july country neighbor

Wednesday, July 18, 2012 • Supplement to the Bolivar Herald-Free Press, Buffalo Reflex, Cedar County Republican,Marshfield Mail and Republic Monitor

Stone County native Taressa Rankin, a Missouri State University agriculture major, is an internworking with riders at Horses of Hope south of Buffalo, a therapeutic equine riding center whereworkers “get to see the miracles” their programs produce every day. Read more on Page 4.

NeighborRural Living Cedar, Dallas and Polk CountiesAgriculture and rural living quarterly

Corey, Justin, Jenna and Haley Diehl loungewith their cows at a livestock show in FairGrove in 1998. Learn more about this dairyfamily on Page 6.

Vintage tractors are in Jake Dill’s care atRutledge Wilson Farm Park. See Page 3.

Humansvillenative Kelly

Kenney is livinghis dream as a

PRCA announcer.See 4.

Estes Hatchery started in Everton90 years ago. See Page 13.

Dennie and JoAnn Bramwell enjoy life on aNiangua River farm. See Page 12.

Matthew Thurman picks berries to helpwith expenses for a school trip.. See Page 8.

Drive west across the GreatPlains and you’ll see twodistinct symbols of civilization

piercing the prairie skyline — grainelevators and church spires.

Drive through our rolling Ozarkshills and you’ll seldom see grainelevators, but churches are found inevery small town. They are often allthat remain of formerly bustlingtrade centers.

No matter the environment —table-top-flat Nebraska prairies orrough-as-a-cob Ozarks hills andhollers — churches are the heart ofcountry towns, even after the townshave abandoned them. Think of Plad,Windyville, Charity and many others.

Churches stand as timelesssentinels of the faith. Within theirwalls we are baptized either literallyor symbolically. In the long shadowsof our churches we enter into eternalrest alongside generations of familyand friends who passed before us.

Stone monuments commemorateour brief, mortal passage across theface of our native hills and hollows.Where little but the old churchbuilding stands, the only communitymay be that gathered beneath thesod.

Other churches, though, yet echowith fire and brimstone sermonsevery Sunday, just as they have forgenerations. All but abandoned sixdays a week, ancient oak timbersand white painted clapboard sidesreverberate on Sunday morning with

plinkety piano chords, hymns liftedtowards Heaven and frequent shoutsof “hallelujah” and “amen.”

My grandparents went to justsuch a church — Mount Comfort innorthern Greene County .Organizedin 1834, the Cumberland Presbyter-ian congregation first met in a brusharbor on a hill overlooking the SacRiver, in 1837 in a log church and in1858 a frame structure of sawedlumber. The church building myfamily attended was built in 1925,but has been added to several times.In 1954 the congregation voted tobecome independent of theirdenomination. My dad, however,maintained until his dying day hewas a Cumberland Presbyterian —emphasis on “Cumberland.”

Most of my own childhood wasspent attending Sunday school at theUnited Methodist Church in Elkland.We seldom made it for the actualpreaching service, as the ministermade ours the first of two pulpits hehad to fill each Sunday. A hamlet inthe northwest corner of WebsterCounty, Elkland then had a couple ofgeneral stores, an MFA exchange, acafe, a barbershop, a gas station andgarage, a post office and twochurches within shouting distance ofone another — the Methodist and theChristian.

Who attended one or the other, Ithink, was more a matter of familytradition than church doctrine. Comesummertime we all went up thestreet to the Christian Church forvacation Bible school. Regardless ofwhat else might have been told,

everyone knew to which congregationanyone belonged, or if they were partof a flock outside of town.

We boys went to the MethodistChurch because it was as near asMom could come to Episcopalian.Dad never went. I’m not sure why,but I suspect it may have hadsomething to do with MountComfort’s departure from theCumberland Presbyterians. Dad’smind was about as easily changed asthe rotation of the earth.

Despite the transiency anddisputes of worshippers, churchestend to hang on, even if by thethinnest of threads. Congregationssplit, change affiliations or agree onnone at all. We Ozarkers are anindependent lot, not particularlybiddable souls, and not easily toldhow to manage our affairs with God.

More often than not, though, it’sjust the demise of communities thatleaves church pews empty. Youngfolk grow up and move away; oldergenerations pass, ‘til just a handfulof people keep church doors open onSunday mornings.

In my capacity as a churchspeaker for the Gideon ministry Ihave had the privilege to be a guestin many little churches in DallasCounty, to become acquainted withmany of the “regulars” in theirnicked and time-worn pews. No finerfolk can be found.

No matter the signs out front,we’re all part of the same communityof faith.

Picturesque little church housesstand as board and mortarreminders that we are all more alikethan different — a people bound by aprofound and enduring faith.

Jim Hamilton is a senior staffwriter for Neighbor newspapers andeditor of Country Neighbor.

COUNTRY NEIGHBOR isquarterly supplement to theCedar County Republican,Bolivar Herald-Free Press,Marshfield Mail, RepublicMonitor and Buffalo Reflex, publications of NeighborNews/Community Publishers,Inc. Copyright © 2012 NeighborNews/Community Publishers,Inc. All rights reserved. To advertise in CountryNeighbor, contact the CedarCounty Republican at (417)276-4211, the Bolivar Herald-Free Press at (417) 326-7636,the Marshfield Mail at (417)468-2013, the RepublicMonitor at (417) 732-2525 orthe Buffalo Reflex at (417) 345-2224.

PUBLISHER: DAVE [email protected]

(417) 777-9776EDITOR: JIM HAMILTON

[email protected](417) 345-2224

ASSOCIATE EDITOR:CHARLOTTE MARSCH

[email protected](417) 777-9722

Contributing writers: BeckyGroff, Myron Hartzell, Melissa

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Country Neighbor Agriculture & Rural Living Quarterly • July 18, 2012

PAGE TWO

For nearly five years the Springfield-Greene County Parks system has

provided youngsters and adults, alike, aunique opportunity to experience a bit offarm life at Rutledge-Wilson FarmCommunity Park.

For just as long, the person behindthe day-to-day farming enterprises at thesuburban farm has been WebsterCounty native Jake Dill. “Country, bornand bred,” in his words, Dill brings agenuine Ozarks farm heritage, as well asformal education, to the more suburbansetting and patrons of the park insouthwest Springfield.

Raised on a dairy farmOne of four children of Marty and

Debi Dill, Jake was raised on the familydairy farm in the Rader/Niangua area,graduating from Niangua High School in1996. He then attended College of theOzarks at Point Lookout, earning hisBachelor of Science in agriculture in2000.

Jake’s first job after college was about18 months on the Skaggs-Keeter Ranchnear Kirbyville, and from there he wentto Carson’s Nurseries as a tree farmmanager, and then to work for theSpringfield Parks and RecreationDepartment at Horton-Smith GolfCourse. Though at Rutledge-Wilson forfive years, Jake has worked with theparks department for nine years.

With his farm upbringing and diversework background, Jake is able to bring awealth of experience to managing thelivestock and crops at Rutledge-Wilson.Though the title is “livestock coordina-tor,” the job involves much more, just asbeing a dairy farmer is more thanmilking cows.

