Note to Editors: Adapted from the Kansas Profile radio series, this column profiles a different Kansan, Kansas community or Kansas-based company every Wednesday, as a regular feature of the K-State Research and Extension News  lineup. A photo of Ron Wilson is available at  http://www.ksre.ksu.edu/news/sty/RonWilson.htm.

Released: May 9, 2007

By Ron Wilson, director of the Huck Boyd National Institute for Rural Development at Kansas State University.

“You can destroy our buildings, but you cannot destroy the spirit of our people.”  That quote came to mind after learning of the terrible destruction of the tornadoes which recently hit Greensburg and Stafford County. Ironically, at the time of the tornado, both of those communities were involved with us on a community betterment project called First Impressions.

On Friday, May 4, 2007 at 9:45 p.m., a vicious tornado hit Greensburg, Kansas. It cut a mile and a half wide swath for more than 20 miles through Greensburg, across Kiowa County and up into Stafford County. It left nine dead and millions of dollars of devastation in its wake. Storms spawned tornadoes elsewhere in Kansas and the central Plains.

First Impressions is a community betterment program sponsored by the Huck Boyd Institute for Rural Development and K-State Research and Extension. Its purpose is to provide an outsider’s perspective on a community. When a community signs up, we organize three teams of out-of-town visitors to go into that town unannounced at various times.

Team members interact with the community as if they are tourists, passersby, or prospective residents. They sight-see, buy gas, eat lunch, ask about the community, and generally look over the town and visit with people informally. Then they fill out a questionnaire which records their first impressions of the town in various dimensions such as appearance, infrastructure, signage, services, housing, and more. We compile the results of those questionnaires and report them at a public meeting.

It happens that Kiowa County (including Greensburg) and Stafford had both signed up to participate in First Impressions. I was to have been in Greensburg the week before the tornado hit, but had to reschedule due to a conflict. I was in Stafford three days before the tornado hit there. So I had been working with people in these communities and I know first-hand how they feel about their hometowns.

The devastation continued beyond Greensburg as well. The tornado passed near Macksville and hit the rural towns of Seward, population 63, and Radium, population 40. Now, that’s rural.

Many foundations and charities are accepting donations and establishing recovery funds. For example, the Kansas 4-H Foundation is setting up a fund to benefit 4-H in Kiowa County. In fact, 4-H Foundation trustees donated personal funds so that every Kiowa County 4-Her can go to county camp next summer at no charge. Foundation Executive Director Gordon Hibbard says, “These kids need something positive to look forward to.” To donate, contact the 4-H Foundation at 785-532-5881.

It is bittersweet to read the reports of the First Impressions team members who visited Greensburg before the devastation.

One wrote: “Didn’t know they had so much. A nice town to live and shop in.” Now those places to live and shop are essentially gone. Homes, businesses, schools and churches are destroyed.

State Representative Dennis McKinney is one who lost his home in the storm. He then helped clear out the rubble and rescue his neighbors. That is making a difference!

Bob Mosier is another whose home was hit in Greensburg. An inside stairwell of his house protected him, but then he was trapped inside. The roof was taken and the house was twisted off the foundation. He said, “I couldn’t get out any door because they were all jammed, but the windows were broken so I could get out through them.”

Bob says, “We’ve got help here from all over the state. It’s unbelievable how much help is here. This town is devastated, but we’ve got spirit. My town will fight back and survive.”

“You can destroy our buildings, but you cannot destroy the spirit of our people.”  That is a fitting description of the people of Greensburg and Stafford County who are fighting back from this devastating tornado. Having worked with these communities through First Impressions, I know first-hand that they are vital and that their residents have tremendous spirit and heart. Their desire to rebuild these communities will make a lasting impression.

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K-State Research and Extension is a short name for the Kansas State University Agricultural Experiment Station and Cooperative Extension Service, a program designed to generate and distribute useful knowledge for the well-being of Kansans. Supported by county, state, federal and private funds, the program has county Extension offices, experiment fields, area Extension offices and research centers statewide. Its headquarters is on the K-State campus in Manhattan.

For more information:
The Huck Boyd Institute is at 785-532-7690 or rwilson@ksu.edu

K-State Research and Extension