All the News from Walnut Shade, KS
July 28, 2011

Rachel and Jessica Singleton went to Manhattan on Saturday to help celebrate the birthday of their twin cousins, Hannah and Emily, who turned thirteen.  Mom Jennifer, who teaches photography at K-State, set up a photo booth for the girls’ guests and everyone had a great time having their pictures taken.  Jennifer said she didn’t realize that the booth would hold ten girls at a time.

Rev. Derby and her family were luncheon guests of Hazel and Millie Bradford on Sunday.

Dr. Cramer reports that all the puppies brought to his office by Jane Combs have been adopted.  Jane ended up taking two of them, herself.

Stephanie Barnett is home from school for the summer and has a job working for Stan Hawkins at the Miller County Ledger.

Dorothy Westover reminds members of the Excelsior Book Club that the club’s next meeting will be on August 3rd at the Library.  Dorothy says that she’s been getting calls from members who thought that the August meeting had been cancelled.

Pastor Paul Powers was in Kansas City Monday and Tuesday attending classes at Midwest Baptist Theological Seminary.  He has been taking correspondence classes to complete his Master’s degree, but every other month, he spends two days on campus.

Anna Mae Bundy, Sherri Brown and Connie Thompson went to Kansas City on Monday.  In the morning, they attended a lecture at the Kansas City Public Library, had lunch at the Phillips House and spent the afternoon at Rainy Day Books.

Dale Hunt has been hired by Miller County as their IT manager.

Sarah Heath was elected president of the Willing Workers 4-H Club at their meeting Monday night.  Andrea Duffy will serve as vice-president and Hannah Tucker will be secretary-treasurer.

The Main Street PRIDE committee met last Thursday.  Jeff Corning from the Kansas Pride program and Sally Henning from the Kansas Main Street program attended the meeting.  The committee is making good progress on its entry for the PRIDE competition, according to Jeff and Sally commended the group on completing design guidelines for downtown renovations.  Promotions for the fall were discussed, including the Prairie View Festival in September and Halloween Howl in October.

It seems like there is a lot of activity in town for this time of year.  I think I need a nap, but…

Until next week, I remain
Your Faithful Correspondent

From July 4th to the end of August, Walnut Shade is pretty quiet.  Oh, the tourists come through if the weather isn’t too hot, which it usually is (average daily high in July:  94 degrees), and the Tasty Freeze buzzes at night with the kids hanging out and making a nuisance of themselves, but for the most part, the town slows down.  The gardeners do all their watering before 7:00 a.m., and around 8:00, the farmers who have gotten their chores done come into town for breakfast at Shirley’s.  The downtown shops usually open around 10:00, or 11:00, or 2:00, which has been a real point of contention in the Main Street/PRIDE Committee.  Right now, there are five antique/accessory stores, Ryan’s Garden Center, Sally Oswald’s gallery, the Book Ends bookstore, the museum, Singleton’s Rare Books and Antiques, the coffee shop (Bach’s Lunch), Tyler’s Fine Art, and Dorothy Thornton’s salon (the Beauty Spot), each with an owner who has a different agenda.  Most of the shops are full-time, serious enterprises, owned by folks who know that consistency is a key component of making money.  A couple of the businesses, however, were opened as a hobby or as a way of asserting influence in the town.  Jody Tyler, for example, really sees herself as a writer (she has a blog!) and the gallery is a way to earn some money until she can turn her work into a book or a subscription service.  While she does some of her writing at the gallery, she says that the tourists interrupt her train of thought, so the gallery is open only when it really suits her.  She thinks the sign on the window, which invites people to give her a call and she’ll come down and open the shop, is sufficient.

Lou and Lois Hawkins opened their antique shop as a way of storing the overflow from the collection they’ve accumulated over the years from their annual flea market.  While Lou wouldn’t admit it, they purchased the building they are in, as well as four others downtown, (admittedly at a time when no one wanted the property) as a way of reminding people that his grandfather had been the biggest property-owner in Walnut Shade until the Depression.  Hawkins Mercantile was one of the largest dry-goods stores between Manhattan and Marysville, spanning the entire block between 2nd and 3rd Street.  Like Jody Tyler’s gallery, Hawkins’ Antiques usually has a sign on the door telling people to give Lou a call if they see something they want, if they can see anything through the always-dirty windows.

