Barn Roof Painting Celebrates Kansas Sesquicentennial
The first sesquicentennial barn logo project was completed on October 18 at Grady and Shannon Martin's Stone Barn Mercantile 1/2 mile north of Dexter of K-15. Augusta artist Kerry Unrein completed the logo with an audience of more than a hundred watching.
Dexter was the final stop for the Kansas Sampler Foundation's final "Bring Your Own Lawn Chair" (B.Y.O.L.C.) event for 2008. The B.Y.O.L.C is designed to help the public understand the issues and opportunities of rural Kansas.
The event took place in collaboration with the Kansas Barn Alliance who is encouraging each county to have a sesquicentennial logo finished by the year 2011 when Kansas will turn 150. A sunflower, the word Kansas, and the years 1861-2011 are required to be part of the logo. The barn owner may add more to the painting if they wish. The Martin's and artist Unrein added the Kansas version of Mount Rushmore by including an outline of Dwight Eisenhower, Amelia Earhart, Bob Dole, and former Governor Robert Docking
's faces. Docking lived and worked many years in nearby Arkansas City. The logo can be seen on the south roof of the Martin's barn.
Kansas Explorers Club members and the public also enjoyed eating at The Gathering Place in Dexter, shopping at Creek Water Wool Works and Henry's Candies, strolling through Helium Park, and driving the country roads to look for stone bridges and see the Flint Hills scenery. The Martin's Stone Barn Mercantile, corn maze, and pumpkin patch were also open. A ribbon cutting and open house took place for four new Log Cabin lodging facilities near the barn.
For information about the B.Y.O.L.C. go to www.kansassampler.org or call 620.585.2374. Photos: Kansas Sampler Foundation
