IN THE FAMILY · picking, the air turns crisp and I get to wear boots and sweaters. This also is the time of year for football, and we have a couple of football stories in this quarter's

FREE – Take OneFALL 2016

Beast awakensDragons catch fire

with Grider

TravelHutchinson offers

more than the state fair

Putting aroundHarold Reid

recalls alifetime of golfing

IN THE FAMILY

2 | HarveyCountyNOW.com Fall 2016

AdvertisingInformation

EDITORWendy Nugent

FEATURES,PHOTOGRAPHY

Adam StrunkMike Mendez

Wendy Nugent

SALESBruce Behymer

CREATIVEShelley Plett

Elizabeth Hingst

PUBLISHED BYKansas Publishing Ventures LLC

Joey Y oung, Publisher706 N. Main • Newton, KS 67114

316-281-7899

www.harveycountynow.com

Contact:Bruce Behymer

[email protected]

From the Editor

16

HarveyCountyNOW.com doesnot knowingly publish or accept

advertisements that are mis-leading or fraudulent. Publisherreserves the right to cancel or

reject any advertisements.Kansas Publishing Ventures LLCdoes not assume any financial

responsibility for typos in ads. Ifat fault, however, Kansas Pub-lishing will reprint any portion

of the advertisement wherethere is an error. Location of

ads, size of type and style areleft to the discretion of the pub-lisher. Opinions in this publica-

tion are not necessarily those ofthe publisher. ©2014 Kansas

Publishing Ventures LLC.

@HarveyCoNOW

facebook.com/HarveyCoNow

VOLUME 4 • NUMBER 3

Lincoln SchoolLandmark transformedinto apartments

This is my favorite time of year, where pumpkins are ripe forpicking, the air turns crisp and I get to wear boots andsweaters. This also is the time of year for football, and we

have a couple of football stories in this quarter's Harvey CountyNow.

The cover story is about Neff Family Farm.com out of ruralSedgwick, that sells herb plants at area farmers markets. Onething I didn't know is they make pottery with scriptures and/orherbs impressed into them. I had the chance to drive out thereone muddy morning after a rain to do the interview and meetone of Kay Neff's sons and two granddaughters. It was worth thedrive to find out about the farming operation that uses chickens

to eat their weeds.Other articles in this issue include two more I wrote, about Terra Scott of Newton,

who teaches yoga and raps, and another about the Ronda and Tony Baker home inNewton. The Terra Scott story is in the center spread and talks about her being a modern-day Renaissance woman. The Baker home was built in the 1800s and is a monument tocomfort and Victorian architecture.

Adam Strunk wrote an article about El Cerrito, a Mexican restaurant in Hesston.Seems like the next day after Adam ate there, he wanted to go back for more tasty food.He also penned an article about Hutchinson and the features it beholds, such as the saltmuseum and Fox Theatre.

Mike Mendez also had his share of articles. He wrote those football stories Ipreviously mentioned and one about Harold Reid, a Newton resident who's spent alifetime golfing. I hope you enjoy this issue!

TABLE OF CONTENTS

8

16

12

14

HistoriceleganceBaker couple’s 1880shome comfortable fora family

RenaissancewomanScott teaches yoga, hasown business, raps

Back to workSwathers try torecapture glory

Workin’ for aliving

El Cerrito embraces Hesston

ON THE COVER: Kay Neff with Neff Family Farm.com talks to granddaughter Shaley Brim about herbs asShaley sniffs one of them. Wendy Nugent/HarveyCountyNOW

Wendy Nugent, Editor

HarveyCountyNOW.com | 3

Harvey CountyHealth Department

Flu Season is Here!

Call about vaccineavailability.

316-283-1637 • 800-414-4244215 S. Pine, 2nd Floor • Newton

www.harveycounty.com

State Farm®

Providing Insurance and Financial ServicesHome Office, Bloomington, Illinois 61710

Rich Huffman, AgentBus 316-283-5143 Toll Free 800-613-0023www.richhuffman.com

Walk in, Mail in, Call in, Click in®

109 E. 6th Street, Newton, Kansas

Just like the 1960ssong by Simon andGarfunkel, Kay andDave Neff ’s family herb

farming operation containsparsley, sage, rosemary andthyme.And just as the lyrics to“Scarborough Fair” date back toat least the late 1600s, theseherbs probably have beenaround at least that long, too.“Scarborough Fair” actually is atraditional English ballad.

Not only does Neff FamilyFarm.com’s land have those herbs, ithas at least 80 more at the ruralSedgwick location, as well as varieties ofthose herbs.

There’s Creeping Thyme, English Thyme,German Winter Thyme, Lemon Twist Thyme, LimeThyme, Orange Blossom Thyme and Summer Thyme, aswell as Russian Sage, Extracta Sage, Trailing Rosemary, GoriziaRosemary, Hills Hardy Rose mary, Italian Flat Leaf Par sley and Triple CurledParsley.

Neff ’s interest in gardening and herbs stems from her dad and where she wasraised.

“I’m a sixth-generation farmer and a fourth-generation potter,” she said,adding the business also makes pottery and produce, which are sold at farmersmarkets. “The art and farming marries pretty well.”

Neff said they make scripture bowls and herb bowls with herbs in the glaze.“My dad was a chemist who came from the farm, and I’ve always just had a

love of growing things,” Neff said.When she and Dave first were married, her parents visited them in Bailey,

N.C., as Dave was in the Marine Corps. They visited the Country DoctorMuseum, and when they walked out the back, they saw an herb garden in awagon wheel.

“I fell in love with it,” Neff said. “So it’s always been kind of a connection tomy family heritage, and herbs you can eat ’em.”

The business sells its wares at a variety of farmers markets in the area,including Wichita and Hutchinson, as well as occasionally Newton. They also goto big events, like three herb fairs in Oklahoma, and they like to sell in Wichitabecause it’s a big market.

When the Neffs moved to the area in 1982, Neff ’s mom gave her a wagonwheel.

Article and photosWendy Nugent

greenthumb

Neff familyworks herb, veggie farm

.....................................................................................................................Abe Neff loads tomatoes into a bucket at Neff Family Farm.com on aFriday in August. The farm is in rural Sedgwick.


cover story



“Sheknew howmuch Iloved thatwagon-wheelgarden,”Neff said.

