Kiowa County rallies for Smithsonian’s ‘Hometown Teams’ exhibit

GREENSBURG – The Greensburg Rangers, Haviland Dragons and the Mullinville Tigers live again.

The Kiowa County Historical Museum is hosting a Smithsonian traveling exhibit called “Hometown Teams” beginning this weekend and running through June 21.

The exhibit explores the way sports build and unite communities. It has already been in Ellinwood and Goodland and will soon travel to Atchison, Perry and Humboldt.

What makes Greensburg’s exhibition a bit different than other towns’ is the effort the community had to go through to create a display.

Eight years ago when a deadly F-5 tornado ripped through Greensburg, it took with it about 90 percent of the museum’s artifacts.

“As an organization, our museum was different before the tornado than after,” said Kathryn Ritter, executive director of the museum.

Only two items from area schools remained – a letter from a letter jacket and a school uniform, she said.

“That’s not a lot for a Smithsonian exhibit,” Ritter said. “So, I put the call out to the entire communities in Kiowa County to donate what they could so we could tell the story. It has been incredible how much was donated. More than what we can put in the exhibit.”

There are football, basketball, track, tennis, softball, band and cheer leading uniforms. Practice uniforms and warmups.

There is the Haviland dragon mascot uniform, a Greensburg Ricky the Ranger sign, photographs, school flags and pompoms.

Kiowa County, like most rural areas, has undergone school rivalries and consolidations as populations shift and grow older. But, Ritter said, Greensburg is also a progressive town and working hard to draw people to the community.

The “Hometown Teams” exhibit is so extensive it required taking out and storing all the artifacts that had been on exhibit in the 4-year-old building. It came in 21 cases with lots of parts.

The exhibit explores how sports shaped America.

There are bleachers for visitors to sit on and interactive displays such as a bottle that when opened smells like popcorn.

The museum and the Kansas Humanities Council are hosting talks throughout the run of the exhibit. Topics include “Religion and Basketball: Naismith’s Game,” 2 p.m. May 17; “Netting Out Basketball,” 2 p.m. May 30; “Title IX and Female Athletes in Kansas,” 2 p.m. June 13; and “The Common and Quirky Mascots of Kansas,” 2 p.m. June 20.

“There were 22 communities who applied for this exhibit and we were one of six that are hosting,” Ritter said. “Kiowa County has never had anything like this.”

This story was originally published May 9, 2015 at 10:07 AM with the headline "Kiowa County rallies for Smithsonian’s ‘Hometown Teams’ exhibit."