2014 Edition
Life along Route 24
MOVING
FORWARD IN POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY
GROWING WITH THE TIMES
FOLLOWING THE HISTORY OF HIGHWAY 24 HOMETOWN
ARTS A P U B L I C AT I O N O F T H E
FESTIV ALS AND
FAIRS
ALONG
HIGHW AY 24
CONTENTS 4
Publisher’s Note
6
Growing with the Times
12
Rezac Livestock Commission has been auctioning cattle for nearly 70 years
Hometown Arts
From NOTO to Manhattan’s Beach Museum of Art, arts and antique stores are alive along Highway 24
20
Taking Shelter: Focus on the Past
30
Following the History of Highway 24
Photographer Tom Parish captures the emptiness and stark beauty of Flint Hills root cellars and shelters
Exploring the history of the highway that draws people through the Flint Hills
38
Moving Forward in Pottawatomie County Pottawatomie has become the second fastest growing county in the state
46
Festivals and Fairs Around Highway 24
ON THE COVER: The Historic Dutch Mill in Wamego, Kansas. [Photo courtesy of Mathew Fowler]
2 | Highway 24
Daily connections through Chicago or Dallas Book your flight at FLYMHK.com
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Publisher’s Note Welcome to the premiere edition of Highway 24 Magazine, Life Along the 24 Corridor! In April 2013, we purchased the St. Marys Star and during the past year, we have enjoyed getting to know the community, the people, the places and history of the area. We quickly realized how much this corridor has to offer Kansas: from quality of life, business development and growth to a deep history rooted in family values and friendships.
WAMEGO ALTERNATIVE HEALTHCARE
Our vision and purpose for this magazine is to inform, entertain and showcase the people, places and communities along Highway 24.
Todd W. Spilker D.C. “Our health should be number one priority, and a balanced spine, free of nerve interference, is crucial to achieving extraordinary health and fitness. Office: 785.456.2046 Email: drtodd227@hotmail.com Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday - 8am - 5:30pm
ST. MARY’S ALTERNATIVE HEALTHCARE
Where we are today must always start with history. The highway itself has a story and a future and Highway 24 is experiencing tremendous growth, bringing families, businesses and jobs to the area. We are excited to share these stories with you. The magazine would not be possible without the support of our advertisers. We hope you enjoy reading this magazine, and take time to thank them for their support by spending your dollars with them. Please enjoy this premier issue of Highway 24 Magazine and we look forward to making this an annual publication from the St. Marys Star.
Dr. John Michael Wertin “The focus at our clinic is to treat the whole body by removing the interference that slows or halts the self-healing and self regulation that is built into all of us.”
Chris Walker Editor & Publisher
Office: 785.321.1700 Email: drjohn@alternativehealthcare.net Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday 9am - 5:00pm Friday - 9am - 12:30pm Saturday - 9am - 11:00 by appointment only
Julianne Moser is joining Alternative Healthcare of St. Marys to offer Massage Therapy “Massage Therapy is the perfect bridge between consciousness and healing. I believe that the capacity to heal is innate within each of us, but one must be relaxed and feel safe while coping with their experiences.” Please call Julianne at 785.338.1561 for an appointment today. Care Massage - Where your tissue issues can be resolved!
Life along Route 24
PUBLISHER Chris Walker ART DIRECTOR JustinLife Ogleby along Route 24 ADVERTISING Kathy Lafferty Judy Walton DESIGN IM Design Group
CONTRIBUTING WRITERS Morgan Chilson Patrick Murtha CONTRIBUTING PHOTOGRAPHERS Matthew Fowler Dustin Michelson
For more information, please contact: P.O. Box 190 St. Marys, KS 66536 785.437.2935
Highway 24 Magazine is a publication of the St. Marys Star.
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GROWING
with the times Rezac Livestock Commission has been auctioning cattle for nearly 70 years
Written by Patrick Murtha Photography by Dustin Michelson
R
ezac Livestock Commission has been a hub of activity, nearly every Tuesday, in St. Marys, since the auctioneer chant was first resounded through the sale barn on May 7, 1947. It is not just farmers coming and going with cattle, but also a cafe with burgers, fries, and pies that draws the Tuesday crowds. There still exists a handful of businesses, such as the St. Marys Pharmacy, St. Marys Dental Center, St. Marys State Bank, to name a few, that have been around for nearly a century, keeping the economy pumping in the small town. The Livestock Commission is one of them. Highway 24 | 7
“It’s the oldest one in town that hasn’t changed hands,” the auctioneer Dennis Rezac said. The founder of the sale barn was the 28-year-old farmer Delaine Rezac, the father of Kenneth, Lynn, and Dennis Rezac—the current owners of the Livestock Commission. He had hoped to be a farmer, but the farmwork proved too much for his health. And so, he decided the next best thing was opening a sale barn. For Delaine Rezac, farming was in his blood. From his boyhood days in Emmett, he worked on his uncle’s farm for a dollar a day, Phyllis Rezac, Delaine’s widow, explained. He also found employment with a few other farmers in the area. With his own earnings from his work on the farms, he, while still at a young age, 8 | Highway 24
purchased a calf of his own. That first calf was the beginning of his future herd. After raising and selling the calf, he purchased several more. It seemed, at that time, that farming would be the future for Rezac. And yet, it was not meant to be. By the time his late-twenties arrived, Rezac started suffering from back problems. Nancy Rezac, Dennis Rezac’s wife, said the doctor told Delaine that he had to quit driving tractors and doing other farmwork that could further his back-problems. That was in 1946, Phyllis said. And it became imperative that Delaine find a new means of income to provide for his young family. Leo Passman, the St. Marys grocer in 1947, offered Rezac a job with him and the opportunity to take over the store when Passman retired.
