Friends of Arrow: The First 55 Years

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The Friends of Arrow Rock Inc. gratefully acknowledges the generous support of Byron and Marilyn Shutz and the Byron Christopher Shutz Historical Preservation Fund that made possible the publication of this 55th Anniversary History.

Foreword

On June 14, 1959, the Friends of Arrow Rock was founded. The site of the founding — the historic J. Huston Tavern — was significant, since it was the State of Missouri’s first historic preservation site. The group that was meeting there also was significant, as they were the organization largely responsible for saving the Tavern and starting the preservation movement in Missouri: the Missouri State Society, Daughters of the American Revolution.

Since then, the Friends of Arrow Rock have been dedicated to leading the preservation and restoration of the town of Arrow Rock. Our successes have been many, thanks to the generosity of our members and donors and the tireless efforts of a professional staff and a host of volunteers.

These efforts are worth remembering and that is what this book is all about. A history organization like ours not only safeguards the history of the community; it also should preserve a record of its own history. This book tells the story of the vision and determination of a small band of dedicated people and how we grew to more than 1,000 members nationwide with 13 historic properties under our management and a vibrant educational program. We want to commemorate our remarkable accomplishments and we hope that other groups may find inspiration in these pages.

We have many people to thank, but I particularly want to acknowledge Byron and Marilyn Shutz for funding this book. Without their support, its publication would not have been possible. I also want to thank author Sandy Selby, whose diligent research and extraordinary writing skills have made this a truly special work.

As recorded in this 55th anniversary history of the Friends of Arrow Rock, there is a lot going on here in Arrow Rock. We would like for you to be a part of the next chapters of our history. Come to see us in Arrow Rock, get involved in our events, and find out why Arrow Rock has so many friends!

Thomas B. Hall President, Friends of Arrow Rock Inc.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 3

Dr. Thomas B. Hall Jr. at the Sappington Memorial Building and Museum Dedication, June 16, 1974

Virginia Buckner Hall with Dr. Nelson T. Pearson at the Sappington Memorial Building and Museum Dedication, June 16, 1974

In Memory Of

Dr. Thomas B. Hall and Virginia Buckner Hall Dr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Hall Jr. were lifelong members of the Friends of Arrow Rock from shortly after its founding in 1959; he died in 1980, she died in 1982. Both were grandchildren of Arrow Rock residents. The home of Dr. Tom Hall’s grandparents Dr. Matthew Walton Hall and Agnes Jane Lester Hall from 1845 to 1857 still stands across from the Tavern, and Virginia Buckner Hall’s grandparents Jay Marcellus Potter and Wilhelmina Durrett Potter lived from 1862 until Jay Potter’s death in 1871, in the house known today as “Fox Hall,” directly across High Street from the Bingham House, and currently the home of the Potters’ great-grandson

Dr. Thomas B. Hall III and his wife, Margaret Weatherly Hall.

Tom and Virginia Hall were active in all areas of the work of the Friends of Arrow Rock. Dr. Hall served as a director of the Friends from the mid-1960s to the late 1970s. He led the committee that restored the John P. Sites Gunsmith Shop in 1967.

He authored two books which he donated to the Friends: Medicine on the Santa Fe Trail in 1971, and Dr. John Sappington of Saline County, Missouri 1776–1856 in 1975. The proceeds from the sale of the first book largely paid for the construction of the Dr. John Sappington Memorial Building, which was dedicated in 1974, and currently houses the Sappington Medical

Museum. It was Dr. Hall’s idea to construct and furnish a museum in honor of Saline County’s most important medical pioneer, Dr. Sappington, and he led the committee that designed, constructed, and furnished the building as a small medical museum.

In 1955, the couple purchased from Arrow Rock resident Alta Kuhn the house at the northwest corner of First and High Streets and restored it as their seasonal home, where they spent most of each summer and fall from 1962 to 1974. In 1973, they donated a portion of the lot the house stands on for the location of the Sappington Memorial Building. Virginia Hall was an avid gardener and birdwatcher; she did much to beautify and restore Arrow Rock.

this tribute given by tom and margaret hall

contents 9

This Town Could Use Some Friends: A Brief History of Arrow Rock, Mo.

11

1959: Great Beginnings

15 The 1960s 27 The 1970s Samuel McMahan’s dry goods store, opened across the street from the Arrow Rock Tavern in 1882, destroyed by fire in 1901

39 The 1980s 55 The 1990s

Friends of Arrow Rock Presidents

67 The 2000s 80 The Friends of Arrow Rock Photo Gallery 84 Friends of Arrow Rock Preservation Projects: Before & After

Louise Peery Eads June 14, 1959 to Sept. 7, 1969

Jane Louise Walker Hall Bagby Sept. 7, 1969 to Sept. 21, 1975

V. Paul Ratcliffe

Sept. 21, 1975 to Sept. 19, 1982

Mariella “Day” Gibson Kerr Sept. 19, 1982 to April 4, 1995

87 The 2010s Copyright Friends of Arrow Rock Inc., 2014. All rights reserved. Reproduction or use of any editorial or graphic content without the express written permission of the publisher is prohibited.

Barbara West Quinn April 4, 1995 to May 6, 2001

Sally “Sue” Eldridge Stubbs May 6, 2001 to Jan. 13, 2004

Thomas B. Hall III, M.D. Since Feb. 8, 2004

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 5

John R. Hall Jr.

Louise Hall Bagby with daughter Ann Hall Patten and grandchildren

In Memory Of

John R. Hall Jr. (1892-1968) and Louise Hall Bagby (1907-1995) John R. Hall, Jr., a Marshall native and longtime news editor of the DemocratNews, was a founding director of the FAR; he reported on many of its early proceedings. His grandparents, Matthew Walton Hall, M.D., and Agnes Lester Hall, lived from 1845 to 1857, in the “Hall House,” still standing today in elegant red brick above the lawn across from the J. Huston Tavern.

John Hall was a cousin of Dr. Thomas B. Hall Jr. (their fathers were brothers) and the two, with their wives, were devoted friends and colleagues in organizing the Friends, each having an abiding interest in family and community history. The Hall House in Arrow Rock was the headquarters for the Missouri State Society, Daughters of the American Revolution, from 1965

to 1984; John Hall’s wife, Louise Walker Hall, was the DAR chairman of the house for many years.

Upon John Hall’s serious illness, Louise became increasingly involved with the Friends and was its second president from 1969 to 1975. After John’s passing, Louise married George W. Bagby, a Marshall businessman, and the two were active in the Friends until their passing, he in 1978, and she in 1995.

In early 1972, Arrow Rock was approached by United Artists Studios as a site for filming the musical movie “Tom Sawyer,” to be produced by The Readers’ Digest. The film company proposed to cover Main Street with dirt and use several buildings and the boardwalk as scenes for the mid-19th century period.

Louise Hall Bagby took the proposal to the FAR board, contracts were negotiated, and in the summer of 1972, Arrow Rock turned into a classic movie set, with a cast including prominent stars and the attendant excitement that the filming generated for weeks. The movie opened at Radio Center Music Hall, New York City on Easter 1973— with the Rockettes.

John and Louise Hall’s daughter, Ann Hall Patten of Gladwyne, Penn., continues to support the Friends; her cousin Dr. Thomas B. Hall III serves as FAR president.

Their parents were a part of a wonderful group of people on the early Friends board who cared deeply about Arrow Rock and worked to preserve it as an enduring piece of Americana.

this tribute given by ann hall patten

Friends of Arrow Rock Board of Trustees

Staff Kathy Borgman Executive Director Mandy Dorrance Education Director

Thomas B. (Tom) Hall III, M.D. President Shawnee Mission, Kan. & Arrow Rock, Mo. Donna Huston 1st Vice President Marshall, Mo. Pat Cooper 2nd Vice President Marshall, Mo. & Arrow Rock, Mo. Jan Hinnah Treasurer Nelson, Mo. Judy Smith Secretary Arrow Rock, Mo. Keith Anderson Kansas City, Mo. & Arrow Rock, Mo. Dan Auman Kansas City, Mo. & Arrow Rock, Mo. Toni Blackwood, J.D. Kansas City, Mo. & Arrow Rock, Mo. Chet F. Breitwieser St. Louis, Mo. & Arrow Rock, Mo. Mary Burge Arrow Rock, Mo. Kathy Digges Columbia, Mo.

Nancy Finke Columbia, Mo. & Arrow Rock, Mo. Lucy Fletcher Kansas City, Mo. & Marshall, Mo. Anna Mae Hodge Trustee Emeritus Kansas City, Mo. & Arrow Rock, Mo. Richard M. Hodge, D.D.S. Kansas City, Mo. & Arrow Rock, Mo. Donald S. (Don) Huff, J.D. Arrow Rock, Mo. George S. Huff, J.D. Marshall, Mo. John Irvin Trustee Emeritus Chillicothe, Mo. Grayson Kabler Columbia, Mo. Day Gibson Kerr Past President Prairie Village, Kan. & Arrow Rock, Mo.

Blaine Murrell McBurney, Ph.D. New Orleans, La. & Marshall, Mo. Tempe McGlaughlin Arrow Rock, Mo. Carol Pemberton Marshall, Mo. Barbara Quinn Past President Kansas City, Mo. V. Paul Ratcliffe Past President Columbia, Mo. Janet Barger Reeter Prairie City, Iowa & Arrow Rock, Mo.

Chuck Petty Interpreter Elaine Breshears Interpreter

Consultants/ Contractors Dan Auman, Auman Mack Marketing/Design Ken Blair Lawn Care Steven J. Byers, Steven J. Byers Consulting Development Alisha Cole, Arcadia Consulting Interpretation

Sarah Riddick, Ph.D. Columbia, Mo.

Marty Selby, SLC Inc. Properties Manager

Kevin T. Riggs Marshall, Mo.

Sandy Selby Communications

Susan Smith Marshall, Mo.

Vicky Steding Cleaning Service

Davoren D. Tempel Lexington, Mo.

Elizabeth (Ibby) Kruse Trustee Emeritus Carrollton, Mo.

L. M. (Lyt) Tough III Trustee Emeritus Brentwood, Mo.

Bill Lovin Trustee Emeritus Arrow Rock, Mo.

Bill True Sedalia, Mo. & Arrow Rock, Mo.

Friends of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years 1959-2014 Sandy Selby Author & Editor Carolyn Preul Graphic Designer

Author Acknowledgements: Sandy Selby offers her sincere appreciation to FAR President Tom Hall, Executive Director Kathy Borgman, and Education Director Mandy Dorrance for their assistance and keen eye for detail; and to Marty Selby for his loving support during this project.

Special thanks to Jean Tyree Hamilton, Friends of Arrow Rock’s first historian, without whom this project could not have been as complete.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 7

In Honor Of

In Honor Of

Mary Burge

Kathy Borgman Since 1984, Kathy has been the heart and soul of the FAR. Hired for this position by FAR President Day Kerr, Kathy has served ably under Day and all three FAR presidents since. Always cheerful and optimistic, Kathy’s “can-do” attitude, superb interpersonal skills, and complete dedication to the FAR and its mission have brought our organization to its present high level of recognition and respect. An educator and youth leader at heart, Kathy is also an able administrator, writer, fundraiser, strategic thinker and friend to all. Thank you, Kathy!

Mary Hogge has lived in Arrow Rock since her birth in 1930.

She attended the University of Missouri and taught for many years.

She married Bill Burge, also of Arrow Rock, in 1951, and has two children, four grandchildren and four great-grandchildren.

Mary is a charter member of FAR and has served on the board since the organization began. She served as secretary for 19 years, and also has volunteered as a tour guide and frequent committee member.

Since 1978, she has taught in the log schoolhouse as part of FAR’s spring education programs. Mary often portrays Nannie Sites during tours of the Sites House — one of her favorite volunteer jobs.

this tribute given by tom and margaret hall

this tribute given by jon girardi

Executive Director, Friends of Arrow Rock

In Honor Of

John and Donna Huston Bill Miller, Jinx Bell, Louise Bagby, Jean Hamilton, Cora Lee Miller and John Lawrence with Kathy Borgman

In Honor Of

The Many Friends of Arrow Rock “Never doubt that a small group of thoughtful, committed citizens can change the world. Indeed, it is the only thing that ever has.”

— Margaret Mead

Kathy Borgman

Tom and Margaret Hall

In appreciation for the tremendous contributions of these Arrow Rock Superstars.

this tribute given by whitney and day kerr

With appreciation and thanks for the Friends of Arrow Rock board of trustees, officers, staff and members who I have had the pleasure and honor of knowing and working with from 1984 to this 55th anniversary year. And with special warm memories of my earliest mentor, Cora Lee Miller, who welcomed me and my mother, Helen Borgman, to Arrow Rock in 1982.

this tribute given by kathy borgman, executive director, friends of arrow rock

B efore 1 9 5 9

This Town Could Use Some Friends

Arrow Rock was a town divided by aesthetics. In the 1950s, the restored Old Tavern and the surrounding state park brought in tourists by the thousands, but to reach those destinations, visitors had to pass by neglected, deteriorating homes and buildings. Arrow Rock had once been a hub for trade and commerce, a center of political influence, and home to some of Missouri’s most revered historical figures, but by the middle of the 20th century, it was a ghost of its former glory.

Location, Location, Location

A

small section of Missouri River bluff, in a spot that would come to be known as Arrow Rock, was an abundant source of flint. It became so well known among Native Americans who relied on flint to craft arrowheads, that the first person to record the place’s name — a French cartographer who passed through the area in 1732 — called it Pierre à Fleche, or Rock of Arrows.

Nearly 90 years later, in 1821, a man named William Becknell and four companions crossed the Missouri River and set up camp for the night on that flint-rich bluff. They were on their way to Santa Fe on what history would remember as the first successful trading trip on the Santa Fe Trail.

The Missouri River brought goods and people past the bluff, and the Santa Fe Trail brought adventurous pioneers across the river and deposited them at the “Rock of Arrows,” so it’s no mystery why enterprising

men and women decided to establish a town in that spot in 1829.

With a location that practically assured success, the town grew quickly.

Merchants and innkeepers set up shop. Plantations sprung up on fertile farmland nearby and shipped their goods — primarily hemp for making rope — from the river port in Arrow Rock to eager customers in the Deep South.

Men of influence made their home in the thriving village. Dr. John Sappington, the physician who popularized the use of quinine as a treatment for malaria with his Sappington’s Anti-Fever Pills, and acclaimed artist George Caleb Bingham built homes in Arrow Rock. Three

Missouri River ferry

governors — Meredith Miles Marmaduke, Claiborne Fox Jackson and John Sappington Marmaduke — hailed from Arrow Rock.

Good fortune seemed to encircle the prosperous little city, but a devastating war and the fickle whims of a river changed everything.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 9

The Great Decline

W

hen America split in two, divided over states’ rights and slavery, Arrow Rock found itself on the losing side in the Civil War. The town had been settled predominantly by Southerners from states such as Virginia, Kentucky and Tennessee, and Arrow Rock’s prosperity was tied to trade with the South, so it was reasonable that Arrow Rock would align itself with the Confederacy. When the South lost the war, Arrow Rock lost its political and economic clout. The town barely had time to absorb that blow when two fires — the first in 1872 and another in 1901 — razed much of the town’s business district.

People were departing in droves, but Arrow Rock’s string of bad luck wasn’t over. The river was also on the move, carving a new channel far from Arrow Rock, and transportation was shifting from rivers to rails. Pioneers had crossed the Missouri River on a ferry to Arrow Rock for more than a century, but the railroad would not follow that old route. The 20th century dawned on a dying town.

