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Former K-State crops team head coach reflects on success

Kevin Donnelly has tended to a crop of winning K-State students for the last 14 years.

Donnelly, 71, retired from being head coach in May after having led the K-State Crops Team since 2008. But he is still an assistant coach for the team, which won or shared a national championship 19 times in 24 years. In his 14 years, the team won 10 and shared one.

He said he believes activities like this outside of the classroom help students find their niche.

“The stuff we teach is important, but…we have to offer students the opportunity to do something other than sit in class that helps them grow,” Donnelly said.

Donnelly also retired as a professor of agronomy and has been around agriculture his whole life, since his childhood on a farm in Dickinson County. He participated in 4-H and did agriculture-related projects.

“My 4-H projects were very much what I do today,” he said. “Most of the rest of my friends did animals. I did crops. I would take wheat and sorghum and corn to the fair.”

He also grew up listening to K-State basketball games on the radio with his father, fostering an early interest in the Wildcats.

“I had my own score sheets, and I’d keep records of how many points each player scored every game,” Donnelly said. “I would be very upset if I had some event and had to miss the basketball game.”

He received bachelor’s and master’s degrees from K-State and then taught at Hutchinson Community College and Colorado State, where he received his doctorate. He then taught at Oklahoma State for 15 years, including coaching the crops team there. Donnelly returned to K-State in 1998 and worked in administration as an assistant dean until 2008.

When his predecessor, Gerry Posler, retired, Donnelly was offered a teaching position. He said while many college teaching positions have a significant research component, his position is focused more strictly on the classroom, especially on teaching introductory courses. He was interested in getting back into the classroom as well as working more directly in agronomy again.

“I couldn’t play with plants and seeds as much as I wanted to,” he said.

Posler had already established the team as a dynasty, having won the national championship six years in a row and seven times in nine years. Donnelly said the idea of taking over such a successful program was daunting.

“I was a little bit intimidated,” he said. “At Oklahoma State they were our competition, and I never had my team up to quite that level.”

The competitions consist of skills like identifying seeds, grains and plants, grading grains according to USDA standards, and judge the purity of a sample that has other seeds or grains mixed with it. They compete in a nationwide competition each fall and each spring. Some team members also compete in a weeds contest during the summer.

Donnelly learned early that regular focused practice was key to creating a successful team. The crops team practices weekly in a classroom lined with small jars of seeds and grains. They also have previous examples of competition samples for practice material.

“If you put in good practice time, then the results are related,” he said.

Donnelly said recruitment is important for the crops team, just like a sports team. Donnelly has coordinated the state FFA program and sometimes speaks with those students about participating. He also recruits students who are doing well in his agronomy classes about joining the team.

“They will say I twisted their arm,” Donnelly joked.

He said connecting with students, keeping them interested in their education and making them feel like a part of the community can make them better citizens and provide them lifelong skills outside of simply their major.

“If we can get them here and keep them here, most of them mature into much more responsible citizens by the time they’re done,” Donnelly said. “So in the end, that’s probably our main function, is to enhance the opportunity for students to be better professionals, better people, better contributors to society.”

Published in the Manhattan Mercury Jan. 24, 2023

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GREATEST HITS

A group from Manhattan has rocked its way into the Kansas Music Hall of Fame.

Crosswind, a band that was based in Manhattan in the 1970s and 1980s, will be inducted on July 30. The band played to crowds in Manhattan and around the region and still plays reunion shows to people who watched them more than 30 years ago.

“When everybody was going to the glam hair rock, we resisted,” singer Steve Hinrichs said. “It wasn’t who we were and we stayed true to our crowd.”

Tom Wiley, a guitarist for the group, said the late Ron Noe, the original drummer, had asked him in the ‘70s to come to Wamego to see him play and they all started jamming together. Jim Hedman, also a guitarist, said around that time Wiley and original bass player, the late Max Davidson, approached him to see if he would be interested in joining.

“I wasn’t quite used to playing every weekend but I got accustomed to it and we just kept rolling and never looked back,” Hedman said.

Wiley said the group took any opportunity to play and were performing often in any setting they could find.

“We played everything and everywhere we could,” Wiley said.

While glam rock and hair rock dominated the era, Crosswind found a niche playing Southern rock. They traveled the region in the “Big Blue Bus.” Hinrichs, who joined the band in 1981 as the lead singer, said at the time bars in Aggieville were frequented almost exclusively by college students, so Crosswind started playing in other places and found their place playing for others in town.

