‘First pitch’ Saturday for Smithsonian

HUMBOLDT — Anyone who can’t find something to enjoy in Humboldt Saturday will be much too hard to please.
The much-awaited Smithsonian Institution’s “Hometown Teams: How Sports Shaped America” and the 58th annual Biblesta will have downtown humming from early to late. The six-week visit by the Smithsonian Institution’s comprehensive six-week showcase ribbon-cutting is at 9:30 a.m.
The Smithsonian traveling exhibit arrived Monday afternoon and its components were arranged in City Hall’s main lobby, together with displays featuring Walter Johnson and George Sweatt, Humboldt favorite sons who need no introduction. Johnson was among the best pitchers ever to play Major League baseball — for the Washington Senators — and Sweatt was a legend in his time, playing in the Negro League World Series and performing admirably at what today is Pittsburg State University.
In addition, the lower lobby at the Humboldt High, outside the older gymnasium, is garnished with photos and other memorabilia to bring vividly to mind other local stars in a number of sports, with their venues mostly being HHS.
Exhibits in City Hall and the high school will remain for six weeks.
How the Smithsonian found its way to Humboldt is a story in itself.
Jan Coykendall and others received an email from Judy Middendorf, a local activist, about Smithsonian plans to have its sports-based traveling show in Kansas this year.
“I didn’t think too much of it,” said Coykendall, a former Humboldt mayor, until two weeks later when the impetuous Middendorf sent another email. That prompted Coykendall to think more about the opportunity.
“The Smithsonian wanted three letters of support, from business and organizations,” she said. “We got 13,” apparently impressive in both number and content. Whoever makes such decision in Washington, D.C., home of the institution, decided Humboldt would be the sixth stop in Kansas for “Hometown Teams.”
That was just the beginning.
Coykendall, not shy about asking, contacted a number of citizens, and in no time the first committee meeting occurred, with enthusiasm flying across the table. Monthly sessions, and more toward time of arrival, produced an eclectic and absorbing plan for many in the community to be involved, as performers, participants and observers.
Features are many, but few are more anticipated than having Henry Thomas, Walter Johnson’s grandson, speak at the high school auditorium on Oct. 17 at 2 p.m. He sent ahead copies of his book “Walter Johnson: Baseball’s Big Train,” which committee members decided Saturday to give to fans of the sport and Johnson.
On Oct. 10 train rides — appropriate from Johnson’s nickname — will go from Humboldt to Chanute and back, reliving a time when train travel was commonplace in Allen County. Breakfast and full meals, at noon and 3 p.m., will be served before each excursion. Prices are $10 for breakfast, and $15 and $20 for chicken or steak for later meals.
Phil Dixon, entwined with the Negro Baseball Museum in Kansas City, will speak on Oct. 17 at 11 a.m. in the high school auditorium.
On Oct. 24 vintage baseball teams from Topeka and Lincoln, Neb., will tangle at 11 a.m. at George Sweatt Field in the southeast part of town. That afternoon at 2 o’clock, they will play again at Walter Johnson Field, a few blocks to the west in the older sports complex protected by a tall rock wall built through a government program during the Great Depression.
Many other events will crop by weekly before closing ceremonies on Nov. 15 at City Hall. Flyers giving full details have been in the Register and are available at many places in Humboldt.
After being disassembled the traveling exhibit will be carried back to Washington for a winter hiatus, followed by another journey to a yet-to-be-named state in 2016, David Kreider, who supervised its erection Monday, said. Kreider is a technician at Bethel College’s Kauffman Museum in North Newton.

WHILE MUCH prep work and expectation preceded the Smithsonian extravaganza, Biblesta, as always is the case, promises a full and varied program on Saturday. With it being nearly six decades old, the event needs little introduction.
The centerpiece, as always, will be the 1:30 afternoon parade, featuring floats and other units depicting the story of the Bible in chronological order.
First out of the gate will be a 3K walk and 5K run at 8 a.m., preceding an hour earlier by registration. High-profile entertainment will start at 10:30 and continue until 1:15. After the parade, more entertainment will be in the town square until 5:45. Serving of free beans, prepared in huge iron kettles on the southwest corner of the square and as much a staple as the parade, will start at 5 o’clock.
“Difference Maker,” a youth rally, will begin at 7 o’clock, with music by City Life Church, Wichita, praise and worship band.
Pre-parade entertainers will be Randy Davenport, Sheila McDonald and Kinley Rice. Taking the stage afterward will be Pastor Pudge and Miss Alta, Ava Kasich and a return by Davenport. Puppet shows and a petting zoo will attract younger children through the day.