Running is an addiction. For me, however, running is more fun when I worry less about my personal times and focus instead on supporting other people. Don’t get me wrong, I love to train hard and push myself to go longer distances and at faster times, but I think when we do that it is easy to miss out on some amazing experiences because we are too inwardly focused. This year’s Psycho Psummer trail run served a perfect illustration for this philosophy.

In 2011, after completing one agonizing 10 (11? 12?) mile loop at the Psycho Psummer, my wife, Beth, set a goal: run three in 2012. After that one loop she said she felt as bad as she had after any road marathon, and wanted to exact some revenge on the trail. Knowing her as I do, I knew that the trail didn’t stand a chance.

She developed a training plan and stuck to it religiously, asked advice from several knowledgeable runners, and never let her goal get too far out of reach. She asked my assistance as well, which I gladly provided. I have completed several ultras, multi-hour mountain bike races, and long distance adventure races, but what I really enjoy is running with her. We have completed two marathons together, and do most of our long training runs together. Nothing builds a strong marriage like running together for hours and hours. Beyond that, I know what it feels like to finish the first ultra, and I wanted to share that experience. I decided that I would run the entire course with her to provide what I call conversation and support, and what she calls distraction.

During the year since she decided to run the 2012 Psycho Psummer, we hosted a trail race of our own at Hillsdale Lake in Kansas, developed a small but faithful running/training group, and convinced four other local runners to join us at Wyandotte, including our fourteen year old son, Israel. Our training runs were mostly successful, with the exception of a few falls, hurt knees, and twisted ankles. Despite some lingering injuries, on race day we both felt good.

The forecast for the day was easy, and fitting with the forecast for the past few weeks: hot and dry.

We knew that the first lap was crucial, since it did her in the previous year, so we planned to take it slow. We ended up near the rear of the pack, and walked more than we planned due to people stopping in front of us to walk “hills,” which we had planned to run. This was aggravating at the time, but was, perhaps, a blessing instead – as it allowed us to save some energy for the other two laps. Regardless of the time spent walking, the first lap was successful. Beth’s training included fueling and recovery, and this training served her well during the run. We ate at every aid station, drank the right amount, took a shot block every half-hour, and popped s-caps like they were the source of life. We finished the first lap in about 2:30 and felt as good as could be expected, and certainly good enough to run two more loops. First goal accomplished – kick the first loop’s butt.

The second loop was much more interesting. Though we felt good, the signs of fatigue were all around us. At the second aid station, several runners were in obvious distress and the volunteers had their hands full taking care of them (which they did with éclat). One of these runners was a man I have known for several years, and is as experienced and knowledgeable as anyone. If he succumbed to the heat, I thought, anyone could.

We slowed down.

We drank a lot.

We walked the hills.

We laughed and talked and enjoyed ourselves. We forgot about hitting a certain time and focused on finishing. We knew that we had to finish the second loop before we started the third, and made each moment count by eating, drinking, and staying as focused as possible.

We finished the second loop at 5:33, under the cut off and still feeling good. We reloaded and headed back out. The third loop was a success from the beginning. Not that it wasn’t difficult, but Beth said that her goal for the race was to start the third loop. “If I start,” she said, “I’ll have no choice but to finish.” Starting is one thing, however, but finishing was a whole different story. It’s difficult to express how hot it was out there, but to put it in scientific terms, it was really, really hot.

By the time we reached the first aid station, we were miserable. The volunteers at the aid station, however, changed our attitudes. Actually, we were surprised that they were still there because we thought were the last runners to hit the time cutoff. But they had plenty of aid left and met us with smiles. They grabbed our water bottles and refilled them, gave us s-caps and watermelon, pickles and Pringles, and of course – ice. “You look great,” they said, “you’re going to finish strong.” For some reason, we believed them.

On our way to the second station, we passed a few people, which raised our hopes. Then we came upon the miracle man. He was sitting on the trail, crippled by cramps. He said he had been there for a while, but was planning to finish. I put some ice on his legs, Beth gave him some Gatorade, and I gave him the last s-cap I had. I tried to help him up, but he couldn’t. He asked that no one come back for him, but we didn’t see how he was going to make it on his own. We told the volunteers at the next aid station about him, and they said they’d take care of him.

We finished our loop, together, like we have on every training run for a year. We were hot, we finished much slower than anticipated, but we finished. At the finish line, our running group was waiting for us, cheering us on. Our ten year old son was also there, with a coffee mug for me and flowers for his mom. Ben Holmes put the medal around our necks and I told Beth that she was now part of the club. It doesn’t matter what the time is, running an ultra-marathon is an accomplishment to be proud of. In this race, 61 people dropped from their target distance due to the heat, the terrain, or both. The race was difficult, but our training paid off and we were not among those 61 people.

As for miracle man – he finished as well – on his own two legs without any assistance. I thought he was done for, but he made it. On races like these, we run to see who has more guts rather than who is fastest. I’d give that medal to him. And me — I got to see a lot of people push further than they thought they could. I got to experience my wife’s first ultra. And I got to witness ordinary people persevere to finish a race for nothing other than pride and self-respect. That’s what this sport is all about.

