A new steering committee will usher in a number of new activities for the upcoming Farm-City Days celebration in October.
The group’s focus since it was reformed — the nine new committee members started getting together in May — was to incorporate the festival’s popular events, such as the parade, car show and artisan exhibits, with new attractions to broaden its appeal.
“Our vision is to turn this into a cultural event, as much as a farm event,” said Aaron Franklin, one of the committee’s newcomers.
Much like Neewollah has turned Independence into a destination each Halloween, the committee’s goal is to turn Iola into an affair that draws participants from across southeast Kansas.
The 44th annual Farm-City Days runs Oct. 15-18.
FOREMOST among the new events is a medallion hunt that kicks off Oct. 3.
Participants are required to purchase a $2 button before the committee announces one clue a day — eight in all — hinting at the medallion’s location.
The medallion will be hidden somewhere in Allen County.
The clues will be purposefully vague at the start, added committee member Carol Sager, to keep participants guessing.
“The clues get progressively easier,” said Sager, who noted the committee is teaming up with the Allen County Historical Society to determine where the medallion will be hidden. “Donna Houser is behind it, so you know it’ll be inventive.”
The finder will get a $500 prize — but only if he’s purchased a button beforehand.
Buttons already are on sale. They can be purchased at Audacious Boutique and Jump Start Travel Center, as well as from Farm-City Days Committee members. Committee member Tracy Keagle also will set up booths at several locations around town, including Iola Walmart and the Portland Alley Pedalfest today.
But the chances to win don’t end, even when the medallion is found.
Each of the buttons will have a number on the back for a drawing for a number of prizes, including an Apple Watch, season tickets to the Bowlus Fine Arts Center, Kansas City Chiefs tickets and a year pass to the Cedarbrook Golf and Fitness Center. The prizes are valued altogether at $2,400. Participants need not be present to win.
As of Thursday, and with little advance fanfare, the committee had already sold more than 450 buttons.
“We think a thousand buttons is a conservative number,” Franklin said.
ANOTHER event requires advance participation.
Auditions for the inaugural “FC-Days Idol,” a vocal talent show akin to “American Idol,” are from 6 to 9 p.m. Sept. 9 at the Bowlus Fine Arts Center’s recital hall.
“We want talent of all ages,” Keagle said, “not just younger performers. We want to get college students, people who have experience performing and can put on a good show.”
To register, contact the committee via its Facebook page or its website, www.farmcitydays.org.
Committee members are Franklin, Sager, Call, Virginia Macha, Terry Meadows, Matt Stuckey, Halee Miller, Debbie Bearden and Harry Clubine.
THE OTHER thrust is to extend Farm-City Days’ appeal for more than one day.
The carnival will open Thursday, Oct. 15, as will other food and craft vendors.
Drawing the vendors for more than one day is key, Franklin explained. The booths also are being rearranged on the courthouse lawn to better accommodate traffic flow, with several activities occurring near Jefferson Avenue.
Other new events include a Lego building contest, sidewalk chalk art exhibit, a Heritage Farm Walk featuring photos and other information on farm families that have been a part of Allen County for more than a century; and two nights of music.
Iola native Skye Strickler— whose powerful brand of pop, soul and R&B music has garnered a following in the Austin, Texas, music scene — will sing Oct. 17 on the free stage next to the courthouse.
The Iola-based band Atomic Possum, which has earned radio play on area stations, will be on the stage Saturday evening, as will Dinsdale, a Kansas City-based band featuring Iola native Jeff Stalnaker.
FINALLY, THE 44th annual festival will be extended a day, to Oct. 18, a Sunday, where a bulk of the activities will be at Strickler Dairy. Events include an implement show, square dancing and chili cookoff.
“We’re trying to still reinvigorate the idea behind the “farm” in Farm-City Days,” Franklin said.
COMMITTEE members are understandably anxious to see how the festival unfolds.
“Every member from last year’s committee is gone,” Franklin said. “We’re all new at this. And to be honest, this is a yearlong project to do it well.”
The committee spent much of the summer raising funds in order to keep the festival a viable attraction.
With those funds in hand, the focus turns full-scale onto planning.
“We’re scratching and clawing to get it done,” Franklin said.
Additional volunteers would be appreciated, Sager said, from helping organize the parade — it’s also changing, from 1 p.m. to 11 a.m., and will feature a new route. The parade will go from the intersection of Jefferson and Monroe streets south to Madison Avenue, or U.S. 54, then west to Jackson Avenue and north again.
Previous parades tended to clog up at the intersection of Madison and Jackson, the committee members noted and created havoc for detoured traffic trying to navigate Broadway Street.
Other volunteers to help with a Game Alley, vendors set-up, or simply to dispense information also are needed.
