Day or Night, Wichita Kansas is the jewel of the prairie! Be sure to see downtown Wichita, the sunflowers on the prairie and The Keeper of the Plains statue on the Arkansas Riverwalk.
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Upcoming Events


September 27-October 5
Open World Kosovo

October 26
Quarterly Meeting
10:00am
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (1101 N River Blvd, Wichita, KS 67203)

November 8
FFK Helps at Food Bank
Kansas Food Bank (1919 E Douglas Ave, Wichita, KS 67211)

TBA
India Inbound

December
Christmas Party
TBA

December 5
Board Meeting
10:00am

2025

January 25
Quarterly Meeting
10:00am
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (1101 N River Blvd, Wichita, KS 67203)

March 6
Board Meeting
10:00am

April TBA
Outbound Journey
La Serena, Chile

April 26
Quarterly Meeting
10:00am
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (1101 N River Blvd, Wichita, KS 67203)

June 5
Board Meeting
10:00am

July 26
Quarterly Meeting
10:00am
Gloria Dei Lutheran Church (1101 N River Blvd, Wichita, KS 67203)

August 11-17
Outgoing Journey
Des Moines, IA

About Wichita

Wichita, a city with approximately 600,000 people in its metropolitan area, is located in south central Kansas at the confluence of two rivers; the Little Arkansas and the Big Arkansas (pronounced R-Kansas by Kansans). Wichita is noted for its large aircraft manufacturing industry. Boeing, Raytheon (formerly Beech Aircraft), Cessna and Bombardier Learjet are all located in Wichita and employ over 25,000 people. McConnell Air Force Base, which is home for refueling tankers, is also located here.

The old downtown warehouse district has been renovated and redeveloped into the Old Town Marketplace shopping and entertainment area. Here you will find many unique restaurants, antique and gift shops, hotels which used to be warehouses, and live theater performances.

In the Old Cowtown Museum, open during the summer months, you can experience the Old West in a 17 acre living history museum close to downtown. You can walk the wooden boardwalks of a recreated 1870s cattle town and visit a working farm.

Exploration Place, located near downtown on the banks of the river, is a place for young and old to explore, using hands-on exhibits, everything from flight and design to nature and human life. You can climb aboard a beautiful, custom-built carousel or view a computer generated film in the 60 domed CyberDome Theater.There are also various traveling exhibits, changing about every 2 or 3 months.Check the website to see what to expect during your visit.

Wichita has a beautiful Botanical Garden and is home to the Sedgwick County Zoo where you can view many animals from different regions of the world. There is a jungle, a rainforest, and a childrens farm as well as African, Australian, American and Asian animal exhibits.

We have three art museums, an aviation museum, a railroad museum, a county historical museum and an African American history museum. We are also home to the Mid-America All-Indian Center and museum, built at the confluence of the rivers. Outside this museum stands the magnificent bronze-colored sculpture of the Keeper of the Plains designed and built by a well known local Indian artist, Black Bear Bosin. We have a large convention and exhibition center where the Wichita Symphony and Music Theatre perform. Wichita State University, Friends University, Newman University, and the Wichita campus of the Kansas University School of Medicine are all located here.

Images, thanks to member, Zane Day
About the Region

 

The area around Wichita is a large agricultural center where tremendous amounts of wheat, corn, and feed grains are grown. There are many oil and gas producing areas and large cattle ranches and farms.

About one hour outside of Wichita, in the city of Hutchinson is located the world renowned Kansas Cosmosphere and Space Center, the most comprehensive space museum in the world. Here, in the Hall of Space, you will view exhibits telling the full story of the Space Race. The actual Apollo 13 command module Odyssey is here with only the violent scars of reentry remaining. The center contains the worlds largest collection of spacesuits and the recently resurrected Liberty Bell capsule. Here in the IMAX Dome Theater you can watch breathtaking films from your seat under the 44 foot dome.

Also in Hutchinson is Stratica, the only underground salt museum in the western hemisphere. Take a double-decker elevator 650 below the surface and see a working salt mine and learn all about the value of salt in our lives. Here, in the constant perfect temperature and humidity, are stored valuable records, artifacts, and films from all over the world.

In nearby Abilene, Kansas, where President Dwight D. Eisenhower spent his boyhood and was married, is the Eisenhower Museum where you can see collections of documents and items from his years as World War II Commander of the European Forces and as President of the United States.

More Kansas Facts and Trivia

Traveling in Kansas