The City of Wichita competed on Thursday at the prestigious All-America City (AAC) competition in Tampa, Fla. The City’s performance, which included a 10-minute skit highlighting successful local collaborations and follow-up questions from competition judges, was greeted with applause, laughter and praise for its execution and creativity.

Wichita’s skit, titled “City or No City,” was a parody of the NBC game show “Deal or No Deal.” The lead character was Mayor Carl Brewer, who played “Mayor How We Do It,” a spoof of the game show’s star host Howie Mandel. Wichita’s spirited afternoon performance - on an elevated stage inside a spacious ballroom of the host hotel - followed five competing cities, including Phoenix; Fort Smith, Arkansas; Inglewood, California; Tampa, South Bend, Indiana; and Des Moines, Iowa. The 30-member Wichita team entered the ballroom chanting and dancing to the background music of the popular dance song, “This Is How We Do It.”

“Wichita, you are wonderful,” said one judge. ”You got us going.”

Another judge said, “I appreciate the creativity of your presentation and I commend you for your collaborations.”

Ten of the 29 competing cities will be crowned AAC winners Friday evening after the competition concludes earlier in the afternoon. The 29 finalists were named in March. Wichita previously claimed the AAC honor in 1961, 1993 and 1999.

The Wichita team also included Council member Lavonta Williams and representatives from the city’s three featured collaborations: Visioneering Wichita, Mennonite Housing Rehabilitation Services and Opportunity Drive.

Opportunity Drive is a learning and recreation campus, which includes the Boys and Girls Club of South Central Kansas, a preschool program known as The Opportunity Project (TOP) and the Gordon Parks Academy, a kindergarten through eighth grade public school. Visioneering Wichita is a multipurpose community engagement and regional planning initiative. Mennonite Housing is a nonprofit that builds affordable homes for low-income families.

The All-America City Award was founded in 1949 by the National Civic League, which raises awareness about cities that exceed at community collaboration, community pride and economic development. AAC recognition can boost a community’s sense of civic pride and generate national attention, which helps in the recruitment of industry, jobs and investment to an area. AAC honorees serve as models for communities throughout the nation who are facing difficult challenges and seeking innovative and collaborative ways to overcome them.

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