Moran's molas on display in Wichita

It could be said that Ryan Moran already is an international artist, his mother Lori noted.
The 19-year-old Allen County Community College sophomore has works hanging in private collections in both Panama and Rome.
Now he is ready to take on Wichita.
Moran will be a featured artist for a month at the Artists at Old Town Gallery in Wichita, with a show from July 10 through Aug. 13.
Moran’s art is known as “mola,” an intricate paper-cutting technique based on the layered cloth molas of the Kuna Indians of Panama. He learned of it through his eighth grade art teacher, Joyce Atkinson, while a student at Iola Middle School.
The form requires careful carving through multiple layers of colored paper.
When he first began, Moran used construction paper. At Iola High School, art teacher Cecelia Orcutt warned him such paper would not hold up to time, and his mother began purchasing acid-free art paper online for his hobby.
The switch paid off in that a portfolio of Moran’s work recently was accepted at two renowned art schools: the Savannah College of Art and Design in Savannah, Ga., and the Chicago Art Institute.
Lori noted that during a portfolio review at the university of Kansas, the woman evaluating student art “just threw her hands up in he air. I thought we were out of there. But she told Ryan ‘You can go anywhere you want.’”
Savannah, as a future school for Moran, is out, Lori noted, due to the $41,000 per year tuition.
Ryan has not yet pursued potential scholarship options at Chicago Art Institute. For now, he is happy living at home and attending Allen.
Moran noted he does hope “to do something involving art — either graphic design or illustration” after college. Right now he isn’t sure which. Lori noted that “These days, it’s really hard to just get a degree in fine arts and make a living at it. And teaching doesn’t fit Ryan’s personality.”
Until then, Ryan will make his molas.

RYAN MORAN takes his talent in stride.
“Really, it all just comes out of my head,” he said.
He doesn’t plan out the designs. “I just make it up as I go.”
Ryan staples together five to eight layers of art paper. He then carves through the top layer of paper, proceeding downward as he goes.
Each geometric fraction of a piece is carved, layer by layer, before moving on to the next segment.
“I really think it would be too hard if you had to cut each layer separately” and then align them, he noted.
“I just try to keep the colors evenly spaced and contrasted.”
Besides paper, Moran goes through craft blades regularly. He can, perhaps, do three smaller pieces before the blades go dull. Larger works take more. “One of them I used five blades on,” he said.
His works range from 4 inches by 8 inches to 18 by 24 inches. All have been framed for the show.
Because of his technique, “There won’t be any two alike,” Lori said.
Ryan plans to hang 20 pieces at the Wichita gallery. An artist reception will be July 30 from 6:30 to 9:30 p.m.
Images of his art will be available, once hung, at aaotgallery.com. The gallery is at 412 E. Douglas, Suite C.
Ryan hopes to sell most of the pieces during the month-long show. “He’s basically trying to get some money for college,” his mother said.
He also has 12 molas hanging in a gallery in Alma, Mo., Lori said.
One talent he doesn’t have is titling his art. But the pieces for the gallery all must be named, he said, something he leaves to his mom.
“I set them up at the base of the television and look at them,” Lori explained.
That might take a month or more, she said.
That positioning led to one piece, completed in July 2005, being dubbed “Ryan’s Katrina.”
“In August, Hurricane Katrina hit. I had the TV on constantly. All the scenes and all the pictures of New Orleans — I started seeing that in here,” she noted of the large, green, gold, blue and violet work.
“There’s a person in here,” she said of the design. “There’s a ball diamond, a casket in the flooded cemetery, the Super Dome. My sister even saw the word ‘help’ in there. That’s freaky,” she said.
Lori admits that everyone sees something different in the pieces. That might add to their appeal.
“He has taken ribbons at every show,” he’s entered, she noted.
A first place winner from Bourbon County now hangs in the Bowlus Fine Arts Gallery, she said.
Ryan would yet like to try other media and techniques, including pastels and portraiture, he noted. Drawing, he said, “is more important. Learning to draw will make these better.”