Rutledge-Wilson is a 207-acre farm,with 150 acres on the south side ofWilson’s Creek actively managed. In

addition to 18 acres of native prairiegrasses paralleling the creek and asection of the Ozarks Greenway trail, thefarm park includes an alfalfa hayfield, acornfield for the corn maze, and otherhay and forage crops.

Jake is tasked with overseeing all thecrop and forage production, overseeingmaintenance and groundskeeping andmaintaining the farm equipment, as wellas overseeing the care of the livestock,the barns and other facilities andequipment related to the farmingoperation. “Anything and anybodyoutside,” he said.

The farm crew includes a half-dozenfull-time employees, as well as six toeight part-timers and volunteers to helpwith special events and projects.

The livestock element includes threemore recent bovine additions — Dottie, aHolstein cow, Nora, an Angus cow, andMaggie, a Jersey heifer. They join anassortment of longer-term residents ofthe farm, including four miniaturehorses, two miniature donkeys, aYorkshire and a Duroc hog, four Nigeriandwarf goats, two Baby Doll sheep and avariety of rabbits and fowl. Also recentlyadded to the farm are four doe kids bornto Boer does — triplets and a singlebirth.

All the farm animals are in pens forpark visitors to see and often are part ofspecial programs and events.

Farm dates to 1800sDating to the 1800s, the farmstead

includes a residence built early in the20th century (a Sears and Roebuck kithome awaiting restoration in a laterphase of park development) a silo,chicken house, old barn and a milkhouse dating to the days when a familydepended on the farm for a living.

Formerly known as Walnut Grove FarmDairy, the farm produced, bottled andsold both milk and cream in glassbottles.

The distinctive red barn whichincludes not only stables, but aclassroom, too, was added when thepark was developed. Rutledge-WilsonFarm is an educational, as well asrecreational, facility, with special eventsplanned monthly from NationalAgriculture Day in March throughChristmas at the Farm in December.

Back in his office immediately afterplanting corn for this year’s corn mazeand pumpkin patch, Jake said he likes“the mix of outside and inside work” hisjob provides. “I love hands-on stuff,” headded.

Though he works directly with parkvisitors less than many of the staff, Jakeis whole-heartedly behind the education-al aspect of Rutledge-Wilson. “When Igrew up we worked for entertainment.Today, the majority of kids spend muchof their time playing video games…. It’staken us away from the reality of thehard work it takes to provide the foodand many other products we requireevery day.”

‘Breath of fresh air’Located on Farm Road 146 west of

the West Bypass and north of Sunshine,Rutledge-Wilson Farm faces increasingencroachment by rapidly developingresidential subdivision on at least twosides, maybe all four. “This farm giveskids, especially, a window into the waythings used to be and are today on afarm. It’s a really good educational tool,a way to mediate the differences betweenurban and country life,” Jake said.“People need something like this to beable to step outside and take a breath offresh air.”

For Jake, that “breath of fresh air” isstill easy to find at home, as well as atthe park. He lives what he does at homeas well as at work.

He and his wife, Lisa, also a WebsterCounty native, live on a small acreage atMarshfield with their two children,Jackson, 7, and Ellie, 3. They have a fewregistered Herefords and somecommercial cattle, and they help, aswell, with their families’ farmingoperations. Like many young couples offthe farm, they have dreams of making aliving on their own farm someday.

Someday. As for today, visitors toRutledge-Wilson Farm Community Parkare the beneficiaries of Jake’s farmheritage, education and experience.

“We’re just country folks, born andbred,” he says. “We’re just who we are.

Representative of country folks fromthroughout the Ozarks, Jake Dill is whomany of us are — our ambassador andag advocate in a priceless city park.

More information on activities anddirections to Rutledge-Wilson FarmCommunity Park are available online atwww.Parkboard.org, or by calling (417)837-5949. Located at 3825 West Farm

Road 146 in Springfield, the park is open9 a.m. to 5 p.m., Tuesday throughSunday; closed Mondays, Thanksgiving,Christmas and New Year’s.

Story and photos By Jim Hamilton

‘Country, born and bred,’ Jake Dill works city farm

Livestock coordinator for Rutledge-Wilson Farm Community Park

Jake Dill with “Dottie,” a Holstein cow named for the white dot on herside and a recent addition to the farm park herd.

Another recent addition to theRutledge-Wilson menagerie is thisBoer goat kid.


PAGE THREE

CONTRIBUTED PHOTOJake Dill with his wife, Lisa, and

children Ellie, 3, and Jackson, 7.

“This is the bestjob I’ve ever

had,” says ShellyMcColm. “That’sbecause whateverprograms wecreate, we see themiracles theyproduce every day.”

Co-founder ofHorses of Hopetherapeutic ridingcenters in bothBuffalo, Mo., andBaxter Springs,

Kan., McColm has witnessed first-handthe miraculous physical and emotionalresults when individuals with disabilitiesof all types are paired with horsesselected and trained to meet their specialneeds.

“We strive to provide equine-assistedactivities of all types,” McColm said. “Welook for ways to bring hope to all kinds ofriders. That’s why we offer a variety ofactivities.”

No matter the activity, all have twothings in common: hope for a bettertomorrow and horses to help carry themthere.

Started by McColm and VallerieSweeton in 1997 in Baxter Springs, theHorses of Hope Riding Center, Inc., wasdesigned to offer professional therapeu-tic, educational and recreationalequestrian services, and soon was

affiliated with the ProfessionalAssociation of Therapeutic Horseman-ship (PATH), International.

Horses of Hope-Missouri, Inc., wasdeveloped near Buffalo in 2003 with thesame mission, helped by the MissouriDepartment of Economic DevelopmentNeighborhood Assistance Tax CreditProgram. The organization is also fundedtoday by private donations, fees forservices, fundraising events “and we’realways seeking and applying for grantfunds,” McColm said.

Located on 19 acres, the heated ridingcenter includes an indoor arena, offices,a meeting room and stable facilities forthe horses.

Horses of Hope director McColm is agraduate of Kansas State University withmaster’s degrees in human developmentand family studies. A certified therapeu-tic riding instructor, her backgroundincludes experiences as an Extension 4-H youth development specialist and aneducational cooperative specialist.

The head certified therapeutic ridinginstructor, Sweeton is a PATH certifieddriving instructor, a physical therapistassistant and has level 1 certificationwith the American HippotherapyAssociation. Sweeton’s studies havefocused on how horses’ movementsnormalize the movement of a personwith movement dysfunction.

Individuals with a wide range ofdisabilities can benefit from therapeutic

riding, according to Sweeton. Ridingstretches and strengthens core muscles,improves balance and involves a widerange of sensory experiences. “We lookfor ways to bring hope to all kinds ofriders,” Sweeton said.

Sweeton, McColm and her daughter,Mycah, are equine specialists in mentalhealth and learning. Non-traditionaleducation utilizes horses as a way tolearn. Mycah McColm, a volunteer forthe past decade and a certified PATHinstructor, is a top national competitorin the American Quarter HorseAssociation, the Show Team Hopecoordinator and an equine experientialeducation specialist.

Also on the Buffalo team is U.S. Armyveteran Doug Willard, equine experien-tial education specialist. He holds anassociate degree from East CarolinaUniversity and is experienced in workingwith special needs equestrians in avariety of capacities.

