Kansas Sampler group to visit Holton
Rural leaders from throughout Kansas are set to visit Holton on Wednesday as part of retreat hosted by the Kansas Sampler Foundation of Inman, it has been reported.
Marci Penner, director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation, and area business owners and community members have been preparing for the visit, which will include 25 to 30 rural leaders.
The Retreat for Rural Leaders, which is a 40-hour event, begins on Tuesday at The Barn Bed and Breakfast Inn near Valley Falls, and a field trip to Holton is planned for Wednesday.
Penner said this is the 24th annual retreat, which allows leaders to brainstorm new ideas to promote Kansas.
“The purpose of the retreat is to provide community leaders and rural advocates a positive environment of support, idea-sharing, solution-making and networking in order to re-energize for the work back home and the year ahead,” Penner said.
The Kansas Sampler Foundation hosts an annual Kansas Sampler Festival each year, and Penner has announced that the festival planned for 2017 in Winfield will be the last. Ways to continue to promote Kansas to Kansans will also be one of the topics at the retreat, she said.
During the field trip to Holton, rural leaders will first stop at Holton Livestock Exchange, Inc. Participants will then be divided into groups of three to “bid” to explore several businesses in Holton, including the Jackson County Courthouse, the Town Square, Rafter’s Park, the Jackson County Museum, Roebke House, a loft owned by Dennis and Joni White, expressions flowers and gifts and doll museum, Quilting On The Square, Koger Variety, Hotel Josephine, Lee’s Flower and Gifts, The Holton Recorder, Kellerman Real Estate and Insurance, 5th Street Sandwich Shoppe, Linscott Park, More Than Lemons, The Gossip and the new Prairie View senior living apartments.
At 4:30 p.m., the group is expected to visit the Netawaka Fitness Center and then return to Holton for dinner at Off the Square Grill. At 6:45 p.m., the group will end their Holton area tour at Banner Creek Science Center and Observatory.
“We’ve been to Holton numerous times in the past 24 years, but this year we wanted to go to one town that could offer a good number of places to explore, and Holton is rich in that regard,” Penner said.