When people think of the iPad, they seldom think about a multitude of classroom uses. Or library uses. Or museum uses. Most people think iPads, and they immediately see individuals in coffee shops hunched over or leaning back in a relaxed fashion reading.

But picture a small scale technology easily used for preparing presentations in class or for large training sessions; collaboration within class among students; sharing notes/lessons/responses back and forth in the classroom; importing photographs/research in collaborative projects with instant access; editing and revising pretty much anything and the possibilities go on endlessly…

Or being visitors and using them to view and learn about exhibits in a museum, such as the Miami County Historical Society Museum in Paola. Or being able to check out an iPad from a Miami County library or museum…

The potential uses are endless, which is what brought educators and library personnel from both Miami and Johnson Counties together at Fort Scott Community College (FSCC) last Monday.

Two iPad labs will soon become available for everyday class work at the Miami County Campus of Fort Scott Community College thanks to two grants totaling $15,718 awarded by the Baehr and the Jewell-Roman Foundations.

Each Miami County library has received a grant, said Buddy Jo Tanck, director of the Miami County Fort Scott Community College campus in Paola, for iPad labs.

“I hope we will be able to collaborate some of our training and ideas for the iPads with these groups,” Tanck said about what was an introduction to iPads.

A much better understanding of educational concepts, Tanck said, taught in the classroom will be accomplished with the new equipment.

“I predict these devices will allow much more understanding of concepts discussed in the classroom,” Tanck said.

Along with FSCC instructors and staff in attendance on June 11, library directors and personnel from Osawatomie, Paola, Louisburg, Spring Hill and Johnson County took part.

Because he has already been using iPads at the Miami County Historical Museum in Paola, Joe Hursey, the museum’s director, conducted the training.

“We believe we are the first museum in the midwest to begin using iPads for our patrons, which has gotten us a lot of attention,” Hursey said.

Museum visitors, Hursey said, can be issued an iPad with a QR code, as they view the exhibits.

“All they have to do is turn on the camera function, and the iPad with explain the item on display,” Hursey said.

What surprised Hursey is how the museum’s oldest senior citizens have been attracted to the iPads.

“They have had no problems, and it can get a bit out of hand because they find they don’t want to give up the iPad,” Hursey said.

This is why, Hursey said, the museum plans to have full-time sign out very soon.

As for the FSCC training session, Hursey and Tanck both said the training had been designed for beginners with no experience.

In opening remarks, Hursey said iPads can be used so differently and that there are about 80 different tablet-like devices on the market.

“iPad is the best thing going, which is why he has them at the museum. Kindles and Nooks will do specific things, but the iPad is the most versatile, even with a few limitations,” Hursey said.

As the FSCC campus director, Tanck said she has been able to see, firsthand, numerous potential applications for iPads in the classroom.

“The coolest thing that I have seen is an astronomy application that allows you to hold the iPad up to the sky, and the GPS in the device allows you to find stars, constellations, and even satellite locations,” Tanck said.

Witnessing the use of an iPad for astronomy, Tanck said, was fascinating.

“I thought, ‘What potential there is here for engaging students in learning.’ It definitely sparked my interest in learning more about the stars and the planets. I also thought about how easy it would be to teach this to my kids with my own limited knowledge of the subject,” Tanck said.

Both Tanck and Tricia Sinclair, Paola campus Computer Applications and business instructor, have been discussing a variety of ways to integrate technology into the classroom for students and the instructors.

“We both purchased devices similar to the iPad but which were less expensive. However, they did not work the way an iPad does. We knew that the only way we would be able to use these in the classroom or even educate our instructors on the devices was to receive them through a grant or a donation,” Tanck said.

Tanck said she had to find a means of getting the devices into the hands of students and faculty.

“It is very difficult for students, faculty, or individuals in the community to know how the iPads can be used, if they are not able to get their hands on them and use them. This is exactly what I wanted to do for our faculty,” Tanck said.

This way, Tanck said, she could actually give her faculty and staff an opportunity to get their hands on an iPad.

“Now, they will be able to think about how they can enhance their teaching and student learning by utilizing these devices,” Tanck said.

When talking to the FSCC Director of Nursing, Bill Rhoads, Tanck said she discovered how iPads are already being used.

“They actually integrate iPads into the final semester for the nursing students. This made sense to me since a lot of hospitals are integrating tablets and other computerized database programs at the patient bedside.

“I felt we needed to help train these students on how to use these devices before they went into this final semester,” Tanck said.

Although actual details about use of the labs, said Tanck, are still under discussion, part of the grant included training for faculty, staff, and community resource personnel.

“The training session in June, Tanck said, was designed to help familiarize participants with the iPad technology. The plan is to offer a second opportunity around the end of July for FSCC instructors to discuss ways we can utilize the iPad in the classroom,” Tanck said.

Tanck said they are excited to have the new labs and devices in their building and for utilization in their classrooms.

