Page 6 University Daily Kansan, October 9, 1981
Great Times
Jan Merrick, Prairie Village senior and a member of Chi Omega sorority, was named homecoming queen Nov. 8, 1969. Tradition
From page 5
Elsewhere in Kansas, the homecoming tradition continues to thrive, according to officials at Wichita State University and Kansas State University.
"It if there was ever a break away from homecoming, I think it's ended and we're through the valley and up the mountain," said Susan Justice, assistant director of programs for the Wichita State University Alumni Association. "It's not a dying tradition here."
INCLUDED IN WSU's homecoming activities, Justice said, are a traditional homecoming dance, the election of a homecoming king and
queen and a pregame party for faculty, students and alumni.
Justice said there had been a turnabout in students' attitudes toward homecoming. When the WSU administration tried to make schedule changes that would have changed student traditions, such as a Nite-Out event and a popely and bonfire, Justice said students raised an uprigh
JUSTICE SAID the Greek organizers, dormitories and Engineering Council formed a nucleus for two colleges that worked closely with the other students.
she said. "Everyone looks forward to homecoming."
Angela Scanlan, student body president at K-State, said the homecoming tradition at K-State was getting stronger every year.
"The students get very, very involved with homecoming at K-State," she said. "There is student interest in different types of things."
"The interest is renewed here,"
THE HOMECOMING activities start Wednesday and continue throughout the week until the football game Saturday, said Graptu Riese, assistant director of the Kansas State University Alumni Association.
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Entertainment part of history
By SUSAN VANNESS Contributing Writer
There was a time in old Lawrence when five cents went a long way. A nickel could buy you a cup of hot chocolate at Wiedemann's, a breezy place in the heart of Loop "O" or one dance to live music at the pavilion in Woodland Park.
The first big gathering in Bismarck Grove was scheduled for September
Five cents was also fare enough to take you to Bismarck Grove on the mule car line. The Grove was part of a tract of land on the north bank of the Kansas River about two miles northeast of downtown. It belonged to the Delaware Indians until July 1861, when the U.S. government secured a portion of the property and gave it to the Kansas Pacific Railway Company.
KANSAS PACIFIC RAILWAY Company, which later consolidated with the Union Pacific Railway Company—known today as the Union Pacific Railroad, sold all but 240 acres of the valley land. The northern portion of the property was a beautiful, wooded recreation area made available to the railroad employees, their families and the townspeople. By the 1870s, Bismarck Grove had become a favorite spot in Lawrence.
1878, when the National Temperance camp began arriving for an eight-day convention. Dining halls, barracks and a grandstand were built to accommodate the expected 4,000 nationwide visitors. The buildings, however, proved to be inadequate as 50,000 people strolled through the Grove and shotgun themselves at the shooting gallery before the week's end. Liquor was even sold on the premises if you knew where to buy it.
On Sept. 1, 1880, the first annual Western National Fair opened in Bismarck Grove. It lasted five days, and attendance was better than any of the promoters had imagined. About 125,000 people visited the fair, with as many as 45,000 on the grounds in one city. The festival celebrated the variety and abundance of entertainment. The Grove claimed the fastest mile trotting ractet west of
the Allegheny Mountains; there were exhibition halls for carriages, livestock, machinery, agriculture and arts, contests, contests, side shows and displays.
Seeing such potential, Lawrence approached the railway and asked to hold a fair in the grove. Union Pacific agreed, and spent $50,000 that spring to construct permanent buildings and to improve the grounds. Flowers and shrubs were planted, gravel walks and fountains were placed in front of some buildings and a small lake was stocked with swans.
The Western National Fairs remained an annual event for the next several years. Prize money was awarded for livestock champions and horse racing winners. A regatta on the Kaw River provided a main attraction in 1823. The "champion bicyclist of the world" performed before crowds in 1833, and in 1844, the 30th anniversary of the settlement of Kansas, the fair attracted the same tremendous crowds it had the first summer.
BISMARCK GROVE continued to function as a meeting place for the temperance encampments, the National Liberal League and the old settler's meetings. During the summer of 1827, Jubilee was held on the grounds, and some say it was the grandest exhibition of music in history. Earlier that year, C.E. Leslie of Chicago, his wife and 28 assistants, created a 6,000-member chorus, the highlight of the festival. The town in Kansas was represented in the choirs, and the Grove was packed for all four convert performances.
Unfortunately, financial problems.
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