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ON THE ROAD
WITH FARM COLLECTOR
"...oh what fun it is to ride in a one-horse open sleigh!"
Horse-drawn parade adds a merry jingle to Christmas in Kansas
For a touch of holiday magic and horse-drawn history, travel to Lawrence, Kan., this December. Lawrence hosts the Festival of Poinsettias, which gets underway Dec. 5 with an Old Fashioned Christmas Parade, sponsored by the Eldridge Hotel.
The parade features more than 100 horse-drawn, original high-wheeled vehicles decorated for the holidays. Showing off everything from buckboard wagons to fancy coaches, the event is said to have more horse-drawn vehicles than any other parade in the world. It includes doctor's buggies, carriages, covered wagons, 'run abouts', a stagecoach and even a horse-drawn pumper engine from a fire department's collection. Exhibitors come from more than a dozen states, and they meet an enthusiastic welcome.
"There will be 40,000 people out there," said organizer Rob Phillips. "Young and old alike, they just love it."
Hard to Beet:
Colorado museum takes a close look at sugar beet production, industry
The glory days of the sugar beet industry in northern Colorado are recalled in a new exhibit at the Loveland Museum/Gallery. The permanent exhibit focuses on the impact of Loveland's Great Western Sugar Company factory, which operated from 1901-85.
Items collected from the factory after it closed, from former workers and from the company, illustrate the history of the industry.
'There's a real factory feeling to it," said Curator Tom Katsimpalis.
Part of the focus is on the role of science and research. Area history also plays a part: a large wall map shows the farms - including landowners' names - that once served Great Western, and interactive features give computer access to the museum's collection of selected photographs and documents. A large table-top scale model depicts the plant as it existed in 1920. Historical film footage rounds out the exhibit. Great Western engineers created a full line of equipment - shown in photos and on film - designed expressly for sugar beets. Related exhibits focus on the small farm (including hand tools and plows and an early John Deere corn sheller). Also, look for the general store exhibit, hotel lobby and blacksmith shop.
The Loveland Museum/Gallery, Fifth and Lincoln, Loveland, Colo., 80537; (970) 962-2410. Tuesday-Friday, 10 a.m.-5 p.m.; Thursday, 10 a.m.-9 p.m.; Saturday, 10 a.m.-4 p.m.; Sunday, noon to 4 p.m.; closed on Mondays. No admission charge.