical generosity,” according to the organization’s website: www.givingtuesday.org.

Locally, it means the Golden Belt Community Foundation and the South-Central Community Foundation are promoting local nonprofits and encouraging residents to give as generously as they can to support their favorite nonprofits.

For Golden Belt Community Foundation, this is their 10th year in promoting Giving Tuesday.

They have 100 local nonprofits participating in this year’s event.

“You can give to your favorite nonprofits and those funds can move directly to them or you can give to your favorite nonprofit endowment fund and that money can stay here with us and can grow that fund to continue to support that nonprofit organization,” said Teresa Powelson, program officer for Golden Belt.

The Golden Belt’s Community Foundation area covers counties in Barton, Pawnee, Rush and Stafford County.

In year’s past, the foundation raised more than $288,000 in Giving Tuesday.

“Last year was one of our biggest giving years,” Powelson said. “I think the thing that means the most to us is that we get to continue to support the nonprofit agencies in our community. This is a way that we can continue to help them grow, build their programs and serve the community just by allowing them to participate in Giving Tuesday.

“I think that’s one of the greatest benefits we can provide to the community.”

People who have participated in Giving Tuesday with Golden Belt before can expect to receive forms in the mail informing them of Giving Tuesday.

If they haven’t participated before and would like to, they may go to the Golden Belt Community Foundation’s Facebook page or website or stop by the foundation’s office in Great Bend to find out more information.

 The office is located at 1307 Williams St, Great Bend, KS., 67530.

The website is www.goldenbeltcf.org.

The South Central Community Foundation in Pratt represents Barber, Comanche, Kiowa, Kingman, Rice and Stafford counties.

This is the foundation’s first year participating in Giving Tuesday and has 10 nonprofiit organiztions signed up to participate.

“It’s a big deal,” said Holly Launchbaugh, the foundation’s executive director of this year’s event. “It’s not just about the actual monetary donations but about giving back to your community, as well. It’s volunteering in every capacity. It has a lot of different meanings, for sure.”

Through a grant with the Patterson Family Foundation, which was established to reinvest in rural communities, the South Central Community Foundation is able to provide for the first time up to $70,000 in matching funds.

“We have a matching pool,” Launchbaugh said. “So, if we raise $70,000 or above, we will receive that full amount. Of course, if we received from the community, $30,000, that’s what we will get. So, it depends on how much you raise up to $70,000.”

Last summer, the South Central Community Foundation did a listening tour of each of its seven participating counties. The counties are, of course, all rural and all face similar issues with housing, childcare and the workforce topping the main concerns.

“When we received this opportunity to receive this grant, we really wanted to help out the nonprofits that serve our counties,” she said. “Helping our communities is something that we all support.”

The money goes straight to the nonprofit of choice.

“So, it’s really helping with whatever the nonprofit’s specific need is,” Launchbaugh said. “This is open-ended to let the nonprofit select where the money goes.”

The Patterson Family Foundation grant opened up an opportunity this year for the SCCF, Launchbaugh said. In the past, much of the foundation’s dollars was spent specifically on other grants or scholarships. The Patterson grant allowed the foundation to participate for the first time in Giving Tuesday.

People wanting to participate in Giving Tuesday can drop checks off at the office beginning Nov. 14th in Pratt or by mailing checks to the office.  The office is located at 114 W. 5th, Pratt, KS., 67124.

“As long as the check is postmarked by Nov. 28, they will be counted for that matching grant this year,” she said. South Central’s website is https://www.sccfmatchday.org/.

/by

September 2023 Radio Show

, ,

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

Read more
/by

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

, ,

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.

/by

Stafford’s Oktoberfest brings people together for food, fun and plenty of frivolity

, ,

By Beccy Tanner

The 34th Annual Oktoberfest is about to take place and already there is excitement brewing in the community.

Oktoberfest is Oct. 7, following tradition of always having it on the first Saturday in October.

Here’s what you need to know:

Don’t forget your buttons!

Oktoberfest buttons are available for purchase – cost is $5 — at Ampride, Main Street Market, the Stafford City Office, Joan’s Café, Prairie Bank and at the Stafford County Register of Deeds in St. John.

Buttons and your presence are needed to claim major prizes that range anywhere from a Drone with a 4K EIS Camera, an Ingloo 70 QT Premium Trailmate Wheeled Rolling Cooler to a pizza oven, air fryer and Deluxe Stadium Seat with lumbar support.

Also don’t forget to bring your money because you will want to buy handcrafted arts and crafts as well as some of the great food items for sale.

And … don’t forget Friday night (Oct. 6) Music Bingo where six food venders will be present, and the Norwich/Stafford game will be streamed.

Plus, there is a beer garden … because, what’s the point of having an Oktoberfest with no beer?

But beyond that, why go?

“It’s a great community event,” says Jami Downing, Stafford’s city clerk/city administrator. “I mean, it’s really the highlight of the year around here. We love adding things to it and cleaning things up in preparation.

“It’s about all the community it brings together. We have people who aren’t from here who frequent it because they just like coming.”

Fun fact: One couple actually moved to Stafford because they loved Oktoberfest!

“They thought it was the neatest thing and they had so much fun – and then, years later they ended up moving here,” Downing said.

Over the years, events have changed, some have evolved and still others are solid tradition.

Alas, the Wiener Dog races are no more.

It ran for 10 years and then, just kind of tapered off.

“Some people came just for that,” Downing said. “Over the years, we have had pumpkin races where people had to decorate pumpkins, put wheels on them and make them mobile. We have also done inflatable costume obstacle races, bed races, lip sync battles and trivia games sometimes.”

This year, though, there are some new events. But plans are to gear up big for next year, the festival’s 35 anniversary.

This year, there will be mullet and Mahomes lookalike contest; and Redneck Olympics and Stein holding contests.

Wait … Redneck Olympics?

“We will have something where the contestants will have to toss something through a toilet seat ring and dig in the hay,” Downing said.

Events for Music Bingo on Friday night start at 5 p.m.

Oktoberfest on Saturday run from 9 a.m. until about 4 p.m.

The parade in downtown Stafford begins at 11 a.m.

“There is always a lot of good food,” Downing said. “We will have about six vendor food trucks.”

Her personal favorites are the Wizard of Oz truck that has pulled pork and curly fries with pork, cheese and all sorts of wonder foods on it.

There is also the Wheatland Food Truck “which obviously always has good food.”

So, three things to remember:

  1. Don’t forget your button.
  2. Bring money.
  3. Plan on having oodles of fun!
/by

Stafford County zoning commission gives approval for Port Authority permit

,

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.

/by