“They didn’t want the bikers down in Aggieville back then,” Hinrichs said. “They didn’t want the locals down there, it was just college students. They didn’t want the soldiers. So we kind of became the locals’ band. A bar out by the lake called Blue River Pub and whenever we’d play we’d have 1,000 people out there just packed.”

Members said they played almost every weekend for years. They said fans would travel wherever they went to see them play. They would play street dances and local festivals like Lillis, Kansas, Thanksgiving and their own event they called “Independance,” where they would throw up a stage in a field with food and drinks.

“They could literally go anywhere and pull it off,” Dana Brown, a drummer, said. “We showed up out in the middle of a field and probably 3,000 people showed up.”

They opened for multiple other groups including Head East, Black Oak Arkansas and Flash Cadillac.

Brown joined on drums in 1985 after Noe left the group and said he remembered when he realized how lucky he was to be with the group. They were playing the song “Flirting with Disaster,” and Wiley and Hedman began harmonizing with each other on their guitars.

“Tom walks over to Jim and I’m going, ‘Good God, I’m in this band?’” Brown said. “I was just thanking my lucky stars.”

Mike Goodwyn stepped in for Hinrichs on lead vocals in the mid-1980s and said it was a big deal because he was aware of the group and their prominence in the region already. He said all the members, including former members, as well as fans always made him feel welcome.

“They really made us feel we were part of the group,” Goodwyn said. “I was having the time of my life. I was learning every single time we went out to play.”

Hinrichs said the induction means a lot to them as a way to honor the members who have died. Noe, Davidson, and keyboardist Mike McAdams have all passed away.

“It’s nice to be able to recognize them and their families,” Hinrichs said. “It’s important to us they be remembered as some of the founders of what is still going on.”

Crosswind stopped playing together regularly in 1989, but they still play reunion shows. The next is Oct. 15 at RC McGraw’s in Manhattan. Hinrichs said many of the regulars from their shows during their original run still come to shows, even bringing their children and grandchildren. They call their reunion shows “family reunions.”

“The same group of people we saw in the ‘80s, we see them now,” Hinrichs said. “They’re not fans, they’re family.”

Goodwyn started joining the reunion concerts more recently and said he was struck by how the following has continued decades later.

“There were dozens of people I recognized that showed up,” Goodwyn said. “It’s so cool to see so many people still had an interest in it.”

Hedman said in addition to the fans who still turn up, the still play together because they’re all still good friends.

“We run around together when we can, on and off the stage,” Hedman said.

Brown and Goodwyn said if it weren’t for their experience with Crosswind, they likely would not be playing music anymore. Brown said he’s performed with others but nothing has matched up.

“I’ve tried to put bands together, and I was spoiled,” Brown said. “I want this. These guys screwed around and caught lightning in a bottle.”

Published in the Manhattan Mercury July 2, 2022

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GEM

When Keith Stewart got married, the pastor held up two rings and said they were a symbol of the couple’s commitment. The moment helped Stewart realize that jewelry is more than just a piece of metal.

The rings Stewart and his wife, Gay, still wear meant even more because Stewart had made them himself.

Stewart, master bench jeweler at Danenberg Jewelers, has been repairing special tokens and creating custom pieces for customers at the store since 1989. Jewelry allows Stewart to work with his hands and gives him a creative outlet, but he’s also realized during his career how much a special piece of jewelry can mean to someone.

“A lot of times I think it’s just jewelry, but to the person that owns it, it can be one of the most important things in their lives, what it symbolizes,” he said.

Stewart grew up in Waterville. He worked with his hands on the family farm and did some welding and construction, but working with jewelry never entered his mind. Stewart received a degree in accounting from Emporia State in 1981 but soon realized it wasn’t the right fit.

“I didn’t have the heart in it,” he said. “I wasn’t passionate about accounting as much other interests I had.”

Stewart said he enjoyed art classes when he was in school and during his college years he was always making things, so friends encouraged him to explore artistic opportunities.

“People were always telling me I should be an art major.” he said. “That’d be nice but I didn’t know how practical that would be.”

Despite his reservations about job opportunities in the art world, he started taking art classes at the University of Kansas. An instructor suggested Stewart take a jewelry design class and he was skeptical, but the class fit into his schedule. Once he tried it, it came naturally.

