Must-have Local Items

EVERYONE LOVES A PARADE Holiday celebrations and traditions

By Cecilia Harris

Families bundled in mittens, coats, hats and boots sip hot chocolate while enjoying a Christmas parade—it’s an image for one of the most beloved holiday traditions in several communities across Kansas.

In Garden City, the Christmas Parade will mark its 20th year this December 6. Begun by three Garden City High School students as a project, the parade has grown to feature 60 to 70 entries, including floats, fire engines, squad cars and marching bands.

The Winfield Main Street Lighted Christmas Parade, scheduled for December 12, typically features decorated tractors, cars and other vehicles, riders dressed in costumes on horses wearing jingle bells and lights, dogs adorned in holiday attire as they march with their owners down the streets, several school marching bands, and floats covered in gleaming lights, says Megan Beeson, Winfield Chamber of Commerce program coordinator.

In Liberal, the Downtown Christmas Parade on December 5 will also feature bands, vehicles, and lighted floats and serves as the grand finale to a day full of activities that include a longstanding Folk Art Festival offering street entertainment and plenty of opportunity for shopping with handcrafted items and homemade foods in over 100 booths.

visitgck.com | (800) 879-9803 Facebook: Winfield Main Street | (620) 221-2420 liberalkschamber.com | (620) 624-3855 FESTIVAL OF LIGHTS

November 27 | Manhattan

Manhattan’s festive holiday celebration at Blue Earth Plaza will feature its traditional centerpiece, a 68-foot Christmas tree, but this year the tree will include a music-synchronized light display that visitors can enjoy by tuning their car radios to 88.1 FM. The traditional pedestrian holiday plaza might be modified in response to the Covid-19 pandemic, but the entire plaza light display will be up and available for visitors to enjoy until New Year’s Day.

Mhkfestivaloflights.com (785) 539-3800

SAR-KO AGLOW

December 4 | Lenexa

Stroll through the twinkling winter wonderland at Sar-Ko-Par Trails Park, where the bridge, shelters, and dozens of trees light up for the holidays through mid-January. The annual lighting celebration on December 4 will be a virtual event.

Lenexa.com (913) 477-7136

Because of health precautions in response to Covid-19, all events are subject to change. Please check the event websites for possible cancellations.

Where in Kansas?

Garden City Liberal Manhattan Winfield Lenexa

ADVENTURE ... ON DAY ONE First Day Hike celebrations grow in popularity

For years, avid birders Barry and Ellen

Jones have enjoyed the solitude of their annual mid-winter stays in a cabin at Tuttle Creek State Park. They also look forward to the afternoon of January 1, when they share the park with hundreds of people attending First Day Hike celebrations.

“We really like the concept of starting out a new year by getting outside for a nice hike,” says Barry Jones. “It’s a pretty festive event with a lot of comradery. There are a lot of kids, a lot of families and a lot of pets. That’s fun to see.”

Last year 21 Kansas state parks hosted First Day Hike events, opening their land for free admission on the first day of the year. Todd Lovin, Tuttle State Park manager, estimates between 400 and 500 people attended his event on January 1, 2020, making it probably the largest in Kansas. He credits the growth in popularity of the event nationwide, plus ideal weather. Some past First Day Hikes had up to 8 inches of snow or windchills near zero.

The course for last year’s hike at Tuttle State Park passed through towering woodlands, around a scenic lake and along the Big Blue River before making a turnaround at the waterfall at Rocky Ford Fishing Area. Hikers saw bald eagles and a wide variety of waterfowl and songbirds. For birders and naturalists, seeing the wildlife was the highlight of several First Day activities hosted at the park.

By Michael Pearce

WHERE?

Here’s a list of the parks that hosted hikes this year. Most are expected to host hikes in 2021. For more details go to ksoutdoors. com, and click on state parks. Many state parks also have Facebook pages with event details.

Cedar Bluff State Park Meade State Park Clinton State Park Milford State Park Cheney State Park Prairie Dog State Park Crawford State Park Perry State Park El Dorado State Park Pomona State Park Elk City State Park Sand Hills State Park Fall River State Park Scott State Park Flint Hills State Park Tuttle Creek State Park Hillsdale State Park Webster State Park Kanopolis State Park Wilson State Park Little Jerusalem State Park

“We do a lot of special things, like have snacks and hot chocolate,” says Lovin. “We give away T-shirts that are pretty popular.”

The concept of First Day hikes began at a public area in Massachusetts in 1992. In 2011, the director of Massachusetts state parks suggested all states adopt the programs for their parks. Kansas parks climbed on board on January 1, 2012.

In 2020, First Day hikes were held in 21 of 28 state parks. Nearly 2,700 people participated on the hikes that generally ranged from one to three miles. Tuttle Creek State Park had the highest attendance with an estimated 400 hikers. Perry, Meade, Cheney, Sand Hills, El Dorado, Elk City, Clinton and Pomona state parks each hosted 100 or more hikers.

As well as getting the public to start a new year with good outdoor exercise, state park managers also hope First Day events encourage people to spend more time in Kansas state parks over the next 364 days.

Seth Turner, El Dorado State Park manager, likes to start the First Day hikes in a campground below the reservoir’s dam, which is out of the wind and holds several of the park’s nicest rental cabins.

“Sometimes we have a cabin open, and people like to go in and see them,” says Turner. “We like to have the people come out, have a nice time and maybe get them thinking about when they’ll come back again. It’s been fun.”

Where Social Distancing is Welcomed CoffeyCountyKS.org

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