Ten people to congratulate!

One of my favorite times of year is when we get to present ten We Kan! awards to unsuspecting people at the Kansas Sampler Festival. We have an exhibitor/We Kan! meeting after the festival on Saturday and that is when we make the presentations.

First, I'm very proud of the awards because they are made by Elk Falls Pottery. Steve and Jane Fry do a great job with them. For years, Bill Linde of Yates Center made the awards.

The awards are presented to people who have shown uncommon dedication and passion to their jobs and often because they have done it for quite awhile. You don't apply to win one of these awards, just be great at being yourself.

All of these people have a hand in preserving and sustaining rural culture. Here's a toast to all of them!

The 2009 winners of the We Kan! awards are:


Tom Braddy, Paxico, Mr. Promoter of Wine and Kansas. Tom (second from left in the picture) has been attending the Kansas Sampler Festival since it was held on the farm. He started out selling Lost Trail Root Beer for Louisburg Cider Mill and now promotes and sells wine for Wyldewood Cellars. Tom is one of the most engaging people you'll ever meet and he loves Kansas.


Concordia, Bringing Kansas Together in 2008-2009. Susie Haver and Tammy Britt received the award for the community of Concordia as the leaders of hosting the Kansas Sampler Festival in Concordia. It takes a community to stage something like this -- and dedicated leaders. Thank you to all the volunteers from Concordia, especially Susie and Tammy.


John Divine, Salina, Longtime and loyal supporter. John has been a Kansas Sampler Foundation board member for a long time. He's become a dear friend and has put a great deal of time, money, and energy into helping KSF prosper. He's been there through thick and thin. John is an enthusiastic board member for a number of organizations and works effectively with many communities.

Sharla Krenzel, Leoti, Making a Difference for Wichita County (not pictured). Sharla works hard for Wichita County as the economic development director. She leaves no stone unturned and goes all out on any project. She epitomizes the spirit of Wichita County and does more behind the scenes than anyone would know.


Kristel Lewis, Lawrence, Extra Effort for Entrepreneurs. A busy Mom of two young boys, Kristel also produces Country Register, a publication that promotes niche businesses in Kansas. She lives and breathes it and makes purchases and goes out of her way to do little things to support these businesses. She also is the sponsor of the Kansas Mercantile tent at the festival and makes sure everything goes smoothly in that tent.


Joan Nothern, Glasco, Thoughtful Leadership. Joan has an artful perspective of how to keep a rural community viable and it includes educating and involving the youth in knowing the community story, storytelling, and focusing on efforts that bring a community together -- like celebrating a highway, place, and even rhubarb. Joan has a thoughtful perspective which helps take people to a deeper layer of understanding a subject.


Susan Rathke, Emporia, Excellent for Emporia. One thing Susan does in her job for the Emporia Convention & Visitors Bureau is take care of groups that come to Emporia. She has a wonderful way of making sure the group has the best time possible. Susan is a marvelous ambassador for Emporia and is a great source for information about the city.

Glenda Trecek, Agenda, Believing in Agenda (not pictured). Glenda has unbelievable commitment and belief that Agenda can be viable. She has a gift shop, the Cedar Porch, in this town of 78, and has gone on to restore a couple of more buildings in what is left of the main street. One store now has a soda fountain! She's a bulldog when it comes to making things happen and a wonderful spirit to visit. (Go to Agenda!).


Kristina Vaughn, Canute, Oklahoma, Extra Effort. For four years, Kristina has come from her home in Oklahoma with her aunt Sally Fuller to help set up the Kansas Sampler Festival. She comes several days before the festival, pays her own motel room, and does hard work out on the festival grounds. She does it with a willing spirit and is fun to be around. Kristina makes things easier for the host and her efforts are greatly appreciated!

Pat Veesart, Garden City, Champion for Many (not pictured). Pat is the director of the Small Business Development Center in Garden City. Not only does Pat help innumerable businesses get started and help them as they progress down the road, but the spirit with which she does that makes her special. She deeply cares about entrepreneurs being successful and takes extra steps to offer support. She's a good friend to many and Kansas is better off because of her presence.

To see all of the award winners over the years, click here.

A "wow" of a courthouse

Welcome to a tour of the 1930 Reno County Courthouse. One of the best examples of art deco architecture in the state, it's built of buff-colored brick and Bedford limestone. The architect was W.M. Hulse.


Can you see the hawk nest at the base of the flag near the top of the courthouse? Maybe you can see the sticks hanging out of the nest.

It's always nice when the employees are proud of their courthouse and these employees certainly are.

The details are as great as the overall view. There are several marble water fountains in the building as well as wooden staircase newels.

