LEE: Be a tourist; you could win gas

This past Saturday, Ottawa joined hundreds of cities throughout the country in recognition of National Tourism Week. The Franklin County Convention & Visitors Bureau is giving away one $50 gas card to area residents and visitors who sign up this week at the Visitor Information Center, 2011 E. Logan St., Ottawa. The promotion encourages travel this summer and the winner will be announced Monday. Tourists and residents are invited to sign up.

A free concert will be 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. Friday at Ottawa City Park. Free refreshments will be served. Four Square and area churches are the hosts.

Don’t forget to vote in the 8 Wonders of Architecture for the Kansas Sampler contest. You can vote for the Franklin County Courthouse up to three times for each e-mail address. We are very excited to have the Franklin County Courthouse nominated as one of the 24 finalists out of more than 200 nominations. Go to www.KansasSampler.org and vote for your top eight picks. The winners will be announced June 30. There are paper ballots available also if you would like to stop by the Visitor Information Center and pick one up.

Congratulations to all of the graduates this weekend but if you aren’t involved in graduation activities, there are a variety of events in the area that you might enjoy attending.

This weekend there is a festival in Merriam called the Turkey Creek Festival. Go to their Web site at http://merriam.org/park/Events/turkey-creek-festival.htm.  

If you love flowers, you don’t want to miss the Iris Hill Weekend 9 a.m. to 6 p.m. Saturday and Sunday at Powell Gardens, 1609 NW U.S. 50 Kingsville, Mo. Admission is $8 for adults, $7 seniors, $3 children 5-12. For more information, go to www.powellgardens.org.

Other activities you don’t want to miss this weekend include the Ottawa Farmer’s Market on Saturday morning at Orscheln’s parking lot, 2008 S. Princeton St., along with the pet of the week by the Bea Martin Peck Animal Shelter. They also are sponsoring a free Pet Toenail Clipping 6 p.m. to 8 p.m. Tuesday at Ottawa Town and County, 2707 Kingman Road.

The Garnett Airport Advisory Committee will have “Airport Day” this weekend at the Garnett Airport. Activities begin at 10 a.m.  Saturday and include static displays, concessions and airplane rides for a fee of only $10 per person.

Art Tougeau Parade will be noon Saturday at the Lawrence Arts Center, 946 New Hampshire St. It is Lawrence’s own wheeled-art parade featuring art cars and wheeled-art creations from national, regional and local artists. Cars and other wheeled vehicles of various shapes, ages and engine sizes are given new identities by their owners ranging from clever to comical to just plain nuts. Admission is free.

Endangered Species Day is 10 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday at the Kansas City Zoo, 6800 Zoo Dr., Kansas City, Mo. Endangered Species Day is celebrated nationally. Learn about the zoo’s endangered species and how they became endangered at www.kansascityzoo.org.

Kristi K. Lee is the director of the Franklin County Convention & Visitors Bureau. She can be reached at (785) 242-1411 or by e-mail at director@visitottawakansas.com.