25 years ago: Bicyclists nearing completion of BAK routes

From the Lawrence Daily Journal-World for June 14, 1986:

  • Lawrence residents were remembering Benny Goodman and the two performances he had given in Lawrence. Goodman, who had died on the previous day in New York at the age of 77, had played for Kansas University’s 1975 Homecoming. About 2,200 people had crowded into Hoch Auditorium on that night eleven years earlier for a solid, no-break 75-minute concert which had spectators dancing in the aisles.
  • About 230 bicyclists had pedaled 64 miles on the previous day on the second-to-last leg of the northern Biking Across Kansas route. Oskaloosa was the site of their rendezvous with another 240 cyclists who had been traveling the southern route. The recyclists had 30 miles to go to Leavenworth and the state line.
  • Organizers of 1986’s Independence Days were searching for a “humongous” number of volunteers for the festival, according to Liz Caldwell, who handled publicity for the event. More than 120 people were needed for security alone. In related news, organizers had begun compiling a final list of food vendors for the event. The menu was to include barbecued chicken, potato salad, fruit cobbler, buffalo burgers, ice cream, German sausages with kraut, egg rolls, funnel cakes, candies, popcorn, Mexican beans, strawberry shortcake, lemonade, fry bread, Indian tacos and an assortment of pies.