“I remember looking at him thinking, ‘Why would I want to take that?’” Stewart said. “It was kind of doing a lot of the kind of work I was doing before so it seemed natural for me, where as a lot of the other students seemed more intimidated by it.”

Stewart’s interest in working with his hands also shows up in his hobby of restoring antique bicycles. He appeared in a Hallmark ad a few years ago riding a penny farthing he worked on.

“I like to make them rideable,” Stewart said.

Stewart said he likes a challenge and his instructor found ways to test his limits when it came to creating a new item of jewelry.

“I’d have an idea but I wasn’t sure if it could be done,” he said. “He’d look at it and say, “That’ll be very difficult, but you could do it.” That was a great way to challenge me.”

Stewart joined Danenberg Jewelers in 1989. Mike Danenberg, whose children Brian Danenberg and Kate Narrow now run the store, hired Stewart and said Stewart is calm and methodical and called him “an absolute perfectionist.”

Stewart said he and Narrow developed a saying when she and her brother took over the store: Strive for perfection but accept excellence.

“He’s one of the most even-tempered people I’ve ever known,” Danenberg said.

Danenberg said at previous jobs sometimes customers would bring an item back because of problems with a repair, but said Stewart gets it right the first time.

“Nobody ever wants to do their work twice, and he never has to,” Danenberg said.

Stewart said he’s the “shop guy” for the store and spends much of his time at his bench in the back of the store with his tools.

“As a last resort they call me out,” he joked.

Stewart said he enjoys both the more practical task of repairing jewelry and the more creative task of creating custom designs with a customer. Doing both brings a nice variety to the job, he said.

When he is creating a new piece with a customer, they might have an idea in mind or Stewart might suggest a way to make it work.

“Every customer is different and unique,” Stewart said.

Recently a pair of sisters came to the store and wanted their late parents’ wedding bands turned into a new item. The rings were broken and bent out of shape, so Stewart helped them design a pin that intertwined them.

Making unique pieces that often are given as gifts highlighted to Stewart why jewelry can be special to people. Stewart said hearing the reactions of some customers brought home to him that a piece can be a keepsake and a reminder of a loved one.

Stewart said one of the first custom pieces he designed was a ring a woman had made for her boyfriend. He was a drummer in a band, so they came up with a design that featured the band’s logo and a drum set and drumsticks on the sides. The woman came back later and said he liked the ring so much it brought him to tears.

“It has so much meaning behind it, where it came from,” Stewart said. “It just made me realize how important a piece of jewelry can be to somebody.”

Published in the Manhattan Mercury Sept. 14, 2021

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ON HOLD

Paintings hang on display behind locked doors. Stages often filled with song remain silent.

Manhattan’s arts community, like industries across the county, is feeling the effects of closures and cancellations during the coronavirus pandemic. After going dark for a time, various arts organizations are adjusting to the circumstances, planning for the future and finding new ways to connect with local art enthusiasts that will outlast the situation.

“It will be a kind of permanent improvement of our effort to give the community a useful, enjoyable experience,” said Linda Duke, director of the Beach Museum of Art.

The Beach Museum, the Manhattan Arts Center and the Strecker Nelson West Gallery have all closed their galleries. The MAC and McCain Auditorium have had to reschedule or cancel performances.

The annual Arts in Park series put on by the City of Manhattan is, for now, planning to move ahead as scheduled, according to Zachary Bayless, a recreation supervisor with the Manhattan Parks and Recreation department. Bayless said he is cautiously optimistic the series will be able to go on as planned but said officials “are very much in a wait and see mode right now.” The first concert is currently scheduled for June 5.

The MAC plans to offer some resources online on various social media. Penny Senften, executive director, said some of their classes quickly began using things like Zoom to meet virtually, so they could still offer critique on each others’ work and have the interaction.

“It’s really heartwarming and amazing to see people take that initiative,” Senften said.

Strecker Nelson West had been offering appointments to view art in the gallery until Riley County announced a stay-at-home order on Friday (Gov. Laura Kelly issued a statewide stay-at-home order on Saturday). People can still shop on the gallery’s website and items can be put on hold until people can safely come see the work in person.

Alyn West, co-owner and gallerist for Strecker Nelson West, said one of her initial concerns, after the health of staff and customers, was how the gallery could be affected financially, although she said she was optimistic that her business would weather the situation and come back intact.

