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Waymeth Heath saw something Wednesday, July 15, she hadn’t seen in person for several years: a cow. Actually, there were two.

The sight of the cherry-red beef cattle pair brought back childhood memories for the 81 year old.

Sitting in her wheelchair outside of New Mark Care Center in Kansas City North, she remembered milking her dairy cows and the fresh, creamy taste of the homemade whipped butter and biscuits.

“They even stepped on my toes sometimes,” she recalled with a smile and laugh.

Brenda, Bailey and Bethany Toates of Smithville paraded their Hereford cows around the lawn and parking lot for Heath and the other facility residents in honor of Cow Appreciation Day.

The idea came about a couple of weeks back. Angela Troncin, the facility’s activities director, was talking to residents about planning a cow craft activity in honor of Cow Appreciation Day. One resident responded, “No, we want to see cows.”

So Troncin put the cow request to Lisa Keefe, the facility’s admissions and marketing director and 4-H horsemanship leader for the Kearney Clovers.

Keefe easily got the Toates family on board with the idea. In a trailer, they brought three of their show cattle, all Santa Gertrudis cattle. However, one was a bit too shy to make it out of the trailer.

The memories kept flowing for residents.

Hannah Johnson, 89, remembered milking cows twice a day as a child.

“We’d use that milk to make those really, really good rounds of cheese that they used to make. They don’t make them like that anymore,” she said.

Vivian Wood, 90, remembers her father’s milk route, where he’d gather up milk from homes. He sold milk to Kraft, she said.

Irma Studer, 88, talked about the buttermilk her family would make from their cow milk.

When the cows showed up, she let out a long “mooo,” which brought chuckles from other residents.

Smithville Editor Nancy Hull Rigdon can be reached at 532-4444 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

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