Sally Oswald, the chair of the Main Street/PRIDE committee, has tried to convince Jody and Lou that the success of downtown depends on everyone having consistent hours and days of business.  The committee, of which Jody and Lou are an essential, contributing part, agreed that the minimum time to be open would be Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m. to 5:00, with Sunday being optional.   But, agreement doesn’t always result in action and most weeks, Jody and Lou will be in their shops when the mood strikes them.  Sally, of course, is ambivalent about this because while not exactly competing with Jody for the art buyers who come to Walnut Shade, she does benefit when customers can see the works she has for sale without jumping through any hoops.  So, she pushes, but not too hard.

I got a call from Mary McCready confirming my participation in the Miller County Art Fair.  The Fair is the second weekend of October and this is the second year for the event.  I suppose it could be argued that this is really the first year, since a freak storm blew threw last year, dropping the temperature to 32 degrees early Saturday morning and then settling in with a cold rain/snow mixture.  A few artists had set up their tents the night before, but when the weather forecast indicated that it was going to be a really nasty couple of days, the Fair was cancelled, much to the relief/disappointment/angst of the artists, some of whom had come from as far away as Kansas City.

I’m not at all sure why I let myself be talked into being a part of the Fair, since I haven’t done anything like this before.  And in talking to some of the artists around here, it doesn’t really seem like something I’m going to enjoy all that much.  Since I don’t have a big inventory of paintings, I’m going to have to hustle to get some work done.  Then, I have to find a tent and way of displaying my art.  That might not be too hard after all; Lou Hawkins has several that he sets up for the flea market.  The thought of sitting there for two days, having people evaluate my work seems a little masochistic.  I’ve had other artist tell me that when someone says they like your work, it means that they aren’t interested in buying it and they’ve seen something they like better at another booth.  Well, I guess I’ve made the commitment and all I can do is paint like mad between now and then and hope for another freak storm.

All the News from Walnut Shade, KS
July 21, 2011

The Willing Workers 4-H Club met on Tuesday night to review progress on entries for the county fair.  Jody Webster, the county 4-H agent, said she was very pleased that there will be entries in public speaking, photography, technology, fashion, dog, cat and rabbit shows, and small livestock.  The fair will be Thursday, Friday and Saturday, August 25 to 27, at the fairgrounds in Fremont.

Pam and Bill Heath went to Fremont on Sunday afternoon with Ron and Jody Tyler.  After lunch at the Pioneer, they saw “Larry Crowne” at the Empire Theater.  Jody reports that it is a “sweet movie”; Bill and Ron’s review was less than favorable since they thought the couples were going to see “Horrible Bosses.”

Bill Heath met with Ron Worth about constructing a “water retention structure” (aka fishing pond) on his farm.  Preliminary plans were approved and they will be submitted to the SCS board at its August meeting.

Phyllis Dane reports that the Miller County Master Gardeners are planning to hold their fall garden tour at various sites in Tahoma Township this year, though most of the gardens will be in Walnut Shade.  This year’s theme is “Contemplation” and gardeners have been creating spaces that encourage quiet meditation.  St. Brendan’s Parish House garden and the Reflection garden at St. Stephen’s will be featured on the tour.  Tickets will be available from Master Gardeners and at Ryan’s Garden shop in late August.  The tour will be Friday, September 30 and Saturday, October 1.

Ruth Stanford finished piecing the quilt for her great-granddaughter Elizabeth.  The Women’s Guild at St. Stephen’s will do the final quilting for Ruth, who will be starting another project soon.  She just received news that her grandson Richard and wife Elizabeth are expecting a baby in January.  Congratulations to Ruth.

St. Brendan’s will hold a pie auction on Sunday, August 7th.  Pies will be made by the youth of the parish and the maker of the pie that goes for the highest amount will win an iPod, donated by the Stop and Go.