These are joined by a host ofvolunteers from the area. TaressaRankin, an intern from Missouri StateUniversity’s Darr School of Agriculture,said of her work, “You don’t know howmuch it means until a little girl says ‘Ilove you.’ It makes the kids so happyand excited.”

Volunteers Jim and Julie Osborn ofBuffalo do more than just work withyoungsters. They bring their ownminiature horses in for youngsters to

groom and handle. Jim taught school inJoplin before moving to Buffalo threeyears ago.

HHOORRSSEESS OOFF HHOOPPEEWhere miracles happen every day

Horses of Hope staff and volunteers pictured are, from left, JenniferRichter, Jim Harper, Doug Willard, Jim Osborn, Edward Gathright, ShellyMcColm, Vallerie Sweeton, Karen Voshel, Taressa Rankin, Paula Gathright,Julie Osborn, Jeremiah Gathright, Catherine Voshel, Holly Fortner andBecky Bell (teacher). D.A. Mallory summer school students are, from left,Katelynn Bradley, Elise Meeks, Emily Ernster, Savanah Morrison, Chloe

Chyka, Jade Williams, Sahara Goodman, Colby Rhame, Genasis Pedrino,Jessica Trout, Audrey Peterson, Riddoc Ferrier, Bradley Ashlin, DonaldMoore, Alyssa Messenger and Cambria Steven. Provided by the Osborns,the miniature horses are, from left, “Brownie,” “Oliver,” “Buddy,” “Freck-les” and “Rickie.”

Jim Osborn and “Oliver” withstudents, from left, Jade Williams,Chloe Chyka and Savanah Morri-son.

Volunteers, from left, Catherine Voshel, Holly Fortner andJeremiah Gathright hold “Rickie” for students Alyssa Messen-ger, Donald Moore and Cambria Stevens.

Shelly McColm

Horses of Hope staffer Doug Willard watchesEmily Ernster groom “Brownie” while KatelynBradley and volunteer Jennifer Richter watch.Behind the miniature horse is Elise Meeks.

Volunteer Paula Gathright withstudents, from left, Jessica Trout,Audrey Peterson and Riddoc Ferri-er with “Freckles.” Behind the horseis owner Julie Osborn.


PAGE FOUR

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Equine champions carry ridersto personal victories day-after-day

Any cowboy would be proud to throw a parade saddle on Romeo, apalomino gelding sporting a braided mane of shimmering white gold — but, nocowboying allowed on Romeo today.

An American Quarter Horse from the Sooner State, the retired show-stopper has carried riders to worldchampionships in the Pinto andBuckskin World Championshipshows and was the 2008 AQHAEquestrians With Disabilities year-end high point horse in trail.

The same for Digger, anAmerican Quarter Horse geldingfrom Texas. Though sidelined by ahip injury from all-aroundcompetition, he’s still a championunder the saddle of both able-bodied and special needs riders.

Romeo, Digger — they’re just acouple of the equine champions onthe job every day at Horses of Hope,55 Kelly Road, Buffalo.

Another member of the team isSkip, a retired show horse fromKansas. “He’s an all-around well-trained horse,” said co-founder andhead riding instructor VallerieSweeton. “He doesn’t just work withchildren. He has the size for adultriders, and he’s good to toleratebeing crowded by people.”

Blaze, a Quarter Horse geldingfrom Kansas is “more the 4-H level,”Sweeton said, and Teddy, aPeruvian Paso, is the only gaitedhorse on the team.

On the job daily, these and otherequine champions work with a team

of certified professionals in therapeutic riding to bring hope and personalvictories to riders of all ages and abilities.

Reaching intothe local community

While much of the focus of Horses ofHope is to provide equine therapy forriders with special physical needs,community enrichment programsprovide non-traditional education forlocal public school students.

This past June, for example, studentsin Becky Bell’s summer school class atD.A. Mallory Elementary in Buffalo wereenabled by grant funding to visit Horsesof Hope every Monday. The goals of thevisits were to teach students abouthorses, horse equipment, how toapproach a horse and how to followriding coaches’ instructions. “This hasbeen a great way to learn vocabulary,manners and how to have a great timewith horses,” Mrs. Bell said.

Cathy Sifferman, in-district autismconsultant at Mallory, also sendsstudents to Horses of Hope throughoutthe year,

“For my kids with autism, it'sespecially therapeutic because it allowsthe horse to move the rider and theydon't feel the sensory need to move,” shesaid. “It relaxes them and helps themfocus on many other things. It helps withpatience, taking turns, focusing andcommunication. They can find wordseasier to express themselves.”

Students with behavior issues learnto take care of something else, sheadded. “They can feel an unconditionallove, or acceptance with the horses. Theylearn respect, caring, and that there areother ways to have fun.”

Sifferman said the equine therapy has

been “a priceless experience” for many ofher students. “One student was havingsuch a severe meltdown that we hadalmost given up on him ever riding.When Barbara and Shellie of Horses ofHope just sat him on the horse, hisanxiety was immediately gone. I wouldn'thave believed it if I hadn't seen it formyself.”

Horses of Hope staff and volunteersalso take miniature horses to residentialcare centers, and summer day campsprovide able-bodied riders the opportuni-ty to learn first-hand equine safety,handling, grooming and care, as well asWestern and trail obstacles, horsebackgames and horse driving.

Horses of Hope programs helpindividuals of all ages and abilities gainself-confidence, learn leadershipprinciples and how to work with others.Show Team Hope provides individuals tomove into competitive events offeredthrough the AQHA and other breedassociations.

Additionally, Horses of Hope offersselect individuals an opportunity tovolunteer their special skills to helpothers in life-changing ways.

Between the Missouri and Kansassites, Horses of Hope serves about 75individuals — 30-35 at Buffalo — in anygiven season, according to McColm. “Wewelcome people to come visit — just giveus a call,” she said.

For more information, contact Horsesof Hope in Buffalo at (417) 345-5210.

Story and photos by Jim [email protected]

Staff members at Horses of Hope in Buffalo include, from left, ShellyMcColm, director; Vallerie Sweeton, head therapeutic riding insructor;Doug Willard, equine education specialist; Taressa Rankin, MSU intern;and Jim Harper, a horse trainer. Not pictured are instructor MycahMcColm and a host of volunteers who work with both horses and riders.

“Romeo,” pictured withtherapeutic riding instructorVallerie Sweeton, is a veteranAQHA show horse and one of themore flamboyant members of theequine team.

Mallory teacherBecky Bell, left,with studentsColby Rhame,Genasis Pedrinoand SaharaGoodman, as wellas volunteerKaren Voshel and“Buddy.”


PAGE FIVE

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At the end of a dusty northernWebster County road — ironically

Dairy Road — sits a modest white houseand several red barns. The manicuredyard has flowers and decorative plants,trees and a cream-colored sign thatreads Diehl Dairy. And if you ask Justin,24, the oldest of Mike and Lynn Diehl’sfour children, “Were you born in abarn?” he’ll reply, “Nope. But I wasraised in one.” Whether it’s a milk barn,calf barn, hay barn or show barn,Justin, Haley, Corey and Jenna Diehlknow their way around them all.

Mike and Lynn bought their farm in1984. Mike wanted to raise and milkregistered Brown Swiss. The creamycocoa-colored cows are the kind hisfather had, and he’s always had afondness for the gentle breed.