“He had worked in the Passman grocery store when he was just finishing high school,” Phyllis Rezac said. “[Passman] wanted him to take over, but he said that it was too long of hours and too confining.” After turning down Passman’s offer, the thought of a sale barn in St. Marys finally became the answer to Rezac’s quest. The nearest sale barn at that time was in Topeka or Holton. “Heeding a cry for community sales that has been heard around St. Marys for a decade or more,” The St. Marys Star reported on February 27, 1947, “Delaine Rezac has decided to invest a substantial sum in the construction of a 50 x 60 sales barn with sheds in conjunction.” “With trucks being what they were, they did not transport the cattle a long ways,”
Nancy Rezac said. “Some people would put them on the rail-cars and take them to Kansas City or St. Joe, to the markets, but that took several days. But he saw a need for a local auction, and as it turned out, it worked pretty well.” Delaine spent $4,000, according to the Star, building a sale barn on the south-west side of St. Marys where an old apple orchard once stood. “Livestock and farm implements will be the chief offerings,” the May 1, 1947, Star reported, “but ‘anything and everything’ may be put on the block for disposal.” Phyllis said that in those early days, it was not merely cattle or hogs that were sold on
Star reported several hundred people had attended the first sale. “Late-comers,” the article read, “were forced to park their cars a quarter-mile from the ring.” And, while by modern standards the gross sales seem small, in 1947 the $5,000 collected in that first auction was a handsome sum. Delaine would collect, Phyllis said, about three percent for his commission. With that he’d pay the Gene Toby, Rezac’s first auctioneer, who stuck with the family business until around the 1990’s, and Joe Gresser, the first treasurer for the business, and the other helpers. Even though the area welcomed a sale
the number sold today. Phyllis said that, on some days, they are able to reach that number in a single day. Once the three boys were old enough, they also took part in the family business, scooping manure, cleaning the barns and the corals, filling grain sacks, feeding the animals. “Dad used to hand-mix feed, and feed the cattle that were in ahead of time,” said Kenneth Rezac, the eldest of the three and the vice president of the Livestock Commission. “We had an old wood granary down here, and I can remember him pouring sacks out on the floor and mixing it, and then I’d hold the sacks and he’d refill them after it was
Rezac Livestock Commission is one of the oldest businesses in town. They have grown from selling 5,000 cattle a year in 1947 to about 80,000 today.
barn, it would not be right to assume that the beginning was not rocky for the Rezacs. First of all, before the business had gotten started, the building began in the dead of winter. The construction began in January while the ground was frozen. In order to thaw the ground, Delaine burned corn cobs in the area, dug, and then thawed more ground. The work started slowly, but, Nancy said, they had help from farmers, neighbors, and friends. And it continued that way once the sales got under way. “They would farm the rest of the week,” Nancy said, “and come in one Tuesdays and work for him. It took a community, in a way, to be successful.” In the first year, which extended from May to January, the Rezac sale barn sold about 3,000 head of cattle. A small percentage of
mixed, and do all the shovel work. And then we’d put them in wheelbarrows and taken them out to the pens and dump them in the bunks and that kind of thing.” He also remembered scooping many a pig pen in his youth. “At the time it was started in 1947,” Kenneth added, “there were a lot of hogs in this valley...Hogs probably established this place and built it originally. In those days, the terminal yards in Kansas City, St. Joe, and Omaha were still getting the lion’s share of the cattle. Now we haven’t sold a hog in probably about ten years.” The hog sales, however, slowed down after the infamous flood of 1951 closed the Morell Packing Plant in Topeka. Like many other business along the Kansas River, the plant literally went under water.
the auction block. Farmers often brought in hay or posts or other varieties of farm produce or equipment. For a while, there was some doubt in some people’s minds that Delaine would be able to make a go of the place. Phyllis remembered that the owner of one of Holton’s sale barns said, “That kid’ll last about three months.” “He built double wide doors in the front [of the sale barn],” Nancy Rezac said, “because, if he failed, he wanted to use it as a hay shed.” But, already on the opening day, the sale barn showed signs of a good future. The
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After 67 years of business, Rezac Livestock Commission has grown from pencils and paper to computers and smart phones. Offices and even a cafe have been added to the original building.
10 | Highway 24
But Rezac quickly grew the business principally around cattle. While Rezac worked the auctions every Tuesday, the rest of the week was no time to sit around. “He drove around to the individual farmers and made contact at that time,” Phyllis said. “That’s how you worked up the business. Later on it was done by telephone.” Delaine acted as a type of agent for the farmers as well as for packers and feed lots. He traveled to Chanute and Coffeyville to purchase cattle for the feed lots and for local farmers, and haul them back to the Kaw Valley. Now, 67 years after the first auction, the business has grown substantially. Computers have taken over the pencils and calculators. Office spaces and a large cafe and sheds have expanded the original building. And now, Dennis Rezac said, they average about 1,500 cattle per week. “When we started, it was probably 5,000 or 6,000 cattle a year,” Dennis said. “But we’ve sold from 60,000 to 80,000 in the past twenty or thirty years.”
“We’ve grown it right up until the last year when it was down a little but not much,” Kenneth Rezac explained. “It’s not off that much. We’re right around 80,000 every year, and I think we might be down 1,000 or 2,000. And there’s a lot of others who will be down more than that because there’s less cattle from the two years of drought that has liquidated cattle herds.” “Right now, for the next five or ten years,” Kenneth added, “it will stay, I would think, right about in this neighborhood. There’s just not enough numbers of cattle to grow much more than that. And hopefully we can maintain it. You just never know for sure.” In 2014, the business has grown strong, and thrives in the Kaw Valley. Delaine’s sons and his daughters-in-law continue to manage the business their father started on a small patch of earth thawed by burning corncobs. And every Tuesday in St. Marys, the air resounds with lowing of cattle, with the “hup! hup!” of herdsmen, the “gimme-nowten” of the auctioneer. And inside the cafe wafts the aroma of hamburgers.¶
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Hom
From NOTO to Manhattan’s Beach
Museum of Art, arts and antique stores are alive along Highway 24
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metownArts WRITTEN BY MORGAN CHILSON PHOTOGRAPHY BY DUSTIN MICHELSON
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T
he fun of exploring an antique store or strolling through the aisles of an art gallery lies in the process of discovery. Antique stores are full of memories and things imbued with so much history that it seems to fill the air of the store. Art fairs and stores that specialize in local art do much the same thing – they speak to the emotions in us that remind us of different times or that speak to who we want to become in the future. Near Highway 24, it’s easy to find antique and art stores celebrating creativity and honoring the past. From the North Topeka Arts District, called NOTO, to Manhattan’s Beach Museum of Art, you’ll find just the perfect item to complement your décor, your personality or to give as a gift. The development of Topeka’s NOTO, which was even written up in the New York Times, is a successful example of the arts making a difference. The birth of the district, which revitalized the North Topeka downtown area, is a perfect example of Margaret Mead’s quote: “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed, citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.” Non-profit organizations like North Topeka On the Move worked to make NOTO a haven for artists and businesspeople, creating a district of art galleries, antique stores, restaurants and complementary businesses. Jennifer Bohlander, well-known in the region for her extraordinary work as a tattoo artist, opened her new store, Matryoshka Tattoo, at 902 N. Kansas in NOTO. Featuring a retail storefront that offers items from regional artists, Bohlander was excited to make the move to the new district. Bohlander, whose art also goes on plain old canvas as well as on people, said she used to be uncomfortable showing her art publicly. But as NOTO grew, people encouraged her to check out the opportunities.
