![]() On this particular morning, Virgean Ratzlof was filling yet another tray of Zwiebach, which are German rolls that look like partial snowmen. Reinecker counts on Bridges to be there every morning at 5 making the coffee and unlocking the front door for the first wave to wash through at 6. Bridges, who had worked through six owners in 24 years, agreed to work for yet another owner. Her husband agreed as long as Polly Bridges was part of the deal. Upon hearing the news, Reinecker spoke to her husband and parents, letting them know how much she wanted to buy the business. “People were panicking,” said Lois Wiens, who was drinking coffee with a group of ladies on a recent morning as they recounted the story. Seven years ago the community was stunned when, without warning, the owners of the café shut down the business. After high school she moved on to working at Applebee's in McPherson, but the Inman café held a special place in her heart. Reinecker worked at the café while a student at Inman High School, first as a dishwasher and then as cook. On the wall hangs a sign that declares the restaurant's purpose, “Sit long, talk much.” "It's a very special place for me," said Reinecker. While the outmigration of young people plagues small communities around Kansas, Reinecker and others in Inman believe they are thriving, with a future filled with hope in this town of 1,378 people. By the third wave, they are yearning for the hearty special such as verenike, German sausage and Zwiebach.Ĭurrent owner Katie Reinecker, 35, is living her dream owning the community-centered café. A second wave, a little later in the morning, brings in those hankering for some freshly baked German Schnetka or New Year cookies. The first wave includes morning coffee drinkers, plus those ordering hearty breakfasts. She spent five years in the Philadelphia area as an elementary guidance counselor before returning to Kansas in 1990.People arrive in waves at Inman’s Harvest Café. Marci graduated from the University of Kansas and received a Masters degree in Counseling and Guidance from the University of Wisconsin. The research duo has been traveling the state again to do guidebook programs and motivate people to get out and explore. Some of the most well-known projects of the organization have been the 8 Wonders of Kansas, the Kansas Explorers Club, the Kansas Sampler Festival, the We Kan! Conference, the Big Rural Brainstorm, We Kan! Tidbits e-blast, the PowerUp Movement, and the Kansas Guidebook for Explorers.įrom 2012-2016 Marci and assistant director WenDee Rowe visited every one of the 626 incorporated cities in Kansas to research for their new Kansas Guidebook 2 for Explorers that debuted in May 2017. Marci has served as director of the Inman-based non-profit since its inception. The mission of the foundation is to preserve and sustain rural culture. Marci Penner and her father, Mil Penner, traveled the state in the early 1990s and the result was three small Kansas guidebooks and the formation of the Kansas Sampler Foundation. We’ll feature other day trips from Lindsborg on a regular basis, so be sure to subscribe to our emails for updates from us! You can buy the book online at Kansas Sampler Foundation or at Hemslöjd, 201 N. ![]() The Guidebook is filled with many more Kansas communities and other hidden treasures. This excerpt is a small preview of what you’ll find in The Kansas Guidebook 2 for this featured incorporated city of Kansas. All photos courtesy of Kansas Sampler Foundation. In the late 1860s when Major Henry Inman made the trek on the Fort Harker Trail from present Kanopolis to Wichita he camped at this body of water. Lake Inman: It’s the largest natural lake in the state-a half-mile-wide circular sinkhole. Goulash for breakfast? It’s made with hash browns, onions, scrambled eggs, sausage, and cheddar cheese, and it’s a big seller! But so is the hot roast beef sandwich with beef slow cooked for 12 hours. ![]() A continued work in progress, this museum has a lot of life! Inman in the late-1800s is presented in exhibits filled with artifacts from businesses, from the wheelwright to the mercantile, an 1887 Rock Island depot and a 1909 telephone office. On a building wall south of the Prairie State Bank, a 1986 Stan Herd mural depicts Inman around 1910.
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