Month: September 2018

The annual Grinter Fest will be Saturday, Sept. 8, at South 78th and K-32 with entertainment, food, vendors, contests and educational activities planned.

The event is an annual fundraiser for the Grinter Place historic museum and its programs.

Grinter Fest will include an apple pie contest judged by Mayor David Alvey, according to Pat Spencer of the Grinter Place Friends. Just the first 10 pies to be entered will be judged, she said; they must be entered by 11 a.m. at the Grinter Barn, and there are strict guidelines, such as all must be homemade using fresh apples, no lattice crusts and no frozen crusts.

Spencer said some of Annie Grinter’s descendants from the Delaware tribe will teach a traditional ceremonial bean dance and will discuss the history of the Delawares at the Grinter Fest.

VFW Post 846 will have barbecue foods for sale in the Grinter Barn, she said. There will be a variety of food available, with vendors also on the grounds, she said. Funnel cakes, fried pies and cotton candy also will be available for purchase.

Paul Martveli will be performing blue grass and country music at the Grinter Fest, Spencer said.

As part of the educational program, historical trunks are coming from Topeka for Grinter Fest, she said.

In addition, Bill Nicks, the site administrator of Grinter Place, will stroll about the grounds in his portrayal of Moses Grinter, Spencer said. Leona Sigwing, a Grinter Place Friends board member, will portray Annie Grinter.

While admission to Grinter Fest is free on the grounds and the Grinter Barn, there is an admission charge of $6 for adults and $3 for youth to the historic Grinter House, a state museum, the oldest home still standing in Wyandotte County. Tours will be available.

There are several free attractions for kids at the Grinter Fest, Spencer said. There will be a bounce house, games for kids, and a magic show by Roger Miller is planned, she said.

A lot of the visitors come to see the vendors, according to Spencer. Some booths will have unique crafts.

There will be about 50 vendors with booths, including produce, craft items and Mary Kay items, she said. Nonprofit agencies also plan to sponsor booths, including one from an animal rescue organization, she added.

This will be the fourth annual Grinter Fest, Spencer said, and this festival also has roots in the former Applefest held for decades at Grinter House. The apple pie contest is one of the connections to the former festival, she added.

“It’s going to be rain or shine,” Spencer said. Although there is rain in the forecast, there is no rain plan. “We’ll just hope it misses us,” she said. If not, visitors may seek temporary shelter inside the Grinter Barn and other buildings.

Hours of the Grinter Fest are 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

For more information about the apple pie contest, call 816-830-0688.

For more information about Grinter Fest, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/243582792862506/.

The Central Avenue Dotteversity Parade will take place at 11 a.m. Saturday, Sept. 8.

The parade will begin at 11 a.m. at 18th and Central, and ends at the festival, which follows the parade at Bethany Park at 11th and Central.

The 42nd annual parade has added Dotteversity to its name this year to reflect the area’s ethnic diversity, according to Edgar Galicia, executive director of the Central Avenue Betterment Association.

“We are producing rain or shine,” Galicia said. There is a chance of rain in the forecast for Saturday, but he added that he’s praying for good weather.

One of the highlights of the parade will be six high school marching bands performing, he said. They include Washington, Harmon, Sumner Academy, Schlagle and Wyandotte from the Kansas City, Kansas, Public Schools, as well as Center High School from Kansas City, Missouri, which asked to participate.

In addition the Leon Brady Percussion Academy will perform, he added.

Two horse clubs also are entered in the parade, and plan to be at Bethany Park, he said.

Groups from YMCA and Forward Young Professionals will carry giant beach balls and plan to play volleyball along the parade route, he added.

The parade marshal will be Mayor David Alvey, and there will be participation from organizations, not-for-profits, schools and companies, he added.

Juntos Center, from the University of Kansas Medical Center, will do a drive against cancer, and will take blood samples from the community that will help people determine their chances for cancer, he said.

The Dotteversity Festival held after the parade at Bethany Park, 11th and Central, will include food for purchase, entertainment, and many booths with information and items for sale, he said. Many of the vendors plan to have tents at the park, he said.

As the high school bands reach the park, they plan to come together in a joint performance, he said.

At Bethany Park, Coleen Dieker, a musician and a fiddler with an Irish band, is scheduled to perform live music.

There are many sponsors for the parade and Dotteversity Festival this year, including Vibrant Health of Wyandotte County, departments in the Unified Government, Amerigroup, La Mega Spanish radio, Alliance Workforce, CHWC, KC Dental and others.

There are no plans to cancel the parade and festival because of possible rain, but if Bethany Park is saturated with water the festival may not have the horses perform on parks ground to avoid destruction of the grass, and food trucks will park on nearby paved surfaces instead of on the parks ground, he added.

Past years have seen as many as 8,000 persons attending the Central Avenue parade and festival, and this year, he hopes for as many or more, he said.

For more information, visit https://www.facebook.com/events/104729686999134/.