It is time for more Hattebergs People.

And here's what's coming up.

They're complicated human beings.

And like all of us, they have their weaknesses and and their faults.

And that's that's true of, I guess, everyone.

Historian Jerry Wallace was doing research of national significance from his humble home in Oxford, Kansas.

See what he uncovered about the U.S. president in particular that helped change American politics forever.

Also.

It's just hard to explain.

You don't expect it at all.

So we learned that the first thing that came to my mind was the paper will not stop.

When her father died suddenly, Robin Klaassen unexpectedly became a newspaper publisher.

See how she embraced her responsibility and rose to the occasion.

Plus.

No, it ain't no bad road.

It ain't no picnic.

But I got.

I got to too much pride myself.

Im too independent way out here to ask for a handout.

If nothing else, Orly Housen was a survivor when his house burned down.

He made do much to the chagrin of neighbors.

It's a slice of Kansas life from 1986.

And we'll have this story.

You get a squat down, you get a lay down, you get to get messy.

You get to do anything you want.

A real photographer does whatever it takes to get the shot.

Well, eight year old Thomas Harmon had the passion and had the eye.

You'll see how his photographs wowed even professionals like Larry.

Hello, I'm Susan Peters.

And I'm Larry Hatteberg.

Those stories and more cued up and ready to roll for this edition of Hattebergs People.

These stories are like old friends.

Their lives radiate from the screen, like prophets of the past.

They were teachers, but not in a classroom.

Instead, they taught about life to those around them who cared to listen.

And I was their student.

When a lot of people think about presidential politics nowadays they just roll their eyes.

Maybe it's because we know too much about them now.

But there was a time when American presidents were thought of as great, inspirational leaders.

And it wasn't until 100 years ago that the general population could actually hear the voice of their president.

It was the first campaign ever to play out on radio.

And historian Jerry Wallace of Oxford wrote a book about that in 2008.

I feel very comfortable here.

In Oxford, Kansas.

The Arkansas River is wide and it runs near the home of Jerry Wallace, who, like the river, has had a long life's journey on his way to this small community.

I wanted to return to the heartland almost from the time I arrived in Washington.

I was looking forward to coming back to the middle part of the country.

Jerry spent most of his career in Washington, D.C. working for the National Archives.

He is a professional archivist and was also the historian archivist for three presidential inaugural committees.

Now, in his retirement, he's written a new book.

It is called Calvin Coolidge, Our First Radio President.

But he adapted to the radio very early on.

And it was key to his presidency, in fact, and to his nomination for the presidency in 1924.

We don't hear much about President Calvin Coolidge anymore.

He was called Silent Cal, but he did play an important part in the history of radio because in his 1924 election, he used radio as his primary campaign tool.

He used the radio in connection with his annual message to Congress, which we call the State of the Union now.

And it was that speech, I think, that probably guaranteed him the nomination for the presidency in 1924.

Jerry is an expert on Coolidge, and in the recesses of his Oxford home, Jerry is surrounded by the articles of research that became part of his book.

I think the thing that surprised me about Coolidge and Radio was the fact that he not only saw the advantages of radio for himself, in the political sense, he actually went out of his way to make himself successful at the use of radio.

Historians lately have been writing on Coolidge, and we're getting a more accurate and realistic view of the man and his times in the 1920s, which are key to our modern era.

Now, Calvin Coolidge could have no greater friend than historian Jerry Wallace.

But Wallace says we must understand that historic figures are also human.

But they're complicated human beings.

And like all of us, they have their weaknesses and their faults.

And that's true of, I guess, everyone.

Deep in Kansas roots, an Oxford man's pursuit of history is now changing the way we see former presidents.

And for Jerry Wallace, it's these small details about presidents like Coolidge that tell us what we want in future presidents.

He was a person who spoke the truth and went out and did what he said he was going to do.

And he was a person of honesty and high character.

Well, it's very unusual to find a man who had so many years, decades in Washington at the National Archives living in Oxford, Kansas.

You just don't find people like that.

But you do.

Well, I did.

I was lucky.

You do!

And he's a great guy.

And he's done a lot of work for Southwestern College and research.

And so he's kept very active since he retired.

That's great news.

