The Wamego Match Day was a great success. We raised just under our goal of $25,000. Thank you to all who contributed! For those who still wish to contribute to Phase Two of our Park development plan our focus has moved to the Emporia Community Foundation Match Day on November 14th. The money we raise will be used for the Park improvements discussed below.
This year we again have a “double match.” An anonymous donor wishes to match all contributions in Memory of Dr. Tom Eddy, professor of biology at Emporia State University and recipient of the 2021 Flint Hills Discovery Center Friend of the Flint Hills Award. Tom was a beloved educator who sang the praises of tallgrass prairie and the Flint Hills for over 50 years including in our Mount Mitchell brochure.
With your help we have transformed a nationally recognized historic site into an educational outdoor museum and natural recreation area enjoyed by visitors from near and far year-round. Our 99-acre landscape restoration project is demonstrating how to convert marginal crop ground into re-created prairie. The Park is being utilized by educators from local school districts and homeschoolers.
The Park and the Mitchell Farmstead are now listed on the National Register of Historic Places as an historic district. The National Park Service has recognized the Park and Farmstead as official Network to Freedom Sites commemorating the Underground Railroad. The Park is also a major feature along the Native Stone Scenic Byway, and it is a Star Attraction of the Freedom’s Frontier National Heritage Area. Recently it was honored to be included in the U.S. Civil Rights Trail as an “auxiliary site” to the Brown v Board of Education National Historic Site. It is also a candidate for inclusion in the Kansas African American History Trail.
Our vision is to become a National Commemorative Site or National Monument dedicated to those who sought their freedom on the Underground Railroad and those who helped them. Our long-range plan calls for acquiring the Mitchell Farmstead and converting the house into a museum, the stone barn into an Educational Center, and the tenant house will be used for a resident Park Manager.
Emporia Match Day is an opportunity to fund Phase Two of our Education Expansion Project. Your donations will be used toward completing the following improvements:
2022-23
- A new Park entrance off the all-weather Mount Mitchell Road which will lead to a new parking area closer to the historic trail ruts and tall grass
- Expansion of our trail system by two and a half miles
- Park Entrance signage and gate
- Perimiter fencing
- Bringing water, power and internet (for security) into the Park
On the horizon
- We will build an accessible trail that leads to the remnants of the historic Topeka Fort Riley Road for those with mobility issues
- An additional interpretive kiosk in the new parking area
- Creation of a “Kansas Prairie Poetry Trail” along the expanded trail system
Checks made out to the Emporia Community Foundation dated November 14, 2022, can now be sent to PO Box 136, Wamego, KS 66547. The attached donation form should accompany your check. Online contributions can be made from 12:00 am through 11:59 pm on Match Day 11/14/2022 at https://www.emporiamatchday.com
On behalf of the Board of the Prairie Guards, I want to thank everyone who has helped us achieve our successes. We hope you continue your support.
The best is yet to come.
Michael Stubbs, Christy Crenshaw, Bruce Waugh, Michelle Crisler,
John Hund, Kathryn Mitchell Buster, Christian Bishop, and Brian Peterson
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