Should Jimmy Carter, Condoleezza Rice or others elect to fly into Lawrence Municipal Airport this weekend for the Dole Institute dedication, Scott and Nancy Thellman have a greeting waiting for them.

It’s a giant peace sign, mowed into the grass of their pasture north of the airport.

“It seems like a nice welcoming sign for people who will be flying into Lawrence, and who will be flying around and about during the weekend,” Nancy Thellman said of the symbol, which is 300 feet in diameter. “It’s one of the advantages to living in the country. You can put a sign out into your field and you can make it as big as you want.”

The Thellmans, along with their children — Scotty, 12; Katy, 10; and Connor, 8 — cut the symbol in their pasture as a welcome to the assorted dignitaries arriving in Lawrence this weekend for the Dole festivities.

“We have the little planes flying overhead all the time because we live a couple miles north of the airport,” Nancy Thellman said. “I was fascinated with the idea of how many dignitaries, politicians and celebrities would be flying over our house.

“And it dawned on me it would be nice to have a greeting,” she said. “And it dawned on me even more that this would be a good way to do it.”

Scott and Nancy Thellman mowed a giant peace sign into their pasture north of the Lawrence Municipal Airport. The symbol is intended as a greeting to visitors flying in for the Dole Institute dedication.

Thellman said she had been “troubled” by events since 9-11. She never put a “Peace is Patriotic” sign in her front yard, she said, because she lives too far out of town.

“Nobody would see it out in the country,” Thellman said.

The field sign is not meant to be negative, she said.

“This is the greeting I hope would represent my family,” she said. “It makes me feel good knowing it’s there.”

And maybe, she said, it will make a difference.

“If there’s a (former president) Jimmy Carter overhead, I hope it would warm his heart,” Thellman said. “If there’s a (National Security Advisor) Condoleezza Rice overhead, I hope it would give her pause.”

Other types of protest demonstrations also are planned this weekend to coincide with events on west campus and around town.

Lt. Schuyler Bailey of the Kansas University Public Safety Office said police planned no stricter controls over protesters than they would over people at any other campus event, even though celebrities and big-name politicians are scheduled to attend.

“It’s an opportunity for everyone to speak their mind,” he said. “As long as it’s done in an acceptable manner, we’ve got no problems with it. It’s still free speech.”

¢More about the Dole Institute and the weekend events