The Women For Kansas convention will be opened Friday night, Aug. 29, in Wichita by approximately 500 women in yellow and green Women-for-Kansas T-shirts marching en masse from the convention hotel to the public rally.
The procession, led by school-aged drummers, will move from the hotel, across the street, and into the park.
The rally will be held at A. Price Woodard Park, on the west side of Century II, across the street from the convention hotel, the Drury Plaza Hotel Broadview, Wichita. The rally starts at 5:30 p.m., and the speakers begin at 5:45. The rally is not limited to registrants of the convention. The public is invited to attend.
The convention itself is open only to those who are registered.
The Cherokee Maidens with local singer, song-writer legend Robin Macy accompanied by Sycamore Swing will perform. Following the musical performance, the speakers will deliver stories that will energize participants to “take back Kansas.”
Speakers at the rally include:
• Vickie Stangl, private citizen from Wichita;
• Stephanie Harsin, educator from Topeka;
• Lindsey Benage, health care access advocate; and
• Anna Jenney, high school student concerned about her state.
There will be food trucks. Attendees should bring lawn chairs or blankets.
The convention is being held by Women for Kansas, a grassroots women’s initiative designed to energize and educate women from across the state and give them the knowledge and tools to go back to their communities to get out the vote for a new Kansas governor, secretary of state and U.S. senator. Thus far more than 500 women from 88 communities will be attending the convention. Workshops, speaker, training sessions, videos and social media will be used.
Sessions at the convention will cover education funding; tax inequities; healthcare funding and privatization; immigration, and the more than 20,000 Kansans whose voting rights are in limbo because of the new state voter registration law.