“I was obviously concerned because we’re a retail establishment, and we rely on sales to keep the doors open and artists rely on those sales, too,” West said. “Buying art is not foremost in people’s minds, and that is of course understandable.”

Senften said a potential financial hit was concerning to her, too, but that she felt the center had a safety net that would allow them to move forward. She said she hoped donations to the center would help the MAC get through the loss of revenue like ticket sales from “The Sound of Music” and other canceled performances, although Senften would like to reschedule some performances for later in the year.

She estimated “The Sound of Music,” which she hopes to reschedule, would have generated $10,000 to $12,000 over a three-weekend run.

The MAC is planning for summer camps and the 2020-21 season in hopes the pandemic will have passed.

Todd Holmberg, executive director of McCain Auditorium, said cancellations would mean a financial loss for the auditorium, too. With rescheduled shows, he said, the venue’s upcoming 50th anniversary season would be even more packed than usual, but he was disappointed about the missed shows.

“I was heartbroken,” Holmberg said in an email. “I was heartbroken for 7,000 patrons who were looking forward to a McCain Performance Series show. I was disappointed for several hundred middle school children who were excited to attend a free matinee performance of George Orwell’s ‘1984,’ many who would have attended a dramatic play for the first time in their lives. I also began thinking about my friends and colleagues who are artists and other performing arts professionals who will be facing financial hardships and massive job loss.”

Duke said she wanted to ensure the Beach’s collection was still available to the public. The museum staff used the time working from home to ramp up its use of online programming. The museum will offer virtual access to exhibitions and collections through its website as well as roll out videos on its YouTube channel.

“We want to be especially sure that the collection and experiences with art are still available,” Duke said. “That’s our job.”

Duke said she thought it would create a permanent place for this kind of virtual experience in the art world. Because they are becoming necessary tools during this time, Duke said she thought people would see the value in them and continue using them in the future.

“I have a feeling that after the fear of contagion dies down, people will still want those things because they were meaningful,” Duke said. “I don’t think they compete with visits to the museum. It’s not the same thing at all. If people have a positive experience with them online, they might be more likely to come in.”

All of these organizations said they would rely on the advice of health officials to determine when they could reopen and would be ready to go whenever those experts said it was safe to do so.

Senften said the shutdown has been a reminder of how the arts can connect people.

“Being part of a cast or being in a class, we tend to take that for granted,” she said. “A lot of things, we’re going to need to appreciate more. Hopefully that will last after this crisis because I’m sure we’ll come through.”

West also said she hoped people would come out of quarantine with a greater appreciation for the role arts play in everyday life.

“We’re kind of putting all the arts on hold, and I hope people realize what a very big part of our lives they are,” she said.

Published in the Manhattan Mercury March 29, 2020

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GROWTH

A new Highland Community College venture hopes to foster growth of grapes and business throughout Kansas.

Highland’s Wamego campus opened 456 Wineries last month. Part of the college’s viticulture (grape-growing) and enology (wine-making) programs, the winery incubator hopes to help grow the wine industry in the state, said Scott Kohl, director of the program.

“The idea here is they move in, pay rent, hopefully everything works out and they’re successful, they move out and start their own winery,” Kohl said.

The facility, 503 Miller Drive, Wamego, has a shared tasting room and space for six winemakers. One of those spaces is occupied by Highland. The first outside winery, Bodine Wine Co., held its grand opening this weekend. It also has a laboratory where winemakers can test things like sugar levels and and acid levels. Kohl said Highland received a grant from the USDA in 2016 to start 456 Wineries.

Each “bay” has three large tanks and two smaller ones. Kohl said that translates to around 500 cases of wine. Wineries have to bring in their own grapes and bottles, but they rent the space and equipment. Kohl said the opportunity to rent, rather than buy, lowers start-up costs, therefore making it easier for a new winery get rolling. After planting grapes, wineries don’t get their own harvest for around three years, delaying any profit they might make and making it even more difficult to get started.

“You’ve only spent a couple years’ rent instead of your life savings,” Kohl said.

Kohl said he imagines most clients will stay at 456 Wineries for two or three years and as many as five years before moving on. Highland staff are on hand to offer advice and help but the incubator clients stay independent.

“They’re their own business,” Kohl said. “We advise and help as much as we can, but it’s their own business.”

Bob and Joe Bodine, owners of Bodine Wine Co., worked on a family farm in Osage County and were looking for a way to diversify their crop. They became interested in wine making and took classes at Highland to learn the craft. Bob said having the resources, from equipment to advice from Highland’s winemaker, is helpful as their business gets rolling.

