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Sunday Gathering: “Living at the South Pole” with Keith Fouts

May 15, 2016 @ 11:00 am - 12:30 pm

Doors open at 10:30 am for coffee and conversation.
Sunday Gathering begins at 11 a.m.
Childcare is provided. Everyone is welcome!
Program ends at 12:30 p.m.

Featured Speaker: Keith Fouts “Living and working at the South Pole & the challenges of beginning the South Pole Freethinkers group”
Community Moment: David Ricks
Musical Guest: Alan White

Since the summer of 2006/2007, Keith Fouts has been drawn back to the “Ice,” as Antarcticans call it. He has worked at the South Pole through five different summer seasons. Fouts will share his seven-flight journey from Kansas City International Airport to the South Pole, where the windchill sometimes reaches -90°F, and he’ll describe some of the scientific experiments taking place there.

During his 2010/2011 summer, to his surprise, given that science was the reason they were all there, he noticed a push to spread religion among the research station’s 250 members during after-hours activities. With encouragement from some secular co-workers, he founded and led the South Pole Freethinkers for the next three summer seasons. In his talk he will share some of the unexpected challenges he faced.

About Keith Fouts:
Fouts grew up in Ottawa, Kansas. After earning a bachelor’s degree in aeronautical science from the Florida Institute of Technology, he moved to Virginia to begin a career as a flight instructor. Unfortunately, his first day on the job was September 11, 2001. Religious extremists changed his career path that day.

He flight-instructed for the next 18 months, but saw that aviation was not going anywhere with all the changes since 9/11. Having worked as an electrical apprentice to pay for college, he quickly earned his journeyman, then master electrician licenses. Then he learned about contracting opportunities for licensed electricians willing to travel.

Today, Fouts works six to eight months a year and travels between contracts. He is in the process of building an earthbag house for his parents (http://www.lilyannfouts.com/blog/earthbag/).

*By participating in this event, you agree to abide by the Oasis Code of Conduct (https://www.kcoasis.org/about-oasis/code-of-conduct/)

Details

Date:
May 15, 2016
Time:
11:00 am - 12:30 pm

Venue

Tony Aguirre Community Center
2050 W Pennway St
Kansas City, MO 64108 United States
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