Right here at home
Nearly every year our family has a "cousins reunion." We gather to visit, tell old stories, re-telling them again, and visit some more. It's fun.
We've held it in various cities and resort spots from Santa Fe to New Orleans, the Ozarks and the mountains. Somehow, the cousins have never considered coming to Marion. They probably wondered "what do they have to offer in such a small town?"
What do we have to offer? First, they could visit the newspaper office where the eldest of the cousins has served for 55 years, enjoy Central Park, our Historical Museum, and the restored depot/library. They could go fishing, hunting, or swap opinions at the coffee shop.
There's a good motel, three great bed and breakfast establishments, and some great places to eat.
We could take them to Burns, for example, for a piece of that scrumptious homemade pie at the bakery/café with a meal to match. Or we could go to Cassoday (our former stomping grounds where all the cousins spent some time) drive out into the tallgrass prairie and see the herd of 2,000 mustangs on Bob and Nadine Vestring's spread.
We could go to Abilene for the Ike complex; Cottonwood Falls to see the old hotel and enjoy a steak; the Goessel wheat museum and museum; the adobe house at Hillsboro; the various local craft shops and antique acquisition opportunities in Marion; go to Ramona which has been made famous in these columns by the "California girls;" enjoy a mess of fish from one of the lakes; a tantalizing plate of tender mountain oysters at the VFW; or they could sit and visit.
It sounds promising, and it's right here at home.
— BILL MEYER