“We owe a great debt of gratitude to the Baehr and Jewell-Roman Foundations and their trustees.

“It is also because of all the work you do for the college and for the members of our community that has led us to this success and future endeavor,” Tanck said about the college faculty and staff, as well as the community.

Plans for the iPads at the Osawatomie Public Library will focus on literacy and their Early Childhood 6 by 6 Program said Director Elizabeth Trigg.

“The 6 by 6 program is an early literacy educational tool for parents to use with their children, which involves the six tools kids need to learn by age six,” Trigg said.

By focusing on different books and word recognition and vocabulary parents can pick out important details, Trigg said, and help their children become better readers.

“Brad Debrick, originally from Paola, developed 6 by 6 for the Johnson County Library, where he works, rolled it out to the the state, and it has been a fabulous program,” Trigg said.

The 6 by 6 program has gone on to develop applications for iPads with early literacy tools, Trigg said.

“We have already been looking at those apps, such as the Goodnight Safari iPad App. With this, children and their parents have Read Me directions. Children can move characters around and interact with the story,” Trigg said.

Having already been looking ahead, Trigg said, the Oswatomie Friends of the Library bought 250 picture books with iPad tie-ins.

“Each book is already checked out and with the 6 by 6 program apps tie-in we should be ready to go with the iPads. Parents are so excited,” Trigg said.

Speaking about attending the training session, Paola Free Library Director Rosy King said one of the best things about the class was being able to hear how the college and other libraries were planning to use the iPads within their facilities.

“I think we beginners learned enough about the basic use of the iPad that we could take what we learned and do some learning on our own. We Microsoft users lost our fear of an Apple device,” King said.

Louisburg Library Director, Kiersten Allen, said the training had been a good starting point.

“I’m glad Buddy took on the task. I’m lucky to have a relationship with Joe, so he’s going to come over to the library once summer reading has ended and provide us with a more tailored presentation and kind of question and answer,” Allen said.

The efforts of Blake Heid, member of the Baehr Foundation Board of Trustees, said Allen should be recognized.

“We are so thankful to Blake Heid for pursuing the grant to donate this level of technology to our patrons and staff. We now have the opportunity to explore the devices and really test the limits of the iPad 2, because there are so many things we can do now,” Allen said.

Currently, Allen said they plan to use some iPads for early literacy and others as eReaders.

“But we are keeping our options open. We will have a focus group and encourage those patrons to use them as eReaders, checking them out and taking them home to explore for themselves,” Allen said.

This is a big step, Allen said, but they are working on policies to keep the iPads and our patrons safe.

“We are pretty excited. One of the first things we will do is accept credit card payments and donations. Our patrons will be happy with that, and it’s a relatively small charge. It will be fun to discover all the ways this iPad 2 Learning Center will help the library and our patrons,” Allen said.

Before iPads could be placed in service, Tanck said, WIFI had to be installed.

“This is something the college paid for. Unfortunately, we will not be able to afford WIFI in the entire building, so we had to choose a space that would benefit the most with WIFI,” Tanck said.

The community room, Tanck said, was chosen and will be where teachers can access WIFI.

“If a class like biology would like to implement an iPad application into their course work, they would go to the community room for this part of the class. This will be much like going to the computer lab when working on assignments.

“If we were able to get WIFI throughout the entire building, we would be able to move these devices anywhere. This is what I would like to eventually be able to do,” Tanck said.

Unlike the two rooms set up as computer labs on the Paola FSCC campus, the term, iPad lab, means something entirely different. The two labs are actually two rolling carts able to store, charge, and sync up to 30 individual iPad devices.

When people think of the iPad, they seldom think about a multitude of classroom uses. Most people think iPads, and they immediately see individuals in coffee shops hunched over or leaning back in a relaxed fashion reading.

But picture a small scale technology easily used for preparing presentations in class or for large training sessions; collaboration within class among students; sharing notes/lessons/responses back and forth in the classroom; importing photographs/research in collaborative projects with instant access; editing and revising pretty much anything and the possibilities go on endlessly…

Two iPad labs will soon become available for everyday class work at the Miami County Campus of Fort Scott Community College thanks to two grants totaling $15,718 awarded by the Baehr and the Jewell-Roman Foundations.

A much better understanding of educational concepts, said FSCC Miami County Campus Director, Buddy Tanck, taught in the classroom will be accomplished with the new equipment.

“I predict these devices will allow much more understanding of concepts discussed in the classroom,” Tanck said.

As the campus director, Tanck said she has been able to see, firsthand, numerous applications for iPads in the classroom.

“The coolest thing that I have seen is an astronomy application that allows you to hold the iPad up to the sky, and the GPS in the device allows you to find stars, constellations, and even satellite locations,” Tanck said.

Witnessing the use of an iPad for astronomy, Tanck said, was fascinating.

“I thought, ‘What potential there is here for engaging students in learning.’ It definitely sparked my interest in learning more about the stars and the planets. I also thought about how easy it would be to teach this to my kids with my own limited knowledge of the subject,” Tanck said.

