Monday, August 16. 1999
The University Daily Kansan
1
Section D · Page 19
Biggest ball of twine is big source of pride
The Associated Press
CAWKER CITY — The only claim to fame for this town is having the world's largest ball of twine. Even that can be disputed.
But Linda Clover, caretaker of the yellow sisal twine orb that's 40 feet around, says the question of bragging rights really doesn't matter.
What does matter, she said, is that the ever-growing ball is fun for folks in this north-central Kansas town of 800. It attracts scores of tourists who come to gawk and photograph the twine ball.
"Some feel it's dumb, but I say we could be known for where something bad happened. I would rather be known for a ball of twine which never hurt anybody," Clover said.
Wayne Musgrove, city clerk for 27 years, said there's no doubt that his town is known for its ball of twine.
"I go to meetings around the state, and they all know about the ball of twine," Musgrove said. "People here are so used to it they don't think much about it."
Among recent visitors to the ball were Don Stratton, his wife, Helen Young, and their two daughters, 4-year-old Sarah and 7-year-old Margaret, from Bristol, Vt.
"We were coming by and had to stop and see it because it was here," said Stratton, as his two children looked and touched the twine ball.
A sign near the twine ball shows its dimensions. The bottom reads:
"Thrift + patience = success."
"I love this sign," Helen Young said. Like other visitors to the ball, Stratton and his family were taken with the musky smell of the sisal.
Sisal is a strong fiber from the thick, fleshy leaves of the desert agave plant.
"People smell it and recall the days when they were on the farm. It makes people think of times gone by. I think that's a lot of the fascination." Clover said.
She estimated that there's about 6 million feet of twine in the ball. It's 11 feet high and weighs about 17,000 pounds, although nobody has tried to weigh it lately.
That translates to about 1,140 miles of twine. If the ball ever was unwound, it could reach eastward to near Baltimore, or stretch west to around Reno, Nev.
Other towns claim to own the biggest twine ball, but that doesn't concern Mrs. Clover or others in the town. At both ends of downtown are signs proclaiming the town as the home of the world's largest bull of twine.
"Possibly it isn't the biggest, but we don't care. People come to see it, so we must have something special," Clover said. "People like our odd thing. It's a great fascination."
Other claimants include Darwin, Minn., with a ball of twine, also 40 feet around, made between 1950-79 by Francis Johnson. It's in an enclosed area and is called the biggest twine ball made by one person.
Also, Ripley's Believe It or Not Museum in Branson, Mo., has a ball 41.5 feet around. It was wrapped between 1987-91 by J.C. Payne of Valleyview, Texas, who used nylon twine.
Clover said the unique aspect of the Cawker City ball is that it's a work in progress that gets bigger and heavier each year, and it's made only from sisal string.
"Some feel it's dumb,but I say we could be known for where something bad happened. I would rather be known for a ball of twine which never hurt anybody."
Linda Clover
Cawker City's twine ball is 40 feet around and growing. The ball got rollingin 1953 by farmer Frank Stroebel. Contributed photo.
orb caretaker
More string is added each year, especially at the annual Twine-o-Thon in August, so eventually it will outgrow the other contenders. She said some 33,000 feet of twine was added during last year's Twine-o-Thon.
Since the ball's inception, the town has built three shelters and the twine ball has outgrown each one. Clover or her husband, Jack, are at the site almost every day to tidy up the area and answer questions.
They also keep a supply of lengths of the sisal twine for visitors to add.
Clover is concerned that the day will come when the ball reaches the limit of twine it can take. She hopes it won't happen anytime soon.
"We let people be part of it, by letting them add twine," she said. "It's just fun. It's nothing serious."
"We want to keep it going as long we can," she said.
The ball got rolling by Frank Stroeber on his farm in 1953. In those days, hay bales were bound with sisal twine, and Stroeber started making a ball with the twine after it was removed from the bales.
ing their twine to him. By 1957, he had ball with 1.2 million feet of twine that weighed 5,000 pounds and stood eight feet high.
Pretty soon, neighbors started bring-
As part of the state's centennial celebration in 1961, Stroebel brought the big ball from his farm and gave it to the town. The unanswered question is why Stroebel, who died in 1974, started his project.
"The way I see it, the twine came off the hay bales, and he had to do something with it," Clover said. "You either saved it or burned it, and he started saving it."
For the most part, farmers now use plastic twine for their hay bales, forcing the town to buy sisal twine from the local co-op with donations it receives.
Things have changed over the years.
"Rather than farmers bringing in their twine, people are sending in donations," she said.
"Over time, it droops, just like the body," she said with a laugh.
Three decade-long search brings daughter to mother
The Associated Press
COFFEYVILLE — She never gave up.
