I started as associate curator at the Beach Museum less than a month ago, moving from New York City to Manhattan. (My New York friends had a field day making puns about the move.) Since I had never experienced rural life in Kansas before, curator Liz Seaton invited me to her town’s annual Mulligan and town-wide garage sale. For those who wonder, a mulligan is a beef stew with potatoes and vegetables, and every year, the whole town comes together to cook and eat. I donned my plaid shirt and jeans, and brought my own pan and spoon. After going around several garage sales, talking to people, and exploring the two antique shops , Liz and I hit the community park, where I saw two big black cast iron pots complete with their own chimneys, and several of the local men taking turns stirring with giant paddles. The whole scene could have belonged to a Harry Potter movie. I got steaming hot mulligan served to me with a giant ladle by the local plumber/furnace guy. A band of senior citizens played folk music, followed by the First Infantry Army Band with country rock, as we ate our mulligan on stone benches. Kids played bowling with alleys built from bales of hay, and a group of men and women gathered in a different part of the park for an arm wrestling contest. The sun was out, the day was beautiful, and this New Yorker thoroughly enjoyed her first Mulligan. I am grateful for the warm welcome I have received here in Kansas!
Aileen Wang, Associate Curator