The Diehls’ farm is considered a smalldairy, milking 60 head. Milking is notjust a job but a way of life for the Diehls.The milking is done every morning —

rain or shine, blizzard or blistering heat— and every evening. There are no daysoff. There are no sick days. The cattlehave to be milked, fed and cared for andthe Diehl children have tagged along andhelp with it all.

Lynn tells stories of the two oldest,Justin and Haley, playing in the grain asyoungsters and having to pick toy carsout of buckets before feeding the cattle.

Mike liked taking his large family tothe area fairs. His fondness of BrownSwiss and farming mixed with otherswith similar interests. He especiallyenjoyed watching youngsters show

livestock so much he and Lynn decidedto let the oldest of their dark-headedbrood try it out.

“He always liked going to the fairs andhe seen people doing it and alwaysthought it was so nice,” said Lynn. “Hethought our kids would enjoy it.”

That first year was a learningexperience for the entire family.

“That first year, it was more like itshowed me,” said Justin, laughing, withhis sisters and brothers nodding inagreement.

“It’s a yearly process,” said Haley oflearning how to show. “You just went

and watched everybody else and justfollow what they were doing.”

The first year led to a 17-year-and-counting career of showing for the Diehlfamily. Mike and Lynn bought each kid aheifer and from that first calf, each of thekids’ herds has grown. They sell thebulls and raise the heifers. Each cow hasits own name and based on the firstletter of the name determines which lineof cows it’s from. Justin, Haley, Coreyand Jenna each have six to 15 headfrom their original calf.

CONTINUED ON NEXT PAGE

The Diehls participated in a group cow class at the Ozark Empire Fair in Springfield in 2004. From left areJustin, Haley, Corey and Jenna.

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“My first cow was Andy,” Coreyexplained. “All of her calves start withA’s. Then they bought different cows and(Justin) has A’s and J’s and K’s.”

Showing dairy cattle is different thanshowing beef cattle. Dairy cows must beclipped nearly to the skin, so beef cattleare left with hair and exhibitors have tobrush, style and spray their coats.

“It’s so you can see more rib andstuff,” said Corey, “like their milk veins.”

Dairy and beef cattle look different.Beef cattle are meant for meat andtherefore are judged by muscle tone.Dairy cattle are used for their milk andare lean, with full udders and bulgingveins.

“They’ve pretty much won everythingthey can,” said Lynn of the awards herkids have won showing.

They have won grand champion,which is the best within a breed, at allthe area fairs and supreme champion,which is the best cow of all the dairybreed grand champions. They laughedand shook their heads when admittingthe only place they have not been able towin supreme at was the Webster CountyFair.

“It’s a traveling trophy and our nameis nowhere on it,” said Corey.

The Diehls are competitive with otherexhibitors but their biggest competitionis amongst themselves.

“You want to quit, but you can onlyshow until you’re 21 and as soon as theysay you can’t show, that’s when youreally realize you enjoy it,” said Justin.

Growing up on the farm has given thekids a respect for hard work and a loveof agriculture. Justin, a 2006 MarshfieldHigh School graduate, has started hisown dairy, milking 38 head near hisparents’ farm. Haley, a 2008 MHSgraduate who will graduate fromMissouri State University in August witha bachelor’s degree in agriculturebusiness finance and management,hopes to expand the family dairy. Coreyis a 2010 MHS graduate who recentlypurchased his grandparents’ farm andwants to raise replacement dairy heifers.Jenna graduated from MHS in 2011 andattends Crowder College in Neosho.

“We can do stuff outside the farm, butwe make sure the farm work is donefirst; that’s most important,” said Haley.

“The girls can do whatever the boyscan,” said Lynn. “They go out and cuthay, they rake hay, they bale hay, theydisc, they help plant seed, they do all ofit.”

Story by Missy [email protected]

Photos contributed by the Diehl family

The Diehl family of, from left, Justin, Michael, Haley, Lynn, Jenna andCorey with Haley’s Brown Swiss Lucky at the 2011 Missouri State Fair.Haley and Lucky took supreme champion of all dairy cows in the show.

Haley working with one of herregistered Brown Swiss.

Jenna rounds up her Brown Swissheifer, Candy, at the 2002 OzarkEmpire Fair in Springfield.

Justin, the eldest of the four Diehl children,showed for the first time at the 1996 Dallas CountyJunior Livestock Show at the county fair in Buffalo.

As akindergart-ner, Coreyreceived oneof his manyblue ribbonsat the DallasCounty Fair.


PAGE SEVEN

By Becky Groffbeckyg@cedarrepublican

Cedar County Clerk Peggy Kenney isused to being up to her elbows in

paperwork, but this spring was different.She traded paperwork for dirt and

commercial strawberry plants on an acreof the family farm four miles north ofStockton.

A University of Missouri MasterGardener, Kenney loves to watch thingsgrow, including flowers, vegetables,animals and children. She’s a farm girl— that’s for sure — who always had alarge garden while raising her family.

“When the kids got married and wenttheir ways, my garden got smaller,” shesaid. But since her girls have movedback closer to home, her garden hasgrown in size again, and they all pitch inwith the gardening and preservingchores.

Genesis of a berry patchHer gardening venture took the

dramatic leap into “U-pick” strawberriesas a result of a small produce conferenceshe attended as president of CedarCounty Farm Bureau organization.There she talked with several berryproducers, in particular Dave Brown ofMiller. After giving it some thought andvisiting with other producers, Kenneydecided to devote a portion of thefamily’s farm to berry production.

She began working the soil andpreparing the field in August 2011. Themachinery furrowed the dirt into ridgesabout 10 inches high and 2 feet apartand created a trench to lay in a plastichose which would provide water andnutrients to the plants. Another passcovered the rows with black plastic,simultaneously dumping dirt back ontothe plastic to anchor it in place.

In the middle of August 15,000

Chandler variety rootplants arrived from afarm in Canada andwere set in atemporary area atBrown’s farm tomature into plants.

In SeptemberKenney and herfamily of helpersborrowed a plantingmachine which had atilt-bed platform andtwo seats where theworkers could rideholding a tray of babystrawberry plants. Themechanized planterwould poke a hole in the soil and thehuman planter would plop a baby plantinto it.

“It had been a very dry couple ofmonths, and of course, wouldn’t youknow, the day we decided to plant itbegan to rain,” she said. The rain madethe slightly sloped field a little slick andthe tractor and planter began to slide,bringing a stop to the mechanized effortsof planting.

“We ended up having to finish the

planting process completely by hand,”Kenney said.

Mother’s Day treatsMother Nature provided a warmer-

than-normal winter, and the early 2012spring with no damaging hail stormsgave strawberry eaters around CedarCounty a treat for Mother’s Day desserts.

Kenney said the strawberry ventureturned out to be more than just a cropfor her and her family.

“Families would come out and spendthe day picking berries,” she said.“Some, who couldn’t pick, brought lawnchairs and sat around to visit. Next year,we think we’ll add some picnic tables forpeople who want to make a day out ofpicking.”

A friend of Kenney’s, Carl West, kept aclose eye on the strawberries’ progress.

“He wanted to be our first customer,”Kenney said. “He would stop by almostevery week, and he picked the firstberries April 17.”