Mail is picked up at this brass mail box every day.


The art deco is very evident from the first floor pyramid design and columns. The brass rail on the second floor shows a good view of the height of the first-floor columns.


Breathtaking because of its historical retention, the wood panels with the decorative metal X's, the metal gates with the state seal, and the wall tapestries make this a highly desirable courtroom to see.

There is much more to see that depicted here. Perhaps the following information, taken from the Reno County web site, will inspire you to come explore it yourself! It's only open during the week.

The pyramid design is found all over the building and is obvious from the first floor area as you observe the following:

• walnut burl panels that are evident on the main floor of the courthouse

• same marble stepping stone effect around all the elevator doors plus the water fountain

• bronze newel posts are the same on the stair railings as on the balcony and mezzanine

• walnut burl woodwork throughout the building has a Japanese inlay as evidenced in the first floor counter area, eastern courtroom on the third floor

• the baseboards on the first, second and third floors are all of marble
  

The beaming in the courtroom hall and the eastern courtroom appears to be unfinished mahogany. It shows elaborately carved floral and vegetable motifs that suggest 15th Century Spanish carvings. The beams in the hallway of the courtroom still retain their original painted colors; but the beams in the courtroom have been painted gold and mustard. These have been painted because when the jail was housed on the fifth floor, plumbing had been plugged and overflowed into this area, badly defacing the beams and portions of the ceiling.

An artist from New York, Vincent Aderente, painted the murals in the hall and in the courtroom. The paintings in the hall are symbolical of the settlement of the plains by the American Indians and the white pioneers. A wagon train traveling across the Great Plains is further evidence of this era.

The courtroom mural overlooks the judge’s bench. This mural depicts a judgment scene with a sitting female Justice, flanked by a female Mercy and a female Execution. A mere mortal awaiting judgment stands on the other sides of Mercy and execution.

Another interesting original in the courtroom are the tapestries on the walls. The eastern window coverings were of this same design and material but have deteriorated to the point of having to be replaced.

Click here, for more historical information on the courthouse.

Most courthouses in Kansas are historic with unique features. The materials used, the design, the art, the historic photos all help a person "Get Kansas!"

KE #2 Marci Penner

Get sauced at Roy's!

Today was the day -- WenDee's first visit to Roy's BBQ. Roy's is about 10 blocks west of Main in Hutchinson. It's always a good sign when a BBQ joint does not look like a regular restaurant.

And, if you know anything about Roy's you know you should go early. The ditch across the highway shows permanent signs of being a regular parking area.



There isn't a lot of seating space in the three rooms, though the red table can handle lots of people that don't know each other. But it's a fun place with signs all over the walls. Though lots of people do carry-out, it's fun to hang out as long as you can at Roy's.



But, oh my, the experience starts out in fantastic fashion -- and all because of Anne. Anne Armstrong is behind the counter to greet you and to spread good cheer. She is the ultimate front-liner. She seems to genuinely love what she does and before you know it you're a Roy's fan, too, and you haven't even had your first bite. (If we could clone Anne that would be a really good thing).


I ordered beef brisket with baked beans but Anne gently swayed me to get the toast, too, and I'm sure glad I did! It melts in your mouth but if you use it to soak up the bbq sauce and the baked bean juice you'll get an extra succulent bite. WenDee ordered the pulled pork and it was super, too.



End result. We got sauced at Roy's and are glad we did! Can't wait to go back!

It's open Tuesday-Saturday 11 a.m.-3 p.m., or until the food is gone. Go early!

To "Get Kansas!" a person should just do a food tour of the state to meet people like Anne and her customers, find great food, and get the feel of so many charismatic places.

KE #2 Marci Penner

Post Kansas Sampler Festival -- it's the people

We just got done with the 20th annual Kansas Sampler Festival held May 2-3 in Concordia's city park. 135 Kansas communities were represented in 217 exhibits of Kansas day trips, products, art, books, music, historical performances, and free-standing exhibits. Over 5,000 attended.


THOSE WHO MAKE IT HAPPEN
Because it moves around every two years, it's a little tricky to organize. It's not like everyone does the same job they've done for ten years and could do it in their sleep. Those patterns haven't been established yet.

So the effort by all those involved in the preparation of it is immense. Susie Haver, Tammy Britt, and WenDee LaPlant had the lion's share of the responsibility on their shoulders -- but they made it great. We also have festival groupies who come days before the festival to help. This year they came from Liberal, Salina, Oklahoma, and Leavenworth County. And then there is the outstanding crew during the festival from tent bosses who take care of the exhibitors to the college kids who descended on the exhibitors to make Friday set-up a breeze.

