Observations all along the line - Kimball & the Southern Panhandle First

Friends and Neighbors: The Noltings

Cowboy poetry, songs and a love story

No doubt, most of the public recognizes a couple from Bushnell who have resided in the Kimball County area for less than a decade, whether it be from Tim Nolting's service on the Kimball County Commissioner Board, his service on the Village of Bushnell Board or his publication of personal writings in the weekly Western Nebraska Observer, or be it Deb Carpenter-Nolting; her singing performances or involvement with the Sisters Grimm located in Bushnell.

Born and raised in Acheson County in Northeast Kansas, Tim graduated high school in that area in 1967. He then attended Highland Junior Community College, for a less than a year, to get his prerequisites for a pre-engineering course. Following that, Nolting stated that his local church in Winfield, Kansas awarded him a scholarship to attend theological training at St. John's College.

"At that time it was required that a pastor be fairly proficient in Greek, German and Hebrew," explained Nolting, "and I barely had a good comprehensive understanding of the English language."

"St. John's college folded shortly after I was there," explained Nolting, "I don't think it was because of me," he laughed. "If I felt I had the 'calling' – then it wasn't answered."

Nolting then decided to work in construction with the State of Kansas, on Interstate 70 between Colby and Brewster, in the western part of the state. He stated that after his work was complete, his aunt helped him obtain employment in his very first office job as a mail-boy for a consulting engineering firm that built highways and bridges. He went to work for the HNTB Corporation or the Howard, Needles, Tammen & Bergendoff Corporation, which is a foremost company in the world.

"During this time, I came to find out that my parent's farm was being foreclosed on," stated Nolting, "so I realized that I would never have the chance to go into farming and ranching, which is what I really wanted to do."

Instead he went from 'mail-boy', to computer operator, and then worked up to manager of the computer services department within HNTB.

In 1976, Nolting moved to Colorado where he began work in the high tech industry, mainly Hewlett Packard, among others. During this time, he said he gained a superb national and international business background and he ultimately acquired a consulting position in New Hampshire with Phillips Medical Systems.

"I flew back and forth from Colorado to Boston for almost a year," stated Nolting, "on a weekly basis. I lived in a hotel room and on an airplane."

International travel was part of his position at Phillips Medical Systems and he was often in parts of Asia and Europe including Ireland, Belguim and Singapore.

"I firmly believe that when you hear people complain about the United States, they need to travel," he said. "They have no idea how truly wonderful it is here in the States."

The Mrs. is from a farm and ranch background, as well, she was born and raised in the northwestern Nebraska Panhandle, near the Pine Ridge Reservation where she lived until 2006. Her father was the first in the state of Nebraska to raise domestic elk and had a herd for 35 years.

"When the chronic wasting disease came through the area, there were a lot more restrictions," explained Carpenter-Nolting of her father's passion, "so, a lot of people had to get rid of their elk at that time, even though they may not have had it (the disease) in their herd. They were beautiful animals."

Following high school, Carpenter-Nolting attended Wheaton College in Wheaton, Ill. There she enjoyed studying on the third floor of the campus library, and reading a number of artifacts from Christian authors.

"I had my choice of desks next to Madeleine L'Engle's manuscripts; the wardrobe that inspired C. S. Lewis' "The Lion, the Witch, and the Wardrobe; R.R. Tolkien's desk, where he wrote, "Lord of the Rings. You can imagine how inspiring that was!" stated Carpenter-Nolting, "I was fortunate enough to take a summer creative writing course with Madeleine L' Engle."

Carpenter-Nolting then completed her education at Chadron State College and received her Masters in teaching. She began her 30-year teaching career in rural, one-room schools in the country of Sheridan County, Nebraska. She then moved on to teach high school students on the reservation in Pine Ridge, South Dakota and later the Oglala Lakota College on the Kyle, South Dakota reservation.

"It was both a joy and a sadness," she explains about the experience, "there are a lot of wonderful things on the reservation, but also a lot of 'heaviness' too. A lot of poverty and despair."

The couple first met each other at a Colorado gathering of poets in Arvada, Colo., in the early 1990s. "At that time, the number of poets and singers were a very small group," he said, "and you made friendships quickly. You got to know one another and appreciate one another's talents. It was like a big family."

"Even though you would only see each other once a year," explained Carpenter-Nolting, "you would just pick up where you left off. You would have these deep conversations with these people that you perform with and that you wouldn't have anywhere else. That's the kind of setting that we got to know each other."

