TEG
Tuesday, January 19, 2016
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PULITZER PRIZE-WINNING
C o m m u n i t y
FAMILY OWNED SINCE 1895
Good Evening
VVV
What’s on your
bucket list?
WWW.EMPORIAGAZETTE.COM
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C e l e b r a t i o n
Martin Luther King Day celebrations focus on giving back
People march along Sixth Avenue in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King
Jr. on Monday evening. The march started at White Memorial Park and
ended at Grace United Methodist Church.
P HOTOS
BY
K e n d r a
Attendees sing at the Martin Luther King Jr. Day community celebration at Grace United Methodist
Church on Monday.
J o h n s o n
By Jessie Wagoner
[email protected]
The theme of this year’s Martin
Luther King Jr. Celebration was
“The World House: From Chaos
to Community.” Large numbers of
community members took part in
a variety of activities celebrating
the day.
“This is not the time to be hidden or silent,” Samuel Oliver, pastor of Mt. Olive A.M.E. Church
said. “This is the time to renovate
and repair the world house.”
RSVP workers and Emporia
State University students hosted
Al Slappy, of the Emporia Eastside Community
Group, speaks to kids during an event held at
ESU on Monday.
E x p l o r e
t h e
b e a u t y
o f
E m p o r i a
Flint Hills region heavily-featured
in Kansas! Magazine ‘bucket list’
a n d
t h e
activities for children at ESU to
begin the day. Children learned
about King and the impact he had
on the country.
Monday evening, a small group
of individuals braved the cold and
took part in a community march,
which began at Sixth Avenue and
Commercial Street. The group
marched to Grace United Methodist Church, where a dinner was
served before the evening celebration service.
The service included a
combination of scripture, song
Please see MLK, Page 5
F l i n t
H i l l s
2016 visitors guide released
Courtesy Photo
Riders prepare for the start of the Dirty Kanza 200.
By John Robinson
[email protected]
What exactly are the must-see activities in Kansas? According to Kansas Parks and Tourism a trip to the
Flint Hills features several can’t miss
attractions in the Sunflower State.
Symphony in the Flint Hills,
Tallgrass Prairie National Preserve,
Emma Chase Music for the Arts, the
Dirty Kanza 200 bicycle race and
the Flint Hills region all feature in
the “Kansas Bucket List,” a list of 70
things to see and do in Kansas before
you die or “kick the bucket.”
“To celebrate the 70th anniversary of KANSAS! Magazine, we
wanted to find out the top 70 experiences on Kansans’ bucket list,” said
Linda Craghead, assistant secretary
for Kansas Parks and Tourism in a
press release.
According to the magazine’s website,
Kansas residents were
asked over
the summer
of 2015 to
provide what
they would put
on a Kansas
bucket list. Results were then
filtered through
an independent
VOL. 124, NO. 171
Courtesy Photo
Emma Chase Music is held every Friday.
board who decided on the final
list of 70 attractions.
“We are so thrilled to be included in the Bucket List of fun Kansas
experiences because that’s what
we are about — having fun,” said
Annie Wilson, coordinator for Emma Chase Friday Night Music in
a press release. “This
Bucket List will
help get the word
out to more visitors to come share
the good times.”
Heather Brown,
chief of interpretation
and visitor services for
Tallgrass National Prairie Preserve, said she
hopes inclusion on the
list will help showcase the
park’s 20th anniversary.
“We have a full schedule of
events this year,” Brown said. “We’re
hoping inclusion on this list will re-
ally get people excited about making
a trip to the Tallgrass Prairie. Not
only is it a beautiful park but you can
cross it off the list.”
For Jim Cummins, co-owner and
executive director of the Dirty Kanza
200, the list serves as another example of the unique opportunity the
Flint Hills bring to Kansas.
“The Flint Hills have always
been a big part of the Dirty Kanza
obviously, they’re a big reason our
race stands out.” Cummins said.
“We have the opportunity to go
out and play in the Flint Hills, but
we also have to be good stewards
of the region.”
“Kansas is no longer just a flyover state or a drive-through state,”
he said. “This is a place to be, Kansas
is the destination.”
The full bucket list is available in
KANSAS! Magazine, at the state’s
Travel Information Centers or by
visiting www.TravelKS.com.
By Cathryne Scharton
[email protected]
The Convention and Visitors
Advisory Board met for their
monthly meeting Monday at the
Trusler Business Center, discussing the new, magazine-quality
Emporia Visitors guide. Copies of
the guide have already been distributed to businesses throughout Emporia and will be available
in surrounding areas soon. A total
of 25,000 copies were ordered and
the guide is also available online.
The guide was composed collaboratively by IM Design and the
CVAB board.
“I think this is, by far, the best
visitors guide we’ve ever had,”
said Beverly Beers, manager of
Granada Coffee. “It looks professional and the copy that I read
looks good. I thought that you
could definitely see where the research was done and the research
was carried through. I thought
the pictures were exceptional. IM
Design did a really nice job.”
In years past, the visitors guide
was smaller in size and this year’s
large size received much praise
from board members. The new
guide is more like a magazine,
not a brochure. It outlines different shops, restaurants, parks and
events with large and vibrant photos that “bleed” off the pages.
“The guide being the new and
improved larger version, I think is
going to really create some new
excitement, a real buzz around
the city,” said Susan Rathke, director of the Convention and
Visitors Bureau.