Both Tanck and Tricia Sinclair, Paola campus Computer Applications and business instructor, have been discussing a variety of ways to integrate technology into the classroom for students and the instructors.

“We both purchased devices similar to the iPad but which were less expensive. However, they did not work the way an iPad does. We knew that the only way we would be able to use these in the classroom or even educate our instructors on the devices was to receive them through a grant or a donation,” Tanck said.

Tanck said she had to find a means of getting the devices into the hands of students and faculty. “It is very difficult for students, faculty, or individuals in the community to know how the iPads can be used, if they are not able to get their hands on them and use them. This is exactly what I wanted to do for our faculty,” Tanck said.

This way, Tanck said, she could actually give her faculty and staff an opportunity to get their hands on an iPad.

“Now, they will be able to think about how they can enhance their teaching and student learning by utilizing these devices,” Tanck said.

When talking to the FSCC Director of Nursing, Bill Rhoads, Tanck said she discovered how iPads are already being used.

“They actually integrate iPads into the final semester for the nursing students. This made sense to me since a lot of hospitals are integrating tablets and other computerized database programs at the patient bedside.

“I felt we needed to help train these students on how to use these devices before they went into this final semester,” Tanck said.

Although actual details about use of the labs, said Tanck, are still under discussion, part of the grant includes training for faculty, staff, and community resource personnel.

“We are currently working out the details for receiving these labs. Part of the grant opportunity includes training on how to use these devices,” Tanck said.

Training sessions in June, Tanck said, will be designed to help familiarize participants with the iPad technology.

“The plan is to offer a second opportunity around the end of July to discuss ways we can utilize the iPad in the classroom,” Tanck said.

First priority for training, Tanck said, will be reserved for the Miami County faculty and staff.

Tanck said they are excited to have the new labs and devices in their building and for utilization in their classrooms.

“We owe a great debt of gratitude to the Baehr and Jewell-Roman Foundations and their trustees.

“It is also because of all the work you do for the college and for the members of our community that has led us to this success and future endeavor,” Tanck said about the college faculty and staff, as well as the community.

Before iPads can be placed in service, Tanck said, WIFI will have to be installed.

“This is something the college will be paying for. Unfortunately, we will not be able to afford WIFI in the entire building, so we had to choose a space that would benefit the most with WIFI,” Tanck said.

The community room, Tanck said, was chosen and will be where teachers can access WIFI.

“If a class like biology would like to implement an iPad application into their course work, they would go to the community room for this part of the class. This will be much like going to the computer lab when working on assignments.

“If we were able to get WIFI throughout the entire building, we would be able to move these devices anywhere. This is what I would like to eventually be able to do,” Tanck said.

Unlike the two rooms set up as computer labs on the Paola FSCC campus, the term, iPad lab, means something entirely different. The two labs the college will receive are actually two rolling carts able to store, charge, and sync up to 30 individual iPad devices.

Two additional classrooms, already completed at the FSCC Miami County campus, will make more room for science education. Funding for the rooms came from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act stimulus.

The college paid about $20,000 to start the science lab, Tanck said, and the labs already have about $20,000 in donated equipment and supplies.

“But we still need about $50,000 to finish the lab off itself,” Tanck said.

Plans for the lab, Tanck said, include uses for teaching General Biology, Microbiology, Anatomy and Physiology, Basic Chemistry, and Physical Science.

“The laboratory is necessary for successfully running experiments for each of these labs. Currently, we offer lecture here and then do labs at the local high schools. Without a lab at this facility, students have to drive to another location. We are also limited to only offering labs at night.

“This is very difficult when our student demographics are more daytime students,” Tanck said

If looking for a unique, educational and enlightening day-trip, the Elmwood Cemetery, established in 1872 in Kansas City, Missouri, brings to mind familiar names, like Armour (Armour Boulevard), Loose (Loose Park), Atkins (Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art) and Meyer (Meyer Boulevard) amidst ever-changing headstones, mausoleums, and monuments. As well as a living, breathing doe or a deer, as in “doe, a deer, a female deer,” already becoming rock star famous in Kansas City.

A female deer named Ella, born about a year ago on the cemetery grounds, reminds visitors to the cemetery of “Do-Re-Mi” from the Sound of Music.

Born about a year ago, she has plenty of clover to eat, said Bruce Mathews, member of the Elmwood Cemetery Board of Trustees and volunteer, but nobody knows what happened to Ella’s mother. “She might have run out into traffic and been hit by a car. We really don’t know,” Mathews said.

The cemetery, especially around the Armour Chapel, appears to be where

Ella can be found. “This is her domain. It’s all she’s ever known. When people come to visit, she likes to hang out where people are found. She’s only known being around people,” Mathews said.

Volunteers, Mathews said, have had to step in and stop her occasionally because she does like to follow cars. “At least the cemetery is walled in with gates,” he said.

Over the Memorial Day weekend, volunteers from the Elmwood Cemetery

Society spent the weekend on the grounds to help with tours or to promote self-guided tours.

