Happy Kansas Day. The State of Kansas turns 162 today. My neighbor has his full size state flag flying from his porch. The state entered the Union as a Free State that day, after fighting the de facto Civil War for almost a decade already . . .
According to Wikipedia, the date was first celebrated by schoolchildren in Paola, KS in 1877. Paola is pronounced locally like the radio scandal “payola” and not like the Italian for Paul, “Paola”.
Enjoy Bing Crosby recording our state song:
The graceful white swans are no longer so common, but the river named for them remains.