Kansas Tell Their Stories Traveling Exhibit

Presented by the Kansas Humanities Council and The Collyer Community Alliance Association

Featured at the Collyer Convent B&B Inn 704 Ainslie Ave (Main St) Collyer, KS

Open House 1:00 – 5:00 PM Every Saturday Afternoon August 14 – September 11

Special Guest Visit Saturday August 14th Historian/Author Jim Gray "The Cowboy"

Speaking at 2:00 pm

No charge, come out and just enjoy learning about our area, and the people who settled here.

JULY 2010 CCA NEWSLETTER

Hi Everyone,

We were a little behind and our meeting was a little heavily scheduled after missing last month's meeting due to harvest. We found that our progress was exciting enough that we had a hard time staying on task. We began our July 22nd meeting with Opening Bids from two prospective contractors. We awarded the St Michael School Building renovation contract to Schamber Historic Preservation. It will take approximately 4-6 weeks for the Kansas Historic Society to approve the contract under the Heritage Trust Fund Grant rules before we can expect to proceed.

We have previously signed a contract with Roofmasters of Colby to refurbish both St Michael building gutters and roofs, they should be here and ready to begin at anytime.

We have tabled the landscape design plan with WDM of Wichita. We will look at that at a later date.

The Collyer American Legion building has been deeded over to the Collyer Community Alliance. We are so honored. Watch for future developments.

We are still keeping our fingers crossed that the Collyer Downtown will be added to the St Michael buildings as part of the Partnership Historical Site now that the area has been added to the National Registry. That would open the door for funding to start on the downtown roofs.

We have two pieces of exciting news to share with you:

(So get ready to mark your calendars)

1) The Kansans Tell Their Stories traveling exhibit will be on display at the St Michael Convent every Saturday afternoon between 1:00 - 5:00 pm starting August 14th, through September 11th. This traveling exhibit features the Kansas Humanities Council sponsored research projects across Kansas, including the Collyer area Kansans Tell Their Stories project. There will be refreshments, come on out and join us. We will be offering special hours by appointment, please call Rosalie #785-769-3461, Donna #785-769-4268 or Angie #785-769-5364 to set up a special time for yourself or groups. (We would also welcome a few more volunteers to help us greet visitors.)

2) We are not able to put together a complete program for the carshow this year, as we have so many other projects underway. We have decided to open our community up this year to you by offering dinner and an outside dance at the Collyer Convent B&B September 18th. (We have changed the date this year out of respect to September 11th being a National Day of Mourning.) First Federal S&L of WaKeeney has graciously stepped up to help sponsor the band this year. We will have raffles, including a flat screen TV that has been partially donated by Keyser's True Value also of WaKeeney. Watch for more details.

Your Officers and Trustees-
Donna Malsom
Rosalie Shaeffer
Angie Ziegler
Robert Griebel
Steve Ziegler
TJ Kinderknecht

and all of the dedicated members and workers.

JULY 2010 CCA NEWSLETTER

Hi Everyone,

We were a little behind and our meeting was a little heavily scheduled after missing last month's meeting due to harvest. We found that our progress was exciting enough that we had a hard time staying on task. We began our July 22nd meeting with Opening Bids from two prospective contractors. We awarded the St Michael School Building renovation contract to Schamber Historic Preservation. It will take approximately 4-6 weeks for the Kansas Historic Society to approve the contract under the Heritage Trust Fund Grant rules before we can expect to proceed.

We have previously signed a contract with Roofmasters of Colby to refurbish both St Michael building gutters and roofs, they should be here and ready to begin at anytime.

We have tabled the landscape design plan with WDM of Wichita. We will look at that at a later date.

The Collyer American Legion building has been deeded over to the Collyer Community Alliance. We are so honored. Watch for future developments.

We are still keeping our fingers crossed that the Collyer Downtown will be added to the St Michael buildings as part of the Partnership Historical Site now that the area has been added to the National Registry. That would open the door for funding to start on the downtown roofs.

We have two pieces of exciting news to share with you:

(So get ready to mark your calendars)

1) The Kansans Tell Their Stories traveling exhibit will be on display at the St Michael Convent every Saturday afternoon between 1:00 - 5:00 pm starting August 14th, through September 11th. This traveling exhibit features the Kansas Humanities Council sponsored research projects across Kansas, including the Collyer area Kansans Tell Their Stories project. There will be refreshments, come on out and join us. We will be offering special hours by appointment, please call Rosalie #785-769-3461, Donna #785-769-4268 or Angie #785-769-5364 to set up a special time for yourself or groups. (We would also welcome a few more volunteers to help us greet visitors.)

