Wyandotte County turned three digits into a holiday

Wyandotte County turned three digits into a holiday

Wyandotte County created a holiday based on its area code six years ago, and this weekend KCK throws a free party for the whole metro.

The big picture: Cities across the country now celebrate their area codes, and Wyandotte County's version started because residents were tired of being overlooked.

Context: Three Wyandotte County residents, Earnest Jackson, Samuel Lockridge and Kendon McClaine, worked with the Unified Government in 2020 to proclaim Sept. 13 a "daylong celebration of all things great in Wyandotte County."

  • COVID pushed the first festival to 2022.

    • Flashback: The 913 has covered the Kansas side of the metro since AT&T created the country's first area codes in 1947, and it became the metro's alone in 1997, when regulators split off the rest of northern Kansas as the 785.

    Here's how you can celebrate.

    🍽️ Black Restaurant Week

    KCK's first Black Restaurant Week runs through Sunday with 11 Black-owned restaurants offering $9.13 specials, including Jones Bar-B-Q, Wilson's Pizza & Grill and Ms. R's Cafe, where owner Eddie Scover plans to put his late mother's country fried steak plate on the menu for $9.13.

  • "We know that Kansas City, Missouri, gets a lot more exposure," KCK Black Restaurant Week organizer Ken McClaine said. "…it's not a competition. It's more or less a why not?"

    • If you go: Deals vary by restaurant, so check before you order.

    🎉 Dotteversity Parade

    Visit KCK counts Saturday's parade as the start of the 913 Day weekend. The 43rd annual celebration of Wyandotte County's diversity runs from 19th Street and Park Drive east on Central Avenue to Bethany Park, where the KCK high school marching bands will have a chance to play together.

    If you go: Vendors open at 10am and the parade starts at 11am, per the Central Area Betterment Association. It's free.

    🍖 Big Eleven Lake

    The party on the day itself comes with free barbecue, a live DJ, a drill team performance and a bounce house at the 3.8-acre lake on North 11th Street between State Avenue and Washington Boulevard.

    If you go: The celebration runs from 2pm to 8pm Sunday.

    The bottom line: You don't need a 913 number to celebrate, just a free weekend and an appetite.