The Heart of the Country

Only once in a blue moon do Kansas farm and ranch families have an opportunity to tell their story to people half way around the world. That was the case March 23-24 when a Dutch (public broadcasting company in the Netherlands) television crew traveled to Smith and Sheridan counties to portray life on the farm in rural Kansas. Theron and Lori Haresnape and family, Smith County, Harold and Bridget Koster and grandchildren and Wilfred Reinert from Sheridan County provided an up-close and personal view of their farming operations, family, faith and how folks live in the Heartland. So often visitors from other countries travel to the United States and they only travel to the East or West coasts, says Paul Rosenmoller. He interviewed the Kansas farmers and ranchers as part of the Dutch film crew. People who live and work in the Midwest are often overlooked and seldom included in visits by travelers from abroad, he continues. The same holds true for television documentaries. “Farms, ranches and small villages of 14 people like Seguin are an integral part of the United States of America,” Rosenmoller says. “I believe these rural areas are underestimated. The people who live here have sentiments, opinions and views just like other parts of America. So what is happening in the countryside has a huge impact on what we know in Europe as the United States.”...more