8
Wednesday, July 1, 1987
Independence Days
Kansan Summer Weekly
Story by
Caroline Reddick
Arts editor
Banu Gibson and the New Orleans hot jazz Orchestra, above, will perform at Independence Days.
Tom Burkholder, Peabody graduate student, gets a trim from Mayor Mike Amyx for his role as Senator John James Ingalls. Burkholder will perform in a women's suffrage debate presented by KU faculty and students.
Pam Carvalho, a Baldwin resident, at right, cuts flowers that she will dry and put into arrangements. The flowers will be sold at the festival.
The cast of Herald of Freedom, above, rehearses a scene from the play that it will perform at Burcham Park Saturday and Sunday. The cast members are, from left, David Longhurst, Phillip Schroeder, Marcia Higginson, Hannes Zacharias, Beth Parelman, Jennifer Glenn and Ric Averill, background.
Wendi Smith, Lawrence resident,
wears a ball gown copied from styles
of the 1870s. She will be modeling
the gown at the turn-of-the-century
fashion show.
Celebrate an old-fashioned fourth of July
Part of Lawrence will be transformed into a turn-of-the-century setting by 6 p.m. Friday, the beginning of the fifth annual Independence Days celebration at Burcham Park.
Between 30,000 and 35,000 people are expected to attend the three-day festival, said Judy Wright, executive director of Independence Days.
Wright said that all aspects of the festival would be appropriate for the period of 1855 to 1915. Old-time music will accompany historical exhibits and activities, antique crafts and old-fashioned food.
"The whole purpose of Independence Days is to celebrate the history and heritage of America's war during the turn of the century."
"I think that it lends the festival a uniqueness," she said. "It's entertaining but also educational. It's more than just another carnival or fair. It's a celebration of another time."
"We want them to experience the 19th century," she said. "When they come in the park, it will be like they take a sten back in time.
Wright said ticket prices for the festival were $5 for adults, $3 for children from ages 5 to 12, and free for children under 5. One ticket admits a person for all three days.
The festival will begin on Friday, she said, with performances by New Grass Revival and Riders in the Sky.
Saturday's events start off at 7:15 a.m. with an eight kilometer race and a one mile Fun Run, both of which start and end at the Lawrence Holiday Inn Holidome, 200 McDonald Road. Late registration for both races is from 6:15 to 7 a.m. Saturday at the Holiday, Curt Hall, president of the Lawrence Track Club, urged latecomers to sign up.
The races are followed by a parade that begins at 9:30 a.m. at South Park. The parade features the Lawrence Gunfighters, antique cars and a best-dressed pet contest. The parade follows Massachusetts Street north to 7th Street where it turns east. It ends about 10 p.m. at 7th and continues through the town where chairman of the parade committee, said that anyone in turn-of-the-century costume could participate in the parade.
"It's a lot of fun," he said. "We usually have the fire department out with their hoses mid-course or so and they hose everybody down. It's not for competition but for fun. They can come out and enjoy the comaraderie with the other runners."
The festivities Saturday and Sunday at Burcham Park begin at 10 a.m. There will be performances by groups including the Lawrence Barn Dance Association, Lawrence Gunfighters Association, Seem-to-Be Players, River City Six, Scartaglen, Scrapwood Stringband & Cloggers, Full Circle, Last Kansas Exit, and Paul Gray and the Gaslight Gang.
New acts this year include a tightrope walker and Sideshow, a variety show featuring magicians, jugglers and vaudevillians.
Children can be entertained by pony rides, face painting, crafts, games and the Tom Sawyer Fence Painting Contest.
Other activities include canoe races, river rides, historic sidewalk tours and more than 50 craft booths. People who want to sit and listen for a while can attend a Women's Suffrage debate, watch an antique horse show or attend and even parade short plays based on Kansas history.
Sue Booth, chairman of the food committee, said some of the best entertainment was sampling food from the 30 booths. She said that all of the food available, with the exception of soft drinks, was food that could have been served in the 1800s.
"The traditional food of the 19th century is what we want," she said.
"And all of the vendors must be in historical costume and use utensils appropriate to the period."
Buffalo burgers, turkey drumsticks, funnel cakes, barbecued chicken, piggy pops and Greek are among the items offered for sale.
Booth said KS. Magazine rated the food at seven state festivals, including Independence Days, on a scale of one to ten.
"This festival rated 11½, which was the highest in the state," she said. "It shows what the vendors do. They really do go all out. They try to serve a good product and have fun doing it."
Wright said that attendance at the festival had grown from about 8,000 people the first year, 1983, to more than 27,000 last year. She added that last year's attendance was dampened by a rain Sunday which brought out only 3,500 people.
She attributed much of the festival's success to volunteer workers.
"Independence Days is a non-profit corporation with a board of directors and 16 standing committees," she said. "But what really keeps it going is the volunteers. We have over 500 volunteers, some of whom have worked on it since the first year."
Darcy Chanc