The Prairie View Extension Club met at the Extension office in Fremont on Monday along with other clubs in the county for their annual lunch and business meeting.  Inez Harris presided at the meeting and new officers for 2012-2013 were elected.  Inez will continue as president, with Bernice Warren from the Evening Star club as vice president; Barbara Turner from the McDougal Home Arts club was elected secretary; Judy Brown, representing Spring River Homemakers, was selected to be treasurer; and, Millie Warren from the Longwood Leaders club was elected historian and parliamentarian.  After the business meeting, members worked on slippers for the hospital.

Mayor Combs is back at work after his bout with the flu.  He encourages everyone to come to the Town Council meeting on August 1st to discuss the proposed increase in membership fees for the Walnut Shade Volunteer Fire Department.

Arlene Cornet and Sandy Cramer had lunch with Rev. Derby on Monday to talk about plans for the fall festival at St. Stephen’s.  Glenda Singleton will also serve on the planning committee with Arlene and Sandy.

Alice Amory, Dorothy Westover, and Anna Mae Bundy spent Saturday helping Phyllis Dane re-shelve books at the Library.  Last week, a group of genealogists from the Community of Christ Church in Independence were in town doing research in the archives at the Library and Museum.

Helen Baker and Lorene Hanson visited with Dorothy Norman after the Extension Club meeting in Fremont.  Dorothy sprained her ankle at Mass Saturday evening and was not able to attend.  Dorothy has knitted twenty pairs of slippers for the hospital.

Barb Wilson, Marie Green and Sarah Brown went to St. Joseph on Tuesday to do some “shopping” but they were not very lucky in their “purchases.”

Well, here’s wishing you good luck, and…

Until next week, I remain
Your Faithful Correspondent

“Shopping” has become a euphemism in Walnut Shade for going to St. Joseph or Kansas City to visit the casinos.  Everyone in town knows what “shopping” means and gives a sly little grin when someone uses the word, but folks are still just a bit shy about admitting that they are going to go gamble.  Perhaps it’s because no one is very successful at it, or maybe they feel guilty about the way they treated the Ryans when they had a run of good fortune and won $400,000 at Blackjack.   At first, everyone seemed happy for them, congratulating them on their skill at cards.  But after a while, some people began to resent the fact that the Ryans were able to pay off their mortgage, buy a new pickup, and settle their bill at Tractor Sales and Service.  According to a few of their neighbors, the Ryans started to get “uppity” and after a while, the gossip about Sherry having a gambling problem got to them and they moved to Atchison, which just seemed to reinforce the “gambling problem” notion (closer to St. Joe, you know).  At any rate, “shopping” trips are now limited among Walnut Shadites and the results, whatever they might be, are greatly downplayed.

All of this is rather curious, given the fact that Walnut Shade was essentially founded by “gamblers” in the sense that the folks who passed through here on the Oregon and Mormon Trails were taking a big gamble on their futures.  On the other hand, perhaps the ones who decided to stay rather than head on west were not, at heart, the gamblers in the bunch; they were the ones who decided to play it relatively safe and stay close to edge of the frontier.  The ancestors of the Bradfords, Danes, Greens and Ruth Stanford probably wouldn’t say that what they were doing in 1847 was playing it safe, given that life on the edge of the frontier was more a matter of surviving than of thriving.  Francis Parkman, in “The Oregon Trail:  Sketches of Prairie and Rocky Mountain Life” gave a good description of the day-to-day challenges faced not only  by those on the journey but those who supported the travel.  For example, his sketch of the town of Westport, now part of Kansas City, is particularly enlightening and hilarious: “Whiskey, by the way, circulated more freely in Westport than is altogether safe in a place where every man carries a loaded pistol in his pocket.”

