The tradition of a parade and barbecue with activities all day still continues in Smith County Kansas. The North Central Kansas town takes pride in its ability to come together and celebrate and participate in the yearly theme. This year’s theme was Surfing on the Prairie.
Wind blows the wheat and milo crops with the illusion it is an ocean. A friend said that the new settlers to the area would watch the wheat waving in the wind and actually become seasick. {{more}}
The parade was short this year and the attendance was down. Farmers are sometimes not able to attend Old Settlers Day because they are in the harvest field, and that’s what Old Settlers Day was, a celebration of harvest completed, and to connect with friends from all over the county.
When Old Settlers Day began, it would take a better part of the day to visit friends with horse and buggy as transportation. So a day to celebrate was a welcome event.
The Smith Center Redmen football team rode on a flatbed truck. It passed by a former football player’s house, Robert Pruden, pumping his arm to show support of the Redmen team.
The Redmen won the game the previous evening on Friday, and it was also Homecoming that night.
ElDean Holthus drove a tractor, which pulled a trailer with participants of the Gardner Wellness Center.
Earlier in the morning was the Center’s annual run and walk.
The Home on the Range model cabin was also a participant in the parade. The showing of The Home on the Range movie was scheduled for the afternoon at Center Theater.
There were activities all day long and into the evening. Something for everyone’s interest.
Sharon Black has been writing for many years including newspapers, short stories, and as a publisher. She was born in Nebraska and has lived in Kansas most of her life. In her hometown of Smith Center, Kansas, Willa Cather’s hometown is to the north and Bob Dole’s hometown is to the south. Sharon is a press release writer for the National Parks Arts Foundation and writes for b U n e k e magazine. The biggest project she has accomplished is the co-writer of the TV movie Home on the Range. The movie is about the song, which is the state song of Kansas and the lawsuit surrounding it in the 1930s and finding the rightful author of the song. Sharon is distantly related to the Mississippi writer Eudora Welty.
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