To the editor:

On Friday, Sept. 18, Lawrence celebrates its 161st anniversary. This birthday is especially significant because it marks the sesquicentennial year of Kansas University.

Sesquicentennial Point has a Walk through Time, and now it is time to add 11 more stones, ready to be marked with important events since 2004. Through Lawrence Parks and Recreation offices, individuals and groups can designate a year to commemorate. Go to the website lprd.org and select the Walk through Time for many wonderful stories about people and events from Lawrence’s historic past.

There are still people and organizations and events that have not been marked in the Walk through Time. Who will step up to see that Langston Hughes is acknowledged? Lawrence High School? The 1952, 1988 and 2008 NCAA basketball championships? Pinckney School? New York School? The Ballard Center? Arden Booth? Gladys and Deal Six? Phog Allen? Rev. Cordley? Ernst Hardware? Tiger Dowdell? Chuck Mead? Sara Paretsky?

In fact, the Walk through Time becomes a history lesson for all who follow it from 1854 to the present. Sesquicentennial Point is evolving and someday will have an amphitheater where, in 2054, a time capsule from 2004 will be opened to celebrate Lawrence’s bicentennial.

Happy birthday, Lawrence!