The Tuesday Letter
Agricultural Experiment Station & Cooperative Extension Service

Vol. 14, No. 27  May 20, 2008

IN THIS ISSUE... 

...Word from the Associate Director - Extension and Applied Research
...New Extension District in Southeast Kansas
...Thank You from Kelley and Keith Blankley and Julie Riniker
...Retirement Reception for Elizabeth Bantz, Elk County Office Professional
...Healthy Living Through Health Rocks!
...Composting Operators School
...Summer Fruit Tour
...Kansas Wheat "Speak for Wheat" Spokesperson Recruitment
...Extension Valued for Their Community Facilitation Skills
...4-H Volunteer Impact Survey Update
...Political Capital
...Master Schedule

                                                                                                           ...Tuesday Letter Archives

WORD FROM THE ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR - EXTENSION AND APPLIED RESEARCH
It is graduation season with commencements happening in communities all over Kansas. I was honored to attend and participate in the College of Human Ecology graduation ceremony on Saturday. Proudly, I had a daughter graduating in Family Studies and Human Services.

Dr. Bill Meredith, Head of the School of Family Studies and Human Services provided an excellent commencement keynote address to the graduating class for the college. His message was one of challenges and opportunities. I really liked a quote Dr. Meredith provided in his message from Sir Winston Churchill.

"A pessimist sees the difficulty in every opportunity; an optimist sees the opportunity in every difficulty." - Sir Winston Churchill

I hope for every graduate this year, they indeed see opportunity in the difficulties they face as they engage in the next phase of their lives. And, for myself, I hope I can truly exhibit the mind set of an optimist. Sir Winston Churchill is also quoted as having said:

"For myself I am an optimist - it does not seem to be much use being anything else." - Sir Winston Churchill.

I'd have to agree with that philosophy as well! Have a great week! --Daryl Buchholz dbuchhol@ksu.edu

THANK YOU FROM KELLEY AND KEITH BLANKLEY AND JULIE RINIKER
We would like to thank all who extended their condolences to us during this difficult time with losing our dad. Your thoughtfulness is greatly appreciated. --Kelley and Keith Blankley and Julie Riniker

RETIREMENT RECEPTION FOR ELIZABETH BANTZ, ELK COUNTY OFFICE PROFESSIONAL
Elizabeth Bantz, Elk County Extension Office Professional, will be retiring on May 31, 2008. Elizabeth began working at the Extension Office in June of 1989.

A come and go reception will be held for Elizabeth on Friday, May 30, at the Extension Meeting Room in Howard (130 South Pennsylvania) from 2 - 4 p.m.  The Loyal Limas and Southern Belles Extension Homemaker Units will be providing cookies and punch. 

For a retirement gift, a money tree is being established for Elizabeth. Contributions may be made by contacting Richard at the Extension Office. Join us in helping to celebrate Elizabeth’s retirement and almost 19 years of service to the Elk County Extension Office. --Richard H Fechter rfechter@ksu.edu

HEALTHY LIVING THROUGH HEALTH ROCKS!
K-State is supporting healthy living through the national 4-H Health Rocks project and we invite you to join us!

Shane Oram, Healthy Living Coordinator with Kansas 4-H, is helping teams of teens and adults to teach others to make healthy lifestyle choices. Health Rocks training is fun, active and informative. Health Rocks information will be available at Discovery Days during the Teach Back session on Wednesday, June 4. Health Rocks modules will also be featured at Campference, military teen camps, regional trainings and local events.

The Kansas Health Rocks team includes Beth Hinshaw, Robin Eubank, Carol Fink, Ann Domsch, and youth leaders Skylar Dickey,  Michelle Hill, Regan Kays, Shane Oram and Elaine Johannes.

For more information about joining Health Rocks, contact Shane Oram, shoram10@ksu.edu or Elaine Johannes, ejohanne@ksu.edu . --Elaine Johannes

COMPOSTING OPERATORS SCHOOL
The Composting Operators School is June 11 and 12, in Manhattan. Register by June 3rd. Registration fee is $160.

For more information and a registration brochure, contact DeAnn Presley at 785-532-1218.

NOTE:  The registration fee will be waived for the first 3 K-State Research and Extension agents to contact me. --DeAnn Presley deann@ksu.edu

SUMMER FRUIT TOUR
The Summer Fruit Tour will be held Saturday, June 7, at the K-State Research & Extension Center in Olathe. There is no registration charge for county agents. However, if you would like to stay for the barbeque supper, the cost is $7.50 per person.

For more information, go to Registration Brochure . --Christy Dipman cdipman@ksu.edu

KANSAS WHEAT "SPEAK FOR WHEAT" SPOKESPERSON RECRUITMENT
Kansas Wheat (Kansas Wheat Commission and Kansas Association of Wheat Growers) is accepting applications for volunteer "Speak for Wheat" Spokespersons. Spokespersons provide educational programs to various audiences including schools, extension service, and civic groups. They have a passion to teach all ages about wheat production, nutrition and wheat food preparation. Volunteers are especially needed in southeast and central Kansas.