Theygo to theHutchin sonmarket earlyin the seasonfor about sixweeks, Neff said.

The herb farmersaid they sell live herbplants along with produceand pottery, and they’ve beengoing to farmers markets since 1991.

A big part of their business is to educate,and that’s at least one reason they don’t havebusiness cards but hand out pamphletscontaining the business name and contactinformation, information about differentkinds of herbs, a conversation chart forcooking with herbs (1 teaspoon dried equals1 tablespoon fresh), varieties of tomatoplants, recipes and the locations where theywill sell during the year.

“We try to educate the customers at thesame time,” Neff said in a makeshift interview

area at the farm.“Yes, we like tomake money, butnot at theexpense of thecustomer.” Shehad covered astool and chairwith a couple ofblankets since

the dew,humidity, rain, or

all three madeeverything moist,

including the roads totheir farm.The air also hung heavy in

one of their high tunnels, whichcontained growing produce and

chickens in a fenced area eating weeds andproduce.

“The chickens are really liking thecucumber,” Neff said. “Anything that’s notsellable, the chickens get to eat it.”

The farm received a grant to do researchfor rotating chickens through planting areasand high tunnels, Neff said, so the chickenseat the weeds and fertilize and aerate thesoil. On Friday, several chickens were in afenced-in area, munching away at weeds andwhatever unwanted produce was tossed theirway. At one of the fenced areas was a portable

chicken house, which Neff and husband Davebuilt. When the chickens are moved toanother area, so is the chicken house, whichis lined up to an end of a high tunnel, givingthe chickens easy access.

“Once they get this all cleared,” Neff saidabout the weeds, “they’ll start digging at thetopsoil. So they’re worker bees, and they layeggs.”

High tunnels are similar to green houses,although they’re not heated and are higher,maintaining their own temperatures.

Tomatoes are grown on raised beds, andNeff ’s son, Abe, and granddaughters, Shaleyand Julia Brim, were busy picking some ofthose tomatoes, as well as peppers andcucumbers, on this day.

Neff said they use a drip irrigation systemin the high tunnels, and everything is natural.

“No pesticides, no herbicides,” Neff said,walking around the farm. “We’re completelychemical free.”

She said they also recycle pots and trays.They grow plants tightly with the idea

there won’t be much weeding, Neff said.“Everything went up,” she said, meaning

plants grew up instead of out.The farm also has a homemade brooder

when they have chicks. The chicks heat thebrooder, and the brooder heats the chicks.

“This greenhouse never froze last year,because it had chickens in it,” Neff said.

The words myfamily hates most in

life are, ‘Honey, Ihave a little idea...

.......................................LEFT: Julia Brim loadscucumbers that werejust picked at Neff Fam-ily Farm.com in ruralSedgwick. ABOVE: Thisis one of the bowlsthat’s made at NeffFamily Farm.com.

Lift Chairs Starting at $598

hairsLift Ctting aatarttaS

895$tting aatarttaS


Former Prosecutor111 E. Seventh Street � P.O. Box 176 � Newton, KS � 316-804-4990

DUI and Traffic Defense• Speeding Tickets • DUI • Driving while Suspended, No Insurance

Criminal Defense• Felony Crimes • Misdemeanor Crimes

Juvenile Law• Minors charged with crimes• CINC Cases • Adoptions

Family Law• Divorces (Contested & Uncontested)• Child Custody • Support / Paternity Cases

LLAMAS LAW, LLCMichael X. Llamas, Attorney

Practicing in Harvey, Marion & McPherson Counties

Designs by JohnFlowers, Tuxedos and Home Decor

Newton, KS 67114

Open House Friday and Saturday October 14th & 15th

- 40% off All Custom Silks -

Christmas 40% off all Custom wreaths,

garlands, and silks.

November 10th, 11th, &12th

Neff also places the plants on brooders that needthe most heat, and they have almost four greenhousesthat will be filled with herbs and veggies.

At one location of the farm are what Neff called“mother plants,” because they’ll provide the cuttingsfor most of her plants for next year. They startpropagating plants in October and November, startseeding in January and selling transplants in April.

With all of this farming comes work, and Neff saidall of their family who’s in the States help.

“Not only is it a family farm, it’s an ever-extendedfamily farm,” Neff said, adding even one of herdaughters-in-law’s parents helped during Herb Daythe first Saturday in May.

All of their children, their spouses and their kidsreside in the area except for their son, Marine CorpsCapt. Ben Neff, who lives in Japan with wife Bethanyand their son Xander. Jacob and Dorothy Neff residein Newton, and Abe and Sunset Neff live in ValleyCenter.

“The words my family hates most in life are, ‘Honey, I have alittle idea,’ because they know it means work,” Neff joked,adding the kids don’t like to hear “You know what we shoulddo?” which means there will be work that’ll take more than oneperson to do. “Which is most things,” Neff added.

In regard to working at the farm, Neff had a question forone of her granddaughters, Shaley.

“If we work at the farm and make money, where do we getto go?” Neff asked.

With much glee, Shaley answered, “Disney World!”Neff said they take trips with their granddaughters.“That’s a little added incentive to get them to work,” Neff

said.

lifestyle


Steppingthrough

Article and photos by Wendy Nugent


“He needs a chandelier for the diningroom,” Ronda told them.

So he got a pretty chandelier, which nowlights up their formal dining room.

It seems Ronda wanted the chandeliermore than Tony did, because he jokingly saidhe’s waiting for Ronda’s parents to give her ashotgun, which would be for him.

Their home, located in the northwest partof Newton, was built in either late 1886 orearly 1887. They’re not sure which.

The structure is comprised of anunfinished basement, first floor, second floorand attic. The first and second floors eachhave 1,660 square feet, and the first floor hasa formal dining room, living room, parlor,

kitchen, bath and laundryroom. The second floorholds four bedrooms, acraft room and bathroom.Their large attic is usedmostly for storage, whilethe basement serves as astorm shelter.

