Basketball author and historian Steven Michael Farney will speak at the Barton County Historical Society meeting at 7:30 p.m. Monday, April 23.  The public is welcome to attend this meeting at the Barton County Historical Museum, located south of the Arkansas River bridge in Great Bend on U.S. 281.
Historical Society Director Beverly Komarek said Farney is recognized as one of the leading authorities on basketball history in the Sunflower state. Over the years he has appeared on numerous radio and television shows and has authored three books on the subject.
 In January 2011 the state library, in conjunction with the Kansas Sesquicentennial celebration, selected his book “Title Towns” as one of the 150 most popular books in the state’s history. In January 2012, the Native Sons and Daughters of Kansas honored him at their annual banquet with an award for an article he had written about the early days of the Kansas girl’s state basketball tournaments from 1908-1921.
Farney will share a variety of basketball stories including information about the 1920 Great Bend boys team, the first Great Bend team to attend the state tournament. His books will be available for purchase.