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“I was absolutely blown away by the sense of community in the area,” she said. “It’s not just people wanting to collect artists. It’s people who want to help the art community. As a business owner, I’m seeing it even more. It’s like going into a neighborhood. People are checking in on each other. They collaborate. They work together as a team. It’s honestly been better than anything that I expected.” And most revealing of all, she said, “I feel like I found my peace. I’ve been so stressed for so long. I want to just keep being an artist. Not in that flighty, flaky kind of way. This is definitely the environment that I needed to feel even more creative.” Unlike Bohlander, Jenny Torrence Harris, who owns four businesses in NOTO, swears she doesn’t have even a teensy bit of creativity in her body. But that doesn’t mean she doesn’t love art and see the beauty in what’s happened in this North Topeka district. “I found a building that I loved and I bought it within three days and 37 days later I opened Serendipity,” she said, referring to her event location, available for rent and also open with entertainment and art during NOTO events. She followed Serendipity, which she owns with
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three partners, with Pinkadilly, NOTO Burrito and Gravity. The stores feature art, antiques, food – you name it, it’s probably in one of those stores. “The challenge of it was is that I had never owned an event space, I have never bartended or anything of the sort, so every step of the way with every business, I’ve had to learn,” Harris said. “I’ve never owned a restaurant. I’ve never owned a retail shop.” But thriving in NOTO fits with life choices that Harris makes in her own family. “Buy local,” she said. “Ninety-seven percent of all my money is spent with the mom and pops. I think people are starting to realize the
importance of mom and pops versus chains in Topeka. It’s huge.” Antique stores in NOTO like 4 Girls Garage and Two Days slide right in amongst the artists and celebrate the history of the area. It’s in right now to paint furniture in creative ways – just look online – and those starting pieces to your own work of art abound in these stores. Or find the piece that’s perfect for your entryway and that’s already painted. And speaking of furniture, drift along Highway 24 to find antique and art stores with their own eclectic and creative collections of furniture, books,
glassware and other must-have items. Dora Reynolds opened her store, Dora’s Closet, in Rossville recently and as of this writing, she has a perfect retro table set with lime-green chairs and chrome in mint condition. The store at 411 N. Main St. opened in October, a dream of Reynolds’s for years. As she considered buying a building and hesitated, her daughter chimed in. “She said, ‘Mom, you’ve been talking about it since I was little,’ and she’s 21 now,” Reynolds said. “I just figured it was a dream that probably would never become a reality.”
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But today, Reynolds and her family members – husband Bob Reynolds, daughter Kelsey Reynolds and son Dominick Reynolds – work hard to keep up with a constantly changing inventory required to run a retail store. Reynolds purchases from estate sales and auctions, and leaves the furniture-moving to her husband and son. Traffic along Highway 24 has provided her with a steady stream of customers, and she said she sees many people who one day a month just drive the highway and stop at stores like hers. “I’m getting people from farther out as time goes on. That’s been awesome,” Reynolds said. ¶
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TA K I N G S H E LT E R :
O N T H E PA S T Written by MORGAN CHILSON Photography by TOM PARISH
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T
om Parish’s haunting photographs capture the emptiness and stark beauty of Flint Hills root cellars and shelters, exploring the historic swirls of stone that herald a lifestyle long gone. The Manhattan photographer’s exhibit, “Take Shelter: An Installation by Tom Parish,” is currently on display through June 29 at the Marianna Kistler Beach Museum of Art at Kansas State University.
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[Photo courtesy of Kansas State University]
The exhibit offers an in-depth journey into the history and beauty of what Parish initially called “caves” in the Flint Hills, many of which served as root cellars or storm shelters, and even, he found, as homes for brief periods. Built from the mid1800s into the early 1900s, root cellars were used to store vegetables and other foods in cool, dark environments to prolong their life. The project was born from Parish’s curiosity as he remembered finding an old root cellar around age 10, tromping through the woods with friends and unsure even what the structure was used for. At that age, the dark, hollowed out cave seemed mysterious and scary. Years later, attending K-State for his bachelor’s degree, he saw another such structure off a house where a friend lived on Moro Street in Manhattan. “I couldn’t help taking photographs of it,” Parish said. Curiosity about these structures that were so critical to the lives of prairie settlers only grew as he realized how little information there was to be found about root cellars. He discovered just one book on root cellars, written by James Gage, whom Parish eventually contacted on his way to becoming a root cellar aficionado. As he worked for his master’s degree, Parish 22 | Highway 24
decided to make these cellars the focus of his thesis. “I had it in my mind it would be neat to find more of these and do some kind of study or comparison, not thinking I would ever find more than a dozen,” he said. “I found like 270 of them.” It was the beginning of hours and hours of work, often crouched in cellars with a roof just a few feet over his head, bent down and working to catch the exactly right photograph. It involved developing a technique for creating 360-degree photographs that required even more hours of stitching hundreds of photos together on his computer screen to create the one photo that captured a single root cellar. “I feel like it was worthwhile,” Parish said. “This meets all the different things I’m interested in. It brings it all together.” It took him awhile, though, to shake the uneasy feeling that had haunted him in the crumbling shelters ever since the one he found as a child. He wrote in his thesis: “When first deciding to focus on these spaces, it was with the idea of finding their hidden beauty by anesthetizing their interiors, making them go from humble, dark, dank, repulsive holes in the ground to grand monuments or holy places, transforming them into something very different from what they
Most of the root cellars that Tom Parish photographs were built in the mid1800s to the early 1900s. The cool, dark spaces were used to store vegetables and food and prevent them from spoiling during the hot summer months and from freezing during the winter. The Beach Museum of Art is exhibiting Parish’s work through June 29.
