2011 WeKan! Conference

Susie Haver and Tammy Britt of Cloud County Convention & Tourism were featured “breakout session” speakers at the 2011 WeKan! Conference.  The conference is a project of the Kansas Sampler Foundation.

Held every two years, the WeKan! Conference is a gathering of passionate community doers and advocates who want to help communities thrive.  This year the theme was PowerUp and PowerOn Rural Kansas!

The WeKan! Conference invites speakers from rural communities to share grassroots ideas, practices and resources.  Haver and Britt shared ideas on “Promoting your neck of the woods to locals and explorers” which featured planning scavenger hunts and a shop rally.  Cloud County Convention & Tourism sponsored a session on “Making it cool to cook again!” given by Faye Minium, Marilyn Rowlison, and Billie Jo Frakes, Morland; and Mari Detrixhe, Clyde.   

This one day conference encourages networking and brings together communities of all sizes.  The energy is contagious and everyone leaves with new contacts, new friends and loads of great ideas. 

Other area attendees were; Joan Nothern and Lynda Huffer, Glasco; Johnita Crawford and Mari Detrixhe, Clyde.  For more information on the WeKan! Conference or other events sponsored by the Kansas Sampler Foundation go to:  kansassampler.org. 

Lazy S Farms Entertains Well Known Chefs

A group of nine well known chefs and food processors from across the United States recently visited the home of Larry and Madonna Sorell of Lazy S Farms, Glasco, for a homemade gourmet meal.  

The tour was organized by Heritage Foods USA.  Lazy S Farms began raising heritage animals in 1999.  Heritage animals refer to lines of farm animals unchanged by genetic medications.  Currently, Sorells raise unconfined Red Wattle pigs, Standard Bronze turkeys, Large Black Hogs, Scottish Highland Cows, Katahdin Sheep and Gloucestershire Old Spots Pigs, all without growth hormones or stimulants.  Heritage Foods processes and sells the meat to well known restaurants and meat markets such as Bi-Rite Market, Otto, Lupa and Ma Peche. 

Heritage Foods USA was founded ten years ago to offer more options in the marketplace for high-quality, humanely raised meat products grown by small and medium sized independent farmers.  Each year they invite chefs who purchase their products to visit a few of the farms where their meats are raised.  The chefs are given the opportunity to observe and even touch the animals they may someday soon be serving. 

Touring Lazy S Farms this year were, Sam Edwards III, Edward Hams, Surry Virginia; Tien Ho, Restaurant McPeche;  Zach Allen, B & B Ristorante/Carnevino Italian Steakhouse/Otto; Chili Montes, Bi-Rite Market; Nicholas Fantasma, Paradise Locker Meats; Patrick Martins, Katy Keiffer, Dan Honig, and Andrea Trabucco-Campos all from Heritage Foods USA.

Back row from L to R:  Larry Sorell, Andrea Trabucco-Campos, Dan Honig, Sam Edwards III, Zach Allen, Patrick Martins, Madonna Sorell.

Front row L to R:  Nicholas Fantasma, Tien Ho, Chili Montes, Katy Keiffer

  

Save the Date for QuiltFest 2011!

Another announcement by Smilebox

Happy New Year!

It seems like just yesterday we were celebrating the beginning of 2011.  I just realized that the month is already one third of the way over and I have already broken my New Year Resolution!  This year I vowed to do better in keeping up with my "To Do" list, be nicer, and sign up for another "Year of Peace".  So far the only thing I've managed to do is sign up to keep a "Year of Peace".  My 'To Do" list is two pages long and I broke the "be nicer" vow when I spouted off to a negative person droning on and on about something trivial last week.
From now on I am going to treat every Monday like the beginning of the New Year.  Instead of a "New Year" resolution, it will be a "New Week" resolution.  Maybe that I can handle!
Happy New Week,
Claude