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First published in The Emporia Gazette November 22, 2005
MARCI KNOWS KANSAS by Cheryl Unruh
Winona, Clyde, Otis. Mankato, Milford, Minneola.
After two years of touring, Penner, of Inman, compiled a book that reveals the unexpected charm and wonder found in Kansas. The Kansas Guidebook for Explorers has more than 400 color photographs and offers 3,597 entries which describe places to go and things to experience. The book includes local art and customs, architectural and historical highlights.
Penner, who directs the Kansas Sampler Foundation, wants Kansans to be as excited about exploring the state as she is. The foundation’s mission is to preserve and sustain rural culture. The Kansas Explorers Club, an offshoot of the Sampler Foundation, was formed to provide a way of uniting and communicating with those who appreciate the state. Explorers Club members take it upon themselves to support rural communities by choosing to dine in small-town restaurants, and by purchasing such things as gas, groceries, and even postage stamps in these tiny places.
In Norwich, Rowdy’s, a convenience store, is housed in an old Valentine diner building.
The caption under a photograph of an oddly shaped and cleverly painted water tower reads, “It’s supposedly a water tower in Narka—or is it an alien spaceship?”
While gathering information, Penner traveled 40,124 miles. She prefers dirt to pavement and topping her list of favorite roadways are “the road through the Arikaree Breaks north of St. Francis” and “the dirt roads in Barber County.”
said, “Independent.”
experience? “I think I’d recommend that every Kansan go to the cabin north of Athol where Brewster Higley wrote the words to the song that ecame known as Home on the Range,” she said.
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Home on the Range mural in Emporia. Copyright 2005 by Cheryl Unruh
Copyright 2005 by Cheryl Unruh |
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All Content Copyright 2004-2005 by Cheryl Unruh |