really were. …The first task seemed to be trying to drive out any fear I had of the spaces no matter what condition I found them in or where they were located. …Actually, as I shot more and more of these structures, I started to feel quite calm in them, even as I would have to spend upwards to 5 hours inside of them getting the shots I needed, often crouched and hunched and likely feeling terribly uncomfortable physically. But, they gave me a time to collect my thoughts and think and meditate, although at times they were quite creepy too.” Parish received a grant from the Kansas Humanities Council to complete his project. The subterranean shelters are an important and somewhat neglected part of the area’s history, especially given that they seem to be unusual in the United States, Parish said. “It’s amazing how little attention has ever been paid to them” he said. “When I found nothing on them, I kind of felt obligated to actually do something with it.” Highway 24 | 23
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In fact, in talking with Gage, Parish discovered the author found only a half dozen or so root cellars in all of New England, and he was astonished to hear Parish found more than 50 in just four Kansas counties. “This made me really change my focus as I started to understand just how indicative of the life and heritage of the early homesteader of the Flint Hills these structures really were,” Parish wrote in his thesis. In his search, Parish explored the countryside along Highway 24, meeting people, trekking through land and generally trying to scour any information he could about the shelters. He met people with stories of great-great-grandparents who built the root cellars as they settled in the area. He learned of cellars used to store wine, and heard stories about families building the shelter first and living in it as they built their house. The homesteaders used what materials they had on hand, and in Kansas that wasn’t wood, but stone. “In the east, people that were rich and wealthy built with stone, whereas wood was every man’s material,” Parish said. “I think it’s completely reversed in the Flint Hills. Stone was so plentiful and the wood was so scarce.” Parish became proficient at recognizing the differences in stone used in the cellars. He could tell the larger joined stones that indicated quarried stone, as opposed to those that were more crudely shaped on-site by the settlers themselves. It’s unclear where the arched-roof design of so many of the shelters came from, although Parish has explored the idea that the many German and Swedish settlers in the area brought the concept with them from Europe. “I would think there is definitely precedent for that to be the case. Germans and Swedes might have had some experience with building stone arches and translated that to these smaller stone arches here in the states,” Parish said. “The idea of a root cellar itself was a Native American idea given to the Europeans.” Many of the stories and photos are captured on a website devoted to the shelter project, www.flinthillshelters.com/projectinfo.html, and also on his photography website, www. parishphotography.net.
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KTWU’s “Sunflower Journeys” interviewed Parish for an episode about “Take Shelter.” The episode isn’t scheduled yet, but will air during the fall season. After more than two years of intense work on “Take Shelter,” Parish is slowly winding down from the project, although he hopes to take the current Beach show on to other museums. And then, just as you think he may move on to something new, he’ll toss out the idea of visiting the European areas that settlers came from to see if he can trace the arch designs used in the Flint Hills. No matter whether he pursues more to do with the root cellars or moves on to a new project, Parish will be looking for something specific with his photographer’s eye. “I want to find subjects that are kind of shining a light on something that people are either not aware of at all or maybe don’t pay enough attention to,” he said.¶
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CURRENT & UPCOMING BEACH MUSEUM EXHIBITS A REGIONAL FOCUS T he
Beach Museum of Art’s goal of featuring local history and arts bring attention to the Flint Hills
T
he “Take Shelter” exhibit at K-State’s Beach Museum of Art fits well into one of the primary goals of the museum: to feature local history, culture and the arts. “When (the museum) was put together, it was decided to make the collecting focus be regional,” said Linda Duke, museum director. “And so we’re really interested in this as a place, and the culture, the history and the way the arts can help people connect with that.” Duke said the exhibit has drawn in people from surrounding areas who may not otherwise have visited the museum, partly due to Parish’s connection with local history societies and the Kansas Humanities Council grant. “We do have a local and regional focus here at the museum and Tom himself is a very local artist in that he was born here in Manhattan and received both his BFA and MFA at K-State,” said Theresa Bembnister, who curated the exhibit. “The subject matter is really tied to this place. These caves or root cellars, are very specific to the Flint Hills region.” Duke said she was fascinated to learn how significant the structures were to local history and that when Parish ventured very far outside of the Flint Hills, he stopped finding them. Visitors to the exhibit have exclaimed about forgotten memories of root cellars their grandparents had, she said.
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The exhibit ties in well with a new museum initiative on campus called Prairie Studies, Duke said. “The basic idea is to create a kind of forum for faculty and graduate students whose research is focused on this place in all ways – environmental science, agricultural science, the kind of science that goes into the animals that are raised here or the wildlife, the history, the culture, the businesses and livelihoods – and to think about the arts as an important way to help people understand the discoveries that that research uncovers,” she said. It’s a way to bring attention to the prairie, which sometimes brings about ambivalent feelings in the people who live in its midst, Duke said. “On the one hand, many people who live here love it and are deeply moved by its beauty, but on the other hand, sometimes people associate it with isolated, backward, rural, stereotypes that are negative,” she said. “We found that out when there was discussion about a theme for an upcoming fundraising gala at the museum, and I was surprised to find that some of our members really didn’t want the word ‘prairie’ used in that title, because they felt like it would be perceived negatively by outsiders.” Parish’s work, Jacob Schreiber Root Cellar, was selected to be the 2014 Friends of the Beach Museum Gift Print, a fundraising project of the museum.¶
Although the Beach Museum has a regional focus in its collection, exhibits there cover a wide gamut of artistic subjects. When you’re checking out the Parish exhibit, enrich your artistic view of the world with these exhibits:
2013 Common Work of Art Through May 25, 2014 View the photograph “Flavio Amuses Smaller Brothers and Sisters (Holding Up Torn Paper)” by Gordon Parks, presented in conjunction with K-State Book Network’s 2013 Common Book, “Ready Player One.”
