Legacy T H E J O U R N A L O F T H E R E N O C O U N T Y H I S T O R I C A L S O C I E T Y

16beautifulillustrationsfound intextbooks

12donors step

up to helpailing museum

facilities

FALL 2014

ride ‘em bullfrog? langdon fishery a major competitor nationwide…page 4

I N S I D E

hCHECK

OUT

HOLIDAY

EVE

NTS

HISTORICAL SOCIETY STAFF (full-time)

Linda Schmitt, executive director, rchs linda@underkansas.org

Ashley Maready, chief curator, rchs ashley@underkansas.org

Gayle Ferrell, director of operations, strataca gayle@underkansas.org Tonya Gehring, operations manager, strataca tonya@underkansas.org

Dave Unruh, maintenance supervisor, strataca dave@underkansas.org

Myron Marcotte, mine specialist, strataca myron@underkansas.org

Sarah Voran, customer service representative, strataca sarah@underkansas.org

Lynn Ledeboer, curatorial assistant, rcm lynn@renocomuseum.org

Paula Dover, administrative assistant, rcm paula@underkansas.org

BOARD OF DIRECTORS

Richard Shank, president • Nan Hawver, president-elect

Billy Klug, treasurer • Laura Snyder, secretary • Michael

Armour • Tim Davies • Elaine Fallon • Mary Wilson • Bill Pfen-

ninger • Carol Carr • Cris Corey • Katherine Goodenberger

Arlyn Miller • Frank Alexander • Lee Spence, ex-officio

Mike Carey, ex-officio • Harold Mayo, ex-officio

4 langdon fishery a phenomenon ...catte fish shipped far and wide

12 museum buildings get a facelift ...generous donors fund critical repairs

14 welcome to our new service rep ...sarah takes the leap to strataca

15 no dog ears in this classroom ...focus on book repair and preservation

16 beautiful old textbooks surface ...illustrations and photos abound

18 two volunteers join our team ...and bring their own set of skills

20 thanks to supporters ...and in-kind donors

21 rcm visitors spooked by ghosts ...reno county leaders “resurrected”

22 holiday events crafty … and criminal ...did mommy really kill santa claus?

Volume 26, No. 4Legacy is published quarterly by The Reno County Historical Society, Inc. 100 S. Walnut St., P.O. Box 664, Hutchinson, Kansas 67504-0664For advertising or membership information, call 620-662-1184.

© 2014 The Reno County Historical Society, Inc. ISSN 1045-3423All rights reserved. The RCHS disclaims responsibility for statements

of fact or opinion made by contributors.

THE JOURNAL OF THE RENO COUNTY HISTORICAL SOCIETY

Legacy

ON THE COVEREUGENE CATTE JR. WRANGLES A BULL-FROG WHILE SON HAROLD (MISSING HIS FEET) LOOKS ON, CA. 1922, THE HEYDAY OF “TALL TALE” POSTCARDS. IT READS, “GOING TO MARKET. FROM EUGENE CATTE FISHERIES, LANGDON, KAS.” (STORY P. 4)

h

“L

4

This fish tale is...

A whopper

THREE UNKNOWN

MEN, POSSIBLY

INCLUDING

EUGENE JR. AND

HIS SON, HAROLD,

PREPARE FISH FOR

SHIPMENT AT THE

LANGDON HATCH-

ERY IN 1925.

(PHOTO COURTESY

OF THE FRESHWATER

AND MARINE IMAGE

BANK, UNIVERSITY

OF WASHINGTON

LIBRARIES.)

By Lynn Ledeboer, RCM Curatorial Assistant

arge cement gateposts mark the entrance into Catte Park, with its fine brick house on the green buffalo grass sward that surrounds it. This is the home of the Eugene Catte fish hatchery, where Mr. Catte hatches fish of many kinds for the feder-al government. Strings of ponds, one draining into the other, fed by springs, make everything fine and cool in the shade along the edge of the lake. It is a fine place to visit.”

– The Hutchinson News Saturday, June 16, 1928

It sounds like a lovely paradise right here in Reno County, Kansas … Langdon Township to be exact.

ONE OF THE LARGEST The Catte Fish Hatchery was one of the largest pri-vately owned fish breed-ing businesses during its almost 25 years of operation. The 1928 News article promoted day trips throughout Reno County, and encouraged the cu-rious traveler to visit the lush, garden-like Langdon location. It’s an improbable Kan-

sas tale that begins with Eugene Catte Sr. Mr. Catte (pronounced like “cat tea” by locals) was born May 10, 1828 in Cunelieries, France, to Jean Claude and Cather-ine (Favez) Catte. He married Genereuse Abry, born in Joncherey, France, and found his way, as did many im-migrants, to the United States. Three sons shortly fol-lowed, all born in Brook-lyn, New York – Louis in 1861, Eugene Jr. in 1866, and Joseph Jackson in 1868.

(See EUGENE, page 6)

BOGGY GROUNDS

WERE PERFECT

FOR FISH PONDS.

Eugene Jr. was a slender boy with health problems. So sometime around 1877, Eugene Sr. took his family and headed west in the hopes of weather better suited to Eugene’s health.

CLAIMS STAKED They arrived in Hutchin-son and several years later walked to the Lang-don area to stake their land claims, Louis in 1890 and Eugene Sr. in 1891. Not to be left out, Eugene Jr. attempted to stake a claim, but he lost the land when it was discovered that he was under-age. However, it wouldn’t be long before Eugene Jr.’s fortune would change. Father and sons took to traditional farming, planting corn and raising traditional livestock at first, but eventually found the going tough.

