November will be Explore Great Bend month again and participating retailers will be ready to host a different event each Saturday of the month, Great Bend Community Coordinator Christina Hayes told the City Council Monday night.
In her report to the council, she outlined the various activities:
Saturday, Nov. 7 – Open houses. See new fall or holiday products and services. Take this opportunity to see what features and products stores have this holiday season for gift-giving needs. Don’t forget the Stache Dash that morning.
Saturday, Nov. 14 – Caught Ya Exploring Day. The goal of today is to get out and explore Great Bend. Around participating stores organizers will be rewarding those out enjoying the events.
Saturday, Nov. 21 – Find the Hidden Turkey Day. Find the hidden turkeys in participating businesses get a special or discount. This is a great activity for the whole family.
Friday, Nov. 27 – Black Friday. Door-buster deals, specials, bargains.
Saturday, Nov. 28 – Small Business Saturday. Cookie contest and Home for the Holidays Parade. The $1,000 giveaway will be after the parade that starts at 5:30 p.m. downtown. There will also be a $750 second-place prize, a $500 third-place prize and a $250 fourth-place prize.
Speaking of the holidays, Hayes said there are other things happening as well, The Holiday Event Brochure for November and December will be released Nov. 1. Christina will be sure to get one to each of And, since the holiday season is coming up, she is starting to look for Trail of Lights Greeters for the Brit Spaugh Park entrance. She is gathering goodie bag items to give away to those that drive through.
The Explore Great Bend update was also part of City Administrator Howard Partington’s departmental update he presented Monday night. Other highlights included:
Police
• On Sept. 22, the Department’s Special Service Team trained.
• The Police Department (and other agencies in Barton County) switched over to the new dispatch and records management system on Sept. 30. “It’s obviously a little frustrating to learn a new system, but many of the officers have mentioned how much they like the ability to access the call information in the patrol vehicles,” Partington said.
• On Oct. 2, the department helped with traffic control for the homecoming parade. Later that night, officers participated in a grant funded program to help combat underage drinking.
• Chief Couch attended the Kansas Association of Chiefs of Police Conference from Oct 7-9, and the Kansas League of Municipalities Conference from Oct. 11-12.
• Officer Ryan Taylor (the newest officer) will graduate the academy this upcoming Friday (Oct. 23) in Hutchinson.
Public Works
• Helped with abatement at Fifth and Plum and 100 block of Maple.
• Assisted Wheatland Electric with traffic control on 10th Street when they replaced damaged pole.
• Assisted the Library with truck to haul recycled books.
• Started repainting Fire Hydrants
• Replaced chlorine booster pump in Patton water well.
• Sanitarian: 690 year to date complaints, 15 new complaints (four by citizens and 11 by staff), 15 complaints completed by citizens, one abatement notice sent, two abatements performed and one vehicle brought into compliance.
Administration
• The Charity Chili Cookoff was hosted by Sunflower Diversified Services this past weekend and participants seemed to have a great time they moved the venue into the square and participants liked that.
• Zoo Boo is this weekend and we will have 30 booths set up to give kids candy as they come through the zoo gates. The annual event starts at 6 p.m. at Brit Spaugh Zoo.
• Venture Corporation of Great Bend is back this week working on street repairs.