Joan Backes: Where the Heart Belongs Through September 14, 2014 The open structures created by artist Joan Backes invite various interpretations and questions about the notion of “house” and “home.”
Igniting the Senses: Selections from the Permanent Collection June 6 – October 5, 2014 In conjunction with the Manhattan Public Library summer reading theme “Fizz-Boom--Read”, this exhibition explores the science of multimodal sensory perception--the idea of one sense igniting another.
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FOLLOWING THE HISTORY OF H I G H WAY 2 4
[Photo courtesy of Mathew Fowler]
EDITOR’S NOTE: As we began to explore Highway24, we quickly realized our first edition needed to look at the history of this highway that draws people through the Flint Hills. The underpinnings of history always affect the future, and the Kansas settlers who stopped their wagons to live along those original trails made the Highway 24 corridor possible.
[Photo courtesy of the Kansas Department of Transportation] WRITTEN BY
MORGAN CHILSON
F
ollowing the winding curves of Highway 24, it’s easy to think about Kansas settlers in the 1800s being greeted by wind-whipped pastures and an unbroken line of sight. Even with today’s civilization totems encroaching everywhere – cell phone towers, utility poles, street signs – your imagination can fill in the covered wagons and pioneers who followed their dreams west on the original dirt- and grass-covered trails. As so often happens, Highway 24 – formerly Highway 40 – grew along the transportation corridors established by early settlers in the area. Historian Leo Oliva, of Woodson, Kan., said those corridors probably followed the earliest pathways. “Transportation corridors have been used probably since the Indians were using them,” he said. “All the trails were laid out as an easy route of travel, and they became transportation corridors, and the railroads rolled close to those trails, then modern highways developed.” Oliva specializes in military history, and he said a trail was created roughly following Highway 24’s current path between Fort Leavenworth and Fort Riley, which was established in 1853. That military trail was a busy one, Oliva said. “All the supplies for the forts west of the Missouri river were carried by wagon from the Leavenworth area westward,” he explained. “Russell, Majors and Waddell (a freight firm) at one time had about 4,000 wagons engaged and they were contractors for the Army. They were resupplying military posts as far west as Utah and New Mexico. “That was also the route for the Smoky Hill Trail that ran to Denver after Denver was established in the late 1850s,” Oliva added. “The Smoky Hill Trail followed the Smoky Hill River, and it was the fastest route through Kansas to get to the gold in Denver after the rush started there.” Highway 24 | 31
As the automobile began to putter through the United States, it became clear roads were needed. Joan Nothern, a historian who helped to found the Solomon Valley Highway 24 Alliance, delved into the area’s history. Although much of her work was focused on Solomon Valley, which is on Highway 24 northwest of Salina and Abilene, the information she found about original trails and construction applied along the entire length of the highway. “In a lot of places, the roads followed railroads, but here in Solomon Valley, there was no railroad that went from end to end,” Nothern said. “So the towns wanted to connect themselves, and we’re talking about 1912, when automobiles were just freeing people so they don’t have to get on the train. They can take a road, even if it’s a dirt road.” At that time, road building tended to be a local activity although roads were starting to go from one end of the country to the other. They didn’t have the numbered names we see today, but instead regions named the roads, creating quite a bit of confusion. But then came the Midland Trail, sometimes called the Roosevelt Midland Trail, which had the grand plan of stretching from Washington, D.C., to San Francisco, Calif. That roadway connected across the country, and there was even a book published, “Midland Trail Tour Guide 1916,” to lead people on their transcontinental trip. “The guide came out in 1916, and then in 1926, the named roads were given numbers. There were over 250 named highways in the United States, and it was total chaos,” Nothern said. “They had markings for the Midland – six inches of orange, six inches of black and six inches of orange – that was put on telephone poles along the way. Some telephone poles would have six different combinations.” The Midland Trail route that is today Highway 24 was first given the name US Highway 40 North and there was a second spur, US Highway 40
32 | Highway 24
[Photos courtesy of the Kansas Department of Transportation]
Highway 24 | 33
South, Nothern said. In 1936, the northern highway became Highway 24. Nothern’s Solomon Valley Association would like to join the small towns that dot Highway 24 to work together, creating a tourism attraction that people can travel. The organization’s goal is simple, and it’s primarily to establish a network from Kansas City to Goodland. “It isn’t so much protecting (the highway), what we’re doing is discovering it,” Nothern said. “This is just pretty much unthought-of history. This is very clear to me as we reach across the state where people had never heard of the Midland Trail. It’s fun to watch people get engaged with it.” “I think when you do get further into Highway 24, you’ll find that there are two stories –
the Manhattan and east story, and then there’s going to be the western Kansas story, where towns, a few, the county seats, have grown a bit, but not in the same way as the eastern towns. And many are smaller and shrinking. It’s a perfect Kansas story.” Eventually, the interstate came to Kansas. Don Beurlein, now retired, spent his career with Koss Construction, eventually leading the company for 17 years as president and CEO. “I thought it was the greatest thing in the world to build highways,” he said. Koss was on the job in 1956, finishing up the very first stretch of interstate in the country, I-70 just west of Topeka. They were a natural for the interstate construction project after having built miles and miles of runways during the war.
Rediscover your heritage. Rediscover Kansas!
Travel a road with history going back to the Midland Trail and forward through Western Kansas. Town boosters forged the route to entice transcontinental auto travel, crafting services to meet tourist needs. Explore Western Kansas on ‘our’ road. Take 24 all the way. A fantastic 2-lane journey. Yesteryear never looked better.
Watercolor of St. Marys from the book: Sketching the 1916 Midland Trail: As I Found it a Century Later. by Dave DeArmond
The Solomon Valley Highway 24 Heritage Alliance encourages you to venture off the interstate and enjoy the route your parents & grandparents traveled -- US Highway 24! PO Box 572, Glasco, KS 67445 • 785-568-0120 • www.hwy24.org
34 | Highway 24
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We want to highlight the following events: • July 3rd - 6 p.m. Community BBQ at Riverside Park • July 4th - Activities in park starting with free swim, Boat Race in the Swimming Pool, Fireworks and more • November 28 - The Bells of St. Marys - Retail stores have specials all day, kick off starts at George J. Perry Memorial Armory
Check the Chamber web site for times and added events as the dates get closer.
