Flint Hills Counterpoint to host Humanities Speaker Series event on March 18

Rex Buchanan will lead a walking tour in Marion to explore Marion County’s geology by exploring historic building materials. The tour is on March 18.

Flint Hills Counterpoint will have its second Humanities Speaker Series event at 1 p.m. on March 18. Rex Buchanan, Director Emeritus of the Kansas Geological Society will lead the walking tour “Geology Through Building Materials”. He will lead participants in a walking tour of Marion’s Historic Downtown. The tour is designed to explore Marion County’s geology by exploring historic building materials.

Buchanan grew up in Rice County, Kansas, on the edge of the Smoky Hills. After 38 years at the Kansas Geological Survey at the University of Kansas, he retired as Director Emeritus in 2016. He is the co-author of Petroglyphs of the Kansas Smoky Hills and Roadside Kansas: A Traveler’s Guide to Its Geology and Landmarks, and editor of Kansas Geology: An Introduction to Landscapes, Rocks, Minerals, and Fossils (all published by the University Press of Kansas). Buchanan has an undergraduate degree from Kansas Wesleyan University and graduate degrees from the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

The route is about 1 mile in each direction. Participants are encouraged to wear sturdy walking shoes and weather-appropriate clothing. This is a rain-or-shine event.

The event is free to the public – reservations through Eventbrite are appreciated at https://www.eventbrite.com/e/506523915667. The event will start at The Historic Elgin Hotel at 115 Third in Marion.

The tour is part of Flint Hills Counterpoint investigation of Marion County for its upcoming Audio Tour Book and is sponsored by Humanities Kansas, The Kansas Creative Industries Commission and the New York Foundation for the Arts.

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