Kansas Day!

Last week Kansas celebrated its birthday for the 149^th time.  For the 3^rd year in a row I helped throw a Kansas Day celebration in Emporia. It’s full of all things Kansas- Wheat State Pizza, Wheat Beer, and some good old 70’s rock, courtesy of Kansas. This year we had an unexpected treat- John Brown stopped by to say hello!

Anyway, in honor of our wonderful state’s birthday, I’ve decided to compile a Top 10 List of Kansas-Inspired Historical and Cultural Impacts.

1. William Allen White- Not just a Kansas native but an Emporian at that, WAW was a celebrated journalist and civil rights activist.  As a newspaper employee I like to think of him as a Patron Saint of sorts.
2. Wizard of Oz- No Kansas list would be complete without mentioning that famous film that made every non-Kansan ask you, “Where’s Toto? LOL” Kansas will always be synonymous with Dorothy, her dog, and her group of rag-tag friends.
3. Flying Spaghetti Monster- Though the origin of the FSM stems from Oregon State, the motives were 100% Kansan. The creature was created in response to the Kansas Board of Education’s vote to include Intelligent Design in public school’s science curriculum. The creature, which looks like a squid/pasta hybrid, is a fantastic farce of the ongoing religious quagmire in Kansas schools, and reminds America we can still laugh at ourselves.
4. Air Capital- Wichita has been home to the Boeing Company, Cessna, Raytheon and Bombardier Aerospace’s Learjet division. At one point Wichita supplied two-thirds of the world’s commercial airliners. I’m throwing this in just for my dad. He worked in the Wichita Airline business for over 27 years, and is absolutely nuts about planes. Over that time he met both John Travolta and Harrison Ford when they flew into Wichita while flying their private jets.  I’m sure my dad was real lame and only talked to them about plane stuff, like if their wings were stable and if their cabin pressure was adequate or something like that.
5. Pizza Hut, Braum’s, and White Castle- 3 of the country’s biggest chains started in Kansas: 2 of them in Wichita and 1 in Emporia. Without these businesses, America would have been just a little bit less fat.
6. BTK- Not all these impacts are good. In the 70’s, Dennis Rader, AKA the BTK killer, had the country and Kansas in a state of terror with his ghastly murders and his creepy notes.  He was finally caught in 2005 and once his identity was revealed, my hometown of Wichita was filled with eerie stories of run-ins with the killer. “I swear to god that guy came to my house last year to take my dog to the pound.” Exclaimed one of kids in my school.
7. Brown Vs. Board- The landmark case that ended “de jure” racial segregation in public schools around the country. Did you know this case did not just involve the families of the Topeka area, the Browns included? It was actually the conglomeration of a multi-state effort to end school segregation- there were over 200 plaintiffs all together. I had old classmate in one of my classes last year who actually knows the Brown family in Topeka and is still in regular contact with them. He says they are very normal folks. I can’t imagine living a normal life after having such a huge impact on the country and the legal system.
8. Celebrities!!- We’ve got Fatty Arbuckle, Paul Rudd, Dennis Hopper, Bill Kurtis, Don Johnson, Annette Bening, Elvira,  and of course, Kirstie Alley. My sister once met Kirstie Alley in a coffee shop in Wichita and helped her carry drinks across the street. Turns out there was a Scientology meeting in the church nearby and Kirstie was giving the sermon that day. No joke.
9. Prairie Reserve- Alright indulge me as I eco-nerd out here for a second. The prairie is the most endangered of all the world’s biomes, and the biggest swath of it left is right here in Kansas, near Strong City. Prairie used to cover over 8 states, but now 98% of it has been farmed or cattle-fed into extinction. Now the rest resides on federally protected land, ensuring that future generations can still enjoy the intense and exotic beauty of the prairie.
10. John Brown- Known as the man who killed slavery, sparked the civil war, and seeded civil rights, (and also as the father of modern-day terrorism) big beardy Brown started a revolt that directly kicked off the Civil War. Before that he was making the news for passing out guns throughout Bleeding Kansas to combat the pro-slavery movement. Impressive as his life might have been, I think most of us know him simply as the dude on the cover of that Kansas album (see above picture)

As with most top 10 lists, I can never put everything on here I wanted to. What do you think should have made the list?

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The Classified Assembly will celebrate the 148^th anniversary of Kansas’ statehood on Kansas Day on Thursday by hosting Kansas trivia, prize giveaways and a discounted lunch for classified employees.

“Every year on Kansas’ birthday the Classified Assembly puts on something to thank the classified employees for their services to the state of Kansas,” said Connie Baumgardner, administrative specialist for the psychology department.

From 9-11 a.m., classified employees can sign up for door prizes and complete Kansas trivia to win additional prizes.

“We will be sending out a trivia question each day, five days before the event, on the 29^th we will have a list of all of the questions,” Baumgardner said. “When (the employees) come to sign up for the door prizes, they can pick up a sheet and answer as many as they can.”

The person who answers the most questions correctly will win a free meal to the Skyline Dining Room.

Employees will be invited to eat lunch in the Skyline Dining Room, which provide a special Kansas Day menu at a discounted price. For every year of work an employee has contributed to the state of Kansas, they will receive 1 percent off of their meal price.

Classified employees include those who work as administrative assistants and custodial specialists, but not student employees or teaching faculty.

The Classified Assembly has been hosting the Kansas Day celebration for about 10 years, said Roger Heineken, administrative officer for the Memorial Union.

“It’s more of an awareness program more than anything,” Heineken said. “Kansas Day is one of these days that people overlook a lot of the time. Drawing attention, through the programming and promotion, makes all of us Kansans realize that the anniversary of the state is coming up.”

The Assembly’s main goal is to show appreciation for the classified employees on campus.

“The Classified Assembly recognizes that we’re actually state of Kansas employees,” Heineken said. “What better day to have an annual event that recognizes that?”

The Assembly also deals with policy issues and organizes staff development programs.

“We’re basically like the faculty senate or student senate for the non-teaching staff on campus,” Heineken said.

Kansas Day was founded in 1877 by LeGrande Alexander Coupley, a teacher from Paola High School.

“He decided that they needed to have some kind of event in the school to celebrate Kansas and they (picked) the day of statehood (for Kansas),” said Teresa Jenkins, public information officer for the Kansas State Historical Society. “He created a little booklet that outlined things that teachers could do in the classroom to celebrate Kansas Day.”

Due to construction, the state will not host Kansas Day celebrations in the state capitol building this year, said Cindy Roupe, director of public services for the Kansas State Library.

In the past, Gov. Kathleen Sebelius has invited school groups to participate in Kansas Day activities in the capitol building.

“Before her term, nothing has really been going on here except (special Kansas Day) cakes,” Roupe said. “It was a big deal.”

Ashley Peaches/The Bulletin

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