Queen of the Kansas Cowtowns

Abilene was featured in the latest
edition of True West magazine. 

Click here to read the story!
From September 1-3, 2017, Abilene will celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Chisholm Trail with its acclaimed annual Trails, Rails and Tales celebration. A longhorn herd will be paraded through town, be loaded onto cattle cars on a special excursion of the Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad, and then be on display in Old Abilene Town's corrals. 
Save the Date: Reitz & Rust Vintage Market and Octoberfest

Saturday, September 30 will be a busy day in Abilene! 

Reitz & Rust Vintage Market goers: make plans to spend the weekend in Abilene and attend Octoberfest at Old Abilene Town! 

Enjoy live music, dancing, beer garden, food and family fun!

More information to come... 



2017 Cowtown Classic

Join in the fun! Register for the 2017 Cowtown Classic benefiting Kids in Crisis.

Welcome!

The City of Abilene's Abilene-Omitama Sister City Board invites you to join in receiving and welcoming the  16th Delegation from our Sister City, Omitama Japan.  

Friday, July 28, 2017
6:30 p m
Abilene Community Center

Fried chicken & potluck sides
Drinks and tableware provided.

History

The Sister City relationship developed from Japanese interns coming to the Harold Scanlan dairy farm. In 1984 an agreement to form a Sister City relationship between Abilene and Minori, Japan was signed. Since that time adult and student delegations have made annual visits to the each other's towns.

The Sister City Committee identified student exchanges/youth friendships, daily life experience and cultural experience as the main emphasis of the program. 

2017 Central Kansas Free Fair Schedule 

Visit Abilene, Kansas the first week of August to attend the Central Kansas Free Fair and Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo.

Named one of the "Top 5 Medium Sized Rodeos" by PRCA, the Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo was featured in MidwestLiving's event guide.

Tickets on sale at the Abilene CVB office.

 2017 FAIR GUIDE


National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo



Click here to learn more about the National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo.

"Wild Steer" CASI Chili Cook-Off

Chili Cook-Off Returns to Abilene

Make plans to enter the "Wild Steer" CASI Chili Cook-Off in Abilene on August 5, 2017 at the Eisenhower Presidential Library. 

The Cook-Off is the Kansas State Championship and automatically qualifies the winner to participate in the Terlingua International Championship Chili Cook-Off. 


Abilene in the News:
Click image to view video


 

Get the scoop about Abilene's Chisholm Trail Sesquicentennial celebration: Trails, Rails and Tales with Dennis Weese, Eagle Communications, and Michael Hook, Dickinson County Heritage Center.


 

The Salina Journal, 
August 20, 1953
Throwback Thursday

Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo

Abilene's Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo started in 1945 - more than 70 years ago! 

In 1952, prizes totaled $2,500. Today, the payout is more than $70,000!


Trip Advisor

Have you visited an Abilene business or attraction? Make sure to share your experience by leaving reviews.
Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad

Train Schedule

The Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad diesel engine runs Wednesday-Saturday at 10:00 and 2:00 and Sunday at 2:00 with a stop in Enterprise at the Hoffman Grist Mill. 
  • Contact Phone: (785) 263-1077
  • Address: 200 SE Fifth Street 
  • Admission: $15 (adults), $7.50 (children ages 3-11) and free (children 2 and younger)
  • Note: Make sure to visit the newly opened Fred Schmidt Railroad Museum inside of former freight room in the depot!
Photo courtesy of Travel with Sara
Dickinson County Heritage Center 

Bloggers Visit Heritage Center

The Dickinson County Heritage Center is great, but you don't have to take our word for it. Check out this blog post from Sara Broers from  Travel with Sara. Sara visited Abilene last week with the Midwest Travel Bloggers. 
Great Plains Theatre

 "HICKOK" TO SHOW AT GPT

Great Plains Theatre will show the recently released "Hickok" movie starting Friday, July 21. 

Moreover, $1 for every ticket sold will be donated to Abilene's Trails, Rails & Tales 150th Anniversary of the Chisholm Trail celebration. 

