[meteorite-list] Meteorites are Pride of Two Towns in Kansas

From: dfreeman <dfreeman_at_meteoritecentral.com>
Date: Mon Jan 2 23:15:53 2006
Message-ID: <43B9FA77.5030806_at_fascination.com>

Dear Ron, List;
Sounds a little like western Kansas would like to become like Iowa and
the "Field of Dreams" that was a very good movie and brought people to
Iowa to just sit and rest.
We could go sit in the winter wheat fields and touch the Milky Way!
A very nice story,
Dave Freeman

Ron Baalke wrote:

>http://www.kansas.com/mld/kansas/news/state/13526195.htm
>
>Meteorites are pride of two towns
>
>Now one of the western Kansas towns wants to be the Meteorite
>Capital of America.
>
>BY BECCY TANNER
>The Wichita Eagle
>January 1, 2006
>
>Haviland and Greensburg have always been close, but meteorites have come
>between them.
>
>People in Haviland are a bit put out that Greensburg seems to be getting
>all the credit for the world's largest oriented pallasite, a
>bullet-shaped meteorite.
>
>It was found in western Kansas, between the two Kiowa County towns.
>
>Haviland Mayor Jeff Christensen says Allen Binford, the farmer on whose
>land the 1,400-pound meteorite was found, lives in Haviland.
>
>Christensen has a vision. He believes Haviland, with its 612 residents,
>should be known as the Meteorite Capital of America.
>
>One of the nation's richest meteorite fields is in Kiowa County's
>Brenham Township, halfway between the two towns.
>
>"Haviland is a small town," Christensen said. "My dream is to get
>Haviland on the map. A meteorite museum could bring several hundred
>people to town."
>
>But Greensburg, the county seat, has 1,574 residents and is home to the
>world's fourth-largest pallasite meteorite. The meteorite is in the
>Celestial Museum at the Big Well, the world's largest hand-dug well and
>the county's top tourist attraction.
>
>It doesn't hurt Greensburg's reputation, Mayor Stanley Adolph said, that
>professional meteorite hunter Steve Arnold, who found the huge meteorite
>on Binford's farm, recently bought a house in town.
>
>Arnold also has leased nearly 3,000 acres of Kiowa County farmland and
>plans to spend the next few years combing the fields of Brenham Township
>for more meteorites.
>
>"We're proud to have him," Adolph said. "Maybe he'll find us another."
>
>Arnold said there are enough meteorites for both communities.
>
>"I wish there were more communities in the world wanting to take credit
>for meteorites found in their midst," Arnold said. "Kiowa County is the
>only county in the United States where 100 percent of the residents are
>aware of what meteorites are."
>
>No matter which town lays claim to the meteorites, Arizona science
>writer and meteorite collector Geoffrey Notkin said he thinks the idea
>of a national meteorite capital might work.
>
>"I am not sure anyone else would be able to stand up and dispute it," he
>said.
>
>Christensen said the idea is in the planning stages.
>
>"If anybody is interested, I want to set up a museum," he said. "I want
>to do anything to get people into our town."
>
>Twelve years ago, farmer Don Stimpson bought property near Haviland that
>has a meteorite crater on it.
>
>A museum in Haviland, Stimpson said, could tell the history of how the
>area became so meteorite-rich, showcase collections and perhaps host a
>festival.
>
>"Out here we've got dark skies," he said. "You can go out, and on a
>clear night it seems the Milky Way is so close you can reach out and
>touch it."
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Received on Mon 02 Jan 2006 11:15:51 PM PST