MORTGAGING MULES A charming story in the 1937 book, “Arlington,” by J.A. Fehr told about the elder Eugene’s strug-gles to make ends meet: “In the early days, he owed (the) druggist $2.40 and came here for more medicine, but was refused because he owed such a large bill. He decided to borrow $5.00 from (the) pioneer bank for sixty days. Two dollars was immediately added for interest and he had to give a mortgage on one span

of mules, one good horse, a wagon, and a new set of harness, and the banker asked, ‘How many cows do you have to add to this?’ Mr. Catte finally paid the note when he got a job herding wild geese off his neighbors’ wheat fields.” In his struggles to support his family, Eu-gene Sr. also worked as a freighter. He hauled

groceries and supplies from Hutchinson to Sun City and Lake City settle-ments in Barber County, and hauled back firewood from the hill country on the Medicine River. For these 60 miles he was paid only $1.50 per load. Homesteading was certainly no easy float on the pond, and after the harsh realities of prairie life, Eugene Sr. passed

away in 1898 at age 70. As brothers Louis and Joseph settled into the Langdon area, they con-tinued farming – corn, wheat and livestock. Eugene Jr. did the same, however, he saw other opportunities as well. Capitalizing on fresh springs and the boggy grounds on their land fed by Silver Creek, Eugene converted these wetlands

into fishing ponds. He began to raise carp, bass and catfish to supply the family table with ample food. Branching out, Eugene sold the fish to close neighbors and sur-rounding areas, includ-ing Turon, Arlington and Sylvia. Markoleta Padgett, granddaughter of Eugene Jr., remembers him as a

THE CATTE

BROTHERS IN

THEIR LATER

YEARS – EUGENE

JR., LEFT, AND

LOUIS.

5

6

EUGENEMIXED UP IN FISHY

DISCUSSIONS

(Continued from page 5)

THE 1902 PLAT MAP, LEFT, SHOWS EUGENE’S 80 ACRES WITH THE PONDS AND STREAM GOING THROUGH THE CENTER OF HIS LAND. THE 1918 PLAT MAP ABOVE SHOWS EUGENE’S 140 ACRES, LISTS THE FISH HATCHERY, AND SHOWS THE OUTLINES OF THE HATCHERY.

Eugenetall and

well-liked

self-educated man who was very instructive. “I learned to swim at the ponds. Grandfather put me onto the end of a rope and tossed me in,” she related. “We spent most of our time in the ponds swimming.” She mentions that she wasn’t sure if Eugene went past the eighth grade in school, but even so he seemed well educated. Markoleta described his penmanship as “beautiful” after he wrote her name surrounded by a flourish of flowers and birds. Eugene was a very tall man, well-liked with an even temperament. He married Katherine Roth on July 4, 1888, and had four children, Mildred, Harold, Jules and Genere-use, his mother’s name. Markoleta remembers her grandmother Kate as a short, plump, jolly lady with one very deep dim-ple. She was a very good cook, and when Markole-ta’s family would come to

visit there was plenty of tasty, good food, especially fish and bullfrog legs. As early as 1906, Eu-gene had become quite serious about raising and breeding fish as that year his name was listed for new membership in the American Fisheries Society. He submitted a paper, “A Meth-od of Rearing and Handling Young Fish,” for competition in the 1908 In-ternational Fishery Congress, September 22-26 in Washington. The American Fisheries Soci-ety presided and President Theodore Roosevelt him-self hosted a reception for the members at the White House. Eugene attended the Fishery meeting in July 1909 at the Secor Hotel in Toledo, Ohio, and took part in the following fishy discussion among mem-bers about the best type

of water in which to hatch bass and crappie.

Mr. S. F. Fullerton: …”Roily (muddy) water is the best place to hatch crappie; it cannot be done in clear water.”

Mr. Titcomb: “We treat calico bass and

crappie almost indiscriminately in our distribu-tion work. They seem to require the same con-

ditions, that is, roily water during

the spawning season. Mr. Catte, however, has a series of ponds fed by bot-tom springs of clear water, where he has successfully propagated strawberry bass.”

Mr. Eugene Catte: “I hatch thousands of them in clear water.”

Mr. Clark: “Do you mean crappie or strawberry bass?”

A WIDE VARIETYOF BREEDER FISH WERE SHIPPED TO STOCK PONDS IN OTHER STATES.

(See EVEN, page 8)

Mr. Catte: “Strawberry bass.”

Mr. Titcomb: “Mr. Meehan says strawberry bass do best in cloudy water.”

Mr. Meehan: “That is true. Our strawberry bass did decidedly better where the water was a little roily.”

Eugene may have been slightly at odds with his fellow members in 1909, but his fish certainly agreed with him as his hatcheries continued to flourish abundantly. In 1910 the Catte Fish Hatchery sent a rail car filled with fish to stock a city lake in Guthrie, Okla. The Santa Fe Railway, which stocked the lake, made the purchase. The

eugene’s fishfeatured

at 1911 kansasstate fair

fish-breeding business was really beginning to spawn now! One of the more unusu-al of the live-animal dis-plays at the Kansas State Fair in 1911 was Eugene Catte’s glass tanks full of gold fish, bass and other breeds of fish. He also exhib-ited a tank filled with bullfrogs. “The bullfrogs were caught at night,” Markoleta shared. “They would tie a piece of red flannel to a long cane pole and shine a flash-light towards the pond. They always went after

the frogs that were facing away from the light.” By this time Eugene was shipping breeder fish to stock ponds, streams and lakes in Iowa, Texas and other states. His breeds included bass, black bass,

crappie and gold- fish. Doing well in the fish-breed-ing busi-ness led to Eugene having “one of the

finest red brick homes in the country.” Markoleta recalls that Eugene built the home himself of double walls of brick with a small space between the walls that acted as insulation. She said it was always cool in the summer and warm in the winter. So solidly built was the house that they had quite a bit of trouble converting it to electricity as they could barely get through the thick walls.

