In Chase County, North of Cassoday, Highway 177 drops off the plateau where the Flint Hills stretch as far as you can see, down into wandering river bottoms along Rock Creek and the South Fork of the Cottonwood River. Instead of bluestem grass you are driving by 200 year old Bur Oaks and Sycamore Trees as big as houses.
In February of 2013 Tom Heathman called me and told me he had a few trees to sell along the South Fork just South of Bazaar on 177. I bought three oaks and one walnut; the largest was 52″ in diameter and 225 years old.
In 2018, in cooperation with Taylor Johnson Furniture Company, lumber from those oaks and that walnut are being crafted into elements which will adorn the Creamery at Elderslie and serve customers for many years to come.
Here at Elderslie we believe the dirt of our state and the things that grow in it are sacred. We believe that each one of us that touches them, or is nourished by them, should act in reverence and in thankfulness. So we try to use them nobly, giving delight to all who see, touch and experience.
-George Elder
