Kansas Barn Alliance

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Barnes, Kansas - September 25^th and 26^th.

Join us for a 'lofty' experience at Barn Fest 2009!

Educational sessions on barn restoration will feature Trillium Dell Timberworks from Knoxville, IL

Barn tour will visit the only known Sears round kit barn in Kansas, a Benton Steele designed round barn and more.

Two antique tractor collections available for viewing.

WHAT - Barn Fest 2009, a gathering of barn owners and all who value barns

WHEN - September 25^th and 26^th, 2009

WHERE - Barnes, KS

Events Schedule

Download:   [Session Descriptions] [Session Schedule] [Barn Tour Schedule]

Friday, September 25^th - Schedule of Sessions

8:00 - 9:15 Registration (Breakfast on your own. The Home Town Caf�, at Railroad and Center Streets in Barnes, will be open at 7 a.m.)

9:15 - 9:30 Welcome and opening remarks from Sally Hatcher

9:30 - 10:30 How to Protect Your Agricultural Acreage - Jerry Jost - Kansas Land Trust

Break

10:45 - 11:45 Kansas Historic Resources Inventory, National Register, and Traditional Farm Project - Caitlin Meives - State Historic Preservation Office

Lunch
Rural Community Fire Hall

1:00 - 1:45 Barn Again Twice - Darrell Zimmerman, owner of Zimmerman's Kill Creek Farm near DeSoto, KS

1:45 - 2:30
Give An Old Barn A New Job.

Panel of barn owners discuss reuse

Break

2:45 - 4:00 Presentation by Tim Narkiewicz and Rick Collins of Trillium Dell Timberworks of Knoxville, IL. Prioritizing repairs, when to call an expert and much more

4:00-6:30 Time to visit antique vehicle & tractor exhibits, shop, or help artist William Hagman by putting your personal touch on the Sesquicentennial Sunflower.

6:30 - 8:30
Dinner at Our Daily Bread on Main Street in Barnes.

Byre and Bluff, the historic barns of Doniphan County - presented by Andy Clements.

Awards

Saturday, September 26^th - Barn Tour

8:00 - 9:00 Breakfast served by Barnes Lions Club included in price of tour ticket. Maps issued.

9:00 Drive to first barn. See barns #1 and #2.

12:00 - 1:00 Lunch at the Blue Rapids Park/Fairgrounds served by Blue Rapids Historical Society. Included in registration fee.

1:00 Drive to barns #3 and #4

3:00 Comment round-up in Marysville at stop #5

Registration

Registration Form

Lodging

Lodging Info

Advertise With Us

As part of the 2009 Barn Fest Barn Tour held on Saturday of the two day event, we are offering the opportunity to purchase advertising in the Barn Tour Program that will contain information about each Barn on the tour. This to be a resource for barn owners and attendees that containing contacts for restoration, renovation and

Download Ad Form

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For online submission, please fill out form, attach any related content (ie, logo) and send to maggiejunes@yahoo.com.

Reflections on Barn Fest 2008

By Janet Carman, St. Francis, KS

Drawn together by their love of old barns, people from across Kansas gathered at the Mennonite Heritage Museum in Goessel on September 26th and 27th for the third annual Barn Fest sponsored by the Kansas Barn Alliance. President, Sally Hatcher, welcomed the group and introduced the weekend's program.

A Friday afternoon barn tour was the first scheduled activity. Thirty-two enthusiastic people climbed into cars and traveled grid-straight country roads to explore five historic barns in this south central Kansas community. Kyle Peterson, KBA barn expert, pointed out each barn's unique features.

The first barn on the tour was built in 1915. It measures 75'x32' with a 15' shed on the north side. Originally the barn had a shingled gambrel roof. This was replaced with an asphalt-shingled gable roof after a tornado destroyed the original in 1948. The north side housed livestock and the south side was for horses with four openings from the mow for feeding hay. A hay-rail and hay-door are on the south side. Five lightning rods with white balls sit atop the barn.

Barn number two was a gambrel-roofed barn with a hay hood and flared eaves. It was built for breeding mules and had open pens and only one granary. This barn did not have dovetail splices. Its split joists were made with milled wood.

The third barn has an extraordinary history. It was built in the early 1800's in Pennsylvania. In the 1990's family members living in Kansas dismantled the barn and trucked its hand-hewn beams and some of the rocks to their home near Hesston, KS. The beams are original and have "marriage marks" for numbering. The overhang on the front forebay is a Swiss design with bracket walls. A dirt bank was built at the west opening to allow access into the mow. Used today for weddings, parties, meetings and family gatherings, the barn is an excellent example of restoration to utilization.

At the fourth stop, the group toured a red barn with lap siding and a tin gambrel roof. This horse barn has six stalls with wooden floors, but no feeding-holes. Harness hooks can be seen in the aisle. On the roof is a big cupola and three lightning rods, two of which have white balls on the tips.

After touring the four barns around the Goessel-Hesston area, the group returned to the Mennonite Heritage Museum to see the barn, which now sits on the museum grounds. This barn, built in 1902 as a wedding gift for Jacob H. Schroeder, is typical of Goessel area Mennonite barns. The planks for the barn flooring were sawn from local ash and hackberry timber. One of the distinctive features of the barn is the cupola on top of the roof, used primarily for ventilation. The young Schroeder couple lived in two rooms at the end of the barn for the first eight years of their marriage. A Schroeder descendant told about his family as visitors walked through the barn.

Friday evening, following the barn tours, dinner was served to about 40 people at the Museum's Preparatory School. Several people brought barn artifacts, ranging from old photos to weather vanes, for a show and tell session. The artifacts prompted participants to share amusing barn stories.

Saturday morning, Dale Nimz, preservation consultant and rural structures expert, spoke to the group about ethnic and cultural influences on Kansas barns. Following this presentation, Caitlyn Meives from the Kansas Historical Society spoke about the 352 barns that were surveyed in 2007. She encouraged barn owners to list their barns in the National Register of Historic Places and explained that tax credits are available for improvements to listed barns. Throughout the morning and afternoon, Susie Havers, "KBRN" radio personality, advertised each session's sponsors.

After lunch, Robert Metzger, of Metzger Restorations, discussed barn repair from simple do-it-yourself projects to major restoration efforts. He explained the differences in the quality of lumber and materials, and provided details to insure a lasting paint job. Following this, Jan Jantzen, Director of Rural Tourism Development of the Flint Hills RC&D, showed slides and discussed the advantages of agri-tourism, calling it "Your Next Cash Crop". Donn Teske, president of the National Farmers Union, gave an overview of sustainable farming practices and enterprises in Kansas.

Favorable comments were heard from participants as the Barn Fest came to a close. Touring barns, learning new terminology, getting pointers on restoration and reuse, sharing stories, networking and just meeting fellow barn enthusiasts were positive outcomes of these successful sessions.

Sponsors for this active, information-filled conference were:

Barn Tour: Kansas Farm Bureau, represented by John Schlageck, writer and editor of Kansas Living, a Kansas Farm Bureau publication.

Dale Nimz, Ethnic and Cultural Influences: Schamber Restorations represented by Len Schamber.

Caitlyn Mieves, State Historical Society: Kansas Electric Cooperatives, represented by Bob Jennings.

Robert Metzger: Anonymous donor from Mitchell County.

Jan Jantzen: a program of the Flint Hills RC&D (Resource Conservation and Development)

Donn Teske : National Farmers Union

Questions? Contact any of the Executive Board Members listed on the Board & Officers Page.

Look forward to seeing you there!