INDOOR PLUMBINGFROM THE START! A bit rare for its time, the house had indoor plumbing from the very beginning, including an extra-long bathtub in-stalled to accommodate Eugene’s lanky body. Markoleta recalled what a pleasure it was to bathe in that big bathtub as a

u

STILL IMPOSING,

THE FORMER CATTE

FARMHOUSE, LEFT,

STANDS TUCKED

AWAY NEAR

LANGDON.

8

(Continued from page 7)

THIS BIRD BATH ON THE

OLD CATTE FARMSTEAD

HINTS AT JUST HOW

DELIGHTFUL THE

PROPERTY WAS

IN THE 1930S.

child “…in the bathroom that was almost as big as a bedroom.” The bathroom and four bedrooms were on the second floor and the living room, parlor, den and big kitchen were on the main floor. Markoleta remarked that even with the indoor plumbing “…they still had the privy by the chicken house.” Later on a closet under the stairs was con-verted to a half-bath.

UNUSUAL CHICKENHOUSE & MAILBOX Also unusual was the construction of the Catte chicken house, which Eugene built of red brick to match the main house. Not to be outdone, the mailbox post was also built of red brick and had a bronze insert below the mailbox with a carved fish and the name “Eugene Catte” carved into it. Oth-ers remember the insert possibly made of cement.

red brickchicken house

matchesthe house

In the front yard a large cement fountain welcomed guests, and the Catte children often played by it. Markoleta fondly remembered what a nice place the Catte homestead was to visit on weekends.

The United States gov-ernment owned a hatch-ery in Neosho, Mo., as well as others but was unable to meet the public’s grow-ing demand for fishing in well stocked ponds, lakes and streams. What was once com-monly called Catte Park, Catte Fisheries or Catte Fish Hatchery, now was referred to ponderously as

tbe Langdon Sub-Station of the Bureau of Fisheries, Neosho, Missouri. The hatchery began to fill orders from the gov-ernment to ship fish east in 1912. On December 10, 1912, Car No. 4 of the Rock Island Train No. 34, with Captain Kerns at the head, was filled with about 100,000 fish, including 12,000 black bass. Langdon native Guilford Railsback described the government fish cars and operation in his compila-tion of Langdon history from 1887–1987.

“The fish car crew con-sisted of a manager, four helpers, and a cook. The car contained an office, a complete bathroom with hot and cold running water, a kitchen, a dining room, and berths for all members of the govern-ment party and had its own electrical system and

Even indoor plumbing

9

service tocommunityalso a toppriority

EUGENE’S FISH,INCLUDING GOLD-

FISH, WERE SENT AS FAR AFIELD AS TEXAS

AND PENNSYLVANIA.

boiler. In the center of the car were two large storage compartments where the fish cans were placed, so con-structed that they could be iced to keep the tempera-ture at the correct degree to handle the fish properly. An air compressor kept the air constantly bubbling in the fish cans.”

The compressor and hose attached to every car saved the crew from the tedious, hard work of aer-ating the cars by hand. The fish cars came to get the fish and sweep it away to points east and south, but they also brought the crew, which included one Roger Pascal Tanner. This tall, easy-going, “true southerner” became quite well known to the family from his visits to the fishery. So well known that Mildred, Eugene’s daughter born in 1901, apparently didn’t have to kiss too many bullfrogs to find – and marry – her prince charming.

EUGENE”S FISH SOLD FAR AND WIDE On May 25, 1914, Eu-gene reported that his fish were spawning 36 million eggs that would eventually be sent to Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Nebraska, Oklahoma, Texas and New York. An order for 6,000 goldfish alone came

from C.D. Forby, manager of the Ball Manufacturing

Company in 1916. Also that year, 20 cans with 4,000 fish were used to stock ponds at the Hutchinson

Reformatory. Eugene’s hatchery

had become so notable that “Popular Science Monthly” published an ar-ticle about his fish hatch-ing business in a 1916 issue, shown below.

Although obviously busy with his fish business, Eugene was also quite ac-tive in the community as he was listed as treasurer of Langdon Grade School around 1915 in the book, “The Old Trail & The New, 1865–1918.” Seeing Catte’s success in fish breeding, other fisheries began to crop up around the Langdon area, including those owned

(See GOLDFISH, page 10)

EUGENE CATTE’S

FISH FARMING

OPERATION WAS

THE FEATURE OF

THIS ARTICLE

IN “POPULAR

SCIENCE MONTH-

LY” IN APRIL

OF 1916.

u

10

Goldfish hatchery one of only a few

nature and loved to hunt. Eugene’s granddaugh-ter, Markoleta, recalled a photo of her Aunt Mildred coming back from a hunt with a deer draped around her neck.

Mildred planted flower beds, water lilies, many vines and shrubs and generally created a park-like atmosphere on the Catte lands. Folks from all over Reno County came out to the Catte ponds on Decoration Day to buy Mildred’s lily plants to decorate the graves of loved ones. The water lilies were a side business for the Cattes as they

(Continued from page 9)

TEN OF EUGENE’S 15 PONDS

WERE DEVOTED SOLELY

TO RAISING GOLDFISH.

by Cy Wyman and W. L. Mull. Long-time friend, neigh-bor and fellow fishery op-erator Cy Wyman passed away in 1916 and left 60 acres to Catte in his will. A plat book of Reno Coun-ty shows Eugene owning a total of 140 acres in 1918.

