The Sundown Salute committee would like to reach out to the community of Junction City and Geary County to update each of you that have supported the organization over the last 5 decades on past events as well as those upcoming. To honor the late Ben Bennett and Mick Wunder, Sundown Salute celebrated the 50th year in Milford, Kansas as a tribute to where it began, this move brought about a great deal of controversy and upheaval which was not the intention of the current Sundown Salute board. Each of the board members would like to express our hope that these fences can one day be mended.
As the summer has progressed there have been many speculations and rumors that surround the Sundown Salute and any future events this group may intend to hold. The board members for the Sundown Salute have been equally surprised with the different stories put out in the news and in the community, mostly because decisions for future events have simply not been determined. It has been the hope of the Sundown Salute board members that Sundown Salute would be able to return to Junction City and serve the population as it has for 20 years. We do acknowledge that things will likely never return to the previous state therefore we plan to provide the community with a Labor Day event that can be enjoyed by the entire family while bringing business and traffic to Junction City and Geary County.
Over the last couple years different organizations within our community have publicly been at odds with one another; we would like to move past this and bring the community back together. Fences need to be mended and we all hope that this is the first step to that process. It is the hope of the Sundown Salute board to have cohesiveness with other organizations within our community and work together to provide entertainment, opportunities, and unity to the citizens of Junction City and Geary County. We live in a truly amazing city and county.
It is with deepest regret that the Sundown Salute board has made the difficult decision to cancel the Labor Day weekend event for 2023 due to unforeseen circumstances. We have decided to focus on the 2024 Labor Day weekend and will start with a fundraising event this fall. The Sundown Salute board spoke to the Junction City Commission at the 1 August meeting requesting to bring the 2024 event back to the Heritage Park location to allow the citizens of Junction City and Geary County to fully participate in all the events that we have begun to plan. It is with extreme happiness that we can announce that the City Commission voted unanimously in favor of Sundown Salute hosting the 2024 Labor Day Weekend event in Heritage Park. We look forward to working together with all organizations and agencies of our great community to provide the same level of entertainment and fun that the Sundown Salute has worked so hard to provide for the past Fifty-one years.