Plant managementStrawberries are a perennial plant,

but Kenney said in commercialproduction growers force them to beannuals. Runners were clipped off tomake a larger, bushier and more berry-producing mother plant. This year’splants soon will be pulled out and thedirt reworked. Sudan grass will then beplanted and tilled into the earth toenrich the soil before winter.

About 20,000 pounds of berries werepicked this season, and Kenney waspleased with the response from thecommunity.

“What was really neat is we wouldhave some older ladies come out to pick,and they were so happy — they said ittook them back to their childhoods,”Kenney said.

Kenney’s venture was successfulenough to recoup her start-up costs,which she said “were expensive,” andprofitable enough to get a start on nextseason’s crop.

It was also rewarding enough from apersonal perspective she plans to be inbusiness next spring. “Mother Naturewas very good to us this year,” she said.“I hope we’ll be as lucky next year.”

That’ll be good news for CedarCounty-area strawberry lovers, as wellas our newest grower.

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PAGE EIGHT

Peggy Kenney and her grandson Henry plant babystrawberry plants.

Country Neighbor Quarterly • July 18, 2012

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Planting strawberry sets are Peggy Kenney, left, and daughter KalenaBruce. In the back right seat is Randy Hopkins, standing Silas Kenney,and the other unidentified in this contributed photo.

By Jack Roy, Cane Hill muse

In 1878 Zachariah Roy of PulaskiCounty, Ky., loaded his earthly

possessions, along with his wife and twochildren — a boy, William, 9, and ayounger daughter — into a coveredwagon and headed to Missouri.

That boy, William, was my grandfa-ther. He told me he and his dad walked,while his mother and sister rode in thewagon. They landed in Dade County,just across the line from Cedar Countyin what was known as the Cane Hillcommunity. Zachariah bought 80 acresof land from a Mr. Pyle. A family storysaid he traded a team of horses and awagon for the 80 acres.

There was a two-room log cabin onthe property, which the family movedinto until a house could be built. Itwould have three rooms down and threeup, with a portico on the front. Thehouse would be home to a Roy family forthe next 130 years.

History through the mind’s eyeAs I sit on the deck of a house built

20 years ago by a great-grandson ofZachariah, just a couple hundred yardssouth of the first house, I can lookacross the land where my great-grandfather, my grandfather and my dadfarmed for most of those 130 years. As Ilook over those fields, a lot of scenescome into my mind:

I see Zachariah and young Williamworking those 80 acres. I can see themplowing those rocky fields with a team ofhorses and a walking plow. I see thempicking up rocks after working theground. They started a rock pile at thecorner of the woods — a rock pile whichwould continue to grow from the effortsof two following generations. It standstoday as a monument to those who have

farmed this land.I look to the east, and I see the other

fields which were later added to theoriginal 80 acres. They would make atotal of 190 acres in the home place.William grew up and married MinnieFriend from a neighboring community.They moved into a log cabin on the eastside of the farm and lived there until hisdad bought a farm some three milesnorthwest of Cane Hill, where he movedhis remaining family. William bought thehome place, and he and Minnie movedinto the house where he grew up.

Minnie had a brother who was acarpenter, and she got him to build anaddition onto the house to accommodatetheir growing family. They would havethree boys and a girl. The addition hadtwo more rooms downstairs and anotherbedroom up. The house then had fourbedrooms upstairs, a bedroomdownstairs, a parlor, a living room, adining room and a kitchen. There werealso carbide lights in the parlor. A largefront porch extended across the frontand a back porch is on the back of the

house. This house would be home tothree generations of the Roy family.

When I look at the house I see andhear family gatherings. I hear familiessinging “Happy Birthday.” I watchanniversaries being celebrated. I see agrandmother and a mother busy in thekitchen preparing Sunday dinner. I hearthe sound of breakfast biscuits beingmade, meat and eggs frying. I can smellthe tantalizing aromas coming from thatkitchen. I hear the sound of a father’svoice calling up the stairway, “It’s time toget up.”

I hear the cry of a new-born babycoming from the downstairs bedroom.

I see the light of the kerosene lampswhile they set up with the dead in theparlor.

I see William and his three sonsfarming the fields with teams of horses— plowing and planting corn, sowingwheat and oats, mowing hay andhauling it back into the loft on a track,and then dropping it with a jerk on thetrip rope.


COUNTRY NEIGHBOR PHOTOS BY BECKY GROFFJack Roy can stand on his deck and overlook his family’s farm which has been divided and sold except for

40 acres he currently owns.

Never the same again...

Cane Hill native laments changes wrought by decades

Jack Roy recounts the history ofhis family’s farm in Cane Hill.


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The old Roy homestead stillstands today. This vintage photoshows Jack Roy’s grandparentsBill and Minnie Roy, right, andLonnie and Ruby Roy andyoungsters Clarence and Guy Roy.

Flint Hills Church of Christ,where four generations of Roysattended worship services, stillstands today.


PAGE ELEVEN

Never the same...CONTINUED FROM PRECEDING PAGE

I see grandsons shocking wheat in thefield across from the churchhouse road.I watch as they go down to the spring fora cool drink.

I watch as William goes blind fromcataracts at the age of 35. I see agrandson following along after him as hewalks well-worn paths to the barn andhog lot. I see him crawling along cornrows pulling weeds, sometimes pullingup small corn seedlings. I watch as hecrawls over the pasture continuing topick up rocks and toss them intoscattered piles. Fifty years later agrandson picked up a number of themand hauled them to the rock pile.

A place newcomers never sawThe people now living on the home

place have no comprehension of whathas been invested in those 190 acresover the past 130 years. They knownothing of trying to hold onto those acreswhile neighbors were losing their farmsduring the Great Depression. They don’tknow about the droughts of 1936 and1954. They don’t know about the dryyears when the grasshoppers ate upeverything, even the fence posts. Theyweren’t there when sons and grandsonswent off to war. None of these things willever be known to them.

Finally, I see William and Minniemoving to a little house in Cane Hill tobe closer to their oldest son. I see theiryoungest son moving his wife and sevenchildren into the home place. Later, I seehis oldest son coming home after servingtwo years in the Army. I hear him talkingto his dad about buying the place acrossthe road, and the two of them farmingtogether. Then, I hear his dad say, “Son,there is no future for you and your

family on the farm. The day of making adecent living on a small farm is gone. Goon to college and get a good education,then you will be able to have a lot betterlife than you would here on the farm.”

Finding the better lifeAnd so I did. But 20 years ago, my

wife Nancy and I moved back to the farmso my widowed mother could stay thereas long as possible.

We bought the south 40 of the original80 in the home place. We built a newhouse just a few hundred yards south ofthe original house.

We started a registered Angus cow-calf operation, cleaned up the old fields,got them all in fescue, built a barn forstoring hay, and a lot of chutes forworking cattle.

As I drove over the fields I could feelthe ridges of the corn rows from yearsbefore as I crossed over them. I could seewhere the back furrows and deadfurrows had been when they plowedthose fields.

Then I contracted lymphoma cancer.After two years of intensive radiation andchemotherapy, I was in remission. Mymother moved into a nursing home for ashort time before she died. The homeplace stood empty and was beginning tobe in need of repair. None of my siblingswere interested in keeping the farm.

