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MARQUETTE —
Marci Penner may have looked like just another visitor.
No one in Marquette was expecting her to stop by, and that is exactly the way she wanted to approach the first town in a journey across the state as an average Joe looking for unique attractions.
Her vehicle, on the other hand, may have given them a few minutes warning of her intent. Across the side were bright blue letters stating the name of the GMC Terrain and its upcoming journey, “Explorer Research Voyage.”
The voyage is a two-year plan by the Kansas Sampler Foundation in Inman to travel to all 626 incorporated towns in the state. Traveling a total of 40,000 miles, the journey will attempt to compile information from every area into the second edition of the “Kansas Guidebook for Explorers.”
The journey began Tuesday with the dedication of ERV, loaned by Midway Motors of McPherson. This is the first year the foundation will use an official wrapped car.
“We are excited to support this project and to help get the word out about what there is to see and do in Kansas,” Midway Motors vice president Corey Hoover said. “Small town Kansas is something we all believe in, and it’s important to shed light on what Marci is doing and let people know what’s out there.”
Old journey, new offerings
Foundation director Penner made her first journey across the state several years ago. She used her own car and relentless passion to publish the first edition of the book in 2005. This time around, however, ERV and assistant director WenDee LaPlant will join her in the journey.
Rather than discovering each town for the first time, this year’s returning journey will focus on updating information and digging deeper into uncovering more visitor attractions.
This round also will allow interested individuals to follow their journey on Facebook, Twitter and a blog site, all found at kansassampler.org. This is a helpful tool, as the guidebook isn't expected to be published until 2015.
Mission to preserve
When it is released, it will be another fulfillment of the foundation’s goals.
“The mission of our foundation is to preserve and sustain rural culture,” Penner said. “Every project we have is to connect with that.”
“A lot of times, people have never heard of the names, and less have been in the towns. If we make it easy to know what’s there, it makes them more likely to go there and give more support to the town.”
This is important for small towns like Marquette, who do not have a visitor’s budget.
“We’re excited and honored,” Fred Peterson, city clerk, said. “It offers us a lot of publicity. No town can get enough. We have a lot more (to offer visitors) than people think.”
Locals often know of surrounding attractions but cannot effectively communicate them to the public. That is why Penner and LaPlant prefer arriving in towns unannounced, which gives them a truer picture of what an average resident and visitor would experience.
“I think it’s important to talk to the locals,” Penner said. “You write about things that they never would have thought would be interesting. In the end, they feel like what you write is a part of them.”
Rather than hitting only the highlights, the duo prefers walking downtown, visiting with locals in shops and hearing firsthand what the area is like. Many have now read the previous guidebook and have suggestions for more sites.
“We are one of the richest states in the number of explorer attractions,” Penner said, adding many agencies from other states ask of their projects and have expressed a desire for a project like this one. “We haven't found another counterpart like us.”
Marci Penner may have looked like just another visitor.
No one in Marquette was expecting her to stop by, and that is exactly the way she wanted to approach the first town in a journey across the state as an average Joe looking for unique attractions.
Her vehicle, on the other hand, may have given them a few minutes warning of her intent. Across the side were bright blue letters stating the name of the GMC Terrain and its upcoming journey, “Explorer Research Voyage.”
The voyage is a two-year plan by the Kansas Sampler Foundation in Inman to travel to all 626 incorporated towns in the state. Traveling a total of 40,000 miles, the journey will attempt to compile information from every area into the second edition of the “Kansas Guidebook for Explorers.”
The journey began Tuesday with the dedication of ERV, loaned by Midway Motors of McPherson. This is the first year the foundation will use an official wrapped car.
“We are excited to support this project and to help get the word out about what there is to see and do in Kansas,” Midway Motors vice president Corey Hoover said. “Small town Kansas is something we all believe in, and it’s important to shed light on what Marci is doing and let people know what’s out there.”
Old journey, new offerings
Foundation director Penner made her first journey across the state several years ago. She used her own car and relentless passion to publish the first edition of the book in 2005. This time around, however, ERV and assistant director WenDee LaPlant will join her in the journey.
Rather than discovering each town for the first time, this year’s returning journey will focus on updating information and digging deeper into uncovering more visitor attractions.
This round also will allow interested individuals to follow their journey on Facebook, Twitter and a blog site, all found at kansassampler.org. This is a helpful tool, as the guidebook isn't expected to be published until 2015.
Mission to preserve
When it is released, it will be another fulfillment of the foundation’s goals.
“The mission of our foundation is to preserve and sustain rural culture,” Penner said. “Every project we have is to connect with that.”
“A lot of times, people have never heard of the names, and less have been in the towns. If we make it easy to know what’s there, it makes them more likely to go there and give more support to the town.”
This is important for small towns like Marquette, who do not have a visitor’s budget.
“We’re excited and honored,” Fred Peterson, city clerk, said. “It offers us a lot of publicity. No town can get enough. We have a lot more (to offer visitors) than people think.”
Locals often know of surrounding attractions but cannot effectively communicate them to the public. That is why Penner and LaPlant prefer arriving in towns unannounced, which gives them a truer picture of what an average resident and visitor would experience.
“I think it’s important to talk to the locals,” Penner said. “You write about things that they never would have thought would be interesting. In the end, they feel like what you write is a part of them.”
Rather than hitting only the highlights, the duo prefers walking downtown, visiting with locals in shops and hearing firsthand what the area is like. Many have now read the previous guidebook and have suggestions for more sites.
“We are one of the richest states in the number of explorer attractions,” Penner said, adding many agencies from other states ask of their projects and have expressed a desire for a project like this one. “We haven't found another counterpart like us.”
Just the beginning
Once they are finished exploring Marquette, the duo will finish visiting the other towns in the county, as is their plan across the state. They do not have a scheduled route.
Although they plan to visit every incorporated town and even some unincorporated locations, not all will make it into print. Five hundred were in the first edition.
Since Penner has made this trek before, she knows it’s not easy. Their plan is to be on the road two to four days each week.
The rewards, however, outweigh the occasional exhaustion and stress of funding.
“You go to a town and meet the greatest people and see a neat attraction, and you get all pumped up again,’’ she said.
