Kansas Sampler Fest

I just returned from Concordia and the first year of their Kansas Sampler Fest. Every town gets a two year contract. This was their first.

Driving there Friday was interesting with the wind blowing and storm clouds forming. Earlier in the day, my wife drove to Colorado Springs and she said the driving conditions were Terrible. For dinner, I was escorted to the Annual Rotary District Convention dinner where I heard one of the smartest ladies I have met. I wish I had her name right now to share with you. She is the construction project manager for Horizon Wind Energy, the company building the wind farm in Cloud County. It is a project I was aware of while I worked there but because it was county, I wasn't directly involved. It is great to see the project progressing. There will be 67 wind towers constructed before the end of November. Each will generate 3 megawatts of energy. One tower would take care of our electric needs in the winter. We need 2+ for the summer

The Kansas Sampler Fest is an annual event to promote tourism in Kansas. Everything was Kansas. Folks showed off things they make here, events to go to and places you could go just to enjoy. Some of the things folks were doing were driving to every County Courthouse, buying fabric in every county (I think there is a quilter there), and buying a fence post in every county.

Saturday morning I met my Sampler Partner, Marion County Economic Development Director Teresa Huffman. We started putting information bags together early and it seemed that we were doing that constantly from 10 AM to 2 PM. Scattered throughout the day were familiar faces from Concordia and the surrounding area. I saw a number of folks I used to work with – Joe, Darrel, Charles, Art, Izzy (The octogenarian promoter of Concordia, Larry, Larry (both were not me), Lisa, several fire department personnel including one we sponsored for paramedic school, Ruby, Cher. One of my friends sang Happy Birthday to me. One special sight was seeing Dana. She is just recovering from cancer treatment.

Sunday was less hectic from a crowd perspective. The first entertainment I listened to was "The Brothers and Sisters" from Goessel. I recognized Kathy from our P.O. and Goessel City Clerk Anita Goertzen. One of the guys sounded just like John Denver. Incredible!

While I enjoyed seeing friends the most important thing was promoting Marion County to folks who were not familiar with us. We had two gifts to give-away. They were a night in one of seven bed & breakfast establishments in the county and dinner in any of our county's restaurants. I learned the secret to signing your name and dropping a registration in to a "chance box." That is why it is still a secret!

One key point in attending a festival like this is getting our name in front of folks who would visit and spend a little time here. We distributed a number of boxes of stuff about the county's activities. My obvious opportunity was talking about the Art's and Craft's Festival in September. It was fun to hear from the folks who came to Hillsboro in the past and how they liked our town.

I hope a number of you will be able to join me there next year.