Exploring Eastern Kansas – Part IV

Rolling southwest from Lebo Kansas, my next goal was to check out the Flint Hills National Wildlife Refuge near Hartford Kansas. 

There were 2 issues with my goal to visit the wildlife refuge… One is that there isn’t much to see unless you get out and hike or boat through the refuge.  The second problem was that this area had been deluged with heavy rain and the Neosho River was way over its banks! (To learn about the Refuge, go to http://www.fws.gov/refuge/flint_hills/)

Consequently, we continued on into the town of Hartford in Lyon County Kansas.  This town was founded back in 1857 and it currently has a population of around 370.  Some of the founders were from Hartford Connecticut, hence the town’s name.  While the City Hall shown above isn’t listed in the National Register of Historic Places, it was built in 1889 and it was originally called the “Union Hall”.

Our planned next stop was the city of Emporia Kansas.  As we headed north on KS Hwy. 99 we passed the Emporia Municipal Airport.  I had to stop to take a picture of this F-4 Phantom on static display at the entrance.  It seems like an eternity ago but I once worked for McDonnell-Douglas in St. Louis Missouri and I love planes!

In any case, this was about as close to Emporia as we got!  The overflowing Neosho River blocked our way and we were forced to detour around the mess.  The detour we had to take was mostly dirt and mud…and it was narrow and very slow.  Consequently, we ran short on time and decided to skip Emporia.  It was too bad as I had listed a possible 16 historical sites in town for us to search out… Maybe next time! 

So the next stop in our exploratory tour of east central Kansas was the former Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway depot at 102 West Topeka Street in Strong City.  This depot has been nicely maintained.  As a matter of fact, it was undergoing a restoration project during the time we stopped by and it will be finished by year’s end.   

 The original depot was a wooden building built in 1872, then burned in 1902 and replaced in 1903 by another wooden building.  From 1887 to 1938, a six stall engine roundhouse in town employed many workers. The depot closed in 1938 and for the last 70 years has served as Santa Fe offices and railroad storage.  After several years of negotiation the new owner, Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railroad, donated the building to Strong City in 2006.

Strong City is named after William Barstow Strong, the Vice President and General Manager of the Santa Fe Railway System in 1881.  The town was originally named Cottonwood City.  It thrived due to the railroad.  Strong City’s population is roughly 450.  In 1913 this one-story, pressed brick depot was built in the mission style, trimmed in native limestone and decorative brick with a tile roof.

The restoration plan called for repairing the roof and replacing the clay tile roofing material as well as replacing the flat roofs at the east and west ends of the building.   The exterior of the depot was also scheduled to undergo repairs to windows, doors, gutters, downspouts and the brick masonry.  The interior of the building is to be restored to the original rooms that were in the original depot’s floor plan. 

Can you see what's coming down the tracks?

BNSF diesel locomotive #4748 was flying when it blew by me at the head of a fast freight!   This locomotive, model GE C44-9W, is a 4,400 HP diesel-electric locomotive built by GE Transportation Systems of Erie, Pennsylvania.  Over 2,200 of these locomotives were built with the last one being produced in 2004.

The Burlington Northern Santa Fe Railway, (BNSF), is the second-largest freight railroad network in North America, second only to the Union Pacific Railroad (UP).  Burlington Northern has 48,000 employees, 32,500 miles of track in 28 states, and over 8,000 locomotives.  The railroad has 3 transcontinental routes that provide high-speed links between the western and eastern United States.  BNSF trains traveled over 169 million miles in 2010, more than any other North American railroad.

This is Broadway Avenue in Cottonwood Falls… Love the wide old brick street!  In my mind I can see cattle being driven through the center of town… Cottonwood Falls is just a little south of Strong City.  With a population of about 900 residents, it’s the largest city as well as the County Seat for Chase County Kansas.

The first non-Native American settlement in the area of Cottonwood Falls was in 1854 when an Indian trader founded a cattle ranch on the Cottonwood River close to the mouth of Diamond Spring Creek. 