“We live by donations,” said Mathews. The cemetery at  4900 Truman Road, Mathews said, is owned and operated by the Elmwood Cemetery Society, which is charged with sharing cemetery history and maintaining the grounds. “There are 43 acres and 36,000 people buried in the cemetery,” Mathews said. Along with famous names from Kansas City history, visitors will find 1400 veterans, 800 from the Civil War. “There are 800 Union,100 Confederate, and several of Quantrill’s Raiders,” Mathews said.

Many firsts can be found on walking tours, like the first permanent resident of Kansas City; the first Jewish settler; the first mayor; the first African-American police chief; the first Kansas City major league baseball team owner; and the first female member of the KC Board of Education.

The online Elmwood Cemetery website provides maps and information about people by occupations, veterans, and the Who’s Who section includes insightful biographies and photographs.

A map of the cemetery designed for walking tours includes 29 stopping points beginning with Milton Feld, the man Walt Disney sold his first animated films to, which were called “Newman’s Laugh-O-Grams.” Feld later became a producer for Universal Studios with Darryl F. Zanuck.

Heroes Way, Mathews said, has been a designated final resting place for police and fire fighters. “But when we raised money to erect metal flag poles and metal urns, they were stolen right away. This is why you won’t see anything metal in the cemetery,” Mathews said.

The regular upkeep like mowing, Mathews said, has been contracted out to his son, who is a contractor and farmer north of Kansas City. “We used to have crews in the past, but they took a long time to do the job, left trash around, and left a mess. My son knew a lot of farmers where he lives, so he put together his own crew to mow, pick up branches and trash. They get it all done in one day once a month,” Mathews said.

But, Mathews said, they still rely on volunteers because they do not receive city, state, or federal funding. And, there is more to the upkeep than what his son’s crew can do in the one day.

“The fourth Saturday each month is our volunteer day. Church groups come out to help. The student history group from Bishop Miege High School cleans up the children’s section.

“Many Boy Scout Eagle projects have been completed here over the last three years, especially with helping to raise fallen monuments and headstones,” Mathews said. As for individual grave sites, Mathews said, there is no consistency to how  they are plotted.

“There are no rows. You will most likely be standing on someone’s grave no matter where you step. Graves face in all directions,” he said. Cave ins make for an even bigger problem than knowing where to walk.

“When it’s been rainy, the ground can be soft and spongy enough, but when the old wooden caskets crumble from the ground pressure, the ground caves in and leaves dangerous holes.  All we can do is try to fill the hole in as quickly as possible,” Mathews said.

Although this may be one of the oldest cemeteries in Kansas City, plots are still available. “We know exactly where every single grave is, even if there is no marker,” Mathews said.

And many visitors, Mathews said, are surprised when they learn how many weddings take place in the cemetery.

“Well actually, the weddings take place in the Armour Chapel. We do have an active year-round wedding season,” he said. But before people jump in to planning an Elmwood Cemetery wedding, they should know about the trap door in the alter floor of the chapel.

“Years ago, when funerals took place and ended, caskets were lowered through the trap door and carried out a side door on the way to the burial site,” Mathews said.

For anybody who has ever wondered where they came from and suspect they might be related to someone buried in Elmwood Cemetery, Mathews said they have the Elmwood Cemetery History Project.

“The project includes information on more than 36,000 of the individuals buried in Elmwood,” the online Elmwood site said about this work in progress project.

Mathews published Elmwood Cemetery: Stories of Kansas City, a full color and hard cover book, in 2010. Proceeds for the $29.95 book go to the cemetery.

“I have another book coming out soon with more stories about the cemetery. In this one, I am trying to capture the spirit of Kansas City by profiling 75 people and the things they did.” Mathews said.

Elmwood Cemetery: Stories of Kansas City contains photographs shot by

Mathews and written by him.

“The book can be found on the cemetery website or online,” he said. For more information about the Elmwood Cemetery, burials, weddings, volunteering, or the book, search for www.ElmwoodCem-KC.org.

Or Bruce Mathews can be contacted at 1-816-868-1392.

The main entrance can be found near the corner of Truman Road and Van

Brunt Boulevard. For anyone driving from Osawatomie, the most convenient route would be to follow Kansas Highway 169 to Interstate 35 and, then, to I-435 to Truman Road, much like driving to Worlds of Fun or the Truman Sports complex.

Michigan. Arthur graduated from KSU in 1974, received his first

master’s degree from KU in 1983 in Environmental Health Science, and a

second master’s degree from KU in 1990 in Public Administration.

Arthur was the city manager of Osawatomie, KS, for almost six years,

beginning his tenure there in January 1985. He became village manager

of Milford, Michigan, in November of 1990.

Arthur married Kelsey Paulus in Atchison, KS, in January of 1986. They

have two wonderful daughters. Kayla is a student at Oakland Community

College studying film animation. Ieasha (spelled with an i) will be

attending Ferris State University in the fall. She received the Huron

Valley Education Association scholarship and her field of study is

elementary education. Arthur was very proud of his girls and was

looking forward to their future successes.

U.S. Representative Thad McCotter read Arthur’s name into the

Congressional Record on Friday, June 15, the day of Arthur’s funeral.