TEN PONDS SOLELYFOR GOLDFISH So the hatchery grew and covered 13 acres and included 15 ponds of which 10 were devoted solely to raising goldfish. In the early 1920s Eu-gene had one of the few goldfish hatcheries in the country. Fall was the busy sea-son for the fishery which saw Eugene and his son, Harold, born in 1895, wading into the ponds in high rubber boots to sort out the marketable fish with bare hands and load them into cans for ship-ping. Eugene became quite an expert at counting the small fish, five at a time, to fill the cans. As many as six rail cars of one- to three-inch fish were sold to the government each year, valued at about $1,500 (about $22,000 in today’s market). Besides the backbreak-ing work of sorting and

loading the fish, Eugene spent many hours fighting off the natural predators that the fish drew to the ponds – turtles, snakes, muskrats and ducks. He kept quite an arsenal in his war against these competitors for his stock. Besides fish, Eu-gene had a flock of 25 Shropshire sheep in 1923 that he raised to keep the weeds down and mow the pastures as well as providing wool and meat. Eugene was quite a nature lover, planting hundreds of trees on his land – cottonwoods, black locust and wil-lows among them. A 1924 Hutchinson News article, “Langdon Man who Raises Fish is Great Lover of Out-doors and its People,” describes his discovery of the skull and jaw of a mastodon a year earlier as well as his unearthing the “fossil remains of a great sea dragon.” He is quoted as saying, “You can’t beat nature. Scientists are always talking about their won-derful discoveries but nature still has countless secrets that they have never learned.” His daughter, Mildred, also shared his love for

ONE CAN ONLY

IMAGINE HOW

IMPRESSIVE THIS

MAILBOX, RIGHT,

WAS WHEN THE

BRONZE PLAQUE

WITH THE FISH

AND THE “CATTE”

NAME WAS STILL

ATTACHED.

vine-coveredhut on islanddraws visitors

to pond

11

h

shipped out many plants each year, bringing in about $500 ($7,500 today) annually. On the largest pond, Eugene created an is-land in the center, accessible only by rowboat, where he built a cone-shaped log hut cov-ered with vines. So lovely and well kept were the grounds that the Kansas City Angler’s Club rented one of the ponds and visited each year to fish and enjoy the Catte land. The governmental agen-cy, Bureau of Fisheries, officially leased the hatch-ery ponds from the Cattes in 1924, ending the fully private ownership of the hatchery by the Cattes. Blue gill and perch were added to the fish variet-ies, and each October fish were shipped out by rail to states throughout the country. Harold Catte, Eugene’s son, who by now had vast experience raising fish, became the Superinten-dent of the new Meade County State Park and Hatchery in 1929. It was a new hatchery with one fish pond covering more than 100 acres. By 1932 Harold was appointed

Superintendent of the Ar-izona State Fish Hatchery near Phoenix. The Depression era hit, and that same year the Catte Fish Hatchery do-

nated 800 pounds of fish to the local Salvation Army to distribute to locals needing assistance. Markoleta stat-

ed that Eugene was a great hu-

manitarian who loved people, and his actions at that time certainly seem to verify that. Around 1933 the gov-ernment discontinued paying private breeders for fish, and the thriving pri-vate fish-breeding indus-try came to a sudden halt. As with many industries

in which the government took over administration, the government began controlling its own fish hatcheries. After so many years of developing a unique industry in Langdon Township and becom-ing a well-known expert on fish rearing, Eugene passed away October 6, 1934. Sadly, Harold died of a blood clot following emergency surgery for appendicitis a year later in 1935. There’s nothing better than a good fish story, and many families are able to pull a few out of their tackle boxes. But this story is one fish tale of which Langdon can cer-tainly be mighty proud.

EUGENE’S FISH

MOST LIKELY

SHIPPED OUT

ON RAIL CARS

FROM THIS

DEPOT IN

LANGDON.

12

hanks to the gener- osity of several entities, the buildings housing the Reno County Museum will soon be in great shape! I have been with the museum since 2006, and when I arrived many maintenance issues need-

ed attention. In the eight years since, many more areas of concern have developed or come to light. Often it has seemed that it’s been one step forward and three steps back, trying to keep up with the demands of our century-old build-ings. Because of recent positive develop-ments, I will use my Legacy space to recap the main-tenance challenges

we’ve experienced, and to thank the individuals, businesses and founda-tions that have helped us repair and restore the buildings and grounds to a level that they haven’t seen in at least a decade.

n In 2008 a grant from Reno County enabled us to repair a leaky roof over the document stor-age area of the Rosemont building.n In 2009 a failure of the Kline building air-con-ditioning system caused RCM to be shut down for four months over the summer. Repairs were made with funds from the Delos V. Smith Founda-tion. n That same year we realized that stress cracks, created by the weight of artifact storage, were accelerating in the second-floor walls of the

Rosemont building. Reno County provided a grant to move 150 of the heavi-est artifacts into secure space at the Trade Center, an area that was donated by Hutchinson Hospital. The artifacts remained there until the fall of 2013 when we were able to pur-chase an off-site storage facility.n In 2010, after some of the ballasts in our 144 recessed light fixtures began to fail, we realized that these fixtures were becoming obsolete and needed to be upgraded. A grant from the Fund for Hutchinson, a program of the Hutchinson Commu-nity Foundation, helped replace 30 of the fixtures the first year. Since then, we have continued to in-crementally replace them. n In 2012, after two years of drought, and a broken irrigation system and

Buildings shaping up

THESE CRACKED

AND DANGEROUS

STEPS ON THE WEST

ENTRANCE TO THE

KLINE BUILDING

WILL FINALLY BE

REPAIRED.

BUCKLING AND WEAK-ENED BOARDS MADE THE NORTH PORCH OF THE ROSEMONT BUILD-ING DANGEROUS AND INACCESSIBLE.

