To the editor:

On Sunday, Sept. 18, Lawrence celebrates its 162nd anniversary. This birthday is especially significant because it also marks the sesquicentennial year of the University of Kansas. The 1866 stone at Sesquicentennial Point is sponsored by KU.

At the beautiful park just east of Clinton Dam and along the same road as Mutt Run, the Walk through Time at Sesquicentennial Point ends at 2004, and now it is time to add 12 more stones, ready to be marked with important events since Lawrence’s sesquicentennial. 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 history that are marked on the stones in the Walk through Time.

There are still people and organizations and events that have not yet 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? The Rev. Cordley? Ernst Hardware? Tiger Dowdell? Chuck Mead? Sara Paretsky? The late Jim Owens, who served as our mayor, as president of the chamber of commerce and on our school board?

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!