Wilson ? It’s not in every town that antique tractors line Main Street, with the sound of polka music playing in the background. Except maybe during the after-harvest Czech Festival in Wilson.

A polka dance was just one event at this year’s festival, which included the crowning of the Miss Kansas Czech Queen, the purchase of thousands of pastries called kolaches and a few folks walking around in traditional Czech dress.

“That’s what today’s about — the tradition,” said Ida Mae Goodman, a Wilson native who moved to Derby a few years ago. “It’s about the festival, the food, the clothing.”

The 71-year-old stood inside the city’s opera house, watching as some danced and others listened to the polka band onstage. During the past weeks, she baked more than 72 dozen kolaches to serve at this year’s event, saying it took her about a week.

She tries to keep the heritage alive, although it is getting harder.

“This used to be a packed dance floor,” she said of the afternoon polka dance.

“For some, (heritage) isn’t as important until you get a little older,” she said. “For teenagers, polka isn’t something they want to be seen doing.”

Paula Svaty stood inside a tent in the afternoon heat, packing up her vests she had made to sell at this year’s festival.

Svaty, 22, won the Czech Queen Competition in 1998, she said. She wore a traditional dress she called a kroj, saying she hoped that by wearing the garment, she might encourage others to come to the festival in costume, too.

Mary Vopat, a Wilson native, said she thought this year’s attendance was up a little from the past five years. Maybe people’s interest in their heritage is growing, she said.

Vopat said she helped with Saturday’s noon dinner at St. Wenceslaus Catholic Church, where mostly Czech food was served, such as pork, dill gravy, jaternice and rye bread. Almost all the food was gone by the end of the dinner, and the church’s country store sold all of its 3,200 kolaches.