“That’s pretty invaluable,” Bob said. “It takes away a lot of the risk and fear.”

So far the Bodines have two wines for sale at 456 Wineries, a semi-sweet white and a rosé. Bob and Joe said their goals are to expand their product line to include more wines and possibly even cider, and ultimately open a permanent standalone location.

Bob said they’re looking forward to working with other wineries that might move into the building.

Kohl said he hopes those new, small wineries working closely together will help them grow. He said having more wineries in the state could also increase tourism for people who might be looking for something to do for an afternoon or for a day while traveling along I-70.

“We’re looking to help the wine industry statewide,” Kohl said.

Published in the Manhattan Mercury November 17, 2019

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ELEGANT EXIT

The corner of Fourth and Pierre streets will lose a little style at the end of this month.

Darlene Ross, owner of Supreme Elegance, 221 S. Fourth St., will retire and close her doors July 26. After 30 years at the shop, Ross, 65, has been saying goodbye to customers and looking forward to the next chapter. She said she knows it is time to retire, but the memories and relationships made at her salon have made the last few weeks bittersweet.

Both former and current customers have been reaching out to let her know how much they will miss her. She’s received notes and calls wishing her well, including one client who said “I know you have changed my life for the better.” Some told her she should have a party to mark her retirement, but Ross said she didn’t want to do that because it would be too emotional.

“I boo-hooed enough,” Ross said. “I’m trying to have no more tears. But they’re all happy for me. Sad and happy at the same time.”

She began her career in Atlanta. Ross and her husband, Stan, had moved there with their baby son from Manhattan after working at McCall Pattern Company. (The couple recently celebrated their 42nd anniversary.) One weekend, Ross suggested they go and look at some beauty schools.

They visited one that was offering scholarships, and when Ross asked how to qualify, a man from the school put a mannequin head in front of her.

“He says, ‘I want pin curls, hair rollers and finger waves,’” Ross said. “I said, ‘What’s a finger wave?’ I didn’t know what a finger wave was.”

He showed her, she was accepted into the school on scholarship and went to East Point Beauty for $50. Ross said it was realizing a dream she had had since she was 16.

She had always been interested in a career doing hair. Ross was one of 10 children, and she said she was always styling her siblings’ hair and her mother’s, as well as her own.

“I always had a different hairdo every day,” she said.

Ross and her family moved back to Manhattan in 1987, and she worked as a stylist at a couple places before the shop that would become Supreme Elegance came up for sale. She decided it was time to go into business for herself.

“I remember a lady saying, ‘Don’t bite off more than you can chew,’” she said. “When people tell me I can’t do something, I’m going to do it 10 times better.

Ross said that she has been proud to own her own business for three decades, especially as a black woman.

“I can say I’ve been a successful black woman with a business,” she said.

Stan, who does the salon’s books, said it was slow in the beginning but grew as they got to know more people in the community.

“She’s good at what she does,” he said.

Ross’s son BJ said his mother accomplished no small feat by owning her own small business for so long, and he took some lessons from her into his own career, like building relationships and being willing to serve others.

“She’s been a tremendous role model for our family,” he said. “Nothing was given to her. She made a positive impact on people’s lives and that’s cool to see.”

Ross said one of her priorities is making sure she is on time, and that her customers know they should be too. She said she works fast because she doesn’t want to infringe on her customer’s time, and also wants to respect the next customer’s time.

“You cannot get time back,” she said. “If a person’s five minutes late, that’s five minutes I can’t get back. They know I’m gonna get them in and get them out.”

Ross said she loves seeing the final results of her work when someone walks out of the salon. If someone comes in with damaged hair, she said she enjoys identifying what is wrong with it and how to help fix the problem.

“To see that result, they walk out of here looking like ‘Supreme Elegance,’” she said. “I still get that excitement.”

But Ross said the most important thing she has gained from the job, and what she will miss most, is the relationships she has made with longtime customers. Ross said there are people who have been coming to Supreme Elegance for 20 years, and she will miss seeing them.

“They’ve truly stuck with me,” she said. “You’ve got to be thankful, which I am.”

Ross’s daughter Amber worked at the salon with her mother after finishing cosmetology school. Amber, who now lives in Kansas City, said she grew up in the shop copying her mom’s work on her dolls, inspired to make her own career in the industry. She said she will cherish the time she got to watch her mother.

