By KEN CARPENTER
Great Bend Post
GREAT BEND — The Kansas Oil and Gas Hall of Fame and Museum will be inducting 11 industry leaders into its hall of fame at a dinner at the Great Bend Events Center on Saturday, Oct. 23. The money raised at the dinner will be used to support the Oil and Gas Museum on west 10th in Great Bend.
John Francis, President of the Oil and Gas Museum Foundation, explained the importance of the event.
“In 1989, our founder Danny Biggs had this dream of creating a hall of fame for pioneers of the industry to recognize their achievements and memorialize their accomplishments,” Francis said.
All of the inductees have worked at least 20 years in the oil and gas industry and have shown a commitment to community service.
The Oil and Gas Museum was closed for renovations when the COVID-19 pandemic began. Warren Martin of Kansas Strong was responsible for renovating and updating the exhibit rooms. Francis says the museum will reopen for visitors in the spring of 2022. It houses displays that include information about the history of the oil and gas industry, the science of oil drilling and an interactive kiosk that informs visitors about consumer items that are produced with oil by-products.
The museum also contains an event room that can be rented for wedding receptions, Christmas parties and business meetings.
About 350 guests will be attending Saturday evening's dinner. They will be joined by U.S. Senator Dr. Roger Marshall, Congressman Stacy Mann and Kansas Attorney General Derek Schmidt.
The eleven inductees are Cecil O’Brate, Pierce Musgrove, James Remsburg, Barbara Oringderff, Kirk Rundle, George E. Miller, Jr., John O. Farmer III, Kenneth Link, Gene Zaid, J.C. Musgrove and R.A. (Dick) Schremmer.