The eye-catching and impressive Chase County Courthouse in Cottonwood Falls, Kansas was built in 1873.  It is the oldest operating courthouse in Kansas and the 2^nd oldest still in operation west of the Mississippi River.  This 142 year old courthouse was constructed from local limestone.  Its interior 3-story winding staircase was constructed from local walnut trees.  The architectural style has been described as Second Empire or Italian Renaissance Revival and Italianate.  The good news is that this building has recently undergone a $2.4 million renovation and restoration…

Factoid:

·       In 1931, Transcontinental and Western Air Flight 599 crashed 10 miles south of Cottonwood Falls near the community of Bazaar.  All 8 passengers were killed, including legendary Notre Dame University football coach Knute Rockne.

This photo captures 2 of Cottonwood Falls’ buildings that are listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  The Cartter Building at 303 Broadway is at the left with the unattractive wooden storefront.  The old Chase County National Bank (301 Broadway) is on the corner.  As you can see, the latter is now the home of the Chase County Historical Society.

The Cartter Building was constructed in 1888 for Dr. William H. Cartter, a rancher, stockman and investor.  It was designed to house Smith and Cartter’s Grocery Store.  The second floor was leased to the Mason’s and Odd Fellow’s as a lodge room.  Over 500 people flocked to Cottonwood Falls for the opening of the building and there was a huge party!

The Chase County National Bank was built in 1882.  The 2 rooms in the front of the first floor were used by the bank with a room to the rear being used by an insurance company.  Professional offices were located on the second floor and there was a barber shop in the basement.  The bank failed and went into receivership in 1928.  The shareholders took a financial bath!  They had to pay out $250 for every $100 share they owned…

The Chase County Historical Society and museum occupies both of the buildings at 301 – 303 Broadway.  One recent addition to their collection is a 1932 Rockne Studebaker, which was donated by the Wayne Rockne family.  This historical society appears to be very active.  To learn more, just go to http://www.chasecountyhistoricalmuseum.com/.  

That’s about it for now.  Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by and joining us on our tour of East Central Kansas!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Exploring Eastern Kansas – Part III

Headed southwest from Ottawa Kansas, we made a couple more exploratory stops off I-35 on the side roads in Franklin County followed by a stop in Coffey County…

After leaving Ottawa and somewhere between that city and the town of Pomona…still in Franklin County Kansas…we passed this old rural schoolhouse with its ‘ancient’ merry-go-round playground apparatus at the left of the photo. (I actually remember a piece of playground equipment much like this from back in my youth!)

Despite my research and the meticulous documentation available from the Franklin County Historical Society, I wasn’t able to identify this school.  I was stunned to see just how many schools…mostly 1 room structures…populated the county before transportation improved, more people moved to the towns and schools were consolidated.  Check out all of the Franklin County schools listed with corresponding old time photos at: http://www.franklincokshistory.org/themes/education/rural-schools/.  The list contains 99 different schools, most of them of the 1 room variety!

Factoid: In 1919 there were 190,000 one-room schools scattered all around the American countryside. Now there are fewer than 400 still educating our youth.  The remaining one-room schools are concentrated in a few states in the western part of the USA.  Montana has the most with between 85 and 100. Nebraska is second, with roughly 75 one-room schools.

Sometimes my search for Railroad Depots and my research just doesn’t match up!  We headed south from I-35 on Idaho Road looking for the Mildred Kansas railroad depot.  I knew that it had been moved from Allen County but I didn’t know whether it was a freight depot or a freight/passenger combination depot.  We drifted down Idaho Road to Pomona Kansas and the closest thing I could find to an old freight depot was this structure… Wrong!

Incidentally, this little town with a little over 800 residents was founded in about 1869.  It was named for Pomona, the Roman goddess of fruit trees.  If I’d researched a little deeper, the name of the town would have triggered my thought process and we would have found the depot I was looking for!

This is the actual former Missouri-Kansas-Texas (MKT) Railway combination depot from Mildred Kansas.  Note the fruit trees… This depot was moved to its current home at the “Pome on the Range Apple Orchard and Winery”.  We remember passing the orchard and winery both going to and coming from our short visit to Pomona…

"Pome on the Range Apple Orchard and Winery" has a website.  Check it out at http://www.pomeontherange.com/visitus.html.  They are right off of I-35 on the way to Wichita from Kansas City…

Note to Self: Need to conduct more thorough research! 