The attic is one of thereasons the Bakersbought the house.

“It just looks like aplace where you couldfind grand treasure,”Ronda said.

Years ago, a fire startedinn the attic, and todaythere’s charred places onthe roof inside that areevidence to that.

When the house wasbuilt, wood used to buildthe attic came fromNewton Carriage Works,since that business nameis printed on at least oneboard. Ronda thought the wood came fromshipping crates.

When their four kids were young, theyused to play in the attic. A little sign made by

one of the kids is still up there.Moving down to the second floor, the

master bedroom is graced with a four-posterbed, and the Bakers hope to turn the craft

..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................OPPOSITE: Tony and Ronda Baker stand on their home’s grand staircase in Newton. ABOVE: This is one of four bedrooms in the Bakerhome in Newton. INSET: Tony and Ronda hold a photo taken after their home was constructed in the 1800s. In the background is theirhome as it is today.

One year,RondaBaker’s

parents asked herwhat her husband,Tony Baker, wantedfor his birthday.

room into a master bath,since it attaches to thebedroom. Two otherbedrooms are fairly large, andthe fourth one is smaller withwhat appears to be a lowergrade of wood on the floor.The Bakers think this was themaid’s room back in the day,and it still has a transom andcloset. The stairs to the atticlead from this room.

One thing the Bakersappreciate about the house isthat each bedroom has acloset. Ronda said thataround the time the housewas built, houses were taxedby rooms, and closets wereconsidered rooms.

“That’s why they hadarmoires,” Ronda said,leading a tour of the house.

In the upstairs hallway is ahomey display, completewith three hand-made quilts.Ronda’s mom made one ofthem in 1966, and it featuresRonda as Sunbonnet Suesdoing various activities.Tony’s mom made one of theother quilts for theirwedding.

After the Bakers movedinto the house in 1991, theylet the kids have input onhow to decorate their rooms.For instance, the girlswanted clouds on theceiling, so they got that;those clouds still are there,along with glow-in-the-darkstars.

The Bakers’ children areall grown now, and a housewouldn’t be a home withoutpeople. Tony said their kidsand they all have an “oddcommonality”—all the wivesare older than theirhusbands, including Tonyand Ronda. In addition, all oftheir children who aremarried wed their high-school sweethearts. Theirchildren are Gillian, 34, andTyler Giles, who reside inGermany; Zachary, 32, andElaine Baker, who reside inthe suburbs of Detroit;Whitney, 30, and AnthonyAdams of Newton; andVeronica Baker, 28.

When they moved intothe home, which was a rental



before that, Veronica was 3 years old.“We got it in February, so it was very,

very cold,” Tony said, sitting comfortablyon a couch in his home.

In order to get the home loan, theywere required to paint part of the homeexterior. They had a two- to three-daystretch of good weather, however, so theydidn’t have to do that in frigidtemperatures.

“God saw fit to give us some goodweather,” Tony said.

At the time, the house had white siding.Now, it’s a pretty blue with cream andpurple accents.

After they bought the house, the Bakersfound some pleasant surprises. Carpetgraced the floors, so they didn’t know theyhad great hardwood floors, which theyfound out while redoing the kitchen thefirst time.

The kitchen had 12-inch tiles on thefloor.

“It was a mess,” Ronda said. “It was aterrible floor.”

And then at Christmas time one year,

they discovered something about their oneand only fireplace, which is in the livingroom.

“I went to, like, do tacks in it like forstockings and found out it was cast iron,”Tony said, adding they light the fireplacein the winter, and it just radiates.

“We’ve got very good utility bills,” hesaid.

The fireplace could fool anyone,because it really looks like it’s made ofwood.

Also when they moved in, the kitchenhad dark cabinets, so they painted them acountry white and added new knobs. In2010, they completely revamped thekitchen and changed the layout. An Amishman from Yoder built their currentcustom-made cabinets.

“Even though we are updating things,we still like to make it have theappearance of it being older,” Ronda said,to reflect the home’s heritage.

In addition to an industrial stove andoven, the kitchen boasts a wood-burningcookstove, which is not original to the

house but it’s true to the period of thehouse. Ronda uses it in the winter.

“It’s way too hot to cook with that inthe summer,” Ronda said.

Tony said he got Ronda everything shewanted for the kitchen.

“And I love it,” she said.Another feature of the home is a

laundry shoot on the second floor thatdoubles as a seat for putting one’s shoeson. When the Bakers moved in, they hadplans to strip all of the painted woodupstairs, but they only got as far as thelaundry shoot and chair. They were busywith other matters like raising their family.So they repainted the wood. The laundryshoot goes all the way down to thebasement, but the Bakers have a boardthat stops the laundry on the first floor,where there’s a laundry cupboard, if youwill, where they can retrieve dirty clothes.

The Bakers’ plans include redoing thebathrooms. For example, they want to puta pedestal sink and a claw-foot tub in theupstairs bath.

..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................LEFT: The Bakers had their kitchen remodeled, combining new appliances with vintage-style cabinets.

Article and photosMike Mendez

sports


Since the inception ofthe Central KansasLeague in 2010, ithas been utter

dominance by the HesstonHigh School football team.Going into last season, theSwathers won four out of apossible five league titles.But last season, Hesstonwas upended by HarveyCounty rival Halstead 18-6in Week 2, and the Dragonstook the leaguechampionship away on theway to a second-straight semifinal runthrough the playoffs.

“I don’t want to say that a loss was a badthing,” Hesston head coach Clint Rider said.“But we hadn’t lost in the past two years. Sothat game for us was one that was obviouslycircled on our schedule, and I’m sure circledon theirs and meant a lot to their program,too, but just losing to your rivals is tough.But at the same time I think that is was awakeup call to our team. We saw a lot offocus come out of that game. And in thelocker room afterward, there were noexcuses.”

With an entire summer leading up to a fallseason, there is a fine line coaches andathletes have to juggle. While coaching staffswant kids to have a break and enjoy theirsummers, with access to players extending,finding the balance between having a breakand remaining competitive is tricky. If a coachis within the rules working with the teamduring the summer, you can bet the bestteams in the state are working.

