Vote For America's Coolest Small Town

Vote For America’s Coolest Small Town

When you are an elected official, the towns in your district are kind of like your kids. You love them all but when one of them has something really neat happen, you cannot help but beam. One of my “kids” that has had something really cool happen last week is Medicine Park. Now, before I launch into this, it does not mean that I am not equally as proud of all my towns. But, last week, a really neat thing happened in a National publication to allow people to vote for Medicine Park to give it the chance to become one of the “coolest towns in America”. In this month’s Budget Travel magazine, there is an article about the coolest towns in America. We are extremely honored to have Medicine Park mentioned in that article. If you would like to go online and vote, just go to: www.medicinepark.com and click on the link provided.

If you live around here and have been here for very long, you know the history of Medicine Park all the way back to the Roaring ‘20s. When I was young, in the ‘70s, Medicine Park was almost scary because it had gotten to be kind of a rough place to be. The shine had worn off its charm. Much of the historic cobblestone community had fallen into disrepair. I remember when I was in junior high, skating in the old skating rink which is now the Medicine Park Music Hall. The foot bridge was in bad shape and there was no real community pride. It was as if the heart of that community was barely beating. Fast forward into the ‘90s when David and Candace McCoy took up the torch to start the revitalization of Medicine Park by raising money to refurbish the old suspension bridge. It was the catalyst for the rebirth of what has become a great tourist spot.

Nestled near the gate of the historic Wichita Mountains Wildlife Refuge, it has drawn many artists and other very creative souls who have chosen Medicine Park as the place they want to be. One of the artists whose signature is all over the “reborn” community was Robert Dean, who could do more with a pile of scrap metal than almost anyone you have ever seen. We know that just a couple of short weeks ago we lost Robert. He epitomized the spirit of Medicine Park and it became his pallet as he sought to add his creative touch. Robert’s artwork will live on in the historic rebirth of this great community.

There are several great venues for events in Medicine Park. In fact, the last two weekends I have been there to help raise money for organizations. There has been a great deal of investment and the heart of Medicine Park is now beating and is as strong as ever. As each project is undertaken, it adds to the charm. It is a great place to go spend a weekend to be close to nature. My favorite term is that it is a great place to “decompress”.

So, if you would like to help by getting on the website that I mentioned earlier and voting in the online pole for what we think is the coolest small town in America, I am sure that the folks down there would really appreciate it. If you have yet to experience the renewed heartbeat, just make a day trip. Or, better yet, go rent a cabin for the weekend and just spend some time feeling the spirit of Medicine Park.

If you would like to contact me while I am at the capitol, please do not hesitate to send an email to donarmes@house.gov or call me at 1-800-522-8502.

And here’s a little something to think about as you go down the road:
“A great city is not to be confounded with a populous one.” -Aristotle