Wilderness rangers turn to God

Brad and Gina Shaw were used to rugged country. The couple, former park rangers in Denali National Park, also worked and lived in Colorado and Montana throughout the years. But none of the wilderness they had seen prepared them for the remoteness of Peru’s Cotahuasi Canyon.
“There’s a 20,000 foot mountain next to the canyon. At one place we can see a 15,000 foot vertical drop,” Brad said.
The region is dry and despeartely poor.
“When we first moved there, it was a challenge finding a place to live with electricity and hot and cold running water,” Gina said. “A lot of people have dirt floors, they cook over a fire and have a community spigot” providing water for an entire village, she said.
“The people there ... are forgotten,” Brad said.
The Shaws moved to Cotahuasi aboout 10 years ago. Their path began in Alaska.
The couples’ work in Denali was seasonal. During the off-season, Gina studied biology at the University of Alaska, Fairbanks.
There, the couple learned of a campus ministry that visited native Alaskans during Thanksgiving break. Intrigued, they joined the group.
“We went on this gospel trip and flew north of the arctic circle,” Brad said. “This group of Athabaskan Indians took us 70 miles up the frozen Kobuk River.”
Brad was stunned by their reception.
“People were really receptive and humble. They were receiving from us and we were receiving from them and God was blessing this beautiful thing.”
So struck were the Shaws that “we began to look into opportunities to get training in ministry,” Brad said.
After further work with Alaskan indigenous tribes, the Shaws decided to pursue training to travel outside of the United States.
They also began a family.
Daughter Janelle, now 21, was just four months old when they accepted a missionary position in the Phillipines.
“Then we felt we should look into ... Northern Mexico,” Brad said. There, the Shaws worked with the Tarahumara Indians, “for two winters. Then we’d come back and I’d work for the Colorado State Forest Service” spring through fall.
“That worked pretty well until our budget started to get tighter with children,” Brad said.
With the birth of Cassandra, now 18, Gina became a full-time mom, and the onus was on Brad to find a more dependable source of income.
“Part of our training in the Philippines and Mexico was in healthcare and community health,” Brad said. “We felt health care would be the best way we could minister and explain salvation” — and earn a living.
The family moved to Tennessee so Brad could enroll in a physician’s assistant program.
During Brad’s “clinical rotations, we moved around a lot,” Gina said. “It was during his clinical training that we found out about Service In Missions,” Gina said.
SIM needed healthcare providers in Peru, Brad said. In October of 1999, “We decided to take everyone down there and see what work they were doing.” The girls were 11 and 8 at the time.
The people of Cotahuasi are Quechua, Gina said. They are erroneously referred to as “Inca,” she said, but “Inca just means leader.” Their language has more than 30 dialects.

THE COUPLE arrived in Peru shortly after the ousting of the Shining Path communinist movement.
“They had at one time control over 1/2 the geographic area of the country,” Brad said. “They didn’t control any population areas but they would ... terrorize people” in rural areas, Brad said.
If people could affrod to, they moed to the cities, Brad said. In areas such as Cotahuasi, only the very poor stayed behind.
After such oppression, “we were prepared for (closed minds), but the people were very generous and very interested in the Gospel,” Brad said.
“Historically, Peru has not been an easy place to minister to, and historically the Quechua have been resistant to new ideas,” Brad said.
He noted that the Quechua belief system is akin to animism.
“Their relating to the spiritual realm is trying to appease the spirits so calamities won’t come upon them. Their concept of sin is anything that causes disharmony with the spirits.”
In Eden, “we did have perfect harmony with God,” Gina said. “When sin came, God said you’ll have to fight against the stickers and thistles.” The Quechua can relate to that, she said. The story rings true, “but they had never heard it.”
Brad concurred. “They really, more than our culture, are in tune with this notion of disharmony and sin. It’s a lot easier for them to understand the Gospel. It’s a lot easier for us to confuse things.”
Though American society is drifting from them, Brad said, it has Christian roots.
“Most of the people in the world don’t have the opportunities we have to see and hear the Gospel,” Brad said.
And few native cultures have teachers who can who can interpret Biblical passages in context to native peoples, he added.
In order to spread the Word, the Shaws have changed the focus of their ministry.
“I’m doing less and less medical care and more and more teaching and training of indigenous ministers of the gospel,” Brad said.
“We’ve really focused on preparing a few Quechua men and women who really love God and discern the Gospel ... (and can) take His Word out to the communities,” Gina added.
There are 45 communities, each with 100-500 people in the Cotahuasi Canyon, Gina said. About 2,000 people live in the town of Cotahuasi, where the Shaws reside.
“The villages are all spread out,” Gina said. The rugged terrain makes travel between them arduous and slow.
The newly trained Quechua ministers “can be more in touch with people on a daily basis,” Gina said.
“We’re planting churches, that’s the goal,” said Brad. “Right now the window of opportunity is open in Peru.”
“Just two years ago we had the blessing of getting a Christian radio station started,” Gina said. “The project was assited by HCJB radio in Quito, Ecuador, which has a ministry to get FM radio stations going.”
Because radios are scarce in their area, the Shaws will return to Peru with a number of small, solar powered FM receivers.
“They’re small so they can carry them with them in the fields,” Gina said.
Radio ministry broadcasts are in Quechua and Spanish, Brad said. “Most of our broadcasting is prerecorded by other ministries. The Quechua programming we have to produce ourselves.” The family uses their computer to produce it.
“We’re the only legal radio in the city where we live — even the municipalities have pirate radio,” Gina said. It is important for the ministry to do things legally, Gina said, as a display of Biblical obediance.
Once returned to Peru, a South African couple will join them in expanding their ministry, they said.
The Shaws’ progress can be tracked at www.shawfamilyminsitry.com.

