March 9, 2021
Time to Ride into the Sunset
In the 1949 John Ford classic, She Wore a Yellow Ribbon, aging Captain Nathan Brittles, played by John Wayne, retires from the army and rides into the sunset. Gregg Hadley and I share an interest in old westerns. We often text each other to tip off the other to a good western that is starting up on one of the many TV channel choices available to us. I’m not sure where Gregg picked up his interest in old westerns. Perhaps it is because another old western classic, High Noon with Gary Cooper and Grace Kelly, plays out in the town of Hadleyville. I’m older than Gregg and grew up during the 50’s when TV western series dominated the airwaves. Of course we only got one or two channels so you could watch a western by just turning on the TV.
We didn’t have a TV until I was seven or eight. I remember going to my grandparents’ house so we could watch Gunsmoke with Matt Dillon, Doc Adams, Kitty, and Chester. When Festus joined the show, he became my favorite Gunsmoke character. Played by Ken Curtis, I really liked his singing voice. Curtis didn’t sing in Gunsmoke, but he was in a lot of John Wayne movies, and I especially like Rio Grande, where Curtis and the rest of the Sons of the Pioneers were cast as the Regimental Singers. Curtis’s character sang the ballad, I’ll Take You Home Again Kathleen, to Maureen O’Hara. I’m a singer, and singing cowboys brought my interests in singing and in westerns together.
Gunsmoke became, and still is, my favorite TV western. On the way to the hospital when my son was about to be born, we had not selected a name for a boy. I told my wife Mary, if it’s a boy, I would like you to choose between two names, Matthew or Festus. My son Matt is appreciative of Mary’s choice.
Gregg texted me and suggested I write a Ride into the Sunset Tuesday letter article to reflect on my nearly 47 year career with K-State Research and Extension. I said I could do that, and then he texted back to remind me that after retirement, Captain Brittles was called back to duty. I suggested that we need to find another western that has a ride into the sunset scene, because the time has come.
I celebrated 46 years of employment with Kansas State University on June 3rd of 2020. So as I progress through this most unique and pandemic-dominated 47th year, and reflect on my career with K-State Research and Extension, I think of my five years as an agriculture agent in Riley County. Serving the farmers of Riley County was a highlight of my career. I programmed through the Riley County Livestock Association and formed the Blue Valley Pork Producers to better serve the county pork producers. Farm visits were a prominent part of my programming. I soon learned which farms were the best to visit before lunch, resulting in an invitation to stay for a bountiful farm noon meal. Coffee hours at local elevators and feed dealerships were social as well as educational opportunities. Working with that group, we created the Riley County Farm Chemical Expo, focusing on agronomic needs of farmers with specialist and industry presentations, vendor exhibits, and a free chili feed. Hundreds participated in those events. I was also active with the 4-H program, chaperoning 4-H exchange trips, and forming and coaching several judging teams. With a musical background, I was even tapped to judge the music division at county club days when a judge didn’t show. Of course, like many agriculture agents, I also served as a county fair judge for a lot of different 4-H project divisions.
Then came 10 years as the Riley County Extension Director and I decided to expand our horticulture programming and continue a long tradition of extension community development emphasis by the county director. I worked closely with the county commissioners on many projects. I formed a road and bridge advisory committee from township officials to better inform the commissioners of needs. I worked with communities to join the PRIDE program, and worked closely with communities in park development, collaborating in writing grants to receive park development funds. From those activities, I gained support to create the Riley County Parks Department. Riley County became the first Kansas county extension office to buy a computer and I quickly fell in love with creating spreadsheets to use for operational efficiencies as well as for programming applications, sharing these with other units as they moved into the computer world.
Horticulture programming was highly popular in the county and included a weekly newspaper column and a weekly radio show. My column was recognized by NACAA with a top three recognition nationally, and I received the top national radio program recognition. I started one of the early Kansas Master Gardener programs. A horticulture programming highlight was having my popular six-week home landscape workshop selected the national horticulture program winner. That resulted in a trip to meet with other winners from around the country to share my program and to learn from their winning entries. That reinforced for me the value of professional development through professional association membership, sharing one’s work, and learning from peers. Over the years through organizational networking, I learned about and then implemented many programs that had first been offered by others around the country.