Part of American history.

He is part.

of American History.

Living in Oxford.

And he's written part Of American history.

So great guy.

Sometimes, despite our best planning, life makes an unexpected turn that changes everything.

And that is exactly what happened to Robin Klassen.

At age 24.

She graduated from college with a degree in physical education.

Now, she had planned to become a middle school teacher.

Didn't quite work out that way.

I never imagined that my dad would be gone.

Now her goal and reality are two different things.

Robin grew up in Eureka, along with her four brothers and sisters.

Her father, Richard Clawson, published the Eureka Herald.

But in December, the same month, she graduated.

Her father suffered a massive stroke and died.

It is hard to explain.

You don't expect it at all.

So the only thing the first thing that came to my mind was the paper will not stop.

And of five of us, kids had agreed on that and all of us had planned on coming back.

I was the only one that didn't have a set job.

I was planning on subbing in the spring and not really a problem.

I just decided to take a little detour.

That little detour was to the editor's chair of the Eureka Herald.

That same chair her father used just days earlier.

Very hard to imagine taking over his job.

I mean, it's still surreal.

I still expect him to walk into the door.

There are tough stories you have to do, tough times.

I appreciate.

Okay.

Thank you.

After Dad died, I knew I was coming back.

That happened on a Sunday and I knew I'd be here Monday morning ready to put the paper together.

The first day I came in and it was hard for me to open the door, but each day gets a little easier.

There's a staff meeting, there's two of them, and I always try to do everything how he would do it.

And so I always know I'm doing things and just thinking about how would he do it.

I need to do it the same way the Herald will keep going.

As long as the Clawson family owns the Greenwood County Publishing Company, the paper will keep going.

15 years later, Robin still runs that paper and she is the owner as well.

Now she says that paper keeps on plugging away and she's currently trying to expand its reach into Oak County.

Robin has also, since I did that story, gotten married.

Her last name is now Wunderlich.

And, you know, it's so interesting.

Robin's life was going along one path, one path.

Her father passes away and another path opens up.

So it's so interesting how life takes us on that little trip, you know?

But congratulations to her because small towns need great newspapers.

Please keep it going.

Please keep it going.

It's so neat because these local towns, it's their only source of local news now.

You know, you can't rely on broadcast news anymore.

And you're right, it's their only source.

So we're going to who's going to cover the high school basketball?

High school football?

Nobody but the local paper.

Exactly.

Well, almost every neighborhood seems to have that one character, a nonconformist, if you will, who tends to upset the apple cart.

Well, one such person was Wichita's Orly Houseden.

In 1986, his unconventional lifestyle had neighbors scratching their heads and wondering what could be done.

Well, I'm going to say here, if it takes til November 1987, if I have to, but it is my property, I have a receipt right here in my billfold, proving it.

Orly Houseden has lived in this outbuilding since Monday.

He says he has $0.22 in his pocket and he lives here with his dog, Susie.

No, it ain't no bed of roses.

It ain't no picnic.

But I got too much pride in myself.

Im too independent way out here to ask somebody for a handout.

Across the street, Shirley Warren can see the shack from her front door.

She's known Orley for 20 years.

No, he's no stranger.

He's been a real colorful character in our neighborhood for years.

No, sir.

I'm not what you call a charity case.

I don't believe in living off public assistance.

I don't believe in going to Salvation Army to help me because I have been independent all my life and always will be.

Shirley says in the past, he lived in a house with his mother in front of the outbuilding he's now occupying.

The house burned down last summer.

Well, as far as we know, he hasn't ever done anything to anybody.

He's always threatened us.

He would get mad and threaten to do something to someone.

But as far as I know, he never has.

Orley lost a leg to frostbite a year ago.

He cooks and keeps warm with fires.

He builds over this chair.

If I need to use the bathroom, I usually walk down to a laundromat or something like that cause I got too much pride in myself to go out here and use it out in the yard or something like that.

Cause I wasnt brought up like that.

No human beings should have to live like this, and I certainly hope there's something that can be done for him.

But we don't want him there.

Well, we have no idea of what ever became of Orley, but we wish him well.

We hope his life turned around a little bit.

Larry did all kinds of stories, all.

Kinds of.