Walnut Shade emerged from the spot along the trail, in what would become Miller County, where the wagon trains stopped for the night, to rest, eat, pray, feed oxen, mules and horses and decided whether they would proceed any further.  Most did, but a few decided that where they were at that particular place in time was where they should be.  Thus, the first permanent residents of the future Walnut Shade were Henry and Violet Dane, Rev. Jeremiah and Rebecca Stanford, and Franklin Bradford.  Henry Dane had been a blacksmith in St. Louis and he quickly found his skills in demand by the emigrants whose wagons, though sturdily built, always needed a variety of repairs during the long trip west.  The blacksmith shop he opened thrived and he eventually became a wealthy man, a cornerstone of the town.

Franklin Bradford was only seventeen when he made the decision to stay behind when the rest of his family left with the wagon train.  Franklin had not been happy when he learned that his family was pulling up stakes in Arrow Rock, Missouri to head to Oregon.  A budding artist, he had been apprenticed in Arrow Rock to George Caleb Bingham and was planning to travel with the Bingham family to St. Louis in 1848 to continue his work and studies there.  Franklin’s father insisted that he join the family on their journey west instead, but by the time they reached Kansas, he had made himself so unliked among the other travelers that his father relented and left Franklin in the care of Jeremiah and Rebecca Stanford, who had already decided that they were not going farther than what was becoming a settlement on the banks of the Little Blue River.

The Stanfords were neighbors of the Bradfords in Arrow Rock and Franklin grew up with the Stanford children.  Jeremiah was the minister of the Arrow Rock Disciples Church and believed that he had been called to be a missionary in the west.  Soon after the family join the other emigrants from Boone, Cooper, Howard and Saline Counties in central Missouri, Rebecca became ill and they thought that they were going to have to return to Arrow Rock.  But by the time they reached Independence, she had regained her strength and they continued on with the other travelers.  Her health deteriorated again shortly after they left Independence and when they reached the future Walnut Shade, Rev. Stanford concluded that they should stay and build a church there to minister to the people heading west.  So the town was created by a blacksmith and a preacher.  And a teenaged painter.

Over the years, the site of Henry Dane’s blacksmith shop was occupied by a stable (used unofficially by Pony Express riders from St. Joseph), then a Ford dealership, a used car lot, and finally by the Stop and Go, a convenience store where you can buy gas, auto parts, pizza, sub sandwiches and milk, rent DVDs and purchase a lottery ticket.  Of course, the lottery is not considered gambling by residents of Walnut Shade, since the money the state collects supposedly goes into education.  It’s a good thing the schools aren’t teaching the odds on winning the lottery or there wouldn’t be as many tickets sold each week.  So far, there haven’t been any winners at the Stop and Go.  Probably just as well; they’d have to move to Atchison.

All the News from Walnut Shade, KS
July 14, 2011

The 4th of July weekend was a busy one in town, not just for the parade, fireworks display, chicken barbecue and car show, but because many family members and friends from out of town came to visit.  I didn’t have a chance to report on the comings and goings last week, so here’s a partial list of the reunions around Walnut Shade over the 4th:

Rachel and Gretchen Watkins surprised their parents, Betty and Harold, who didn’t know that Rachel was coming home from Paris, where she is studying architecture, nor that Gretchen would be taking some time from wrapping up her studies at Rutgers to visit.  It was the first time in over a year that the girls had seen each other.

George Wilson spent the day with Bruce and Barbara and Barbara’s brother and sister-in-law, who were visiting from St. Joseph.

Eddie and Glenda Singleton hosted a get together with Charles and Jennifer Singleton from Manhattan.  Hannah, Lauren and Emily, had a great time with their cousins Rachel and Jessica.  Lauren and Jessica came in second in the three-legged race.

Jody Tyler’s mother and father spent the weekend with her and Ron.  Jacob enjoyed the car show with his grandfather.  Mr. And Mrs. Phillips live in Minneapolis.

Inez Harris’ nephew, Harry and his wife Pamela, visited on Saturday from Marysville.

Michelle Clemons said that Holly House was full for the weekend,  with visitors from Kansas City, Little Rock, Davenport, and Perth, Australia.  Her Australian guests were documentary film makers visiting sites on the Oregon Trail for a film for Australian TV.

