Grab your friends and history enthusiasts!
Due to popular demand, the Kansas Oil Museum will have two Ghost Town Tours across Butler County on Saturday, September 24th. Each Ghost Town Tour includes transportation on a luxury bus, a light lunch prepared by Chef Natasha from The Kitchen, and engaging commentary by Ken Spurgeon and Suzanne Walenta.
These tours are of towns that were once thriving communities but today aren't on the map. What happened to them? What was the town story and impact on the county? What's left of the town? What structures remain?
Ken is our History Consultant and is an educator, author, and award-winning filmmaker. Suzanne is our Curator and oversees our exhibits and does genealogy research in our Rolla A. Clymer Research Facility. Ken and Suzanne are also the directors of our historic television series, Kansas Crossroads.
Two tour times are available, with limited seats for each!
Morning Tour from 9 AM to 1 PM
Afternoon Tour from 2 PM to 6 PM
Tickets are on sale for $45 each until September 10th, then will be $50 per person.
Tours will start and finish at the Kansas Oil Museum in El Dorado.
Tickets available for purchase here: https://www.kansasoilmuseum.org/shop/
Natasha Gandhi-Rue is the chef and co-owner (along with her husband Scott) of The Kitchen, an American Bistro restaurant located in the heart of downtown Wichita – Union Station. Chef Natasha is responsible for the daily operations of The Kitchen as well as menu creation, culinary execution and standards. She leads her team in all aspects of running a local restaurant. A leader in culinary education, Natasha offers cooking classes at The Kitchen.
Chef Natasha is a formally trained chef from the renowned International Culinary Center (formerly French Culinary Institute) in New York City. Along with her Culinary degree she has a double major from The Pennsylvania State University.
Prior to opening The Kitchen, Natasha spent 15 years as the International Culinary Chef Manager for Williams-Sonoma, Inc.. Her responsibilities included the development and management of culinary programs in all stores worldwide.
Originally from New Jersey, Chef Natasha is admittedly a “city girl”, but for the last 18 years, she has been living, cooking and teaching in Wichita, Kansas and happily calls it home. Her newest adventure as chef and owner of The Kitchen allows her to serve her hometown delicious food as well as continue her passion for teaching culinary arts to food lovers.
Ken & Suzanne
Mr. Spurgeon was born and raised in Wichita. He earned a Bachelor’s and Master’s from Wichita State University in History while additionally compiling hours in Secondary Education: Social Studies.
He is an Associate Professor of History at Friends University and has been a consultant at the Kansas Oil Museum in El Dorado, KS for the past three years. He has spent over 20 years teaching at the High School and College level.
Mr. Spurgeon is also the author of “A Kansas Soldier at War: The Civil War Lives and Letters of Christian and Elise Dubach Isely,” published by The History Press, Charleston, SC, 2013.
From 2004 until 2018, he was the Executive Director of Lone Chimney Films, Inc., a not-for-profit documentary film company dedicated to films about the Midwest. He has written or co-written and directed four documentaries. The last two films (Home on the Range and The Road to Valhalla) have earned the Western Heritage Award (Wrangler) at the National Cowboy and Western Heritage Museum, 2018 and 2015. His documentary “Home on the Range” won the Director’s Choice Award in 2017 and is available in our shop. The previous three films have also aired on various PBS stations throughout the Midwest. Most recently, he is the director of the docudrama, The Contested Plains due out in July 2022.
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Suzanne Walenta was born and raised in Wichita, Kansas and earned her Bachelor’s degree from St. Olaf College. Suzanne has been at the Kansas Oil Museum & Butler County Historical Society since 2019 and serves as the curator. Suzanne helps visitors, volunteers, and researchers in a multitude of ways and is an integral part of the Museum team. As the curator, she oversees the assembly, documentation, care, and organization of displays for our collections and exhibits. In our Research Library, Suzanne assists visitors with genealogy research, locating archives, and using the equipment needed to research (such as our computer, microfilm, or catalog).
Suzanne assists with preservation and helps tell the story of Butler County through her work. She oversees any and all items that have been donated to the museum over the decades. When an item is donated, Suzanne ensures that it is processed and properly accounted for and determines how the item should best be used or displayed.