Stories, all different kinds of people from all different walks of life.

That's right.

Not everyone walks the same path.

They don't know it.

But guess what?

They had all one thing in common.

They were all very interesting.

Fascinating people.

Fascinating.

Orley was fascinating.

In many ways.

Okay.

Sometimes people forget that Larry's just not an acclaimed news reporter and anchor.

He is also an award winning photographer.

That's why he was so excited to do this next story.

Well, that's because I love to see young, talented people who love photography.

But what I didn't expect to see in 2006 was to find such a talent in an eight year old boy.

This is Thomas Harmon, photographer, age eight, and this is his world.

This is my baby brother.

And this is my school.

He lives in a rural area not far from Otis, Kansas.

And everywhere you look, there are picture possibilities.

And Thomas is taking advantage of each one.

You get a squat down, you get a lay down in the mud, you get a bit messy.

You get to do anything you want.

It's just so fun.

Pretty proud of him because there's a lot of them.

I wish I took as good a pictures as him.

As amazing as it sounds, he began taking pictures when he was two years old.

Now he had a good teacher, his mom, Rachel Harmon, who was also a photographer.

See how I'm in focus.

And has her own small video production company.

And now I'm going to roll it back into focus.

And that would be kind of a special effect picture with this slow shutter speed where you focus.

Or you can do-- I need a tripod.

Yeah, you will.

Tripod or not.

Eight year old Thomas has a flair for photography.

I'm looking for interest.

The rule of thirds.

Just good pictures.

Just take a look at some of these images, many of them award winners.

When I was one years old, my mom said, next year you can have a camera.

And his perspective on things is totally different than adults.

You know, he's learning the whole world is new to him.

And so it's really interesting to see how he views the world.

His mom, Rachel, has put some of these images in books and over the kitchen table.

These extraordinary pictures are so full of memories.

But look, what about this one?

It got first in the Iowa State Fair.

He does shoot his own pictures.

I mean, I go to great lengths to to document that he does shoot his own pictures.

I think he's just picked it up for me and hearing it over and over.

I don't care about the awards, I just care about taking pictures.

Even though Thomas doesn't do it for the awards, he gets them anyway.

He's won at state fairs, even in a national magazine contest.

So take a look at his pictures.

And remember, this is an eight year old photographer, Thomas Harman, growing up on the Kansas Plains with each click of the shutter.

Well, Thomas is now a senior at Kansas State University, majoring in Wildlife Management.

He's still doing photography, but in recent years, he says, he's been more focused on bull riding.

That's right.

I went to his website.

It's true.

Really, that is so cool.

In fact, he's won several collegiate rodeo championships After he graduates, his mom says he may pursue bull riding as a full time career.

When I met him at eight years old, I would have never guessed that.

You wouldnt!

I would never guess that.

His photography was very, very good.

And you could tell he loved it.

He was doing it all the time and impressing a lot of people.

But if you told me he's going to be a bull rider, I would never guess that.

He should put some of those old photographs on his website that he has now.

We suggest it.

Okay.

Speaking of bulls, Charlie Redfern didn't want to ride them.

He wanted to run with them.

The year was 1997.

Charlie was cutting wheat on his Harper County farm and making big plans for the next event of a lifetime.

Well.

I'm going to try it.

I don't spend much time thinking about that right now.

Mostly we're just thinking about this farming operation.

Harper County farmer Charlie Redfern has to get the wheat harvest done and done quickly because encouraged by a friend named David, Charlie Redfern is headed to Pamplona, Spain to run with the Bulls.

I said this is not a game for people that are over about 30, 40, they just cant do it.

And David just told him, he said, I know somebody that's over 40 that can.

And that's kind of how it started.

Its enjoyable to cut wheat.

Charlie is over 40.

He's 61.

But this longtime farmer and rancher doesn't think age is a problem.

Actually, he thinks the age talk is just a lot of bull.

Experience with livestock has shown me that I can think faster than they can.

And that's the secret.

You've got to think.

Obviously, they're bigger, stronger than we are, but they don't have the brains we do.

From this ocean of wheat across the ocean.

July 10th is the big day in Pamplona, Spain.

It is the festival of San Fermin.

