Essays taken from a weekly newspaper column published in the Washington County News, Washington, Kansas. Look for my book, "Dispatches From Kansas," available from Amazon.com, or from the author.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Ice Age Monument dedication
Cave girls, glacial milk water, dignitaries: Blue Rapids had it all for the dedication of the Ice Age Monument. Top to bottom: Marcie Penner, director of the Kansas Sampler Foundation; Professor George Callison, paleontologist and artist, who imagined the monument and brought it to life; Mattie Sanders, one of the elusive cave girls hunting the peripheries of the monument (and slaying a T-Rex); Zoe Sanders, whose spear was a formidable weapon; Skyler Sanders, who carved a petroglyph of the photographer; Zoe Sanders in action; the monument, round like the only round town square in Kansas; the color guard backing Prof. George Callison at his introductory speech; Rex Buchanan, interim director of the Kansas Geological Survey; Becky Blake, director of Kansas Travel and Tourism; Prof Callison with contractors who built the monument—Bailey Construction, Frankfort.
7 comments:
A monument to the Ice Age. How completely awesome is that?
Pretty completely awesome, actually! There's even a small speaker that when a button is pushed gives an audio intro to glaciers and how they sculpted our area.
What fun! Is that big, round boulder a natural remnant from back in the day? I suspect so. I hope so. I presume the construction was limited to the surrounding area.
I'd forgotten about the "round square" business. It's nice that the monument echoes that, too.
Pretty cool. No pun intended. Out in Bishop, we're in the midst of Mule Days craziness. If you're into mules, this is the place to be. I've been out here 12 years and I guess I really should go see it sometime.
Linda -- The boulders are glacial erratics, Sioux quartzite brought down from Minnesota. And yes, I hadn't noticed that the base of the monument mirrors our round town square until halfway through the dedication, at which time I was even more impressed at the design.
Reece -- You ought to go before heading to NM. Should be great for photo ops!
Very cool monument, and I love that the quartzite comes from MN!
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