T

13

h

h

MYRON MAR-COTTE HOPES TO SEE MORE WORLD WAR II ITEMS LIKE THIS PERIOD MAP IN STRATA-CA’S COLLEC-TION.

fountain pump, the court-yard was looking really rough with dead trees and an empty, badly chipped fountain. A grant from the Fund for Hutchinson enabled us to repair and replace parts of the irrigation system and replace the fountain pump. We also removed the dead trees, and the Hutchinson Tree Board donated eight new ones in 2013.n In the summer of 2012 there was a major water leak in the Rosemont basement, and several major cracks were discov-ered in the foundation. These were repaired by Mark and Tina Sayler, owners of Central States Hydroseal, at no cost.n In 2012 we began to notice that panes of glass were falling out of the Rosemont windows, put-ting the precious artifacts stored in the second-floor storage areas at risk. After receiving esti-mates, the $25,000 cost to repair and restore the old wooden windows seemed out of reach until the Reno County Com-missioners agreed to provide a matching grant.

The Adopt-A-Window fundraising campaign was launched in the fall of 2013, and donors gave more than $14,000 for the match. The windows are currently being restored and, once finished and installed, will last another 100 years. n The next three issues have been festering for years and now have be-come serious problems:

* The old front porch floor of the Rosemont buckled and a gate was constructed to restrict access. * The heavy glass securi-ty front doors of the Reno County Museum have been causing more and more problems, are ob-solete and are not handi-capped accessible. * The disintegrating concrete steps on the west side of the Kline building have continued to worsen, and today they are treach-erous, rendering that entrance unusable.

Just when it seemed that there was no solu-tion in sight, the Delos V. Smith Foundation came to the rescue with a grant that will address all three of these issues. We are thrilled that these three neglected areas will finally be addressed. When these repairs are complete, we will have a museum free of major repair issues that have plagued it for years. Of course, new concerns will arise, but I am proud of how far we’ve come and very grateful to everyone who has helped make this progress possible.

Linda SchmittExecutive Director,

Reno County Historical

Society

ALTHOUGH IN SEEMINGLY GOOD REPAIR, THESE GLASS DOORS ARE VERY HEAVY, DIFFICULT TO OPEN, AND OFTEN CLOSE DANGEROUSLY QUICKLY ON VISITORS ENTERING THE BUILDING.

REPAIR TO THE ROSE-MONT PORCH WILL OPEN UP NEW POS-SIBILITIES FOR THE BUILDING’S USE.

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LEGACY WINS!

THE LEGACY MAGA-ZINE WON A THIRD PLACE AWARD RECENTLY IN THE ONLINE MAGAZINE CATEGORY. THE COMPETITION WAS SPONSORED BY NFPW, AN ORGANI-ZATION FOR MEN AND WOMEN IN THE COMMUNICATIONSFIELD. THE RENO COUNTY HIS-TORICAL SOCIETY STAFF AND CON-TRIBUTORS WRITE THE STORIES AND PROVIDE PHOTOS, AND JANE LEE COMMUNICATIONS, KANSAS CITY, DESIGNS AND PRO-DUCES THE MAGA-ZINE.

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Welcome,Sarah! hen it’s time for a change, sometimes it’s best to go big, and that’s exactly the step new em-ployee Sarah Voran has taken. The Reno County His-torical Society would like to welcome Sarah to her position as Customer Service Representative at Strataca. Sarah comes to us from Commerce Bank. After 15 years as a bank teller, she was ready for new opportu-nities, expe-riences and advancement. While with Commerce, Sarah took a tour of Strata-ca and thought at the time, “That would be a neat place to work … it would be fun and excit-ing!” It must have been desti-ny because shortly there-after she saw a posting in the paper for the job open-ing and decided, “I can do that!” After two months on the job, Sarah has real-

ized how much she has learned and just how different it is to work at Strataca rather than a financial institution. Having lived in San An-

tonio for three years, Sarah is no strang-er to change. She describes San Antonio as “hot” and much more urban and

spread out than Hutchin-son. She explained that here in Hutchinson her parents often worried about the 10-minute drive to the lo-cal mall. In San Antonio it was more often an hour’s ride on public transporta-tion to the mall. Now, with two boys, ages six and sixteen, and a three-year-old girl,

Sarah drives to the mall, probably taking turns with her husband, Aaron, who works at Siemens. The mall isn’t the only place for this busy family, as they enjoy camping, fishing and swimming, often at Wilson or Cheney Lake.

EXTRA PERK: NO TV An extra perk of the re-moteness of the campsite, Sarah notes, is that “… the kids don’t have TV.” Crafts such as jewel-ry-making and carving pumpkins with her chil-dren are other activities that Sarah enjoys. All in all, change is gen-erally a good thing, and we’re certainly glad that Sarah made the change to join the team at Strataca!

Welcome, Sarah!

“that wouldbe a neat

place to work… fun andexciting.”

SARAH TOOK THE BIG LEAP WHEN SHE

LEFT HER JOB AT THE BANK AND JOINED THE

STRATACA TEAM.