For Rider and the Swathers, summerprograms are not mandatory. But he wants aculture of accountability that has the playerswanting to volunteer. Hesston’s 8-2 record in2015 would be the envy of a lot of schools.But the two losses stung. The first came toHalstead. The second was a 22-21 loss inovertime to open the playoffs against aGarden Plain team that has been thepostseason bane of the Swathers for years.

In 2016, Hesston opens with a trip toGarden Plain in Week 1, followed by a leagueclash with Halstead in Week 2. Twoopportunities to avenge bitter losses to openthe season have provided their ownmotivation to get kids working out in thesummer and provided a new hunger to getback a league title they once owned.

“This has probably been the mostexcitement that I have felt from our team inthe last four years,” Rider said. “Kids are

texting me, ‘Coach, I can’t wait. I can’t wait.’Or they are putting stuff on Twitter that theyare ready. Kids are excited. It is not anobligation, or they are not dreading it. I’msure they are dreading some of the physicalpain, but just to feel that excitement issomething that I feel like is maybe in the lasttwo years kind of turned that culture a littlebit too where it’s not necessarily we just likefootball. They have a really positiveassociation for it, and that is something thatis really gratifying.”

Though summer workouts and camps arenot mandatory, Rider had his team turn outvoluntarily to the tune of a 90-percentattendance rate. With the team needing torely heavily on sophomores, it will take thatextra effort to have another competitiveseason in the league.There will not be alot of time for theyoung players tolearn the ropes,either, with twogames against thetwo teams that beatthem last year toopen the season.And the culturewithin the programduring the summerhas been one ofaccountability toeach other as muchas it is to thecoaching staff, asthey build powerthrough unity.

There also isaccountability to thehistory of theprogram itself.

“There is thatlittle bit ofunderstanding thatthis is what the

expectation has been for17 years of winningseasons,” Rider said. “Itdoesn’t happen very often.We have been very blessed.But to be able to put onour uniform and to walkdown that burm on Fridaynight and get to representthe community of Hesston,there is definitely a senseof pride and a sense ofobligation to carry thaton.”

The Swathers will becoming into the rare season without aCentral Kansas League title to defend. It willbe a big motivator to get it back when theyface off against Halstead in Week 2. But thereis one huge lawn the Mean Machine hasn’tbeen able to mow. And though Septemberwill be ferocious, it is not the month theteam is looking for improvement in.

“Although we have started no worse than8-1 in any of the last three years, we have stillonly won one playoff game,” Rider said.“That is where our focus is at. Whether wedrop a few early on due to a tough scheduleand that kind of thing, we just want to makesure we are ready when November comesaround. That is where, as a program, we feellike we need to improve.”

...............................................................................................................OPPOSITE: Hesston receiver Zach Vogt hauls in a touchdown passand rolls to the ground during a 7-on-7 practice against Newton.Vogt is part of a senior class that will be looking for a thirdleague title in four years. ABOVE: Hesston head coach Clint Riderlooks over the plays during a 7-on-7 practice with Newton HighSchool over the summer.


Hesston's a long way from Guana-juato, Mexico, where JuanGomez once called home. Butnow for him and his family, Hes-

ston's not only the location of their success-ful business, but also their community.

Gomez, his wife Maria, his brother-in-lawJuan Ramirez, his three children, nephews,all work to run El Cerrito, a Mexican restau-rant in the America's Best Value Inn at 606E. Lincoln Blvd.

They've been running it for about nineyears now and, during that time, Juan saidthe town and its people have grown onhim.

“I really like the small town,” he said.“It's like where I was from. You know yourneighbors here. Everybody knows every-body.”

On a Wednesday afternoon, the restau-rant was a wide mixing pot of people.Servers ran around with baskets of tortilla

chips, salsa, steaming cast-iron skillets filledwith fajitas. A family of Holdeman Mennon-ites ate next to a group of men in Excel Inc.shirts. On the other side sat a family stayingin the hotel. In another place there weretwo men wearing shirts from Hesston Col-lege.

It's bustling, and people were happilydigging into their food.

Gomez said the community has beenvery supportive of his restaurant during theyears.

“Here, you help the people, and theyhelp you,” he said.

Gomez and his wife, Maria, have come along way since coming to the United States.

Gomez said he left his home looking fora good place to raise a family.

His wife had brothers in the UnitedStates, and he came here, working his wayup as a handyman before moving to SouthCarolina and working on carpentry for

boats. A few years following that, he came to

Hesston after another brother-in-law, whohad a restaurant in Emporia, found a restau-rant location for him in Hesston.

Gomez had no experience running arestaurant. He just had his family to rely onand community to try to win over.

“We started here with nothing,” he said.“And then a few people came. And then in afew months more came and more cameevery year.”

He said the restaurant's good locationhelps since it's near manufacturing, a col-lege and a highway.

Gomez said it's no secret on how he andhis family have made the restaurant work—long hours, fresh food and reasonableprices. He said now he has about 15 em-ployees, and only a few are not related.

“The cooks come in at 9 a.m to makeeverything,” he said of the sauces and the

Article and photosAdam Strunk

business

COMMUNITY


EMBRACINGFEEDING the

..................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Juan Gomez, his wife Maria Lucia Ramirez and their daughter stand by the register at El Cerrito Mexican Restaurant in Hesston. Therestaurant is a family affair for the group and is a local hotspot.


..............................................................................................................The Steak Fajita dish at El Cerrito came with tender meat andfresh, well-cooked ingredients.

At American Family Insurance, we believe your dreams are the most valuable things you will ever own. And we’ll help you find just the right insurance to protect them.

salsas and most of the food.“Nothing is pre-made.”

He said he also has keptprices as low as he can.

A steak fajita dish for lunch isless than $8, for example.

Finally, he said there's onemore ingredient to make it work:

helping out in the community. Early on, Gomez said he

started noticing Sundays were abit sparse.

So he had an idea: donate. He now gives 10 percent of

what the restaurant makes eachSunday to different churches inthe area.

Since then, he said businessjumped up. Giving for him wasthe best sort of advertising and agood way to get Hesston's sup-port. Gomez said the communityhas been very supportive of hisrestaurant during the years.

