Personal Challenge 2018 - Week 34

This is the 34th week of my personal 50-week States of the Union Challenge. Each week I research one of the 50 United States (in the order they attained statehood). I share tidbits of information about the state here on my blog and I create a card that is inspired by something about that state.

This week's state (the 34th one to attain statehood) is...

Kansas

Date of Statehood: January 29, 1861

It's not a stereotype: Kansas does have a lot of tornados. From 1950 to 2012, the state experienced an average of 61 twisters a year. However, if you look at the data from 2003 to 2012, that figure jumps to 112 per year.

Ever heard the expression "Kansas is flatter than a pancake?" In 2003, geographers decided to test eh colloquialism by making a topographic profile of an IHOP pancake using a laser microscope. They compared it with a digital model of the state's elevation data, and found that Kansas was, indeed, flatter than a pancake. Subsequent research, however, shows that six states - including Florida, Illinois and North Dakota - are actually flatter than the Sunflower state.

Wichita is one of the nation's top plane manufacturing cities. Interestingly, at least for me, my parents met at one of the airplane manufacturers when getting physicals for employment there. You might also like to know that I was born in Wichita, though my family left there when I was a 2-year-old. My Dad became a Minute Man for Boeing and with that job came a lifestyle of moving every 3 to 6 months all over the western half of the United States.

Driving down Highway 281, a few miles northwest of Lebanon you will see a Historical Marker that announces you are smack-dab in the center of the United States.

If you stand in a certain spot in White Cloud you can view the panoramic vistas of the Missouri River valley and see four states, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Iowa, all at once without taking a step. Locals call the spot, the 4-State Lookout. 

North of Ashland is the Rock Island Railroad bridge built in 1939 and nicknamed, the Sampson of the Cimarron. Possibly the longest known railroad bridge spanning over 1,200 feet across the Cimarron River and towering 114 feet, give or take a foot, above the river. 

The Big Well in Greensburg is known as the world’s largest hand dug well and an engineering wonder. Workers hand dug the well for days in 1987 using hand tools and completed the 109 feet deep, 32 feet in diameter well in 1988. 

Kansas produces more wheat than any other state in the country. Nearly one-fifth of all wheat grown in the United States is grown in Kansas, and it’s said that enough is cultivated to bake 36 billion loaves of bread, or feed everyone in the world for about two weeks.

Hutchinson is the home of one of the longest grain elevators, possibly the world. The elevator, which was built in 1961,is around 2,600 feet-long and could hold 46 million bushels of grain in some 1,000 bins. 

Kansas has the largest population of wild grouse in North America. The grouse is commonly called the prairie chicken.

Kansas is the nation's second largest producer of beef cattle, behind only Texas.

Every type of prairie habitat can be found in Kansas.

Dodge City is the windiest city in the United States, with an average wind speed of 14 miles per hour.

The public swimming pool at the Lee Richardson Zoo in Garden City occupies half a city block and holds 2 1/2 million gallons of water.

In 1905, two chemistry professors at the University of Kansas discovered helium. 

The graham cracker was named after the Reverend Sylvester Graham (1794-1851). He was a Presbyterian minister who strongly believed in eating whole wheat flour products.

The first Pizza Hut was opened in 1958 in Wichita by two brothers who were attending Wichita State University and wanted a place to eat a good pizza. They were still in school at Wichita State University, so they paid for their business endeavor by borrowing $600 from their mother. Now the chain has over 13,000 locations worldwide.  

The first black woman to win an Academy Award was from Kansas. Hattie McDaniel won the award for her role in "Gone with the Wind." 

What about Kansas laws?

At one time it was against the law to serve ice cream on cherry pie in Kansas. 

Pedestrians crossing the highways at night must wear tail lights.

No one may catch fish with his/her bare hands.

The state game rule prohibits the use of mules to hunt ducks.

Hitting a vending machine that stole your money is against the law in Derby Kansas.

It is against the law to spit on any Dodge City sidewalk.

No one can wear a bee in their hat in Lawrence Kansas.

It is against the law to picket a funeral in Overland Park Kansas. 

Musical car horns are banned in Russell Kansas.

I decided to go with this bit of Kansas information for my card's inspiration... Kansas ranks fourth in the nation for producing sunflowers, harvesting more than 135,000 acres. For the past 40 years, Ted and Kris Grinter near Lawrence have grown about 40 acres of sunflowers for birdseed. Thousands of visitors come to see the fields of yellow during peak season. The Grinters say: “We do allow people to cut sunflowers if they wish. We have ‘donation’ boxes at the field and a general rule of thumb is a dollar a flower, but honestly, they do NOT make great cut flowers but it’s really okay if you just have to have one. Just know that they will probably wilt and die before you get home, and they make a mess from the pollen. Also, if you have a kid that just really wants one, be prepared for that same kid to scream when they realize there is a bug on it. This generally happens when you’re in the car … driving … (You’ve been warned!)”

Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/article170172727.html#storylink=cpy

Read more here: https://www.kansas.com/news/state/article166490447.html#storylink=cpy  The Grinters say:  “We do allow people to cut sunflowers if they wish. We have ‘donation’ boxes at the field and a general rule of thumb is a dollar a flower, but honestly, they do NOT make great cut flowers but it’s really okay if you just have to have one. Just know that they will probably wilt and die before you get home, and they make a mess from the pollen. Also, if you have a kid that just really wants one, be prepared for that same kid to scream when they realize there is a bug on it. This generally happens when you’re in the car … driving … (You’ve been warned!)”

Read more here: https://www.kansascity.com/entertainment/article170172727.html#storylink=cpy

Thanks for stopping by my blog today!


Supplies Used

Stamp Set: Power Poppy In Praise of Sunflowers stamped with Memento Tuxedo Black Ink, cut out with Scan N Cut machine, and colored with Copic Markers

Papers: Recollections Black and 110# White and SU Cherry Cobbler CS and DP from my scrap file

Dies: Nestabilities Circles

Embellishments: CC Designs Enamel Dots, Craftsmart Ribbon, and Washi Tape from an unknown vendor

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