By Lynn Ledeboer, RCM Curatorial Assistant

f

ith the start of school looming ahead, we de-cided it was time to teach the fine art of book care and repair. “No Dog Ears Allowed!” on August 14 was the fourth program in RCM’s Reno County Treasures: Talks, Tips, & Treats pro-gram series. I was ecstatic as books are my favorite thing in the world, and not enough people know that there are simple ways to help keep your favorite books in great shape for years to come. The RCM staff put together this program in association with Ruth

Heidebrecht, Director of Collection Development, and volunteer Trudy Lingle, both from the Hutchinson Public Library. Both are book repair experts, and Trudy has repaired many books in the RCM research room collection over the last several years. Ruth was also kind enough to pro-vide the necessary sup-plies for the workshop. The evening for the dozen participants began with a slideshow presen-tation on how to shelve, handle and protect books

from various sources of damage. I had given a version of this presenta-tion at a South Central

Kansas Library Sys-tem (SCKLS) book

repair workshop the week prior to our program, so I knew it was librarian-tested

and approved! After my talk, Ruth

gave our audience a great overview of the problems library books face, and Trudy demonstrated some simple book repairs. We then assisted our participants who had brought a wide range of books with problems ranging from detached pages to broken spines

to red rot, a chemi-cal deterioration of leather. Our participants had fun and learned a lot about books. And we had funas well! __________

book repairexperts spoke

on varietyof topics.

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Reno County Treasures…

No dog ears here!By Ashley Maready, RCHS Chief Curator

EAGER PARTICI-

PANTS, LEFT,

LEARN THE FINE

ART OF BOOK

REPAIR AND

PRESERVATION.

TOPICS COVERED EVERY-

THING FROM DETACHED

PAGES AND BROKEN

SPINES TO RED ROT!

15

Watch for informa-tion on our next Talk, Tips and Treats series December 6: Trimming the Tree: Ornaments Past & Present: 1-2:30 p.m.

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BOOKSFOCUS ON COLLECTIONS

After “fishing” around in the Reno County Mu-seum artifact collections, this wonderful education book series floated to the surface. These simple books with their lovely illustrations and photos were used in the Sylvia Grade School and library. Fishes, Trees, Insects, and Birds were part of the “Basic Science Education Series.” Buried Sun-light (coal mining) and Ashkee of Sunshine Water (Navajo culture) were part of the “Basic Social Education Series,” and Christopher Columbus was part of the “Real People” series. All the books were published around 1941 or 1942. The 1941 Fishes book, written by Bertha Morris Parker of the Laboratory Schools, University of Chicago, was “checked for Scientific Accuracy by Walter H. Chute, Director of the John G. Shedd Aquarium.”

PAGE 2 OF “FISHES,” RIGHT. (1994.62.32)

(1994.62.26) (1994.62.27)

(1994.62.29) (1994.62.30) (1994.62.28)

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(1994.62.24)

FRONT AND BACK COVERS OF “FISHES” FEATURE

AN EXOTIC UNDERWATER SCENE. THE 1941 BOOK

WAS CHECKED FOR ACCURACY BY THE DIRECTOR

OF CHICAGO’S SHEDD AQUARIUM. (1994.62.32)

PAGE 1 OF “FISHES,” ABOVE, PART OF THE

“BASIC SCIENCE EDUCATION SERIES.”

(1994.62.32)

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a “teeny, tiny” booth on ksu’santhropologydepartmentinspired kylieto pursue acareer in that field.

Two new volunteers offervariety of skills at museum

e’d like to welcome two fantastic new volunteers to the Reno County Mu-seum – Kylie Hewitt and Shawn Kirby. Kylie is assisting with collections and exhibits while Shawn is utilizing his “handyman” skills

in a variety of fix-it jobs around the museum. Although Kylie was born in Texas, her moth-er was born and raised in Hutchinson, and the family has been here since 2002. Kylie grad-uated from Hutchinson High School in 2010 and completed her bachelor’s degree in anthropology at Kansas State University in December of 2013.

When asked how she chose this field, Kylie de-scribed seeing a “…teeny, tiny booth…” promoting the anthropology depart-ment at KSU. It was then she knew that anthropolo-gy was the field for her.

OFF TO OZ After graduation Kylie interned with the Kansas Cos-mosphere & Space Center. She invento-ried collections and assisted with renew-ing loans. After that intern-ship, Kylie went on to the Oz Museum in Wamego, Kansas, and worked there from January to August of this year. By the time Kylie left the Oz Museum, she had reaccessioned more than 2,000 objects.

BAUM EXHIBIT She also had the op-portunity to complete a one-case exhibit compar-ing the L. Frank Baum illustrations to MGM’s depiction of Oz. Although she enjoyed working on the exhibit, she admits she “… didn’t realize how difficult it would be ...” to create it. After both work expe-riences, Kylie stated that she learned just how

important it is to really know and keep up with a collection. In the future Kylie hopes to work with collections, and is currently studying for her Graduate Record Examination, which she will take in November. She is considering the Muse-um Studies program at the University of Kansas. When not involved in projects related to the mu-seum field, Kylie enjoys cross-stitching, walking her pet Weimaraner, and just hanging out with friends.

SHAWN CAME BACK Once a year many en-ergetic volunteers gather in Hutchinson to help out various organizations under the auspices of the United Way. Shawn Kirby was one of those generous volunteers who joined a group from Siemens Ener-gy to volunteer at RCM. He has continued to vol-unteer since then, doing everything from repair-ing switches in elevators to gluing craft projects. Shawn truly has been very handy since he joined the RCM family, which makes a lot of sense as he was a mechanical assem-bler at Siemens, a painter at a fabrication shop in Burrton for more than five years, and a custom har-vester for about 10 years.

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800-760-5315 620-662-5315

Born in Westmoreland, Shawn, his older broth-er, a sister and parents lived in many locations throughout Kansas be-fore moving to Hutchinson in 1969. In the late 1980s Shawn worked for Pioneer Seed Company. Moving around Kansas and his time at Pioneer helped Shawn prepare for his experience as a Peace Corps volunteer in 1990 and 1991.