A handful of Arrow Rock residents and devotees founded a local chapter of the National Old Trails Road Association and set up a museum in the old Arrow Rock Tavern.

Arrow Rock Tavern, 1926

Unlikely Heroes

A

mericans were buying automobiles and they wanted somewhere to drive. In 1912, a group called the National Old Trails Road Association made it a mission to connect old trails, like the Santa Fe Trail, and create a coast-to-coast highway system with interesting attractions along the way. A handful of Arrow Rock residents and devotees, perhaps sensing it was the town’s last, best hope for survival, founded a local chapter of the National Old Trails Road Association and set up a museum room, featuring a hodgepodge of oddities and antiquities, in the old Arrow Rock Tavern.

The museum room was a modest success, but it took the intervention of

another group to facilitate real and lasting change in Arrow Rock: the visionary and intractable women of the Daughters of the American Revolution. The Arrow Rock Chapter of the DAR formed in 1921, and almost immediately set its sights on a project: the restoration of the crumbling Arrow Rock Tavern. The women went to work, lobbying the Missouri legislature until the lawmakers agreed to purchase the building for $5,000 in 1923. In exchange, the DAR agreed to become the permanent custodian of the building and manager of its restaurant and lodging businesses.

The tavern restoration and resulting influx of tourists to out-of-the-way Arrow

10 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

Rock got the attention of the State of Missouri. The Missouri State Parks system was still in its infancy when it staked out the land surrounding the tavern to create the Arrow Rock State Park in 1926. As the decades passed, the park expanded and became a destination for day-trippers and campers, but the rest of Arrow Rock continued to deteriorate.

In the mid-1950s, hope arrived in the form of Bill and Cora Lee Miller, a preservation-minded couple who set out to restore a dilapidated old house on Main Street at a time when it was far more fashionable to bulldoze the outdated to make way for the modern. The Millers joined others, including Fletcher “Red” and Lucia Argubright, and Dr. John and Mariana Lawrence, who were taking on the arduous work of restoring luster to fading old homes in the area.

Those far-sighted residents, along with key members of the DAR, were convinced that Arrow Rock was worth saving. It was a town, they said, that simply needed some Friends.

Mrs. Groves moved that the Missouri Society, D.A.R. initiate and act as a “spearhead” in the organization of a group to be known as “Friends of Arrow Rock,” which organization would concern itself with the area of Arrow Rock and to which any person interested in preserving pioneer history might be invited to membership. Seconded by Mrs. Frank Kruger. Carried. – June 14, 1959

A 1955 meeting of the DAR’s Old Tavern Board of Managers included several people who were instrumental in the founding of Friends of Arrow Rock four years later, including Cary Huston (on left with back to camera), Percy Huston (right foreground, with legs crossed), Mary Rinne, regent of Arrow Rock Chapter, DAR (two seats to the right of Percy Huston) and Charles van Ravenswaay (on right in back with hand on glasses).

1959: Great Beginnings T

hat brief statement tucked into the joint meeting minutes of the Missouri State Society, Daughters of the American Revolution’s Board of Managers and the Advisory Board of the Arrow Rock Tavern belies the significance of that particular vote. It was a vote that acknowledged the rich history of Arrow Rock, Mo., and protected its future through an organization that transformed the town into a

heritage tourism attraction that draws visitors from across the country and around the world.

The DAR played an important role in Arrow Rock’s history, starting in the 1920s when the local chapter set out to restore the Old Tavern.

That restoration and the DAR’s subsequent management of the Tavern inspired the State of Missouri to establish a state park on the land surrounding that historic building. Tourists came to town to to dine and spend the night Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 11

at the Old Tavern and to relax at the park property, but the rest of the village was deteriorating, seemingly doomed to the same fate as so many neglected small towns.

In his recollections of 1950s Arrow Rock, Henry Swanson, the founding director of the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, said, “By 1955, the population had declined to slightly over 100 and the town was essentially in the last stages of decay and disrepair. Area natives will claim that the figure is too high, but less than $10,000 would have purchased every piece of property in the town, excepting the [state] park, Miss Lucia’s house, and Bingham Turley’s place.”

The idea to form a “friends” organization for the declining but historically important village of Arrow Rock didn’t come out of the blue during that June 14, 1959, meeting. It was a notion that had been gaining traction for some time with members of the DAR and active, preservation-minded Arrow Rock citizens who felt there was more to the village than the Old Tavern, and other properties that needed saving.

“There was just a feeling that more needed to be done to save the village and

we needed to expand the possibilities,” said Frances Feldhausen, who was present at that 1959 DAR meeting. “[Starting Friends of Arrow Rock] was a way to tell more people that we have something special here and you need to know about it.”

Feldhausen recalls the names of some of the people behind the movement: Louise Eads, Isabel Browning, Dr. John Lawrence … “and so many of the wonderful people in Arrow Rock who felt it was a great idea.”

The town also had captured the attention of Helen Bullock, an advisor with the National Trust for Historic Preservation. Bullock met with Louise Eads a month before the DAR meeting and encouraged Eads, a DAR representative from Columbia, Mo. with a heart for Arrow Rock, to take action to save the architectural treasures of Arrow Rock.

Eads, according to Feldhausen, was a woman with vision. “She could see a different group of people would make a bigger difference than just the DAR.” At a working luncheon following the formal DAR meeting, it was Eads who got the nod as FAR’s first president. The group went on to appoint other officers:

A Big Muddy Dream Some restoration projects are too ambitious, even for the Friends of Arrow Rock.

Such was the case for the project suggested by Flora Withers Page, a former hostess at the Old Tavern, at FAR’s first membership meeting.

“One very important thing is to get the Missouri River back to Arrow Rock.

“Arrow Rock is not Arrow Rock without the Missouri River flowing by at the base of the rocky bluff. Now the bed of the river is far eastward across a wide bottom. I understand that 40 acres of the Arrow Rock State Park border on the old bed of the river at the bottom of the bluff.

“If we had the river back, we could have showboats to visit Arrow Rock, have a summer theater and a number of other attractions for visitors which now are lacking.”

12 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

Louise Eads, first president of Friends of Arrow Rock

Hugh Stephens, vice president; Julia Pyatt, secretary; Leonard W. Van Dyke, treasurer; and Pauline Sappingon Elsea, reporter.

All the DAR members and guests at the luncheon had an opportunity to join FAR by contributing $1. Mrs. C.H. Cozean of Farmington, the chaplain of the Missouri State Society of DAR, was the first to give her dollar and join the nascent organization. Everyone present contributed at least $1, and according to a newspaper report on the day, some gave much more.

FAR had 50 charter members on its rolls before dessert arrived.

The enthusiastic FAR members decided to bestow charter membership status on anyone who joined the organization before Jan. 1, 1960, and created a contest with the promise of a prize for the individual who recruited the most members by Labor Day. Before the end of the year, the FAR board expanded to include Dr. John Lawrence as second vice president, and Sallie Hailey, who took over as secretary when Julia Pyatt stepped down due to illness. The board added six trustees — including President Harry S. Truman (who expressed great interest in the organization’s efforts and politely sent his regrets, but never attended a FAR meeting), Charles van Ravenswaay, Allene Wilson Groves, F.C. Barnhill, and John P. Huston — and directors Claude J. Rowland, Wayne Elsea, Rosemary Ginn, Gov. John Dalton, Lucia Argubright, Gov. Forrest Smith, L.A. Kingsbury, Howard Adams, Louis DeShong, and Rev. George Murphy.

In 1959 ...

The group quickly proved it was a hardworking board. Between the first official board meeting in July and the first membership meeting in December, the board successfully completed its application for incorporation, established a constitution and bylaws, and outlined a membership schedule with five options: Charter/ Organizing $1; Active $5; Sustaining $25; Institution $100; Life $500.

Louise Eads envisioned a symbolladen insignia for FAR that included a bear (which also appears on the Missouri state seal to represent strength and bravery) standing in front of the state flag and beside an hourglass adorned with Hawthorn blossoms (the Missouri state flower). A banner below the image was emblazoned with the words “Guarding Missouri’s Heritage.” A draftsman at Kelly Press in Columbia brought the vision to life with an insignia that earned praise from National Trust representative Helen Bullock, and that continues to be part of the organization’s identity.

The board commissioned Marshall, Mo. artist O.M. Clouser to create four drawings of historic sites in Arrow Rock — the Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church, Old Courthouse, Odd Fellows Lodge Hall, and a street scene — to be used for FAR literature and fundraising projects.

The board paid $50 each for the original drawings. Trustee Charles van Ravenswaay used the Clouser drawings as he prepared FAR’s first brochure, which included a brief history of Arrow Rock, an explanation of the organization’s purpose, and, of course, an invitation for membership.

Van Ravenswaay was well known throughout the state as the director of the Missouri Historical Society, St. Louis.

His April 1959 article inThe Bulletin of the Missouri Historical Society, entitled “Arrow Rock: The Story of a Town, Its People and Its Tavern,” was one of the first scholarly examinations of the town and undoubtedly responsible for a surge of interest in Arrow Rock that coincided with the formation of FAR.

“The Sound of Music,” starring Mary Martin and Theodore Bikel, opens on Broadway.

Johnny Horton’s “The Battle of New Orleans” is the No. 1 song of the year.

Alaska and Hawaii become the 49th and 50th states.

British politician and diplomat Philip J. Noel-Baker wins the Nobel Peace Prize.

Tibet’s Dalai Lama escapes to India.

The St. Lawrence Seaway opens.

Research begins on the birth control pill.

Dwight D. Eisenhower is president; Richard M. Nixon is vice president.

“Some Like It Hot” starring Jack Lemmon, Tony Curtis and Marilyn Monroe, widely regarded as one of the funniest films ever made, is big at the box office. “Plan 9 From Outer Space,” widely regarded as one of the worst films ever made, also makes its debut.

The stork delivers future celebrities Emma Thompson, Bradley Whitford, Linda Blair and Jason Alexander.

TV quiz show champion Charles Van Doren confesses that he received answers in advance.

Pan Am introduces nonstop, transatlantic flights.

Ford wins a legal battle with Chrysler for the rights to name its new car the Falcon.

“Bonanza,” “Bozo the Clown,” and “Rawhide” premiere on television.

Buddy Holly, Ritchie Valens and The Big Bopper die in a plane crash. Other celebrity deaths include Ethel Barrymore, Lou Costello, Cecil B. DeMille, Errol Flynn, Billie Holiday, Mario Lanza, George Reeves and Frank Lloyd Wright.

Monkeys Able and Baker take a space flight aboard a Jupiter missile, and survive the mission.

The Baltimore Colts defeat the New York Giants in the NFL Championship Game.

Celebrity weddings include Cosmopolitan magazine editor Helen Gurley and David Brown; Elizabeth Taylor and Eddie Fisher; and Richard Dawson and Diana Dors.

The Los Angeles Dodgers take down the Chicago White Sox to win the World Series. It’s the first time a World Series game is played west of St. Louis.

“Gigi” wins the Academy Award for Best Picture.

Landmarks

Drawings by O.M. Clouser

Zion Evangelical and Reformed Church Courthouse before restoration

With the organizational details under control, FAR was ready to tackle its first big project: the purchase and restoration of a historic building. One of the organization’s directors, Rev. George Murphy, was an architect before entering the ministry, and he offered his expertise to the board as it was exploring its options.

“I really think God must have blessed Arrow Rock, because it has kept its wonderful flavor and that doesn’t happen.

Williamsburg is a recreation, but Arrow Rock is real.”

– Frances Feldhausen, charter member of Friends of Arrow Rock “Since this organization is considering selection of a project, I make the suggestion that in preserving historical structures here in Arrow Rock, first consideration be given to buildings that are of wood and, therefore, deteriorate much more rapidly than the brick and stone buildings here, which also have historic value,” said Murphy at the first FAR membership meeting, in December 1959. “The old courthouse is much in need of repair now and the longer repairing is put off, the more expensive the work will be.

Therefore, I suggest this building be seriously considered as the first project.”

The board agreed. Three couples — the Argubrights, the Lawrences, and the DeShongs — jointly owned the building, having purchased it to save it from demolition. They agreed to sell it to FAR at their cost. Two FAR directors, along with the two Marshall, Mo. banks, Wood & Huston Bank and Farmers Saving Bank, advanced the $500 down payment.

Van Ravenswaay was delighted by the choice. He pointed out several features that made the building noteworthy, including its log construction and the weatherboard on the north side, which featured an unusual bead detail. That bead, he said, tied the construction technique to 18th century Virginia. He knew of only one other building in Missouri — one located in Ste. Genevieve — that incorporated a bead into the weatherboard.

“Our ambition is to make Arrow Rock a more interesting place to visit,” said FAR President Eads at the membership meeting. “Our constant enthusiasm will build results. The board is firm in its determination to work on only one project at a time and never to start a second project until the first has been completed.”

By the next year, FAR would begin changing the face and the fate of Arrow Rock, one preservation project at a time.

14 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

Old Courthouse

Arrow Rock Street Scene

Odd Fellows Lodge Hall

The 1960s

Organizations are often born with the best of intentions, and fade quickly when interest wanes. But when a new organization is led by the kind of passionate, committed people who founded Friends of Arrow Rock, success comes in quick, bold strokes. During the 1960s, FAR was determining its course, setting its priorities, and building a foundation for an organization that would still be going strong more than half a century later.

1960

L

ess than a year after its founding, Friends of Arrow Rock had amassed a membership of 400 and had a project in its sights: restoration of the old courthouse building.

If the organization was going to set a standard of excellence with that first project, the real work of fundraising and preservation had to start right away.

In a 1989 interview, Cora Lee Miller recalled how she pitched the idea of hosting a country auction to raise money for the courthouse purchase.

“They [FAR] were having a meeting at the Tavern right after they were organized,” Cora Lee said. “I wasn’t even a member yet. Mrs. Eads asked me to come down and give them some ideas on how to make some money … some kind of project. So I thought of the country auction. I went down and talked to them and told them it would be like a homecoming. People who used to

live here would come and it would be like a holiday. That’s how the auction started.”

Mary Lou Pearson and Cora Lee Miller were named co-chairs of the auction committee. The women didn’t hesitate to call in a few favors to make the 1960 Arrow Rock Auction a success. They were able to secure use of a sound system from the Democratic Central Committee, a tent from the Sweeney-Reser Mortuary that was used for luncheon service during the auction, and the volunteer services of professional auctioneers.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 15

On June 11, visitors arrived in town seeking treasures, and the event raised the money needed to purchase the courthouse. Reports of the actual money raised vary: a 1960 treasurer’s report shows the event brought in $1905.98, a later account from Jean Tyree Hamilton recalls the event made $1,937, and Cora Lee often remarked with pride that the 1960 auction made $1,960. Whatever the amount, it was enough to get FAR’s first project off the ground.

FAR was a property owner, but oh, what a property it was. The courthouse was in sad shape, a victim of haphazard additions and longtime neglect. A committee was appointed to direct the restoration, but they did plenty more than supervise; they rolled up their sleeves and did the work. The men who led the restoration effort included Dr. John Lawrence, general chairman of the restoration; William Miller, superintendent of the work; Rev. George Murphy and Henry Hogge.