“I learned a lot there,” she said. “It was always a good time, and it was a chance to see a different side of her.”

Stan said he could tell the clients trusted Ross with their hair and could see how she enjoyed the conversations she had with them.

“She cuts my hair and she says I’m her worst customer because I don’t talk,” he said.

BJ said that growing up at the salon, he saw his mother build those connections and tried to do the same in his own work.

“Her customers became lifelong friends, and I saw that,” he said.

Ross said she had been thinking about retirement for a few years, and even though it will be hard to leave her clients, she said she finally felt like it was the right decision. Her hands have started to hurt, but she said she still feels good, so she wanted to retire while she could still enjoy her newfound free time. She and Stan like to golf, travel and watch K-State sports. She’s also looking forward to seeing her two grandchildren more often.

Ross’s family all said that while it is sad to see the end of this chapter, they are excited to see her move on to the next one. Ross said she’s excited to have time for herself.

“I’ve served everybody else for 30 years, so I think it’s time to serve Darlene,” Ross said.

Published in the Manhattan Mercury July 9, 2018

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AND ALL THAT JAZZ

There’s a fight between two lovers in 1920s Chicago. One ends up dead. The other ends up famous.

“Chicago” follows the story of the “merry mistresses of Murderer’s Row,” complete with all the glitz and glamour of the Jazz Age. The production at Manhattan Arts Center, which opened Friday, shows how an obsession with celebrity can make some people commit shocking acts and make others accept those deeds.

“Think of what celebrities do today,” said Heather McCornack, who plays Roxie Hart, an aspiring showgirl who goes to jail after shooting her boyfriend. “They do stuff, whether it’s substance abuse or other things, that in a normal setting they would not get away with.”

Roxie’s foil in prison is Velma Kelly, a Vaudeville performer in jail for killing her husband and sister. Dianne Paukstelis, who plays Velma, said the two women both feel they can only rely on themselves.

“She’s very angry and everybody all the time,” she said. “Everyone has betrayed her.”

Director Penny Cullers said although these two leads are murderers, somehow the audience is still falls in love with them.

“It’s easy to get seduced by them but the real truth is they’re murderers,” Cullers said. “The reporters are being manipulated. We want to forgive. We want to think the best of people.”

The character who does most of the manipulating is Billy Flynn, Roxie and Velma’s lawyer, who has a flair for the dramatic himself. Billy might not be a performer like his clients, but he’s all about the show too, said Drew Horton, the actor who portrays him.

“I try to morph into a person that each character will like,” Horton said. “I get to act one on one with all the characters, and I’m a little different with all of them. He’s putting on an act all the time.”

Roxie and Velma’s other biggest booster is “Mama” Morton, the matron of the jail. Mama becomes the ladies’ manager of sorts, trading money for phone calls to theaters who might be interested in a famous killer. The characterization of Mama was inspired by real life Vaudevillian Sophie Tucker, and Tyler Woods, who plays Mama, was in turn inspired by watching videos of her.

“She was bold and she was not the skinny showgirl,” Woods said. “She was always telling a joke and it informed me to look at that.”

Woods, who is also a local drag performer, said he’d always liked the character of Mama but didn’t think he’d ever get to step into her shoes.

“I never thought I would get the chance so it’s fun to get to do it,” Woods said.

Throughout the show, seemingly the only character who is uninterested in celebrity and who remains uncorrupted by its influence is Amos, Roxie’s mechanic husband. Amos, like the public, is manipulated by his wife and her lawyer and, despite being the only genuine person in the show, loses in the end.

Pete Paukstelis, who plays Amos, said it is the character’s challenge to remain real in the bright lights surrounding the other characters.

“He’s a regular, blue-collar guy,” he said. “There’s not any character who has any respect for him. And every human has been through that.”

Cullers said this is why many people related to Amos, especially his solo, “Mister Cellophane.”

“Many people talk about ‘Mister Cellophane,’ and it resonates with the audience because we all are not murderers,” Cullers said.

The story of criminals who become famous for their crimes, leaving behind the decent people who care for them, asks the audience to question the idea of “celebrity” and the public’s attitude toward it, even almost a century after the musical takes place.

“We’re seeing more and more how people with fame feel untouchable,” McCornack said. “That’s what Roxie and Velma start to feel like.”

