We know the dates for the annual Sundown Salute celebration in Junction City in 2018.
The co-chair of the Planning Committee, Terry Heldstab, said Ottaway Amusements will be the carnival and will be located downtown. “They will be here on Friday, June 29 and they will run through July 4. The entertainment will start on Saturday June 30, and of course go through July 4. The major acts, which we’re still working on they will be Monday through Wednesday, July 2, 3, and 4.
There will be a fundraiser for Sundown Salute including dinner and dualing piano entertainment on Saturday, January 27 at the convention center.
Abilene, Kansas only needed five years to enter the Old West pantheon. Between 1867 and 1871, Texas cowboys drove longhorn cattle to Abilene on the Chisholm Trail-and the cattle trade attracted big names like Wild Bill Hickok, John Wesley Hardin and Ben and Billy Thompson. They, and so many anonymous drovers and merchants made Abilene a legend, one that lives today.
That is one reason Abilene is #1 among True West Magazine’s 2018 Top Western Towns. Abilene is featured in the February 2018 issue, which hit newsstands on December 26, 2017.
“This designation celebrates Abilene’s western heritage on a national scale,” Julie Roller, Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau director, said. “It recognizes the efforts of many community members and organizations to preserve and promote Abilene’s cowtown roots.”
At Old Abilene Town, tourists gather on Main Street to watch summertime gunfight re-enactments, or sip sarsaparilla while watching can-can dancers at the Alamo Saloon. Visitors can also relive train travel with the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad, or attend the Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo; one of the PRCA’s finest.
Visitors love spending time at the Dickinson County Heritage Center and learning about Abilene’s wild and wooly past.
“We are so proud that Abilene was selected as the #1 True Western Town of the Year,” Michael Hook, Dickinson County Heritage Center director, said. “It’s great to be at the top of the list and compared to other legendary cowtowns.”
In addition, the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum & Boyhood Home and the Great Plains Theatre both host special exhibits and presentations celebrating Abilene’s Chisholm Trail and cowboy history.
“Abilene was the first and greatest of the Kansas cowtowns, one that helped establish the legend of the Old West,” says True West Executive Editor Bob Boze Bell. “Fortunately for all of us, Abilene hasn’t forgotten where it came from-in fact, it maintains, celebrates and promotes that history, and does so amazingly well. There’s no question that Abilene is the Top True Western Town.”
This is the thirteenth year True West has presented this annual award. Editors base their selection on criteria demonstrating how each town has preserved its history through old buildings, museums and other institutions, events, and promotions of historic resources.
True West magazine is in its 66th year of leading the way in presenting the true stories of Old West adventure, history, culture and preservation. For subscriptions and more information, visit TWMag.com or call 888-687-1881.
Story submitted by Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau
Water/ Ways is a Smithsonian institution traveling exhibition about the ways water shapes our lives,and it’s coming to the Geary County Historical Society from January 6 ( Saturday ) to February 18.
The grand opening will be held Saturday, January 6 at 1:30 p.m. at the Geary County Historical Museum. The guest speaker will be Caryn Mirriam-Goldberg, who will give a talk about “Kansas Weather in Life, Literature and Photography, ” with a ribbon-cutting ceremony to follow at 2 p.m.
The Historical Society’s own exhibit “Submerged” will also open Saturday at the Museum.
MANHATTAN — Jackie Hartman, Kansas State University’s chief of staff and its first director of community relations, has announced her retirement, effective Feb. 1.
Appointed by President Kirk Schulz in 2010 as director of community relations and assistant to the president, Hartman was later named chief of staff. She currently reports directly to President Richard Myers and serves as a member of the cabinet. She leads and coordinates community affairs for the university, representing the president’s office on issues related to the city of Manhattan.
Hartman’s efforts as community relations director have helped K-State earn national recognition. The 2018 Princeton Review ranks the university as No. 1 in the nation for town-gown relations.
Hartman also provides leadership for the university’s prestigious Landon Lecture Series. She is involved with fundraising initiatives with McCain Auditorium and the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art. She serves as liaison between the president’s office and the Kansas State University Foundation, K-State Athletics and K-State Alumni Association. McCain Auditorium and the Beach Museum of Art also report to Hartman.
In addition, Hartman coordinates special projects, working with the president and provost. She was chair of the university’s sesquicentennial celebration in 2013, and most recently helped organize KSUnite, a successful unity event in November 2017 for students, faculty, staff and community members to reaffirm who we are as a university community, what we value and what we stand for as the K-State family.
“I want to thank Jackie for her dedicated service to Kansas State University,” said President Myers. “She has truly made a difference for the university. Whether through her work with McCain Auditorium and the Beach Museum of Art, the relationships she built in the community and at the university, her leadership with Landon Lectures, or in a multitude of other roles, her professionalism was beyond reproach and she always represented us well.”
Under Hartman’s leadership, McCain expanded its performance schedule, bringing increased opportunities for students, faculty, staff and the community to experience first-rate Broadway performances and some of the nation’s top performers. She led the search for a new director for the Beach Museum of Art in 2011, and her leadership was vital to the museum’s expansion of programming that connects regional art, culture and interests with the larger world.
As chair of the Landon Lecture Series, Hartman helped arrange lectures by several notable government, business and media leaders, including Supreme Court Justice Sonia Sotomayor, Sen. Alan Simpson, Dr. Mehmood Khan and political pundits John Avlon and Margaret Hoover.
Before joining K-State, Hartman was a faculty member at Colorado State University — where she earned her doctorate in human resource development with an emphasis on organizational communication — from 1987-2010.
