Where is the Abilene CVB Staff?

This is a busy time of year for the Abilene CVB staff. With a conference recruitment trip, booth at Trails, Rails and Tales, as well as a booth at the 2017 Kansas State Fair, we're actively promoting and sharing Abilene. 

Find us this weekend at the Fall Apple Day Festival at Fort Riley. (Special thanks to Allison Blake, Abilene Area Chamber of Commerce and the staff at the Greyhound Hall of Fame Museum for agreeing to join us!)

Then, find us Saturday, September 30 at the fall Reitz & Rust Vintage Market to shop for great Abilene merchandise and learn more about what our community has to offer.

Through all of this interaction, we consistently hear positive reviews about Abilene and its businesses and attractions. I wish I could bottle up all of the positivity and share it with everyone in our community. From residents and front line staff, board members, volunteers and business owners, you have so many reasons to be proud. Thank you for all YOU do to make Abilene a great community not only to visit, but also to live.

Julie Roller, Abilene CVB Director

#AbileneProud 

Eisenhower Presidential Museum Featured on Travel Channel's "Mysteries at the Museum

In case you missed it last week, the Eisenhower Presidential Museum was featured on an episode of "Mysteries at the Museum". The episode will show again on Thursday, September 21 at 6:00 CST on the Travel Channel. 


Smithsonian Magazine Museum Day Live!
When  was the last time you visited the  Eisenhower Presidential Library and Museum ? Click here to learn how you can receive free admission for two people!


The 10 Best Cake Shops in Kansas

Visitors to Abilene will find a great selection of specialty drinks, sandwiches and treats at this bakery. Guess which Abilene business made this top 10 list !



2017 Trails, Rails & Tales Longhorn Parade

Photo courtesy of the Jeffcoat Photography Studio Museum
Throwback Thursday

Visitors to Abilene's Chisholm Trail Sesquicentennial Celebration watched the longhorn parade on Cedar Street. Enjoy this throwback photo from more than seventy years ago to the 1940s when this was the corner of N.W. 2nd and Cedar Streets. 












Trip Advisor - Seelye Mansion

Have you visited an Abilene business or attraction? Make sure to share your experience by leaving reviews.
Eisenhower Presidential Library, Museum & Boyhood Home

Three Ways the Old West Influenced Dwight Eisenhower
September 21 | Visitors Center Auditorium
 
Tim Rives will discuss "Three Ways the Old West Influenced Dwight
Eisenhower" during the  next Miller Nichols Charitable Foundation Lunch and Learn program. A light lunch will be provided during the free program in the Visitors Center Auditorium at noon on Thursday, Sept. 21.

Rives is the deputy director and supervisory archivist at the Eisenhower Presidential Library. His research indicates Abilene's cowtown history continued to influence Dwight Eisenhower years after he left his boyhood home. The experience shaped his taste in popular literature, gave him a code of honor, and formed his ideas on the role of government in American life.

Program attendees are also encouraged to visit the museum to see the "Chisholm Trail and the Cowtown that Raised a President" temporary exhibit. The exhibit was designed in-house to celebrate the Chisholm Trail 150th anniversary and will remain on display through spring 2018

Cokie Roberts will moderate a discussion with directors Ken Burns and Lynn Novick about their PBS documentary series, The Vietnam War PBS, in conjunction with the November 10 opening of the US National Archives exhibit, Remembering Vietnam. 

Presented in part by the National Archives Foundation through the generous support of L3 Technologies.


The Chisholm Trail: Driving the American West
August 24 - October 12 | Library Lobby

This traveling exhibit, a collaboration between Symphony in the Flint Hills and Flint Hills Design in partnership with Lost Trail Soda, invites visitors of all ages to explore the Chisholm Trail from its inception in the 1860s to today. The Chisholm Trail revitalized the cattle industry following the Civil War, and gave rise to the iconic American cowboy. Exhibit highlights include an interactive musical exploration of the scores of verses to the cowboy song, "The Old Chisholm Trail," video and audio clips of movies and songs that reference the Chisholm Trail. Younger visitors can create their own brands with the "Brand Your Beeves" interactive station.

