The Story-Teller’s
CAMPAIGN
Lyon County Historical Society
A New Home for the Lyon County
Museum & Research Center
Lyon County Historical Society
78th Anniversary
Over
the years, the optimistic spirit
of area residents has led to the
creation of significant cultural and
entertainment spectacles in our
region. We celebrate several of them
in the coming weeks.
In 1937 Kansas and Lyon County were fighting its way through
the Great Depression and Dust Bowl – historic economic and
environmental disasters. Even with those heartaches and daily
challenges, optimism about the future never waned.
A representative from each township in Lyon County and each
ward in Emporia was recruited in 1937 and together they charted
the Lyon County Historical Society. The needs of daily life
dominated their work, but they made time and devoted their
energies to helping our communities and citizens understand and
appreciate the past so that an ever, more vibrant and dynamic
future could be built by each succeeding generation.
The Flint Hills Rodeo was also founded in 1937 and reflects
the optimism of those battling the everyday challenges of the
Great Depression and Dust Bowl. The three-day event in
Strong City has witnessed a number of national rodeo records,
some which still stand to this day.
The Flint Hills Rodeo
78th Anniversary
The event also reflects the cattle and rich ranging culture of the
Flint Hills. Old timers can still tell stories of the Broadview
Hotel serving as a “board of trade” for cattle buyers and
sellers. Be part of history and experience the 2015 Flint Hills
Rodeo. Learn more at www.flinthillsrodeo.com.
The Dirty Kanza 200
10th Anniversary
Photo courtesy of www.fhwa.dot.gov
Who knew when the Granada Theatre and Emporia Arts Center
were renovated and built they would be the starting line and
finish line for this incredible spectacle.
Be at the start line at 6:00 Saturday morning May 30 and witness
over 1,500 cyclists departing downtown Emporia on a biking
odyssey. Return to the finish line later that afternoon and
welcome the returning cyclists as they celebrate their successful
completion of this uniquely Emporia and Flint Hills event.
Named by an Italian cycling magazine as one of the ten required
races on the planet for any serious cyclist, the Dirty Kanza 200 is
a remarkable experience for participants and spectators. Learn
more at www.dirtykanza200.com.
Photos courtesy of J. Greg Jordan
The majesty and beauty of the Flint Hills are center stage for this
incredible spectacle. Its founders wanted to use symphonic
music and the Flint Hills to draw visitors into the Tallgrass
Prairie to share its story – its ecology, its beauty and its history.
The Symphony in the Flint Hills
10th Anniversary
Ten years later more than 7,000 people from almost every state
in the union and many counties gather in the Flint Hills for a
truly remarkable experience learning about the prairie and all of
us who call the Flint Hills home.
This year the Symphony returns to the site of its very first
concert, the National Tallgrass Prairie Preserve north of Strong
City on Highway K-177. Visit www.symphonyintheflinthills.org
to learn more.
Photo courtesy of www.symphonyintheflinthills.org
Find Us
Lyon County Historical Society  Lyon County History Center
118 East 6th Ave.  Emporia, Kansas 66801
Phone: 620-340-6310  E-Mail: [email protected]
Online: Lyoncountyhistoricalsociety.org
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