Winfield Celebrates 150 Years

*Any entity wishing to use the Winfield 150 logo must first seek approval from the Winfield Area Chamber of Commerce.
Winfield Celebrates 150 Years
While the Winfield site was purchased from the Osage in 1870 by Colonel E.C. Manning, it’s enormous growth prompted the first city council to be set in 1873. The arrival of the railroads contributed to prosperity of the town and by 1900, the population had grown to 5,554.
In 2023, Winfield will be celebrating 150 years with a population of 12,000.
Headed by the Winfield Area Chamber of Commerce, local organizations and businesses have teamed up to create a Winfield 150 Committee & Taskforce to plan events throughout the year to celebrate. The main Sesquicentennial Celebration will happen on June 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
Click the button below to see what special Winfield 150 events are happening throughout the year!
Want to be involved? Here are ways you can do so:
Plan a special event with your business/organization
If your business or organization would like to plan a special event to commemorate Winfield’s 150th Anniversary, please let us know so we can include it on our community calendar. Complete the form here and choose “Winfield 150” in the category dropdown list: https://cca.winfieldchamber.org/webforms/evtsubmission.aspx?dbid2=kswin
Be a Sponsor
The Winfield Chamber is seeking sponsors to help with the costs associated with the celebration. The supporting sponsorship level is $150, presenting sponsorship level is $1500. All sponsors will be recognized on printed and online materials leading up to the June celebration. Presenting sponsors will be recognized on signage at the event.
All sponsors donating at or above the $150 level will receive a Winfield 150 commemorative token.
Order a Commemorative Winfield 150 T-Shirt
Winfield 150 shirts are now available for pre-order!
The Winfield Chamber is taking pre-orders for commemorative Winfield 150 shirts printed by Precision Printing. Available sizes are Adult Small through 4XL for $20 each or Youth sizes Small through Large for $18 each.
Plan and run an old-fashioned carnival game on Friday, June 2nd at Island Park
We are seeking organizations to plan and run an old-fashioned carnival game during the Sesquicentennial Celebration on Friday, June 2nd from 6:30 PM to 8:30 PM at Island Park. Roxann Taylor and Candi Fox will be organizing a carnival during this time where they will be selling tickets for $.25 each. Each carnival game will cost one ticket. Each business/organization that runs a game will be given 300 prizes to give away and can choose to give away more at their expense. Roxann and Candi have a list of suggested games below, or you can come up with your own!
Some game ideas include: fishing game, bean bag toss, ring toss, sack race, disc drop (Plinko), pick a duck, balloon pop, etc.
If you would like to organize a game for the carnival, fill out the form below.
Be a part of the Grand Parade on Saturday, June 3rd
We are seeking entries to the Winfield Sesquicentennial Grand Parade on Saturday, June 3rd at 11:00 AM. This will be a judged parade with prizes available for each category.
Please fill out this preliminary form and turn in your entry fee of $25. The submission button will take you to an online payment portal or you may pay by cash or check at the Winfield chamber office. After you have submitted this preliminary form and sent in your entry fee payment, the parade committee will send you a more detailed form to be completed and sent in by May 1st.
You may also print out and complete a paper form here then turn in your entry fee via cash or check to the Winfield Chamber office, 123 E. 9th Ave.
We are also in need of convertible cars to escort some dignitaries. If you would be willing to help, please contact Gloria Ulbrich at winfieldks150@gmail.com.
Bring your food truck/concessions to the celebration in Island Park on Saturday, June 3rd
Downtown Businesses
The Cowley County Historical Society Museum as well as Winfield Main Street are planning to have large prints made of historical pictures of some of the downtown historic buildings. We plan to put these in the windows (with the businesses’ permission) during the month of May and leave them in for the rest of the year. On the day of the parade (Saturday, June 3rd), CCHSM will have a few reenactors of past business owners, historical figures, and founding townsfolk at some locations downtown directly following the grand parade at 11:00 PM. Parade attendees will then participate in a walking tour of the historic downtown buildings.
We are looking for a few businesses to sponsor a community meal, or parts of a meal, during this time. If you are interested in doing this, please contact the chamber at 620-221-2420 or email Megan at admin@winfieldchamber.org.
We would also like to see downtown businesses decorate their storefronts in a festive way to commemorate Winfield’s 150th Anniversary. More on this to come.
Help the museum create a commemorative video
The Cowley County Historical Society Museum has collected videos from the various class reunions that have taken place throughout the years as well as collected some oral histories from Winfield residents. They are seeking a volunteer to put together clips from these and create a special video that commemorates Winfield. If you are skilled in video editing and would be willing to help, contact Cindy Goertz at cgoertz19@gmail.com.