Marion County and Florence can be proud after hosting Prelude to the Symphony this weekend.

Downtown was clean and orderly. Volunteers were cheerful and eager to greet visitors as they arrived. Vendors with interesting items lined the street, eager to show their wares and demonstrations on wool spinning and being a mountain man. Historian Kevin Hiebert entertained the crowd, as did musicians and gunslingers.

The weather was nearly perfect. The birds were singing. Yes, it was a beautiful day in Florence.

What was missing was support from other Marion County residents. Some Marion County people were vendors but relatively few Marion County residents attended. Many attended the symphony later in Chase County.

Why not visit Florence, too?

Area residents need to support events in their communities. There is no excuse for not attending. Admission was free. Entertainment was free.

We know other events were going on Saturday — swim meets and basketball tournaments. However, not everyone in Marion County was affected by these.

The prelude event was an opportunity that might not come around again.

Driving around Florence, there were vehicles from Missouri, Texas, and the Kansas counties of Shawnee, Johnson, Sedgwick, Douglas, McPherson, and Wyandotte.

There wasn’t the large crowd everyone had hoped for, but the crowd that was there had fun.

Where were you?

— susan berg