Save the Date:

Celebrate National Travel & Tourism Week 
with the Abilene CVB!

Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau After Hours 

Thursday, May 11 5:30-7:00 

Eisenhower Presidential Library Courtyard 

T ourism Awards begin at 6 pm 

Hors d'oeuvres and beverages provided 

Questions? Contact the Abilene CVB at: (785) 263-2231 or director@abilenecityhall.com 

RSVP appreciated
Around Abilene

Kansans know the weather can quickly change, but just in case... any weekend  rain or wind won't keep the 5th annual Reitz & Rust Outdoor Vintage Market  away! Vendors can setup in Sterl Hall, the National Guard Armory and the livestock show barn. The campers and food trucks will still setup as well.

When: Saturday April 22 - 10:00-4:00

Admission: $4

Vendors: More than 150 vendors in 200 booths, 10 food trucks 

Attendance: 6,000+ projected paid admission

Salina Journal: 

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Abilene's  Great Plains Theatre is the
recipient of one of 26 grants awarded by the  Kansas Department of Commerce's Creative Arts Industries Commission.

Great Plains Theatre, Abilene, Equipment & Technology, $5,000

Great Plains Theatre Academy will purchase equipment to establish a new TV/Film department. The first project will use local actors/youth, be shot and edited in Abilene and will provide on and off camera opportunities for all ages as well as the ability to learn film editing and producing/directing.

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Karl Weissenbach, former director of the  Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum , was honored for his years of service and vision for the Eisenhower Easter Egg Roll

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Abilene is home to several dozen geocaches, including two virtual caches. We invite treasure hunters to spend the day Geocaching in Abilene! 

Learn more at: www.Geocaching.com  



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Magazine finalists: 2 local restaurants among 53 competing


Click here to learn more!
** Deadline to vote May 31 **
The Kansas Guidebook 2 for Explorers

Calling all Kansas lovers and explorers! The Abilene Visitors Center gift shop will have copies of the Kansas Sampler Foundation's new The Kansas Guidebook 2 for Explorers available starting Monday, May 8.

Visit Abilene in the Dickinson County tent at the last and final Kansas Sampler Festival in Winfield May 6-7 in Winfield. 

Click here to learn more!



Throwback Thursday

Throwback 35 years to a great story by Beccy Tanner about the Seelye sisters, their father's patent medicine and their desire for privacy. 

Click here to read.



Abilene's National Day of Prayer Breakfast

Abilene's National Day of Prayer Breakfast

Thursday, May 4, 2017
Serving begins @ 7:00 a.m.
Program begins @ 7:30 a.m.

Sterl Hall

Speaker: COL (R) William Clark

Tickets available at the Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau, all City banks and Peterson Monuments.

Tickets: $7 in advance or $8 at the door
Attraction Update:
Dickinson County Heritage Center

*Now on display* This flour sack is part of our exhibit commemorating America' entry into World War I. 2017 marks the 100th Anniversary of America's entry into World War I. 

Belgian Embroidered Flour Sack

During World War I, Belgium suffered
greatly after it was invaded and occupied by the German army on its way to France. 

Belgium normally imported most of its food, but after Germany invaded in 1914, German soldiers confiscated foodstuffs and refused to feed the populace. 

Herbert Hoover (who later became President) helped raise more than $1 billion to feed the Belgians, often using his personal fortune as collateral. 

Kansas was one of the most active states responding to the plea for food and donated 50,000 barrels of flour. Kansas flour was shipped overseas in simple cotton sacks. 

To prevent the German military from using the flour sacks for sandbags at the trenches, Belgians hid the sacks which they then decorated and embroidered before sending the embroidered sacks back to the United States. 

This flour sack is from the Walnut Creek Milling Company in Great Bend, Kansas and is stamped by The Commission for Relief in Belgium, which designates this sack as being one of those that was sent to Belgium during World War I. A Belgian then embroidered this sack and then sent it back to the United States, where it made its way back to the Walnut Creek Milling Company.
Eisenhower Presidential Museum, Library & Boyhood Home

Chisholm Trail and the Cowtown that Raised a President
April 2017 - May 2018
(Museum)

Celebrate the Chisholm Trail
Sesquicentennial as part of the tristate celebration with Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas. See rare artifacts and historic photographs. Learn about the "square meal," "real McCoy," origins of the cowboy boot, and "the wickedest town in the West." Discover stories behind the legends of T.C. McInerney, Bear River Smith, and Wild Bill Hickok among others. Find out why Dwight Eisenhower developed a love for all things western and the Cowtown that raised a President.
Great Plains Theatre

Home on the Range film to screen at Great Plains Theater, Abilene, KS

Lone Chimney Films in association with Sperra Studios will present their newest film Home on the Range on Saturday, April 29 at 6 pm at the Great Plains Theater, Abilene, KS. Admission is $7.
 
The film tells the story of the song, the cabin and the lawsuit that determined its origins. It has attracted both well-known actors and accomplished musicians as well.
 
Featured in the film are the talents of Rance Howard, Buck Taylor, Mark Mannette, Michael Martin Murphey, Darby Hinton, Skip Gorman, Mitch Holthus and many others, including several local actors. Musicians contributing to the project include the legendary rock band Kansas, Michael Martin Murphey, John McEuen, Skip Gorman, Jed Marum and many more.
 
The film was directed by Ken Spurgeon and was filmed in Smith Center, El Dorado, Topeka and Wichita, Kansas.
 
Lone Chimney Films, Inc. is a 501c3 not for profit educational film company based out of Kansas.
 
The film is sponsored by the Kansas Humanities Council, The People's Heartland Foundation, Emprise Bank, Northfield School of the Liberal Arts, Philip and Becky Elder, Jim Graf, The Logan Foundation, Jim and Bev Mershon, ITC Holdings, Russ and Ilene Briggs, Carl and Jeanette Christman, Russell and Margaret Bomhoff and the generous donations of many others. 


Bonebrake Concert Series:

Front Country will be making its way to the Great Plains Theatre stage on Friday, April 21 at 7:00 PM. The talented musicians of Front Country have mixed their styles together to forge a new and exciting sound that goes beyond one narrow genre. Front Country features a wide range of talented musicians blending classical and contemporary styles to produce roots music like you've never heard before. By staying true to their own roots as musicians, Front Country has challenged the rules of a genre, creating something exciting and new.
 
This West Coast outfit was a loose collection of musical misfits until 2012 and 2013 when Front Country gathered around a single microphone at the RockyGrass and Telluride festivals, and won first prize in those prestigious band contests that once launched the careers of the Dixie Chicks, Greensky Bluegrass and the Steep Canyon Rangers. Fresh off the stage at the Fox Theatre in Denver and The Gold Room in Colorado Springs, Front Country will stop in Abilene during the Midwest leg of their national tour.
 
You do not want to miss experiencing Front Country at Great Plains Theatre, so get your tickets today. Tickets are $15 for general admission, $80 for a table. Call Great Plains Theatre at 785-263-4574 to save your seats for this dynamic concert. 
Greyhound Hall of Fame

Greyhounds from all over the country will soon visit Abilene for the 2017 Spring Nationals Spring Meet April 24-29, 2017. Click here to learn more.

Visit the Greyhound Hall of Fame to explore the exciting world of racing!
2017 Calendar
Click image to view calendar
Help us, help you
Have an upcoming event? Help us, help you. We do our best to stay up-to-date, but please make sure to include us in your event and special promotions. Please send announcements to: director@abilenecityhall.com.
We do our best to make sure all information is correct. 
It is advisable to always call ahead before visiting.
Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau | 785.263.2231 | Email | Website

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