“We try to work together withthe community,” he sad. “I likethem. It's really, really goodhere.”

After taking a recommenda-

tion from one of the servers, whohappened to be Juan's nephew,we went with the steak fajitas.

Normally, I'm iffy with fajitasbecause they often come out abit burnt in a lot of places for mytaste. These were not. The steakwas well seasoned and had a bit

of pink in the middle, which wasa nice surprise. The peppers withit were soft as were the onions.The steak came with fresh tor-tillas, homemade refried beansand rice.

It was good food, filling andfor the price, well worth themoney.

Also of note was the salsa,which tasted freshly made evenbefore Juan informed us it wasmade every day. It had a decentamount of kick.

Juan recommended the carneasada, the carnitas, as well as thepollo a la gorume. Also since be-ginning the article, multiple peo-ple have recommended tryingthe guacamole, though wehaven't yet tasted it.

Profile

Humid July heatwas like awarm blanket,wrapping Terra

Scott’s yoga students incaring arms when theymet for class in the shadeof Athletic Park’s bandshelter one particularSaturday morning, as theylistened to her directions,stretching and breathingat a relaxed pace.

Scott had her cup of icewater off to the side so shecould take sips.

There’s an advantageto doing yoga in the heat,as it loosens the muscles,Scott said.

The Newton resident isa Renaissance woman ofsorts, as she has talents ina variety of areas. Inaddition to teaching yoga,Scott is an artist whopaints and doesphotography, writespoetry and rap songs,sings and makes facescrub, which she sells.

“I have many facets ofself, and each part needsto express and interact so


..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................LEFT: Terra Scott of Newton pours pink salt into a container to make her face scrub. BACKGROUND: Scott strikes a yoga pose.

Article and photosWendy Nugent


I can make sense of this world instead of myimmense amount of passion implodingwithin,” Scott said. “I am a singer andconsider myself a rapper and hold this part ofmyself very close, so I have not yet, but aspireto someday, perform and/or put out analbum. I love the hip-hop culture. It is aginormous platform for change andexpression.”

For example, she said everyone knowspopular social-change rapper Macklemore,who marked history with “Same Love” in2012.

“I wish people wouldn’t write hip-hop offbecause of some rappers choosing shallowtopics,” Scott said. “You have to recognizethat, first of all, not all rappers are shallow,and that secondly, talking shallow and havingego is part of the culture. You will not beheard unless you mention your status. It is away to gain respect and command attention.Life is dirty; I’m not going to pretend to betotally unaffected by that. To hear some of myverses, put me on the spot, ask, but beprepared for this MC to alarm you.”

The fact that she does yoga and teaches itin Newton won’t alarm people, however. Herinterest in yoga started when she was a kid,even before she knew what yoga was.

“I was always into body awareness,

stretching and being able to balance, getupside-down, play,” Scott said. “Children arenatural-born yogis. When I was 12, Idiscovered a name for what I was doing, aswell as more challenges to add to what I hadalready been doing.”

Then one summer, one of her friends’moms had a yoga tape, so they did that forfun.

“It became more than just playing andposes, and I started to discover the deepermind, body, spirit benefits,” Scott said.

As an example, she said because of anxiety,insomnia and restless leg syndrome, growingup, she would have trouble sleeping at night,so she started doing yoga nightly in either apitch-dark room or by candlelight, playingwhatever music she wanted to. Scott didn’trigidly stick to any principles, just doing whatcame intuitively.

“Listening to my body and allowing myselfto explore the realms of yoga from theinside,” she said about yoga. “In this way, Ilearned yoga organically and intuitively. Mybody taught me many of the things I endedup learning at yoga school, which is what ledme to have a deeper understanding of yoga, akind of X-ray vision for bodies, minds andsouls and what they may need for growth,healing, and to recovering injury and

limitations.”Scott said she happily teaches out of her

car, where she keeps the equipment for class,and the classes are in various outdoorslocations, like tennis courts and the bandshell. She also teaches at Harmonious You inHalstead.

“It’s like hot yoga by nature,” she said. “Iwill be in a studio when the day shortens andthe chill arrives.”

After she attended yoga school at WhiteLotus Foundation in Santa Barbara, Calif.,Scott decided to stick around for a while,staying with her aunt, who bathed with saltevery day and had discovered its healingpowers. On her second day there, while“pondering salt at Trader Joe’s,” as she put it,she purchased a scrub made of lavender, oilsand salt, thinking she needed something towash with anyway.

“My life was forever enhanced,” she saidabout that scrub. “I could not find goodscrubs here [in Kansas] anywhere, and I hadbegun learning about many other ingredients,such as apple cider vinegar, honey, floweressences and other oils, and their endlesshealing benefits, so I decided to craft myown.”

She spent three years perfecting herproduct. Initially, Scott made it for friends and

family, as well as for herself, and folks kepttelling her how amazing it was and that sheshould sell it to the public.

“So at the beginning of the year, Terra SolApothecary was born,” Scott said.

She started selling it at some of herfavorite businesses, including Mojo’s Coffee,Kauffman Museum, Super ColliderComputers, 3 Wizards Game Tavern, LaymansAntique Store, Harmonious You and 42Below. Scott also plans to have an online

store and to sell the scrub at Prairie Harvest inNewton.

Another of Scott’s talents is art, which shealso has been doing since she was ayoungster.

“I’ve been doing art since I was little,”Scott said. “I really like painting and puttingtogether symbols that have personal meaningfor me in a way that makes my spirit tangible.Painting is very spiritual as my paintingsreflect a part of my psyche. I usually will come

up with a symbol to start off with, somethingsimple, and kind of let the painting paintitself, and it ends up teaching me things Ididn’t even know I didn’t know. Art is full ofgood mistakes.”

Scott said with photography, she cancapture beauty as she sees it, and she lovesthe idea of others seeing through her lens.

“Making a beautiful photograph is sofulfilling for me,” she said. “I lovephotographing people the most. I do it

..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ABOVE: Terra Scott, right, teaches yoga on a sweltering summer morning at the band shell in Athletic Park in Newton.