When Hartman came to K-State in 2010, she was returning home. She earned both her bachelor’s and master’s degrees from K-State, and served as an instructor of management at the university from 1981-1986. Her Wildcat roots run deep as she is the daughter of Pat and Jack Hartman, the legendary basketball coach who led K-State to three Big Eight titles, two Big Eight Tourney titles and nine postseason appearances.
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( Photo courtesy of Manhattan Fire Department Facebook Page )
Manhattan, Kansas, January 4, 2018 — At 2:22 amon Thursday, the Manhattan Fire Department was dispatched to 600 Osage Street for a report of a structure fire. Upon arrival, crews found a 2 story residential structure with smoke and fire showing on the second floor. The fire reached a 2nd Alarm before it was contained within an hour. A total of 22 firefighters responded on 6 fire apparatus. No injuries are reported at this time and units are currently still on scene.
The structure contained four apartments that were all occupied at the time of the fire. All occupants were able to exit the structure without injuries. Loss is estimated at $75,000 to contents and $100,000 to the structure. The owner is listed as KAT Property Management in Shawnee, KS. The fire cause is under investigation at this time.
Michelle Stimatze will be the director of the Geary County Convention and Visitor’s Bureau.
The CVB Advisory Committee approved her hiring on Wednesday by a 7-0 vote.
Stimatze served as the convention and visitor’s bureau director when the organization was part of the consolidated chamber of commerce. But effective this week, the CVB is back under country control so the position had to be advertised. Stimatze went through the application and hiring process for the post and was hired.
Under the new bylaws County Commissioner Keith Ascher, as a representative from the county governing body chairs the CVB Committee. “Our HR Director posted this nationwide.” Ascher stated, “When we got a pool of candidates, which wasn’t terribly large, but he narrowed it down to two. So then on the 19th of December we interviewed two applicants.” Ascher added it was a pretty unanimous sentiment by the interview committee, it was the knowledge and experience possessed by Stimatze, that stood out.
Under the new CVB bylaws a representative from the county commission will chair the CVB Committee but only vote in the event of ties.
There will be no recommendation forwarded to the County Commission on the hiring, explained Ascher. “Actually no, what the County Commission will do is set the salary. ” Ascher stated they approved a pay range at the recommendation of the HR Director, Jon Thummel. “Now it will be up to him to negotiate a salary with her, and then the County Commission will approve or disapprove that.”
Michelle Stimatze is the spouse of one of the county commissioners, Charles Stimatze. To avoid a potential conflict of interest Ascher said Charles Stimatze has agreed to abstain from the vote or anything of that nature moving forward with the CVB, leaving it up to the other two commissioners ( Ascher and Ben Bennett ). The CVB Committee will be in charge of hiring, evaluation or termination of any director.
Police reported Samantha Riggs and Matthew Riggs have been located safe in Riley County. They released no additional details.
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WICHITA — Law enforcement authorities are asking the public for help to locate a missing woman and her son.
Just after 10am Sunday, Samantha Riggs, 23, Wichita became upset and walked away from her family home with her one-year-old son Mathew Riggs, according to officer Charley Davidson.
Matthew was wearing only a pair of white pajamas with multicolored dinosaurs. The mother was wearing black tights with a grey tee shirt and grey hoody. A citizen gave them a ride to the QT at Pawnee and Meridian.
The citizen left and returned with a child’s black Old Navy coat with a yellow stripe down each sleeve and gave it to the mother. She mentioned to the citizen that they were waiting for a ride to Manhattan, Kansas.
Riggs-photo Wichita PD
According to the family the mother is mentally challenged and is not capable of taking care of her child without supervision. If you see them or have any information please call 911. The picture is the pajamas the child was last seen wearing.
The Geary County – Junction City Dr. Martin Luther King Celebration Committee has announced the schedule of events for the 32nd annual Junction City observance of Martin Luther King Jr. Day, January 14-15.
On January 14 there will be a Gospel Tribute and Musical Celebration Sunday, January 14 at the Second Missionary Baptist Church, 710 West 10th Street at 3:30 p.m. The tribute, “A Man with a Message,” will feature guest speaker Dr. larry E. jones, newly installed Paster of SMBC as well as area choirs and ensembles.
The MLK celebration and commemoration will continue on Monday, January 15, at the C. L. Hoover Opera House, 135 West 7th Street at 10 a.m. The keynote speaker for the event is Dr. Marche Fleming-Randle, Vice President of Diversity and Community Engagement, Wichita State University. She is the first female and African American to hold that post.
The observance will also recognize the 2018 recipient of the Coretta Scott King Courage Award presented annually to an outstanding individual active in the movement for civil and human rights with service to mankind exemplifying courage and determination to continue the work for unity and peace.
Other invited guests include the 1st Infantry Division Band, the Mike Brown Jazz Ensemble and the Geary County Children’s Choir.
The public is invited, and admission is free for both events.
Red Dunham has been a member of the JC Breakfast Optimist Club for 50 years. Lawrence Long, who reached that milestone earlier, was Red’s original sponsor. Both Red and Lawrence are Past Presidents of the Optimist Club and have donated countless volunteer hours to the youth of Geary County.
The current club President, Buz Bruzina, presented Red with a 50 year pin at the meeting held January 3, 2018 at the Hampton Inn in Junction City.”
( Photo l-r ) Buz Bruzina, JC Optimist Club President, Red Dunham, club member for 50 years, Lawrence Long, Red Dunham’s original sponsor to become a member.
We know the dates for the annual Sundown Salute celebration in Junction City in 2018.
