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By Special to the I-R
Last Updated: October 23, 2009
After almost six weeks of voting, the Kansas Sampler Foundation announced the 8 Wonders of Kansas Customs.
In alphabetical order:
Bringing musicians together: For a decade there's been a lively jam session at the Emma Chase Cafe in Cottonwood Falls almost every Friday night at 7:30 p.m.
Chanting a school fight song: The University of Kansas's (Lawrence) Rock Chalk Jayhawk cheer is one of the best in the nation. Learn about the chant in the student union.
Clicking your heels three times and saying "There's no place like home": Oz attractions in Wamego and Liberal tell the beloved story of the Wizard of Oz.
Commemorating Veterans Day: An Emporiaman helped change Armistice Day into Veterans Day and made Emporia the Founding City of Veterans Day.
Displaying an ethnic handicraft: Traditional and pop-art Dala Horses can be seen throughout Lindsborg.
Ordering a soda fountain treat: Go while you can to one of the 38 operating soda fountains left in Kansas.
Riding a carousel: Ride -- and learn about -- the famous C.W. Parker carousels in Abilene and Leavenworth.
Using natural material for fencing: Learn the story of these hardy fence posts at the Post Rock Museum in Lacrosse and see them throughout the Smoky Hills.
Penner said, "This was the closest race we've had to date and though it was the hardest to explain, it won my heart. If you go to 8wonders.org and click on pictures of all the 24 finalists, you can read some of the most fascinating and endearing stories and facts about our cultural traditions."
More than 12,000 votes came from across the state, every state in the union, and from many foreign countries. Each voter had to select eight from the 24 finalists and could only vote three times.
The Customs contest is one in a series. Earlier contests determined the overall 8 Wonders of Kansas and the top 8 in Architecture, Art, Commerce, and Cuisine. Geography is the next contest with public nominations being accepted the month of November. History and People contests will wrap-up the one-time series.
A project of the Inman-based Kansas Sampler Foundation, it is designed to educate the world about what there is to see and do in Kansas, encourage travel, and help Kansans see their state with new eyes.
THE OTHER 16 FINALISTS
Building wide main streets: The widest Main Street in the United States is in Plains.
Checking the weather: In Harper, townspeople watch the red fish weather vane at the top of the watertower for weather changes.
Connecting underground businesses: The Underground Tunnels of Ellinwood are open for tours of a mysterious past.
Converting rails to trails: The first in Kansas was the Prairie Spirit Trail. Started in 1996, it now spans 51 miles fromOttawa through Garnett and other small towns to Iola.
Cruising main: It happens a little differently in Blue Rapids as they have the only round square in Kansas.
Eating dinner prior to watching community theater: This custom has been going on longer at the Topeka Civic Theatre than anywhere else in the country.
Putting shoes on a tree: A giant cottonwood near Wetmore is famous as The Shoe Tree.
Racing greyhounds: This custom started in Kansas and is told well at the Greyhound Hall of Fame in Abilene.
Racing motorcycles: The Kansas Motorcycle Museum in Marquette tells about this intriguing culture.
Racing on a dirt track: The oldest continuously-used dirt track in the U.S. is High Banks in Belleville and the High Banks Hall of Fame and National Midget Auto Racing Museum tells all about it.
Reciting and chanting the Psalms: The Benedictine monks at St. Benedict's Abbey in Atchison do this four times a day, seven days a week.
Recognizing those who came in second: The "They Also Ran Gallery" in Norton features those who came in second in the presidential race.
Saving a seat: It's been going on in Concordia since the 1960s, most recently at the Kearn Auction House.
Saving twine: Frugality led to the World's Largest Ball of Sisal Twine in Cawker City.
Swimming in the summer: Garden City has the state's oldest continuously-open and largest municipal hand-dug swimming pool. See a year-round exhibit about this 1922 pool at the Finney County Museum.
Walking to school: In 1936, walking to school became much easier as the longest sidewalk in the U.S. to connect two towns opened between Franklin and Arma.
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