.............................................................................................................................................................................................................................................ABOVE RIGHT: Terra Scott strikes a yoga pose on a rainy summer night at her home.

professionally in a traditional sense, makingportraits. I love doing weddings,engagements, individuals, pregnancy, youname it, and I also really enjoy the non-traditional photos of humans, abstract imagesthat reveal spirit or evoke deep emotion.”

Scott has an art philosophy.“Evoking emotion is important in all that I

do,” Scott said. “We have to remember thatwe are human, imperfect, ever changing,flowing in and out, up and down, and all

around. We want to travel in a straight-forward line, but as Albert Einstein said,“Creativity is the residue of time wasted.’”

She believes people need to feel theiremotions, which can teach people and allowus to move on, she said.

“Otherwise, things just get shoved underand reappear in more painful and confusingways, often in the form of tension, whicheventually becomes illness,” Scott said. “If weare able to trust ourselves and our emotions

and the unexpected or uncomfortable shiftsand turns, we can start to become infinitelycurious and in awe of our experience.Emotion, I believe, is where true creativity isborn, for emotion gracefully expressed is theultimate creativity.”

For more information, visitterrasolyoga.wix.com/breathe andfacebook.com/terrasolyoga.

Evoking

emotion is

important

in all that I do.

As Scott City quarterback Trey O’Neil was running for his life,receiver Chantz Yager used the extra time to find some space.O’Neil found Yager in the end zone for a miraculous overtimetouchdown to give the Beavers a 20-14 win. It was a gut-

wrenching loss for Halstead in the 2014 state semifinals.The Dragons came within six points of the state championship

game. But the disappointment didn’t last long. Halstead wasn’tanyone’s pick to be in the state semifinals, let alone take statepowerhouse Scott City into overtime. But when the season came to anend, one weekend before Thanksgiving, the message was sent loudand clear. The Dragons are a statewide force to be reckoned withunder new head coach Jason Grider.

“We played our tails off,” Grider said. “I was disappointed that wedidn’t win the game for our kids, but I certainly was not disappointedin our kids’ effort. I was very proud of how they came together andproud of the effort they put in. I think going in, they all understoodthat at that point you are going to be playing the best teams. We feltlike we were one of the best teams and that we belonged. We knewthat nobody else gave us a chance. That’s fine.”

The journey didn’t get off to the hottest start in Grider’s first

season. With a lot of anticipation leading up to the annual showdownwith Harvey County rival Hesston, the Swathers won big once again42-14 in Week 2. But rather than let it get them down, the Dragonstook it as a learning experience to move forward.

And with the confidence of one of the best runs through theplayoffs in the state, in 2015 the Dragons removed a gorilla from theirbacks with an 18-6 win over the Swathers. The win set the table for abig season led by two Shrine Bowl players with running back BlakeBeckett and quarterback Eli McKee. With an already immenselysupportive community behind the program, getting the first win overHesston in years didn’t hurt the football fever in town, either.

“With the communities so close together, there is a rivalry there,”Grider said. “But like I said the last two years, it’s not going to be arivalry until we start winning some of these things. We were able to getthe win, and it was a great game. We love playing them, and I knowCoach Rider does, too. We love playing them early in the seasonbecause I think it is a great gauge for both teams. Were they betterafter that game? Absolutely. Hesston got better because they played us.And we got better because we played them. That was the key for us, isgetting better after that game.”

..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................Halstead quarterback Eli McKee hands the ball off to running back Layke Heimerman last year. McKee led the Dragons to the state semifi-nals in 2015 and earned a roster spot in the Shrine Bowl. Courtesy photo

sports



Halstead used the win to put an undefeated regular seasontogether and dominated its district by a combined score of 102-42.And for the second year in a row, the Dragons made it to the statesemifinals. In 2015, Halstead dominated in the playoffs, outscoringopponents 138-15 on the way to the semifinals against WichitaCollegiate. The Spartans ended the Dragons’ run with a 21-0 win.Collegiate lost to Rossville by a point, 20-19 in the state championshipgame, leaving Halstead right near the very top with the states’ elite yetagain.

And while graduating two Shrine Bowl players won’t be an easyadjustment, the Dragons have no plans on slowing down and are benton continuing the tradition as the next group of players gets a chanceto shine under the lights.

“We have had maybe the best summer I have had as a coach,”Grider said. “As good as we had the year before, these kids have ahunger now. The foundation is there now. We have got a lot of goodkids with a lot of playoff experience coming back. And maybe notstarting experience, but these seniors coming in are playing an extraseason already, making the two long runs in the playoffs that we havemade, which is huge. That is where we want to get to. We hope that

we are at thatpoint. I will telleverybody whowill listen, ourmiddle schoolprogram, withCoach [Ward]Willis, does an outstanding job, him and his coaches. Our seventh andeighth grade lost one game combined last year.”

With an ever-increasing level of competition in the Central KansasLeague, it is imperative for the younger players to take ownership indefending the league title. But with the amount of hard-working talenton the field, the Dragons aren’t giving up the crown without a fight.

“The buy-in to our weight lifting program, our power-lifting team,has been really big,” Grider said. “It has really developed a lot of ourguys that I didn’t think would ever have a chance to see the field, thatwill probably be starting this year and will play a vital role and be reallygood for us. We are excited to see what some of these younger guysare going to do.”

..........................................................................................................................................................................................................................................INSET: Layke Heimerman. Courtesy photo

Article byMike Mendez


travel

Article and photosAdam Strunk

..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................LEFT: The Historic Fox Theatre in Hutchinson shows movies and stands as a marker to the city's downtown resurgence. ABOVE: Theiconic Bogey’s sign and restaurant.

Hutchinson, Kansas: home of thestate fair. The two-week statefair kicks off Sept. 9 and willdraw thousands to the city. To

many Kansans, the state fair is about theonly glimpse they get of Hutchinson. Anddepending upon the route they take intotown, it's sometimes not a great one.

Hutch can get a bad rap from some ofthe people who don't about it, and to behonest, I was one of them. Actually, mostof our office here had the same opinion.

My memories of the city usually includedriving by it on the south or driving intotown via Fourth Street to get to the statefair.

