By PHYLLIS ZORN

Staff writer

History, music and sights of the county — all part of a tour presented Saturday by Flint Hills Counterpoint at Peabody, — brought 37 tourists to learn about Marion County and listen to original music composed for each of the six stops on the tour.

At Marion, Rex Buchanan, director emeritus of Kansas Geological Survey, spoke about streams and natural springs, including one in Central Park that gave settlers sources of water.

He pointed out examples of Cottonwood limestone used to build many Marion buildings — as well as buildings as far away as Topeka. He told tour participants how to identify it out of many other forms of limestone.

Tour participants got to hear original music performed by Ramiro Miranda, Rob Loren, Elizabeth Wallace, and Flint Hills Counterpoint executive director Susan Mayo, members of Switchgrass String Quartet, a group formed by Mayo for Counterpoint.

Most musical numbers were composed by Mayo.

Tour member Susie Gragg and her husband came from Madison. They found out about the tour only a week earlier but decided it would be a good way to spend a day.

Tour participants got a small book from what will be a larger audio book Counterpoint is working to develop.

The tour’s bus left Peabody City Park at 9:45 a.m. Saturday and made stops at Crystal Springs in Florence, St. John Nepomucene Church in Pilsen, Marion Central Park, Max Terman’s berm house in Hillsboro, Mennonite Heritage and Agriculture Museum in Goessel, and downtown Peabody.

They heard about immigration to, and development of, the county.

It was the first preview of the audio book, already two years in the making. Based on 40 interviews, film, photos, and original music, it is being produced by filmmaker Diane Meeks, who recorded the interviews for the project.