McCRACKEN — The McCracken Public Library will host its annual Fall Soup Supper and guest speaker at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, Nov. 17, at the city building. Thanks to a grant from the Kansas Humanities, Jim Hoy will be sharing Kansas Legends and Folktales.

Kansas legends and folktales include grasshoppers so big that cowboys can ride them to herd cattle. Summers so hot that corn pops in the field. Rancher Henry Mudge wrecking pianos, shooting sheep and fooling European dignitaries. Kansas is a place of big skies and tall tales, but these exaggerated narratives help us understand the character of our state and its people, Hoy said. This talk will explore some of the many Kansas legends and folktales and help audiences decipher between a myth (folk religion), legend (folk history), and tale (folk literature). When possible, local legends and folk tales — and what they say about that particular community — will be discussed.

Hoy is a folklorist who works with the Center for Great Plains Studies at Emporia State University. 

A  freewill soup supper will be held at 5:30 p.m., followed by the speaker. All ages are welcome.