A small gathering of those wanting to celebrate the Americans With Disabilities Act which was past into law with the help of former Kansas Senator Bob Dole. The law was passed in 1990.
Keynote Speaker at the event was U-S Attorney Barry Grissom for the District of Kansas who spoke of what his office and the Department of Justice in general is doing to make sure the law passed by congress is implemented on all areas of life for those who have disabilities. He agrees that we have come a long way since the law has been passed, but says the work must continue. He talked about working with communities who may be struggling with the law. He says a lot of what they do is simply educate community leaders.
The big story of the evening was the work the city did to improve George Pyle Park including making the gazebo accessible. Chris Owen, the Executive Director of the Prairie Independent Living Center expressed her pleasure with being able to access the structure, something that was difficult to do before. They presented the city with an award for the work that was done not only to the gazebo in that park, but the entire park. It really does look nice, a park city residents can now be proud of..
Also speaking was Barbara Lilyhorn who heads the Reno County Area Transit. She talked about her work over the years with those who are disabled.
Hutchinson City Council member, Nancy Soldner who represent the Southwest District was also on hand and read the proclamation that was read at the city council meeting Tuesday.
The event Thursday night was held as part of Third Thursday. They have another event in the same park next Tuesday. They are calling it a “civil rights vigil.” That will start at at 7 p-m.