Chisholm Trail and the Cowtown that Raised a President
Exhibit in the Museum Temporary Gallery until May 2018

Celebrate the 150th anniversary of the Chisholm Trail, which brought nearly two million cattle from Texas to the railhead in Abilene, Kansas, between 1867 and 1871. See rare artifacts and historic photographs. Learn about the square meal, the real McCoy, origins of the cowboy boot, and "the wickedest town in the West." Discover stories behind the legends of T.C. McInerney, Bear River Smith, and Wild Bill Hickok among others. Find out why Dwight Eisenhower developed a love for all things western in the Cowtown that raised a President!

Eisenhower and the Great War
Exhibit in the Upstairs Library Gallery until May 2018

War erupted in Europe in 1914 and soon involved nations around the globe. The Great War, as it became known, shocked the world with its massive scope and the industrial-like slaughter created by advances in military technology. The United States reluctantly joined the conflict in 1917 and began to build a large professional army from the ground up. One of the young officers who helped in this endeavor was a lieutenant by the name of Dwight Eisenhower. Eisenhower showed remarkable talent for organization and leadership during the years of American involvement in the war. Tasked with training thousands of inexperienced troops in the new and untested art of armored warfare, Eisenhower quickly built a strong and motivated group of soldiers while overcoming severe obstacles and setbacks. This exhibit tells the story of the Great War and its influence on Eisenhower's leadership abilities. World War I, as it would become known later in the century, proved critical to the making of this American Icon.

Great Plains Theatre 

Hillbilly Hotspot - BDS Productions 

Sept 21, 7:00pm   
Sept 22, 7:00pm   
Sept 23, 7:00pm  
Sept 24, 2:00pm
 

Hillbilly Hotspot

Park your camper, spread out the fake grass, and make sure to get your tickets to Hillbilly Hotspot! Featuring a rowdy group of downhome Hillbillies and the original music of singer/songwriter Darlene Austin, Hillbilly Hotspot will be sure to entertain.

Written and produced by Doug Thompson, owner of the Kansas Auto Racing Museum in Chapman, Kansas, Hillbilly Hotspot will run  September 15th through the 24th and focuses upon the various members of the Howdy family, with a couple of hillbilly cousins thrown in for good measure.

There is a slew of original music by Kansas native Darlene Austin, who grew up in Vine Creek Kansas, which is sure to have toes tapping in the audience. The audience in Thompson's production function as a group of campers who have found themselves spending an evening at the Hillbilly Hotspot campground, at the base of Hillbilly Hill.

Each performance will feature a special guest spot of musical entertainment, with special guests including: The Talmage Quartet, 50 Years Late with Vince Stephens, Braiden Sunshine of The Voice, and Darlene Austin herself!

Hurry and get your tickets today, they're going faster than green grass through a goose! You can call Great Plains Theatre at 785-263-4574, go online to  greatplainstheatre.com, or stop by the box office at 401 Cottage Avenue.

You won't want to miss the knee-slapping, side-splitting, lovable hillbillies of Hillbilly Hotspot.


Reitz & Rust Vintage Market and Old Abilene Town Oktoberfest

Visit Abilene, Kansas for the 4th Annual Reitz & Rust Fall & Holiday  Market!

Saturday, September 30 

Enjoy, shopping, live music, food trucks and more!

Stay after the Market to attend Old Abilene Town's Oktoberfest celebration complete with food vendors, music and beer garden.



Calendar of Events

DATE
EVENT
LOCATION
DETAILS
Sept. 15-24, 2017 Hillbilly Hotspot Great Plains Theatre 7:30 p.m.
9/23/17 ASVRR Silver Flyer Railbus Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad 10:00 a.m.
9/30/17 Reitz & Rust Fall & Holiday Vintage Market & Vintage Camper Show Central Kansas Free Fair fairgrounds 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
9/30/17 Oktoberfest Old Abilene Town 4 p.m. - Close
Concert @ 8:00 p.m.
10/7/2017 Impact the Cure Downtown Abilene 7:00 a.m.
10/7/2017 Chisholm Trail Day Dickinson County Heritage Center All day
10/7/2017 Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad Steam Engine Rides (short runs, half price) Abilene & Smoky Valley Railroad 10:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
10/7/2017 Bonebrake Concert Series "Ann Zimmerman" Great Plains Theatre 7:00 p.m.
   
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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