Arthur was a well-respected professional, a sincere public servant, a

loving husband, and a wonderful father.

The Power of Music

A dream that began prior to February of 2011 has now become a reality.

Along about that time Mary Kay Johns began thinking about the possibility of a café in Lane. In conversation with Garry Crouch, she found he had also thought along the same lines.

They put their heads together and ground was broke for the new building on the east side of Main Street of Lane in early February of 2011.

As a result, there is now a business called the Lane Cafe Convenience and Liquor housed in a well-built large metal building .The liquor store, which opens to the back of the building into an alley, opened in July.

The Lane Café, with a full menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner, opened Jan. 10.

Johns and Crouch are partners in the business.

Members of the wait staff are Delphia Sweeney, Tess Shoemaker and Jana Brown. Sherry Goodwin, helps with the bookkeeping as well as waits tables when necessary. Esther Scherff is the head cook, assisted by cooks Marcella Hampson and Kimberly Cawby. Nan Bewley is an all-around staff member, serving wherever needed.

The café is open from Tuesday through Thursday from 7 a.m. to 8 p.m.; Friday and Saturdays, 7 a.m. to 9 p.m.; and 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Sundays. The estimated seating capacity is about 40 people. The interior of the café is attractively decorated.

Opening hours for the liquor store are from 9 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday through Thursday; from 9 to 2 p.m. Friday and Saturday; and from noon to 5 p.m. Sundays.

After her birth in 1952, Maxine Goodwin of Lane remembers a childhood growing up in what, even then, she knew was an historic house.

Our family, Goodwin said, always knew the house was old and historic. “As a child I remember how my parents and family referred to it as being 100 years old,” Goodwin said.

From what her family knew, Goodwin said, the house had been built by an Evan Gilbert as a hotel.

“Gilbert thought, as many others in those days did, that the railroad would come through Stanton. He wanted to have a hotel ready and waiting. The bricks were made on the property from what we’ve learned,” Goodwin said.

The railroad, Goodwin said, chose a different route on the other side of the river away from Stanton, but from that day on it had been known as the Gilbert Place.

That is until the Caylors moved in.

Her grandfather, Elmer Caylor, Goodwin said, was born in 1885 and had lived there for many years.

“I’m not sure when he bought the place but my grandparents (Elmer and Altha), my uncle Raymond and aunt Freda and their son, Sam, were all living there when my parents married in 1947,” Goodwin said.

Instead of moving elsewhere to set up house after their marriage, Marvin and Mary Caylor, Maxine’s parents, moved right in with the rest of the residents of what was already known as the Caylor Place. “Mom moved right in and pretty soon, they began a family. I have a sister, Marilyn, four years older than me and a brother, Jim, a year older than me. I was the baby,” Goodwin said.

The brick structure almost looked out of place from the earliest days.  Maxine said the family always believed construction began in the 1830s. When the house was destroyed in a Jan. 1, 2012, fire, the fire report mentioned 1865.

Generations of families from Stanton or from western Miami County, where the house sits overlooking 327th Street at Stanton Road, could not help but see a house that mirrored similar homes in northwest Missouri’s tobacco country.

Or in any number of southern states with a colonial architecture!  Not least, a rural home built, when everybody else in the country had been living in log cabins or simple wood-frame houses.

“The rooms were huge with tall ceilings. And the window sills were at least a foot or so deep. There was nothing small or crawly about that place. The mop boards were at least a foot tall, too,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin’s childhood home fit a familiar design: a two-story, rectangular structure with a centered front door and symmetrically placed windows. Many homes based on this same style from Virginia west to Missouri and beyond included chimneys on both ends, as did the Caylor home until the fire struck.

And, no doubt, building a brick house of this size in this location in those times stood as a mark of a successful business person.

Cedar trees grew all around the property, Goodwin said, and always smelled so good, as did the lilac and peony bushes.

“Now, the land in front of the house is all pasture land down to the road, but when I was growing up the trees and bushes added a lot of a decoration to the front of the house,” she said.

Trumpet vines, Goodwin said, crisscrossed the front and east side of the structure. Green shutters, white trim and an entry porch (long gone) welcomed visitors to the house.

“The front door was always open in the summer, as were all the windows. We didn’t need air conditioning, not if you opened the place up. And not with that normally strong breeze blowing up the hill from the south,” she said.

But, even with their welcoming front door open in warm weather, the everyday entry to the house came on the side facing east.

“A driveway brought visitors in along a drive right in front of the house and then around to the east side, where they could park. A little sidewalk led up to the door on the east side. People seldom used the front door,” she said.

The east door, Goodwin said, led through a small screened-in porch. “The cellar entrance was to the right with a cover you had to lift and the hot water heater was down there. From the porch you stepped into the dining room and the small kitchen was in an added-on section on the back of the house, as was the bathroom,” she said.

If a visitor actually entered the house through the front door, Goodwin said, they would step into an entry hallway.