Because of my age and health, Nancyand I decided we probably should get outof the cattle business. So, we listed theplace for sale. A land speculator boughtit and almost immediately started sellingparts of it off. Now, there are three otherfamilies living on the home place. Thehouse was bought by a couple from theKansas City area. They have done a lotof remodeling and the place is well kept.They have chickens and the sound ofhens cackling and roosters crowing is

heard again. A couple from Coloradobought a major part of the remainingacreage. They built a new house andbarn and are raising Scottish Highlandcattle.

It’s happening everywhereWhat has happened here is just

another example of what has happenedto hundreds of other home places overthe last 30 years. It will continue untilthe last of the original families die orleave to live in town.

As I take a last look around from mydeck, I experience a feeling of sadness,tinged with a bit of loneliness. What willbe here when Nancy and I are gone? Therock pile and the fields will be here. Thetrees we planted will continue to be here,but the neighborhood will never be thesame again.

What was is not now.What is now will not be.That is just the way it is and always

has been, but that doesn’t make it anyeasier to accept.

Deep in the recesses of the Big Niangua Rivercountry live folks far removed from the daily bustle

of life along our paved and peopled Ozarks thorough-fares.

Ask their nearest neighbors how to find them, andthe answer may well be the proverbial, “You can’t getthere from here.” You may, in fact, be able to see theirhouse from where you and the neighbor stand, but it’sacross the river, many winding miles around and downa road easily missed.

If the folks you’re looking for are Dennie and JoAnnBramwell, it is at the end of such a long and dusty roadyou’ll find them. Cradled between the Big Niangua’sfertile bottomlands and dense hardwood uplands nearWindyville, it’s there they have farmed much as theirpredecessors did for more than a half-century. Likegenerations before them, they plowed the bottomlandsto raise corn and other feed crops. They ran cattle andraised a few hogs.

Today they just run Limousin crossbred cattle infour herds and sell backgrounded calves throughUrbana Stockyards in the north end of the county.“They’ve been real good to work with,” Dennie said. Theonly crop they harvest is hay.

The road to the Bramwell place parallels uplandwoods and fields before twisting down a rocky ridge andpassing by an ancient oak dubbed “the thinking tree”by their grandkids. It seems a long road the first timedown it, not unlike the one that brought Dennie andJoAnn there.

To Kansas and backBoth have deep roots in the area. The son of

Thalmon and Beulah Bramwell, Dennie graduated fromWindyville High School in 1951. The daughter of Joeand Veda Dull, JoAnn graduated there in 1956.

Windyville at the time had a couple of stores, a postoffice, a community building and a school. Though nolonger in use, an old canning factory and mill were stillstanding.

Consolidated from several small schools in 1924 andmoved into a new building in 1927, Windyville HighSchool had about 65 students when the Bramwellsgraduated, as well as about 100 elementary students(Windyville High School joined Buffalo in 1966, and theelementary grades followed two years later. The schoolbuilding burned in 1971).

What the little crossroads community didn’t havewas jobs for its graduates. When he turned 18, Dennieheaded to Kansas City to look for work and soon landeda job at International-Harvester’s new parts depot onthe Kansas side. Young Dennie’s budding career wassoon interrupted by Uncle Sam, though, and he endedup in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division. For threeyears Dennie was a paratrooper, but as the Korean Warwas winding down never saw overseas duty.

Returning home in 1956, he went back to work forInternational-Harvester. The following year he andJoAnn were married. Though living and raising a family

in Kansas City, the young Windyville couple longed toreturn to their native hills and hollows. “Our hope anddream was always to relocate back here,” Dennie said.

By 1959 they had scraped together enough money tobuy “the old Sweaney farm” on the Niangua River nearWindyville, birthplace of June (Maddux) Vogels. Thoughliving in Kansas City, they “had cattle all the time,”Dennie said. “We came down every weekend andvacation.”

While in Kansas City they reared two children—Byron, now a truck driver living near Warrensburg, andDelanna Toevs, a schoolteacher in Olathe, Kan. Theyhave given Dennie and JoAnn six grandchildren andthree great-grandchildren. All love to come to the farmat the end of the road.

Over the years they also renovated much of the oldfarmstead and continued work on the house started in1960. In 1982 Dennie retired and they moved to thefarm for good.

Living at the end of the roadThe old house of earlier generations is gone, now. A

100-foot-long log barn has been replaced by a modernsteel building. The only outbuilding remaining from thedays of the Sweaney farm is a small, crumbling corncrib.

The oak frame of JoAnn and Dennie’s house,though, is cut from trees that saw many generationspass, trees that overlooked the river bottom before anyplow broke the sod. Former cornfields now grow grassand calves. Along an old fence row near the river standsa giant sassafras tree, one of many old sentries on theplace. If only trees could tell the things they’ve seen.

Pointing towards a bluff across the river, Denniesays, “When we came here there was one dim light onup there. Today there are lights all along, and a$500,000 house over there.”

Still, it’s a quiet place. “We’re not disturbed much,”JoAnn says.

“We appreciate our neighbors,” Dennie added. Fromtheir vantage point atop the bluff, neighbors help watchthe place, calling, for example, if cattle are stranded onan island by high water. One couple they regularly visitwith across the river — literally over the river, holleringto one another from the opposite banks.

With a mile and one-half of river frontage betweenMoon Valley and Bennett Spring, the Bramwells alsosee a lot of canoe traffic past their place. “We can’tcomplain about the floaters, though. I’ve got to behonest, we’ve not had many problems,” Dennie said.

In fact, it has its interesting moments.He recalled one bunch of young ladies who rescued a

small calf from the river and hauled it ashore in theircanoe. Hailed by one of the comely gals in herswimsuit, a young man working for the Bramwells thatday attested, “I really like working here.”

As remote as their home may be, Dennie and JoAnncan hardly be labelled reclusive. Both are active in theirchurch, as well as efforts to renovate the historicWindyville Community Building, built about 1926.“Windyville alumni are alive and strong,” Dennieasserts. They have also been involved in supporting theWindyville Volunteer Fire Department and maintainmembership in the Long Lane and Bennett Spring firedistricts, as well.

In years past JoAnn was active in the HappyHomemakers Extension Club. A flag presented to theclub by state Rep. Ken Legan still hangs in thecommunity building.

Interested in community, political and communityaffairs, Dennie and JoAnn keep the long road from thehouse well-traveled. But, when they’ve had enough ofthe world of paved roads and folks too busy to stop andvisit, they retreat to where the only sounds at night arecoyotes and hoot owls, and the nearest neighbors aremiles away by road.

Living at the end of a long, dusty road

Bramwells raise cattle on remote Niangua River farm

JoAnn and Dennie Bramwell

Story and photos by Jim Hamilton — [email protected]


PAGE TWELVE

In 1922 an enterprising young farmerbegan providing the public with what

he termed “the world’s greatest hens”from his 280-acre farm at Everton —white Leghorn layers he shipped to everycorner of the country.

Ninety years later the vision of CharlesMarion “Charley” Estes continues to berealized in a family business that shipsthousands of chicks of multiple breedsto buyers in all 50 states.

