A collaborative of 16 organizations has recently published a new step-by-step manual, A Guide to Developing and Operating an Agricultural Individual Development Account (IDA) Program. Readers will learn the basics of IDAs and find a comprehensive collection of resources that cover many aspects of IDA program development. The Guide is a resource for organizations interested in starting their own IDA programs. The 164-page guide is online in PDF. Click here for the full article.
New guide available on matcheds avings accountfor beginning farmers
New report finds farmers harmed by decline in nation’sp ublic seed supply
The proceedings from the 2014 Summit on Seeds and Breeds for 21st Century Agriculture were published by the Rural Advancement Foundation International (RAFI). In the proceedings, RAFI and other key stakeholders within the agricultural research community express their increased concerns about farmers’ limited access to seed, the narrowing of our country’s agricultural plant and animal genetic diversity, consolidation within the seed industry, the decline in public cultivar development, and how these trends are impacting the ability of farmers to confront the unprecedented challenges of climate change and global food security. Click here for full article.
Picturesque White Memorial Camp On The Council Grove Reservoir offers great getaway opportunities for all in the beautiful flint hills
“It’s the best kept secret anywhere.”
“Actually, White Memorial Camp, on the north shores of the picturesque Council Grove Reservoir, is the worst kept secret, because so many people really aren’t aware of these beautiful, well-kept facilities and the many opportunities offered,” according to Don Peterson, public relations coordinator of the White Memorial Camp Management Group, Inc.
Appropriately tagged “The Camp in the Heart of the Flint Hills,” White Memorial Camp, 1271 South 1050 Road, north of Council Grove, will host a special Open House and Harvest Celebration this Saturday, Nov. 15, from 10 o’clock in the morning, to 4 o’clock in the afternoon.
“Our main objective is to introduce and ‘show-off’ the quite elaborate, yet rustic accommodations, which are so under used. Yet, the camp is available year around for groups and individuals of all ages to use for business, education, entertainment, celebration, relaxation, you name it,” Peterson said.
“We’re still the same White Memorial Camp, but we are under different management. We want everyone to use the features and structures to help build a better tomorrow for everyone, especially the youth,” he added.
Saturday’s activities include a homemade chili lunch at noon, hayrack rides, walking tours, prairie surfing, balloon catapult, face painting, fireplace chats and much more.
“Come see some of the great things at White Memorial Camp. Everyone is welcome. We’ll even have door prizes awarded,” Peterson noted.
While White Memorial Camp and Retreat Center is affiliated with the Kansas – Oklahoma Conference of the United Church of Christ, the facilities are supported by user fees.
Land for the camp was originally owned by four generations of the Harry White and C.H. White families and was given in memory of their father and mother, W.H. and Sara White. The land was dedicated to the camp in a ceremony led by Council Grove Mayor Harry Rosser on July 26, 1964.
Purpose of the camp is to use the facilities, the natural setting and the everyday offering of nature to nurture and develop the mind, body and spirit of campers.
Its objective is to have forward thinking individuals working as a team to plan and implement the offering of mind searching ways to benefit those who come to the “nature setting.”
“The main goal of the White Memorial Camp Management Group is to make use of the physical facilities to as near optimum capacity as is realistically possible,” Peterson informed.
A peninsula surrounded on three sides by the reservoir water, the camp facilities are part of the original Kaw Indian Reservation. It served as hunting grounds, supplying food, shelter and clothing, and also includes some of their ceremonial grounds.
“Contributing to the longevity of the unique camp structures is the fact they are all constructed from native Flint Hills limestone which came from structures now inundated by the water of the Council Grove Reservoir,” Peterson explained.
Main facilities include a dining hall, cabins, administration building and a director’s home, all environmentally controlled for year around comfort.
Combined or separate dining hall rooms have a capacity of 211 people and can be utilized for meetings, with excellent acoustics, and fireplaces for heat and atmosphere.
While they’re generally called “cabins”, each of the five cabins is almost like being at home, or better. There is a large living area, bedrooms and complete bathrooms.
“The fully accredited swimming pool is for relaxing and fun time for all of our summertime campers,” Peterson commented.
“We are very fortunate to have several sites and areas that take advantage of “man working with Mother Nature” to provide exceptional sites and features,” Peterson related.
Among these are the outdoor theatre, Vesper Point, the challenge course and observation tower, along with the volleyball court and softball field.
“At White Memorial Camp, we sing, we have talent shows, we enjoy the lake and swimming pool, we go on hay rack rides, make art and craft articles, do archery, canoeing, kayaking, boating, hiking, cooking outdoors, enjoy beautiful sunsets, campfires, watch movies, dance, just have fun and close the day with a quiet worship service each evening,” Peterson said.
Churches, civic groups, colleges, individuals, industry, families, military, schools, private groups, youth organizations and many others have taken advantage of White Memorial Camp opportunities.
There are weddings, family reunions, corporate retreats, group workshops, and challenge course programs for personal and team building as well as cabin rentals for a “Lovely Get-Away from it All.”
Listed as annual programs are several levels of youth camps, family camps, October Fest, Holiday Camp and especially unique camps for adults with developmental disabilities.
