Kansas Oddities

Touch down at Dead Cow International Airport and sample the state's bumper crop of bizarre history. The most commonplace sights contain unlikely stories, from the bulldozer's Morrowsville origins to the sunflower's journey from outlawed weed to state symbol. Some of this heritage lies submerged or buried, like the world's only saltwater spring, which now sits at the bottom of a man-made lake. Rumored caches of the Fleagle Gang's loot still draw treasure hunters in spades. From mariachi legends to rodeo roundups, Roger Ringer gathers in a vast and varied harvest of Kansas lore.

Auteur

Roger is a lifelong country boy, growing up working on his grandfather and uncle's farm. His experiences with Sedgwick County's volunteer Civil Preparedness Heavy Rescue Unit led Roger to join the Sedgwick County Fire Department. Still working on farms and ranches, he retired from the fire service and ran his own private detective agency for several years. He attended several colleges and universities, accumulating hours in fire, rescue and emergency medical technician training. Roger was certified as an Emergency Medical Technician-Ambulance in 1976 and retired his certification in 2010. He went to Worldwide College of Auctioneering in Mason City, Iowa, and was in the auction business for several years. Working in family businesses, he still spent many hours on horseback and on the seat of a tractor. He is inflicted with "Old Iron Fever" and has bought and sold many antique and classic tractors over the years. He has owned and operated a portable hay mill and ground hay for ranches, farms and dairies over a three-county area. Roger also operated road graders for two townships and was a township trustee for one term. He has welded, carpentered and carved wood. After the loss of a friend, he returned to writing poetry and began to perform cowboy and country poetry in the region around south-central Kansas. He then turned to western music and regularly attended the Western Music Association Festival in Albuquerque, New Mexico. He performed at the Cowboy Symposium in Lubbock, Texas, and has been onstage in a number of other places--Dodge City; Wichita; and St. Joseph, Missouri, to mention a few. He was a founding member and vice-president for the Kansas chapter of the Western Music Association. He is a life member of the Western Music Association and a board member of the Cowboy Storytellers Association of the Western Plains and publishes the organization's newsletter.