It figures of course that we would have no trouble finding this ‘replica’ Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe depot in Williamsburg Kansas.  Williamsburg is even smaller than Pomona with a population of about 395.  I didn’t find out what this faux depot is used for but if I had to guess, it’s a community center. (A correction would be welcomed if appropriate)

For a photo of the 2^nd or ‘new’ depot, (built in 1917), that served Williamsburg, just go to http://www.franklincokshistory.org/wp-content/gallery/williamsburg-kansas/williamsburg-depot-003.jpg.

Williamsburg might be small but from what I’ve read, the BBQ is top notch at Guy and Mae’s Tavern at 119 West William Street.  Phone: 785-746-8830.  Check out this article published in Kansas City: http://www.kansascity.com/living/liv-columns-blogs/chow-town/article16393160.html.  You can also check it out (with some photos) on Facebook.  See https://www.facebook.com/pages/Guy-and-Maes-tavern-BBQ/116858301706886.  Maybe we can catch it the next time around…

Laurie and I thought that this old wall in downtown Lebo Kansas was very interesting…and very old!  It appears to have been built with stacked stone and then it was plastered over… Check out the roof line with holes where the support beams used to protrude.

Lebo is in Coffey County and the town has a population of about 930 residents.  It was founded back in 1883 with the railroad, farming and coal mining being the primary driver of growth.  The origin of the town’s name is uncertain…but the common belief is that it was named for an early settler, Josiah Leabo.  

The remnants of the old railroad depot may be found somewhere in town.  The town’s website shows photos of it from 1976 and 1989…stating that it was moved from the tracks in the 1990’s and that it’s deteriorated since then.  Neither of my depot search sites listed a depot in Lebo…

This is the main reason we stopped in Lebo… This Victorian ‘spindlework’ Queen Anne cottage was built by Cleo F. Miller for his bride in 1899.  Mr. Miller operated a general store, a lumber yard, a construction company and he served as Mayor, Councilman and Township Trustee.

 

Cleo Miller lived in this house at the corner of Broadway and Coffey Streets in Lebo until he died in 1967.  In 1913, this home was the first in town to have electricity…and his porch light was an area novelty for some time. 

 

Many Queen Anne houses have delicate, turned porch supports and spindle work or ornamentation that was actually made in a factory.  Then it would be shipped to the construction site and tacked or glued into place by a local carpenter.  This house earned a “Wow!” from Laurie and me!

Factoid: Did you know that coal mining was once big business in parts of Kansas?  Bituminous coal deposits were widely distributed in eastern Kansas.  Deep mining and surface mining methods were used in at least 20 coal beds but the bulk of the mines were in southeastern Kansas.  Mining peaked during WWI.  Today the only active coal mines in Kansas are located in southern Linn County and they are strip mines.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Old Time Family Photos…

I love old photos, especially those that are family related.  Just for fun I decided to post a few of my favorites.

Maternal Great Grandmother – Selma Bergstrom

Maternal Grandmother – Estelle (Sibbald) Weed

Grandma and Grandpa Weed with Elizabeth, Nathan Jr., Jack and Jeane.

My mother Elizabeth, ca. 1943.

Mom, me and my father Ronald ca. late 1942 – early 1943.

Ronald Allen Myers – KIA Czechoslovakia (May 1945)

The Thomson Family – Scotland (Late 1800s) My future Stepfather Hugh Thomson is the second from the right in the back row.

Mom, my brother Robert and me at home on Douglas Street in Jackson Michigan. (ca. 1955 – 56)

Myself, Robert and Hugh Thomson out for a Sunday drive. (Ca. 1958)

I’m fortunate as I have a lot of old family photos and so does Laurie.  My biggest problem is that many of the people featured in the oldest photos, especially from the Weed side of my family, are unidentified.  I’m working through Ancestry.com to research these and other members of the family with the goal of going back as far as I can.  

Fortunately I do have quite a bit of documentation for the Weed/Sibbald side of the family.  My biggest challenge is my father’s family history.  Ties with my mother and the Myers' family seem to have died out following my dad’s death at the end of WWII.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

  

East Tennessee - Local Dining Update…

Time to take a break from our late May/early June exploration of parts if the Mid-West that we coupled with visits with family and friends…

We haven’t visited any new restaurants lately here in East Tennessee.  However, we have returned to a couple places where we’d eaten before and I thought that I’d provide short updates about our experiences... 

