Kansas Blog

Earth Day Activities in Great Bend

Thu, 09 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

How did you celebrate Earth Day this year? Did you learn a new tip, volunteer cleaning up a neighborhood park or did you just vow to live an extra green way of life? Our family headed to Great Bend to take part in their annual Earth Day event. We arrived at the Kansas Wetlands Education Center shortly after the event was set to open and things were in full swing.

Music, Art Fills Downtown Hutchinson on Third Thursday

Tue, 07 May 2013 07:00:00 GMT

I expected to see cookbooks and colorful utensils, but what made my heart sing was a band playing "Wild Thing" when I stepped inside Apron Strings Kitchen Store in Hutchinson. What could be better than shopping to the sound of live music? Borrowing from the song's lyrics: Third Thursday, I think I love you.

Eco Friendly Art Draws Attention at Belle Plaine Festival

Fri, 19 Apr 2013 07:00:00 GMT

Winding my way down a path lined with bright orange tulips, I stopped under tall pine and redwood trees to peruse an artist's collection of watercolors featuring bright colored flowers when the sounds of a fiddle and accordian filled the air. The musicians were among a lineup of acts performing under a canopy of long-standing trees during Art at the Arb, an event at the Bartlett Arboretum in Belle Plaine that coincides with the city's annual Tulip Time Festival.

Enjoy a movie under the stars: Kansas Drive-Ins are Alive and Going Strong

Tue, 02 Apr 2013 07:00:00 GMT

With the arrival of spring in Kansas, the glow of a great tradition across the state rolls into our lives again: The Drive-In Movie.

Blog Post: Oz The Great and Powerful movie

Tue, 12 Mar 2013 07:00:00 GMT

Magical. I know it sounds obvious but that simply is the best word to describe the movie Oz The Great and Powerful that premiered last weekend. The new movie that is the prequel to The Wizard of Oz, a cinema masterpiece of its time, provided the perfect date night with Hubby, who grew up watching the beloved classic, based on L. Frank Baum's novel, every year on television with his family.

A Bit of Magic at Karg Art

Fri, 22 Feb 2013 07:00:00 GMT

I have always loved glass art. When I was a child, my grandmother collected paper weights. I used to pick them up and marvel at the bursts of color sprouting from beneath layers of clear glass. These things of substance and beauty always held a little bit of mystery for me. My favorites could be turned upside down to reveal what seemed like a single point of color mysteriously bursting into the central floral or spiral design of the piece. They seemed impossible, mesmerizing and yet somehow soothing.

Top 5 Favorites in Lawrence Old-Fashioned Christmas Parade

Tue, 18 Dec 2012 07:00:00 GMT

At the sound of the clip-clop of hooves on pavement and the jingle of bells, I could feel the excitement building amongst the crowd standing around me on a street corner in downtown Lawrence one chilly morning.

See the Big Picture: Concordia's Brick Whole Wall Mural

Tue, 20 Nov 2012 07:00:00 GMT

The faces of three young boys from an orphan train peer out, their forlorn looks forever sculpted in brick on a busy street corner in Concordia. Having three sons, I quickly spotted the boys among the two dozen or so realistic scenes depicting the story of Cloud County on the three-dimensional Whole Wall Mural. Measuring 140 feet, this amazing piece of art is currently the longest sculpted brick mural in the country—and possibly the world!Standing before the mural, I began playing a game of “I Spy,” finding pioneers planting seeds, coal miners and brick layers at work, a 1928 biplane, a wooded windmill, grain elevators, a John Deere “A” tractor, a schoolhouse, a church, a train, and an iron truss bridge over the Republican River I remember crossing as a kid when my family drove from our farm near Cuba to shop in Concordia.

Fort Scott Celebration Honors Legacy of Gordon Parks

Tue, 16 Oct 2012 07:00:00 GMT

I’ve long admired the work of Gordon Parks, who was once told not to try to attend college because his best shot at succeeding in life was to be ...

Humboldt’s Combine Demolition Derby A Smash Hit

Tue, 18 Sep 2012 07:00:00 GMT

As sparks flew, the hits just kept on coming at the Combine Demolition Derby on a Saturday night in early September. Yes, you read it right…a demolition derby featuring COMBINES, the farm harvesters that typically peacefully gather in grain. At the Humboldt Speedway, these massive farm machines revved their engines and charged header-first, crashing into each other with a loud bang as metal crunched, the rear tires of both combines lifted off the ground and the drivers jolted in their seats.