SERVING IN AFRICA He was an agriculture extensionist in Sierra Le-one, working with farmers growing seed rice and “… finding things that needed to be improved ….” A truly rich and memorable ex-perience, Shawn began to appreciate the more stable conditions and opportuni-ties available in the states

after his return. One of those opportu-nities was the chance to drive big trucks, tractors

and other piec-es of machin-ery in many of his jobs. Shawn stated that through-out his life he has logged “… millions of miles of truck

driving ….” As there is very little opportunity for driving as a volunteer at the Reno

“...findingthings thatneeded to be improved…”

County Museum, Shawn explained what interested him in volunteering: “I like museums. History was always a favorite of my classes in school.” He said he is always amazed at how our pio-neers “… made a life out of the prairie ….”

HE LOVES TO DRIVE Driving continues to play a large part in Shawn’s life. Married to wife Margie for 15 years, Shawn’s other major love is motorcycles. From street bikes to dirt bikes to motocross, Shawn has been riding and racing for at least 25 years. He also enjoys spending time with his three dogs. The Reno County Muse-um is truly lucky to add Kylie and Shawn to our roster of volunteers. We could not do all the things we do without their gener-ous assistance!

shawn loves to drive. in fact, throughouthis life he has logged“millions of miles”of driving.

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o all the StoryKeepers of the Reno County Museum and Citizens of Strataca, we couldn’t do it without your generosity. Thanks for your sup-port!

*New Member

RCM STORYKEEPERS

CaretakersWhitey & Shirley AlpersJim & Dianne Cannon*Edna Hendershot

Earl & Ticky McAdamsDr. Robert T. MorrisonGary & Nancy Witham

RestorersCharleen BauerRichard & Jane FalterDan & Brenda PaceSNB Bank

GuardiansDick & Marcia CooperVirginia Rayl

STRATACA CITIZENS

PickersJim & Dianne CannonMr. & Mrs. R. M. Lund-quistHeath WebsterGary & Nancy Witham

DiggersRichard & Jane FalterFirst National Bank

DrillersJohn CatonDick & Marcia CooperSNB Bank

BlastersRoger & Judy Hawk

IN-KIND DONORS

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IN-KIND DONORS

From rolls of toilet paper to scraping pigeon droppings, we would like to thank everyone who contributed items or their valuable time to help out July 1 through October 31. No job was too big or too small. Thanks to all!

• Barbie Schweizer – cleaning supplies• Ruth Stiggins – cleaning supplies and items for the Oodleplex• Sturgeon Heating & Cooling – discounted labor costs• Siemens, Big Brothers & Sisters, Allen School – United Way work dayDave Unruh – cleaning supplies.

Thanks to supporters and in-kind donors

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pooky Chills & Thrills at the Reno County Muse-um! “Boo”-Seum Spook Walk is a smash hit! The Reno County Mu-seum events calendar is loaded down with Christ-mas events, so we thought it was time to try an event for Halloween! On October 28 RCM staff members set out to make Reno County history come back to life for some little superhe-roes, witches and goblins.

RENO COUNTIANSRESURRECTED We “resurrected” some deceased Reno County celebrities for one night only, and let them tell their stories in our dark-ened first floor exhibit gal-leries with the theatrical talent of a few volunteers and some thespians from the Hutchinson Theatre Guild. Staff strung up dark curtains to help guide our visitors through the spook walk, and eerie artist Paula Dover made some addition-al creepy magic with Halloween decorations such as faux cobwebs and plastic spiders. By 5:45 pm we had a crowd waiting at the front doors! Our actors finished putting on

their make-up and cos-tumes and scrambled into their positions, flashlights in hand. With the help of a few generic “directional” ghosts (assistant curator Lynn Ledeboer and volun-teers Dan Ledeboer and Mike Massie, all dressed in the classic white sheet), visitors followed a glowing

path through the exhibit galleries. There our brave visitors encountered lurking Reno County notables such as Ben Blanchard, Delos V. Smith Jr., Prince Zogi the Magician, and Aneta Corsaut. In exchange for listening to the amazing tales, our visitors got candy!

121 SPOOKED BYGHOSTLY TALES By the end of the eve-ning we had entertained 121 visitors with our spooky tales of Hutchin-son history! This event was such a success that we’re already laying the groundwork for next year’s “Boo”-Seum Spook Walk! So if you missed the fun in 2014, come out for 2015!

Visitors spooked by ghosts!...but the candy made it all worthwhile

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BARDO THE CLOWN

WAS “RESURRECTED”

BY RCHS EXECUTIVE

DIRECTOR LINDA

SCHMITT, LEFT.

OUR GHOSTLY

GHOULS, BELOW,

GATHERED TO PLOT

THEIR TOUR OF

TERROR.

A YOUNG CAPTAIN AMERICA (LIAM LEDEBOER) GETS A

BOOST FROM GUIDE GHOST (GRANDPA DAN LEDEBOER)

WHILE HIS PARENTS, DAVID AND BETH LEDEBOER, LOOK ON.

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STRATACAHOURS

9 am–5 pm Tues–Sat1–5 pm Sunday

closed Mondays

last tour departs at 4 pm

advance reservations strongly recommended

allow about two hours for your adventure

SALT BLAST PASSour best deal

includes gallery tour,dark ride (both handi-

capped-accessible) and train ride:

adults: $19seniors (60+), AAA

and active military: $17children (4-12): $12.50

reno county residents: $14

strataca citizens: $8

children under 4 not admitted

due to mine safetyregulations.

pricing availableto add only dark ride

or train ride togallery admission.

all prices include sales tax.

special pricing forgroups over 28 and school groups witharrangements made

one week in advance.