Located since 1969 at 805 N. MeteorAve. in Springfield — just a couple blocksnorth of West Chestnut Expressway —C.M. Estes Farm Hatchery, LLC, is oper-ated today by Charley’s granddaughter,Judy Estes Richardson, and her son,Sean Richardson, director of sales andmarketing.

“Judy has always worked in the busi-ness,” said her mother, Rowena Estes.“Sean has been in it all his life, too,” sheadded.

Sean grew up on the family farm andattended school in Everton, but pursuedother interests before returning to thehatchery business full-time following thepassing of his uncle, Mark Estes, sixyears ago.

Internet increases market

One of his first marketing innovationswas a web page to allow customers tobuy chicks and other hatchlings over theInternet, creating a new clientele of bothwholesale and retail customers.

“I know the Internet has certainlyincreased our sales and overall busi-ness,” Sean stated.

Located at esteshatchery.com, thewebsite not only puts poultry purchas-ing at buyers’ fingertips, but also offersinformation on the business, photo-graphs, hatch dates and links to forumsfor backyard poultry growers and othereducational sites for new and veteranproducers.

Additionally, the main page has a“care and feeding” column to help novicegrowers with every aspect of starting andmaintaining poultry.

Hatching every Monday and Wednes-day from February through May and onWednesdays-only June through mid-October, Sean calculates their 19 incu-bators hatch more than 100,000 eggs aweek at the peak. The whole operation —customer service, hatching, shipping andbilling — requires a crew of 15-20employees during hatching season.

All the hatching eggs come fromAmish producers who manage Estes’breeder chickens. The eggs come in everyFriday and are set on Mondays andWednesdays. Incubation takes 21 daysfor chicken eggs, longer for turkeys andsome other species.

Orders are shipped via the U.S. PostOffice on hatch day or the following dayand should be delivered within threedays.

Buyers can choose from 15 standardlayer breeds, Sean said, as well as Cor-nish cross broilers. Additionally, Estesoffers 12 breeds of bantam chickens,eight rare breeds, 10 breeds of ducks,seven of turkeys, four of geese and threeof guineas, as well as chukars, bobwhitequail, ring-neck pheasant and peafowl.

“Retail business — those that go out

the front door — is good. It always hasbeen, and it’s getting better, especiallyhere in Springfield with backyard poul-try,” Sean said.

He advises walk-in customers to callbefore coming in, however, to check onthe availability of a hatch.

Estes sells many chicks wholesale tofarm supply stores. Their largest outletis Orscheln Farm & Home with morethan 150 stores in nine states — Nebras-ka, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky,Arkansas, Oklahoma, Kansas and Mis-souri.

Business began with Leghorns

The story of Estes Farm Hatchery isone of continuing change and evolution.Charley made the first step when hedecided to raise poultry, rather than fol-low his family in the milling business,and established himself as a premierbreeder of White Leghorns on the farmat Everton.

In 1938, when the railroad stoppedpicking up chickens in Everton, hemoved the hatchery to a building on S.Campbell in Springfield to be nearershipping services, but continued tomaintain the breeder flock on the farm.

Son Charles Marvin Estes took overthe company at about the same timethey moved to the new location on thewest side of Springfield, just north of theold Sunset drive-in theater. They were atthat time a part of the Gold Crown con-sortium of egg producers, with 100,000Leghorn caged layers.

Marvin had negotiated a contract withstore owner Clarence Wheeler to provideeggs for all eight Consumer Supermar-kets in the Springfield area, Rowena said.The present Estes hatchery facility wasthe hatchery for Gold Crown. When theGold Crown group folded in the mid-1970s, Estes kept the building, incuba-tors and other equipment.

It was the next generation — Marvinand Rowena’s son Mark — who con-vinced feed stores and farm supplies tobegin selling live chicks. The wholesaleside then emerged as the greater part ofthe hatchery’s business.

Marvin had always concentrated onthe farm side of the business, while Markhad worked with sales prior to becomingpresident of the company in 1992.

Mark succumbed to cancer six yearsago, but the business continues to thriveunder the management of his sister,Judy, and nephew, Sean.

Marvin and Rowena, too, continue toshow up for work several days a week.Rowena, made it clear, though, don’t lookfor her at the order desk on her bridgeday.

Otherwise, she’s still helping take careof business, just as her father-in-lawCharley admonished the family in hislast days. “Always take care of the hatch-ery,” he said. “It won’t make you rich, butit will always feed you.’

“He was right,” she said. “We’re notrich, but it still feeds us and a lot of peo-ple who work here.”

Story and color photos by Jim Hamilton

Started on Everton farm 90 years ago, business remains in family

ESTES HATCHERY

Sean Richardson, great-grandson of hatchery founder C.M. Estes, holdsnewly-hatched Rhode Island Red chicks.

Though officially retired, second generation hatchery owners Rowenaand C. Marvin Estes still come into the office several days a week.

C. Marvin Estes at the farm in the 1950s.Rowena Estes at her desk In February 1967, when EstesHatchery was at 433 S. Campbell in Springfield.

Charley Estes and turkeys at Everton in the 1940s.


PAGE THIRTEEN

By Charlotte [email protected]

Thousands of people are on their feet,giving a standing ovation after watch-

ing professional rodeo action — and at theprompting of the rodeo announcer whoasked, “Have you had fun tonight?”

It is that “rush” from the crowd thatkeeps professional rodeo announcer KellyKenney going back night after night. TheHumansville native is one of about 10 peo-ple throughout Canada and the UnitedStates who makes a living as a Profession-al Rodeo Cowboy Association rodeoannouncer.

“I feel like every night my lifelong goalhas been accomplished,” he said. “I haveworked with world-class, Hall of Fameentertainers on the biggest stages.”

As the announcer, Kenney makes therodeo come to life for spectators.

“We educate and entertain,” he said. “We try to tellthem what they’re seeing. We tell them about who theseguys are behind the scenes. Most of all, we want them tohave fun.”

The fun is always family friendly, something that Ken-ney said has helped the rodeo industry to be stronger thanit ever has been. Being affordable is another asset for theindustry, too, he said.

“You can bring your grandparents and your grand-kids,” he said, “and laugh and be entertained by the Amer-ican cowboy. We are not racist, religious, political or ratedR.”

Holding a microphone and a single sheet of paper whileriding horseback, Kenney entertains audiences number-ing in the thousands nearly 100 nights every year on thePRCA circuit.

Though he has reached the pro circuit — he likens thatto being in Major League Baseball or the National Foot-ball League — it was a long, and sometimes scary jour-ney getting there.

It all started with a child and a dream.

Sharing the dreamKenney has always wanted to be a “rodeo guy.” But he

never has been alone in pursuit of his goal. His highschool principal and high school basketball coach areamong the people who helped lead him along the rightpath, but his parents — Wayne and Linda Kenney — havealways been his biggest supporters.

He began pursuing that dream when he was enteringhigh school by exploring how to compete in rodeo in highschool. After getting some help from his parents and theschool to find the proper paperwork, he “fumbled through”the paperwork. He eventually connected with someonewho had a horse he could use, and after he caught hisfirst steer — with no prior practice, just having watchedother people do it — he was hooked.

His parents drove him all over the state to compete,burning a lot of fuel and putting a lot of miles on vehicles.An over-the-road truck driver at the time, he said his dadwould arrive home from a trip and immediately leave ona rodeo trip.