After all that time,
Thompson, who gave birth to
her daughter during the 1960s
at age 14 and lost her two years
later, was reunited with her
child this month.
In the 32 years since she and her daughter were separated, Susan Thompson never gave up hope she'd see her little girl again. Call it tenacity. Call it stubbornness. Call it what you will, but most of all, call it love.
"I was real apprehensive at first," Thompson said about meeting her daughter. "I wasn't sure she was going to like me. But, I guess it's because I'm her mom, and she's my daughter. It fits like a glove," Thompson said.
Thompson spent years in search of her daughter, with no results.
Thompson named her Betty Jo. She said the state took away her baby because of a bad home environment that included her sister, who had run away from home several times and was pregnant.
While records on the case
exist in Ohio, a juvenile court judge said the documents were sealed and could not be made available to the public.
"Any response I'd give would be pure speculation on my part. I don't know," Judge Yvette McGee Brown said from Franklin County, Ohio.
Brown pointed out that Ohio still has a law on the books that girls under the age of 18 cannot get married.
"I lost track of her. I was so young at the time.I realized in my late 20s, though, there was something I could do."
"I'm sure an unmarried 16- year old mother in the '60s would cause an uproar." Brown said.
Susan Thompson
The judge said the juvenile court system today has a specific set of criteria for removing a child from the home. He said that today, court would have to have a finding of abuse, neglect, or dependency.
Recalling her time as a young mother, Thompson said she was working hard, despite her circumstances.
She continued to live at home
"I thought I was doing the right thing," she said. "I was working. I'd gone back to school. I was working as a, what they'd call a nurses aide now, but they called it a candy stirner back then."
Coffeyville resident
with her parents. Her father, a minister, died two months after she lost Betsv Jo.
"I lost track of her. I was so young at the time. I realized in my late 20s, though, there was something I could do," Thompson said.
A lawyer told her that the only thing he could confirm was that her daughter had been adopted. He indicated that delving into Ohio's adoption records were difficult.
She later married and had three more children, but never gave up on finding Betsy Jo.
But Thompson encountered more tragedy. In 1989, her husband died of cancer. She later had a grandson. He also died.
She remarried and moved to Coffeyville about 9 years ago. Her second husband also died of cancer.
"I had to put off searching for
my daughter for a while, but in February, Betsy turned 34. I was watching "Hugs and Searches," and I said, 'I'm going to call,' Thompson said.
Thompson eventually found a search agency called Ohio Adoptee Searches. Within two weeks, John Dehaven, who worked at the agency, found the names of the couple that adopted Betsy Jo.
"Basically, we had to scan public birth records to establish a new name for Betsy, then order her birth certificate." Dehaven said. "In Ohio (public records) are available to anyone. (The birth certificate) listed her adoptive parents' names and where they lived at the time of the child's adoption."
Dehaven said that people whose adoptions were finalized from Jan. 1, 1964, through Sept. 17, 1968 had only one recourse.
"You must file a petition with the probate court where your adoption was granted. They will forward this request to the State Bureau of Vital Statistics, who will open and send you the contents of your adoption envelope only if a birth parent has also filed a release," Dehaven said.
Complicating Dehaven's search for Thompson's daughter was the fact that Betsy's adoptive parents had divorced and relocated.
Eventually, Dehaven, scanning databases, reached Betsy Jo's adoptive dad, who said that she had moved to New Orleans. Her adoptive parents named her Carolyn Elizabeth.
Thompson also got the phone number for the adoptive mother and called her.
"She was real sweet. She told me, (Betsy Jo) has talked about finding you," Thompson said.
Thompson said that the adoptive mother asked her what made her think that this was her daughter.
"She asked about her name. I said, 'It's Betty Jo.' She said, 'My god, this is your daughter.' She remembered the name I
gave her." Thompson said.
The adoptive mother then gave her Betsy Jo's phone number.
"When I called, I told her I had named her Betsy Jo, and she said, 'You are my mom!' " she said.
Thompson said she told her daughter that she didn't give her up.
"She said her adopted mom had told her that, but she thought after all the years had passed, I may have changed my mind," Thompson said. "She said she tried to find me through talk shows like Ricki Lake. I told her, I was only 16, but, 'I didn't give you up' " she said.
Thompson said she and her daughter talked on the phone every day and finally decided it was time to meet. Betsy flew in from New Orleans, arriving July 10.
Betsy's visit has been a very good one. So good, in fact, she's decided to stay, Thompson said.
"Betsy Jo is going to stay. She told me, 'I don't want to leave you.' I told her, if you try to leave, I'm going to cut your legs off," Thompson said, laughing.
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