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’Front Door Friday’ featuring Kansas Wetlands Education Center
𝐈𝐓’𝐒 𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐘!
As a way of thanking our amazing members, we started a new member promotion called 'FRONT DOOR FRIDAYS'!
These businesses are good citizens of our community and an excellent resource if you need their services. We appreciate our chamber members and are proud to show off their ‘front doors’ every Friday.
If you are interested in joining more than 100 businesses and organizations in Ellinwood and the surrounding area, visit our website at ellinwoodchamber.com to learn more about membership in the chamber and how we can grow our community together!
𝐅𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐓 𝐃𝐎𝐎𝐑 𝐅𝐑𝐈𝐃𝐀𝐘 𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐓𝐋𝐈𝐆𝐇𝐓
Kansas Wetlands Education Center
592 NE K 156 HWY, Great Bend, KS 67530
(877) 243-9268
Tues-Sat 9 am - 5 pm, Sun. 1-5 pm
OUR HISTORY
After several strategic tourism plans, completed in the early 2000s, recommended the need for a visitor’s center at Cheyenne Bottoms, Fort Hays State University and Kansas Department of Wildlife Parks & Tourism spearheaded a project create the Kansas Wetlands Education Center. A grant received from KDOT and additional private fundraising by FHSU and KDWPT allowed for the construction of the KWEC building, which opened in April 2009. KWEC is operated as a branch of FHSU’s Werth College of Science Technology and Mathematics in cooperation with KDWPT.
OUR MISSION
The mission of the KWEC is to educate the public about wetland communities (including the migratory shorebirds, raptors, grassland birds, amphibians, reptiles, mammals, and plants that inhabit the wetlands and surrounding areas), their importance and the need for conservation and restoration. This is accomplished through a museum with interactive exhibits and interpretation, interpretive educational programs, outreach programs, and maintaining many partnerships with cooperating stakeholders, such as the Ellinwood Chamber of Commerce.
WHAT WE OFFER
The KWEC is a one-stop-shop for every visit to Cheyenne Bottoms, a wetland of International Importance, and is located along K-156 highway 8 miles north of Ellinwood. The 11,000 square foot museum is home to the Koch Wetlands Exhibit gallery with newly renovated interactive exhibits, a classroom with live animal exhibits, an auditorium, and the Wetlands Gift Store. Admission is free! Van tours, a nature trail, a pollinator garden, and many public programs provide a glimpse of what Kansas wetlands are and what you can find in them. Ask to watch the new 15-minute informational video about Cheyenne Bottoms! Staff at the KWEC will answer your questions about the wetlands and give advice on how you can experience Cheyenne Bottoms. KWEC is open Mon-Sat 9 am-5 pm, Sun 1-5 pm (Closed on Mondays from Nov. through Mar.).
PROMOTIONS
KWEC has a wide diversity of public programs throughout the year. Most of these programs are free. With the COVID pandemic, many of the programs have been altered this year. However, some upcoming programs include the Turtle Tots Preschool program, (August 14), Perseid Meteor Shower Watch Party (August 14), August WILD Club Archery activity (August 17), and Monarch Butterfly tagging and other activities (September). Other popular programs offered at KWEC include Winter Kids nature programs (February), Greater Prairie Chicken Lek Tours (April), Wings & Wetlands Birding Festival (odd years in April), Summer Kids nature camps (July), Hunter Appreciation Breakfast (October), Star Gazing (October), and KWEC Holiday Open House (December), and many other public programs throughout the year. Follow us on Facebook, check out the KWEC Website (KWEC website will be brand new in the coming weeks. Check it out!!) http://wetlandscenter.fhsu.edu or call and sign-up for our monthly e-newsletter.
Head over to Kansas Wetlands Education Center and meet their fun staff today!
𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢, 𝐾𝑊𝐸𝐶, 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑏𝑒𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑝𝑎𝑟𝑡 𝑜𝑓 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝐹𝑎𝑚𝑖𝑙𝑦!
𝑌𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑚𝑒𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟𝑠ℎ𝑖𝑝 𝑖𝑛𝑣𝑒𝑠𝑡𝑚𝑒𝑛𝑡 ℎ𝑒𝑙𝑝𝑠 𝑛𝑜𝑡 𝑜𝑛𝑙𝑦 𝑔𝑟𝑜𝑤 𝑦𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑏𝑢𝑠𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑠𝑠 𝑏𝑢𝑡 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑡ℎ𝑒 𝐶ℎ𝑎𝑚𝑏𝑒𝑟 𝑡𝑜 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑣𝑖𝑑𝑒 𝑝𝑟𝑜𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑚𝑠 & 𝑟𝑒𝑠𝑜𝑢𝑟𝑐𝑒𝑠 𝑓𝑜𝑟 𝑜𝑢𝑟 𝑎𝑟𝑒𝑎. 𝑇ℎ𝑎𝑛𝑘 𝑦𝑜𝑢!
