Last week, I attended a standing-room-only meeting to hear more about the 2024 Big Kansas Road Trip.

I confess, before Ellsworth County was announced as a destination, I’d never heard of the event. I was, however, familiar with its predecessor, the Kansas Sampler Festival. I attended the festival in my first year as a newspaper photojournalist in Independence, Kan., where I held my first fulltime job in journalism.

While I wasn’t born in Kansas, I have no childhood memories of Washington state (where I was born) and very few recollections few of Texas (where I spent my early years).

For all intents and purposes, I consider myself a Kansas girl.

The Sampler Festival was a fun, energetic expression of all things Kansas, and I was tasked with photographing it.

These memories, coupled with curiosity about what’s ahead, is how I came to be at the Aug. 8 meeting. Plus, I am fond of Marci Penner, codirector of the Kansas Sampler Foundation.

The room was brimming with enthusiasm and ideas.

The event, which is May 2-5, 2024, in Ellsworth and Lincoln counties, as well as Lucas, is going to be fun. It’s an opportunity for us to roll out the welcome mat to Kansas enthusiasts from around the state and even beyond our own borders!

Being chosen as one of two host counties is an honor, and I know our community is up to the task. It will also entail tons of work. We will want to “gussy up” our county so we can put our best foot forward for the myriad of visitors who will attend. We have ample time to make improvements to our communities, as well as plan fun events to showcase what’s special about our little corner of Kansas.

As Penner told the assembled group, this is our opportunity to show people who live in larger communities what’s special about our small towns and more importantly, WHY we love living in these communities.

Visitors will experience our county by simply enjoying what we already have. The goal is for local businesses and attractions to throw open their doors and showcase the treasures in our communities.

The BKRT will always be promoted as an event in a cluster of locations, so it really takes the pressure off of throwing one big event ... rather, we have the opportunity to sample many slices of our community.

Heck, it is even an opportunity for us to go visit sites or locations within our own county that maybe we have always intended to go to/ visit, but have never been.

While this is exciting, it will also entail a tremendous amount of work and many volunteers. There are opportunities — both big and small — to volunteer.

Information will continue to roll out as it’s available, and you can always sign up to get email updates (or even to volunteer) at the Grow Ellsworth County website, www.growellsworthcounty. com/bkrt.

Bonar is the editor/publisher of the I-R and can be reached at kbonar@indyrepnews. com.