There she is, with a face you've never seen before - Queen Elizabeth, grinning (not smiling, grinning) at a huge Buff Orpington, with Prince Philip smiling (not grinning) in the background. In fact, it may be a unique depiction of the Queen of England for another reason - the Queen is upstaged by a man we presume to be the manager of the poultry fair as well as the gigantic Orpington. I doubt the royal PR people have allowed very many public photos of the Queen upstaged by anyone, let alone a poultry show manager and a chicken.

The oil painting of the Queen is hung just in front of the women's restroom at the National Poultry Museum on the campus of the Agricultural Hall of Fame in Bonner Springs, Kansas. Like any museum with a story to tell, it takes hours to absorb the displays and to grasp the evolution of the business, though the building itself is far from Smithsonian-size.

Loyl Stromberg attended the opening of the National Poultry Museum. Loyl has worked tirelessly to bring the museum to fruition.

This museum should correctly be named for Loyl Stromberg, who has worked for decades to make this space available for his lifetime stash of poultry memorabilia.

How long he'd been working to bring this about before I met him, I don't know. By the time I made his acquaintance, in the mid 1980s, he was asking the Poultry Historical Society at their Atlanta meeting to help develop a single repository for artifacts of the poultry business, fanciers, backyard egg/broilers for profit and the evolving commercial farmers. He had visited the Ag Hall of Fame in Bonner Springs, Kansas, and had good vibes with the director, so proposed that it be located there. The fact that it is in the middle of the country made sense to Loyl.

However, my recollection is that the people in the southeast part of the country thought any poultry museum should be there, California was sure it ought to be with them (Petaluma was the egg capitol of the world for many years, after all) and Arkansas had a wing of a lovely museum in Springdale. I believe the northeast also felt that since they were the population center of the country, a museum should be there - close to Washington.

Therefore, nothing got done.

It was left totally up to Loyl. He personally visited major poultry companies to little avail. However, he never got discouraged, never made people feel bad for turning him down, and he never gave up. Every letter from his home contained promotional material asking for support. Dr. John and Doris Salsbury, the Salsbury Lab family, made the most significant and ongoing contributions, totaling over $100,000. The American Poultry Historical Society did contribute, and amazingly, Japan sent $500 and New Zealand, $60. A few $1,000 gifts were offered; Loyl is working on a complete contributor list. He appreciated every $5, $10 and $20 gift, and although he will not mention it, most of the money came from Loyl himself.

In his 90s, walking with a cane, he was able to be there May 8, 2009 as the ribbon was cut and the doors opened to the public. Ninety people attended this event. Many were members of his large, extended family, but a special guest Dr. Hans Schippers, (himself having spearheaded the building of a five-acre poultry museum in Holland) flew in from the Netherlands to recognize the fulfillment of Loyl's lifetime effort. He shared congratulatory remarks from the podium with Fred Cervinka, of Heart of Missouri Hatchery, a longtime personal friend of Loyl's,

A stained glass window panel at entry to the museum.

Loyl has for years made friends around the world, as he hosted many tours for poultry fanciers. The gifts made to him of poultry pictures, statuary, unique equipment, weavings, carvings, cookery, taxidermy, you name it, plus what he purchased over the years, comprise his collection. At the present time, the assembly numbers over a thousand items, more than can be displayed at any one time, even by a museum dedicated to the effort.

Kate Alexander, curator of the collection, spent months digging into the evolvement of the poultry business, from the ubiquitous backyard flocks of every culture, noting milestones thus far. She didn't want to just hang or set out objects, she wanted to teach and amuse. We are reminded that often when a hatchery found itself in possession of a few thousand hatchlings and a cancelled contract to purchase, they were (eagerly or not) launched into the layer or broiler business. At the end of months of research "to get it right", Kate now holds her own in discourse with any poultry expert.

Illustrated with samples and "easy to follow directions," the inventions made to fill a need of the business are displayed. Of course the university extension divisions are credited for stepping forth to teach animal husbandry based on discoveries related to dietary needs, health maintenance and general flock well being. The U.S. Postal System cooperated in making it possible for hatcheries to develop a national market. Shipping crates for hatching eggs and live chicks are displayed. Early photos, letters of testimony (often in thanks for Stromberg Hatcheries) and an impressive collection of prize ribbons are displayed.

A Jamesway incubator, gift of the Geerlings of Townline Hatchery of Zeeland, Michigan, and the size of a small room itself, sits on a wall just inside the stained-glass-doors when entering the museum.

Genetic advances, equipment and housing manufacturers, "Chicken of Tomorrow" contest posters, feed sacks full of promise, models for the ideal laying houses, cigarette card collections of poultry breeds, paintings and mounted poultry samples show the familiar as well as rare and exotic breeds, poultry and egg promotion brochures over the decades, trap nests, clocks, even Decca 78 vinyl records of poultry music are part of the collection.

The earlier poultry museum which was dedicated in October, 1994 as an early commercial chicken hatchery situated in Farm Town USA at the National Ag. Center and Hall of Fame. Farm Town USA is depicted as an early 1900s farming area town and includes several stores, offices, blacksmith shop, railroad station, church, school, and replication of a farm home and farmstead.

If it had a chicken, pigeon, goose, quail, turkey feather or foot on it, Loyl bought it. Maybe it was a napkin ring, a doorstop, or a depiction of the bird from thirty foreign countries rendered in glass, metal, oil, wood, clay (a centuries old chicken from China is included): Loyl bought it. Kate very quickly realized she needed to devote a whole room of display cases to "chickens around the world." A crowing rooster carved in olive wood is one of his prizes.

In fact, it is more than possible that just as many items are boxed up, waiting to rotate through the displays as there are items carefully annotated in the museum.

The museum includes a "board room/library" and houses a modest collection (you are encouraged to donate any relevant materials) of books and pamphlets. Not only scholarly works, but whimsical novels, such as The Egg and I, a tall book of gorgeous photos of the Faberge eggs of Russian nobility, and a child's coloring book featuring chickens and eggs are represented.

Loyl commissioned an elegant metal rooster sculpture by a well-known artist from Minnesota especially for the museum, and he (the rooster, not Loyl or the artist) sits on a pedestal checking visitors between the incubator and the display pods.

You really should visit.

This narrative is written to honor Loyl Stromberg, a hardworking, fine and fanciful journeyer through life, whose every letter reminds me to take note of the wonders to be seen in the world, and urges me (and all of us) not to take a thing for granted, but to stay curious, involved and charitable as long as I (we) draw breath.

Located in Bonner Springs, Kansas, the Agriculture Hall of Fame was established in 1960 by a rare charter issued by the federal government, signed by President Eisenhower to honor the innovators of American agriculture, house a museum of items showing how agriculture has evolved, and to educate society in the issues and challenges of agriculture. No dollars were forthcoming from either the federal or state government. It is to be self-supporting. Tim Daugherty is its director. The website is www.aghalloffame.com.

A sampling of various displays in the poultry museum offering everything from antique incubators, stuffed/ceramic birds to old feed bags. Photos courtesy of Fred Cervinak, Ashland, Missouri.