FAR wasn’t the only organization gaining traction in the early ‘60s. Two other organizations were laying their groundwork in 1960: the Arrow Rock Craft Club and the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre. FAR President Louise Eads originated the idea of a craft club, an idea that took hold and quickly became an integral part of the community when the club opened up shop on the ground floor of the Masonic Lodge Hall in 1961.

FAR members John and Mariana Lawrence, and Fletcher and Lucia Argubright, were owners of the old, vacant Baptist church in Arrow Rock and donated the property to the fledgling Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre. In a show of support, FAR signed on as a sponsor for the theater in 1960, which debuted its first production the following year.

The O.M. Clouser drawings of four Arrow Rock sites, which had been commissioned by FAR in 1959, were reproduced into black-and-white souvenir postcards. The postcards were FAR’s first product and still decorate the homes and scrapbooks of many FAR supporters.

A Marshall Democrat-News account of FAR’s second annual membership meeting in October, said, “Reports to the members showed very definite and satisfying progress during the intervening year [since FAR’s founding] in accomplishments toward the goal of this incorporated organization, which is to preserve and restore that part of Arrow Rock that is historically famous because of its importance in the 1800s.”

The meeting featured a keynote address by a respected historian from Fulton, Mo., Hugh Williamson. In his remarks, he compared Arrow Rock to Williamsburg, Va. Williamsburg, he pointed out, had once had a British governor and was more of an English colony.

“Arrow Rock is more purely American than Williamsburg,” he said, “in that this Saline county village is typically American.”

16 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

Clockwise from top: The 1961 auction draws a big crowd; Cora Lee Miller (left) and Jean Hamilton set up for the 1967 auction; The auctioneer holds up a skillet, hoping to get the attention of the ‘60s-era housewives in the crowd; The 1964 auction featured household items, furnishings, and an automobile; Agnes Van Arsdale, Kate Watson Diggs and Louise Eads admire a pitcher donated for the 1961 auction.

on the Auction block

Going Once, Going Twice ...

T

he inaugural Friends of Arrow Rock auction in 1960 featured exquisite antiques, useful household items, and one late addition to the sale bill — a 1953 Plymouth — that caught the eye of local teenager Bill “Buzzy” True.

On auction day, 14-year-old Buzzy, along with his friends Kenny Reith and Harold Joe “Dizzy” Boggs gave the Plymouth a thorough inspection. The car fired up without hesitation and the auctioneer, Kenny’s father Russell Reith, put a $100 estimate on the Plymouth.

But what, the boys wondered, would the car bring if it wouldn’t start at all?

At 16, the older, worldlier Dizzy was the expert mechanic of the three boys, and it was his idea to disconnect the ignition coil wire from the distributor cap. Sure enough, when the auctioneer tried to start the car for the crowd, the old Plymouth wouldn’t fire. Buzzy scored a deal that day: $70 for his dream car.

After the auction, Buzzy lifted the hood and reconnected the wire.

Auctioneer Russell Reith witnessed the undoing of the sabotage and wasted no time in telling Buzzy’s mother, Mary Lou, about her son’s misdeed.

“My mother was livid,” Buzzy said.

“She barely talked to me for a month.”

Despite the guilt being heaped upon him by his mother, Buzzy remained the proud owner of that 1953 Plymouth. The fact that he wasn’t old enough to drive was a mere inconvenience.

Dizzy Boggs volunteered as chauffeur for Buzzy’s very first date later that year. Buzzy asked a girl from Slater to accompany him to a school dance in Arrow Rock, and when Dizzy and Buzzy arrived at the girl’s home, she emerged wearing a lovely white dress.

Anxious to get to the dance, Dizzy took a shortcut back to Arrow Rock, down a long stretch of dirt road. The old Plymouth, its floorboard riddled with rust, began to fill with thick clouds of dust. By the time the trio arrived in Arrow Rock, the girl’s white dress was filthy and Buzzy’s love life was in tatters.

Buzzy, a FAR board member who still has a home in Arrow Rock, says he kept that old car for years, and even “customized” it by removing the chrome trim to give it a leaner, meaner appearance, but more than 50 years later, his guilty conscience still nags at him.

“I guess I owe the Friends $30,” he says.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 17

1961

T

Stretching The Budget

he first Friends of Arrow Rock Auction raised enough money to purchase the dilapidated courthouse building. It would take all the money from the second auction to pay for the materials and labor needed to restore it. The June 17, 1961 Arrow Rock Country Auction, raised $1,589.

The restoration committee was able to stretch its budget, thanks to donations of split shake shingles from Home Lumber Co., and excavation services from Quinn Construction Co. The Saline County Bar Association gave $250 to furnish the property. Jean and Henry Hamilton, who had been collecting architectural salvage in the hope of someday restoring an old house, donated the interior doors for the project.

Dr. John Lawrence, the chairman of the courthouse restoration committee, urged the organization to take care in its preservation efforts. “Work in this kind of a job has to be done by craftsmen who know something about restoration and who have a heart in their work,” he said. “You can’t just send in a man with hammer and saw and tell him to start working.”

Bill Miller, who had been appointed superintendent of the courthouse restoration project, rallied volunteers and trained them for the work. His wife, Cora Lee, described one of the painstaking (and pain-making) projects: “The woodwork on the inside had been painted flat black,” she said. “We scooted on our bottoms and scraped that black off instead of using a paint remover because it would have worked its way into the wood. We scraped that woodwork with broken glass and cleaned it and got it ready for what it is now.”

Bill employed techniques he learned from craftsmen at Colonial Williamsburg to reproduce the bead detail on the building’s wood clapboards. “Bill hand-grooved every one of the boards like they did in Williamsburg,” Cora Lee said.

“They do that to run the water off.”

It was a momentous year in Arrow Rock history, as two organizations destined for long-term success officially opened their doors to the public: the Arrow Rock Craft Club and the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre. Then as now, FAR maintained a close bond with the craft club and theater. Craft club members served lunch to the guests at the 1961 Country Auction. Eleven FAR board members were among the original guarantors of the loan that supported the Lyceum’s inaugural season, which drew 3,465 theater-goers in 1961.

In the meantime, FAR President Louise Eads and board member Cora Lee Miller accepted every speaking engagement and took any opportunity they could find to evangelize about the Friends of Arrow Rock and recruit new members to the organization.

18 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

Two organizations destined for long-term success officially opened their doors to the public: the Arrow Rock Craft Club, housed on the ground floor of the Masonic Lodge Hall, and the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre.

1962

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Completing The Courthouse

hy mess with success?

That was the thinking of the committee, led

by Cora Lee Miller, as it put together the third Country Auction to raise money for Friends of Arrow Rock projects.

With the courthouse restoration nearing completion, the organization used some of the $2,057.59 raised at the June 30 auction to purchase two buildings on Main Street, directly across from the Old Tavern. FAR “leased” (at no charge) the larger of the two buildings to the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre for use as a scenery workshop.

Columbia, Mo. artist Tom Parker leased the other and opened the Art Emporium, where nearly 20 artists displayed and sold their work during the summer. The lease terms were based on a percentage of sales, and at the end of the summer season, FAR had made $120 from Art Emporium sales, over and above money spent on building repairs.

Sunday, Sept. 16, was a day of celebration when FAR dedicated the restored courthouse. Missouri’s First Lady Geraldine Dalton was on hand to cut the ribbon, and State Senator Jack Jones addressed the crowd that gathered across the street on the Tavern lawn. Among those sending notes of regret for being absent from the event: President Harry S. Truman, Gov. John M. Dalton, and Lt. Gov. Hilary Bush. During the ceremony, FAR President Louise Eads offered heartfelt memorial tributes to Hugh Stephens, Louis DeShong, J. Percy Huston, and Gov. Forrest Smith, who had all played integral roles during FAR’s formation as an organization. Cora Lee Miller was appointed tour coordinator for the courthouse.

In 1989, Cora Lee looked back on the courthouse restoration with lingering pride. “It was a wonderful labor of love and cooperation of a lot of volunteers,” she said. “It really was. But I’d do it all over again if I was younger.”

In a clever piece of marketing, FAR produced the first volume of Arrow Rock

Courthouse dedication ceremony, Sept. 16, 1962

Right now is the time for us to solicit the gift of anything for the auction. I say right now, because housewives are beginning their annual house cleaning and unquestionably there will be many things which they wish to discard, that would be bought if given for the auction.We prefer discarded articles from the attic, the basement, the barn and the smokehouse, for the public generally is antique-minded and many of those things are old and, if not actually, at least boarder [sic] on being antiques. — Arrow Rock Country Auction Chairman Cora Lee Miller in the Lexington Advertiser News, Feb. 16, 1962 Statesman, a revival of an 1800s Arrow Rock newspaper. The new Statesman was devoted to news about Friends of Arrow Rock, and membership solicitation.

John R. Hall served as editor for the publication, but made no promises about his press schedule; above the names of the FAR officers, trustees and directors in the masthead was this statement: “Published irregularly by Friends of Arrow Rock.”

With three properties to care for, FAR now faced the challenges of ongoing maintenance. In the autumn, President Louise Eads called a meeting of the FAR board to discuss the management of those property holdings.

According to an article in the Jan. 1, 1963 Statesman, “Friends of Arrow Rock has not yet been able to obtain a hostess to act as a receptionist and guide and therefore the Old Court House cannot yet be made available to the public at all times.” Board members floated several ideas for use of the two buildings across from the Old Tavern, including the possibility of inviting the Missouri Press Association to establish an Old Print Shop Museum at the front of the building that was leased to the Lyceum, moving the Lyceum’s scene shop to the rear of that building. The board decided to appoint a committee to study the properties and make recommendations for their care and use.

1872 Christian Church

1963

E

Bringing Bingham Home

ncouraged by its first major accomplishment — the restoration of the old courthouse — Friends of Arrow Rock took on new challenges in 1963.

Members of FAR, along with some George Caleb Bingham descendants, decried the unkempt conditions at Union Cemetery in Kansas City, where Bingham was buried. FAR sought to have the artist’s body relocated to the yard of his Arrow Rock home. Although the effort ultimately was unsuccessful, the publicity it generated brought a lot of favorable attention to FAR and led to improved conditions at Union Cemetery.

That year, a new and important publication hit the presses. Jean Tyree Hamilton’s Arrow Rock: Where Wheels Started West,” a 60-page booklet featuring dozens of early photos, was underwritten

by Jean and Henry Hamilton and printed

by MFA Inc.’s publishing company, thanks to the assistance of MFA president and FAR life member Fred Hinkle.

Proceeds from the sale of the $1 book went to FAR’s restoration fund.

With the departure of the Art Emporium tenant from one of the

FAR buildings across from the Old Tavern, space became available for The Loom House. The shop, sponsored

by FAR, opened for the summer tourist season and other special occasions and was manned by Ivy McClure who demonstrated weaving techniques. The venture created another interesting attraction for visitors and FAR announced plans to continue its operation in 1964.

With Cora Lee Miller still chairing the event, the fourth annual Country Auction raised a record $2,201.65, helping to bolster the organization’s restoration fund. FAR dipped into those restoration monies when it donated $1,000 to the Arrow Rock Craft Club, supporting that group’s efforts to restore the historic Christian Church.

The Craft Club’s goal in improving the church property was to provide a place where visitors to the village could rest, meditate and pray.

FAR’s own restoration project, the old courthouse, became a popular stop for tourists on days when a volunteer host

20 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

was available. Taylor Williams recorded an orientation tape for visitors to hear when they arrived at the courthouse.

Elsewhere in Arrow Rock, the Missouri State Park Board wrapped up a renovation of the Matthew Hall House and leased it to the Daughters of the American Revolution as that organization’s state headquarters.

Plans to build a motel in the Arrow Rock State Park were put on indefinite hold after park board members and Director of Parks Joseph Jaegers Jr. objected to the proposed building site just west of the Old Tavern.

In 1963, Dorothy Huston, wife of FAR board member John Percy Huston, was just getting started on a three-year labor of love for the organization. She began compiling recipes for the Arrow Rock Cook Book, a project that would see its first printing in 1965. She solicited recipes from Arrow Rock residents, FAR members, and famous women from across the country.

“I’m amazed at the number of letters she wrote all over the U.S. and how many people sent recipes for the cookbook,” said Dorothy’s daughter-in-law and current FAR First Vice President Donna Huston.

Recipes submitted by the wives of presidents, governors and senators, along with those submitted by hometown cooks, all received Dorothy’s careful scrutiny.

“The amazing thing was that she tried to try all of them,” Donna said. “She had a cook at the time and both of them were cooking daily. She really didn’t want the cookbook to have one bad recipe.”

In an issue of the Arrow Rock Statesmen, published to invite members to the annual meeting on Sept.

22, FAR President Louise Eads reiterated why the organization’s work was so important. “History is made more real by three-dimensional evidence,” she said. “That to see and touch the old is to feel the spirit of the westward movement and to respect the character of those early Missourians who dreamed large dreams.”

1964

F

Designated A National Historic Landmark

riends of Arrow Rock, and indeed the entire village of Arrow Rock, set a new standard in 1964. FAR acquired another significant historic building, created an endowment fund, and launched a new tour event that became a popular sensation.

Thanks in large part to the work of FAR members Jean and Henry Hamilton, and Dr. J.O. Brew, Arrow Rock was designated a National Historic Landmark by the Department of Interior in 1964. FAR arranged the program and reception on Nov. 8, when David Thompson of the National Park Service made the official pronouncement. His dedicatory address included these words: “The places where history was made are doorways to the past.

This village is a living historical monument.”

That kind of national recognition only reinforced FAR’s commitment to its motto: “Guarding Missouri’s Heritage.”

The organization continued its fundraising efforts with another Country Auction. The 1964 auction raised $2,641.70.

Auction Chairman Cora Lee Miller added a new attraction to the auction: tables of items offered at a set price.

On Sept. 19 and 20, FAR joined forces with Trinity Episcopal Church in Marshall to host a two-day Homes Tour. The event featured the historic Hogge, Price, Bingham, and Bradford homes, as well as the recently restored Hall House and the antebellum Prairie Park estate. Hostesses in period dress welcomed visitors at each venue and at a refreshment table on the old courthouse lawn, where thirsty home tour guests enjoyed free ice water and cider. Sixty volunteer hostesses participated in the event. The $5,500 profit earned from ticket sales to 2,700 guests was divided between the two host organizations.

FAR leaders of the 1960s faced some of the same challenges as their counterparts today: How could FAR engage visitors every day of the year? President Eads suggested the creation of a brochure titled 39 Things to See in Arrow Rock. Jean Hamilton wrote the text and Frank Steinman drew the map. FAR published 5,000 copies of the brochure to give to tourists.

FAR’s good stewardship in the community continued in 1964, when it gave $100 to the Federated Church to help that congregation save the church steeple.

At the suggestion of FAR President Louise Eads, the organization established an endowment fund, seeded with $1,000 from the estate of Mrs. F.C. Barnhill. The creation of the endowment fund was a vote of confidence by the board that the organization was destined for a long and active future. The board decided to

FAR members accept a $400 gift from I.O.O.F. representatives during a ceremony in 1964. From left, William Bagby, Bill Miller, Cora Lee Miller, Jean Hamilton, Sallie Hailey, Louise Bagby, Lynn Burge, and I.O.O.F. representatives Mr. and Mrs. Blackmore.

use only the interest from the endowment and to designate that income for maintenance of FAR properties.

