100 Kansas Towns

You’re going to think this weird, you know, me being an old guy and all. But I’ve got a story to tell you today about meeting one of our local rock n roll DJ’s last Friday. Most of you know him as Joey Baggz, the hard charging, loud mouthed, out of control, DJ on V-100’s morning show. I’m not going to claim to listen to his show on a regular basis but I do tune in from time to time. The last time I tuned in, Joey was trash-talking A-hole bosses. Yeah, Joey Baggz cracks me up and he’s very good at what he does.
I’ve know for a long time there was more to this guy than meets the eye though. I remember a letter to the editor he wrote a couple of years ago. He wanted to know why so many Topekan’s had such a negative attitude about this place we all call home. He pointed out a long list of things Topeka has to offer and asked what else people wanted. From time to time he’d show up on the Jim Cates show to ask the same question. I don‘t remember for sure, but I don’t think he ever did get an answer to his questions. Hey, a guy can only do so much. He’s given his time to several non-profit organizations like the Big Brothers/Big Sisters Foundation, The American Cancer Society, and Toys for Tots. Yeah, his heart’s in the right place.
Oh, yeah, did you know his name’s really Joey Little and when he’s not being Joey Baggz and raising hell on the radio he becomes Joey Little , the photographer? And that my friends is where I come in. Joey Little, the photographer and I have a lot more in common then you‘d think. We’ve both done a lot of traveling around this great state. Either one of us can pull into almost any Kansas town and see the beauty it has to offer. We’re both interested in learning more about some of the history of the places we visit. And we both enjoy telling the stories of our travels. I use words to tell my story. Joey lets his camera do his talking. And he does it well.
Joey’s currently working on a project he’s calling “100 Kansas towns.” His goal is to capture unique photos from 100 different Kansas towns and so far he’s about 20% of the way to completing it. His travels have taken him to such places as Holton, Lindsborg, Marquette, Powhattan, Russell, Canton, Hoisington, Ellsworth, Great Bend, Lincolnville, and McPherson. And the list is growing all the time. I asked him why he was doing it and he told me it was just because he loves this state and he wants to give people the chance to see it the way he does. You can’t really fault a guy for that now, can you?
Joey’s built a web-site for his project at http://www.littlemanphotography.com/ and would love hearing from anyone who might be able to give him a few tips or ideas about some of the more unique little towns he might otherwise miss. I told him about the story I did a few weeks ago about my little Kansas ghost town, Hitschmann. He seemed genuinely interested and said he was planning to be in the area over the Labor Day weekend and would love to check out my little town. And because he uses only one shot per town, I’d be very interested to see exactly what he’d consider unique about a Kansas ghost town.
While I’m at it, I have one more idea for you Joey. After you leave Hitschmann, head back the way you came, when you get back to the main road, instead of going south through Odin. Head north about 5 or 6 miles, you’ll come to a really cool, old town named Dubuque. The only thing there is an old Catholic Church and a really beautiful old cemetery. Check it out, I promise you it’ll be worth the effort.
Joey, you’re a good guy and I thank you for sharing your story with me. But I do feel obligated to warn you that FM radio’s just a fad. You’d better get your own AM talk show while there’s still time. One more thing, if you ever come across a town named “Here Kansas” get a lot of pictures. I’d really like to see this place.
You can contact Kevin McGinty by going to his online blog at: http://www.rm235.blogspot.com/ or by e-mail at: kevinmcginty@sbcglobal.net