At Smoky Hill River Festival in Salina KS, June 12-14, 2009

The 33rd annual Smoky Hill River Festival in Salina, Kansas, proved to be one of the most popular in its history, with nearly 78,000 attending the three-day event. Temperatures well below normal contributed to thousands converging into the huge Umbrella City seen above.

The Festival features three days of arts & entertainment. The groups Lost Wax, above, and Needfire, below, were crowd favorites.

Even the Pond was lined and made festive for the occasion.

The arts exhibits were many and varied. Even the ground squirrel in the last shot came out to inspect the merchandise.

A time-honored tradition at any festival is, of course, standing in line to buy food. This Festival's food vendors were all extremely busy. This photo is from the back of the line for the Homemade Ice Cream folks from Harper, Kansas.

Be sure to check out and enjoy next year's edition of the Smoky Hill River Festival.

Looking toward the 2010 Kansas Sampler Festival

Recovery from a Kansas Sampler Festival takes a few days. In one weekend you've talked to hundreds of people you know, hundreds more that you don't know but that certainly doesn't stop you, and have eaten a lot of great food from a lot of great Kansas food vendors that seemed like a great idea at the time - and it was! The homemade ice cream stands are a must for me each year, and now I've discovered a new favorite with which I can also replenish my energy.

So one of the food vendors I certainly will look forward to revisiting at the 2010 Festival in Leavenworth will be Capone's Famous Shaved Ice of Garden City, Kansas, the home of Gourmet shaved ice treats. And when they say Gourmet they mean it. I highly recommend that everyone who travels to Leavenworth the first weekend in May next year knuckle down and try Capone's "Frog in A Blender." Don't let the name throw you; it only looks like they put a frog through a blender. In actuality it's one of the tastiest desserts you will find anywhere.

"Frog In A Blender." A Great Kansas Taste Treat! Remember, you read it here first.

2009 Kansas Sampler Festival a Rousing Success

This year marked the 20th year for the staging of the Kansas Sampler Festival. For those not in the know, the "Sampler" is the place to be in terms of how to find out what there is to see and do in the Sunflower State. Sponsored by the Kansas Sampler Foundation, this is currently the only festival of its kind in the world, where towns of less than 30 in population man booths & exhibits next to those of 300,000.

Bill Williams, Laura McClure, & Carolyn Williams of Osborne County Tourism (OCT) can be seen putting the finishing touches on the Festival's Osborne County booth.

Concordia has been an excellent host the past two years for the Sampler. Over 5,000 very curious people attended this year's Sampler on May 2-3. From kolaches and buffalo fat soap for sale to historical reenactors and native Kansans of all kinds everywhere, there was indeed something for the entire family.

OCT had its usual large all-volunteer contingent to let people know what there is to see and do here. This year's volunteers included Bob & Adeline Eickhoff and Betty & Orville Pruter, all of Natoma; Bob & Carolyn Williams, Alton; and Mildred Morgan, Laura McClure, and yours truly, all of Osborne. In all we gave out hundreds of brochures and talked for several hours each day with people both familiar and brandnew when it came to knowing about our region of the state. It was hard on the feet, knees, and vocal chords (it took a few days for everyone to recover afterwards) but well worth the effort. Everyone should be applauded for their work ethic and commitment to promoting tourism in the county.

This was the 2009 version of the Osborne County booth. This year's theme featured the 8 Wonders of Osborne County for people to come see and enjoy. As usual, the main attraction in the booth was The Rock, seen at lower left. Scientifically called a Septarian Concretion, the Rock is an annual hit with both kids and adults alike.

This was my 10th Sampler, and I can tell you that they get better and better every year. Leavenworth County in NE Kansas will be the Festival's host for the next two years, so make your plans now to be in Leavenworth the first weekend of May 2010!