Two Abilene Restaurants Named as Finalists!












We did it! Two Abilene restaurants were named as finalists (out of 53 state-wide) in the KANSAS! Magazine  #BestLocalEatsKS  contest. 

Support your local restaurants by voting daily online at:  www.kansasmag.com or on their Facebook page

The top 25 w inners will be featured in the winter issue of the KANSAS! magazine.

Abilene in the News


Celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Chisholm Trail at the end of the trail in Abilene! No "horns" about it, longhorns WILL be in Abilene, Kansas on Labor Day Weekend! 

Read more at:  http://bit.ly/2nmGHBW

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The 2017 Travel Kansas guide is now available! The guide is a publication  of the Wichita Times and features Abilene and the Chisholm Trail, the Eisenhower Presidential Library's Symphony at Sunset, 17 Abilene events and a full page of advertising from Abilene businesses and attractions!

Read it online or pick up a copy at the Abilene Visitors Center today!






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The Abilene High School Wrestling Team was honored on the floor of both the Kansas House and Senate to celebrate their State Championship. 

Check out the live video on our Facebook page!

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Click link to view story!
Brown Memorial Camp

Photo courtesy of the Eisenhower Presidential Library, Abilene, Kansas

Take a page from Ike's book and plan a Spring Break camping trip! 

You don't have to be a Boy Scout to use Brown Memorial Park. Brown Memorial Park offers a variety of cabins and campsites to visitors.

Click here to learn more!
Throwback Thursday


The "Good Guys" Always Win at Old Abilene Town
The Salina Journal
July 21, 1968
Click here to read story
Attraction Update:
Abilene and Smoky Valley Railroad


Dickinson County Heritage Center


The Dickinson County Historical Society will host its 28th annual Ida Stover-Eisenhower Memorial Quilt Show Monday, March 13, through Sunday, March 26, at the Heritage Center, 412 S. Campbell St., in Abilene.

About 80 quilts and quilted items from around the Dickinson County area will be displayed.

Hours for the exhibit will be Monday through Friday from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m., Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Sundays from 1 to 5 p.m.

Admission is $6 for people age 15 to 61, $5 for seniors age 62 and older and $2 for children 2 to 14 years old. Children's admission includes a ride on the restored 1901 C.W. Parker carousel.

Eisenhower Park

Has spring fever got you itching to
 get out and plant, or at least plan your garden? Plan now to attend the new : Garden Talks with Joy, on Wednesday, April 5 from 6:00 - 8:00 pm at the Community Center. 

Learn tips to help you succeed with your flower garden. Take the guesswork out of what to plant, where to plant, and how to keep it blooming all season. I will have a slideshow of plants in the Rose Garden and give information on how to grow them. 

There will be information hand outs and a question and answer time. 

Registration is $15.00, plan now to attend. 

Call 785-263-3656 for reservations, deadline is March 31.
Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum

2017 Royer Film Festival
The 26th Annual Paul H. Royer Film Festival series began March 2 in the Visitors Center Auditorium. All films are free and open to the public. The movies are shown at 7 p.m. in the Visitors Center Auditorium and include free soda and popcorn.

The 2017 Schedule is comprised of musicals with a western theme as we celebrate the Chisholm Trail 150th anniversary. All films were Academy Award winners in at least one category.

March 16 - Annie Get Your Gun 
Starring:  Betty Hutton, Howard Keel
 A story very loosely based on the love story of Annie Oakley and Frank Butler who meet at a shooting match. Fabulous music although the lead characters have virtually nothing to do with the actual historical figures. Annie joins Frank Butler in Col. Cody's Wild West Show. They tour the world performing before Royalty as well as the public at large.  Nominated for four Academy Awards and won the 1951 Oscar for Best Music, Scoring of a Musical Picture.  1950 - 107 minutes - Color
Great Plains Theatre


Tri-County Telephone and Great Plains Theatre have partnered together to offer a chance to win VIP passes to the Symphony in the Flint Hills event June 10.

The Symphony in the Flint Hills will take place at Deer Horn Ranch, owned by John and Mary McDonald of Abilene. The sunset concert will feature the Kansas City Symphony with country western singer-songwriter Michael Martin Murphey.  

The raffle will be giving away two VIP Patron passes to the Symphony in the Flint Hills. The passes include two tickets for reserved seating, parking passes in the reserved section, pre-concert reception and dinner, patron tent gift certificate and onsite hospitality tent access.  Total value of the package is $1,500.  

All donations will go towards Great Plains Theatre.

"I am very grateful that Angela Schwerdtfeger, the director of public relations at Tri-County Telephone, contacted me and suggested this wonderful fundraiser. It not only benefits the theatre but will greatly benefit the lucky winner of the raffle. We are fortunate to be able to offer such a wonderful prize as this," said Elizabeth Weese, executive director of Great Plains Theatre.  

Raffle tickets prices are $10 for one, or $40 for five. Regular tickets for the Symphony in the Flint Hills are $90 for an adult and $50 for children. Tickets are available for purchase at TCT Solutions Center, 120 NW 14th St., and Great Plains Theatre, 401 Cottage Ave. The drawing will be June 8.

Upcoming Events:

The Broken Spoke Band

Front Country

Cinema:

Jeffcoat Photography Studio

This CAMERA OF THE WEEK from the Jeffcoat Museum colle ction is the Brownie Hawkeye Flash camera. 

The Brownie Hawkeye was one of the most popular Brownie cameras made. It was easy to use, cheap to buy and came apart for easy cleaning. It sold for $4.25 and was introduced in 1940. 

Some interesting events in 1940 were that the Great Depression was finally beginning to ease and Americans were earning more and buying more. 

S ome great movies such as "Gone with the Wind" were p opular and music from Benny Goodman and Count Basie were current. 

Nylon stockings were invented and were all the rage. FDR was elected for a third term. 

An average home cost $3,920.00 and average annual wages were $1,725.00. Gas was 11 cents and the average cost of a new car was $850.00. 

The 40 hour work week went into effect and Walt Disney's animated film Pinocchio was released. Scientists learn that plasma can be substituted for whole blood transfusions; the Rh factor of blood is discovered and food is freeze dried for the first time. 

Below is the Abilene Band Shell circa 1940.

Hours of Operation:
Thursday 9:30 am - 5:30 pm
Friday and Saturday 8:30 am - 4:30 pm
or call for appointment

Admission is free

2017 Calendar
Click image to access 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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