Published in the Manhattan Mercury April 24, 2016

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IN THEIR OWN WORDS

As the 70th anniversary of the end of World War II approaches, a local resource offers a glimpse into the personal side of the war.

As interest in the war and those who fought in it increases, a Riley County Historical Society project offers a way for amateur historians to learn about how World War II affected people living right here in Riley County. The Veterans Oral History Project, started by the historical society and available at Manhattan Public Library, allowed nearly 200 veterans to tell their stories.

“World War II was a pivotal point in U.S. history, and it’s important that we not lose that story,” said Cheryl Collins, director of the Riley County Historical Museum.

The project began in 2003 when a group of World War II Veterans met to continue an effort that had taken place a couple of years earlier. The Library of Congress was collecting video-taped oral histories, and about a dozen area veterans participated in interviews in 2001 and 2002.

According Riley County Historical Society documents, the project expanded into its final form in 2003 after Ken Visser, a World War II veteran living in Riley County, heard about a similar project in Pottawatomie County.

A committee of area veterans conducted roughly 190 interviews over the course of three months in late 2003. Almost 150 of those are available for checkout at Manhattan Public Library. The others are available at the Riley County Historical Museum.

After the interviews were completed, one DVD was kept by the historical society, one DVD was sent to the Library of Congress and a VHS tape was given to the veteran of their interview.

◊◊◊◊◊

Veterans from the group set up in an office on Fourth Street and recording their fellow vets’ stories.

“They worked hard,” Collins said. “It was a concentrated effort.”

The found veterans to participate through groups like the Veterans of Foreign Wars, American Legion and Disabled American Veterans, and through publicity and word of mouth. Jim Sharp said finding people to talk was not as difficult as the group had first anticipated.

“Quite a few hadn’t been talking, but their families encouraged them to come because they wanted to know what their uncle, their dad, their brother did in World War II,” said Sharp, a Manhattan veteran who served as chair of the interview committee and also recorded an interview for the project.

Interviewers asked each veteran questions about their youth, how they ended up in the armed forces and their experiences during the war, as well as what they did after the war.

In Sharp’s interview, for example, he tells of disembarking in Le Havre, France, on his first tour of Europe only to learn that the port had been bombed and leveled to the ground days before his arrival. He also remembers how an officer said he would teach Sharp some German, but he should be careful because, “This will either get you shot or help you capture some Germans.”

Visser was also interviewed for the project, recalled as a freshman in high school listening to President Franklin Roosevelt declare war on Japan as well as creating the European edition of the Stars and Stripes newspaper toward the end of the war.

The team also interviewed some female veterans, such as Edna Dailey Bryant, who had been a member of the Marine Corps Women’s Reserve. She explained how her basic training was similar to the men’s training, although “our obstacle course wasn’t as serious,” and how she ended up working to build bombers.

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Sharp said many of the veterans had not reflected on their war service for decades.

“Some of them hadn’t spoken about it for 50 years,” Sharp said. “They found out people were interested and realized some of these experiences should be told.”

It helped inspire Sharp to continue his work writing books about his time in the Army. That led to two books, “Diary of a Combat Infantryman” and “Sgt. of the Guard at Nuremburg.”

Others were motivated to speak in local schools and to become more involved in the area veteran community. For example, veterans of the Battle of the Bulge, including some who participated in the oral history project, held a reunion in Abilene at the Dwight D. Eisenhower Presidential Library earlier this year.

Each veteran had unique experiences and could give their own viewpoint on that time in history.

“It’s become a living history,” Sharp said.

As the generation of World War II veterans becomes smaller, Sharp said, the younger generation can learn from their experiences.

“It’s a lesson in history and hopefully it can prevent us from making the same mistakes twice,” he said.

Published in the Manhattan Mercury March 8, 2015

[kjacksonportfolio]

This story from the San Antonio Express-News became an important part of my time there. I conceived the idea early on during my internship and after pitching it and refining it with my editor, I spent several weeks trying to get in touch with the subjects. I worked on the story in some capacity for more than six weeks. Seeing the piece go from concept to the printed page was one of the more rewarding experiences of  my summer.

[kjacksonportfolio]

This is a true feature story in every sense, written for the San Antonio Express-News. I was able to meet several competitors in this weight-loss competition, but chose two to be the focus of the story. I interviewed them more than once throughout the challenge, meeting them at their workplaces or with their families. The piece gave me a chance to develop a stronger relationship with subjects and follow them through a journey.