It is a tremendous amount of work but because of willing people, it all gets done.


THOSE WHO EXHIBIT
Have you ever heard of Manchester, Everest, or Hardtner? Even those small towns were represented at the festival. But so were Topeka, Manhattan, and Hutchinson.

Many of these towns do not have the benefit of the transient guest tax so monies for the festival expenses come from anywhere around town they can get support -- chamber, city, county, economic development, PRIDE, local businesses -- or from their own pockets. Money is needed to develop the displays, to pay the registration fee, and to cover travel expenses. Some people take off work to help at this event. Exhibitors are a highly dedicated group.

The camraderie among the exhibitors is one of the highlights. They get ideas from each other, they spell each other in the booths, and they find connections. The Blacksmith Roastery from Lindsborg gained some new wholesale clients for his coffee. Musicians and historic performers got bookings.

Ten people get We Kan! awards -- and there are many tears.


THE AUDIENCE
People were there from Texas, New Mexico, and other states but they also come from all around Kansas.

A twenty-something young man wrote on his blog about how cool the festival was. He now wants to explore Kansas more.

An older woman explained how she gathers brochures at the festival, goes home and spreads them out on her table and makes a plan, and then travels to Kansas places in the summer.

One ten-year-0ld had to be at every Stump game.

People continually comment how they had no idea Kansas had so much to offer.

The Kansas Barn Alliance had conversations with diehard barn owners.

Mom & I's Candy was a big hit, as usual.

Lb. Brewing gave away so many samples they had nothing left for Sunday.

Every year there is one or two people who attend and when they find that their town isn't represented, they say it will be next year -- and it often is.


ALL TOGETHER NOW
No other state does this kind of event. It's unique to get the smallest of cities and the metro areas all together in an outdoor setting under large tents. It's not an over-commercialized event and it's done with a purpose, not a profit motive.

The purpose is simply to help people love Kansas and "get Kansas."

It always turns out that they do.

Next year the Kansas "classroom" moves to Leavenworth County. Hope you can be there!

KE #2 Marci Penner

Ohhh....tired body

We're in Concordia helping prepare for the May 2-3 Kansas Sampler Festival.

Tents going up today! Traffic starting to increase around the park as interest grows.

Tent booth layout crew led by Bob Topping included his wife Jan, Keyta Kelly and daughter Kaitlin. I helped when I wasn't talking to Anthony the tent guy or doing an interview. Bob has a new efficient way to do the layout. It was great.

Fencing was completed and some new bodies arrived to help put up the 8 small white tents that comprise the Kansas Explorers Club tent and the historic performers tent.

Whew...it that ever a chore.

Dallas, Burnell, Mike, Don, and Tom from Concordia were fabulous workers. Ellen Morgan, one of our board members, worked so hard, too.

This was the day Sally Fuller, ace volunteer from Liberal, arrived -- and later her niece Christina Vaugh from Oklahoma joined us. Sally and Christina have volunteered for four years now.

We ate in two locally-owned places today -- Zistro and El Puerto. Bought necessary items at Town and Country.

Susie and Tammy are working hard in the office.

We'll get the chairs and tables in the tents tomorrow.

Have to go recuperate now!

Why do we all do this? To help the public "Get Kansas!"

KE #2 Marci Penner

The tents are here!

Report from the Kansas Sampler Festival location in Concordia.

Susie Haver (local festival director) and I were at the 6:30 a.m. Optimist meeting this morning at Kristi's restaurant. Club members are great volunteers at the festival. Next was the 8:15 a.m. chamber meeting. Good to see friendly and eager faces. Tammy Britt, local co-director, ran the Chamber coffee.

I had a chance to slip over to the Orphan Train Museum. It's looking really good and the exhibits do a great job of telling the gripping story. Hope you get to see it.

KSF board member Ellen Morgan showed up this morning. She did projects all day in the office. WenDee was stationed at her computer working on Volunteer info sheets, day program, and tent layouts.

The Leavenworth County contingent, next year's host, doubled today. Bob and Jan Topping got here Sunday night. Keyta Kelly, Leavenworth Co. festival director, and daughter Kaitlin, got here early this afternoon. They came out to the site and then went to the office to work with WenDee.

Tents showed up at noon and by 4 p.m., all ten big tents were stretched out on their designated areas and poles were slammed into the ground. Tomorrow the tents will go up!

Susie and Tammy were working on odds and ends, phone calls, and final details. Tonight we had three volunteer training meetings.

Now, here's the most interesting news of all for those who will be coming to Concordia this weekend. Today was the opening of Heavy's, a bar and bbq/other things classy joint just a block off of 6th (main street) on Washington. What a great place!

