CITY NOTEBOOK | Manhattan gears up for Juneteenth celebration

Hailey Phillips, The Manhattan Mercury, Kan.
·3 min read

Jun. 12—Manhattan will kickoff celebrations of Juneteenth with author Phil Dixon hosting a presentation on the Kansas City Monarchs, the first charter members of the Negro National League, two days before the holiday.

Juneteenth commemorates the ending of slavery on June 19, 1865. The theme for this year's Manhattan event is "United in History and Hope."

Dixon, the co-founder of the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum in Kansas City, will talk about the baseball team at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday at the Douglass Activity Center. On Friday, bassist Julian Vaughn will perform at the Arts in the Park event at the Larry Norvell Band Shell at City Park. Local saxophonist JahVelle Rhone also will play.

The United in History & Hope 5K Fun Run kicks off Saturday's festivities at 8 a.m. The run begins and ends at at the Frederick Douglass Recreation Complex at 9th and Yuma Streets. Mitzie Rojas will lead a Zumba class at 8:45 a.m. on the lawn of the Douglass Activity Center.

The annual Community Unity walk begins at 9:45 a.m. on Saturday at Long's Park. Mayor Wynn Butler will read the city's holiday proclamation prior to the walk.

Officials will reveal the new mural painting by Wichita native and Atlanta artist EuGene V Byrd III at the Douglass Activity Center at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

An art auction, new to the holiday festivities, starts at noon on Saturday. The Riley County Police Department and Hy-Vee will hold a BBQ at noon as well.

Toppers Pizza

coming to town

Toppers Pizza plans to open a restaurant near Kansas State University in October.

Restaurant owner Karl Malchow focused his sights on Manhattan following the success at the Toppers location near the University of Kansas. Malchow said he hasn't officially secured a location yet.

"It's become very popular in Lawrence to the point where we're looking to expand now," Malchow said.

Malchow owns the restaurant in Lawrence and plans to open two in Topeka in addition to a Manhattan location.

Toppers, based in Wisconsin, is open until 3 a.m. daily. It has special pizza offerings like buffalo chicken mac and cheese as well as vegan toppings. The pizza dough is prepared in-house daily.

Appointments

The Manhattan City Commission approved these board appointments at its June 1 legislative session:

— Troy Wilt, 1021 S. Wreath Ave., to a three-year Fort Riley term on the airport advisory board. The term starts June 27 and ends June 26, 2024.

— Carl Reed, 430 McCall Road, was reappointed to a three-year Pottawatomie County on the airport advisory board. The term begins June 27 and expires June 26, 2024.

— Phil Anderson, 1719 Fairchild Ave., to a three-year term on the historic resources board. The term started immediately and ends April 30, 2024.

— Eric Nielson, 1709 Little Kitten Ave., was reappointed to a three-year term on the housing appeals board. The term starts July 1 and ends June 30, 2024.

— Lakesha James, 1044 Burton Place, to fill the unexpired term of James Callahan to the human rights and services board. James' term started immediately and ends March 9, 2022.

— Dave Schafer, 2104 Fox Meadows, was reappointed to a four-year team on the parks and recreation advisory board. It begins July 1 and ends June 30, 2025.

— Chris Bailey, 217 Starlight Lane, was reappointed to a three-year term on the special alcohol funds advisory committee.