2) We are not able to put together a complete program for the carshow this year, as we have so many other projects underway. We have decided to open our community up this year to you by offering dinner and an outside dance at the Collyer Convent B&B September 18th. (We have changed the date this year out of respect to September 11th being a National Day of Mourning.) First Federal S&L of WaKeeney has graciously stepped up to help sponsor the band this year. We will have raffles, including a flat screen TV that has been partially donated by Keyser's True Value also of WaKeeney. Watch for more details.

Your Officers and Trustees-
Donna Malsom
Rosalie Shaeffer
Angie Ziegler
Robert Griebel
Steve Ziegler
TJ Kinderknecht

and all of the dedicated members and workers.

Hope this finds you all healthy, happy, and enjoying more sunshine than rain.

Hi Everyone,

I apologize for being a little slow with the newsletters. Let's see if I can catch you all up on what has been going on, and what is coming up.....

We did switch our meeting nights to the 4th Thursday of the month, just in case you didn't get that before. Still at 7:00 pm, still at the Collyer Convent. Our last meeting was May 27th, our next meeting will be June 24th. Hope that helps, thanks to those we almost always see.

We have completed the St Michael Grade School Scope of work with our architect consultant. We are now ready to bid for work with the Heritage Trust Fund Grant.

We have three more weeks (or until June 15th) to sell the rest of our Partnership Historic Site tax credits. This is the program we have been using to partially fund the rebuilding of the kitchen at the Convent (also used Trego County Eco/Devo funds), hope to do some ADA and Landscape work at both St Michael Buildings, and can use some of the funds to match our Heritage Trust Fund Grant. For $1000 tax deductible contribution, you will receive 50% back in tax credits. The tax credits come directly off of what you owe to the state, resulting in a tax refund if the credit is larger than the tax liability. The contribution is tax deductible Federally, and 50% with Kansas State Taxes. Let us know A.S.A.P. if you are interested in a 2010 contribution.

We have applied for the Partnership Historic Site tax credit program again for the 2010/11 year, only this time we have asked to include the dance hall and mercantile buildings. We are trying to replace the roofs on those two buildings, and finish the St Michael properties.

Speaking of grant applications and funding, we have applied for the Lowe's Historic Schoolhouse grant for the St Michael Grade School House. Will let you know the outcome, if accepted and funded, we could be on our way to finish the building.

We have accepted a roof bid to replace both St Michael Building roofs.

We have our first monthly Collyer Convent Saturday night dinner scheduled. It will be a Family Drive Inn night on August 14th. You just need to drive up and park in front of the Convent, we will come out, take your order, and then car hop deliver it.

Rosalie has volunteered to help attend North West Kansas Travel Council Meetings. She is hoping that she can attend the June meeting. We have agreed to renew our membership with the Kansas Community PRIDE organization.

We cleaned up the Depot Friday morning, May 28th, and cleaned up the highway Friday evening May 28th. Made for a large work date. We are still selling raffle tickets for the Flat Screen TV.

Is anyone interested in helping run WiFi access times? Could be an evening, was Thursday evening in the past, or even a weekend? We are hoping to add a Laptop with our Partnership Tax Credit Funds for public use, but need to know that it would be helpful first. Thank you Rosalie for your dedication to this program in the past.

This notice is a little late to say, but we are glad to have the Collyer High School Alumni back in town over Memorial Day. Hope a lot of visitors joined us for our "Memorial Day" events led by our own American Legionaires.

We are volunteering to help the Gove Kansas Rodeo club with their concession stand on June 4th and 5th. Will meet at the Rodeo Grounds Concession stand in Park at around 5:00 pm. They have been so great at helping us that we are very happy to help them too. If you are free for either evening, and would like to go, please contact us.

Our next big event is our Poker Run, June 6th. Will meet and register at the Collyer Convent 10:30 - 11:30 am. Will be serving donuts and coffee. The Blessing of the Bikes will be at 11:30 am with our beloved Father Torrez. Departing time will be at 12:00 noon. Meal will be provided at the end of the ride, at the American Legion Building. This has been a very popular Fundraiser in the past, and a lot of fun. You do not have to ride a motorcycle to participate, and you do not even have to go on the run to buy "hands". Doerfler's Harley Davidson of Hays has donated prizes for the event. Thank you Doerfler's.

Our next car show meeting will be June 13th at 1:00 pm. Collyer Convent. We have a lot to do with very little time left to do it. If you would like to join in the planning, now is your chance. Lots of fun (ok, work too) to bring a really great event in Collyer and the surrounding region. We have set the date for September 11, 2010.

