Kansas-Oklahoma-Arkansas -Missouri: The Heartland Tour part 1
The sites and scenes for this first part of the Heartland Tour remains focused on God’s creation, but more specifically the 2-legged creations we have been blessed to work, live and learn from over the years. With our sights set on completing all of the lower 48 states instead of a circumference trip, we added a 7-state blitz through the plains where we have numerous friends, family and former students spread across the Heartland. The people we hoped to catch on this whirlwind are people that genuinely shaped Michele and Vince’s lives earlier in their marriage and for some even before they met. We are missing a bunch of people that would qualify on that influential list so this record of our stops is more centered on who we could find on the fly. As we are now into the AARP phase of our life, we benefit from the 20/20 hindsight into the lenses of some high-character influencers in our lives. These are gifts God provided us that we just wouldn’t be the same without so thank you to those we saw, apologies to those we missed but our time in the Heartland truly was nourishing to the soul!
We are also prayerfully hopeful for our boys to find their way forward in finding and cultivating some of these critical relationships for their paths. Sharing some of these reunions with the boys may be drudgery for teens, yet Michele and Vince can each recant our parents’ stories, told over the dimly lit Magic Lantern slide shows and diner tables so we hope this tradition can carry to the next generation.
Reflecting on “purpose” we have also had the opportunity to not only reconnect but see the timeline of God’s work over the last few decades in some of the incubators of these various relationships. While PBA has been the focus of a number of our interpersonal stops, this one highlights Sterling College. Vince was hired as the Head Athletic Trainer there in 1997 just after Michele said “I do”. Michele was able to finish her undergrad degree in Behavioral Science at Sterling while Vince cobbled the pieces of a new undergraduate major in Athletic Training at Sterling while competing his Masters at Fort Hays State and dipping his toes into the waters of a PhD at Azusa Pacific. Needless to say it was a, busy but formative time using literal sweat equity to excavate a foundation for the future. Only a few years older than some of our students, and the same age as some married students, we grew relationships that extended beyond degrees and helped to set careers in motion. Returning to SC, we were able to reconnect with a few of these dearly missed friends and celebrate the growth of that Athletic Training Program.
Joy and Tony were a married couple we connected with early at SC but the reunion found them with grandkids and a 9yr old still keeping them young.
Marc (and Tonya not pictured due to Vince’s negligence) were literally in their transition to an empty nest with their first grandbaby on the way. Marc was the first student graduated from the SC Athletic Training Program to get certified! He also managed to get a Doctorate in Chiropractic Medicine so it probably wasn’t all Vince’s teaching skills but one of the all-time greats regardless.
Gleason was the hub for much of Vince’s work at SC but when he pulled up it didn’t look like this. The gravel parking lot and aluminum/brick front has given way to a multi-million-dollar renovation that brought the SC Athletic Programs to a new level.
The gymnasium has some upgraded stands and the boys were able to get some energy out.
The entry to the gym brought a tear to the eyes with Coach Kruse and Coach Gleason honored as some of the all-time greats of SC.
The boys chilling in the lobby and Vince recognizing a few of the HOF names.
This is the old Athletic Training Room that Vince build out with lumber and a few layers of paint. The new Athletic Training Room isn’t pictured due to privacy concerns for some ongoing treatments but the staff and space are Division 1 level and again brought a tear to Vince’s eye.
This is the wall that got Vince the most. Dr. Pete Manely is the Program Director and who Vince handed the keys to back in 2004. While the camera quality obscures the names, each tile on the wall is a certified graduate from the SC Athletic Training Program. Vince got the first 3 and shared two more with Pete but he has filled the wall to 99 certified graduates in the last 21 years. For a small college, this is truly impressive work and applause to Pete for being God’s champion at SC. Honored!
Its creepy taking pictures of someone else’s house on a drive-bye; however, this is Michele and Vince’s first home renovation project. Crazy it still has same paint and the majority of the early 2000 renovations. :)
Again… creepy drive-bye but this was Michele and Vince’s first SC rental… and someone did a lot of renovation. We can still recall snow drifting along the door and windows during our first few winters in Sterling.
So the following are the Sterling College headshots of Vince’s Honor Roll, as in honored to have served with them and known them! These are staff, and some former students and now staff, that are not only leading the way at Sterling College a few decades later but each made significant impressions on Vince at SC. Using the head shots from the website because Vince was acting like it was 1997 and cell phones weren’t smart with cameras 🤪 Can’t believe I didn’t get the phone out funny pocket for pictures??
Dr. Pete Manely
Athletic Training Program Director
Mary Versteeg - aka Coach Mary
Former SC Volleyball and current Central Christian Highschool Volleyball Coach, Coach Mary was a model for teaching, coaching and walking the Christian walk.
