Welcome to the latest issue of the Merriam Historic Plaza & Visitors Bureau e-news.  This online tourism resource provides helpful information including upcoming events, tourism industry announcements, promotions and updates from Merriam and the regional metropolitan area.

Merriam...Just Right!

Beginning Saturday, June 30, downtown Merriam and Shawnee will transform into a beautiful display of patriotism as over 2,000 U.S. flags will be setup for the Fields for Freedom event hosted Saturday, June 30 - Saturday, July 7.

Volunteers will begin flag setup at 6:30 am on June 30 and the flags will wave for an entire week from downtown Merriam at the Merriam Marketplace, community center and along Merriam Drive into Shawnee along Johnson Drive into Herman Laird Park.

Event organizers are expecting record visitation during the week-long event, especially because it is a dual community partnership between volunteers in both Merriam and neighboring Shawnee.

The flags arrived from Utah by special delivery on June 4 from Bob Lehmiller of Mike's Guardian Eagle Foundation.  On June 19 and 20, over 80 volunteers donated their time to assemble and carefully store the flags until setup this Saturday.

• Saturday, June 30 - 6:30 am -- Volunteer flag setup and placement; 10:00 am opening ceremony at the Merriam Marketplace
• Wednesday, July 4 - 12 noon -- Patriotic program and picnic at the Merriam Marketplace featuring guest speaker, Congressman Dennis Moore; a vintage war plane fly-over and music by the 35th Infantry Division Band.
• Saturday, July 7 - 1:00 pm -- Closing ceremony at the Merriam Marketplace and field take-down

Looking for summer fun activities during your visit to Merriam?  Maybe you live here and are entertaining guests this summer?  We've come up with our "Top Five Family Summer Favorites in Merriam"...check it out!

1)  Merriam Marketplace Farmer's Market -- Saturday mornings from 7:00 am - 1:00 pm.  Wednesday night concerts are also hosted from 7-9 pm during June and July.

2)  Fields for Freedom -- Saturday, June 30 - Saturday, July 7 in downtown Merriam.

Confused by all the new passport regulations?  Most people are, so the travel industry has launched a new website, GetAPassportNow.com, to inform travelers about new passport requirements and to help them get passports. The purpose of the website is to also educate travelers about pending deadlines contained in the Western Hemisphere Travel Initiative (WHTI) recently revised by Congressional action and to provide easy access to passport information.

• Congrats to Drury Hotels for being selected #1 in the "Moderate Hotels" category by Consumer Reports.  The 2007 "Best Hotels" survey was released just in time for the summer travel season.  Check out the July issue, page 14-16 to learn more about how Drury Hotels connects with its guests.
• HGTV loves Merriam's Mechanical Art!!  On Monday, June 25, Home & Garden Television aired "Look What I Did" and featured Merriam's own, Dan Leap, City Councilman and owner of Mechanical Art.  The program highlighted Dan's loft and took viewers through the process of crafting his famous guitar lamps.
• Special thanks to Friends of the Library volunteers Jan Marsh, Heather Holder, Sherri Hopkins, Matt Poehler and Marsha Bennett for donating their time on Saturday, May 5 for "Adopt-a-Park" cleanup at Merriam Historic Plaza.
• Georgetown Pharmacy, located at 5605 Merriam Drive will soon be opening their long-awaited old-fashioned soda shoppe.  More to come as details are received.
• Volunteers are currently being sought for various shifts at the Turkey Creek Car & Motorcycle Show on Saturday, September 8...if you are interested in helping, please contact Karen at 913-403-8999.
• The Merriam Visitors Bureau welcomes Allison Frieze, summer intern.  Allison, a life-long Leawood resident, joins Merriam from the University of Alabama where she is completing her degree in Hospitality Management.