Halfway to Everywhere festival organizer Hank Osterhout has been raising money for various ventures for years, but he never received a ceremonial check for his efforts — until Thursday.
Representatives of Kansas Tourism stopped by the H2E Inc headquarters in downtown Emporia to give Osterhout $5,000. Osterhout tells KVOE News the ceremonial check presentation was a big deal to him.
The grant was announced earlier this week and is officially for marketing, specifically to bring out-of-state and regional tourists to Kansas — but also to enhance the state’s overall image.
Osterhout’s plan is to use the grant funds and $5,000 already in the H2E Inc budget for advertising in several media.
This comes as the annual Halfway to Everywhere Music and Arts Festival revs up. The preview party and opening concert featuring Patti Steel and Daydream is at 7 pm Friday at the Emporia Granada Theatre. The festival officially goes from 2 pm-midnight Saturday in downtown Emporia, featuring nearly 30 musicians and groups on five stages. Also, the annual Art Market will be in the Farmers Market parking lot at Seventh and Merchant and the first-ever No Coast Film Festival music video event will be at 627 Event Space.
KVOE will broadcast from Halfway to Everywhere from 1:30-4:30 pm Saturday.
