KSF

INMAN–The 25th annual We Kan! awards were announced May 6, 2017 at the Kansas Sampler Festival in Winfield. The awards are presented by the Kansas Sampler Foundation as appreciation for dedicated work in helping preserve and sustain rural culture.

Foundation director Marci Penner said, “Each year it is our pleasure to recognize ten unsuspecting people who do a great deal to keep our state moving forward.”

The recipients for 2017 are: Rosanna Bauman, Farming the future, Bauman’s Cedar Valley Farms, Garnett; Community of Winfield, Bringing Kansas Together 2016-2017; Kristi Lee, Making things happen, Leavenworth Convention & Visitors Bureau; Chris McCord, Shining light on the underground, Historic Wolf Hotel, Ellinwood; Julie Mulvihill, Connecting Communities, Kansas Humanities Council, Topeka; Jayne Humphrey Pearce, Making Wallace County Historic, Fort Wallace Museum, Wallace; Jacque Pregont, Attentive to Atchison, Atchison Chamber of Commerce; Kathy Richardson, Making Ad Hoc into an art form, Small World Gallery, Lindsborg; Len Schamber, Preserving Kansas, ala Len, Schamber Historic Preservation, Damar; Roxie Yonkey, Complementing Sherman Co., Sherman County Convention & Visitors Bureau, Goodland.

Penner said, “In their own unique way, each of these people has made a difference in rural life and it is our honor to recognize them.”
The awards plates are made by Elk Falls Pottery. To see a list of all We Kan! award winners go to kansassampler.org.