We had coffee at the very cool coffee place this morning, Jitters. Bob and Jan ate at Zistro's, another neat place in town.

Concordia's Blade Empire came out today with a 40-page tab about the festival. It's terrific!

Salina Journal is coming out tomorrow.

That's the festival report for today.

We're working hard to ready the place to help the public "Get Kansas!"

KE #2 Marci Penner

p.s. Kansas Sampler Festival, May 2-3, Concordia's city park.
www.kansassamplerfestival.com.

The early years of the festival

We're about to leave for Concordia for a week of prep before the May 2-3 Kansas Sampler Festival. Susie Haver and Tammy Britt have been working hard for months to prepare. WenDee takes care of a lot of technical things on this end. It's exciting for all the work to finally start bearing results.

HOW DID IT START?
In 1990 I had to leave my job as elementary guidance counselor near Philadelphia, PA because of ongoing episodes from a 1983 head injury. Time to move home with the parents... Best thing that ever happened. The only job I could hold was with Dad. He had written a coffee table/photo essay book on Kansas and people had been asking how to get to those places. So on my good days we traveled the state and researched. The result -- Kansas Weekend Guide.

THE EVENT
We had a book-signing party on an early November Saturday in 1990. We had invited places in the book to help celebrate and they filled one tent. It was a sleety, cold day. We didn't advertise much. But despite the weather and the location of the event being held on a farm near a small town, one thousand people came!

It was easy to figure out that people were hungry for information about what there is to see and do in Kansas. We gave the event a name, the Kansas Sampler Festival, and rallied the family and Inman volunteers to make it happen. For eight years we held the festival on our farm. That was one great work crew.

IT GREW AND GREW
It seems like we grew by about a thousand every year and in the final year, 1998, eight thousand people attended. The parking lot was the alfalfa field. The tin shed was the Tin Shed Cinema where communities showed slide shows. Exhibits were located in many tents and the grain elevator. The pond deck was one music performance area. Dad built a grass-earthen stage for another musical venue and we put a 40x80' tent over it. The audience sat on straw bales and filled the tent act after act. Food vendors used the claim shack and metal shed as a staging area and people ate in front of Mom's flower garden. Willis Loganbill gave horse and buggy rides along the creek, through the shelter belt, down tractor graveyard row, and through the prairie.

BY 1993
The festival was using every available area between trees and outbuildings. We needed more room. The Kansas Sampler Center was being built on the east side of the creek in what had been a wheat field. More land was taken out of production and planted into prairie. Trees were planted and a horseshoe driveway was built. A footbridge was built over the creek so people could walk from one side to the other. We filled all that area with more tents and demonstration areas. Food vendors lined the creek.

GOOD BYE TO THE FARM
Finally, the alfalfa field parking lot had to be rotated. We had really beaten it down after 8 years of parking on it. Without a parking lot, we couldn't stage the festival. It had been really fun having the festival on our farm. Our farm dates back to 1874 when my great-great-grandfather came over to America in the Mennonite migration and settled here. It had been a great backdrop for this Kansas celebration.

WHAT TO DO
We either had to end the festival or figure out another plan. We decided to let communities bid on it and move it from one host to the next every two years. It's worked superbly and more people had the chance to attend and more communities could exhibit. We're grateful to hosts in Pratt, Ottawa, Independence, Newton, Garden City, and now Concordia for taking such good care of the event. Leavenworth County will be the host in 2010 and 2011.

BUT THANKS...
I'll always have great memories of how my family, especially brother Murray, Mom, and Dad worked so hard to get the farm ready. The Inman volunteers plus others from Wichita and Hutchinson were absolutely amazing. They treated this festival as if it were their own -- and it was.



It all happened because Mom and Dad were willing to risk the liaibility and step up to the task of preparing the farm for thousands of people. It was a special eight years for all involved. The Kansas Sampler Foundation wasn't even started until 1993 so it was a Penner Family and Friends event for the first few years.

COME TO CONCORDIA!
It's exciting now to move from town to town and have communities from every corner of the state move with it. They know that the only way to smash the myth that there isn't anything to see and do in Kansas is to stick together and make a strong collective impression. And we do.

The most common reaction from the public is, "I had no idea Kansas had all these things to see and do."

Come to Concordia's city park May 2-3 to see how the festival has grown. Meet over 130 communities and see their exhibits. Hear musicians and historic performers as they provide a sample of their talents. Entrepreneurs sell products, authors sell books. Food vendors offer Kansas grown or made foods.

It's one big, giant Kansas party and we hope you can come. If you do, I can promise it will help you "Get Kansas!"

I'll be on The Stump. KE #2 Marci Penner