This is Cielito Lindo in Vonore Tennessee.  It had been quite a while since we’d last dined at this Mexican restaurant.  Out initial experience was OK but certainly nothing to brag about.  On this occasion, our mixed couples golfing group had chosen Cielito Lindo for our post-golf dining destination.

This restaurant is large and the staff had no problem efficiently serving our crowd of about 2 dozen golfers…

Laurie ordered the Super Quesadilla…a flour tortilla grilled and stuffed with fajita steak, peppers and cheese, then served with Mexican rice, sour cream, guacamole, lettuce and tomatoes.  It was very good indeed!

My entrée was very simple and straightforward.  I had 2 seasoned and grilled Tilapia filets that were accompanied by 7 grilled shrimp, rice and broccoli with a cheese sauce.  It was excellent!  The spices and seasonings used were perfect, enhancing the flavor of the seafood.  Those eating with us wished that they’d ordered the same meal…

Cielito Lindo Mexican Grill is located at 1265 US Highway 411 in Vonore Tennessee.  Phone: 423-884-2885.  This restaurant doesn’t seem to have a website.  Trip Advisor showed 24 positive reviews vs. 1 negative review at the time I wrote this posting...

Another evening, another restaurant!  This time we had a coupon, (50% off the 2^nd entrée), for Aubrey’s Restaurant and we chose the location in Lenoir City Tennessee.

I ordered the Peanut Crusted Catfish…flash-fried catfish filets with lemon caper sauce.  For my side dish I ordered the baked yellow squash.  The catfish was very nice and the lemon-caper sauce was a perfect accompaniment.  The yellow squash was a little dry and it could have been warmer when served.  Nevertheless, it had a nice flavor and it went well with the fish.

Laurie ordered the seasoned and broiled Tilapia Filet over a bed of rice.  As you can see, she chose the sautéed mushrooms as her side dish.  She really liked her meal!  The fish was excellent…

We both started our meals with a Caesar Salad.  The salads popped with the requisite anchovy flavor…something that many restaurants almost ignore with their versions.  There was a lot of salad dressing on our salads…fine with us…but more than would be normally expected by most diners.

Aubrey’s in Lenoir City Tennessee is located at 401 Town Creek Road East.  Phone: 865-986-3113.  Website: http://aubreysrestaurants.com/lenoircity/.  Trip Advisor showed 63 positive reviews vs. 5 negative reviews for Aubrey’s at the time I wrote this posting…

Well…you can’t eat out all the time.  It’s really hard to beat a good home-cooked meal!  Laurie prepared this pan of goodness for me for Father’s Day.  I love a good pot roast with potatoes and carrots baked with the roast in the pan.  Smash and butter the potatoes then add beef gravy.  Love the carrots just like they are!  Happy Father’s Day to me!!

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by to check out all of the food!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Exploring Eastern Kansas – Part I

After departing Kansas City, we had a couple of days available for a bit of exploration before visiting our son and his family in Omaha.  I decided on a route through parts of Eastern Kansas before heading up into Nebraska. 

As usual, I’d plotted out a route that was mostly off the Interstate Highway System and I’d listed out a number of historic sites and railroad depots along the way…

Our first stop was in Ottawa Kansas.  The Old Depot Museum at 135 West Tecumseh was built as a passenger depot for the Southern Kansas Railroad in 1888.  It served as a depot until 1962, when it was given to the Franklin County Historical Society by the Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad.  It was opened as a museum on July 4, 1963.  Unfortunately, as it was a Monday and Memorial Day when we visited, the museum was closed. 

Everything that I’ve read about this museum is positive and it sounds like a great place to visit.  Admission for adults is $3.00.  Active military personnel are free.  Website: http://www.olddepotmuseum.org/.

One focus of this beautiful depot/museum is John Brown’s Pottawatomie massacre.  As anyone who has studied American History knows, John Brown was a white American abolitionist who believed armed insurrection was the only way to overthrow the institution of slavery in the United States.  His raid on the arsenal in Harper’s Ferry West Virginia was a contributing factor leading to America’s Civil War.