FAR embraced its role as a preservation organization with the acquisition of the Odd Fellows Lodge Hall, a two-story, 1868 structure on Main Street. The Odd Fellows were no longer an active group in Arrow Rock, but the philanthropic organization had once thrived in the town and included George Caleb Bingham among its members. FAR, recognizing the irreplaceable historic value of the building, purchased the hall in July for $6,500. The I.O.O.F. Grand Lodge of Missouri agreed to furnish the upstairs chapter room with authentic Odd Fellows Lodge furnishings, and donated $400 to FAR for maintenance and preservation work on that property.

› Dressed For Success Friends of Arrow Rock’s earliest homes tours were two-day affairs, usually involving a half dozen homes or more. Longtime Arrow Rock resident and supporter Betty Sue Simonson, who helped organize several of those events, recalls some of the interesting challenges that went along with those very successful fundraisers.

“I know one year when Donna [Huston] and I were in charge, we somehow talked 60 women into coming down and being hostesses,” Betty Sue said.“And they all had to be in costume.They had to come up with a dress of some sort! We had 30 hostesses each day — 15 in the morning and 15 in the afternoon.”

As event coordinators, it was incumbent upon Betty Sue and Donna to travel from house to house throughout the day to make sure all was well.

“The dresses had a big ‘ol petticoat under them,” Betty Sue recalled, “and I had a convertible at the time. We rode around with the top down and the hoops were clear back over the top of the car practically.”

1964 home tours coordinator and expectant mother Donna Huston stands behind event co-chair Betty Sue O’Dell (now Simonson).

1965

T

Cooking Up A Fundraiser

he hardworking Friends of Arrow Rock members had a new preservation project to tackle: the restoration of their newly acquired Odd Fellows Lodge Hall. A thorough inspection of the property revealed both structural and cosmetic issues, and it took $5,300 to make the necessary repairs. The board relied on old photographs to verify that the exterior of the building had not been altered from its original appearance. Bill Miller and Ray Van Arsdale rebuilt the wooden walkway on the east side of the building. By the end of spring, the restoration work was complete and the upstairs decorated with authentic Odd Fellows Lodge furnishings courtesy of the I.O.O.F. Grand Lodge of Missouri.

Dorothy Huston had been collecting and testing recipes for the Arrow Rock Cook Book since 1963. Finally, in 1965, all that effort paid off when the first batch of cookbooks came rolling off the presses. FAR was grateful to Dorothy for this new fundraising tool, which she and her husband also helped underwrite, but according to Dorothy’s daughter-in-law, Donna Huston, there’s someone who should have received a bigger portion of the credit for that book.

“Mrs. John Percy Huston is listed as editing the book,” Donna said, “but I have always smiled when I think that John’s father [Dorothy’s husband] needed to be included as editing. That man had to be the taster daily of the latest recipes that had arrived in the mail.”

The first printing of the book went on sale for $5 per copy.

Cora Lee Miller continued to chair the annual Country Auction. The 1965 auction netted $1,797.03.

FAR collaborated with the State Park Board to host tours during the summer months. Both organizations picked up part of the cost of the tours — $125 from the state and $100 from FAR — and were able to offer four free tours daily. Tour participants gathered at FAR’s Loom House. Rev. Omar Wetherell, pastor at the Arrow Rock Federated Church, served as the summertime tour guide. Cora Lee Miller chaired the tour committee and arranged for guides to lead tours in the months of April, May, September and October.

At the annual meeting in September, Wetherell reported that many of his tour guests had suggested horse-drawn wagons as a means of transportation for the tour.

Fare Fit For Presidents: A lot of famous names appear in the Arrow Rock Cook Book. Dig in to these dishes from three former first ladies.

1966

B

New Attractions & Acquisitions

ack in 1962, Friends of Arrow Rock and the Missouri Press Association began talking about setting up a press museum in Arrow Rock, but finding just the right location was a problem. With FAR’s acquisition of the Odd Fellows Lodge Hall, the ideal solution was at hand.

In August 1966, the Missouri Press Association dedicated the new museum on the ground floor of the Odd Fellows Hall, which had once housed Arrow Rock’s newspaper office.

It took some careful preparation and planning to give that project a solid footing.

The Missouri Press Association repaired and reinforced the floor in the Lodge Hall, and poured a new concrete floor in the basement to add structural support for the building.

The Missouri State Park Board put in a new water system for the Arrow Rock State Park and its buildings, and added a water line to the Loom House to make it possible for FAR to provide a restroom for visitors. FAR paid to have a water line installed for the Odd Fellows Lodge.

FAR was pleased to accept an extraordinary gift of historic items that had once belonged to early settler King Collett and his wife, Bash. Collett descendant Gordon Collett of Kirksville, Mo., donated the items to FAR, which in turn loaned them to Arrow Rock State Park to furnish the restored George Caleb Bingham house. Among the historic treasures included with the gift were: • 10 handmade wool coverlets • 10 handmade wool sheets • Black parasol with lace fringe • Black fan • Cashmere shawl • Gold-headed cane • Spinning wheel • Cherry cupboards At FAR’s annual meeting in April, the board discussed the notion of forming a council of representatives from all local organizations to help coordinate plans and

avoid duplication of effort.

The minutes went on to say, “Furthermore, the advantage of such a council would be that each representative could take back to the organization represented a report of what other organizations were planning for Arrow Rock,” The FAR board voted that it was in favor of the formation of that council, an organization that would come to be known as the Historic Print Museum Dedication Arrow Rock Council, but it would be another seven The annual Country Auction brought years before that organization took root. in $1,975 in 1966, and featured the The board also voted to support the town addition of antique clothing. Auction government with a gift of $50 since, as Chairman Cora Lee Miller made it clear a nonprofit organization, it did not pay to potential donors that modern clothing property taxes. would not be accepted.

Arrow Rock Federated Church On Oct. 9, FAR, along with the State minister and the village’s summer tour Historic Society of Missouri, the Missouri guide, Rev. Omar Wetherell, reported State Park Board and the Daughters of that guests on his tours had expressed the American Revolution, sponsored an an interest in seeing the Sites Gun Shop, exhibition of George Caleb Bingham’s art and that led the FAR board to ask: Is the at the Old Tavern. The exhibit included 14 gun shop for sale? The answer, it turned original Bingham oil paintings along with out, was yes. FAR Secretary Sallie Hailey sketches, lithographs and engravings. The and her husband Ernest, owned both the collection was so valuable and irreplaceable Sites Gun Shop and the adjacent Sites that State Historical Society of Missouri House, and offered the entire parcel and staff members slept in the Old Tavern with both buildings to FAR for $6,500. FAR the artwork on Saturday night, before the purchased the properties on Aug. 12. The show opened on Sunday morning. town held a fundraising barbecue that The public’s response to the one-day same month and donated the $501 raised exhibition caught everyone by surprise. at the event to FAR to begin restoration of More than 3,000 people converged on the gun shop. the town and toured the tavern to get The FAR board appointed a gun shop a glimpse of Bingham originals. Three committee to lead restoration efforts.

Missouri Highway Patrol officers and Committee members included Chairman 12 civil defense guards were called in to Dr. Thomas B. Hall Jr., and Herschel direct traffic and parking for the 800 cars Gaddy, Henry Hamilton, T.M. Mounts, that poured into tiny Arrow Rock. and William Miller. The committee “We really didn’t know what to expect wasted no time and in the fall began since this was a first,” said Dr. Richard some necessary demolition to convert Brownlee, director of the State Historical the building from its modern use as an Society of Missouri, “but there is certainly automotive garage back to its original evidence that Missourians like Bingham.” purpose as a gunsmith’s workshop.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 23

Sites Gun Shop before restoration

1967

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FAR President Louise Eads and Dr. James Goodrich

Bill Miller

A Gun Shop Reborn

ith its acquisition of the Sites Gun Shop, the Friends of Arrow Rock decided to dig a little deeper into its history. Who better to call than the Missouri Archaeological Society?

FAR turned to Robert T. Bray, director of the Lyman Center for Archaeological Research at Van Meter State Park, who took charge of the dig. Under Bray’s watchful eye, FAR members joined Missouri Archaeological Society members to excavate the interior of the gun shop. Their work helped Bray pinpoint the original locations of the hearth and forge.

On March 6, excavation team member Henry Hamilton of Marshall, Mo. wrote a letter to Dr. Thomas B. Hall Jr., gun shop restoration committee chair, to report on the results of the archaeological dig: “At 4 p.m. Sunday we finished the excavation of the Sites Gun Shop floor, which began at 8:30 Saturday morning. Robert T. Bray, director of the Lyman Research Center and State Park Board Archaeologist, was in charge of their excavation, which was done by seven members of the Big Bend chapter of the Missouri Archaeological Society and help from three Arrow Rock people.

“Several pieces which were definitely used by John Sites were found and these will form the basis for a nice exhibit. Among these pieces were a butt plate, the bases of 3 pin-fire cartridges, an early type primer, a small drill bit, very small monkey wrench, probably a trigger guard, and quite a number of badly oxidized objects of iron which cannot be identified until they have been treated and cleaned.”

24 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

As costs for the restoration work on the gun shop mounted, eventually totaling $10,256, budgetary relief came through the proceeds of two barbecue fundraisers, and monetary donations

by Dr. Hall. Much of the labor was donated, and no one put in more hours on the project than Gun Shop committee member William Miller. In a proclamation of appreciation, FAR President Louise Eads lauded Bill’s efforts on the project: “The work of restoring the little shop was hard, hard work.

Handling bricks makes for sore backs! Sawing out old mortar is tedious and tiresome. But our friend learned quickly and we were soon able to dispense with the work of professionals and leave the work in the capable hands of this man who understands so well the meaning of friendship.”

The public got a very visible reminder of FAR’s work on the Sites Gun shop on June 24, when the annual Country Auction was set up on Fifth Street, right in front of the gun shop. Despite a late start, thanks to a morning downpour, the auction was a success, netting $2,273.32 after expenses.

On Sept. 24, FAR dedicated the restored Sites Gun Shop.

Dr. James Goodrich, associate editor of the Missouri Historical Review, was the speaker that day. FAR board member Rosemary Ginn suggested a humorous fundraiser in honor of the occasion: a $1 Gun Shop Club membership. The brochure for the John P. Sites Gun Association promised “No Meetings, No Hunts, No Officers, No After-Dinner Talks!” The effort raised $700 for FAR.

1968

A

A Landmark Within A Landmark

lthough the entire village of Arrow Rock was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1964, four years later the town gained a second National Historic Landmark designation. This time, the George Caleb Bingham House claimed the honor. On the day of the dedication ceremony, April 28, Friends of Arrow Rock hosted a VIP luncheon for 75 people at the Old Tavern. Board members and their spouses accompanied VIP visitors who came to town for the event. Costumed hostesses were on hand for the luncheon.

The dedication event featured tours of the Bingham House, which was decorated with many of the items from the Collett collection, acquired by FAR in 1966.

In her notes from that year, FAR board member and unofficial historian Jean Hamilton said, “That this dedication was possible is due to the thoughtfulness of Mr. Hugh Stephens, who bought the house in 1924 for $1,250 to preserve it until someone would restore it. He kept it seven years until the park department bought it in 1934, for $250 over the amount he paid for it.”

The free summertime tours FAR offered in cooperation with the Arrow Rock State Park continued to grow in popularity. In 1968, 3,806 visitors took advantage of the tours, which prompted FAR President Louise Eads to ask the board if it was time to start charging for tours. The FAR board decided to broach the subject with Missouri State Park officials to get their feedback; the park board rejected the idea.

FAR reprinted the brochure, 39 Things to See in Arrow Rock, in a new format and began charging 10 cents a copy. The Marshall, Mo. Chamber of Commerce picked up the tab for a third of the cost of the brochure printing. Henry Hamilton gave FAR 400 copies of his publication, Tobacco Pipes of Missouri Indians, to be sold for $1 each.

The annual auction got a new look with the addition of a 77-by-38-foot tent.

After the 1967 auction was delayed by rain, Auction Chairman Cora Lee Miller decided to find a tent to borrow, and the Ralston Purina Corp. came through, asking only that FAR pay for freight and insurance. The 1968 auction brought in $3,176 after expenses.

That year, the executive board for Friends of Arrow Rock empowered President Eads to contact the Missouri State Park Board to gauge its interest in taking over ownership of the old courthouse, FAR’s first property and restoration project. The park board accepted FAR’s proposal and accepted ownership of the courthouse, agreeing to maintain the historic building in its restored condition. In her recollection of the events of 1968, FAR board member Jean Hamilton said the general feeling among board members was that FAR’s money was better spent on restoration rather than maintenance on a restored property. That attitude did not prevail as FAR entered its second decade; the organization maintained ownership and accepted the financial responsibility of maintenance for all its other restored properties. (l to r) FAR President Louise Eads; Missouri First Lady Betty Hearnes; Bevery Holman, wife of State Auditor Haskell Holman; Elizabeth “Biz” Jaegers, wife of Missouri State Parks Director Josephs Jaegers Jr.

A 1960s Time Capsule What We Were Wearing Mini skirts Paisley prints Pillbox hats Bell-bottom jeans Go-go boots

What Was Making Headlines Soviets Put First Man In Space President Kennedy Assassinated In Dallas Medicare Program Signed Into Law Apollo 11 Lands On The Moon Martin Luther King Jr. Delivers ‘I Have A Dream’ Speech

What We Were Watching “Gunsmoke” “Star Trek” “The Andy Griffith Show” “Gilligan’s Island” “The Flintstones”

What We Were Listening To “The Twist” by Chubby Checker “Good Vibrations” by The Beach Boys “I Can’t Get No Satisfaction”

by The Rolling Stones “Ain’t Too Proud To Beg” by The Temptations “Hey Jude” by The Beatles

1969

A

A Year of Transition

rrow Rock became a radio star in 1969, when it was featured on a series called “Museum Time,” a local program produced by KXTR-FM in Independence, Mo. FAR board member Jean Hamilton wrote the scripts and William G. Hessler, assistant director of the Kansas City Museum of History and Science provided the recordings.

It was just one of many achievements for FAR during its 10th anniversary year.

For its 10th annual Country Auction, FAR once again secured the use of the large Ralston Purina tent, and it was a good thing, too. Rain and wind came whipping through town on auction day, but the weather didn’t dampen the enthusiasm of the bidders.

When the final tally came in, the 1969 auction had blown through all previous auction records with a total of $5,193.78.

FAR board member Dr. Thomas B. Hall Jr. gave FAR 1,000 copies of his article, “Two Missouri Gunsmiths of the Boonslick Area,” which originally appeared in a magazine produced by the National MuzzleLoading Rifle Association. FAR offered the article reprints for sale at 50 cents per copy.

Despite FAR’s hope that it could start charging for the summer tours of the village, the State Park Board, which shared the expenses for the tours, nixed that idea and asked that the tours remain free to the public.

The park board did agree to change the financial arrangement with FAR, agreeing to Jean Hamilton pay the entire cost of the summer tours while FAR accepted responsibility for the spring and fall tours and large group tours throughout the year. FAR hired Minnie Leimkuehler as its guide for spring and fall tours. The Loom House continued to be the meeting place for tours, but it was an interesting location in its own right, especially in 1969, when master weavers Jim and Kitty Smith began operating the venture for FAR. The building next door to the Loom House, which had been occupied by the Lyceum Theatre since 1961 for use as a scene shop, found itself in need of a tenant when the Lyceum built a new dormitory facility that included space in the basement for a scene shop. The board agreed the building needed stabilization and repair before it could be occupied again.

