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As the Lorraine, Kansas-based USD 328 Board of Education approves putting the question of whether or not to consolidate with Claflin USD 354 to a vote this spring, residents are acutely aware of the uncertainty of Small Town, USA’s future. Consolidation seems to be a fact of life in modern, rural America, but a community’s school is nearly synonymous with its identity, in many cases, so it’s always a tough decision. The Great Bend Tribune is following the story.
Posted by Wynn Ponder
One of the most overlooked benefits of traveling in rural Kansas is the quality of the journey itself. Sure, the towns are as unique as fingerprints, as friendly as family, but the joy of the open road is nowhere more liberating than places like Highway 177 between Cassoday and Council Grove, or the fiery mesas on Highway 160 between Coldwater and Medicine Lodge, or Scenic Route 105 south of Toronto, or Highway 18 or Interstate 70 in the Smoky Hills.
Posted by Wynn Ponder
The “Small Town, USA” website is up, with only a few “coming soon” spots. I’m particularly excited about the Webisodes link on the “About The Film” page. This will soon be home to daily and weekly uploads of footage we shoot in communities around the state. There are so many great stories in rural Kansas that we can’t possibly fit them all into a single movie, but we can make them visible on the world wide web. Some of these webisodes may also appear on the finished DVD as Special Features.
If you haven’t seen the movie preview yet, go to the home page and click on “Watch The Preview Trailer Now” to see the tone and style we’ll bring to the big screen. The trailer also shows the kinds of amazing people we’ve met during the past couple of months of shooting … Kansans with a vision–and a deep love–for rural America.
Be sure to go to the “Contribute” page and click on “Web Links” for rural community resources. Please email any links you’d like to see added. To share stories for possible use in the film, click “Contribute Stories” on the same page. Click on “Not Sure What To Write?” to find out what types of stories we’re looking for.
Also, please do chime in with your comments on this or any other blog article. It’s easy: just click on the title of the article you’d like to comment on, then scroll to the bottom of the page and fill in the blanks. Don’t be shy; this film, website and blog are for all of us.
“The Midwest’s image is framed by people on both coasts, folks who look down their noses on backward “cow towns” like Chicago. It is especially a problem in the news media. I am more and more convinced that the nation’s media needs to be forcibly relocated from New York City and Washington, just to see things from the perspective of a different city. I’m thinking Omaha.”
–Prof. Jay Price, Public History Program Director, Wichita State University
