CONVENTION & VISITORS BUREAU |
|
|
Dickinson County 2011
Revenue from Tourism
(In Millions)
Total $30.86
Entertainment $2.67 Lodging $4.00 Transportation $6.07
Food $8.42
Shopping $9.70 |
|
|
|
Director's Dialogue
If Spring ever gets here we are geared for a great tourism season! I am optimistic that people will want to get out and travel after an "extended" winter. 
The official season will be launched this weekend in Abilene. Friday, May 3, we will host our annual tourism luncheon in the Eisenhower Library Courtyard. Tourism awards will be presented during the luncheon. Tourism is a $30.9 million industry in Dickinson County.
This weekend, activities will begin in Old Abilene Town. The excursion train will run Saturday and Sunday. The Gunfighters will be on the streets of Old Abilene Town both days. Abilene will be represented at the Kansas Sampler Festival this weekend. Lori Hambright will be working our booth. Jeff Sheets is representing Kansas Cattle Towns with a cowboy camp.
Friday is the final day to view the "Acts of Congress" at the Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum. The museum is open until 8 p.m. both Thursday and Friday. The 21st annual Abilene Fly-in and breakfast will be from 7 a.m. to 1 p.m. at the airport. The annual Spring Sidewalk Sale will be downtown this weekend. Great Plains Theatre youth production "Fools" will be Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
Lots to do! Come to Abilene!
Glenda Purkis
|
|
|
|
Vanguard of Valor iBook Discussion
|
|
Author Michael J. Doidge will discuss his iBook, Vanguard of Valor, at the Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum on Thursday, May 2, at 7 p.m. in the Visitors Center Auditorium. This program is free and open to the public.
Vanguard of Valor: Enhanced Version examines eight platoon-level combat actions in Afghanistan. An iBook combines multimedia elements with a textual narrative to create an interactive work of history.
Mr. Doidge is a historian at the Combat Studies Institute, Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. He is the conceptual architect behind Vanguard of Valor: Enhanced Edition. He created and managed the project at the Combat Studies Institute. He is a Doctoral Candidate at the University of Southern Mississippi, where he is writing his dissertation on the Cold War Army. Doidge has written several articles on digital military history, and has co-edited Triumph Revisited: Historians Battle for the Vietnam War. He is also an adjunct Assistant Professor of History for the US Army Command and General Staff College.
|
|
FLOUR POWER A FUN FAMILY EVENT
Get ready for a weekend of fun when the 6th annual Flour Power Family Fun Fest returns to Abilene's Fairgrounds on Friday, May 17, and Saturday, May 18. Many of the favorites will be back and a passel of new activities promises to bring even more fun.
If the smell of barbeque makes your taste buds tingle and eating barbeque transports you to a state of bliss, come to the Barbeque Dinner on Friday starting at 5:00 p.m. at Sterl Hall. Carry-out is available. The pulled pork for the dinner is prepared by several volunteer barbeque enthusiasts who will be competing the following day in the KCBS sanctioned Wheatstock Grill-Off.
Teams competing for bragging rights and prizes will offer samplings Friday night. Purchase sampling tickets from Flour Power volunteers, then visit the teams' grill sites to sample their creations.
Rounding out Friday night will be country and rock music performed by the Sly Ridge Band at the free street dance. Watch for the K-State Parachute Club to skydive onto the fairgrounds at 6:00 p.m.
Saturday is chock-full of activities. One of the best car shows in the area starts at 9:00 a.m. Come enter your vintage ride or walk around and ooh and aah over your favorites.
The Wiener Dog Jog is fun for pet owners and spectators. The Dog Fashion Show between heats will add to the hilarity. The fashion show is just for fun and free. Any breed can enter. Bring a short script about your dog and his/her costume. Dress up more than once and participate in more than one round.
New this year are the carnival-like activities that are fun for both participants and spectators. Buy tickets from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturday.
Flour Power is a fundraiser sponsored by Memorial Health Foundation to support health care projects of Memorial Health System. For more information, go online at www.flourpowerks.org or call 785-263-6688.
|
WORLD PREMIERE OF HILLBILLY HOTSPOT AT
GREAT PLAINS THEATRE
BDS Productions and Great Plains Theatre of Abilene announce the world premiere of Hillbilly HotSpot at the Great Plains Theatre, May10th through May 19th.
