I headed to Alton early Sunday morning for the community’s annual Easter Sunrise Pageant. I had been there two weeks prior to check out the rest of the community, and the Rev. Homer Smuck had shown me the bluffs where the pageant takes place.

It was muddy then, still drying up from the late winter snows we received. But little did I know the area had received quite a bit of moisture in the two days leading up to Easter Sunday.

Needless to say, the climb up the hill to the bluffs where the pageant took place was more than a little muddy.

I came home with each of my shoes easily weighing 5 pounds.

But I won’t complain. You see, I “cruised” northwest Kansas last year for 14 weeks during the summer, covering various events in communities throughout our area. Not once did I see a drop of rain — and very rarely did I see cloud cover. The 100-degree days nearly did me in.

So it’s been a welcome relief to see rain and cool temperatures so far this year. Maybe it’s a good sign for things to come.

The stage at Bull City Cafe reflects the history of Alton and the surrounding area.

I knew two things about Alton before I took a trip there two weeks ago — they have good fried chicken on Fridays and a world-famous gun shop. Little did I know I would find such pride in the town of 100.

That pride starts with Wilda Carswell, president of the Alton PRIDE organization. The group sponsors monthly events including a recent Ladies Night Out, a spring cleanup, Halloween party for kids and the annual Alton Jubilee, which will be Aug. 24 this year.

“Our big thing is the jubilee every summer,” Carswell said. “We almost talk about it year-round. We already know something we want to do next year.”

The PRIDE group started in 1985, and one of the main focuses has been to revamp the city park. A basketball court, skate park, picnic tables, shelter house and restrooms have been added through the years.

“There’s kids in the summer nearly day playing,” Carswell said.

And keeping kids and their parents in the community is one of the most important reasons for keeping the park in good shape, as well as sponsoring their monthly community events.

“It’s just a friendly place,” Carswell said. “We just feel like it’s a close-knit community.”

I’m headed out this week to talk to people from my next two stops: Rush Center and Alton.

I hear it’s Fried Chicken Friday at the Alton Cafe, so I’ll be stopping in to check it out. It turns out Pastor Homer Smuck, whose Mt. Ayr Friends Church puts on the Easter sunrise service each year (the whole reason for my trip), also owns the cafe with his wife. He’s promised me some chicken — and as much information about Alton as I want to know.

I’ll head back up there on Easter Sunday to capture what we all hope is a beautiful spring morning as the community celebrates Easter.

On Saturday, I’ll be donning some green and heading out to Rush Center. This is the 24th annual St. Patrick’s Day event, which will feature a car show, parade, bed races, Irish Stew — and probably a few green brews.

The St. Patty’s Day event started because someone in Rush Center bought a new car on March 17th 25 years ago and called everybody in town to parade their cars with him as he showed off his new prized possession. I would imagine he had no idea his small parade would turn into nearly a quarter century of celebrating the Irish holiday.

The car show starts at 10, bed races at 1 and parade at 2. If you drive through Rush Center on Saturday, I’m sure you can’t miss it.

Karla Rohleder, left, and Susan Keith cut, season and bread fish before it is put in deep-fat fryers Friday at Collyer’s Lenten Fish Fry.

It’s always nice to walk into a town and feel welcomed by anyone and everyone.

I spent Friday evening in Collyer at the town’s first Lenten Fish Fry of the year. (I think I’m still trying to wash the smell of fried fish out of my hair, by the way.)

Nonetheless, it was a great way to kick off a new year with Talk of the Town. I had people walk up and wrap their arm around me, welcome me to town and want to know my backstory. That’s just the way life is in small towns.

I ran into two couples who trekked from Grinnell to take in their first fish fry in Collyer, and they made a great point. People from all over northwest Kansas come to Grinnell for Stag/Stagette on the first Wednesday of the month, so why shouldn’t people from Grinnell return the favor by visiting events like the Lenten Fish Fry in Collyer?

“Small towns helping small towns,” Loren Percival of Grinnell told me.

And as I learned Friday, Collyer can use all the help it can get in order to keep the town going strong. With only a post office and a repair shop left for business in town, there’s not much going on, but not for lack of trying … or frying … by the Collyer Community Alliance.

It’s a new year, and a new focus for The Hays Daily News is in order.

I had someone ask me today just what Talk of the Town was going to be. Well, that’s a good question.

I’m still centering my trips to your towns around a specific event like I did with Cruising NWKS last year. But this year, I want to get a better idea for what’s really going on in your community. What’s new? What’s old? What’s interesting? What’s unique?

And I really want to find that one person that makes your community tick.

Obviously, until I hit the road, I have no idea what I’m going to find. So my expectations and ambitions might be way off, but a girl can dream, right?

Talk of the Town from Collyer will premiere in The Hays Daily News on Tuesday, March 5. I guess we’ll all find out that day just exactly what I find.