According to a Fort Leavenworth spokesperson, more than 1,000 new faces will start to trickle into town soon and some area organizations are looking for help in making them feel welcome.
The new faces will be part of the incoming Intermediate Level Education course 11-01 at the Command and General Staff College on the fort that starts Aug. 9. Another group, the 705th Military Police Internment and Resettlement Battalion, will soon be coming home from Iraq to resume “custody and control services” at the fort’s United States Disciplinary Barracks.
In the hopes of welcoming those groups to their new home as well as reach out to the members of the military already here, Main Street, the city of Leavenworth and the fort’s Morale, Welfare and Recreation office are hosting the first-ever Hometown Welcome, scheduled from 5 to 11 p.m. Aug. 14 at Haymarket Square at Seventh and Cherokee streets in the city.
Wendy Scheidt, executive director of Main Street, said the event will be “a night of music, food and family fun for everyone,” with a special focus on welcoming those military personnel in the 705th and the American and international officers who will be learning at the CGSC. And Scheidt said people from the Leavenworth community are also encouraged to stop by.
“It’s just an opportunity to mix and mingle and have a good time,” she said.
Stephen Tennant, chairman of the event’s committee, said the idea came from a magazine article he had read about a similar celebration in Carlisle Barracks, Pa., the home of the Army War College, and its surrounding civilian community.
He said he hopes the Hometown Welcome has a similar effect of strengthening the relationship between Leavenworth and Fort Leavenworth. Though anyone interested is welcome to attend free of charge, Tennant said the Hometown Welcome is meant to cater mostly to those within the “joint community” of the fort and the city.
“It can and should be like a big family anyway,” he said. “Let’s enjoy it, let’s celebrate it.”
According to Tennant, the welcome will be like a bigger version of Main Street’s already existing summer concert series. Food and beverages will be available from Main Street as well as several area restaurants in conjunction with area civic organizations. Games and activities for children will be sponsored by the area’s Girl Scout troops. And musical acts ranging from the jazz combo Roger Wilder Quartet to the country act the John Joiner Band will perform throughout the evening.
The welcome is the first of its kind, Tennant said, meant to recognize the unique environment of Leavenworth, with its interaction between the military and the civilian communities.
“These two wonderful institutions that we have here are so intertwined,” he said.
The festival will also be a celebration of the Leavenworth Main Street Program’s 15th anniversary, the Kansas Main Street Program’s 25th anniversary and the 50th anniversary of the Tune Shop on Delaware Street. Scheidt said there will be free cake sponsored by Country Mart and Sis’ Sweets to celebrate the occasion.
At this time, Tennant said the many of the logistics are lined up for the event. One of the biggest remaining tasks, he said, is to drum up hometown support.
“We just mainly want people to come out, put it on their calendars,” Scheidt said.
If successful, Tennant said he would like for the Hometown Welcome to be able to continue.
“I certainly would like to see this as an annual event,” he said.
Leavenworth, Kan. —