The Collyer Community Alliance Board and membership team.

Donna Malsom, President, Board Member (#785-769-4268)

Karla Rohleder, Vice President

Rosalie Shaeffer, Secretary, Board Member (#785-769-3461)

Angie Ziegler, Treasurer (#785-769-5364)

Steve Ziegler, Board Member

Robert Griebel, Board Member

T.J. Kinderknecht, Board Member

Special thanks to all of the smiling faces and helpers that are always there to help in some way. (Just want you to know how important you are to our progress. Each and everyone of you are important to us. Your support keeps us going, from well wishes, contributions, volunteering, backing us with your membership, we couldn't do it without you.)

Quote of the year: The race is not always to the swift, but to those who keep on running - Anon.

CCA Winter News

We have all found ourselves in a bit of cold and difficult winter here in Collyer, but are finding ways of digging ourselves out to face the sunshine.

We did sell some of our tax credits before the end of the year, and still have more to sell. Anyone who is interested in a tax deductible gift that will include Kansas Tax Credits, please contact me (Donna Malsom - #785-769-4268). I will also be glad to explain how they work.

Short review of February 1st meeting:

Discussed hiring roof contractor for both St. Michael Buildings.
Discussed Heritage Trust Grant, hired Mort Plunkett as our architect to line up and oversee work on St. Michael Schoolhouse.
Discussed a landscaping plan at the St. Michael Buildings also.
Discussed that the Collyer Downtown was now on the National Registry, as approved by the National Park Service. Our sights will be moving North next. Discussed car show, it has been scheduled for September 11, 2010.
Discussed the meal service at the Collyer Convent B&B. March 6th will be our first monthly Saturday Night Supper. Meat and potatoes - what Kansas is known for.
Acknowledged Rural Telephone Service's generous contribution of cable service to the St. Michael convent building. (We can now have news with the morning coffee gatherings.)
Planned our Lenten Fish Fries - beginning Friday Night, February 19th. Will continue every Friday Night during Lent until Good Friday, April 2nd. Starts at 5:30 pm, come join us at the Depot.

Election of Officers:
Donna Malsom, President
Karla Rohleder, Vice President
Rosalie Shaeffer, Secretary
Angie Ziegler, Treasurer

Election of Trustees:
Steve Ziegler
Robert Griebel
Rosalie Shaeffer
Donna Malsom
T.J. Kinderkecht

Hope to see you all at the Fish Fries. We will start our Fall raffle by selling tickets at the Fish Fries for a 26" flat screen tv, donated in part by Keyser's True Value of WaKeeney. We will also have door prizes to be given away during each evening (will accept more contributions if you have a door prize that you would like to donate). See you Friday night........

Groundhog Day Soup Supper

We are quickly approaching February 2, when we will celebrate Ground Hog Day with a Soup Supper at the St. Michael Catholic Church Basement. The meal will start at 5:30 p.m., and we promise that we will have enough food that if you work a little late, we will still have hot food for you

There are a few of us that spent last Sunday afternoon, January 21st, at the church kitchen and made noodles and dumplings for the CCA Soup Supper, and also the Church's upcoming Soup Supper on February 25th. However, we still need donations such as: crackers, cheese, sausage, deviled eggs, side dishes, etc, and most especially desserts. Also, if you have a few containers that we could use as "to-go" containers for left overs, we would be happy to take them off your hands.

If you are free to help us on Friday, please let us know. We need a few people through the day to help us cook, a few to help us setup, and a few to help us serve that evening.

We hope to see you there.

Recap from last month's short meeting held after our Pot Luck Supper (August 7th):

Need suggestions for October 14th, especially with Raffles and also the children's games and activities. Also need to know who would like to help work the children's games scheduled between 2-4:00 PM. We also neet help manning the raffle, motor blow, poker walk, washer board tournament. We also are offering booth rental N/C for other Non-Profits, Church, and Youth Groups, but we need to know what they would like to do A.S.A.P. (If you are affiliated with a group that you think would like to participate, please let both them and us know.)

Also, we are considering having a "Spring Consignment Sale" in early 2007.

The Collyer CDBG Grant has been put on hold for one year, but will still need help preparing for it, if you would like to help, please let us or one of the City Councilmen know.

And last issue discussed was the Convent, we will need to schedule one more work night to hang valances, clean out stacked lumber from the basement, and pour a new cement patio behind where we now have a dangerous hole. Stay tuned-

July 3rd Meeting Recap:

Our July 3rd meeting was well attended, we had limited the discussions to finalize plans for the July 8th Dance/Music Fest. The shade behind the Depot made the meeting a little more enjoyable.

