ABILENE TOURISM ADVOCATE
September 17, 2020
Designing D.C.'s New Eisenhower Memorial
Just a stone's throw from the U.S. Capitol, a park nestles among museums and office buildings. Twenty years in the making, it's a new memorial, dedicated to a president who is garnering new esteem: Dwight D. Eisenhower.

Correspondent Rita Braver visited the memorial with Susan Eisenhower, the president's granddaughter, a foreign policy analyst who has spent years studying her grandfather's career. It was Susan's first time: "I'm quite overwhelmed by it," she said. "I'm really thrilled.

"Grandad used to say, 'Don't let them put me on a horse.' So, he's not on a horse!" she laughed. "He's leading men, which I think is far more appropriate."
Watch the Eisenhower Memorial Dedication
Thursday, September 17
7:00 PM | Via Facebook Live (Facebook account not required)
Live stream open to the public | Registration not required
In-person attendance by invitation | RSVP required
 
The events celebrating the opening of the Eisenhower Memorial have been redesigned due to the impact of COVID-19. Given the constraints on public gatherings, and in consideration of public safety, we have restructured the dedication events. Following CDC guidelines for safe social distancing, space is more limited and we are unfortunately not able to allow for additional guests. We appreciate your understanding and hope that you will join us via Facebook Live (Facebook account not required) for this reimagined commemoration of the memorial. 
Old Fashioned Soda Fountain Finds New Home
Saturday was moving day for the soda fountain, refrigerator, tables and stools that were in Bankes Drug Store. Auburn Pharmacy bought the business a couple years ago, and now Stephanie Raub is moving her Bombshell Salon from 14th Street into the former drug store space. Linda Bankes and family, Auburn Pharmacy and the Raubs generously agreed to donate the iconic equipment and fixtures to the Dickinson County Historical Society.
Create Your Own Boutique Crawl in Downtown Abilene
Abilene boutiques recently united for a fabulous boutique crawl, but you don’t have to wait for a special event to visit these unique boutiques! Grab your girlfriends and visit Abilene, Kansas for a day of shopping, fun, and fresh air! 
The Ultimate Book Lover's Roadtrip
The swish of pages turning. The faint smell of paper and ink as you crack a cover open for the first time. The magic of books can take you anywhere, but a great bookstore can be a destination in and of itself. An appreciation of books, old and new, has been ingrained in my soul as a librarian’s daughter, but I know that I’m not the lone admirer of the written word in this Sunflower State. Kansas is home to some spectacular bookstores, but it’s also home to locations that many bibliophiles may have already explored in the pages of a book but not in real life.
Thursday Travel Trivia
T.C. Henry is known as the _______ King of Kansas. See his barn at Old Abilene Town!

Answer:
T. C. Henry came to Kansas in 1867 and settled in Abilene. He jumped into real estate promotion and was successful. He and his partners also became involved in local politics. Henry became an advocate of the cattle trade which was in its infancy in Kansas in 1868. However, not much later, for various reasons, he began opposing the cattle trade, which was very unpopular with many for a variety of good reasons.

Henry and others thought it would be better to re-focus on farming. Restrictions, many of them quite reasonable, eventually brought an end to the wide-open cattle drives that had Abilene as a terminus. Henry pushed hard for winter wheat farming. He invested in land and farming operations which were successful. However, after early success Nature did not cooperate and by 1883 he had left Kansas for, literally, greener fields. He began denouncing what he had said before about what were the best agricultural practices for Kansas.

Henry died in 1914 nearly penniless from his long efforts at developing irrigation in Colorado. However, some still remembered him as the "Wheat King" who encouraged the adoption of winter wheat. He was, as some have said, "a booster and a pioneer."
Great Plains Theatre Update
Dear Patrons,

If you are a Season Ticket holder or have individual tickets for any show that has been or might be postponed, rest assured that your tickets will be honored. At this time, none of our shows have been canceled, only postponed to a later date yet to be determined. We are still cautiously hopeful that we will be able to perform the last two shows of our planned season in October, Baskerville: A Sherlock Holmes Mystery, and in December, It's A Wonderful Life. We will announce as quickly as possible if that changes, but in the meantime we are ever hopeful that we will be able to do these shows as planned.
Save the Date! Wild West Gravel Fest 2020 - Saturday, October 24
Join in the gravel fun at the inaugural Wild West Gravel Fest! Ride the 50 mile gravel ride through Dickinson County or take the ultimate 125 mile challenge.

The race starts and ends in Old Abilene Town.

Don’t delay - register today!
Top 16 Set For Coolest Thing Made In Kansas Contest 
The top 16 Kansas-made products are set for the Kansas Manufacturing Council's (KMC) Coolest Thing Made In Kansas competition and Abilene's Rawhide Portable Corral made the list!

Rather than herd cattle down the roads and through the pastures to the corral, bring the corral to the cattle! This Kansas-made product eliminates the need for multiple, expensive corrals, and the best part - it only takes one person to setup! Tow this corral behind your truck from pasture to pasture and set up on your own. Thanks to the ingenuity of inventor John McDonald, ranchers across the country can now load the cattle a little easier. It can be pulled anywhere, fit through most gates, set up in 10 minutes without lifting a panel and contain 150-400 head of cattle. It is made in Abilene, Kansas and shipped all over the world.

Please support this Abilene manufacturing business by voting in this contest.
Abilene Convention & Visitors Bureau