Each of them would bring their children to the annual poetry gatherings, both having two children from previous marriages. Nolting has a son, Tim and a daughter, Tinisha and now three grandchildren all in Colorado. Carpenter-Nolting has two daughters who also reside in Kimball County with the couple and are active in this community, Jamie and Jessica.

They married in January of 2008 and they lived in a fifth-wheel trailer Nolting had purchased from his daughter and son-in-law, who parked the trailer in their driveway in Cheyenne, Wyo. During that time, Nolting said, his daughter 'gently encouraged' him to make different plans for his new life.

One day Nolting opened a paper to see an ad that read, "Own a piece history," and, being a self-proclaimed history buff, was excited about the find. That piece was the Union Pacific Depot in Bushnell.

Nolting along with his daughter made the drive to Bushnell to check out the mentioned real estate, which belonged to Jim and Deb Huff .

"When I looked at it, it was neat, and it was a neat old house, with tremendous potential." So, he called his wife and said, "We just bought a house."

A week later, Deb got to view their new home and village.

Carpenter-Nolting shared one of her first experiences after their arrival in the small village of Bushnell, one that validated that Bushnell was, indeed, where they were meant to be.

"Bushnell resident Yvonne Moy heard that a cowboy poet was moving in to town," she recalled, "she called her friend, Lyn Messersmith, and told her that Tim Nolting was moving to Bushnell and, since Lyn was a cowboy poet too, she wondered if she knew him. Lyn said, 'Not only do I know Tim, but I know his partner Deb Carpenter, who will be joining him in Bushnell.'"

She and Messersmith had been friends and had performed together for many years. Moy questioned Messersmith on whether this 'Deb', was the same Deb with breast cancer that she had been praying for daily for a year.

"It was endearing to me that a resident of the village had lifted me up before she knew me and before I even moved here," stated Carpenter-Nolting. "Ironically, Yvonne (Moy) was diagnosed with breast cancer a few years ago and died of the disease, but we had some heart-to-heart visits during her last few weeks that cemented our friendship."

"People were so sweet," she stated about the Bushnell area. "I'm guilty of not always being the kind of neighbor I so admired when we first moved here," expressed Carpenter-Nolting, "I tend to get wrapped up in my own little world and don't take the time to welcome newcomers with a loaf of banana bread or a batch of home-baked rolls. I need to start praying for healing of the neighbors around me and for the neighbors who haven't moved in to town yet."

The couple spent each evening of their first year in Bushnell watching the sunsets, and during this time they noticed and admired a nearby barn with horses that ran across an open field.

They said they often dreamed and discussed the possibility of purchasing the property and that barn someday with the hopes of having horses of their own.

Eventually the opportunity presented itself; the couple bought the charming old barn and made into what is now known as the "Sister's Grimm", a bookstore and coffee shop that most visitors describe as a "comforting and inviting" place, according to Nolting.

Carpenter-Nolting's daughter, Jamie runs the coffee shop/book store and resides in the upper loft of the barn.

"The most fun was the grand opening," commented Carpenter-Nolting, "we learned the history of the barn from the locals."

Both individuals have numerous projects planned for their futures. Nolting has been researching and writing three different novels. Originally he planned all three to be biographies or non-fiction novels. Instead, because of the nature of one novel and the fact that some content of the novel may upset still-living relatives, he has decided to write it as a fiction-type novel.

Near and dear to his heart, his mother and her story, will also be written by Nolting in the future.

"I want to write my mother's story," he said, "she was quite a remarkable woman. She put up with a lot and went through the Depression, the dust bowl years, and through that period in time when wanting to be something other than a housewife meant that she was some sort of crazy.

"They went as far as to give her electric shock therapy to bring her around," he added. "She endured a lot and was an influential woman."

Carpenter-Nolting also has some writings on her list of things to do in the near future.

"I'm always writing songs," she said "and I have a couple of books in the works, too. I am a breast cancer survivor, so I have a memoir. It's basically finished, but I am just waiting for a good time to publish. I also will have some fictional projects."

When asked his thoughts on serving the community with his government positions, Nolting responded, "It's important to have someone who wants to help continue a positive influence in the community, and to have someone who is always willing to listen. You may not always agree with them, but you need to listen to their concerns, have empathy and to try and be a positive influence for progress."