If you like toe tapping, foot stomping, fiddle playing Country Western music with dancing in the isles, great banjo playing with side splitting comedy, this is the event you won't want to miss.
In addition to fun and familiar music, the show also features 11 originals, including the theme song "Hillbilly HotSpot", written by Country Western performer/songwriter Darlene Austin of Nashville, TN. Darlene was raised near Bennington, KS. She has performed on multiple Syndicated TV shows and entertained in concerts internationally throughout her career.
Executive Producer, Roger Thompson stated, "Hillbilly HotSpot is a Branson style family show. The talent appearing in this show is second to none.
After showing at the Great Plains Theatre, the script will be licensed to other theaters across the nation. The show will travel to several locations and be at a theater on the strip at Branson, Missouri in the summer.
Tickets may be purchased by calling Great Plains Theatre at 785-263-4574 or go to www.greatplainstheatre.com.
|
 |
Abilene CVB to Create Barn Quilt Tour
in Dickinson County
The Abilene CVB is leading an effort to create a Barn Quilt Tour through Dickinson County. An informational meeting will be held Thursday, May 2, 2013, 7:30 p.m., at the Historic Union Pacific Depot, 201 NW Second. Those interested in any aspect of creating a barn quilt tour, are encouraged to attend. Citizens who are "barn" owners, barn lovers, quilters, artists, painters, and people with ideas for marketing this project are invited to come and share ideas to help develop the tour. Barn quilts are not limited to the rural area. City residents interested in placing a barn quilt on their house or out-building will also be considered. Barn Quilt Tours have been developed in several rural areas of Kansas. The Flint Hills Tourism Coalition has endorsed a project through the Flint Hills' twenty-two county region and is creating a web presence for a Flint Hills Quilt Trail. The Dickinson County project will be included in the Flint Hills Quilt Trail. For more information call 785-263-2231. |
Gunfighters Begin New Season
Excursion Train Runs
May 4 begins a new tourist season in Old Abilene Town as the gunfighters are set to perform Saturday and Sunday. Performances Saturday will be 11:30 a.m., 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m. Sunday shows are 1:30 and 3:30 p.m.
The Abilene Smoky Valley Railroard will start the diesel run Saturday, 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. and Sunday at 2:00 p.m.
|
Symphony at Sunset | June 1
Free Outdoor Concert, 8:30 p.m.
Kicking off the WorldWar II Remembered exhibit is the annual D-Day commemorative concert, Symphony at Sunset, featuring the Salina Symphony. This free concert is held the first Saturday of each June on the grounds of the Eisenhower Presidential Library campus.
Visitors are invited to bring their lawn chairs and enjoy the Symphony at Sunset, featuring the Salina Symphony. Donations will be accepted. Visitors are encouraged to come early to picnic on the grounds and make time to visit the exhibit.
8 a.m. - 8 p.m.: World War II Remembered Exhibit Opening
4 p.m. - 9 p.m.: Food and Beverage Vendors (including beer and wine)
6 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. Dickinson County Stage
Entertainment by local musicians!
8:30 p.m. - 10 p.m. Symphony Concert
|
|
Stay Connected
 
|
|
|
World War II Remembered:
Leaders, Battles & Heroes
 The Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum and Boyhood Home opens a very special exhibit, World War II Remembered: Leaders, Battles & Heroes, on June 1, 2013. This begins a three-year inclusive commemoration of the pivotal events of World War II. The exhibits and programs will continue through December 2016, marking the 70th anniversaries of the war and its aftermath. Anchor exhibits in the Museum and Library buildings will be enhanced by rotating components. The anchor exhibit in the Library building, titled Be Ye Men of Valor: The Allies of World War II, will open this fall. World War II Remembered will focus on the personal stories of unsung heroes and the lesser-known events of the war. Public and educational programs will combine with the exhibit to tell these stories. Visitors to the programs and exhibits will learn about the major theaters of the war, as well as about such groups as the Tuskegee Airmen and Native American Code Talkers. They will also discover the brave contribution of the Ritchie Boys, Jewish refugees from Hitler's Germany, who returned to Europe as U.S. soldiers. In addition, the exhibit will feature the heroic stories of women at war and on the working home front.
|
|
|
|
|
|
