Arkansas City seeking “likes” in photo contest

ARKANSAS CITY, Kan. — Voting opens today in the Kansas Hometown Showdown contest, sponsored by the League of Kansas Municipalities, and citizens are urged to vote.

The City of Arkansas City is competing in the photo contest for the second straight year, but this year, it will need a little additional help from area residents and other Facebook fans in order to advance.

There were 80 entries in this year’s contest for just 64 spots, so 20 cities — including Ark City — were placed in four “play-in” pools of five cities each. Arkansas City must gather more “likes” than Edgerton, El Dorado, Fall River and Halstead in just four days of voting in order to advance.

“This is a daunting challenge in a very short amount of time, so we will need everyone’s help in order to move on the actual first round,” said Public Information Officer Andrew Lawson.

“Please spread the word to your friends, family members, co-workers and neighbors! We are going to need participation from everyone on Thursday through Sunday in order to have a fighting chance,” Lawson said.

The city with the most votes will advance on Monday to face Hillsboro in the 64-team bracket, with voting continuing each week through March until an overall winner is selected. The winning city’s photo will grace the cover of an issue of Kansas Government Journal, published by LKM, later this summer.

The photo submitted by the City shows the Arkansas City Fire-EMS Department’s historic 1932 Buick fire engine, as well as other firefighting apparatus such as ACFD’s aerial platform, in last October’s Arkalalah Big Parade. The 1932 Buick is in the process of being immortalized as a collectible Hallmark Keepsake Ornament that will be released in mid-2018 as part of the Fire Brigade series.

To vote for Arkansas City’s photo, visit www.facebook.com/pg/LeagueofKansasMunicipalities/posts and click on the LKM Kansas Hometown Showdown photo gallery. (A link also will be provided on the City’s Facebook page.) Then just find the Arkansas City photo and “like” it. That’s all there is to it!