Tea Party simmers

About 125 area residents sat quietly on benches by the bandstand on the Iola square Thursday evening to listen to a parade of speakers espousing more personal control of government.
The tax day tea party began with a Biblical reference to gathering information and a recitation of the lyrics of “God Bless America” by Lloyd Houk, who was dressed as an American flag.
Houk was followed by Virginia Crossland-Macha, who told people to graduate from being attendees to activists by participating in grass roots training sessions and town hall forums to be held in coming weeks.
“You love your country, “ she said, “You just need information.”
Lisa Wicoff continued in the same vein, with active parenting her platform.
“Be a student of your child. Be a better advocate for your kids. Have high expectations,” she told the crowd.
She, too, told attendees they must become more actively involved.
It doesn’t take much, she noted.
“Attend a meeting now and then — commit to attending a couple meetings a year,” whether school board or city council, she said.
Without doing so, Wicoff said, people really have no reason to complain.
“What game do we play after dropping the ball? It’s called passing the blame.”
Instead, she urged, local citizens should watchdog government in progress.
Attendees came from Buffalo, St. Paul and Chanute as well as Iola. Many carried signs directed at Washington with admonitions like “Our vote is your job security,” and “Congress is revolting — so are we.”

Talking books feted in March

March 1-7 marks Talking Books Week in Kansas. Talking Books Week commemorates the Pratt-Smoot Act of 1931 that enabled the distribution of free library materials for the blind.
Talking Books are a little different from regular audio books, said Southeast Kansas Library Systems Special Needs Consultant Diane Stines.
“Talking Books is not audio books,” Stines said. In an audio book, “If it’s a story about cows there might be cows mooing.” In a Talking Book, “it’s just the words” Stines said. Aural clutter is eliminated because some hearing impaired individuals have trouble differentiating sounds, she said. And although the books are on tapes that look like cassettes, “It will not play in a regular machine” Stines said.
Talking Books are a service provided, free of charge, to the “print handicapped,” physically or visually impaired or blind adults and children who otherwise would not be able to enjoy the written word. Recorded books and magazines are sent directly to a user’s home, by mail, along with the equipment to use the materials.
Stines coordinates Talking Books and other services for 15 counties in southeast Kansas.
“I work with 90 activity directors,” she said, as well as schools’ special needs teachers, low vision support groups, Alzheimer’s support groups and others.
Those needing services should contact their local librarian, Stines said.
In Allen County, the Iola Public Library has a collection of Talking Books, reminiscing kits, Braille books and recreation therapy kits. They also have assistive devices such as large-print bingo cards, raised image dominoes and extra large magnetic poetry kits.
“These all can be checked out,” she said.
In Kansas, more than 40,000 individuals are eligible for the service, said Stines. Still, many are unaware it exists, which is the reason behind Talking Books Week, she said.
The service is set to go digital in the next few months, providing patrons with even more options.

