Annual Banquet and Awards Dinner
Friday, January 24, 2020
5:30PM Social Hour
5:30PM Private Reception for Honorees and Past Presidents
6:30PM Dinner
Maner Conference Center, 17th & Western, Topeka, KS
Kansan of the Year
Dale Dennis
Deputy Commissioner of the Kansas State Department of Education, Fiscal and Administrative Services Agency
The Department promotes the mission of the Kansas State Board of Education through leadership and support for student learning in Kansas. The Board is charged with the general supervision of public education and other educational interests in the state. While clearly acknowledging the role and importance of local control, the Board has the responsibility to provide direction and leadership for the supervision of all state educational institutions under its jurisdiction.
Kansan of the Year
Nicolle Galyon
Originally from Sterling, Kansas, Galyon made her way to Nashville, Tennessee in 2002 to attend college. While at college, Galyon discovered her talent for songwriting and signed with Warner/Chappell Nashville in 2006. In 2012, Nicolle appeared on NBC’s The Voice as a contestant on Adam Levine’s team. There she met RaeLynn and Miranda Lambert, two friendships that she accredits to kickstarting her songwriting career. Galyon earned her first #1 song with We Were Us performed by Keith Urban and Miranda Lambert. With cowriters Miranda Lambert and Natalie Hemby, Galyon won 2015 ACM’s ‘Song of the Year’, and the 2014 CMA’s single of the year for the Miranda Lambert performed hit song Automatic. Since then Galyon has had songs recorded by RaeLynn on her album WildHorse, Dan + Shay on their album Obsessed, Kenny Chesney on his album Cosmic Hallelujah, Florida Georgia Line on their album Dig Your Roots, Lady Antebellum on their album Golden, and Thomas Rhett on his album Tangled Up, among others. Nicolle Galyon currently resides in Nashville. (source: wikipedia)
Click here for the Nicolle Galyon website and a list of songs.
SPECIAL CITATION FOR PRESERVING
KANSAS HERITAGE
The Lecompton Reenactors
The Lecompton Reenactors is a skilled group of amateur historians with a theatrical bent who bring to life the dramatic political strife and guerrilla warfare which existed in Kansas Territory. They provide an entertaining way for modern Kansans to understand the American Civil War in its embryonic stage.
Their play “Bleeding Kansas” was written by J. Howard Duncan and reveals the wide spectrum of personalities and opinions which existed in the Kansas Territory, 1854 to 1861. The play was written specifically to the State of Kansas middle school history standard. There were two governments in Kansas, each calling the other bogus. The pro-slavery government, fully sanctioned by the United States government, was regarded as bogus because of audacious election frauds committed by commuting Missourians. The free-state government was regarded as bogus due to the stench of treason in creation without authorization.
Listen, react, and interact with the Lecompton Reenactors as they bring to life this turbulent time in history of Kansas and the Nation in a period political gathering. Kansas Territorial characters you’ll meet include John Brown, Jim Lane, Sheriff Sam Jones, Territorial Governor Andrew Reeder, Clarina Nichols, Charles and Sara Robinson, Senator David Atchison, Judge Rush Elmore and the Reverend Thomas Johnson among others.