I'd see closed gas stations, junk yardsand empty businesses on the side of theroad and make up my mind it didn'tappear a very pleasant place to be. UsuallyI was fine to hightail it out of the townonce our trip to the fair was over.

Joey Young, who owns this publication,would always argue with me aboutHutchinson, however, as he had spent amajority of his life living in the city.

So when the idea of writing a travelpiece came up, I told Joey to put hismoney where his mouth is and show offwhat makes Hutch, Hutch.

And as much as I hate to say it, he was

right. The city has a lot to make it worthvisiting besides the fair. Here are some ofthe highlights of the Salt City.

Bogey'sI rolled into town about noon and Joey

informed me we w ere getting lunch, andwe were going to Bogey's, 1718 N. Plum.My stomach growled. I had heard ofBogey's for many years from a collegefriend and Hutchinson native, Graham Ray.I knew from the stories it was supposed tobe some transcendent experience of greaseand ice cream.

So as we pulled up, I was fullyexpecting a hometown greasy spoon,where you kind of slide on the tile floorwhen you walk in.

Instead, the building was clean, newlyremodeled and filled to the brim withpeople.

I asked the high school girl working thecounter for the most popular or iconicburger they served.

After a short wait, we found a spot, andI was served the Blue Dragon Burger,named for the Hutchinson CommunityCollege Blue Dragons.

If the burger didn't light a fire in yourmouth when you started, it would threehours later with the heartburn that

followed.I thankfully just got a single, so it came

with one patty, slathered in what I believewas barbecue sauce and ranch dressing,along with fired onions and jalapeñopoppers.

It was tasty but not near the high praiseI had heard heaped on the restaurant.

It was after we had finished our burgersthat Joey introduced me to what put therestaurant on the map: a wall of malt andshake flavors numbering more than 100.

You can combine all these, making aninfinite number of shake permutations youcan pick. I stared at the wall, thoroughlyintimidated, trying to make up my mind onthe shakes.

Joey ordered a Key Lime Vanilla Wafershake.

Again I couldn't decide, so I asked theemployees and was then told to try achocolate, chocolate chip cookie doughmalt. I did so, ordering the small. It takestwo people to eat a large.

The malt was the thick kind that youcan turn sideways and it doesn't fall out. Itwas creamy, chocolaty and had the perfectamount of cookie dough.

I was in love.So, yeah, if you go to Bogey's, get a

shake. The food's good. The shake's better.



Dillon Nature Center, 3002 E. 30th St.Part Botanica, part Exploration Place and

part park, the Dillon Nature Center might beperhaps Hutchinson's most overlookedattraction.

The 100-acre center includes a spring-fedstocked fishing pond, an education centerhighlighting local Kansas animals, plenty oftrails for hiking, playground equipment andhundreds of species of plants and animals tobe enjoyed and observed.

On a Sunday afternoon, the center wasfilled with families fishing, walking or justenjoying the nice weather.

The area is designated as a national urbanwildlife sanctuary, but honestly, stepping intothe park seems like you're stepping out ofthe city.

Young said from personal experience, it'salso good for dates and engagement photos.

Underground Salt Museum:Strataca, 3650 E. Ave. G

Hutchinson is the town that salt built, and to really appreciate the salt city, home of theHutchinson High School Salt Hawks, one's

got to go down. Way down—650 feet belowthe Earth's surface.

Parts of the salt mines, encompassing 980acres below the city, are open for tours.

The event begins with a short ride downto the bottom in a double-decker elevator,and then you are in the mine. The minesports tours where excavation methods areexplained and tourists can see the leftovermachines and mining equipment left downthere by the Carey Salt Co., which began themine in 1923.

Strataca is unique in the sense that it isthe only salt mine in the U.S. accessible totourists.

It's also one of two of the eight wondersof Kansas named by the Kansas Sampler thatare in Hutchinson, with the other being theCosmosphere.

Kansas Cosmosphere, 1100 N. Plum Everyone and their dog, it seems, has

been to the Cosmosphere on at least onefield trip. But it's become such a regulardestination that it's easy to take theSmithsonian Institution for granted.

We swung by the museum but didn't go

in as both of us had made numerousjourneys growing up.

It holds the largest amount of Russianspace artifacts outside of Moscow, as well asthe largest collection of U.S. air and spaceartifacts outside of the National Air andSpace Museum.

The museum sports the obviousfeatures—the moon lander, the SR71Blackbird, the Liberty Bell 7—but also acollection of German World War II rocketryand a Cold War exhibit featuring a piece ofthe Berlin Wall. It also holds a replica ofGlamorous Glennis, which was flown byChuck Yeager as the first plane to break thespeed of sound.

The building also holds the Carey DigitalDome Theatre, home of countless IMAXfilms, as well as an extensive air and spacemuseum.

The Cosmosphere was listed by theKansas Sampler as one of the eight wondersof Kansas, and if you're into history andscience, it's easy to see why.

Rusty Needle, 1808 N. PlumAfter a long day in town, we were a bit

..............................................................................................................................................................................................................................ABOVE: The Kansas Cosmosphere has one of the largest space collections in the United States.

exhausted, and I asked Joey about the bar scene in Hutch.He said he usually frequents Oliver's Beef and Brew orCarl’s, but we were driving by the fairgrounds, and theRusty Needle came into view.

I told Joey we needed to stop at the “Needle.”“It's a good place to get a beer,” Young said. “Don't let

the name throw you off. It took three years to get my momto go in here, and when she did, she said, ‘It's a prettygood bar.’”

The location got its name from formerly being a tattooparlor. It's one of those local bars where you can just get abeer and be left in peace.

The location has around eight taps, many of themKansas brews, a good number of TVs and a quietatmosphere. It also has some pretty cheap specials likedollar Miller High Life.

There's not too much light that makes it into thebuilding, and instead during the day, it was just a goodplace to drink a few and have a conversation.

The locals and bartender we ran into were friendly, andwe took turns between rooting for the Royals on TV ordiscussing the Rio Olympics which were on at the time.

A plus is it's directly across from the fairgrounds if youfind yourself tired from a hot September afternoon.