Familiar voice at Shelter

Selling insurance is only one of the things Jim Talkington does. Many know him as the color commentator for Friday night football on KIOL radio. Fall will mark Talkington’s 20th year at the venture, he said.
Talkington also manages the “One Night Stand” series at Iola’s Community Theatre, where he is a board member.
And, he recently added a new hobby to his repertoire: T-ball coach for his 5-year-old son Will’s team.
“It’s a hoot,” Talkington said of working with the young players, many of whom are just as happy to play with the dirt in the ball field as to learn the game, he said.
Talkington holds a bachelor’s degree in finance from Pittsburg State University.
Before becoming an insurance agent, he worked as the Chanute-based district manager for the Kansas State Lottery.
During that time, “the district manager of Shelter Insurance was out speaking to other businessmen, looking for good candidates” to become agents, he noted. “My name was submitted.”
Talkington grabbed the opportunity to return to his home town, and has never regretted the move.
“The lottery was a great job, but it was a lot of driving,” he said.
Talkington prefers community involvement, and appreciates Iola’s close-knit nature.
He shares an office at 20 N. Washington Ave. with his father, attorney Robert Talkington. “And I have a sister, Jackie Chase, in town.”
As for insurance, Talkington explains that “It’s protection against the unforeseen.”
Still, he notes, “Insurance is only as good as your agent.”
Because the industry and its products are highly regulated, Talkington said, buying insurance is actually buying the service of a particular agent.
“The thing that differentiates me (from other agents) is price and how someone thinks I could help them in the event of a loss,” he said.
It’s the personal touch that matters — and that keeps him in the business.
“I’m old-fashioned enough that I enjoy the face-to-face contact. I enjoy when people come in.”
Still, Talkington noted, “Today’s generation is more online savvy. They’re not afraid to check prices, to research and compare.” In fact, Talkington noted, “Most major companies” — Shelter included — “offer the ability to buy (insurance) online.”
Talkington’s products can be checked out at www.shelterinsurance.com/jamestalkington, he said, or contact him at jtalkington@shelterinsurance.com.
For those who, like Talkington, prefer to do business in person, office hours are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday.
Call 365-2042 for an appointment, or just drop by.
“If somebody needs to talk, I encourage that,” he said.
As a long-time Iolan in the public eye, he said, “I’m even stopped in the supermarket on weekends.” True to his nature, though, Talkington doesn’t mind.

Spring break sports day fun for all

Friendly competition was the norm at Iola Recreation Department’s spring break Sports Day in the Community Recreation Building at Riverside Park. a few more than half of the 30 kids who designed up came to play dodge ball and paddle baseball, suing wiffle balls and pickleball paddles with gym items (baskets, blue lines) standing in as bases.
The rivalry was more intense during snack time, when one half of a table, dominated by McKinley Elementary students, debated the other side, populated by Jeffersonians, about whose principal was funnier and whose teachers were better. No ultimate winner was chosen as conversation moved on to Internet safety, especially when using social networking sites.
Although most of the kids were in second and third grade, a handful maintain their own sites, they said, supervised by their parents. Others are banned form the pages until 16, while a few more can look over the shoulders of older siblings, but not interact themselves.
In all, not a one was displeased with their day of activity.
“I signed up to get away form my mom for at t least a couple of hours,” McKinley second grader Allie Utley said. Her third grade school mate Katie Weide said for her, it would be her brother.
Mason Swanson said he was very pleased to be playing sprits instead of at home, where “my mom is peeling the walls in preparation for painting.” If home, he’d probably have to help, he noted.
His mom will use tomorrow’s movie day at the park as another opportunity to continue the remodel, he said.

Student storm chasers spot Iola

A troupe of student storm chasers rolled through Iola Wednesday lured by a line of bad weather blowing in from Wichita.
The group, meteorology students at California University of Pennsylvania, came to Iola after spending the night in Rolla, Mo.
“We were woken at 3:30 a.m. by some severe weather,” said adjunct instructor Adam Cinderich. The same thunderstorm swept through Iola earlier in the night. Strobe-light lightning and booming thunder made for fitful sleeping, Cinderich said.
Pennsylvania’s weather is less wild, the students said.
Still, noted recent program graduate Kevin Lowrie, even Pennsylvania has seen a tornado.
“I had to deal with that in 2007,” he said. Lowrie was interning with the National Weather Service in Pittsburgh when a small tornado was spotted on the western edge of the city.
In such a situation, “Do you issue the warning to three quarters of a million people?” he asked.
That tornado passed without incident.

THE STUDENTS are spending two weeks on Midwestern roads, gaining real world experience in storm chasing. Most hope to work in climatology or weather research when they complete their studies.
Senior Andrew Milevoj will continue his research with a summer internship at the National Drought Mitigation Center at the University of Nebraska in Lincoln after he’s through chasing storms.
Meteorology “is real science,” said professor Mario Majcen. Students — even at the undergraduate level — have a heavy load of courses including calculus and physics.
The group converged on Iola purposely, Majcen noted.
“Today the weather is conducive for severe weather and with Iola being at the intersection of two highways it’s very convenient,” for setting out in any direction, Majcen said.
Two vans carry mobile equipment — primarily laptops — that allow the researchers to track storm systems as they trek across the Midwest. They stay connected to national radar through use of wireless 3G cards, Heather Dominik said.
As the students were talking, their Web master burst from a van to announce that an area east of Wichita spanning to Topeka had just been placed under a tornado watch.
“If the storms move south, we will have to head to Texas,” Majcen said. Otherwise, they planned to bed down in Iola for the night.
“Who knows? Some of my students may end up down here after they graduate,” Majcen said. “It’s beautiful country, and it’s where the weather is.”
The student’s weather Web site is http:sai.calu.edu/weather.