Showtimes:
  • Friday, July 21 - 7:00 p.m.
  • Saturday, July 22 - 2:00 & 7:00 p.m.
  • Sunday, July 23 - 7:00 p.m.
  • Monday, July 24 - 7:00 p.m.
  • Tuesday, July 25 - 7:00 p.m.
This is one of your only chances to see Hickok on the big screen.
---------------------
The movie review in the  The Salina Journal includes some of the historical facts that were included in the movie:

The setting was in Abilene, Kansas, where today a mural of the famous marshal is located at 203 North Buckeye, not far from where Hickok killed Phil Coe and his friend near the Alamo Saloon believed to have been located along Cedar Street south of Texas Street.

Coe (played in this movie by singer Trace Adkins as Phil Poe) did own the Bull's Head Saloon as portrayed in the movie.

Hickok was also reported to be a spy during the war. He became marshal after the death of Marshal Tom Smith, who first initiated the "no gun" rule.

Hickok did become associated with outlaw John Wesley Hardin, who was 18 years of age at the time and much younger than the 34-year-old Hickok.



Greyhound Hall of Fame

Four Selected for 2017 Hall of Fame Induction

Three great  greyhounds and a racing legend have been tabbed for induction into the  Greyhound  Hall of  Fame this coming fall.  Izz A Champ, Wayside Carol, Dodgem By Design and Jack Kahn will be inducted in ceremonies this October at the Hall in Abilene, KS.

Jack Kahn was born in New Rochelle, NY in 1909. He graduated from Cornell University in 1931 and then went to work for his father importing silk from the Far East. He married his wife, Louise in 1935. He moved around a bit before finally settling in Florida. Along the way in his career Jack got into manufacturing, television, hotels and more, before getting into the  greyhound business in the early sixties. Through a couple of other  greyhound enthusiasts and track owner Jerry Collins, Jack was introduced to Ed Moses. This pair would enjoy a long, successful relationship and end up producing some of the best  greyhounds of the era.

Behind the Moses breeding and bloodlines Jack had such stars as K's Clown, K's Viking, K's Broadway, K's Clever, K's Moonglo, K's Chestnut, the immortal K's Flak and many, many more. Jack would travel his charges for match races and special events anywhere and everywhere. His kennels won many championships and his list of All American, Rural Rube and Flashy Sir winners is as impressive as there is.
His great racer, K's Flak produced some future great studs including, Wincarnis, BJ's Justin, Mi Designer, Greys Statesman and more. The bloodlines of these studs and many of Jack's females carry on through today's breedings.

Owned by Dorothy Roban,  Izz A Champ (Tell Tom-Miss Ismay) was a true sprint superstar. In 1970 he compiled a 33-27-4-2 record while racing at Palm Beach, Daytona and Sanford-Orlando. He won both the Palm Beach and Daytona Inaugurals and was undefeated at both Daytona and Sanford. He was the track win leader at Palm Beach with 21 victories. He won the Inter-City match race series between Palm Beach and Sanford and was an All American for that year.

In 1971 at Palm Beach he had 29 starts with 27 wins and 2 seconds, including a streak of 21 straight wins. He, once again, was the track win champ and repeated his win in the Sanford match race series. The fear of minus pools led Daytona Beach Kennel Club management to decide to pay the owners of Izz A Champ a Grade A purse 30 times not to race! Champ broke the track record at Palm Beach four times during the 1970-71 racing season and broke the 30 second barrier nine times in that same period (something that was very uncommon at the time). For all of this he was named Captain of the 1971 All American team and was awarded the first ever Rural Rube award from the NGA.

In 1971 and 1972,  Wayside Carol was one of the nation's premier distance dogs. A red Brindle daughter out of Rinaker-Lady Eve she was whelped in December of 1968 and was owned by the Wayside Kennel. Over the two year period she accomplished the following:

1971 Hollywood Derby winner
1971 Hollywood Endurance Champion
1971 Track Champion - Hollywood
1971 Finalist - Flagler International
1972 Hollywood Derby winner
1972 Hollywood Endurance Champion
1972 Track Champion - Hollywood
1972 Finalist Flagler International

The 71 Flagler race included the likes of Carry On, Lorded, Target, Madison Joker and Carol's littermate, Wayside Frosty (Lorded was the winner). The 72 version was won by Carbono and included Gurley, Rough Black Handle and a dog you may have heard of named Big Whizzer, proving she raced against some of the very best! She was an All American in both 71 and 72 and was the NGA's first ever Flashy Sir award winner in 1971.