St. Marys Chamber of Commerce St. Marys, Ks. 785-437-2077 chamber@saintmarys.com www.saintmarys.com
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TRI-CO WASTE Highway 24 | 35
“It was the first completed job on the interstate and a few years ago we re-did that whole job,” Beurlein said. The interstate completely changed the country. “When you start moving goods, you create jobs along the way. It just revolutionized the way Americans did things,” Beurlein said. Putting in that interstate changed things for towns that were located along older highways, like 24. “We went right around those small towns in most cases, and their businesses suffered,” Beurlein said. However, despite the interstate, Highway 24 itself has seen growth and change over the years. It wasn’t long ago that the section between Wamego and Manhattan became a four-lane. Charles White, president of First National Bank in
Wamego, has been a longtime proponent of economic development for Pottawatomie County. He recalled the old two-lane highway. “With lots of little hills in there,” he said. “And it took you forever and a day to get from Wamego to Manhattan. When that was widened, that made another tremendous change. We had a migration of people from the Manhattan area into Wamego that wanted their kids in a smaller school system.” Roads make a difference. From the days when they’re trails, trodden on foot, then on horseback, then by wagon and finally by automobile, they change the way people live. They are, Beurlein said, important. “Kansas,” Beurlein said definitively, “has some of the best roads in the country.”¶ [Photo courtesy of the Kansas Department of Transportation]
Since 2009, HCC has been awarded grants from the Kansas Department of Agriculture to offer workshops across the state featuring topics about grapes and wine. HCC has become “the source” of education and extension services for the Kansas grape and wine industry. With help from HCC, the number of Kansas wineries has risen from 16 to 30 over the past five years. In fall 2012, HCC harvested the first crop from the vineyard north of Wamego. The harvest yielded approximately two tons of fruit. HCC also became a bonded, licensed winery in 2012, and the first vintage of wine is now bottled and labeled at the Highland Community College Winery in Wamego. During the Kansas Grape Growers and Winemakers Association (KGGWA) Annual Conference, Highland’s Chambourcin Reserve, a dry red, won Best of Show. In addition, the College’s Traminette won Best of Class of the Semi-Sweet Whites. Chambourcin and Traminette are types of grapes which are grown at the College’s vineyard located northeast of its Wamego Center. This was the first year the College’s wines were submitted for judging. www.highlandcc.edu/pages/grapes
Best in show 2013
Best in Class 2013
Grape Harvest 2012
36 | Highway 24
Wine Filtering
Wine Bottling
REZAC LIVESTOCK
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For information contact
Dennis Rezac 785-456-4187 • Barn number 785-437-2785 Highway 24 | 37
Moving ForWARD In Pottawatomie County WRITTEN BY
M
ost stories about rural counties tend to paint a depressing image of decreasing populations and languishing businesses. That is not the case for Pottawatomie County – in fact, what’s happening in this 842-square-mile rural county is just the opposite.
38 | Highway 24
It is the second fastest growing county in the state, coming in just below Johnson County. Population has increased to more than 22,000 people, up from just 16,000 in 1990. Excellent schools, housing developments, increasing household income and an expanding and diversified business community – including pulling in
MORGAN CHILSON
two bioscience businesses in the last couple of years – all add up to a county pushing forward. “We did a great job of surviving the economic downturn because so many of the jobs in our area are government jobs,” said Julie Roller, development associate for the Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corp. “When
[Photo courtesy of Westar Energy]
other places were taking a hit, we were able to keep on trucking. We really try to diversify our economy. There’s a really strong manufacturing sector. A lot of those are home-grown businesses. They started here and they’re going to stay here.” As part of the animal science corridor that extends from Columbia, Missouri,
Jeffrey Energy Center helped expand the tax base for Pottawatomie County. This has allowed the county to pursue development initiatives.
The $40 million dollar expansion by Caterpillar Work Tools has led to the hiring of 125 people. [Photo courtesy of Mathew Fowler]
to Manhattan, Kan., Wamego is perfectly positioned to be a bioscience leader. Robert Cole, director of the PCEDC, said such companies are definitely a focus in county development. That corridor is home to more than 220 companies in animal sciences, and they account for 32 percent of global sales in the industry. “Absolutely, it’s primary on our target list,” Cole said,
40 | Highway 24
adding that other targeted industries are agriculture-related businesses, manufacturing, hightech businesses, and with two of its biggest businesses being education and health-care, those are always a focus. Cole lists just a few business developments: “MS BioTech, three years ago, which is a new animal nutrition company. There’s a new
POTTAWATOMIE COUNTY FACTS & STATS: Population (2010) Population Growth (1990-2010) Unemployment Rate, Aug. 2013 Labor Force Growth (’90-’10) Median Household Income (2012) % Bachelor’s Degree + (2012) [Photo courtesy of Mathew Fowler]
animal pharmaceutical testing laboratory (Midwest Veterinary Services) in one of our business parks near Manhattan; there’s a 40,000-square-foot expansion at the Caterpillar Work Tools that cost $40 million and they’ve hired 125 people.” The county has been organized and aggressive about making sure they can continue on this expansion pathway. Sitting
next to the growing Manhattan and Fort Riley communities, the opportunity is there, and leaders in the county wanted to make sure they were prepared for the growth. In the early 1990s, the PCEDC was formed, and two business and industrial parks were also created, Roller said. The county worked to create “Advance Pottawatomie
% in 25-44 Age Group (2010) Mean Travel Time to Work Median Value of Owner-Occupied Houses Median House Price Growth Since 2000
21,604 33.9% 5.8% 35.5% $56,775 28.54% 25% 21.4 minutes $152,000 87.42%
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, USA.com
County,” an action plan in effect this year through 2018. Economic development countywide is helped by the fact that Jeffrey Energy Center is located in Pottawatomie County, expanding the tax base for
initiatives, Roller said. Charles White, president of Wamego’s 1st National Bank, was one of the founders of the PCEDC, and he remembers the changes wrought when Jeffrey came to town.