Arlene and Don Cornett hosted Don’s brother and sister-in-law from Colorado.  Don’s brother, Jeff, manages a ski resort near Steamboat Springs and Jan owns an art gallery in Steamboat.

Marie and Marshall Green hosted the other county commissioners and their wives at a picnic in Harris Park.  They enjoyed the VFW’s chicken barbecue and cheered the participants in the children’s games.

Glenn and Lucille and Tom and Sheila Miller had lunch on Saturday and then watched the fireworks on the 4th from Tom and Sheila’s back deck.

Matthew and Andrew Oswald, Frank and Sally’s sons, invited the Singleton cousins over for ice cream Sunday afternoon.  They all played badminton and several games on Wii.

Jerry and Susan Hall and their son David went to St. Joseph on Saturday to spend the day with Jerry’s parents.  David’s cousins Jacob and Matt returned with them on Sunday.  Jacob and Matt will be spending a couple of weeks with David.

Ruth Stanford’s son Michael and daughter-in-law Sheila went to church with her on Sunday and then took her to Fremont for lunch.  In the afternoon, they visited with Ruth’s friend, Marjorie Frank.  Michael and Sheila returned to Kansas City in the evening.

On Sunday, Lori Mendenhall had a visit from her sister and brother-in-law, the Marks from McDougal.

Things are back to normal in Walnut Shade and this week has been pretty quiet, so…

Until next week, I remain
Your Faithful Correspondent

After the excitement of the holiday weekend, I think most of us were looking forward to a bit of peace and quiet.  There’s nothing more peaceful than biscuits and gravy or scrambled eggs at Shirley’s.  Most Monday mornings, I have breakfast there with the Walnut Shade “Ministerial Alliance.”  Now I am certainly not a minister and not, on the whole, religious (though I do consider George Harrison’s guitar solo on “And Your Bird Can Sing” as something close to angelic), but when I retired, Father Rick, Rev. Derby and Pastor Paul invited me to join their weekly get together, which they use to decompress from their weekend duties.  One would think that they would sleep in Monday mornings after non-stop shepherding of their flocks from Wednesday night choir practice (Rev. Derby) to Saturday night mass (Father Rick) to Sunday morning worship (all of them) to Sunday night prayer service (Pastor Paul).  But apparently, the Monday morning breakfast meeting is critical to their spiritual renewal each week.  I take full credit for that.  Well, maybe not, but I do occasionally take the opportunity to pose some theological question that seems to recharge their batteries.

Recently, I asked if they believed that there is intelligent life elsewhere in the universe.  Father Rick said the real question is whether there is intelligent life here on Earth.  Big laugh all around.  Given that there are a billion suns in our galaxy and a billion galaxies in the universe, I said that it seemed the odds would favor at least a few of those suns having planets that could support life.   Pastor Paul said that since there was no mention in the Bible of life anywhere but here, he tended to think that we are the only ones.  “God would have let us know by now if there are other humans out there someplace,” he ventured.

“But would life have to be in human form?” Father Rick asked.  “Maybe it’s like those rocks on Star Trek that moved around and nearly ate Captain Kirk.”

“Well, it stands to reason that God wouldn’t have created just one place in a universe as big as ours that could support life.  Why go to all the trouble to create a billion billion suns and only one Earth? I think there must be life out there that is at least as advances as we are; probably more so.” Rev. Derby suggested.

“Wouldn’t take much,” laughed Father Rick.

“Well, I ask the question because I’ve been wondering:  if there is advanced life out there somewhere, did they also have some sort of original sin?  And did Jesus spend his time going from planet to planet being crucified to save them from that sin?”  I dropped this query into the conversation to see where they would go with it.

At the next table, a couple of Shirley’s regulars, seeing the puzzled looks on the ministers’ faces, started chuckling. 

“In three weeks, I give my final homily at St. Brendan’s and chances are, I’m not going to raise that question.  But I will think about it and have an answer for you on the Monday after I officially retire,” Father Rick said, smiling at the prospect of giving up his duties but not his engagement with his faith.