During my tenure as County Director, Director of Extension John Dunbar suggested I should consider preparing for a career in Extension Administration, so I began work on my PhD, completing my degree in 1987. In 1989, I was selected to serve as the Coordinator for Extension Personnel and Recruitment. We were coming out of a two year hiring freeze and in that first year we filled nearly 80 agent positions. I re-started the extension intern program, which had been dormant for many years, and began to work on salary and benefit equity issues for county extension agents. KSRE had lost the ability to offer the federal extension benefit program in 1987. Agents hired after 1987 were placed on the KPERS retirement system. Perhaps my greatest contribution to agent long term financial security was my work with Kansas State University administration and the Board of Regents to obtain approvals to recognize extension agents as KSU faculty and change the agent’s retirement system from KPERS to the Board of Regents.
After six years as personnel coordinator, the opportunity came available for Northeast Area Director. This was my position goal, an opportunity to work with local units, programming, personnel and financial operations. My eight years as Northeast Area Director were followed by two years as Metropolitan Local Units director along with district development responsibilities. I’m very proud of the development of 21 Kansas Extension districts, representing over half of our Kansas counties, and the hard work that went into that process by regional directors, agents, board members and county commissioners.
I spent the next 13 years as Assistant Director, finishing my career as Associate Director. I was honored to serve a few months as Acting Director for Extension between the retirement of Daryl Buchholz and the hiring of Gregg Hadley. Throughout my time as a county agent, county director, and in Extension Administration, I have committed myself to this organization, our extension professionals and staff, and the people we serve. I can’t imagine spending my career doing anything else.
The work has brought me unlimited opportunities for personal growth and achievement. A commitment to organizational citizenship here in Kansas, and within the extension system nationally, has contributed to organizational change and new opportunities for growth and success in the extension system, and has resulted in a network of close friends from across the country. I deeply value my distinguished service recognition with the National Association of County Agricultural Agents and Epsilon Sigma Phi. Serving as Chair of the ECOP Committee on Professional and Organizational Development was a tremendous opportunity, as was serving as National President of Epsilon Sigma Phi, and President of the National Joint Council of Extension Professionals. The capstone recognition of my career was being selected the National Epsilon Sigma Phi Ruby Award winner. In accepting the award, I reflected on the people that had made a difference in my life and how we in extension make a difference every day in the work that we do. Here is a link to my Ruby Lecture, Making a Difference. Cursor down to 2009 for my presentation.
Time has come for new leadership. Every organization ultimately benefits from us old-timers riding into the sunset. New ideas and philosophies are necessary for any organization to grow, adapt to new challenges, and take advantage of new opportunities. I’m confident in the future of this organization because of the excellent administrative team that is in place, as well as the dedicated extension professionals serving as support staff, agents and specialists. You truly are making a difference.
So what about Captain Brittles being called back into service? Well, I’ve done that once. With my wife Mary’s death in 2007 after a long battle with cancer, my own cancer diagnosis in late 2007 (successfully treated), and Dr. Sally Soileau coming into my life, I decided to retire. Sally was a colleague from Louisiana Extension that had served with me on the National Epsilon Sigma Phi board. With some help and encouragement from Doug Jardine and after a dance at a national Epsilon Sigma Phi meeting, a long-distance relationship developed and we decided to marry. But I had retired for the wrong reasons. My life wasn’t over. I had a new future, and with the support of Daryl Buchholz I came right back to work. The last 12 years with K-State Research and Extension have been a gift, but I’m finally ready for that ride into the sunset. So if not Captain Brittles, then who? Another favorite TV western was the Roy Rogers show. Roy was another great singing cowboy. Think of Roy Rogers and Dale Evans riding, not away towards the sunset in the scene, but towards the camera, not saying goodbye, but singing Happy Trails to You, Until We Meet Again!