KU News Release

Wheat State Whirlwind Tour to visit Topeka, Barnes, Marysville, Concordia

LAWRENCE — Nearly 50 University of Kansas faculty and staff members will visit sites in Topeka, Wamego, Barnes, Marysville and Concordia on Monday, May 21, the first day of the 2007 Wheat State Whirlwind Tour.

This year marks the 10th year for the tour, which introduces participants to the history, landscape, economy and culture of Kansas.

Sponsored by Chancellor Robert Hemenway, the tour will kick off with a visit to the Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site in Topeka. The site, located at Monroe School, commemorates the landmark Supreme Court case that led to the desegregation of American public schools.

From Topeka the tour bus will travel to Wamego in Pottawatomie County, where participants will see the historic Columbian Theatre and Oz Museum.

By noon, the bus will roll in to Washington County, where the group will have lunch at Our Daily Bread Shop in Barnes.

The next stop will be in Marysville in Marshall County, where the group will tour Landoll Corporation, 1196 Pony Express Highway. Don Landoll, president, chairman and founder of the company, will talk about the award-winning firm’s design, production and global marketing of machinery used in transportation and agriculture. The group will then move on to Pony Express Home Station No. 1.

In Belleville, Marlesa Roney, vice provost for Student Success and Concordia native, and Sue Sutton, dean of humanities at Cloud County Community College and Concordia resident, will board the bus to talk about sites in Concordia and share the area’s history. The tour will visit Camp Concordia, a World War II prisoner of war camp for German soldiers, and the National Orphan Train Museum.

Later that evening, tour participants will have dinner with KU alumni at Concordia’s historic Brown Grand Theatre, 310 W. Sixth St. Karen Kelly, deputy director of the KU Cancer Center and a tour participant, will speak about the KU Cancer Center and health care in rural Kansas.

On Tuesday, May 22, the tour will continue westward with stops in Lucas, Palco, Nicodemus and Colby.

Itinerary for Monday, May 21

7:50 a.m. — Load bus at KU Visitor Center, 15th and Iowa streets
8:10 a.m. — Depart for Topeka (27 miles)
8:50 a.m. — Arrive at Brown v. Board of Education National Historic Site
9:40 a.m. — Depart for Wamego (45 miles)
10:40 a.m. — Arrive in Wamego. Points of interest: historic Columbian Theatre and Oz Museum
11 a.m. — Depart for Barnes (64 miles)
12:15 p.m. — Arrive at Barnes. Lunch at Our Daily Bread Shop
1:20 p.m. — Depart for Marysville (21 miles)
2 p.m. — Arrive at Marysville. Tour Landoll Corporation and Pony Express Home Station No. 1
2:50 p.m. — Depart for Concordia (71 miles)
4 p.m. — Marlesa Roney boards bus in Belleville. Point of interest: Camp Concordia
4:45 p.m. — Check in to hotel
5:15 p.m. — Depart for National Orphan Train Museum
6 p.m. — Alumni dinner at the Brown Grand Theatre
8:30 p.m. — Return to hotel

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