“Well, I’m obviously not retiring, but I’m going to have to think about that one, too.”  Rev. Katherine Derby, the minister at St. Stephen’s UCC was far from retirement, being in her middle thirties, but she too was one who thought long and deeply about the meaning of her faith and her relationship with a higher power, if there was one.

Pastor Paul was still mulling the question when, Billy Thornton, one of the regulars at the next table leaned over and said, “How do you know there are a billion stars?  Maybe the sky’s just a painting, like they did for all those fake moon landings.”

At that point, the theological portion of the program ended and it was on to government conspiracies, a discussion that anyone could participate in fact free.

After a stimulating hour of hearing a recap of the latest “news” from Fox 5, the cable channel out of St. Joseph, I decided to say my goodbyes to Billy and Ralph and Pastor Paul (Father Rick and Rev. Derby having taken their leave when the talk turned once again to the provenance of President Obama) and walked home with the intention of finally starting “Moby Dick,” which I had been putting off for a month.  On the way, I popped into the Post Office to pick up the mail and found a letter waiting for me from the IRS, saying that they had discovered an error on our 2010 tax return and that we were due an additional refund of $22.  Judy will be thrilled; we can finally take that Mediterranean cruise we’ve been talking about!  Or have boiled shrimp dinners at Shirley’s on Friday night.

All the News from Walnut Shade, KS
July 7, 2011

The 4th of July celebration was a great success and the weather cooperated wonderfully.  The high temperature was only 85, with not a cloud to be seen in the sky.  Al Higgs reported that the VFW sold 372 chicken dinners.  The car show attracted thirty two automobiles, seven trucks, and this year, five antique tractors.  Craig Gilbert’s ’63 Ford Fairlane took first place  and Don Norman’s ’52 International won the truck competition.  For the first time, an import, a ’65 MGB, placed in the show, winning second.

Jimmy Gilbert and Andrea Duffy won the three-legged race and Mark Derby came in first in the sack race despite being quite embarrassed that his parents made him enter.  Les says that Mark’s friends have been unrelenting in their ribbing of him, but the $25 prize for being overall leader in  points in the games assuaged his feelings somewhat.  When asked what he intended to do with the $25, Mark said that he would either add it to his college fund or spend it on iTunes.  His grin seemed to indicate that new music was perhaps more in his future.

Dr. Reinholdt was not able to conduct the band concert this year.  Marie said that he has been feeling tired for a couple of weeks.  We all hope to see him again next year.  Jim Filmore filled in for Dr. Reinholdt and did an admirable job.

The fireworks show was more spectacular than ever, just as promised by Ray Evans.  Particularly  inspiring was the light banner at the end spelling out “America the Beautiful,” a fitting end to a beautiful day.

The long weekend was spent with family and friends, kids home from school, and former residents of Walnut Shade returning to renew old acquaintances.  Next week, I’ll try to catch up with all the news…

…from patriotically renewed and chicken-fed Walnut Shade…

But for now, I remain
Your Faithful Correspondent

Holidays are milestones in the lives of residents of small-town America.  How would we make it through the summer without the 4th of July celebration, or prepare ourselves for the long winter without Thanksgiving.  April isn’t the cruelest month, as T. S. Eliot said because of the unpredictable weather (now my literary friends will probably say that Eliot wasn’t talking about the weather, though I’ll argue that my lilacs get zapped on a regular basis by an early spring frost; maybe T. S. was luckier with his in England), but because there are no holidays in April, except for the years when Easter falls then.  Well, okay, Easter is in April 85% of the time, but since it is always on Sunday, it just doesn’t seem like a holiday; I suppose if you add in the activities on Maundy Thursday and Good Friday services, and new dresses for the women and new shoes for the kids, there’s some holiday-like feel to it; but give me a good old day off as the real measure of a holiday.  Of course, since I’m retired, I never have a day off.

