Gardner Tutors Come To You

Gardner, Kansas, was founded in 1857 at the junction of two major pioneer trails—the Oregon-California Trail and the Santa Fe Trail. At this fork in the road, which Senator Rolla Coleman in 1924 called “the grand-daddy of all highway junctions,” pioneer families traveling in wagon trains made the monumental decision to either travel southwest, through Santa Fe and Albuquerque and on to Southern California, or northwest, through Nebraska and Wyoming toward Oregon or Northern California. According to the Kansas Historical Society website, about 300,000 pioneers traveled to the west coast in a twenty-year period, and the majority of those who came through Gardner opted for the more-northern trail.

Wagon trains passing through camped a few miles from the junction at Lone Elm Campground. One can imagine that there, pioneer families, who likely had already traveled a fair distance, replenished their supplies, swapped belongings—and stories—with other pioneers, nursed their or their livestock’s health, and joined together for conversation and fellowship before continuing, the chosen trail deciding their fate.

Perhaps it was this history as a place of gathering that inspired Gardner’s leaders to hold a modern-day story-swapping event: Gardner’s annual Chat-Fest on the Trails. The event is part of Gardner’s annual Festival on the Trails, a two-day celebration for residents and visitors that attracts about 15,000 visitors. The Chat-Fest actually began in 2007 during Gardner’s Sesquicentennial Celebration (150 years), at which time all “Distinguished Citizens” of Gardner/McCamish townships; USD #231; and Gardner, Edgerton, and Antioch school districts were invited to come together to chat about the history of the area. Distinguished residents are the town’s senior citizens who are over seventy years old and have been living in the area for at least forty-five years. The participants wear “Distinguished Citizen” buttons during the event and host a chat about the good ‘ol days, just like the wagon train pioneers probably did.

Although each year’s festival has different offerings, it usually includes concerts by nationally known bands, a kid zone, a large car show with over a dozen prizes, a craft and vendor show, and, of course, delectable food and beverage choices. The Gardner Historical Museum contributes to the celebration of town history with displays, sometimes live, like the year Indian and pioneer re-enactors brought to life a pioneer-era campground that served samples of hardtack and food made by campfire.

Tucked away in the northeast corner of Kansas, Gardner has a reputation for fostering camaraderie for old and new alike. Although the town can boast about its many amenities—a convenient location only thirty minutes from downtown Kansas City, affordability, safety, natural recreational areas, and residents active in community life—perhaps its investment in keeping old stories and memories alive has also contributed to the thriving community, one that has doubled in size in just a decade.