We recently received some great news! The Home on the Range movie was awarded the 2018 Western Heritage Award (Wrangler) for Best Docudrama by the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. The Western Heritage Award was established in 1961 as the pinnacle commemoration of the American West by honoring the legacy of men and women for their work in literature, music, film and television.
Congratulations to Executive Director Ken Spurgeon and all our friends at Lone Chimney Films. Spurgeon will receive the award at the Museum's Western Heritage Awards Festival in Oklahoma City on April 14. Induction to the Great Western Hall of Fame for Performers will also be made. This will be the second time Spurgeon and Lone Chimney Films have received this award, the other for their Civil War Documentary “Road to Valhalla”.
The next showing of the Home on the Range movie will be March 10th in Red Cloud, Nebraska and soon in Phillipsburg. For information contact El Dean Holthus at 785-695-2347 or 785-476-5216.
Mark McClain with The Peoples Heartland Foundation and Joshua Lippold will meet with me soon to begin prioritizing the projects identified in our recently completed Comprehensive Plan. The first “brick and mortar” project will be an amphitheater across West Beaver Creek south of the Cabin. The site location is critical in that it cannot distract from the Cabin.
We will also prioritize landscape projects which include cleaning brush from the creek and working to improve water flow at the Allen Bridge to reduce the risk of flooding. Other projects are stream restoration, pollinator plots, wildlife habitat, erosion control, restoration of native grasses and a habitat for Monarch butterflies. I don’t have room to detail all these plans but there is an excellent explanation of similar projects in the February issue of “The Furrow”, a quarterly journal of agriculture published by John Deere. This magazine is distributed locally to farmers and other agricultural interests in the area by LandMark Implement, our local John Deere Farm and Industrial Equipment Supplier.
The Peoples Heartland Foundation with Tami and Mitch Holthus, Voice of the Kansas City Chiefs, are planning the Second Annual Home on the Range Spring Celebration on Saturday, April 14th to benefit the Home on the Range Site. This year's celebration will include something for everyone, with a golf tournament, pickle ball tournament, the showing of the Home on the Range movie and a delicious dinner. The golf tournament is limited to 20 teams so early reservations are suggested. To reserve your team, please call Mark McClain at The Peoples Bank, 785-282-6682. More information is coming soon!
If your organization is interested in an informational program or in sponsoring a showing of the Home on the Range movie please contact El Dean Holthus at 785-695-2347 or 785-476-5216 or holt@ruraltel.net.
