Baxter Springs is looking to take their annual Light Up the Sky celebration to another level. The city’s public works crew lead the fundraising and organizing efforts, getting 20 sponsors to donate to help put the celebration on. Previously the event took place on 19th St, but this year it’s returning to Kiwanis Park. The celebration will have many new additions this year, including police barrel rides, a disk golf contest, a water dunk tank and the new pickle ball courts. Mayor Kelly Abbott said they want to provide the things the community enjoys doing. “I think everybody looks forward to [...]

There were plenty of smiles in Pittsburg Thursday to celebrate the 4th of July. The City of Pittsburg hosted a full day of celebrations in Lincoln Park and at Kiddieland. In fact, this year marks the 71st year of Kiddieland’s existence in Pittsburg. “Not just on the 4th of July, but all the time. We have families and grandpas that will come in and go, I want to bring my grandkids here. I remember coming here when I was a kid. Some of the rides are exactly the same as they remember. And so seeing their kids and grandkids enjoy the [...]

For more than a century, Americans have said the Pledge of Allegiance, from the newest citizens, to presidents, to school children. But for one southeast Kansas community, it’s more than an oath. It’s part of the story of their town. “We claim that Frank Bellamy, who lived back at the turn of the century, as in 1890’s to 1900, we think that he wrote the Pledge of Allegiance,” said Mike Wood, Cherryvale Historical Museum. Frank Bellamy was born in 1876 in Indiana, the anniversary of our nation’s independence. His father, a prominent judge, moved the family first to Girard, and then [...]