In 1969, FAR had the opportunity to buy the Old Schoolhouse building on the west end of Main Street in Arrow Rock. Ultimately, the board decided the schoolhouse building did not fit with its mission and that maintenance of the property could be prohibitively expensive.

After serving faithfully as FAR’s leader during the organization’s formative years, Louise Eads announced her intention to step down as president. At the FAR annual meeting in September, Allene Groves recalled the Daughters of the 26 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

Odd Fellows Lodge Hall

American Revolution meeting 10 years earlier, when FAR was formed. “I knew Louise Eads was the one with the ideas and ability that could do it,” she said of the decision to elect Louise as FAR’s first president. “It will be very hard for anyone to fill her small shoes and her big ideas.”

Cora Lee Miller described Louise as “a very efficient lady,” who helped connect the organization to all the right people. “She was really an organizer and people liked her very much. She was a great president.”

The membership presented Louise with a pair of silver candelabra as a token of appreciation.

Louise Hall took over as president, ready to lead FAR as it took on its next major restoration project: The Sites House, which FAR acquired along with the Sites Gun Shop property in 1966. A Sites House policy committee, appointed by the FAR board, included Dorothy Caldwell of the State Historical Society of Missouri, and Robert Elgin of Coombs & Elgin, a historic buildings survey firm, along with FAR members Bill and Cora Lee Miller, and Henry and Jean Hamilton. After determining it would be too costly to restore the property as part residence/part museum, and concluding that FAR had most of the furnishings it would need already on hand, the committee recommended the property be restored as a house museum for a period that was yet to be determined. The board gave its blessing and $2,500 to the committee to get started on the restoration.

FAR headed into the 1970s filled with pride for what it had accomplished, including major restoration projects at the old courthouse, the Odd Fellows Lodge and the Gun Shop; publications that included the popular Arrow Rock Cook Book; educational tours, and successful events such as the annual Country Auction. Most importantly, FAR had put Arrow Rock on the national map and built an organization that was a model for other preservation-minded groups across the country. ›››

The 1970s

Dr. Thomas B. Hall Jr. at the Sappington Memorial Building and Museum dedication, June 16, 1974.

After getting off to such a fast start in its first decade, Friends of Arrow Rock could have been forgiven for taking a breather for a few years. That’s not what happened, though. In the 1970s, FAR continued to acquire and restore properties, and add to its publications, events and programs. The ’70s was a decade of tumult in the United States, but here in Arrow Rock, FAR was creating a peaceful escape to yesteryear, and tourists were taking notice.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 27

Much of what makes Arrow Rock unique among historic villages is that the buildings here weren’t relocated to the village or recreated to look old, but when a mid-Missouri property owner offered FAR a historic stone house on the condition it be moved and

1970

F

riends of Arrow Rock kicked off the decade by getting rid of all traces of the 20th century in its newest restoration project, the Sites House. The home had undergone many alterations since gunsmith Johnny Sites had expanded and beautified the small cottage for his beloved wife, Nannie. It had served as a residence, and even a multifamily dwelling, but modern amenities had no place in this restoration.

By the fall, the committee in charge of the work on the Sites House, assisted by master carpenter Logan Buntin, had removed the front and back porches and interior closets.

They received photos and information from a former owner that helped them pinpoint a target year for the restoration: 1866.

With so much work to do at the Sites House, fundraising was more important than ever. The annual

Sites House before restoration

reconstructed in Arrow Rock, the board gave the offer serious thought.

Country Auction, held again under the protection of the Ralston Purina tent, brought in $4,408.92.

FAR President Louise Hall considered it a great personal honor and a testament to the respect FAR was gaining across the state when in 1970, Gov. Warren T. Hearnes appointed her to the Missouri Sesquicentennial Commission.

With the state taking responsibility for tours of the village during the summer, FAR continued to fund tours of the village in April, May, September and October. For a second year, the organization employed Minnie Leimkuehler as tour guide.

That year, 7,495 people took tours of Arrow Rock between April and October. With the demand for tours greater than ever, FAR reopened its discussion about charging for tours to help offset the cost of employing a guide, but continued to offer free tours in 1970.

Bill and Cora Lee Miller agreed to donate a vacant lot on the corner of Fourth and Main Streets as a site for the house. A committee of three — Dr. John Lawrence, Henry Hogge and Wayne Elsea — formed to research the house and study the viability of moving it to Arrow Rock.

The committee was impressed and at the April 21 board meeting, recommended that FAR accept the gift.

The board agreed and began exploring ways to move and rebuild the house.

28 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

1971

Shelby Log Cabin

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here would be no stone house in Arrow Rock. In early 1971, the board began to reconsider the acquisition.

Some board members asked if the home was appropriate for Arrow Rock. Others were concerned about the potential costs involved with taking down and rebuilding the stone house. / Dr. John Lawrence had been eyeing the house as a possible venue for a medical museum, a project he was interested in coordinating, but Dr. Lawrence’s dream was only delayed, not denied, with the refusal of the stone house gift. A small cabin on the verge of destruction would find its salvation and a new purpose in Arrow Rock. / A Saline County couple, Robert and Roberta Smith, offered a one-room log cabin, complete with its original stone fireplace, to the organization. The cabin was a portion of one of the oldest extant structures in Saline County, originally constructed in the 1830s by the Shelby family, ancestors of donor Roberta Lanier Smith. There was just one catch: FAR would have to deconstruct and reconstruct the cabin. The FAR board began making plans to relocate the cabin and transform it into a medical museum, and appointed Dr. Lawrence as general chairman of the medical museum committee.

››› In the meantime, work continued on the Sites House.

Project accomplishments in 1971 included a new roof and the restoration of the back porch.

Since 1965, FAR had been picking up the tab for employing part-time village tour guides. In 1971, the organization began charging, and according to tour coordinator Cora Lee Miller, the modest fee had no effect on the number of people lining up to see the Arrow Rock sights. Adults paid 50 cents, children up to age 18 paid 25 cents, and FAR instituted a $5 minimum charge for group tours. The new fees yielded nearly $600 for FAR in 1971, but objections from the State Park Board ended the paid tours after just one year. Despite the financial burden, FAR reverted to free tours the following year.

With few furniture donations on hand, the FAR board decided not to hold its annual auction; for the first time since 1960, there was no June auction in Arrow Rock.

There were other fundraising opportunities for FAR that year, though, including the sale of two reprinted books: Along the Old Trail by T.C. Rainey ($2.50) and The Theory and

Treatment of Fevers by Dr. John Sappington ($5). With the supply of Arrow Rock Cook Books almost completely depleted, FAR requested a second printing of 1,000 copies.

The organization also benefitted from a fundraiser sponsored by the Bucksnort Shooting Club. The club held an Old Time Turkey Shoot event in Arrow Rock, and gave the $81 proceeds to FAR to help maintain the John P. Sites Gun Shop.

In 1964, FAR hosted its first homes tour in conjunction with a Marshall church. In 1971, FAR went out on its own, hosting a tour of the Marshall, Mo. homes of board members. The event brought in $1,338.

Arrow Rock’s post office had been an important part of community life in the village since 1848, and in 1971, the Arrow Rock post office was threatened with closure. The Friends of Arrow Rock flexed its considerable political muscle, calling in help from U.S. Senators Stuart Symington and Thomas Eagleton, and from historical societies from Missouri to Santa Fe, N.M., to exert pressure on the United States Postal Service. The effort paid off and the village’s post office was spared.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 29

1972 Hollywood Comes To Town

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he filmmakers working on a Tom Sawyer musical movie thought Arrow Rock’s unspoiled beauty made it an ideal substitute for 1840s Hannibal, Mo. All of Arrow Rock turned out to play host (and occasionally a role) for the film when the production company and stars Celeste Holm, Jodie Foster, Johnny Whitaker, Jeff East and Warren Oates came to town during the summer of ‘72.

Filming took place in several local buildings, including the Odd Fellows Lodge Hall, which served as a courthouse for a pivotal scene, and a Friends of Arrow Rock-owned building on the boardwalk, which doubled as the doctor’s office. The boardwalk, now a treasured feature of the village, was constructed for the film and retained by the property owners afterward.

After filming was over, Arrow Rock resident Page Williams, whose Main Street home became “Aunt Polly’s House” for the film, gave FAR permission to hold a tour at her property. The $620 raised by that event helped FAR pay clean-up costs incurred by the filming. Unfortunately, Williams’ stately 1840s-era home was destroyed by fire later that year.

››› FAR held another Country Auction in 1972, and raised $4,810.

In addition to its sales of the Arrow Rock Cook Book and other publications, FAR began offering a second edition of Jean Hamilton’s Arrow Rock: Where Wheels Started West, and copies of her article “Abel Van Meter: His Park and His Diary.” Dr. Thomas Hall Jr. completed work on his new book, Medicine on the Santa Fe Trail. The book sold for $12.50 with FAR receiving $12 for each of the first 300 copies sold.

That initial printing went quickly and Dr. Hall ordered another 10,000, giving FAR $1 for each copy sold from the second printing.

Work on the Sites House was nearing completion. As of September, FAR had spent $4,553.12 on labor and $1,215.19 for materials for the restoration project.

The original elaborate trim on the house, visible in historical photos, was long gone by the 1970s, and FAR President Louise Hall was worried that it would be impossible to replace. “What on earth are we going to do?” she asked

project manager Buntin. “We’ll never be able to match them.”

“I’ll make them,” Buntin replied, and that’s exactly what he did. His work was so seamless that visitors to the restored home never guess his 1970s recreations aren’t original to the house.

Dr. John Lawrence, the driving force behind the medical museum project, announced that his project would honor all pioneer doctors of Missouri. At the same time, Dr. Thomas Hall Jr. had a vision for a museum dedicated solely to Arrow Rock’s Dr. John Sappington. Dr. Hall gave FAR a small plot of land next to the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, and began making plans for a new brick building that would evoke the historic feel of the village. Dr. Hall asked that he be appointed as chairman for the Dr. Sappington Museum project, and that his son, Dr. Thomas B. Hall III, be appointed vice-chairman. The Halls made a commitment to underwrite the project, and assured the FAR board that the Dr. Sappington project would

30 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

enhance rather than conflict with the pioneer medical museum.

With plans for the pioneer medical museum progressing and donated items rolling in, FAR needed to get to work on the building that would house that new attraction. The building, a structure known as the Shelby Log Cabin, was donated in 1971, but had to be moved, log by log, to its new home on the corner of Fourth and Main Streets in Arrow Rock. That’s where 86-year-old master builder Buntin came in. With his work on the Sites House nearing completion, he turned his attention to the Shelby Log Cabin project. Buntin took painstaking care to photograph his work on the deconstruction of the cabin and number each log as he removed it. It was slow, meticulous work that would occupy his time for another three years.

“He didn’t have any use for Daylight Savings Time,” FAR President Louise Hall recalled about Buntin. “He said he was going on God’s time. He knew if it was right or wrong and he worked on it until it was right.”

1973 A state park by any other name ….

On Jan. 1, 1973, Arrow Rock State Park changed its designation to Arrow Rock State Historic Site. The properties and people associated with the Arrow Rock State Historic Site were the same, only the name had changed to better reflect the historic significance of the property. It was a change that would still engender some confusion and mislabeling four decades later.

No such name changes were in the works for Friends of Arrow Rock. That group had other things occupying its time, including three major property projects.

››› With donations from two separate estates, FAR had more than enough inventory to hold a Country Auction in ’73. The year’s auction proceeds came in at $4,192, with no expenses. At the annual meeting on Sept. 23, FAR President Louise Hall Bagby thanked Bill and Cora Lee Miller for their leadership on the auction and other FAR projects, calling them the “backbone of Friends of Arrow Rock.” / Back in 1966, the FAR board voted to support the formation of a new council in Arrow Rock that would be a cooperative effort among all the groups in town, facilitating communication and planning local events. It took seven years for all parties to gather at the table, but in 1973, the Historic Arrow Rock Council was born. “This took a tremendous load from the Friends,” said Jean Hamilton in her recollections from that year. “To this time, the Friends had done and paid for all advertising, all planning for special events, etc. (except, of course, those particular to the State and D.A.R.).”

Sites House Dedication, Sept. 23, 1973

1

Work on the deconstruction of the Shelby Log Cabin had begun, but was delayed when the volunteers assisting project manager Logan Buntin were pulled away by personal commitments. Buntin and the volunteers did get all the logs numbered and prepared for the move to Arrow Rock. Bill Burge took charge of marking each individual chimney stone.

Although the cabin that was destined to become FAR’s pioneer medical museum was a single-story structure, museum project chairman Dr. John Lawrence had visions of rebuilding the cabin as a twostory building, with an upstairs meeting room suitable for educational events. He presented drawings of the building to the board at its Feb. 18 meeting.

2

The restored Sites House was a beauty, adorned with a reconstructed front entry that returned the home to its 1860s-era glory. FAR held a dedication ceremony for the house on Sept. 23. FAR President Louise Hall Bagby presided over the ceremony, thanking all who had put so much time and effort into the project, and the generous donors who gave money and furnishings for the home. When the final tally came in, the restoration cost $17,675.

Jean Hamilton, who helped lead the restoration effort, recounted the work that had been done and offered a special note of gratitude to builder Logan Buntin, who shared his expertise for the project.

32 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

FAR President Louise Hall Bagby

3

Across town, Drs. Thomas Hall Jr. and Thomas Hall III were overseeing construction of a small, architecturally appropriate brick building to house a museum dedicated to the “Quinine Doctor,” Dr. John Sappington. To show appreciation and support for the Halls’ efforts, the board recommended “that all money raised by the sale of Dr. Tom Hall’s Medicine on the Santa Fe Trail, and the donations to the John Sappington Memorial Fund that was accumulated through Dr. Hall’s efforts and the memorials to Mrs. C.W. Sappington be combined into an account to be called The Dr. John Sappington Memorial Fund, and Dr. Hall be authorized to issue checks on said account.”

1974 Honoring The Quinine Doctor

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lthough the nation’s bicentennial was still two years away, forward-looking Friends of Arrow Rock members were already thinking of ways to celebrate that important anniversary. What better way to commemorate the historic event than by preserving and maintaining historic buildings?

Sallie Hailey, FAR board member and a member of the American Revolution Bicentennial Commission of Missouri, was able to secure a $1,500 grant from the commission for FAR, earmarked for a new metal roof on the Odd Fellows Lodge Hall. The grant would cover nearly all the cost of the $1,590 roof project. The board received additional gifts, including $500 from the Missouri Press Association and $1,500 from the U.S. Historic Sites Survey, for other needed improvements, including new gutters for that building.

The disassembled Shelby Log Cabin was ready for the move from its original site near Marshall, Mo. to its new home at the corner of Fourth and Main Streets in Arrow Rock. With labor and equipment provided by Charles Davis, George Hamilton and Lynn Burge, the last pieces

of the cabin arrived in Arrow Rock in March. The Friends of Arrow Rock board named the cabin rebuild and restoration as its Bicentennial Project, with a completion goal for 1976.

A Homes Tour in September gave visitors an inside glimpse of some of Arrow Rock’s most historic homes, including the Aderton House, home of the Ratcliffes; the Price House owned by the Argubrights; and the Bradford House, owned by the Millers. The event raised $692.50.

