KANSAS WALK OF FAME ADDS KANSAN STAR POWER TO
OLD TOWN SQUARE IN TIME FOR THE HOLIDAY SEASON
New Public Display Celebrates Kansas’s Historic Heritage
WICHITA, Kan. – November 29, 2007 – As downtown bustles with the holiday season and locals and tourists alike flock to shopping, dining and entertainment, the latest draw to Old Town will make its debut on Friday, November 30, 2007 as Associated Advertising and Dave Burk of Marketplace Properties, LLC unveil the Kansas Walk of Fame.
 The first-of-its-kind exhibit features 13 influential Kansans on public display in the ground floor windows of Associated’s Old Town Square office. The display is just off the square, adjacent to oeno, a wine and cocktail bar and facing Café Moderne, an Internet café specializing in gelato, coffee and mixed drinks and food, Bedazzled, a glass and jewelry design studio and shop, Beach Babies Tanning, a tanning salon and Andy’s Woods by Design and the Old Town General Store, a boutique specializing in wood treasures, retro and nostalgic gifts and Kansas souvenirs, and Rock, Paper, Scissors, a card and gift shop. The Kansas Walk of Fame serves to celebrate the lives of Kansans who have left an indelible mark on our state, our nation and our world.
“The Kansas Walk of Fame is all about people, the things they do and their impact,” said Mike Synder, Chief Executive Officer of Associated Advertising. “Our hope is that, whether visitors know each inductee or have never heard of them before, we can build an appreciation for the great opportunity we all have to make a difference and the impact Kansans have had far beyond our borders.”
For its inaugural class of the Walk of Fame, Associated’s staff nominated about 40 individuals that may not have lived their entire lives in Kansas but whose impact on the world is tied to their time here in Kansas. The list was debated and voted on internally to select the inaugural inductees that will debut on the Walk of Fame on Friday. 2007 inductees include: President Dwight D. Eisenhower, inventors and innovators Walter Beech, Jack St. Clair Kilby, James Naismith and Clyde Tombaugh, artists Blackbear Bosin, Hattie McDaniel and Gordon Parks, pilot Amelia Earhart, American West heros Wyatt Earp, Wild Bill Hickok and Bat Masterson.
The Kansas Walk of Fame is the latest addition to a rejuvenated Downtown Wichita that has grown far beyond the commerce-center it once was. According to the Downtown Wichita Development Corporation, there are 1,400 businesses operating in downtown Wichita including almost 50 restaurants, 40 specialty shops, 20 art galleries and museums and ten theaters. These eateries, galleries and shops provide hundreds of things for the business employees, city residents and tourists to do during the day, in the evenings and throughout the weekend.
 “There are lots of exciting things happening downtown these days,” said Ann Keefer, Vice President of Marketing and Public Relations for the Downtown Wichita Development Corporation. “This display, honoring some of the great Kansans of all time, is the latest attraction that will draw interest and business to Wichita and we’re excited about Associated’s long term goals for the Walk of Fame.”
Associated Advertising will invite the community to nominate outstanding Kansans for consideration for the inductee class of 2008 next October and will announce additional inductees to the Walk of Fame in December 2008. The agency hopes involvement in the Walk of Fame nomination process will grow and people will visit the gallery to celebrate Kansas’ impact on the world. As each new class of inductees is announced and put on display in the office windows, Associated hopes to partner with other organizations to dedicate stars on the sidewalks surrounding Old Town Square for previous honorees.
ABOUT THE WALK OF FAME – Founded by Associated Advertising and on public display in Wichita’s Old Town Square, the Kansas Walk of Fame honors and celebrates the lives of Kansans who have left an indelible mark on our state, our nation and our world. In their lifetimes, the inaugural class of the Kansas Walk of Fame blazed new paths, illuminated the unknown and changed the way we see and experience the world around us. Each honoree, as future inductees will be, are the stuff of legend, or the person next door. Whether familiar with each inductee or just discovering the amazing historical heritage Kansas has to offer, the Kansas Walk of Fame’s 2007 class honorees are all worthy of discovery and celebration.
ABOUT ASSOCIATED – Associated is one of Kansas’ leading marketing, public relations and advertising agencies. Our professionals create great work delivered with a strong dose of heartland values and service. We believe that building brands takes hard work, creativity, trusted client relationships and the courage to stand for something. More, we understand the balance of great execution, budgets and results.
At Associated, we strive to be UNEXPECTED in our ideas, UNCOMPLICATED in our service, and UNTETHERED in our approach to strategy and execution.
Visit us on the Web at www.meetassociated.com.
