The Gadfly is a series of letters offering commentary on local issues and published in the Warrensburg Gazette.

It's September, and it's festival time. Last weekend kicked off with Santa-Cali-Gon in Independence and the Chilhowee Fair. Concordia's Oktoberfest is coming up, followed by festivals in Cole Camp, Harrisonville, Wellington, Blackwater, Warsaw and Holden - to name but a few. The best Warrensburg can offer is a few activities related to CMSU football. Isn't it time to use our heritage to create a major festival - Old Drum Days? We used to have one, but the Greater Warrensburg Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center (GWACC&VC) quit doing it in 1999 because it just wasn't doing well.

It's my opinion that the festival didn't do well because it lacked focus.

A successful event needs a hook. Warsaw has beautiful scenery, a wide range of living history presenters, and loads of crafts. Concordia has three parades and a beer garden complete with oom-pah band. If we're going to get people to come to Warrensburg in packs, we need a hook, as well. The story of Old Drum is a great hook, but lots of other places have a canine heritage. We need some creativity to set that hook.

In past years I've offered some ideas to make a local festival a real destination. I suggested making everything 'doggy' - from music to food to carnival prizes to floppy ears on the beauty queens' crowns. In addition to a 'putting on the dog' fashion promenade with poodle skirts and Senator Vest impersonators, doggie song karaoke contests (Elvis impersonators doing "Hound Dog"?), Lassie-calling, 'wiener relays' and a doggerel contest, I suggested activities for the real dogs such as a standard dog show, a poker-playing dog costume show, working dog demonstrations, etc. Maybe we can have a celebrity poker tournament, with the mayor and politicians competing (while wearing dog costumes, of course). Other ideas included a dog biscuit bake-off, a dog howling contest, chihuahua races, a contest to see who can make the highest stack of dog biscuits or a dog art show (art about dogs or by dogs, or maybe both)? Perhaps an childrens' essay & speech contest, with dogs as the subject? You get the idea.

Now, planning and running an event takes time and money. It just so happens that the GWACC&VC expects to receive about $90,000 a year in room tax money from the City, to be used to promote tourism. Surely, creating an event to promote Warrensburg as a destination is a fit use.

There are so many things we can do - my previous suggestions are posted at www.olddrum. net as Gadfly 101 and Gadfly 151. Let the billboards read 'Warrensburg - Gone to the Dogs' - we'll draw crowds and have a great time!