3650 e. avenue g (at airport road)

hutchinson, ks 67501

620-662-1425toll-free 866-755-3450

underkansas.org

Murder in the Mineinteractive Mystery dinner theatre

“I Saw Mommy Killing Santa Claus”

Sunday, December 14:Start time: 3 p.m. / End: 8 p.m.

$55 per person / $400 for table of 8Must be 18 years or older due to adult humor

What’s that Mommy up to? Is she naughty? Or is she nice?? You’ll have to be there to find out what happensin this merry Christmas spoof.

CHECK OUT STRATACA ATTRACTIONS ON BACK COVER.

salt safari Mine adventure

November 22, January 3and select Saturdays 1 to 4 p.m.

Limit: 20 hikersMust be 13 years or olderAdvance online reservations required

This challenging, rugged hike will explore raw areas of the mine, cover many miles, and last up to three hours. Hike is not handi-

Strataca events fill up fast.Make your reservations for these

special events soon! Don’t miss out!

For details and reservations for all events:underkansas.org

620-662-1425 • 866-755-3450

SCOUTING OVERNIGHTS

Scout Overnights:January 10February 7

Merit Badge Overnights:January 17January 31

23h 23

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RCM on the Road…CoMes hoMe

From 2011 to 2012, RCM travelled to 14 Reno County communities to display artifacts from those towns. The exhibits stayed up for six months. Now we are bringing this exhibit back to Hutchin-son for all to see. Also we are accepting photographs of current and historical items relating to any of the Reno County cities. We’ll display them along with this exhibit.

RENO COUNTY MUSEUM

EVENTS & EXHIBITS

RENO COUNTYMUSEUM HOURS

9 am–5 pm tues-Fri

11-5 saturday

closed sunday

and monday

free admission

unless

otherwise

noted

100 S. Walnut

620-662-1184

tough, Rough & Ready: Reno County tools a-ZThis tool-tally awesome exhibit displays an amaz-ing variety of tools that built Reno Countyfrom the ground up.

a Peek InsIde Reno County’s JewelRy Box

From rhinestones to fine gold, see what adornment Reno Countians have been wearing from themid-1880s through the 1960s.

email us snapshots

of your community

and we will post

them along with

the “on the road”

exhibit. send to:

lynn@renocomuse-

um.org.

fhaIl to the hall: 100 yeaRs of ConventIon hall This exhibit traces the history of Hutchinson’s historic Convention Hall and officially displays the items from the Conven-tion/Memorial Hall 1911 time capsule box.

tRansPoRtatIon galleRy See the Schuttler wag-on, an Amish buggy, the Indian motorcycle, sidecar and much more.

EXHIBITS

Reno County tReasuRes: talks, tIPs, & tReatsThese fun, informal work-shops will focus on educa-tion, creativity and treats!

December 6 – Trimming the Tree: Ornaments Past & Present: 1-2:30 p.m. Free!Bring your special cher-ished ornaments to show off. And we’ll have many from the collection to share as well. Enjoy the season’s treats while we admire the tinsel.

old-fashIoned ChRIstMasDecember 13, 10-noonCreate some crafty, cheery holiday gifts. ($1.50 per child for crafts)

CookIe deCoRatIngDecember 18, 5-7 p.m.Time to pile on icing, sug-ar crystals and sprinkles.

For more information:620-662-1184

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see these delicate little angels up close at the rcm “trimmimg the tree” event december 6.

let your imagination run wild like this young artist did at last year’s cookie decorating event.

reno county historical societyp.o. box 664hutchinson, kansas 67504-0664

return service requested

If your address changes, please call us at 620-662-1184.

The ShaftSee this engineering mar-vel that houses the six-ton double-decker hoist that transports visitors 650’ below ground.

StratadomeIntriguing and palatial, experience the grandeur of this vaulted salt room. Play in the Permian Playground filled with a variety of hands-on salt.Salt secrets exposed!

Mining GallerySee the Myron-mobile, a post-apocalyptic looking car driven by Mike Rowe, the host of the TV show “Dirty Jobs.” Discover modern day mining prac-tices versus mining in the past. Find out what a day in the life of a miner is really like.

Harry’s Habitat(Dr. Vreeland’s Fluid In-clusion Exhibit) The world’s oldest living organism, nearly 250 million years old and once encapsulated inside a salt crystal, is a resident of Strataca. Learn about its discoverers, Dr. Russell Vreeland and his team.

Salt Mine ExpressThis 15-minute train ride is a narrated, guided tour through a part of the mine that was active in the 1940s and ‘50s.

The Dark RideYour personal guide de-livers fascinating informa-tion on a 30-minute tram ride where you experience true “mining dark” and collect your souvenir piece of salt.

GE Engine No. 2One of only three such engines ever built, it is now on display outside of Strataca. Built in 1919, the train ran along a short railway line from 1928 to 1963 that provided switching services for the Carey plant and mine.

The Iodine Deficiency and Disorder StoryExplore the efforts of Kiwanis International and UNICEF in using salt to combat the devastating effects of iodine deficiency.

The Story of Under-ground Vaults & StorageView costumes and props from your favorite movies in this exhibit focusing on a unique underground storage business.

STRATACA ATTRACTIONS

FOR MORE INFORMATION ON EXHIBITS AND EVENTS AT OUR MUSEUMS, SEE PAGES 20-21.

Reno County Museum Presents

Trimming the Tree:

Ornaments Past & Present

Saturday, December 6, 2014 1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. FREE!

Show off your cherished Christmas or holiday ornament & share its history with us. We will have our special ornaments from the collection on display.

Enjoy seasonal desserts while we marvel over the sparkly, delicate decorations.

Reno County Museum 100 S. Walnut Hutchinson, KS 67501 For more information, please call 620-662-1184 or email paula@renocomuseum.org.