Deb Wiebe is and has been SC Athletics since 1995 and is the face of the franchise and heart of some many changed lives. Thanks Deb for being you!
Justin Morris - Athletic Director
Justing was a soccer player in Vince’s early years but is not the leader of the pack. Congrats Justin!
Jack Dillard was a football player toward the end of Vince’s tenure but he went on to coach Track and Field for SC for years and is now the regional FCA Rep.
From McPherson, Sterling and Hutchinson we moved down to south Wichita to connect with friends Shannon and Sheri. While the early breakfast connection was awesome, the evening prior offered us a flashback to KS’s severe weather. The front edge of the storm hit with 60+ winds and rocked the RV, even lifted one slide a few inches before pelting us from 3 sides with nickel sized hail. Thankful nothing was damaged and a reminder of the reason Dorthy was from Kansas 😳
After riding out the storm it was a nice evening, nice enough for some opportunistic cyclists to cut through our security cables and bike rack straps to see how our e-bikes would ride 😡 A police report and some fuzzy security camera footage packed around our reunion breakfast didn’t result in anything that would get us out riding anytime soon so we rolled (ok too soon) down the road and still have Peyton’s project bike but are out a couple grand in e-bikes 😳
Shannon and Shari were a welcome reunion. As parents of boys on the spectrum back in early 2000, the were/are example of patience an love on the spectrum. Great seeing them in Wichita and hearing about this phase of their lives post kids.
Charlie on the watch as we pass through Oklahoma.
We found a great, albeit uneven perch for the rig at War Eagle Campground, a part of Beaver Lake Recreation Area. Nice clean park and fun walk/ride around the peninsula that included some gorgeous slate rock and a sizable marina .
Gary and Judy were Michele and Vince’s Bible Study Leaders at First Church of the Nazarene in Hutchinson. A reunion with fellow believers is always awesome when they live in such a gorgeous area. More Beaver Lake below.
Alpina, Arkansas
Going through Springfield, MO we saw this sign for the Battlefield Mall but Battlefield Retail just struck us funny. :)
Crossroad Cowboy Church was our destination to reunite Michele with a childhood friend Gwynne. We’ve seen Cowboy Churches across the west but this one is special just outside of Fulton, MO.
A little Thursday night devotional, led by the youth for the youth, prior to a “ride”. Church members bring out their horse for anyone to join in and ride in the arena. So Jayden and Robert both partook.
Michele visiting with Gwynne and Amanda while we watch the ride. Fun FL reunion in the Missouri countryside.
We found Mothra! We think this is a Polyphemus Moth or “tan colored moth” and most likely the insect that left the 6 splatter on our windshield. Seriously, this was about 4 inches from body to wing tip. Looked like a bat coming in for a landing.
National Churchill Museum on Westminster College campus in Fulton. Yes Fulton… That’s what most said when we learned that this tiny college was host to Truman and Churchill when he gave his famous “Iron Curtain Speach” in 1946. The museum is a reconstruction, from the bricks of a London Church that was bombed during the war. It was brought over to commemorate this historic visit and house the museum.
Boys on a museum scavenger hunt.
Vince’s best Churchill.
We didn’t know Churchill was an artist, and pretty good artist too.
Largest section of the Berlin Wall in America is behind the museum. This is call “Break-through” created by Churchills daughter Edwina Sandys. The cutout is representative of those who passed through the wall to freedom.
We took in a rodeo and when in Rome… yes we had to buy hats but they remain with us on the bus!
Kansas City
Arrowhead Stadium
Billy, Eliana and Little Billy were our stop at Spurgeon College in North KC. Friends from Florida and extended friends/family from Vince’s parents church in Patton, ME.
Christine and Michele, 2 college besties from Cottey College in Nevada, MO. Christine and Jason hosted us for a dinner and the girls got a reunion spa day after but tonight it was graduation videos from Cottey College.
Got some repairs done and addressed some very loud squeaking from Peyton’s loft bed. Still squeaks but not nearly as much.
A driving tour of KU and Allen Field House was fun. The Kansas flagship is a nice campus and perched atop a surprisingly tall hill in Lawrence.
Our resident bike mechanic is getting pretty good. He is definiely a tinker-er and we have many expensive bike parts in our future.
Charlie is supervising homeschool for Jayden today.
Charlie was very interested in the fox we stepped out to watch. A bit too friendly or inquisitive but it kept its distance with Charlie watching on. No fox pictured, it was a dark blur.
Vince was able to catch Sarah, a Taylor University friend and fellow ‘95 alum with her nieces for lunch before we left.