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The Kansas River was deemed a national recreational corridor and river landings have been built every 10 miles from Junction City to Belvue and from Topeka to Kansas City. [Photo courtesy of Mathew Fowler]
“I think it provided some funding and some mental changes that we could be something more than what we were,” he said of the energy center’s impact on the ag-based Pottawatomie County. “Then there were some people like myself and some others who moved in here that wanted to see things change, that didn’t like just the status quo of being what we were.” Their foresight is paying off today. The Advance Pottawatomie County campaign, which raised $1.1 million, looked at what the county needs to do to continue on a growth trajectory, including things like infrastructure and workforce development. In particular, the county needs to be able to supply a trained workforce for the sciences. “One of the goals is to address workforce development and that will be through partnerships with community colleges that are here,” Roller said. “We absolutely acknowledge the vital role that they play being able to supply employees for those positions.” 42 | Highway 24
Some of the infrastructure requirements are being addressed, Cole said, as Highway 99, which connects Wamego to Interstate 70, is being upgraded. Like any good economic development director, Cole looks ahead to other options to continue growing the county. He sees potential in tourism, and Pottawatomie County leaders helped to create the Flint Hills Tourism Coalition. “That’s 22 counties from Nebraska all the way down to Oklahoma in the Flint Hills,” he said. “Frankly, the historic tourism potential around here is huge, and badly ignored. One of the visions that we have is that between the entire length of the Kansas River Valley should be a recreational and ag tourism corridor, all the way from Junction City to Kansas City.” Three river landings have been built in the last five years, Cole said, and there are river landings about every 10 miles from Junction City to Belvue and from Topeka to Kansas City. The Kansas River was deemed a national recreational corridor by the National
Park Service, emphasizing its potential for recreational use. It all adds up to an area primed to continue growing, feeding off of Manhattan’s Kansas State University, the National Bio and AgroDefense Facility being built in Manhattan, as well as growth at Fort Riley. The growth will continue as Pottawatomie County leaders show that it’s all about doing whatever you do well and with enthusiasm. Even the fact that Wamego captured the Kansas Sampler event this year, held May 3 and 4 in Wamego City Park area, is an opportunity to show what small towns can do. This festival promotes the state and features all Kansas-made products. “Wamego’s the smallest town to ever host the festival,” said Roller, who organized the event. “It’s remarkable to show that small towns can accomplish great things. Our location, our reputation for hosting quality events is really bringing people here.” It’s all about attitude, White reiterates. “It’s a small town but with a positive attitude that we can do it,” he said.¶
400 Work Tool Drive Wamego, KS
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WESTMORELAND Located just 14 miles north of Highway 24 and Highway 99, you will find a community full of tradition and small home town hospitality! Come and spend the day with us in Westmoreland Kansas! On your visit, stop by the Hoffman Pharmacy, named an 8 Wonders of Kansas Custom. One of only 24 remaining old fashioned soda fountains
8 Wonders of Kansas 2009 Customs
Hoffman Pharmacy
Westmoreland original soda fountain. Since 1968
in the state of Kansas. Rock Creek Junior/Senior High School is a designated Blue Ribbon School by the United States Department of Education. RCJSHS is one of only five Kansas schools and the only Kansas secondary school to receive this award. The Blue Ribbon Award is considered the highest honor an American school can receive.
Westmoreland Oregon Trail Festival, BBQ and Car Show June 14, 2014
Christmas in Westmoreland Celebrate “Christmas in Westmoreland” with Bingo for children and adults, street drawing and visit from Santa.
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9th Annual
Westmoreland Wagon Wheels Car Show In conjuntion with Oregon Trail Festival & Westmoreland BBQ
Car Show - Motorcycle Show - Vintage Tractor Show
June 14, 2014
MAIN STREET (rain or shine) REGISTRATION FEE $20 - Includes 1 free lunch deal REGISTRATION 9:00 AM TO 12:00 NOON - Breakfast available All Makes and Models of Cars Welcome
Awards & Trophies: Top 25 Vehicles (1980 & Older): Best Ford, Best GM, Best Mopar, Best Other Make, Best Original Unrestored, Best Paint, Best Street Rod, Best Custom, Best Detailed, Club Participation, 1st, 2nd, 3rd, for 1981 & Newer, 1st, 2nd, 3rd for Trucks, Best in Show Car, Best in Show Truck Motorcycles: 1st, 2nd, 3rd Dash Plaques to first 60 entries • Door Prizes • Raffles • Goodie Bags Pott. Co. Sound Machine • DJ • Food • Craft & Farmer’s Market • 50/50 Pot Quilt Show • Family & Kids Activities
307 Main ST ~ Westmoreland 8685 E Hwy 24 ~ Manhattan www.fsbwesty.com 44 | Highway 24
info: www.cityofwestmorelandks.org westyshow@yahoo.com SPONSORED BY WESTMORELAND AREA CHAMBER
*No member of sponsoring organization will be an entrant in car show
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Highway 24 | 45
Festivals and Fairs Around Highway 24 Written By Morgan Chilson
C