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2007 KANSAS WALK OF FAME INDUCTEES
Walter Beech (1891 – 1950): Walter Herschel Beech loved aviation and all things mechanical from a young age, two passions that served him well. After buying, repairing and learning to fly on his first plane at the age of 23, Beech joined the U.S. Army for World War I, first overseeing airplane repairs and then as an enlisted airman. After partnering with Clyde Cessna on the Travel Air Manufacturing Company, Beech and his wife, Olive Ann, joined Ted Wells in 1932 to found Beech Aircraft in Wichita. The Beech company went on to produce more than 7,000 airplanes for the Allied forces in World War I and to set the standard for business aircrafts with his Models 17R, 18 and all-metal Model 35 airplanes.
Blackbear Bosin (1921 – 1980): Comanche-Kiowa Artist and Painter Bosin moved to Wichita following his service in the U.S. Marine Corps in World War II and first won acclaim when National Geographic published his “Prairie Fire” painting in 1955. Having worked with a variety of media, Bosin, best known for his distinctive take on traditional Indian painting techniques, has contributed a number of important works to the local art landscape in Wichita, most notably the 44-foot tall “Keeper of the Plains” steel structure on the Arkansas River and the “From Whence All Life” mural.
Amelia Earhart (1897 – 1939): A noted American aviation pioneer, author and woman’s rights advocate, Earhart was born in Atchison, Kansas. Earhart set aviation records, won numerous awards and helped form the Ninety-Nines, an organization for female pilots before crossing the Atlantic by plane twice (first accompanied by a man and later, more famously, alone). Earhart disappeared over the Central Pacific Ocean while attempting to circumvent the globe by plane.
Wyatt Earp (1848 – 1929): While perhaps best known for his role at the Gunfight at OK Corral, Wyatt Berry Stapp Earp served as a lawman in early Wichita and Dodge City, Kansas before moving to Tombstone, Arizona.
Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890 – 1969): Our 34th President, “Ike”, as he commonly known, grew up in and is buried in Abilene, Kansas. General Eisenhower attended West Point, oversaw the “D-Day” Normandy Invasion, served as Supreme Commander of Allied Forces through the conclusion of World War II and led the then newly-formed NATO forces before returning home to serve two terms as President of the United States.
Wild Bill Hickok (1837 – 1876): James Butler Hickok’s service in the Union Army during the Civil War as well as his prowess as a lawman, scout, gunman and gambler all grew his legend during his adult life first in Kansas and later in Nebraska and South Dakota.
Jack St. Clair Kilby (1923 – 2005): Born in Great Bend, Kansas, Kilby, while working for Texas Instruments, invented the handheld calculator, the thermal printer and, in 1958, the microchip – the basis for the microelectronics era that has given us many of the electronic conveniences we take for granted today. Capping off a long and legendary career as an inventor and innovator, Kilby won the Nobel Prize in Physics in 2000 for his role in the invention of the integrated circuit.
Bat Masterson (1853 – 1921): William Barclay “Bat” Masterson was a buffalo hunter, U.S. Army scout, fisherman, gambler, lawman, U.S. Marshal, sports editor and newspaper columnist. While in Kansas, Masterson served with his brothers and Wyatt Earp in the Dodge City sheriff’s department. Masterson ultimately settled and died in New York City, where he served as a sports editor and columnist for the New York Morning Telegraph.
Hattie McDaniel (1895 – 1952): Born in Wichita, Kansas, McDaniel was a professional singer-songwriter, comedienne, stage actress, radio performer, TV actress and film star who appeared in 300 films (only 80 credited appearances because of the era in which she worked). McDaniel was the first African-American to sign on Network radio in the United States and the first Black performer to win an Academy Award for her role as Mammy in Gone with the Wind (1939).
James Naismith (1861 – 1939): Regarded as the inventor of Basketball, Naismith was the first coach of the University of Kansas Jayhawks. Despite being the only coach in the school’s history to hold a losing record for his tenure as coach (Naismith ended his career with a 55-60), Naismith’s knowledge of the game is credited for giving them the foundation for what is today one of the most successful men’s basketball teams in the history of college athletics.
Gordon Parks (1912 – 2006): Gordon Roger Alexander Buchannan Parks was a noted photographer, musician, poet, novelist, journalist, activist and film director. Born in then-segregated Fort Scott, Kansas, Parks, through his mother’s insistence, never saw his skin color as a limitation. Instead, he used the challenge of the times to work harder. Parks went on to be the first African-American to work at Life magazine and he was the first African-American to write, direct and score a Hollywood film (1971’s Shaft).
Clyde Tombaugh (1906 – 1997): Tombaugh, raised in Burdett, Kansas, discovered the dwarf planet Pluto in 1930. Tombaugh, who built his first telescope as a child, sent drawings of his observations of Jupiter and Mars to the Lowell Observatory in Arizona which led to a job offer. Tombaugh, who studied at the University of Kansas, also discovered 14 asteroids in his career which he named after his wife, children and grand children. |
