June Officially Proclaimed Kansas Native Plant Appreciation Month in Signing Ceremony with Governor Kathleen Sebelius on June 25, 2007
Nine people representing the Kansas Native Plant Society (KNPS) attended the proclamation signing ceremony for Kansas Native Plant Appreciation Month. Each of us had the opportunity to shake the Governor's hand before we posed for several group pictures in the Governor's office. Governor Sebelius asked what KNPS does and expressed her gratitude for the work we do: educating the public about native plants. The Governor read excerpts of the proclamation aloud as she signed it. When she read that approximately four percent of our nation’s original tallgrass prairie remains intact, and ninety-five percent of this prairie is in Kansas, she cheered!
We received three official copies of the proclamation. Carroll Morgenson will place one copy in the KNPS scrapbook. We also received three souvenir signing pens. Jeff Hansen designated one of the pens as the Presidential pen; when Jeff's term as President expires he will pass the pen to President Elect Michael Heffron. Dwight Platt received a pen as a token for all his contributions to KNPS and Shirley Braunlich received a pen for her efforts in obtaining the proclamation.
After the ceremony we toured a little of the Capitol building. Most of us had not visited the Capitol since field trips in grade school!
Pictured with the Governor (seated) from left to right are Michael Heffron, Fred Coombs, Kamala Platt, Dwight Platt, Nancy Coombs, Carroll Morgenson, Shirley Braunlich, Jeff Hansen, and Peggy Robinson.