At FAR’s annual meeting, the membership heard for the first time about the Missouri State Park Board’s tentative plans to build a reception center in Arrow Rock, but that intriguing news was overshadowed by a rumor that Arrow Rock’s iconic Old Tavern soon would stop serving food. The FAR board sent a statement to the Daughters of the American Revolution, who managed the tavern property at the time, with a carbon copy to the Park Board. “We, as interested people of Arrow Rock, hope that the dining service at the Old Tavern be continued indefinitely, and that the facilities be improved in the near future.”

On June 16, FAR hosted a dedication ceremony for the Dr. Sappington Memorial Museum. The building and grounds were a gift to FAR from Dr. and Mrs. Thomas Hall Jr. During the ceremony, FAR President Louise Hall Bagby expressed appreciation to Dr. and Mrs. Hall, as well as their son Dr. Thomas B. Hall III, who served as vice-chairman of the museum project. Nearly 20 descendants of Dr. Sappington attended the dedication.

The speaker for the occasion was Dr. Robert P. Hudson, professor of the History of Medicine at the University of Kansas Medical School, who spoke on “Sappington Reconsidered.”

Pictured, at dedication: Dr. Nelson T. Pearson, descendant of John Sappington, with Virginia Buckner Hall; Descendants of John Sappington

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 33

1975 Saving The Sketches

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fter a comparatively slow start, the pace of work on the Shelby Log Cabin picked up in spring 1975. By the time Henry Hamilton gave a project update to the Friends of Arrow Rock board in June, the walls were up, the roof was on and waterproof, the original 138-year-old floor had been installed, the weatherboard was complete and the structure had been treated for termites. Builder Logan Buntin got permission to install a “truth window” that would expose a section of interior logs so visitors could see the construction.

Buntin was assisted in his work on the cabin project by Lynn Burge and Henry Hamilton. The reconstruction project was on schedule for completion in the bicentennial year. At the 1975 FAR annual meeting, Buntin deflected praise to the original builders, who demonstrated “excellent workmanship with early, crude implements.”

Thanks to grants and gifts received in the previous year, FAR was able to accomplish some much-needed repairs on the Odd Fellows Lodge, including a new roof and gutter system, tuck pointing and waterproofing.

Printing costs were on the rise, so FAR increased the price on two of its publications; The Theory and Treatment of Fevers by Dr. John Sappington increased to $7.50, and Along the Old Trail by Thomas Rainey increased to $5. The Arrow Rock Cook Book went to press for its third printing, and FAR once again benefitted from a generous gesture from Dr. Thomas Hall Jr., who donated 600 copies of his book, Dr. John Sappington of Saline County, Missouri for FAR to sell.

Panic struck George Caleb Bingham fans in 1975, when the financially strapped St. Louis Mercantile Library Association threatened to sell its collection of Bingham Sketches. FAR’s leadership was adamant that the valuable collection should stay intact and in Missouri. Encouraged by FAR Secretary Sallie Hailey, FAR lent its support to a statewide campaign to save the collection. Sallie urged board members to write letters to state and federal representatives and to donate to a corporation set up specifically for the cause: Bingham Sketches Inc. FAR’s ambitious goal was to raise enough money in a year to cover the purchase price of one of the sketches.

At the annual meeting in September, FAR President Louise Hall Bagby announced “with both regret and relief ” her intention to step down. She handed the gavel to a new president: Paul Ratcliffe.

FAR continued to offer free tours to visitors. In 1975, 7,105 people took advantage of FAR’s hospitality.

34 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

1976 The Big Bicentennial

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he patriotism and pageantry of America’s bicentennial year swept across the nation, and Arrow Rock did her part to celebrate the historic anniversary.

At its first meeting of the year on Jan. 11, the Friends of Arrow Rock board outlined plans for a new FAR Information Center, to be located in the building that formerly housed the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre scene shop. The board envisioned the front room as a storefront for selling literature and distributing maps, with the back room set up for audiovisual presentations about Arrow Rock history, and instructed FAR President Paul Ratcliffe to appoint a committee to set the plan in motion. By summer, the building was ready for visitors.

The success of FAR’s new Information Center was undeniable. During its first summer of operation, it served more than 8,500 visitors and tallied $800 in sales.

New Arrow Rock State Historic Site Administrator Richard Forry met with the board to share news that the Department of Natural Resources had employed an architect to draw up plans for an official Arrow Rock State Historic Site visitor center in Arrow Rock, and to discuss his plan for a two-part Arrow Rock walking tour. The first leg of the tour would include the Hall House, Sappington Museum, Bingham House, the stone jail, and the old courthouse. The second part would feature the soon-to-be-completed Pioneer Doctor’s Museum, the Odd Fellows Hall and print shop museum, the Sites Gun Shop and House, and the historic Christian Church. FAR accepted Forry’s plan, and continued to offer free tours in 1976.

After running the Country Auction so masterfully since 1960, Cora Lee Miller decided to step down as the auction chairman, but she went out on a high note.

The 1976 auction on June 19 set a new fundraising record for the event: $6,450.

Pioneer Doctor’s Museum

FAR continued to be at the forefront of the Save The Bingham Sketches campaign. Working cooperatively with the Department of Natural Resources, FAR brought in 25 Bingham sketches for a special showing, April 30 - May 2. On the last day of the exhibit, FAR hosted a VIP showing, charging $25 per couple for an experience that included wine at Prairie Park and dinner at the Old Tavern or the Black Sheep Inn. The VIP event attracted 240 attendees and raised $1,200 to support the purchase of the endangered sketches. The entire weekend drew a crowd of 12,000.

During the course of the one-year campaign, FAR raised more than $12,000, which was enough for Bingham Sketches Inc. to purchase one drawing.

Bingham Sketches representative Nancy Edelman sent a letter thanking FAR for its efforts and announcing that FAR’s first choice of sketches, Early Celebrants, which featured two figures from Bingham’s County Election painting, would bear a plaque with this inscription: “Purchased for the People of the State of Missouri by the Friends of Arrow Rock.” Even better, the statewide effort enabled Bingham Sketches Inc. to purchase the entire collection of endangered sketches. The collection is now in the care of the Nelson-Atkins

Dr. John Lawrence

Museum of Art in Kansas City and the St. Louis Art Museum. The sketch bearing the FAR plaque resides with the St. Louis Art Museum.

As the date of the dedication for the Pioneer Doctors Museum neared, FAR members and other generous donors stepped in to put the finishing touches in place at the Shelby Log Cabin, where the museum would be housed. The Daughters of the American Revolution donated redbud and dogwood trees for the property, which were planted

by Mr. and Mrs. Lynn Burge; Herschel Gaddy planted a garden; Henry and Jean Hamilton donated brick for a sidewalk; Dr. John Lawrence installed the medical artifacts he had been collecting for the project; and Hugh Drew donated and delivered stone from the old Orearville Store to be used for a retaining wall beside the building.

When Memorial Day weekend rolled around, the new museum was ready for visitors. At the dedication ceremony on May 30, Dr. Lawrence welcomed guests to the new attraction. During the ceremony, Henry Hamilton paid special tribute to builder Logan Buntin. “He combines his knowledge of the technical skills of the past century with the qualities of a fine gentleman,” Henry said. “It is due to him we have completed this fine

building, a major accomplishment.”

Project chairman Dr. Lawrence had hoped for a two-story building to house the museum, with a second-story room devoted to educational space. Although the cabin was not enlarged to include a second story, in 1976, Lawrence proposed another building be constructed on the lot with the Shelby Log Cabin. That proposal was tabled by the FAR board.

FAR worked in tandem with other community groups throughout the bicentennial year, assisting with the Historic Arrow Rock Council’s Bicentennial Fish Fry and Square Dance, hosting a picnic and program for the Bicentennial Coast-to-Coast Wagon Train that passed through town in May, and lending a hand during the annual Craft Festival, which drew a crowd of 8,000 on the second weekend of October.

FAR also was a proud supporter of Arrow Rock’s brand new venture: a volunteer fire department. FAR donated $1,000 to assist the fledgling force as it built a fire station on property donated by Bill and Cora Lee Miller, and purchased its first fire truck.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 35

1977 Let FAR Be Your Guide

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fter many years of false starts and setbacks, FAR finally was able to begin charging for tours in 1977, so it could cover its costs for the service. The organization showed its own properties on the tour and also contracted with the state to show properties belonging to the Arrow Rock State Historic Site.

The tours were still a bargain for visitors: only 75 cents for adults and 50 cents for children. Between May and August, when tour chairman Cora Lee Miller reported to the FAR board, the tours served 1,831 adults and 361 children, resulting in income of $1,554.25, “not including two previously scheduled tours before fees were planned, and one group that refused to pay.”

That one stingy group notwithstanding, the paid tours were embraced warmly by the public and by the end of the season, the FAR executive committee was recommending an increase in the fee.

FAR employed two tour guides in 1977, Tom Frazier and Mary Susan Clement, along with Steve Rowles who worked as a receptionist at the FAR Information Center four days a week through a college work program. Tour

After Cora Lee Miller, the founder of FAR’s Country Auction, stepped down as chairman for the event, FAR needed some time to regroup. The board decided against holding an auction in 1977, and began looking for someone to take charge of the event in 1978.

committee members Carol and Larry McClure, Mary Burge and Jan Hinnah often filled in to lead tours when no guides were available. The guest book showed FAR received visitors from 47 states and 11 foreign countries that season.

Visitors got a nice first impression when they arrived at the FAR Information Center on the boardwalk. FAR members, with the able assistance of builder Logan Buntin, made improvements to the facility in 1977, including an “orientation hall” in the back room of the building where visitors could sit on pews from the old Baptist church and watch a film about Arrow Rock’s history, “The Golden Age of Arrow Rock,” produced by Columbia, Mo. television station KOMU-TV8, with support from Mid-Missouri Savings & Loan, and Shorty’s Missouri Fried Chicken.

A new line of postcards was among the items for sale at the Information Center. A committee comprised of Jean Hamilton, Kim Ratcliffe, Louise Bagby and Kitty Smith worked with a photographer from Lee’s Studio, who donated his services, to take photos of Arrow Rock buildings. FAR paid $950 to print 18,000 postcards.

With seven properties to care for, FAR instituted a property committee and charged it with making annual inspections of the buildings. The committee, chaired by Henry Hamilton, and including members Carol McClure and Bill Miller, made its first report to the board at the September annual meeting: ››› IOOF Hall 1st floor in good shape, second needing repairs as a result of leaks before roof repair. ››› Doctor’s Museum Building good, lawn improved by brick walk and herb garden. ››› Sappington Museum Building good, veranda needing some brick work and weed killer.

36 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

››› Information Center Much improved. Still needing roof repair, rear exit, tuck pointing. Need lawn cleared and seeded. ››› Loom House Tuck pointing. Need lawn cleared and seeded. ››› Sites Gun Shop Too much moisture as a result of nearby cisterns. Recommend same to be filled.

››› Sites House Good, and clean.

Also at the annual meeting, Dr. John Lawrence, chair of the medical museum committee, expressed appreciation to Jane Holloway and Virginia Fisher, who planted a medicinal herb garden on the property and then prepared a brochure about it.

1978

A 1970s Time Capsule

What We Were Wearing Three-piece suits Wrap dresses Maxi skirts Peasant blouses Leotards

What Was Making Headlines Four Slain At Kent State University Loom House

Making Introductions

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he Friends of Arrow Rock Information Center was in good shape, and the FAR-led tours were as popular as ever, but guests were unhappy with the orientation film that played in the Information Center. They complained about its loud music and poor audio. The board decided to fix that problem, and appointed FAR President Paul Ratcliffe and Larry McClure to put together a slide program that could serve as an introduction to the history of the village.

FAR increased its tour price for adults to $1.50, keeping the fee at 50 cents for children. Tour guides Mary Susan Clement and Carole Glascock, along with local volunteers, led 2,607 people as they explored the most historic buildings in town. The tours had brought in $3,363.25 by the Sept. 24 annual meeting.

Ted and Virginia Fisher took on the complicated task of organizing the Country Auction. Their excellent work earned them high praise from FAR President Ratcliffe at the annual meeting.

Although there were no active restoration projects in progress in 1978, maintenance was a high priority and included tuck pointing on the Loom House, the addition of a back entrance on the Information Center, and, according to the minutes from a September meeting, the repair of “damage from a ‘shut-in’ dog,” at an unspecified location.

In general, 1978 was a quiet year for FAR, but only because it was gearing up for great things in 1979, a year that would mark FAR’s 20th anniversary and Arrow Rock’s sesquicentennial.

Patricia Hearst Kidnapped By Symbionese Liberation Army President Nixon Resigns Mitchell, Haldeman, Ehrlichman Found Guilty Of Watergate Cover-Up Karol Cardinal Wojtyla Of Poland Greets Public As Pope John Paul II

What We Were Watching “All In The Family” • “M*A*S*H” “The Mary Tyler Moore Show” “The Bob Newhart Show” • “Hawaii Five-O”

What We Were Listening To “Bridge Over Troubled Water”

by Simon & Garfunkle “Love Will Keep Us Together”

by The Captain & Tenille “You Light Up My Life” by Debby Boone “Night Fever” by The Bee Gees

1979 FAR continued to honor its 20-year commitment to preservation by investing in the maintenance of its properties. The year’s projects George Caleb Bingham’s Canvassing for a Vote features Arrow Rock’s Old Tavern.

included exterior painting on the Odd Fellows

A Year Of Anniversaries

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he dust had barely settled from the American bicentennial celebrations in Arrow Rock, but the village was ready to celebrate again in 1979. The year marked several significant anniversaries, including Arrow Rock’s 150th birthday, the centennial of George Caleb Bingham’s death, and the 20th year for Friends of Arrow Rock.

FAR contributed bricks for the restoration of one of two remaining 19th century fruit dryers in Missouri. Logan Buntin led the restoration effort on the dryer, located on the French family property northwest of Arrow Rock. The effort resulted in the publication of “Fruit Drying, a Forgotten Process in Missouri’s History,” by Henry Hamilton, in Vol. 35, No. 4 of The Bulletin, a publication of the Missouri Historical Society of St. Louis.

The village celebrated its connection to George Caleb Bingham with an art fair on May 25 and 26. FAR hosted a Bingham sketch exhibition in the Old Tavern, picking up the $500 tab for insurance to protect the sketches for the two days they were in town. More than 1,200 people attended the art fair and exhibition.

After years of borrowing and renting tents for the FAR Country Auctions, Arrow Rock finally had its own big top. With the help of a $1,000 donation from FAR, the Historic Arrow Rock Council purchased a large tent for community use.

38 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

FAR continued to run a successful tour business from its headquarters at the Information Center. Tour guides Tom Frazier, Carolyn Collins and Bob Leonard put lots of miles on their walking shoes that year, hosting visitors from 47 states and 7 foreign countries.

For the first time, the tours showed a net profit for the organization.

The FAR Information Center received a special gift from the Daughters of the American Revolution: an American flag that had flown over the U.S. Capitol. Arrow Rock resident Nelle Thompson presented the flag to FAR President Paul Ratcliffe during the annual meeting on Sept. 30. The brief flag ceremony concluded with a dedicatory prayer from DAR Chaplain Mary Burge.

Arrow Rock and FAR captured the attention of filmmakers once again. In 1979, a PBS documentary team came to town to film a portion of its “Behind the Laughter” documentary on the life of Mark Twain. FAR received $200 in exchange for allowing the moviemakers to use the Sites House and Information Center for the project.

With 20 years of experience behind it, FAR was poised to take some big steps in its development as a professional historical and preservation organization. The next decade would bring new properties, new opportunities, and new faces to the Friends of Arrow Rock.

