It was the first rain we’d had 
in weeks, so Kansans gathered in Wichita for the Kansas 150 Celebration weren’t complaining. It didn’t seem to faze the longhorns sedately marching south on Main much, either. The much-anticipated Sunflower Parade and Home on the Range concert commemorating the Kansas Sesquicentennial on October 8 was a classic Kansas event, threatened by weather but still a great time.
As floats, honor guards and even the Governor on horseback rolled through Wichita’s downtown streets, talk in the crowd near me revolved around who had attended the state’s Centennial celebration and whether those longhorns would stampede.
But the cattle were docile and soon made way for cowpokes riding shotgun for the stagecoach. The hardy Kansans who had come from Kansas towns like Parsons (great band uniforms, by the way), Leavenworth and Erie cheered on square dancers, two giant Spirit airplane balloons and Wichita state rowing teams.
I have to say a special ‘thank you’ to the high school bands who braved the rain and never missed a beat. They added a nice touch to a parade highlighting the diversity that makes Kansas exceptional.
But it finally did rain on our parade and the crowds scurried for the shelter of Century II, where a few brave souls moved their booths under the building’s apron and continued exhibiting their wares.
Yes, it was damp and cool and just a bit disorganized, thanks to the weather, but the final event of the day left a cozy glow in my heart. The Home on the Range Concert in Wichita’s Century II Convention Hall blended African American spirituals, Native American dance and some of the sweetest cowboy music I’ve ever heard.
The multimedia presentation was well-planned and included contributions from all sectors of Kansas life. I’m still smiling about standing with a couple thousand of my fellow Kansans to sing America the Beautiful.
From a vignette on Jesse Chisholm to Judy Coder singing Over the Rainbow, the show was a reprise of a Kansas 150 concert by the Kansas Chapter of the Western Music Association in March. Having missed the original, I’m grateful for the hard work that created the encore performance.
All in all, it was an excellent day. It’s a grand old State and I can’t think of a better way to spend a rainy Saturday than celebrating one hundred fifty years of Kansas.
