By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Ellinwood is fond of its German heritage and many traditions, but many new things are also happening in the community. That's why "Honoring our Past, Building our Future" was selected as the theme for this year's After Harvest Festival Parade. AHF Chairperson Nancy Baird said its important to celebrate both the old and the new.
"Small communities, some of them are struggling," she said. "They don't have new things to talk about. Here in 2024, when we were throwing themes together, there's a lot of new that's happening within our community and it's a great thing that we're growing. We wanted to make sure we focused on that."
Plenty of big things have happened in Ellinwood recently with the new hospital opening soon, and 10-39 Cafe opening in May. A new housing development will soon be on the way, and sidewalk work will help revitalize downtown Ellinwood in the coming months. Ellinwood Rotary Club has highlighted similar important community events with its parade, one of the largest in the area.
"The Rotary Club, for years, has, as a service project for our community, really taken that on," Baird said. "They are the ones that do the parade lineup. They're the ones that create the registration form. We facilitate it and we help promote it, but it's a huge blessing that they just make that all come together."
Ellinwood Rotary selected former mayor Frank Koelsch as this year's grand marshal, and the Ellinwood Chamber picked Mel Waite as the 2024 Distinguished Citizen of the Year. Both will be honored in the parade.
Float entries for this year's parade need to be registered by July 12. CLICK HERE to access the online registration form.