Thursday, by contrast, dawned sunny and hot, made enjoyable by a gentle Kansas breeze across the prairie. The proud residents of the Burdett community put aside their daily tasks to honor-- make a star, said some-- of a world reknown space explorer who is a native son.
It was Dr. Clyde Tombaugh Day highlighted by the unveiling of a roadside historical marker in his honor. And the 76-year-old discover of the planet Pluto was on hand for the event.
Traffic was slowed to a crawl on U.S. 156 as several hundred persons crowded into a tiny roadside
park beneath the shadow of the water tower at the west edge of town for the ceremony.
......
Bette Jo Roberts, Sen. Kassebaum's representative, noted that the state motto is "To the
Stars through Difficulties."
Dr. Tombaugh's research, she said, "did take him to the stars through difficulty. Dr. Tombaugh,
" she added, turning to the grinning scientist, "you truly represent the spirit of Kansas."
......
Then it was Dr. Tombaugh's turn. He stole the show as he rightfully should since it was the day
his home town chose to honor him for a lifetime of study, research and discovery that began on the
family farm northwest of Burdett.
The space scientist has been honored many times since his February 1930 discovery of the mystery planet X, later named Pluto. He's been awarded honorary degrees and had two observatories and an asteroid named in his honor.
Although born in Illinois, Tombaugh later told reporters he does indeed consider Burdett as his home town.
"This is my home town. This is where I spent my latter teen years, my young adulthood. This is where I feel at home. I consider Burdett my home town. My roots here go very deep."
"I feel very deeply honored," he told his fellow Burdett residents. And he was quick to praise his home town.
"Whether you realize it or not," he said, "Burdett played a very important role in the discovery of Pluto." Then he related the role a high school physics teacher played in his budding interest and how neighbors assisted in the construction of an all-important storm and fruit cellar on the Tombaugh farm.
The cellar was necessary to provide the correct temperatures with which to grind mirrors for his home-built telescope. He succeeded and the resulting hand-drawn charts of his observations were submitted to Lowell Observatory in Flagstaff, Ariz., which landed the Kansas farm boy a job searching for the mystery planet.
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