I did know that John Brown had spent time in Kansas but I wasn’t aware of his actions there or prior to Harper’s Ferry.  It turns out that during the 1856 conflict in Kansas, (Bloody Kansas), Brown commanded forces at the Battle of Black Jack and the Battle of Osawatomie.  More notoriously, under Brown’s leadership, his followers also killed five pro-slavery supporters at Pottawatomie.  Basically, one night after dark 5 men were taken from 3 different cabins and they were hacked to death with swords… 

To learn more about this slaughter, you can go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pottawatomie_massacre.  To read more about John Brown, who is definitely an American icon of sorts, just go to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_Brown_(abolitionist).  

OK…This classic old home in Ottawa Kansas isn’t listed in the National Register of Historic Places.  We just thought that it was a beautiful old home that was worthy of mention!

Ottawa is the county seat of Franklin County Kansas.  It is situated along the Marais des Cygnes River. Ottawa has a population of about 12,700.  The town grew up around Ottawa Indian settlements.  The tribe lived in the area from 1837 to 1867 and donated land for Ottawa University.  The town and university were named for the tribe.  The first white permanent settler built his house at Ottawa in 1864.

Factoids: 

• Steve Grogan, former New England Patriots quarterback and Gary Hart, former Democratic U. S. Senator from Colorado and Presidential Candidate in 1984 and 1988 were both from Ottawa.  
• The Plaza Grill and Cinema, (formerly known as the Crystal Plaza and The Bijou), is located in Ottawa and it is one of the oldest, if not the oldest, operating movie theater in America.  It was opened in 1905!  
• The name Marais des Cygnes means "Marsh of the Swans" in French.  This name was presumably in reference to the Trumpeter Swan which was historically common in the Midwest.  The river is notorious for flash flooding and the flood gates were up during our visit. 

This Romanesque Revival style Franklin County Courthouse in Ottawa was built in 1893.  It is the oldest of 11 remaining courthouses in the state to have been designed by George P. Washburn, a local architect.  The design features four square corner towers, a typical feature of Washburn's designs; two cupolas on the roof include a bell tower and a clock tower.  The intricate roof design includes a main hipped roof with gable ends on each side and steep hipped roofs atop the towers.  The roof line is ridged with a metal spine, and a dentillated cornice runs beneath the roof's edge.  It is an eye-catching and impressive edifice! 

As I mentioned at the beginning of this post, we were in Ottawa on Memorial Day.  We were fortunate in that we were able to spend some time at the Franklin County Courthouse where a traditional Memorial Day event was being held.  I found it especially moving as my father had paid the ultimate price for our freedom at the end of World War II.

Memorial Day originated as ‘Decoration Day’ after the American Civil War in 1868.  That was when the Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans, established it as a time for the nation to decorate the graves of the war dead with flowers.  By the 20th century, competing Union and Confederate holiday traditions, which were celebrated on different days, had merged.  Memorial Day eventually was extended to honor all Americans who died while in the military service.

The first widely publicized Memorial Day-type observance after the Civil War was in Charleston, South Carolina, on May 1, 1865. During the war, Union soldiers who were prisoners of war had been held at the Hampton Park Race Course in Charleston.  At least 257 Union prisoners died there and were hastily buried in unmarked graves.  Together with teachers and missionaries, black residents of Charleston organized a May Day ceremony in 1865.  The freedmen cleaned up and landscaped the burial ground, building an enclosure and an arch labeled "Martyrs of the Race Course".  Nearly 10,000 people, mostly freedmen, gathered on May 1 to commemorate the war dead.

However the event in Charleston has never been given official credit for inspiring Memorial Day.  On May 26, 1966, President Lyndon Johnson signed a presidential proclamation naming Waterloo New York, as the birthplace of Memorial Day.  Earlier, the 89th Congress had adopted House Concurrent Resolution 587, which officially recognized that the patriotic tradition of observing Memorial Day began one hundred years prior in Waterloo, New York.

Whatever the origins of this somber commemoration, it certainly achieves its purpose and this small town mid-America ceremony struck a chord with both Laurie and me.  