“Vacation fun for adults with a wide range of developmental disabilities is our favorite part of the summer. Campers enjoy the company of friends they see each year as well as welcome new campers to the experience. We have handicapped accessible facilities for those who need them and lots of help from capable volunteers and experienced staff. A nurse is on-site throughout the camp,” Peterson explained.
A Challenge Course Camp for seventh grade through high school seniors was featured this summer, according to Peterson, emphasizing the several aspects it offers.
“The ‘Challenge Me Camp’ will put your child or teen ‘through the ropes’ of our high and low ropes challenge courses to focus on team building and push them through their fears to help them find out all about the good stuff they are made of. This is an intense, yet very fun experience your children will carry forward through many other aspects of their life,” Peterson said.
A couple of other especially unique opportunities are Wild Water Week and Creative Arts Camp.
Additional members of the White Memorial Camp Management Group, Inc., include Jeff Keller, Manhattan, president; Marty White, Council Grove, vice president; Nancy Fike, Carbondale, camp programming, David Gronquist, Alma, building and grounds; Carl Smitheran, Council Grove, marketing; and Paul Beck and Penny Selbee, both of Topeka.
“Last year, we celebrated 50 years of being a place that people of all ages come to relax and expand their horizons of physical, mental and social satisfaction and fulfillment. Now, as we move toward the century mark, there is almost no limit to the sharing we can do,” Peterson forecasted.
Among those include efforts to incorporate a volunteer camp counselor program. “This would open the doors to many people, even those who are retired, but want to be involved with various groups, including youth, and with White Memorial Camp itself,” Peterson related.
For those inclined to assist financially, gifts can be reported as “tax deductible” on income tax reports, according to Peterson.
Additional information about this weekend’s White Memorial Camp Open House, discussing opportunities, signing up for camps or scheduling activities is available from White Memorial Camp, 620-767-5165, or [email protected].
The Great Coon’ Bait Caper
When it comes to eating habits, raccoons are a lot like teenage boys; they’ll eat anything that smells good, and a lot of things that don’t. Common home-grown coon baits are marshmallows, jelly beans, peanut butter, barbeque sauce, maple syrup and cream style corn. There are people raking in the dough selling custom baked pet treats, so after the recent Kansas Fur Harvesters convention, I opened the Gilliland Coon’ Bait Test Kitchen, intent on dazzling the trapping world with my coon bait creations.
First order of business was to put on my lab coat and hair & beard net. My brother runs the R&D department at a brand name pet food plant and has to wear hair and beard nets to guard against getting hair in the pet food, so I thought it only right that I guard against hair in my raccoon bait! I needed some early success, so for my first creation I used a jar of product I bought at the convention. The jar contains all the flavors and smells the seller uses in his raccoon bait; you merely add the jar contents to one pound of dog or cat food. I marched into my woodworking shop turned test kitchen with a bag of Wal-Mart’s cheapest cat food under my arm. In a monstrous zip lock bag I mixed the cat food and the powder in the jar, which smelled sweet and yummy like butterscotch. The whole shop (I mean test kitchen) smelled like butterscotch for three days. It’s good I’m not a sleep walker; I probably would have awakened late that night and found myself eating a bowl of it with milk.
For my second creation I wanted to try a recipe I found on the all-wise, all-knowing internet. The base for this recipe was commercial pond fish food. So with a zip lock bag of the fish food and various other ingredients, I entered the SATELITE test kitchen, aka my wife’s real kitchen. This was still a test, so I used just a small amount of the fish pellets, then added mini-marshmallows, molasses and vanilla according to the recipe. I mixed it all together and sealed the bag. It smelled like my grandmothers ginger cookies times ten, but looked like it had already been eaten once. In my defense, at least it had a palatable kitcheney’ smell and didn’t reek of rotten eggs or dirty gym socks like many trapping baits.
I let the concoction marinate for a few days, then decided it was not exactly what a finicky, man-of-the-world raccoon might want to smear all over his face. I found a bulk food store and came home with butterscotch oil, peppermint oil and anise oil, all of which, by the way are oft-used ingredients in commercially made raccoon bait.
Anise oil smells like black licorice and I decided to play with it first. I opened the jar of the gingerbread smelling goo and tore off a softball sized chunk, put it into its own container and began adding the anise. My drum beats to the tune of “More is Always Better,” so I dumped every last drop from the three tiny bottles into the goo and mixed it as best I could. It was soft and pliable all right but mixing it was like trying to stir something into a volley ball. When I finished, it smelled like an explosion at a black licorice factory, but looked like a bowl of cow brains.
Next came the butterscotch oil. I only had two little bottles of it, so again I ripped off a chunk of the gingerbread goo and added the oil. It actually smelled yummy like a combination of grandma’s cookies and Werthers candies, but looked no different than the first.
Last but not least was the peppermint oil. Again I pried off a lump of the goo and added the peppermint. I intentionally took a big whiff of the oils before adding each to the mix, and the peppermint was the sharpest of the three. It was sweet like peppermint, but almost overpowering. When finally mixed, this last concoction smelled like wonderful sweet wedding mints, but still looked like cow brains.
