Each Hoch Publishing newspaper includes a special “Explore” section this week. Marion County Record, Hillsboro Star-Journal, and Peabody Gazette-Bulletin have schedules of events, advertisements for county businesses, stories about special happenings and people, and highlights for upcoming activities in Marion County.

The listings are by no means complete, but there are plenty of things going on countywide this fall and you ought to take part in some of them with family or friends.

The “Rural by Choice” initiative highlights the many good things small towns in Kansas have to offer. Sometimes they are events tied to school programs or efforts by young people on a playing field. Sometimes they are productions by special interest groups sharing what they love — crafts, barbecue, vintage vehicles, pumpkin carving, harvest festivals, and many others.

Events put on by our friends, neighbors, and community groups pull us together to participate in the very things that give us all an attachment to our towns and county. Usually, they are hometown fun and a reason to be rural by choice. Of course, we hope people from across the area will come to town and be a part of whatever we present. However, we need to be front and center as well.

Most Marion County communities will have groups that put together fall events suitable for families. Take your children and have them invite their cousins or friends. These are the small town moments they will remember when they are our age. They are why we live where we do and why we stay.

When you read the paper this week, pull the “Explore” section out and look it over. Set it aside and look at it again in a week. Pick out an event or two to attend. Be adventurous — branch out and go to a town you do not visit often. Shop in their stores, sit in their parks, talk to their residents, eat in their restaurants, and have a good time in Marion County.

Enjoy yourself and later look over that “Explore” piece again. Plan to attend another event somewhere else. I bet you can find one and meet some great like-minded Marion County folks doing the same thing.

Explore!

—Susan marshall