“My parents’ bedroom was in the room to the right or the east and the living room sat to the west.  The hallway led back to the dining room straight ahead, but a stairway to the right of the front door led up to four bedrooms upstairs,” she said.

Goodwin’s sister, Marilyn Stevenson of Garnett, said the kitchen and the dining room areas had been the gathering points for family and friends.

“We were always in the kitchen ready to eat. Or to talk,” Stevenson said.

Grandpa’s popcorn, Stevenson said and Maxine agreed, had been something special.

“He popped the corn in bacon grease on the stove and smothered it in cow butter,” Stevenson said. “It just dripped butter, but of course people didn’t realize what healthy eating was then,” Maxine said.

Normal meals, Stevenson said, had consisted of homegrown chickens, eggs and milk.

“I wish we would have known what we do now about what people will collect. We used to throw those Log Cabin syrup tins out the back door and into the trash. I wish I had a few of those tins today, as much as they are worth,” Stevenson said.

Although much of the interior of the historic structure was destroyed in the recent fire, Goodwin was thankful her niece, Julie Roach, an Osawatomie Middle School teacher, had taken the banister from the home and had it in storage.

“Julie and her husband wanted to use the banister in their home, but it just wouldn’t work,” Goodwin said.

Roach admitted to being disappointed about not getting to use the banister.

“It is magnificent and big. It really did go up and up and around in the old house. When we built our house, I had asked about having 10-foot ceilings, so I could use the banister from the old place, but we just couldn’t do this,” Roach said.

The banister, Goodwin said, was a dark, almost black wood and very thick and wide. “It went up, curved around on the second floor, and went on around a landing. When we were kids, we loved sliding down the banister railing from the second floor,” she said.

As Stevenson pondered her sister’s description of the “huge rooms,” she said they were large with tall ceilings.

“The rooms were big but from the perspective of a little child,” Stevenson said.

The sisters described the interior of the home in their youth as wide and white painted woodwork with wallpaper.

“I’m not sure why wallpaper, but every few years Mom had to redo the wallpaper. She would make Dad haul the sawhorses inside and set up for pasting. She even papered the ceilings,” Maxine said.

As much as Maxine said she enjoyed the summer’s cooling breeze, the bedroom she shared with Marilyn upstairs on the front west side was cold in the winter.

“It was cold in the winter for us kids. The house was heated downstairs by propane, but we had electric blankets so that helped. The upstairs was still the best sleeping,” she said.

Running water was something they had in the house, Goodwin said, but there were also two wells.

“We didn’t use the one right by the side door on the east. It sat right next to the door. But there was another well a few feet on the other side of the sidewalk closer to the porch. Dad hauled water and kept that one filled and we could pump water from that one,” she said.

Once a year when the well they used dried up, Goodwin said, her father always had her brother go down to clean the sides of the well.

“Dad would lower my brother, Jim, down to scrape the sides clean. He’d always run into small snakes that didn’t bother him. But, Dad hated snakes so it’s a good thing Dad had my brother to go down there,” she said.

There were plenty of other buildings around the main house in her youth, including a garage, chicken house, smoke house and assorted other small buildings.

“We called it a smokehouse, but it had probably been a wash house to do their laundry in earlier times. And, we didn’t use the garage at all,” she said.

Their mother still used the wash house to do the laundry when Marilyn was about four. Maxine was not born yet, and Jim, Stevenson said, was a toddler.

“Little boys still used to wear shoes with very hard soles. One day, I was helping our mother, and Jim was playing and got his foot stuck in the drain. Mom couldn’t get his foot free, so she decided to run for help. But before she could leave, she ran into the house and grabbed an empty baby bottle.

“She gave it to me and told me, ‘Stick this in his mouth and it should make him happy till I get back.’”

But Stevenson said she had no plans of staying their alone without their mother.

“I stuck the bottle in Jim’s mouth and ran after Mom. Luckily, our uncle had been coming up the drive and was already running back to the wash house with mom,” Stevenson said.

Stevenson said her relief turned to alarm when she saw what her uncle had in his hand.

“He had a hammer, and I just knew he was going to kill Jim!  Keep in mind, I was only four. No, he wasn’t going to hurt Jim, he was going to use the hammer to break up the concrete around the drain,” Stevenson said.

Fortunately, Stevenson said, our uncle was able to wiggle Jim’s foot loose without using the hammer. “And by the time, I came along our parents had bought a washer and dryer for inside the house,” Maxine said.

Christmas brought back special memories of going out to chop down their Christmas tree.

“We always went out in the timber as a family to find the best tree. Cedar trees always smelled so good but any fresh cut tree smelled good, too,” she said.

The only Christmas disappointment came in the 1960s, when her parents brought home an aluminum tree.

“You know one of those trees with the colored lights. “That was a crummy tree. I missed the real trees and the scent of pine,” Goodwin said.

Her father, Marvin, had been a country boy, born and raised to farm. “Over his lifetime, Dad had three professions usually ongoing all at one time. He worked at the army ammunition plant in Olathe, farmed, and owned Caylor Brothers Hardware in Osawatomie,” Goodwin said.

