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“…where the air is so pure
and the zephyrs so free…”
Kansas Folklore Society
2004 Conference, Wichita
Day One:
Visit: Ablah Library Special Collections, Wichita State University. Special Collections curator Mike Kelly and his staff introduced the full catalog of the complete Joan O’Bryant (54 box) Collection.
Business meeting:
- 2003 Annual Meeting Minutes were read, reviewed and accepted as written
- Suggested amendments to the existing Constitution.
- Paid membership to the KsFS runs from July 1st to June 30th the following year.
- Discussion of the William Koch award and nomination of its next recipient in 2006 led to the initiation of a series of KsFS founders’ awards.
- “Joan O’Bryant Performance Award”: first recipicent will be Don Koke -- long time KsFS member and past officer, proprietor-promoter, and performer of the Iron Horse Concert Hall Folk Music venue in El Dorado, KS., on the occasion of the 25th Anniversary celebration of the Iron Horse Concert Hall in May this year.
- “Sam Sackett Field Research Award” tabled for further research and planning.
- Annual Call for Student Presentations: Prizes to include:
- A free lunch
- A year’s KsFS membership, including the current issue of the Overland Review: A Mid America Folklore Journal
- Submission of the best presentations for publication
- Prize money – amount to be set
- All student participants tol receive a certificate acknowledging their efforts
Registration and Recording Release to be developed for use at KsFS events and activities
- Election of new Officers:
Cliff Wright retained as treasurer
Mike Watowa assumes office of president for 2004-2005
Gloria Throne as vice-president 2004-2005, then president in 2005-2006 – Gloria will choose a ‘co-president’ from the membership at a later date.
—A reminder: offices begin July 1st each year and end June 30th the following year
- Report on newly established website: averages 2 hits a day since activation in September of 2003.
- New members’ information/orientation packet: content discussed
- 2005 President’s Call for Student Presentations: ‘suggested’ theme “Local Legends and Family Sagas: stories, songs, and secrets passed down ‘round kitchen tables, campfires, and car trips.”
- 2005 Annual KsFS Conference titled “...where the old trails cross…” : tentatively planned for the first weekend in June 2005, to coincide with the Annual Dodge City Cowboy Symposium -- pending coordination with primary event organizers.
- Kansas Community Memoirs project: collecting folklore at neighborhood events and during community celebrations in an effort to promote the Society and gain members.
Day Two:
Held at Kansas Air Museum, Wichita
- President’s welcome
- Presentation by Dick Elder, NOAA, on the validity of selected Weather lore
- Presentation by Walt House, the volunteer curator for the Kansas Air Museum, anecdotal and historical information about the earliest beginnings of aviation in Wichita
- Musical interlude by Phil Yearout: stories and songs from Woody Guthrie
- Historical reenactment by Teresa Bachman, as Aunt Gladys, one of the first women to work in aviation manufacturing (at Boeing in Wichita) during ‘the war effort’ of WWII
- Review of “Plane Crazy” by Mary Skipworth, a Wichita civic fundraising project to design, build and creatively decorate scale model airplanes
- Presentation by Tom Weso: focus on one Pawnee story and its significance in the evolution of the Tallgrass prairie and its inhabitants.
So much of the successful collection, study, and celebration of folklore depends on participation.
If YOU weren’t in attendance, this conference was incomplete.
The solution is simple: plan now to be part of the collection, study and celebration of folklore by Kansans at next year’s annual conference. We are eager to present something to whet everybody’s interests. If you have some requests or suggestions please forward them to Mike Watowa: KsFolklore@bigfoot.com
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