It remains to be seen whether any of my “experimental” coon baits will do more than wreak havoc on the local possum population, understandable I guess for something that looks like cow brains. But however it turns out, it all makes for a good story, and if they don’t work at all I’m sure I’ll have learned my lesson…no I won’t; I’ll probably try it all again next year! …Continue to Explore Kansas Outdoors.
Steve can be contacted by email at [email protected].
cover photo – Ken Douglas
Roger’s view from the hills: How this ends
“THERE IS ONLY ONE WAY TO AVOID
CRITICISM: DO NOTHING, SAY NOTHING,
AND BE NOTHING.”
Aristotle
As a nation we have just come through one hundred years plus of a graduated progressive movement. Through the years of gradual change and diverting from the original intent of the founding fathers. There are literally thousands of factors that have gone into the place we now stand as a nation.
We have emerged from one of the most brutal midterm elections and now we set and wonder if the Republicans can change from the impulse to take their new found power and just continue the direction that the country has been heading all this time. Seems that the names may change but the direction never does.
Due to the spending that both parties have to take blame for it has been obvious to any economist and anyone who lived through hard times as to the fact that there will be a day of reckoning. It is not even considered scandalous that the debt the nation is in cannot be paid off. No matter what happens now we are almost at 18 TRILLION in debt. Our major creditors are our enemy’s, so called friends, as well as the people ourselves. Every bond you may have bought is a loan to the government as well as their ability to tax you beyond reason and seize your assets for any perceived wrong that you may commit.
Nations that we have held gold for in Ft. Knox have not been able to even look at their bullion let alone transfer it home. The Chinese have been soaking up 90% of gold produced each year and India is soaking up the silver. Both elements are essential in the new electronic world that we are addicted to.
So what happens when it all comes to and end? I put the question to you as to why the last 30 years of government administrations have been seizing land and assets in the West? There has been more Federal monuments, parks, and forest lands created and more controlled by the BLM than at anytime since the 1850’s.
The West is in a major part owned by the government. That means us, but the people in Washington have made it there own. Since Bruce Babbit in the Clinton Admin. to today, more land is seized. Without any act of Congress the President can make national monuments on his own signature. You probably don’t know that the latest was last week.
By the Governments own figures these states percentage of federal ownership is over 50%. Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Alaska. When other agency ownership is added such as military and other varying agencies the western states are in minority private ownership. There is also strict usage on private lands by various agencies.
When the dollar is worthless and a major event or string of events has devastated the US and World economies there will be a mandatory repayment in commodities and the old controls will be thrown on the ash heap.
The US Government will be shipping timber, oil, gas, copper, coal, gold, silver, and anything that can be stripped from our lands to pay off the world of creditors. It is our only resources that will have any value. The old environmental restraints will be gone and our country will be stripped of its value under threats that can only be speculated at right now.
If this is a far fetched scenario ask the residents of the German Vimar Republic or Germany after World War 2. This sounds radical I know. Given the circumstances that we are in now I would say that the next two years are critical. If those who now are in power do not do what needs to be done there will be a backlash that will throw us into the hands of those who allowed this to be set up.
When you say that we have spent our grand children’s future, it gives the impression that we will be dead and gone before it happens. I am afraid that you will be here to see the devastation that has been set up and your grand children may not even be here to deal with it.
Gloomy enough for you? I pray we never see it!
Nations that we have held gold for in Ft. Knox have not been able to even look at their bullion let alone transfer it home. The Chinese have been soaking up 90% of gold produced each year and India is soaking up the silver. Both elements are essential in the new electronic world that we are addicted to.
So what happens when it all comes to and end? I put the question to you as to why the last 30 years of government administrations have been seizing land and assets in the West? There has been more Federal monuments, parks, and forest lands created and more controlled by the BLM than at anytime since the 1850’s.
The West is in a major part owned by the government. That means us, but the people in Washington have made it there own. Since Bruce Babbit in the Clinton Admin. to today, more land is seized. Without any act of Congress the President can make national monuments on his own signature. You probably don’t know that the latest was last week.
By the Governments own figures these states percentage of federal ownership is over 50%. Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Alaska. When other agency ownership is added such as military and other varying agencies the western states are in minority private ownership. There is also strict usage on private lands by various agencies.
When the dollar is worthless and a major event or string of events has devastated the US and World economies there will be a mandatory repayment in commodities and the old controls will be thrown on the ash heap.
The US Government will be shipping timber, oil, gas, copper, coal, gold, silver, and anything that can be stripped from our lands to pay off the world of creditors. It is our only resources that will have any value. The old environmental restraints will be gone and our country will be stripped of its value under threats that can only be speculated at right now.
If this is a far fetched scenario ask the residents of the German Vimar Republic or Germany after World War 2. This sounds radical I know. Given the circumstances that we are in now I would say that the next two years are critical. If those who now are in power do not do what needs to be done there will be a backlash that will throw us into the hands of those who allowed this to be set up.
When you say that we have spent our grand children’s future, it gives the impression that we will be dead and gone before it happens. I am afraid that you will be here to see the devastation that has been set up and your grand children may not even be here to deal with it.
Gloomy enough for you? I pray we never see it!