Driving home from Hutch with a full stomach followinga busy day, I made the determination, begrudgingly, thatJoey had, in fact, been right. I may make the trip down U.S.Highway 50 to the west a tiny bit more often now.

.......................................................................................................................................................................................................................ABOVE: A tasty craft brew sits waiting to be enjoyed at the Rusty Needle. Despite the off-putting name, the bar is a pretty decent place to spend a Sunday afternoon. BELOW: Families fish at the spring-fed pond at Dillon Nature Center. The center has about 100 acres for people to roam and enjoy the numerous species of plants and animals the center houses.




NMLS#: 791580

Take out a consumer loan between now and 9/30/2016 and be automatically entered to win a Coleman® Tailgating

Package worth over $300!!!

Contact us today for more details!

NMLS#: 791580NMLS#: 791580

When Harold G. Reid was 11years old, he got a gift fromhis mother that gave him alifetime of enjoyment. When

his hometown of Edmond, Kan., built agolf course on pasture donated byfarmers in the area, he took his mother’sclubs and hit the course.

That was in 1932. At the age of 95,Reid no longer plays the game, havingmacular degeneration hinder his sight.But for 79 years, golf played a big role inhis life.

“It was just there, and when I started,I just loved it,” Reid said. “It seemed like Ijust worked right into it. I didn’t have anytrouble. I took my mother’s clubs, andaway I went.”

Hitting the golf course without anylessons, Reid taught himself. By watchingpeople play in tournaments, and readinga book written by a pro, he absorbedevery bit of knowledge he could. Andthough he was using his mother’s clubs,he played with his father as a young manin northwest Kansas.

“Dad and I [played],” Reid said. “Wewent to tournaments every once in awhile. Mom, she didn’t play anymore.Well, maybe once or twice, but she didn’tplay much. We went to the little oldtowns. Clayton was one of them. Theremust have been two or three more thatthey go to. We had one in Edmond. Itcost us a dollar. Back in 1932, that was abig deal, to pay a dollar and go out andplay a round of golf.”

Having grown up playing the game asa boy, it wasn’t until 1976 when hestarted to play for real. Reid moved toWichita to work for Boeing in 1941. Hetook a break from the factory to join theArmy in 1944 before coming back towork for Boeing for two more years. Afterleaving the factory for good, Reid workedfor the postal service. But after he retiredat 55, he still needed some more SocialSecurity points to qualify for Medicare.

Needing to find a job, some friendssuggested he go talk to Dean Atkinson at

Article by Mike MendezPhotos by Wendy Nugent

..............................................................................................................................................Harold Reid has spent a lifetime golfing. OPPOSITE: Harold Reid grasps a putter.

profile



the Hesston Golf Course and see ifhe could get hired. Atkinson tookhim on, and a personal andprofessional friendship was built.

“I started working up there in1976,” Reid said. “I was theassistant pro. I ran the inside fromMonday through Friday. Deanworked over the weekend, and Iran the course from 1 o’clock toclosing time the rest of the days.[Atkinson] was a fine gentleman.He taught me a lot about playinggolf. He and I got along just fine.There is a lot to golf, besides justswinging the club. It’s attitude. Youhave to learn to play this way andthat way. It is one of those thingswhere you get out and learn it.”

While on the course, learninggolf can be a lesson in lifedisguised as a game. Whilelearning the game with Atkinsonand taking the game up full time,Reid learned that in life, as well asgolf, you have to keep your focuson the future and keep movingforward.

“One of the things I learned asmuch as anything is that if youhave a bad shot or something likethat, it’s gone,” Reid said. “Youcan’t worry about this. It is alreadypast. All you have got is from thereon. And I think that is probablyone of the biggest things. Anythingyou do, after you have done it,forget it.”

There is also a lot you can learnabout a person during a round ofgolf with them. Some people areeven keel and don’t let a lot botherthem. Some see challenges on thecourse as exciting opportunities tobe enjoyed and approached headon.

Other people, not so much.“Oh, yes, all kinds of things,”

Reid said. “From temper, oh, I’veseen a lot of them with tempers,

throw clubs, swear, everythingelse.”

After six years of working at thecourse, Reid went into retirementfull force, spending his daysplaying the course for the nextyear.

In the first year of playing thecourse in retirement, Reid made alot of golf buddies. But while hewas retired and wanting to spendhis days on the course, most of hepeople he played with workedduring the day at HesstonCorporation or at Excel during theday.

And so in 1985, he took histhings to North Newton andstarted playing Newton Public.There, he played until his eyesightdidn’t allow him to in 2011.

Golf is a tricky game. And evenafter playing for 79 years, a playernever really masters the game. Inthe countless number of rounds innearly eight decades Reid spent onthe course, he only hit three holes-in-one. In aces, he found a lot ofluck in the number seven.

“I had three,” Reid said. “No. 7at Hesston, No. 7 at NorthNewton, and No. 1 at NorthNewton. Some people never get ahole-in-one. Others never comeclose.”

But the unending challenge iswhat has made the game enjoyablefor so many years.

“Golf is always a challenge,because you may be playingagainst the other guys, but you areplaying against par,” Reid said.“That is what you are playingagainst. So you play, whatever theyare doing, either way you don’tpay much attention to that becauseyou are playing against par. It islike life. That is what you areplaying against, and you either winit or you lose it.”

on the golf courseA lifetime


Assisted Living& Memory Support

Safe Environment

Home-like Setting

Specialized Programs

Safe Environment

& MemorAssisted Living

Safe Environment

ty Suppor& MemorAssisted Living

t


Home-like Setting


Home-like Setting

Propportunity vider and Employo

Patrick Charlsen

Family Owned, Locally Operated, Customer Valued

800-279-8207 / 316-804-4946ww.charlseninsurance.com

1023 Washington Road, Suite 100 • Newton, KS 67114316.283.8190 • 800.827.8190 • www.parsonswealthmanagement.com


Quality community journalism stands out from the rest.

www.harveycountynow.com.harwww wynocountyev.har .com

Documents

IN THE FAMILY · picking, the air turns crisp and I get to wear boots and sweaters. This also is the time of year for football, and we have a couple of football stories in this quarter's