  

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by and joining us on our journey!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave

Another Classmate + Revisiting a Favorite Food Memory

Eventually our leisurely drive along US 50 westward through Missouri brought us to our destination for the night…the Kansas City area.  Laurie had set up a visit with a classmate from her high school in Maplewood Missouri who now lives in the KC area.  I’d planned to take us all to dinner at one of the restaurants in town that I’ve had in my mind for a revisit for many years…

Here is Diana, Laurie’s former high school classmate, posing with Laurie at Diana’s home.  Social media had been instrumental in bringing them together again.  Even so, they spent a lot of time catching up and remembering other classmates… We visited for a while and toured Diana’s new home before heading out to have dinner. 

I spent many years working for different retailers and at least 3 of them had stores or other facilities in the Kansas City area that I would visit in my capacity as the head of those company’s loss prevention efforts.  First there was Venture Stores, then T.G. and Y. Stores and finally, there was Montgomery Ward.

In any case, I spent a lot of time in this market and I ate at a lot of restaurants.  Laurie and my favorite BBQ is Kansas City style and that’s always been a source of conflict for me.  If I was in town for a night, did I go for the great BBQ or did I eat at Stroud’s Oak Ridge Manor? (Photo above) 

As proven by the many folks waiting outside for a table, Stroud’s Oak Ridge Manor is a long-time favorite dining establishment in the Kansas City area.  The original Stroud’s started as a BBQ restaurant in 1933 and remained as such until World War II.  During the war, because beef was being rationed, Helen Stroud started serving pan-fried chicken! 

The two room log cabin that is the core of Oak Ridge Manor was built in 1829! In 1977, the original Stroud’s was purchased from the founder.  After inheriting a couple of Helen’s cooks and recipes, the new owners came up with the menu they still serve today.  In 1983, the owners purchased Oak Ridge Manor and they’ve been operating at this location now for almost 32 years.  

The inside of Stroud’s Oak Ridge Manor is decidedly casual with 3 or 4 dining areas.  Despite the size of the place, waiting for a table is part of the scene.  They do not take reservations…

We waited in the bar…and the ladies got chatting with some patrons who had been waiting a while.  So when those folks’ names were called, Diana and Laurie got a couple of seats in the small and crowded bar.  That was a good thing as our wait took over an hour.

Note: We almost never wait anywhere for more than a half hour.  We usually just go elsewhere.  In this case, I didn’t have a backup plan and the wait gave the ladies more time to catch up.  Besides…I was determined to have another meal at Stroud’s!

This was Laurie’s entrée…the Chicken Fried Steak with creamy pepper gravy.  ($16.95) Cottage cheese was chosen for her side dish.  She enjoyed her meal but it was way too much food!  Diana ended up taking half of it home.  

Knowing that the portions at Stroud’s are huge, we didn’t order any appetizers… Besides, all dinners come with a salad or homemade chicken-noodle soup and a choice of potato.  I didn’t bother to take photos of the soup or salads…but the chicken-noodle soup was just as good as I remembered!

Diana ordered the Chicken Dinner…with dark meat and a baked potato on the side. ($17.95) She had plenty of leftover chicken to take home for the next day!  Both ladies had salads instead of the soup.

I ordered my long-time Stroud’s favorite...a pair of 10 oz. Pan Fried Pork Chops. ($22.95) They came with applesauce.  Maybe you just can’t go back or perhaps the recipe has morphed…or my tastes have changed.  The chops were juicy but the crust was so thick that it was like a shell around the chops instead of being an integral part with the meat.  I admit disappointment…   

Did I mention a couple of the sides that come with everyone’s meal?  The cottage fries were pretty good if not great.  But, as per my memory, I really did enjoy the ‘sticky buns’!  They just kept coming…and I must admit to eating more than 2 of them…

OK… Once again I’ve proven that one usually can’t go back and completely recapture their memories.  Stroud’s Oak Ridge Manor’s food didn’t ‘ring my bell’ or Laurie’s either…like it had in the past.  The good news is that we had a great time with Diana and I’ve now determined to focus on BBQ the next time we return to the Kansas City area.

Stroud’s Oak Ridge Manor is located at 5410 Northeast Oakridge Road in Kansas City Missouri.  Phone: 816-454-9600.  Their website is at http://www.stroudsnorth.com/.

Just click on any of the photos to enlarge them…

Thanks for stopping by for a visit!

Take Care, Big Daddy Dave