The July 8th After Harvest Music Fest went off without a hitch. Started a little slow in the heat, but final numbers were respectful as the evening cooled. We had one of those superb summer nights that Western Kansas in known for. We thankfully had 75 dedicated volunteers that helped make it happen. The early music was enjoyed by all, and by the time the Blaine Younger Band was through performing, we had sold over 400 tickets

Monday morning started off with a surprise in the mail, the IRS has approved us as a 501(C) 3 Non-Profit Corporation, retroactive to May 2005. That means that all contributions were and are officially tax-deductible. This also give us more room and options for grant monies. Hallelujah !!

We have a CDBG Grant that we are working with the City of Collyer with, and we could use a little help reviewing the map we made last year for accuracy. Any one who would be willing to help with this project, please let Rosalie or me know. Thank you for all of your help and good wishes.

More info coming soon -

Donna M

More on our 2005 Fall Street Festival

Our Fall Street Festival was a huge success, and we'd like to say thank you to everyone who made it possible.

We also have a list of trophy winners as well as galleries of contestants vehicles.

Convent Nearing Completion

Convent still has a few odd jobs going, a special thank you to everyone who has been helping with the renovations. We are still meeting on Sunday afternoons, 1-5:00 PM, and Wednesday evenings, 5-9:00 PM.

Sod House Gets Tarp

Another milestone happening this week: Midwest Energy has agreed to help us tarp the Sod House. If you are free on Tuesday and would like to help, let me know at #769-5203. We also need stories about friends and families from this area, and especially about the Thiel Family, as well as other families that have lived in the Thiel Sod House. We are hoping to build an immigrant museum incorporating the Thiel Sod House, so compile those stories now, or get in touch with me, we'd also like to include anyone close enough to interview with our Humanity Grant Project that will be in progress soon. We still feel that rebuilding our history is the key to rebuild our future as a community, - that is, past, present, and future community.

Lenten Fish Fry

Back by popular demand: Our first Fish Fry will be on Friday, March 3, 2006, and we will have one every Friday night through the Lent Season ending with Good Friday, April 14. They all begin at 5:30 PM, and will feature delectable fish, fried potatoes, potato casserole, coleslaw, bread and desserts. (We will also have chicken for the not in love with fish people.) See you at the Historical Depot for a fun night of food, raffles, and door prizes. We are looking forward to seeing many of our friends and neighbors...

If you would like to contribute a door prize, dessert, or help serve, please call Rosalie at #785-769-5201.

March 1, Wednesday starting at 6:00 PM, we will be meeting at the Depot for cleaning and preparation.

Grant Status

We did receive funding from the Kansas Humanities Council for the first step to start our History Project. This grant is awarded to help us record the stories of the immigrants and the families that settled here in our community and surrounding area. We will find out by April if the NEH will fund step two, which will layout the ground work to bring out more of the local history, and prepare the Thiel Sod House as a museum to centralize it.

We are also still working on Historical Designation for the Zeman Dance Hall, and that will be the cornerstone for the downtown area project. As soon as we can put new roofs on the dance hall, and the mercantile, work will begin on those two buildings. (We're still short the $$'s.) We are expecting more help with funding as soon as the IRS awards our 501(c)3 status, and that will help us apply for help from other foundations and grants.

Ground Hog Soup Supper & Lenten Fish Fry

We reported good results on our "Ground Hog Soup Supper." We are now planning to start our "Lenten Fish Frys" at the Depot starting March 3rd. If you would like to help, bring a dessert or a raffle prize, please let us know. Otherwise, mark it on your calendars, as it will be a fun event again this year

The convent is nearing completion. We are planning a huge effort next week to finalize as much of the work as possible. Here are the dates if you'd like to join us:

The only other thing on the calendar for the near future are two > scheduled meetings:

January 23rd Planning Meeting Results

We went over our community direction from our humble start of Septeber 26th, 2004, and the goals we had hoped to bring about as a group, and discussed how we hope to get there. We also discussed meeting dates, and as there have been no objections, we will keep them on the first Monday of every month (a week later in the case of a Holiday). We also layed out our Major Events and Fundraisers for 2006.