The final  inductee in this year's class is  Dodgem By Design. The Charter Kennel star was bred by Rod and Sue Boatright. He was whelped on January 15, 2000 and is out of  Hall of  Famer, Gable Dodge by Cruzin By Design. While most will remember Dodgem for his brilliant stud career, he did have a fine, albeit short, racing career.

He began running at Tampa in July of 2001 and won Grade A in just his 7th start. He finished the year at 25-11-3-2-2 despite missing over a month due to injury. He moved on to Derby Lane where he made the finals of the All Star Kennel preview and won the Derby Lane Sprint over the likes of Courageous Nicky, Tahitian, Fuzzy's Geronimo, Talentedmrripley and Kiowa Sweet Trey. A few weeks later he captured the Matinee Idol Stakes over Stan's Boy Flyer, Courageous Nicky, Scatilac Navajo and Talentedmrripley. He ran 4th in the T.L. Weaver Memorial to cap off the Derby Lane meet going 26-9-6-4-3.

He returned to Tampa and finished a disappointing 6th as the second favorite after being blocked in the Tamps Sprint Championship. The Winner was another All American, Ben Awhile. He finished at Tampa with a 17-8-3-0-1 record and moved on to the Woodlands to compete in the Kansas Bred Sprint finishing 6th in the finals during a troubled trip. He finished his career at Derby Lane winning several more races before being retired sound in May of 2003 with a career record of 84-32-13-8-9.

As a sire, Dodgem topped the sire standings for three years in a row from 2009 through 2011. He still remains in the top 50 sires in 2017 and has sired more than 12,000 offspring including stake winners and All Americans such as Ten For Tee, CT Buck Wild, Hi  Noon Renegade, WW's Dog Gone, Aerial Battle, PG Tiger, Yahoo Radar, BD's Grayson and Optimus Prime.

A well deserving group for sure. Be sure to attend the ceremonies on  October 12 and welcome these four greats to the  Hall of  Fame!
Old Abilene Town

Gunfight Performances


Visit Old Abilene Town on Saturdays at noon, 1:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. and Sundays at 1:30 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. to enjoy their famous gunfight performances. 

In addition, the Alamo Saloon is open Saturdays from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. and Sundays from noon to 4:00 p.m.
Calendar of Events

DATE
EVENT
LOCATION
7/17/2017
Miller Nichols Charitable Foundation Speaker Series with Bob Wallace; light lunch provided
Eisenhower Visitors Center
July 17-21
Primary Teaching Summer Institute: "U-2 Spy Plane Crisis and its Impact on US-USSR Relations"
Eisenhower Library
7/22/2017
National Day of the Cowboy
Heritage Center
July 22 & 23
ASVRR Steam Engine Rides
Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad
7/23/2017
Cowtown Classic Bike Ride
Downtown Abilene
7/22/2017
ASVRR Silver Flyer Railbus
Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad
7/29/2017
Eisenhower Foundation Bridge Benefit
Eisenhower Library & Museum
Aug 2-7
Central Kansas Free Fair
Dickinson County Fairgrounds
Aug 2-6
Wild Bill Hickok Rodeo
Dickinson County Fairgrounds
8/2/2017 National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo preview Holm Auto
8/3/2017
Central Kansas Free Fair Parade
Downtown Abilene
8/4/2017
Miller Nichols Charitable Foundation Speaker Series - John Robert Greene - I Like Ike - The Presidential Election of 1952, light lunch provided
Eisenhower Visitors Center
Aug 4-5
National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo
Shockey-Landes Building
Aug. 5-6
Citywide Sidewalk Sale
 
8/5/2017
Vintage Base Ball Game
Eisenhower Campus Grounds
8/5/2017
"Wild Steer" CASI Chili Cook-Off
Eisenhower Campus Grounds
Aug 4-5
National Cowboy Poetry Rodeo
Shockey-Landes Building
   
Stay in Abilene

Abilene Lodging Establishments

Abilene  is home to more than 200 rooms. Whether you're in town to visit the Eisenhower Presidential Library & Museum, enjoy a show at the Great Plains Theatre, attend the Central Kansas Free Fair, meet with greyhound industry leaders or take a ride on the  Abilene  & Smoky Valley Railroad, we invite you to extend your visit, spend the night and enjoy all  Abilene  has to offer.
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