When I agreed to take on this column, Stan Hawkins gave me a banker’s box full of things that Arlene White, the previous correspondent,  had collected over the years.  Arlene was a meticulous record-keeper and the box contained the notebooks she had kept with the names, addresses and phone numbers of everyone she had talked to from the day she began the column.  In addition to the contact information she kept, she also made notes about the people she interviewed.  J. Edgar Hoover’s FBI agents were slackers in their intelligence-gathering compared to the dossiers Arlene accumulated on Walnut Shaders.  I’ve tried to be mindful of peoples’ privacy, but it is almost impossible not to look at Arlene’s speculation on why Mrs. X wouldn’t share her recipe for shortbread with the Prairie View Extension Club members, or why Mr. Y declined to teach 4-H woodworking.  Why didn’t Mr. and Mrs. Z have Sunday lunch with the Q’s for three years and then agree to be the Z’s daughter’s godparents?  Why did Miss K go away for the summer and come back three dress-sizes smaller?  Why was Mr. P’s phone number the same exchange as Leavenworth?  Ah, small-town life…

During the last six months of her life, Arlene knew that she was dying and she spent much of her time organizing her last notebook for the new correspondent, whoever that might have turned out to be.  About once a year, in addition to washing and stretching her lace curtains and sorting through the canned fruit in her root cellar to make sure it was still good, she would update her contact list with new addresses and phone numbers.  But for her last list, she took the extra step of alphabetizing the entries and numbering them, 1 to 413.  When I took over the column, I was shocked that she could have a list of 413 people she contacted, in a town of 287.  One day, I found  part of the secret:  she had numbered wrong!   Arlene used common three-hole punched notebook paper for her contact lists, twenty-five lines to a page.  For a list with 413 entries, she should have used seventeen pages, but there were only thirteen pages of numbers in her notebook.  At first, I thought that some of the pages were missing, but after double-checking the alphabetization, it seems that Arlene had inadvertently skipped from entry number 200 to entry number 301 (the same mistake I make in my checkbook every now and then, the one that irritates Judy to no end).

OK, so that solved the mystery of how she could have 413 contacts, but it still meant that she had 313 at the end of her tenure as correspondent, twenty-six more than the population of the town!  In searching the Census data for Walnut Shade, I determined that  of the 287 residents, 210 were over 25 years of age; I imagine that Arlene didn’t talk to many children or very young adults (all of those under 25) and that she probably only called three-fourths of the remaining 210, or about 150 people.  So who were the other 163?  In looking over the list, I recognized a couple dozen who lived on farms or rural acreages around Walnut Shade, another couple dozen or so from Fremont and other towns in Miller County and perhaps fifteen to twenty who had moved from the county and state, leaving 75 unaccounted for.  One day as I was taking Jerry for a walk, I passed the cemetery and a light bulb went off:  many of Arlene’s “contacts” were right here in the Walnut Shade cemetery!  For whatever reason, whether out of a reluctance to admit that they were gone, or perhaps because Arlene did consult them on a regular basis, a quarter of the people on Arlene’s list were people that she is still corresponding with wherever she, and they, are now.

The weekly columns were enlightening, informative, often unintentionally funny and sometimes quite sad, recounting the comings and goings of local residents and their families.  Les Anderson, associate professor of communication at Wichita State University in Wichita, Kansas, surveyed weekly and small dailies in Kansas a few years back and found that most of the editors of those papers highly valued the contributions of their correspondents, but acknowledged that it was getting harder and harder even then to recruit new writers when the column’s principal, who tended to be elderly women, gave up the post.

Correspondent columns live on, but are becoming harder to find.  I did a Google search recently and found it very difficult to locate small town news from community columnists, primarily because mostly weekly newspapers now have an on-line version that seems to delete the correspondents’ contributions in favor of “hard news”.

Now all of this is leading up to a new project that I’m beginning:  a short story about a community correspondent, which will include fictional columns about the happenings in Walnut Shade, a small village in MIller County, Kansas (Walnut Shade and Miller County are fictional, but Kansas is, mostly, not).  You can find the story starting on the page entitled “Your Faithful Correspondent” on this blog.  I’ll be adding to it periodically, so check back when you can.  I hope you enjoy it.  Let me know what you think.

This piece is called Water 2.  It is 8″ x 10″.

The title of this piece is Horizon.  It is 11″ x 14″