Opinion: State Fair earns high marks for workers and concerts

By Dan Deming

Yes, the 2024 Kansas State Fair has gone but several things were so impressive on the final day that one more review is justified.

First let’s highlight unsung heroes at the fair.  In this case, we’re talking about grandstand concert guides along with  parking aids  and crowd attendants who made visitors more comfortable, safe and welcome.  I saw multiple examples of fair-workers going the “extra mile” to assist disabled guests, accommodate the elderly and make people feel they were wanted and respected on the fairgrounds.  

While Kansas Highway Patrol Troopers always do a great job of handling problems on the grounds and patrolling roads leading to the fair they are receiving regular and overtime pay while part-time attendants work long hours for minimum compensation….another reason why they deserve praise and thanks for their many positive contributions to making the fair a success.

There have been numerous changes and upgrades to the Kansas State Fair since General Manager Bryan Schulz arrived several years ago.  Schultz obviously knows what he is doing and put on another really impressive show that Hutchinson and the state can be proud of.

This year’s ten days of activity wrapped with another solid grandstand concert, worthy of far more attendees than the relatively small but highly enthusiastic crowd.  

As enjoyable as the Oak Ridge Boys were, I was just as impressed, as were several others, with their opening act: a six-member musical family out of Nashville called Rockland Road.   Paul and Jamie Martin started their professional career in 2010, adding four now adult children along the way.  The Martins are multi-talented in singing and playing a variety of instruments. It’s little wonder since Oak Ridge Boys founder Duane Allen is Jamie’s father, and one of his granddaughters is a lead singer.

When the Oaks actually retire (they are on an extended farewell tour that will continue into 2025), it’s not difficult to see the Martin family taking over as a touring tribute band to their parents and family. They’re good enough now to do that, and while not many people are familiar with the Rockland Road name, they should be because, frankly, they are terrific in both sound and stage performance.

Three of the original Oak Ridge Boys are still singing and the tour goes from Hutchinson to Dollywood in Tennessee for three days.  Allen, who narrates much of their act and comes across as sincere and appreciative, may have lost a small portion of his vocal talent. Overall, all three Oaks, along with their 28-year-old newcomer, have such classic sound there’s very little lost from an audience perspective. 

The Oaks first appeared at the Kansas State Fair in 1977, and this was their 14th time on the local stage. 

By Dan Deming Yes, the 2024 Kansas State Fair has gone but several things were so impressive on the final day that one more review is justified. First let's highlight unsung heroes at the fair.  In this case, we're talking about grandstand concert guides along with  parking aids 

Reno County Museum funding cut is penny foolish

The Reno County Commission slashed the Reno County Museum’s annual funding allocation by $45,000 for 2025, a 23.4% decrease.

During the budget discussion, at least one commissioner erroneously stated that the museum’s funding had increased in 2024, which is prima facie false.

The museum operates with two full-time and one part-time employee. It desperately needs an archivist to properly categorize and catalog items already in its possession. Without an archivist, the museum is quickly running low on its capacity to receive new donations.

History is not just the past—it is the present. Preserving history as it is being made is vital.

History has meaning and is instructive. When Hutchinson looks back to decisions that have repercussions today, understanding the context of the discussions and reasons for a final decision helps us avoid repeating mistakes.

History teaches us respect, the difficulties faced by our pioneering founding fathers, the economic boom and bust cycles, and the ebb and flow of newcomers who often have different backgrounds and expectations.

A different commissioner pulled out a mobile phone and said (I’m paraphrasing) that people could just look things up on the Internet, revealing a stunning ignorance of historic preservation and the enormous undertaking of digitizing collected documents.

The county is spending millions to digitize its historical governmental documents, a monumental undertaking. Artifacts and documents related to hundreds of thousands of Reno County residents’ daily lives don’t just magically appear on a Google search. They must be carefully scanned, cataloged, indexed and stored on accessible computer networks.

Not all digitized documents are discoverable via simple search, and many more are not freely available. The internet is not omniscient. With new AI tools, those gaps tend to get filled with “hallucinations,” unreliable and often erroneous statements derived from factual and non-factual information. Without proper preservation, fact-checking disappears.

Unpreserved history leaves a void for those who wish to ignore it and rewrite it. Carefully preserved tangible items are the ultimate source material, and truth is the ultimate judge.

The Reno County commissioners dropped the ball by decreasing the Reno County Museum’s funding. Our history is rich and deep. Immigrants and native-born residents have done and are doing great things worth remembering and celebrating.

Please support the Reno County Museum’s fundraiser “Bootleggers, Bandits & Booze” event on Saturday, November 16. Tickets are available on the museum website’s event page.

Gina Long is a co-founder and the Managing Editor of the Hutchinson Tribune. She can be contacted at glong@hutchtribune.com.

The Reno County Commission slashed the Reno County Museum's annual funding allocation by $45,000 for 2025, a 23.4% decrease. During the budget discussion, at least one commissioner erroneously stated that the museum's funding had increased in 2024, which is prima facie false. The museum operates with two