Chances are, Merlin Line will come up in more than a few conversations this week. Afterall, it is Kearny County Fair week, and Line was a familiar face and fixture at the local fair for 36 years. Under his tutelage as Kearny County’s Extension Director and Ag Agent, a multitude of changes took place here which expanded programming and improved services not only to the farming community but the entire population of the area. Permanent fair buildings were constructed in Loucks Park, planned and built with Merlin’s assistance, and the Kearny County Fair just kept getting better. A total of 880 4-H members participated in Kearny County’s 4-H program during his tenure, and the annual fair was opened up to all county residents, not just 4-Hers.
Born at Sabetha, Kansas in November of 1920, Line attended Kansas State University after high school. He not only received his bachelor’s in agriculture there but also met his future wife, Mary Gasche, a native of Lyon County. They married in 1943 when Merlin was a private in the U.S. Army. He would go on to serve in the European Theater.
Merlin began his career with the Kansas State Extension Service in July 1946. His first assignment was with the Dickinson County Farm Bureau as the county’s 4-H Club Agent. In January of 1949, Merlin was hired as Kearny County’s new agriculture agent, replacing F.M. Coleman who resigned to become manager of the Lucky Key Hereford ranch at Hutchinson. Merlin began his duties April 1.
While Line grew Kearny County’s fair and extension programs, he and Mary also grew their family. They moved here with their 20-month-old daughter and eventually added a son and one more daughter to the fold. Merlin also continued to grow his knowledge. In 1964, he received his Master’s degree from Colorado State University at Fort Collins.
Merlin was honored with the Distinguished Service Award in 1966 from the National Association of County Agricultural Agents. Also that year, he was elected to the office of secretary-treasurer for the Kansas Association of County Agricultural Agents, and the following year he was promoted to president of the association, a position he held through 1970. The Kansas Wheat Commission recognized him in 1971 for his work in promoting Kansas Wheat at the Kansas State Fair. In 1975, Line received the Kansas award in Rural Development, and he was awarded the Kansas Wheat Promotion Award from the Kansas Wheat Commission again in 1983.
Merlin’s ambition and devotion to his fellow man and community was unparalleled. He served as the first chairman of the Deerfield-Lakin-Kearny County Planning Commission, and Line also belonged to the VFW, Lions Club, Rotary Club and the Lakin Methodist Church. He researched and wrote for Volume II of the History of Kearny County and held membership in the Kansas Extension Agents Association, the extension honorary fraternity known as Epsilon Sigma Phi, and the Fort Collins chapter of Phi Delta Kappa.
The Lines were avid KSU fans and were season ticketholders to both Wildcat basketball and football games. Upon Merlin’s retirement in 1985, they purchased a home in Manhattan because of their long association with K-State and because the central location also took them closer to their children and other family. Sadly, Merlin Elmer Line died on August 5, 1988, only a few short years after his retirement, but his legacy of service to our community and to the Kearny County Fair has not been forgotten.
SOURCES: Archives of the Lakin Independent, Fairview Enterprise and Manhattan Mercury; Ancestry.com; findagrave; and Museum archives.