“I didn’t realize how much they really sacrificed,” hesaid.

Many talentsThough Kenney makes his living now by professional

rodeo announcing, he utilized many talents to make a liv-ing while he was feeling his way toward his dream.

While in high school, rodeo riding was so hard on his

knees that he got to where he couldn’t play basketball. Sobasketball coach Mark Beem (now superintendent of Sky-line Schools) asked him to referee and eventually umpirebaseball games, too. That gave him the experience heneeded later to referee for eight years and umpire for 13years on the high school and college levels.

When he was 8 years old, he started taking guitar les-sons, the beginning of what is today a hobby but at onetime helped Kenney pay his bills.

He recalls an evening in the fall of 1992 when he andsome buddies put together a band and held a fundraiserconcert for the Humansville Saddle Club at the Fleming-

ton School House.“We expected 50 people and had 300,”

he said. That was the beginning of a suc-cessful run for the band.

He continued his rodeo career whileattending Missouri State University inSpringfield on a rodeo scholarship, but thatonly lasted a year or two.

“My knees wouldn’t allow me to do awhole lot,” he said.

He stayed plenty busy, though, compet-ing in college rodeos and amateur rodeosand playing with the band while also goingto school.

Behind the microphoneBeem also asked Kenney to announce

at the basketball games.“That was the first time I touched a

microphone,” Kenney said. “I slowly gaineda relationship with a microphone and a

stage. It was very rewarding to say something entertain-ing and see people respond. It was easy for me to enter-tain people.”

He was given another opportunity behind the micro-phone in the fall of 1996, though he only reluctantlyaccepted the offer. He was helping with a bull riding com-petition at the opening of the Double J Arena nearHumansville when the announcer was a no-show.

“They said, ‘You’re the only one who’s not afraid of themicrophone, so you have to do it.’”

A large crowd showed up for the event that shaped therest of Kenney’s life up until now.

“They loved it, and I loved it,” he said. “I was hooked.”

Amateur circuitHe returned to that arena as an announcer several

times, and he soon began getting offers to announce atother rodeo events.

He recalls that his first event after that was in Grove,Okla., and he was paid $125 for the one-night event.

“I had spent $200 to go down and work the deal,” hesaid. “I thought I was rich, and I had lost money.”

Within a year’s time, he was working 80 shows a year,but still not making a living at it.

“I was living off peanuts,” he said.But by 1998, he had to give up the band because his

rodeo schedule wouldn’t allow it. By 1999, he was work-ing 100 shows a year.

Rodeo coachAnd then — still in his early 20s — came an offer in

2000 to be the head rodeo coach at Missouri Valley Col-lege in Marshall.

In that position, he had a $1 million budget and 71students under his direction and a successful year.

“It was almost a dream come true for me,” he said. “Wehad a big, solid team.”

It was his first full-time job, complete with benefits,and allowed him to still do some amateur rodeo announc-ing.

“I made some lifelong friendships. We had a stellaryear,” he said. “But I was still missing something.”

Going professional“My peers and my students said I should try to get

my PRCA announcer card,” he said. “With the supportof my team, I put in for the card. It was immediatelyapproved.”


Roping the dream

Humansville native one of the country’stop professional rodeo announcers

Kelly Kenney announcing from the saddle.


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But then came the hard part. Kenneygave up the coaching position and resignedfrom amateur rodeo announcing — tworevenue streams that were bringing inmore money than he had ever had before.

“I had the world by the tail, but my cupwas still half full,” he said.

He made a total commitment to profes-sional rodeo announcing.

“I came from a very hard-working fam-ily. I knew I could survive with much less,”he said. “I wanted to be available if myphone rang.” Which it did — five times thefirst year (2001), eight times the secondyear and 18-20 times the third year. “Iwanted to break myself from all theavenues I had of making money. I had nochoice but to keep my focus. I had to keep100 percent.

“The first two years I went broke goingoff credit cards. In the third year I actual-ly saw the first glimmer of hope. It was thefirst time I didn’t have to pay bills withcredit cards.”

Also during that third year, he receivedan invitation to announce during BennyBinnion’s World Famous Bucking Horseand Bull Sale in Las Vegas.

“That was when I pretty much fell faceover on the ground,” he said. “I had beenasked to be part of something that wasway bigger than me.”

Now, 10 years later, he is in charge ofgetting the announcers for that show.

But his career has gone still higher thanthat.

He was asked by the PRCA board to bethe emcee and host for the 2011 year-endawards banquet.

“It is like the Grammys or the Emmys,”he said of the formal, black-tie event.“That’s the biggest stage in rodeo becausewe crown all the world champions.”

But the weekend of July 13, his careerwent higher still, when he hosted the ProRodeo Hall of Fame induction ceremony inColorado Springs.

“The most historic stage to stand on isthe front steps of the PRCA Hall of Famein Colorado Springs,” he said.

And making the honor of being select-ed to host the ceremony even sweeter, oneof Kenney’s biggest heroes — five-timeWorld Champion Saddle Bronc Rider BillyEtbauer — was among this year’sinductees.

He now announces between 75 and 100PRCA rodeos a year and has to turn downjobs.

“The last four or five years I’ve had theopportunity to weed out some smallerevents and focus on bigger events,” hesaid. “It went from a dream to fun to beingbroke to finally getting bills paid to mak-ing a living to finally being a lucrativecareer.”

Still a man of many talentsWhen the busy summer rodeo season

winds up at the end of October, Kenneytakes about a month to guide hunts inColorado, Wyoming and northeast Mis-souri as a way to recharge after being onthe road for months.

He also does some auctioneering dur-ing his off months and has a band he playswith on the weekends.

And add cattleman to the list.“I wanted to have time to run my cattle

ranch,” he said, which is near Humans-ville on the Cedar County line. “That’s myretirement. We’re building the cow herdthat I want.”

FamilyAs far as hosting the recent Hall of

Fame event, Kenney said it is an oppor-tunity that is offered just “a handful oftimes ever.”

“Most guys that get the job are Hall ofFamers themselves already,” he said. “I’mstill just that guy from Humansville witha hard-working mom and dad. Every dayis a reality check.”

His father works for Producers Live-stock Markets in Humansville, and hismother has been Humansville city clerk for33 years. His oldest brother, Mike, and hiswife have five children. Mike is the headboys’ basketball coach and athletic direc-tor at Stockton High School. Shawn, themiddle of the three boys, owns S&K Con-crete and has been in the concrete busi-ness for 20 years. He and his wife havefour children.

Kenney has never married, but long-time girlfriend Amanda Winther runs hisoffice and ranch while he travels the coun-try working.

A dream realizedPart of Kenney’s dream has been get-

ting to meet many people in the industrywho were his heroes when he was growingup, such as Clem McSpadden and HadleyBarrett.

“These are guys I watched on TV, andnow these guys come to my house in thespring to go fishing,” he said.

And he can thank that rodeo announc-er who didn’t show up in Humansville onenight in 1996.

“It all goes back to that night 16 yearsago that the announcer didn’t show,” hesaid. “I’m making a living like I neverdreamed possible, and I love what I’mdoing.

“I get paid every night, and I don’t haveto beat anybody to get paid.”

Photos courtesy Kelly Kenney

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