Now, for many, this is just nuts.

People line the streets so the bulls can run with them for 800 yards from the pen to the bullring.

In Spain, It is a symbol of courage, but for many it comes at a price.

Getting trampled or gored a real possibility.

Last year, 44 people got hurt.

Im going to see if I can do this.

Half a world away, racing the weather and broken machinery.

Charlie's mind is first on the wheat, second on the bulls.

Sometimes you have to make it work when you haven't got quite enough tools.

Despite all the problems in the field, Charlie says he is ready to run.

I got it.

Yeah, I do.

Because I do a lot of things that are pretty challenging almost every day.

And to me, it's just kind of like a day's work.

How you doing on the combine?

So were talking about another hour.

And another hour closer to hearing the hooves on the cobblestones.

Now, this is a once in a lifetime.

I just I've probably this probably the only time I'll ever do it.

It's just something I want to do.

And I think I can.

And once I've done it, I've done it.

So in just a couple of weeks, when you see these pictures from Spain, think, think about Charlie Redfern running for his life and having the time of his life.

I'm not ready for a rocking chair at all.

And may never be.

Well, Charlie did indeed follow through on his dream, and we have the photos to prove it.

His daughter sent me these photos just recently, and unfortunately, Charlie passed away in 2010.

But he realized his dream.

He always wanted to run with the Bulls.

And by golly.

He did it before he passed on.

Yes.

You know, and we really appreciate those pictures.

Yes.

Those are really cool.

Yeah.

His daughter was very kind to send.

Yeah.

Well, in 1987, Ollie Turner was one of the few people in Kansas who could fix the wheel on your buggy.

And as you'll see right here, he did it the old fashioned way.

No power tools, just skill and knowhow.

Well, this is all original here.

Everything on this is original.

And this style of this seat has been never changed.

Theyve very seldom changed the style.

Well, that seat is just like it was 100 years ago.

That's Ollie Turner, the wheelwright, a man who has a passion for the past.

I wish I had the top on here, but I don't.

I've done this my own pleasure as I got one buggy and had to work on it and I worked on it.

A lot of fun.

Enjoyed it so I bought another.

Ive never sold but one.

I dont want to sell them, I love them.

Time runs a different speed here in the country.

In Ollies workshop, the cat knows it.

I'm ready to put it in the fire.

Here when the subject is horsepower.

It's horse power.

Come on, April.

Horses like these supply the power to pull what Ollie restores.

In his work as a wheelwright, he fixes not only aging wagon wheels, but rebuilds entire carriages.

I go to the antique sales, I go to every sale I can go to and and buy parts for buggies.

Sometimes I dont find any.

Sometimes I do.

Ollie learned his trade from the Amish.

He is one of only three wheelwrights in the state.

Now, that's what you call combing it.

Having skill isn't enough in this business.

Having the right tool is paramount.

Yeah, I had to.

I'm still hunting for some.

Now, most of Ollies tools are over a hundred years old and very rare.

None of them can be purchased in a store.

It makes the point of the spoke.

This here is a spoke shaver and possibly could be over 100 years old.

My neighbors say, well, thats Ollies workshop.

My wife doesn't bother me.

She's got her hobbies.

And this is a finished wheel.

His skills handed down from the old Masters give testament to the past and hope for the future.

Hope that as others leave this earth, their skills remain alive in the hands of folks like Ollie Turner, a man who is saving the past for the future.

I enjoy it, it's a challenge to do something other people don't do.

Ollie lived to be 92 passing away in 2004 And when people like Ollie pass away, their skills pass away.

They do.

Young people today and people like us, we have no skills.

We could never in a million years do that stuff.

Well, we wouldn't probably have the patience to do it like he did or the skill.

You're right.

And it's very sad to see that kind of thing goes by the wayside too.

Knowledge of one generation.

Doesn't always pass on.

No, it doesn't.

Well, that was another collection of gems.

They are gems, aren't they?

Thank you, Larry.

Well, my pleasure.

Thank you.

If you have a question or commen That's our address.

We love hearing from you and appreciate you watching until the next time.

I'm Susan Peters.

And I am Larry Hatteberg.

Thanks so much for spending this time with us.

We'll see you again soon.