By Randy Gonzales<\/p>\n
HAYS, Kan. — The iconic windmill dots the western Kansas prairie. Thanks to a student organization at Fort Hays State University, a new connection to the past is there for all to see at the University Farm.<\/p>\n
In order to consolidate organizations with similar goals, the Agribusiness Club dissolved at the end of the spring semester of 2016. The club wanted its remaining $2,500 to go toward a worthwhile project. The members decided to have an antique windmill restored and place it on the University Farm.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy family and I deal with windmills a lot,\u201d said Garrett Balsick, who graduated in May and was the president of the Agribusiness Club. \u201cI thought it would be a pretty neat memento to have an antique windmill at the farm.\u201d<\/p>\n
Old windmills have been part of the Balsick family for generations. Balsick\u2019s grandfather started it all by buying windmills and now has 35 of them in his yard.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe just wanted a retirement project,\u201d Balsick said. \u201cHe couldn\u2019t afford tractors, so he went with windmills.\u201d<\/p>\n
The family has one of the biggest windmill collections in Colorado, and family members travel to the annual International Windmiller\u2019s Trade Fair every year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s just been a part of my life, ever since I\u2019ve been little,\u201d Balsick said. \u201cEvery year that\u2019s been our vacation, go to the International Windmiller\u2019s Trade Fair.\u201d<\/p>\n
Balsick bought several windmills at Hill City and took them to the family farm outside Calhan, Colo. He worked on restoring one of them on and off all summer before finally completing the project in late September. He then moved the windmill to the University Farm in October. Balsick figured he put in about 250 man-hours restoring the decorative windmill.<\/p>\n
A plaque is planned to be installed next to the windmill, noting it was donated by the Agribusiness Club.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe thought it was an excellent way to show our heritage,\u201d said Dr. Craig Smith, associate professor of agriculture, who was the advisor for Agribusiness Club. \u201cHere in western Kansas, windmills still dot the landscape and are a very important part of our agricultural heritage. What better way to show that?\u201d<\/p>\n
Members of the Agribusiness Club serviced lawnmowers every spring for the last five years as a fundraiser. Most of that money went to the windmill project.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s really the students who put in the work, the effort over the years to build up our fund to have these funds available for a project like this,\u201d Smith said.<\/p>\n
Balsick thinks it\u2019s important to remember the contribution made by the windmill for early settlers.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt one time in America\u2019s history there were over 250 different windmill manufacturers,\u201d Balsick said. \u201cEveryone wanted to be a part of it because it was the way to the west. If you didn\u2019t have a windmill, you didn\u2019t have water. Without water, you didn\u2019t move out west.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t want that history to get lost,\u201d he added. \u201cI want to try to preserve it the best I can.\u201d<\/p>\n
The windmill is visible at the farm entrance on the west side of the U.S. Highway 183 Bypass.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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