Training for existing and potential Spokespersons will be held during the Kansas Wheat Conference in Hutchinson on August 5-6. Spokespersons will be asked to be a member of one of these teams: Nutrition; Field to Table; and Production & Research.

If you know of qualified and interested men and women, please contact Cindy Falk for an application at cfalk@kswheat.com  or call 785-539-0255. --Steven M. Graham sgraham@k-state.edu

Q: “How can K-State partner with other entities to promote civic dialogue and to train people across the state?”

J. Carlin: “A partnership with the extension program is key. I’d like to see every extension agent get out there, trained to lead a discussion and get people involved...Get to where communities listen to each other and challenge each other for creativity.”

Through Extension guidance and coaching, this collaborative effort is sharing resources, building on common strength, and pulling together to build a healthier Reno County. Similar efforts are being guided by Extension agent Jeremy Nelson in Cowley County, and Extension agent Nadine Sigle in Osborne County.  How do agents become skilled in hosting these dialogues?

On October 2 - 3, 2008, a team of Nebraska Extension community development professionals will host a training called “Developing Successful Community Initiatives” in Salina. This workshop will provide important skill development opportunities for agents wanting to build or polish their group facilitation skills. Extension is changing the state one conversation at a time! --Dan Kahl dkahl@oznet.ksu.edu

4-H VOLUNTEER IMPACT SURVEY UPDATE
I have enjoyed visiting with folks about the 4-H Volunteer Impact Study Kansas is doing in partnership with the North Central Extension Region states. Folks have been very gracious. I want to say a big thank you to all who have decided to participate and have provided e-mail addresses of their 4-H Volunteers. I am continuing to work my way through the randomized list of counties/districts. I look forward to visiting with you soon.

To answer the FAQ’s from the calls:
Participation in the survey is voluntary and anonymous;
We are surveying only adults who volunteer to the 4-H program;
The list of addresses collected will not be used again, it is for this survey only;

Potential participants will be contacted only twice, first with an invitation to participate in the survey and 10 days later, a, thank you for participating if you did the survey - If you have not yet done the survey, please consider participating.

Thanks in advance for your help. If you have any questions, please contact me. --Rod Buchele rbuchele@ksu.edu

POLITICAL CAPITAL
This is the final installment of our discussion of the Community Capitals. There are many good resources for discussion of the seven community capitals, but one of my favorite remains to be Flora, Flora, and Fey’s Rural Communities Legacy and Change published by Westview Press.

Who "runs" your community? Who makes those important decisions that make impacts on changes in your community? Who are the local leaders? Who exercises the most political voice? Those are some of the questions answered by the concept of Political Capital.

Like social capital, political capital grows out of those connections and organizational ties that people preserve in order to instigate change and growth while maintaining sound infrastructure and power. While most communities have elected political power, such as city and county commissions/councils, there is political power outside those entities. In your own community, can you think of a person who can sway the tide of change by making something happening or preventing its occurrence? Think of that animal lover who went around talking to as many people as she could to build a humane society that found homes for the animals in the city/county operated animal shelter (dog pound). She used her political voice to educate people on the practice of euthanizing animals who were "strays". She also instituted change by building a small trust to provide funds for spay/neuter clinics. The outcome: decreased stray cats and dogs in the community. She added her own political voice to enhance the city/county operated animal control departments. She exercised power.

Usually, political capital mirrors the dominant culture in your community. Drew Hyman, Frances Higdon, and Ken Martin (2002) created a table to illustrate community power. They showed three structures of influences: method, elitist, and pluralist. The Method type is positional where those in elected offices have the predominant influences on decision making. In the Elitist, only a small group of people have the most influence to make or break an idea. The Pluralist concept is the most confusing, because too many people strive to have the power, and there is not a lot of cooperation among entities. Perhaps most communities have a combination of all three. Power gets a bit corrupt when the structure is out of balance. If your community’s structure is out of balance, how can you help?

As mentioned in an earlier discussion, Melvern, Kansas has done much to go above and beyond any political power by coming together as a community to clean up 40 acres of abandoned land and develop seven miles of hiking, biking and walking trails without political intervention and without proposing a tax increase or increasing the mill levy. For more information on this great community effort, contact Sherry Davis at sbd@ksu.edu . --Debra Bolton dbolton@ksu.edu

VIEW THE MASTER SCHEDULE OR ADD NEW ACTIVITIES AND EVENTS

Wednesday, June 4, 2008, Wheat Plot Tour starting at 7:30 a.m., Belleville, Barney Gordon inf@ksu.edu