ommunities along the winding roads of the Flint Hills celebrate events with a wide variety of festivals and fairs throughout the year. Many of these events take a lot of planning and work, but the results create memories and draw people to visit the area. From Topeka’s Cider Days and Apple Fest to a Wamego fireworks celebration that is billed as one of the best in the state, there’s something to appeal to all tastes. Fans of “Wizard of Oz” flock to Wamego for the OZ Museum, which celebrates all aspects of the movie and book. In the past, an Oztoberfest event has drawn Dorothy fans from across the country. This year, Oztoberfest will get a new look, as plans are in the works for a street festival that includes a car show, street dance, farmer’s market, barbeque cook-off and family activities with an Oz twist. Special guests for past Wamego events that celebrated the “Wizard of Oz” included actors who played Munchkins in the movie and a great-grandson of L. Frank Baum, who author who penned the magic words 114 years ago, said Austin Hibbs, gift shop coordinator at the museum. The popular story – still generating movies a century after its publication – is a terrific draw for Wamego, Hibbs said. “Last year, we had our best year ever at OZ Museum; we saw 30,000 people come through our doors,” he said. An average year is around 25,000 people. The appeal of Dorothy’s trip down the yellow brick road just doesn’t seem to change. “This year is the 75th anniversary (of the movie) so there’s been several generations who’ve grown up with the Wizard of Oz,” Hibbs said. Wamego knows how to do festivals – don’t forget the recent Kansas Sampler Fest that pulled thousands of people to the area and sold-out vendor booths – and they show that several times a year. The town’s 4th of July celebration is one of the biggest and best in the state, and few Wamego residents are shy about pointing that out. “When I first came here, people talked about it and I’m like, yeah, every town says they have
46 | Highway 24
a great Fourth of July,” said Julie Roller of the Pottawatomie County Economic Development Corp. “They’re not kidding. You will never see anything like it ever again. That sounds like such a bold statement – but it’s true.” The Independence Day celebration is so popular it has a website and a Facebook page where people rave about the event. Check out www.wamegofireworks.com for more information. You can even see video of last year’s event on www.visitwamego.com. Another popular event is St. Mary’s Flint Hills Shakespeare Festival, an opportunity to enjoy Shakespearean theater outdoors in the crisp fall air. This year, the seven-night run will feature “As You Like It” in September on two weekends, Sept. 12-14 and Sept. 19-21. There’s also an extra show on Sept. 18, but there won’t be a festival with that one. For more information on this event, visit www.flinthillsshakespearefestival.com. “As a premier outdoor festival in the Flint Hills, we hope to help educate Kansas families by providing opportunities for them to better understand, participate in, and appreciate the fine arts – most importantly, through the live performance of the works of William Shakespeare and interactive workshops,” the festival’s vision statement says. But that’s not the only intent; the group’s vision is much wider: “Along the way, we would like to demonstrate how rural quality of life can be positively affected by providing big time entertainment close to home. We are set up to be able to help support local historical preservation projects and hope to be instrumental in the restoration of the WWI Memorial Arch in Saint Marys. With our artisan village and the festival itself, we hope to provide a venue for Kansas artists to show their work and to inspire the next generation.” You see, the Highway 24 corridor through the Flint Hills really does have it all! Following is a list of many of the fairs and festivals that happen along Highway 24 between Topeka and Manhattan. We’ll see you there! ¶
JUNE
Mulvane Art Fair June 7 - 8, 2014
Washburn University Campus - Topeka
Oregon Trail Festival and Westmoreland Barbeque June 14, 2014
Downtown Westmoreland
9th Annual Westmoreland Wagon Wheels Car Show June 14, 2014 Westmoreland
Juneteenth Festival June 20 – 21, 2014
City Park Pavilion - Manhattan
Country Stampede June 26 - 29, 2014
Tuttle Creek State Park - Manhattan
Territorial Days June 27 – 28, 2014 Downtown Lecompton
Meatloaf Fest & Car Show June 28, 2014
Downtown Paxico
JULY Spirit of Kansas
WU Outdoor Sculpture Competition
Flint Hills Shakespeare Festival
Washburn University - Topeka
(A special showing on Sept.18, with no festival)
August 1, 2013 - July 31, 2014
July 4, 2014
Lake Shawnee, Tinman Circle - Topeka
St. Marys 4th of July Family Celebration July 4, 2014
AUGUST Tall Corn Festival August 8-10, 2014
September 12 - 14, September 19 - 21 St. Mary’s
Blues Fest
September 20, 2014 Downtown Paxico
Lasley Street, Riverside Park, St. Marys
Rossville Main Street - Rossville
Fiesta Mexicana
Topeka Railroad Festival
Fabulous Finds on Highway 99
The Great Overland Station - Topeka
Wamego
Shawnee County Allied Tribes Traditional Pow Wow
Piotique (Pioneers & Antiques)
July 15 - 19, 2014
August 16, 2014
Our Lady of Guadalupe Church - Topeka
Riley County Fair July 24 – 28, 2014
Cico Park, Riley County Fairgrounds - Manhattan
August 29 – August 31, 2014 Lake Shawnee - Topeka
Flush Picnic St. Joseph Catholic Church
SEPTEMBER
July 30, 2014 Flush
Pottawatomie County Fair
Huff ‘n Puff Hot Air Balloon Rally
Onaga
Lake Shawnee - Topeka
July 31 – August 3, 2014
September 5 - 7, 2014
Sept. 26 - 27, 2014
September 27, 2014 Clay Center
Oztoberfest
September 27, 2014 Wamego
Aaron Douglas Art Fair September 27, 2014
Aaron Douglas Art Park - Topeka
Oz Museum
Old Dutch Mill
Independence Day Celebration - 4TH OF JULY
Featuring Wamego Fireworks Show: Voted Best in the State, Car Show, Carnival & Parade
OZToberFest - SEPTEMBER 27 Join us as we celebrate the Wizard of Oz 75th Anniversary in Downtown Wamego! Car Show, Children’s Inflatables, Farmer’s Market & More! 28th Annual Tulip Festival - APRIL 11 - 12, 2015
Celebrate the Spirit of Spring with over 150 Artisans & Crafters, Live Entertainment, & Family Activities
26th Annual Kansas Sampler Festival - MAY 2 - 3, 2015
Check out all there is to see, hear, taste, do and learn in Kansas!
VISITWAMEGO.COM Highway 24 | 47
FESTIVALS CONTINUED Cider Days Fall Festival
The Bells of St. Marys
Kansas Expo Centre (Inside & Out)
St. Marys
September 27 – 28, 2014 - Topeka
OCTOBER Apple Festival October 5, 2014
Old Prairie Town - Topeka
NOVEMBER Kaw Valley Woodcarvers Show and Sale
November 28, 2014
DECEMBER Holiday Open House December 6, 2014 Paxico
Christmas in Wamego
December 6 - 7, 2014 Wamego visitwamego.com for more info
November 22 - 23, 2014 Ramada West - Topeka
S MGC saint marys golf course The most beautiful views of the Kaw Valley are from our 9 hole course
No Tee Times Green Fees: 9 holes - $9 wkday $11 wkend 18 holes - $13 wkday $16 wkend Carts: 9 holes - $11 18 holes - $20
604 Golf Course Ln . St Marys, KS . 785-437-6454 . saintmarysgolf.com 48 | Highway 24
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