2006 Meeting and Event Schedule:
DateTimeItem
February 4:5:30 p.m.Ground Hog Soup Supper at St. Michaels Church
February 6:7:00 p.m.Monthly Meeting at Depot (& selection of officers)
March 3:6:00 p.m.Fish Fry #1 at Depot
March 6:7:00 p.m.Monthly Meeting at Depot
March 10:6:00 p.m.Fish Fry #2 at Depot
March 17:6:00 p.m.Fish Fry #3 at Depot
March 24:6:00 p.m.Fish Fry #4 at Depot
March 31:6:00 p.m.Fish Fry #5 at Depot
April 3:7:00 p.m.Monthly Meeting at Depot
April 7:6:00 p.m.Fish Fry #6 at Depot
April 14:6:00 p.m.Fish Fry #7 at Depot (Final)
May 1:7:00 p.m.Monthly Meeting at Depot
June 5:7:00 p.m.Monthly Meeting at Depot
July 3:7:00 p.m.Monthly Meeting at Depot
July 15:5:00 p.m.2nd Annual After Harvest Music Fest (Food, Fun & Music)
August 7:7:00 p.m.Monthly Meeting at Depot
September 11:7:00 p.m.Monthly Meeting at Depot
October 2:7:00 p.m.Monthly Meeting at Depot
October 14: 2nd Annual Fall Street Festival (Crafts/Vendors & Quad-Rod-Custom Car & Tractor Show)
November 3: Pheasant Hunter's German Supper
November 6:7:00 p.m.Monthly Meeting at Depot
December 4:7:00 p.m.Monthly Meeting at Depot

We discussed some of the work that needed completed, if you are interested in one of these groups, or have an idea - let us know:

As always, suggestions are welcome. We are still determined to rebuild our history as individuals, a community, and our region, and turn that history into tourism and commerce. Collyer can be an asset to the County, the NW Kansas Region, the State of Kansas, and ourselves. Our first project is near completion, (watch for a date in the very near future). We are confident that it will be a success, as we line up the School House, The Depot, The Dance Hall, The Sod House, and the Old Merchantile.

Great Turnout at the Fall Street Festival

We had a great turnout at the October 8th, Fall Street Festival.

Pictures and more info will be coming soon. We had a really big turnout for the vendor fair and the car show.

Update on 501(c)3 Status

Notice:
We have received our letter from the IRS that they are reviewing our application for 501(c)3 status. They warned us that it could take up to 120 days from September 2, 2005 to receive the final word.

We ow a huge thank you to David Herl, from Adams Brown Beran & Ball Chartered CPA. His countless hours and dedication are appreciated by all of us

Typically, our ruling should be retroactive to the filing date, but we will keep everyone up to date as soon as we have the final word.

September 12th Meeting Recap

The heat is still making us keep the meetings as short and sweet as possible

We discussed the on-going work at our St. Michael Buildings. We have the floors completed, which means that we are ready for the plumber to come back. (That means we can now finish the bathroom.)

Work Dates:

I think there are a few of us who are planning on squeezing in free time to clean, paint, and repair woodwork at the convent. If you want to join us sometime when free, let Angie Z, Rosalie S, or Donna M know. We will make sure that there is a key if not a body already working

Leroy Pierce is hired to work on the Player Piano.

Rodney Branigan, an awesome guitarist and musician will be performing October 8th. (He can play two at once.)

Happenings this Week (August 14, 2005)

Just a reminder that Monday Evening we are planning on touring the Cottonwood Ranch at 7:00 p.m. The car pool will leave the Depot at 6:30 p.m. Don Rowlinson will personally give us a tour, and might have some ideas for us on how to turn the sod house into a museum worthy project.

Saturday night is the Barn Dance/Switchback Concert at the Fairgrounds in WaKeeney. Gates open at 5:00 p.m. for BBQ and Beer Garden, the dance starts at 8:00 p.m.

If you would like to volunteer:

It's a good chance work with other organizations who also want the best for our county and area, and to earn a little money for our organization as well. It promises to be a lot of fun.

Don't forget that Wednesday Evenings at 7:30 p.m. and Saturday Mornings at 6:30 a.m. are set aside for work on the St Michael Buildings. Food provided. Just a few hours at a time has been accomplishing a lot, going much faster than anticipated, and we are having a good time socializing while we work.

Questions,
call me -
Donna M.

Big success at the July 16th "Music Fest":

Hi Everyone,

Everything turned out really well for the "AFTER HARVEST MUSIC FEST," only problem we encountered was the extreme heat that was still sticking around at 5:00 p.m. when we opened.

The horse and wagon rides given by Chuck & Lori Mattke were popular, and all the music was wonderful. When the sun went down, we had one of the beautiful nights that Western Kansas summers are known for. Counting all the volunteers and musicians, we hosted approximately 500 people for the event.

A big thanks to everyone, we enjoyed sharing the evening with all, and it takes us another step forward on our rebuilding projects.

There are some pictures of the event.


Contact Us
Collyer Community Alliance Association
PO Box 1
Collyer, KS 67631


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