Lodge Hall, the Information Center and the Loom House; the replacement of the Loom House canopy; and a financial contribution to the local Masonic Lodge to help with painting on its hall, a mirror image of FAR’s Odd Fellows Lodge Hall. FAR made a separate investment in information preservation by giving $2,000, to be matched by the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, for a historic survey of Arrow Rock.

Black Sheep Inn, purchased by FAR in 1987

The 1980s

In the 1980s, Nancy Reagan was encouraging us to “Just Say No,” but for Friends of Arrow Rock, it was a decade of saying “Yes!” FAR said yes to new educational programs, yes to an executive director, yes to ambitious preservation projects, and yes to a $100,000 endowment fund. In the 1980s, Friends of Arrow Rock’s leadership dared to dream big dreams and its membership rose to every challenge. The successes of that decade continue to resonate today through FAR’s popular children’s education programs, a commitment to its historic properties, and leaders who are inspired to protect and share the unique village of Arrow Rock.

1980

T

he busy little village of Arrow Rock was buzzing in 1980, as Friends of Arrow Rock worked in partnership with other local organizations to host a variety of events. Volunteers from FAR assisted the Department of Natural Resources to offer school tours of the village. The organization also joined forces with the Historic Arrow Rock Council and the Arrow Rock Craft Club to sponsor Missouri Artist Workshops on woodworking, pottery, woodcarving, weaving and watercolor painting.

FAR member Jean Hamilton updated her 1963 book, Arrow Rock: Where Wheels Started West, and had it reprinted. FAR also printed 1,500 additional copies of its Arrow Rock Cook Book.

An organization’s health is measured by its members, and a sentiment expressed

by Dr. John Lawrence in 1980 has been repeated often since then: “FAR needs to work toward acquiring more and younger members.”

In 1980, maintenance of FAR’s historic properties was a top priority. The organization spent $641 and plenty of

volunteer hours to replace floor joists in the Sites House kitchen, and repair holes, replaster and repaint the ceiling of the Odd Fellows Lodge Hall.

As the board prepared for 1981, knowledgeable volunteers assessed the condition of all the FAR properties and determined that most were in good shape, with the exception of the east wall of the Information Center, which was slated to be rebuilt the next spring. But it was another historic but neglected Arrow Rock property that would become the focus of FAR’s attention in 1981.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 39

1981

T

he small, wood-frame Christian Church was established in April 1872, by 47 local citizens. The church was shuttered in the 1920s, revived briefly in the 1940s, and then absorbed into the congregation of the Federated Church in 1950. The building was leased for a time to the Arrow Rock Craft Club, but that group didn’t have the resources to make the repairs the building needed, so the Friends of Arrow Rock leadership decided to take action to preserve another historic treasure.

FAR President Paul Ratcliffe began negotiating a long-term lease with the

Christian Church of MidAmerica, and the board set out to raise the funds needed to repair and restore the church building.

The Country Auction on June 20, which offered antiques and an eclectic mix of other donated items, brought in $9,269.15 for the project. During FAR’s annual meeting in September, board member and auction organizer Ted Fisher lamented the quality of some of the donated auction items, asking, “Could some restriction be placed?”

FAR continued to lend its support to other community events including an Art Fair and the Arrow Rock Heritage Craft Festival. It also came to the aid of the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre by offering use of the second floor of the Odd Fellows Lodge as rehearsal space, asking only for reimbursement of utility expenses.

Although the lodge building remains un-air conditioned to this day, the Lyceum kept its cast cool with the aid

1982 ➽

A year earlier, Friends of Arrow Rock had made a commitment to preserve the historic Christian Church. With a 99-year lease secured, FAR continued to raise money in 1982, to cover the estimated $20,000 in needed repairs. Fundraising efforts for the project attracted an anonymous donor who gave $5,000 and promised an additional $5,000 if the organization could raise $5,000 in new donations by the end of the year. With gifts from Arrow Rock residents, the IBM Corp., and Christian Church supporters, FAR more than met its goal and was able to begin restoration work late that autumn.

The organization also invested nearly $3,000 that year for maintenance projects at the Sites Gun Shop, Sites House, Information Center and Loom House. The Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre again used the second floor of the Odd Fellows Lodge Hall for its summer rehearsals, but at the end of the theater season, FAR began making necessary repairs so that Odd

40 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

of a window unit. The board, bothered by the jarring aesthetic of a window air conditioner jutting out of the front of an 1868 building, suggested the unit be moved to the south side of the lodge.

Modern day structural engineers still break out in a sweat when they think of large casts of performers dancing on the upper floor of that old structure.

In 1981, the Friends of Arrow Rock received a bequest of 100 shares of Kansas City Power & Light stock from the estate of Dr. Thomas B. Hall Jr. The gift made it possible for the organization to maintain the Sites Gun Shop. Hall had directed the restoration of that property in the mid-1960s, and worked tirelessly along with his son, FAR board member Dr. Thomas B. Hall III, to furnish the gun shop with equipment that was both authentic and appropriate to the period.

According to FAR Secretary Jean Hamilton, “Dr. and Mrs. Hall, both of whom had deep roots in Arrow Rock, were always more than generous in giving their time and talents to the restoration.”

Fellows furnishings, which had been in storage in Columbia, Mo., could be returned to the historic lodge hall in Arrow Rock.

The organization ordered a fifth printing of its popular Arrow Rock Cook Book. There was some concern among members when an increase in printing costs necessitated a $1 price increase per copy of the cookbook, but at $6, a book so jampacked with recipes was still a bargain. FAR leadership decided to add a sticker to memorialize the recently deceased Dorothy Curran Huston, the FAR member who collected and tested the recipes, produced, and even helped underwrite the cookbook.

That summer’s tour guides included local resident Mary Jo Stith, and Kathy Borgman, who had recently returned to the area and partnered with her mother, Helen Borgman, to open a new bed and breakfast in Arrow Rock. At the organization’s annual meeting, FAR Board President Paul Ratcliffe offered special recognition to Cora Lee Miller, whose management of the tours and tour guides for FAR resulted in 2,929 tours between April and September. “It is through the tours that the work of FAR is interpreted,” Ratcliffe said.

After seven years of leadership, Ratcliffe handed over the gavel to a new board president: Day Kerr.

1983

F

riends of Arrow Rock had several property projects on its plate in 1983. Thanks to the leadership of Dr. John Lawrence, who managed the Christian Church restoration project along with Bill and Cora Lee Miller, the historic church’s foundation had been shored up, the roof repaired and gutters installed. Brightened by a fresh coat of paint, the church was again a welcoming presence on Arrow Rock’s Main Street. The board and its new president, Day Kerr, began to consider what to charge for rental of the church building.

Down the street at FAR’s Information Center, located on the boardwalk, contractors were making structural repairs to the building’s east wall. While that work was underway, FAR moved its tour headquarters to the Odd Fellows Lodge Hall. The Odd Fellows Hall underwent a transformation of its own that year. The upstairs walls and floor received fresh coats of paint and the furnishings originally belonging to Arrow Rock IOOF Lodge No. 40, and stored since 1972 by Columbia Lodge No. 207, were returned home. The 32 members of the Columbia Lodge were so impressed by the hospitality of Friends of Arrow Rock, they sent this letter: Dear Friends, Because you were so nice, because you were so interested in our project, because the building was so nice and clean, because of your hospitality and because the cookies were so good and the coffee hit the spot, the Odd Fellows that signed this letter say thanks with a capital T. With FAR’s properties in show-off shape, the board appointed a sign committee, led by Whitney Kerr, to investigate the possibility of installing new signs that echoed the look of the brown and tan signs used at state-owned properties. The committee’s mission was to work with the state to come up with a sign plan for three categories: business, state and private. “All will be appropriate and tasteful, not necessarily identical,” according to the board minutes.

The membership committee, led by Louise Bagby, was committed to growing the membership and had great success with two mailings that yielded 150 new members that year. The organization was building momentum and President Kerr felt it was time for FAR to hire its first permanent employee. It was an idea that would take root in 1984.

••• A 1980 s Time Capsule ••• What We Were Listening To “Jessie’s Girl”

by Rick Springfield “Karma Chameleon”

by Culture Club “We Are The World”

by USA for Africa “The Greatest Love Of All”

by Whitney Houston “9 to 5” by Dolly Parton

What We Were Wearing Shoulder pads Members Only jackets Leg warmers Parachute pants T-shirts under blazers

What We Were Watching “Cheers” “The Cosby Show” “Dallas” “Magnum P.I.” “Miami Vice”

What Was Making Headlines Beatle John Lennon Slain • Reagan Takes Oath As 40th President 52 U.S. Hostages In Iran Fly To Freedom • Berlin Wall Tumbles Shuttle Tragedy Stuns Nation

The Grand Gala, October 1984

T

1984

here are important milestones throughout Friends of Arrow Rock history that shaped the organization’s future, but even for an organization accustomed to bold moves, 1984 represented a year of significant transformation. In that year, FAR entered a new era of professionalism through its programs, publications, fundraising and staffing.

It began in March, when the board approved a 25th anniversary endowment fund drive. Donna Huston chaired the fund drive committee and was charged with raising $100,000. The Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation of Kansas City offered $25,000 as a matching grant with the stipulation that an additional $25,000 be raised

by Sept. 1. With donations from local residents and FAR members, bequests, memorial gifts, and an antiques and collectibles auction that netted nearly $8,000, the committee more than met its goal. FAR celebrated this success at a grand gala in October.

As membership continued to grow, it became increasingly important to keep those members informed about the good work FAR was doing. The solution to that communications conundrum came in the form of an attractive, well-written, quarterly newsletter that was filled with news about FAR projects and other Arrow Rock happenings.

At its July board meeting, FAR hired Kathy Borgman as its director.

Even before she was appointed director she helped coordinate a new children’s educational program in the spring — a program that continues to bring history to life for thousands of schoolchildren each year. She also was integral in the launch of the Children’s Craft Festival, a biennial event that debuted in September 1984.

Kathy had been employed by FAR as a tour guide over the past two summers and her tour guide duties continued even as her title changed and duties multiplied. In fact, the responsibilities tied to the then-parttime position included oversight of preservation work, coordination of educational programs, public relations, newsletter production, collections management and general site operations.

FAR’s president at that time, Day Kerr, recalls that hiring a permanent staff member was a big step for the organization. “It was a real gamble for FAR financially and for Kathy, too, at that time,” Day said. “But we were able to keep money coming in by increasing our membership, and getting funds from other sources.

Kathy was a godsend. With her intelligence, her people skills, her teaching experience, her writing skills, and her incredible work ethic, she was just the person we needed. She took to the job like a duck to water.”

Top to bottom: Donna Huston presents a framed copy of an 1883 menu to Ron Neilson of American Food Management; Event hosts John and Mariana Lawrence; Bebe Kemper, Dick Quinn and R. Crosby Kemper; Gala guests (l to r) Barbara Quinn, Pauline Sappington Elsea, Judy King and Bebe Kemper 42 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

A Grand Gala

I

FAR Celebrates A Successful Fundraising Campaign

t was the grandest affair to date for Friends of Arrow Rock, and for good reason. The 45 elegantly attired guests who gathered at the historic Prairie Park plantation on Oct. 6, 1984, were there to celebrate the successful completion of a $100,000 fundraising campaign. That infusion of capital created a healthy endowment fund for FAR and represented a significant milestone in the growth of the organization.

Prairie Park owners Dr. John Lawrence and his wife, Mariana, opened their home for the gala, which featured chamber music by the Marshall Philharmonic and an elegant seven-course dinner donated by American Food

Management Inc. The evening’s fare was inspired by the menu of an 1883 dinner hosted by Prairie Park’s original owner, William B. Sappington. All the attendees received a reproduction of that historic menu as a party favor.

Endowment Committee Chairman Donna Huston presented framed copies of the historic menu to the Lawrences; American Food Management President Ron Neilson and Vice President Richard Liebman; and R. Crosby Kemper and Bebe Kemper. The Kemper Foundation funded a $25,000 challenge grant, which was the catalyst the organization needed to meet its ambitious $100,000 goal.

Friends of Arrow Rock Silver Anniversary, 1984: Tablet of Donors This tablet honors in perpetuity all those who have shared their resources to assure the preservation of this cultural asset for the people of Saline County, the region and the nation by their contributions to the twenty-fifth anniversary endowment fund drive. It also expresses the deep appreciation of the Board of Directors for the philanthropic gifts to insure the success of this asset-building program.

Leadership Gifts: $5,000 or more Isabel B. Browning bequest FAR Endowment 1959-1975 Edwina M. Eubank bequest Enid and Crosby Kemper Foundation Volunteers & Contributors, Auction 1984 Dr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Hall III, in memory of Dr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Hall Jr. Major Donors: $1,000 to $4,999 American Food Management Inc. Louise Walker Hall Bagby Cecil E. Barger, in memory of Jessie E. Barger and Henry W. Hamilton Mrs. Charles A. Bell Mr. and Mrs. C. Huston Bell Mr. and Mrs. Charles M. Buckner Pauline Sappington Elsea Mr. and Mrs. Thomas W. Evans Mary Louise Huston Goodell Mrs. Thomas B. Hall Jr. bequest Henry W. Hamilton, in memoriam Dr. and Mrs. Robert H. Hodge Mr. and Mrs. John Percy Huston Mr. and Mrs. John Irvin V. Corinne Jackson Mr. and Mrs. Whitney E. Kerr

Mr. and Mrs. Richard C. King Dr. and Mrs. John R. Lawrence Mary Banks Parry Mr. and Mrs. Richard E. Quinn Buena Jackson Stolberg Mrs. Jacob Van Dyke Van Dyke & Company Mrs. Virginia Waldorf Henry J. Waters III Wood & Huston Bank Benefactors: $500- $999 Anonymous Mr. and Mrs. John Fleming Mr. and Mrs. Walker Fletcher Jr. H. Curran Huston United Missouri Bank, in memory of Dorothy C. Huston Sponsors: $250-$499 Mr. and Mrs. Rudolph Kruse Jr. Mrs. Haynie Marshall Dr. John Wilson Mr. and Mrs. Hugh J. Zimmer Patrons: $100-$249 Lois Allen Armco Foundation Mr. Edwin Barger, in memoriam Mr. and Mrs. Raymond Beagle Jr.

