Special to The Hays Daily News

LAWRENCE -- For the 11th year, the University of Kansas will sponsor a whirlwind tour of Kansas for more than 40 faculty and staff members, many of whom are new to the state.

The Wheat State Whirlwind Tour will hit the road May 19 to 23, visiting more than 20 communities and passing through 30 counties while covering in excess of 1,000 miles of roadway.

Northwest Kansas stops include Lucas, Palco, Goodland, Oakley and Ness City.

Participants on this year's tour are professors, deans and staff members from the Lawrence campus; KU Medical Center in Kansas City, Kan.; KU School of Medicine-Wichita; and the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center, a division of KU Continuing Education.

Chancellor Robert Hemenway, who started the Wheat State Whirlwind Tour, said the annual trip is an invaluable experience for the participants.

"Year after year, the tour has proven to be an outstanding way for KU faculty and staff to get out and learn firsthand what makes this great state tick," Hemenway said. "They not only learn about its history, landscape and economy, they get a better understanding of where KU's students come from and meet some great people along the way."

Highlights of this year's tour include the Brown v. Board of Education Historical Site in Topeka, Landoll Corp. in Marysville, Lake Wilson, the historic African-American pioneer community Nicodemus, a ride with buffalo in Scott County, Fort Larned, the Underground Salt Museum in Hutchinson and the Kansas Law Enforcement Training Center near Yoder.

New stops on this year's tour include an overnight stay in Goodland, a tour of the Ness City bank known as the "Skyscraper of the Plains," the Spearville Wind Farm and lunch at the Wheatland Cafe in Hudson. A dinner with alumni in northeast Kansas will be May 20 at the Prairie Castle/Kuhrt Ranch in Edson. Three of the "Eight Wonders of Kansas" are on the itinerary: Monument Rocks in Gove County, the Underground Salt Museum in Hutchinson and the Flint Hills.