And her mother, Mary, raised chickens. “If we wanted chicken for dinner, she just went out, picked out a chicken, killed it, and cooked it for dinner,” Maxine said.

From listening to Goodwin talk, she had no need for town or city living.

“We had games to play as children in and outside of the house, but most of our time was spent running down to the river, playing in the creek, or just going all over the countryside on our bikes or horses. If we wanted we’d just saddle up some horses and just go,” she said.

A pond located in the pasture down slope from the house has been long gone, but Maxine said it had been good for fishing.

A Shetland named Smokey, Maxine said, could be the orneriest horse. “He was meaner than dirt and loved to throw you off,” she said.

Right down on the corner at 327th St. and Stanton Road sat Brassfield’s Service Station.

“Brassfield’s was also a store with groceries, cigarettes, pop and ice cream.  We had it made, but we also learned not to abuse our privileges.

“Mom and dad had a charge account at Brassfield’s. We could charge a pop and an ice cream for each of us kids when we would get to go down there, and our parents would pay up each month,” she said.

Of course, as Maxine said, it only cost a dime for a bottle of pop and a candy bar in those days.

Goodwin had to chuckle about everyday attire for girls in her childhood and even out on their place.

“We had to wear dresses a lot! And, even though my sister was older by four years, Mom made us dress alike all the time. My sister hated it, too. She didn’t want to be dressed like her little sister. Plus, I was always getting my sister’s dresses when I grew into them,” Goodwin said.

Goodwin, who said she graduated from Osawatomie High School in 1970, said she left the historic house, when she turned 17.

“I got married in 1969 to Gary Goodwin from Osawatomie,” she said.

Trying to bring another fond memory into the sad story about the loss of an historic Miami County home, Maxine recalled when her husband-to-be first drove up to the house.

“He came to pick me up for our first date. When he saw the vines and the tall brick walls, he said, ‘Oh my God, she lives in a castle,’” Goodwin said.

But her brother continued living at home, Maxine said. “Mom and dad waited until us kids had grown up to build their new home, which they started doing in 1976 and finally moved out in 1978,” she said.

Marvin and Mary Caylor built the brown house that sits to the east of Stanton Road, just north of 327th Road.

“When our parents moved out, my brother and his family moved in. My brother was a bull-dozer operator, so they were only able to continue living there for about four years,” Maxine said.

Her father, Goodwin said, refused to rent out the old house. “He stored all the records in the old house from Caylor Brothers, as well as unsold stock and display items and equipment from the store. He also kept his military uniforms with all his medals from World War II in the house,” she said.

After her brother and his family moved on to another job, Goodwin said, the house was vandalized. “They stole Dad’s uniform, ripped down electrical wiring which destroyed ceilings. They broke out windows. Somebody had done this just for the fun of it,” she said.

Goodwin’s greatest regret and loss in the present fire has been not going back to retrieve the old marble counter slab in the kitchen.

“Nobody ever took that out, and I remember working in the kitchen, preparing food, and working on that marble. It’s probably all broken up and buried in the collapse of bricks,” Goodwin said.

Life in a piece of early Miami County history, built during or before the Civil War and Bleeding Kansas, had been memorable in the large house with plenty of land to run over with abandon. School had been the one-room school house in Stanton, a short walk away.

But when she was diagnosed with pneumonia during her eighth-grade year, she spent three weeks in the hospital over Christmas.

“I had missed so much school that I could not graduate with my Stanton class by the end of that year. To make up time missed, I had to transfer to the Osawatomie Middle School. Talk about culture shock. To go from my country school of several grades in one room to two classes of only eighth graders! I didn’t know a sole, either,” Goodwin said.

Admitting how much she cares about her family history and her family, Roach, who is Marilyn’s daughter, said she has fond memories of the historic home, too.

“I always think of it as my uncle and aunt’s place because, when I was little, they lived there.  The place was huge to a little girl, and we used to go over there all the time. I really liked to sled and their hill was perfect for sledding,” Roach said.

As Roach began to realize what was happening to the house, she knew she wanted to save what she could before it all disappeared.

“I had wanted to get the claw footed bath tub that had been left in a smaller building. When I got there, the tub was gone like much of my grandparents’ antiques and property stolen by vandals,” Roach said.

With luck, Roach was able to save a small, wrought iron baby bed. “It was my Grandma Mary’s baby bed, which I knew I had to get since so much was disappearing,” Roach said.

Roach also managed to salvage the old water pump and would like a few of the bricks, Roach said, to place in a sidewalk she would like to build.

Since the fire consumed the home’s interior and caused a few walls to cave in, people who live nearby have also felt the loss.

“It’s sad to see this every morning. So sad,” said Steve Hinote of Stanton as he drives by on his way to the Muffler Mart in Paola.

And, Karen Spencer Hill, who has lived just south of the Caylor house for 22 years, has been cataloging the home in photographs both before and after the fire.

“I just hate to see things destroyed…,” Hill said.

Aaron Manes goes under the bar to win the student limbo competition during the skating assembly at Trojan Elementary.