Kathy and Helen Borgman Mr. and Mrs. Herschel Gaddy Mrs. Dorothy Gilliam Mrs. Frank Kruger Mr. Robert R. Lester Mr. and Mrs. Albert Martin Mrs. Helen Page Mr. and Mrs. Paul Ratcliffe Mrs. Jay N. Thomas Katherine Thompson Mr. and Mrs. W. L. Tompkins Mrs. J. D. Woods Mrs. H. C. Young Mr. Barclay Van Dyke Donors: up to $99 Mr. Roy Adair, in memoriam Mrs. Wilton Allen John Adams Mr. and Mrs. Bill Berlin Mr. Thomas E. Birch, in memoriam Mrs. Charles G. Buffum Jr. Mr. and Mrs. Coleman, in memoriam Daughters of Colonial Wars in Missouri Mrs. Emma Eilers, in memoriam Mr. and Mrs. William Elder Mr. and Mrs. John Emmerson Mrs. Emma R. Fisher, in memoriam

Mr. and Mrs. T. M. Hamilton H. H. Harris Jr. Mr. John Hinton Mr. Clifford Keyton, in memoriam Mr. and Mrs. Harold Lickey Mrs. Esther Liffring Mr. and Mrs. Merle Little McGuire Davis Paint Mr. and Mrs. Thomas McIntosh Mr. and Mrs. P.B. McRoberts Mr. and Mrs. Carlisle Morrison Mrs. Paul Nelson Mr. Paul Nelson, in memoriam Mr. and Mrs. Arthur Ozias Mrs. Edna Payne Miss Hazel Austin Price Dr. and Mrs. J. R. Randolph Mr. and Mrs. Charles Ray Mr. Charles Ray, in memoriam Mr. and Mrs. Van Reid Mr. O.B. Scott, in memoriam Mrs. Lucile Shepard Mrs. Jack Smith Mrs. James Thornton Mrs. Patience Towle Mrs. Arvel Townsend Mr. Arthur Twilling Mr. and Mrs. Frank Vaydik Mrs. Lester Wikoff

FAR Reflections

By Paul Ratcliffe FAR president from 1975 to 1982

“

W

hat’s Arrow Rock?” Newly married and recently graduated from the University of Missouri, my wife, Kim, and I were invited by Sallie Hailey to visit Arrow Rock as we were looking for a house to rent.

Sallie Hailey served on the Missouri Valley Regional Planning Commission in Marshall, where I was starting a new job. Sallie served as a trustee on the town board, and as I would find out later, she was also a member of the Friends of Arrow Rock.

Kim and I settled into the Aderton House on Main Street, renting it from Cecil Barger who had just purchased it but was living in Chicago. Two kids were about to be introduced to something — Arrow Rock, Mo. — that would influence the rest of their lives.

During our first year in Arrow Rock, Kim and I were busy learning about the history of the town. We were fascinated by the early history that shaped Arrow Rock, and we were also amazed at the current elements that were still shaping the history of the town. The Friends of Arrow Rock, the Lyceum, the Craft Club, the town board, and the State Historic Site were all so intertwined. We loved the opportunities to become involved.

Kim was elected to the town board and we were active with the Lyceum and the Friends.

Living in the Aderton House also gave us the opportunity to become involved with stripping wallpaper, patching cracks in plaster walls, dealing with carpenters and plumbers, and so much more. We gained an appreciation of the older homes and their place in history.

In 1974, Sallie Hailey asked if I would accept the nomination for president of the Friends of Arrow Rock. I wasn’t sure I was qualified, but I was filled with enthusiasm, and I accepted. I succeeded Louise Bagby, who would eventually be my neighbor in Marshall. She was a constant source of information and encouragement. During the next eight years, I learned a great deal.

A major project for the Friends during this time was the opening of our Information Center on the boardwalk. With a little remodeling and lots of cleaning, the front portion of the building was used for the display of the few publications we sold — the FAR cookbook and Where Wheels Started West. We also had postcards printed that we sold at that time.

We thought we were pretty “high-tech” with the creation of a dual slide projector presentation on the history of Arrow Rock.

44 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

This narrated history was shown several times each day during the summer season in the back portion of the Information Center. The Friends of Arrow Rock had taken an important step in sharing the history of Arrow Rock with thousands of visitors.

This important part of our mission has continued and has been expanded into the many fine educational programs that we offer today. The State of Missouri, from the staff at the Department of Natural Resources in Jefferson City to the local staff at the Arrow Rock State Historic Site, was and continues to be an ally in these efforts.

With the Information Center as the base, we started to offer guided walking tours of the town. They were divided into two parts with six buildings on each tour. While living on Main Street, it was always rewarding to see groups of visitors learning about Arrow Rock and about early Missouri.

The concept of having an endowment grew while I was president. The board of directors established the policy of setting aside memorials and estate gifts into a permanent fund. It was intended to use the earnings of this fund to help support the activities of the Friends. The endowment started with $10,000 in reserves. Today, it continues to grow and is an increasingly important part of our overall revenue.

As president of the Friends, I enjoyed the untiring support from individuals who truly loved Arrow Rock and worked as officers or board members. Bill and Cora Lee Miller worked behind the scenes to move many projects forward. Jean Hamilton was a wealth of historical information and it was her book, Where Wheels Started West, which informed many persons about Arrow Rock. Kitty Smith, as secretary, and Gordon Buckner, as treasurer, kept the official business of the Friends going for many years.

The Friends have always embodied the principle of lots of folks pitching in and accomplishing great things.

Today if I am asked, “What’s Arrow Rock?” the questioner should be prepared for a lengthy answer.

I think Sallie would be proud.

1985

F

riends of Arrow Rock’s part-time director became a full-time employee in June 1985. The thriving organization needed Kathy Borgman’s full-time attention as it continued to expand its educational offerings and assessed the ongoing maintenance needs of its properties.

The spring education programs that began only one year earlier were getting rave reviews from teachers. One teacher wrote on her evaluation: “This has been one of the most rewarding things that I have done as a teacher, and I’m joining the Friends because I believe wholeheartedly in what you are doing.”

In 1985, 2,871 children participated in the spring programs.

There were plenty of offerings for grown-ups, too, including village tours and a Spring Antiques Luncheon that encouraged guests to bring an item to be evaluated by a professional antiques consultant. One of the year’s highlights was the Missouri Heritage Quilt Show, offered by special arrangement with Silver Dollar City in Branson, Mo., and coordinated by FAR board member Billie Lowery. Several of the quilts in the traveling display were from the area, including one on loan from Cora Lee Miller.

The quarterly FAR newsletter adopted the look it would retain for many years to come,

featuring drawings of four FAR buildings by artist Laur Gonia. Local resident Sue Hall volunteered as photographer for the publication.

The Sites House and Gun Shop became the focus of the property committee’s attention. That committee included Chairman John Lawrence, plus John Irvin, Whitney Kerr and Barbara Quinn.

They determined that the gun shop in particular was suffering from an infiltration of moisture that was putting both the building and its contents in jeopardy. Local contractor Tim Christy was hired for do extensive work on the property, including roof and ceiling joist repairs, wall and floor patching, and drainage improvements.

Work on the Sites House included the expansion of existing foundation vents and the addition of new vents, plus the installation of gutters on the back porch, downspouts on the front porch and louvered doors on the front and back to aid in ventilation.

In 1985, Jean Tyree Hamilton ended her service as second vice president of FAR after 25 years in that position. “I’ve done just about everything,” she said, and by everything, she meant everything from scrubbing floors to writing a notable book about the village’s history — Arrow Rock: Where Wheels Started West. Although she chose to step down as a board officer, Jean continued to serve the organization as a trustee.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 45

a lesson in frontier living Friends of Arrow Rock’s Spring Education Programs Since 1984, a trip to Arrow Rock has been a highlight of the school year for thousands of mid-Missouri schoolchildren. Friends of Arrow Rock offers programs that are carefully designed to meet curriculum standards and that bring history to life in a way no textbook could ever match.

46 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 47

1986

A 1986 Friends of Arrow Rock Board of Trustees Meeting. Seated at the table are, from left to right, Louise Hall Bagby, Virginia “Jinx” Bell, Cora Lee Miller, Jean Hamilton and Day Kerr.

W

hen Friends of Arrow Rock members started marking off the days in 1986, they were using a brand new fundraising tool for FAR: a calendar featuring sketches by Arrow Rock’s famous son, George Caleb Bingham. That calendar brought in more than $2,000 for FAR in 1986.

But the biggest fundraising event of 1986 was a tour of six private Arrow Rock homes. Homeowners Cecil Barger, Jim and Pat Kennedy, Corinne Jackson and Buena Stolberg, Whitney and Day Kerr, Mariana and John Lawrence, Helen and Johnny McDaniel, and Muff and Patrick O’Reilly opened their residences to tours on Friday, Sept. 12, and Saturday, Sept. 13.

The tours required the services of more than 150 volunteer docents and attracted more than 1,100 ticket holders, netting the organization a $10,000 windfall.

After its successful debut in 1984, the Children’s Craft Festival was back on the schedule in 1986. Friends of Arrow Rock coordinated the event, working cooperatively with the Historic Arrow Rock Council and the Arrow Rock State Historic Site.

The event brought 1,453 children to the village for some oldfashioned fun on a rainy September day.

The FAR office was on the cutting edge of technology in 1986, with the acquisition of a brand new Wheelwriter 5 IBM electronic memory typewriter, which, according to FAR President Day Kerr’s annual report, “can be used as a printer for an IBM PC computer if we should be able to get one in the future.”

At the end of the year, FAR had a lot to celebrate, not the least of which was a new membership record: 675.

A reprint of the book, Dr. John Sappington of Saline County, Missouri 1776-1856, written by the late Dr. Thomas B. Hall Jr. and his son, FAR board member Dr. Thomas B. Hall III, went on sale in 1986 as an income generator for the organization.

48 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

Fundraising Events Chairman Donna Huston, with hostess Ibby Kruse and guest Audrey Jones at a benefit coffee in July 1987

1987 ➽

In 1987, Friends of Arrow Rock owned eight buildings and remained vigilant about their upkeep. Although the Sites Gun Shop had undergone major work in 1985, work resumed on that building with the reconstruction of the forge and flue, and replacement of some exterior brick.

Both the Odd Fellows Hall and Sites House were refreshed with new paint on the exterior trim.

New events just for the ladies — a pair of benefit coffees — were held at the Carrollton home of board member Ibby Kruse in July, and at the Marshall home of Barbara Quinn in September.

Combined, the two coffees entertained more than 225 women and raised $2,415.

Sallie Hailey, a charter member of the FAR board, resigned from the board in 1987. Sallie was well known as a woman of influence in state and national political circles and used her connections for the good of Arrow Rock and FAR for many decades. The board paid tribute to her 28 years of service, which began with FAR’s first project — the renovation of the old courthouse — and continued through countless hours of volunteer work for the organization.

1988

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he New Year came with a wonderful gift for Friends of Arrow Rock: a $10,000 grant from the Lester T. Sunderland Foundation of Kansas City that, when combined with other gifts, allowed the organization to retire the debt from the 1987 purchase of the Black Sheep Inn property. By 1988, the building on that property had been razed and the ground smoothed out to create a picturesque and park-like entrance to the village.

The ever-vigilant property committee was pleased to report that a new roof had been installed on the Sites Gun Shop.

Now it was ready to tackle its next project:

FAR’s full-time director, part-time tour guides, and devoted volunteers continued to create memorable experiences for the children who attended the springtime education programs.

Several avid young fans wrote thank-you notes to the staff, including a little girl named Sarah, who said: I had a wonderful time with you at Arrow Rock. I had fun at the Bingham House. It was fun to string the fruits, churn the butter, feel the sheep’s wool, and put corn in the corn shucker. I liked looking in the jail best.Thanks for your help.

In August, FAR purchased the property at the corner of Main Street and Highway 41. The building there was known as the Black Sheep Inn. Its owner, longtime Arrow Rock resident and supporter Clay Marsh, offered to sell the land and building to FAR. Preservation Consultant Ellen Beasley strongly encouraged the board to act on the offer.

“Ellen encouraged us to consider the importance of Main Street,” said FAR President Day Kerr. “The entrance to town was likened to a frame or a gate to enter Arrow Rock. When Clay approached us about purchasing the property, the board was quick to agree to the importance of maintaining the entrance to town.”

The board decided at its fall 1987 meeting to remove the non-historic building and maintain a natural landscape on the lot.

replacement of the rear wall of the Loom House on the Boardwalk. That small building, which is used as the post office today, was also slated for foundation work, new doors and windows, updated electrical wiring and bathroom facilities, and, much to the delight of its chilly inhabitants, a long-overdue heating system. It was an ambitious project that the committee predicted would absorb the biggest portion of the capital expense budget for the year.

Work began that spring. A $3,500 grant from Boatmen’s First National Bank of Kansas City helped see the project to completion.

Next door at the FAR Information Center, staff and volunteers were enjoying the gift of air conditioning, which was made possible through contributions of life members.

With the completion of a number of well-planned construction projects designed to solve moisture issues in the Sites Gun Shop, the building’s collections, which had been in storage for three years, were finally back where they belonged.

Dr. Thomas B. Hall III, who spent time 21 years earlier working with his father to complete the displays for the shop,

was again integral in putting the tools of the gunsmith’s trade in place. He was assisted by others with expertise in the art of gunsmithing, including Jack Davis, Herschel Gaddy, Lyt Tough and Jim Duncan. By the time the summer tourist season arrived, visitors were able to see a shop that looked exactly as it might have appeared back when Johnny Sites was outfitting settlers traveling west.

The board offered its heartfelt thanks to Gordon Buckner, who retired as FAR treasurer after 13 years of service.

Gordon was only the third treasurer in the organization’s history. He followed L.W. Van Dyke and Charles Bell, and was succeeded by Kevin Riggs.

The spring school programs shattered previous attendance records. In 1988, the streets of the village rang with the voices of 2,870 children who came to learn about life in a frontier town in the 1800s.

FAR’s membership efforts continued to yield fruit and by the beginning of 1988, the organization had 915 members and could boast of an impressive 85 percent renewal rate. The board’s goal was to reach the 1,000-member milestone in FAR’s 30th anniversary year in 1989.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 49

festival time!

Kids Experience Pioneer Life At The Arrow Rock Children’s Craft Festival.

It comes every two years in September, rain or shine. It’s the Children’s Craft Festival and hundreds of youngsters converge on Arrow Rock for a day filled with activities, crafts and games of the 1800s.

50 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

1989

••• 30 th anniversary •••

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t age 30, Friends of Arrow Rock was looking good.

With strong leadership, a growing membership, wellmaintained properties and popular tours and education programs, FAR had matured into a world-class organization.

Visitors who came to Arrow Rock in 1989 were in for a treat: a professionally produced slide show that introduced them to the town’s rich history. Cordell Tindall, editor of the Missouri Ruralist and one of the leading agriculture journalists of his era, volunteered his services to write a script and produce a slide program to be shown at FAR’s Information Center. His narration included this promise: “Here we have a living record of America’s rural people, far more than just an attic for early Americana.”

FAR planned two big events to celebrate its 30th anniversary and to prepare the organization for the next decade. The first came on June 3, with a reception at the Aderton House on Main Street that honored the organization’s most dedicated members, followed by a dinner at the Old Tavern. It was at that event that Bill and Cora Lee Miller, two founding members of FAR, announced one of the most generous gifts the organization has ever received.

Cora Lee told the crowd, “In 1956, Bill and I came here to Arrow Rock and fell in love with the old Bradford House. It looked like nothing that the birds could ever live in. We bought it and restored it and it has made a million friends for us and for Arrow Rock. So today we want you to know this house has been willed to the Friends of Arrow Rock, with the contents of everything in the shop (except our personal things), and all of block 26 along with a nice little endowment that has been growing for four years.”

The Miller’s generosity proved contagious, and shortly after Bill and Cora Lee’s announcement, Dr. John Lawrence and his wife, Mariana, approached FAR about the possibility of assuming ownership of their antebellum country estate, Prairie Park, upon their passing. Those two generous proposals made it clear that FAR needed to establish guidelines for the acceptance of such gifts, a process that would continue well into the 1990s.

James Goodrich, executive director of the State Historical Society of Missouri, gave the keynote address at FAR’s 30th anniversary celebration. In his closing remarks, he invoked one of Arrow Rock’s famous citizens: gunsmith Johnny Sites, who reportedly was quite a colorful character prior to a religious conversion.

“Let me paraphrase what I think John Sites would have said about the Friends prior to his ‘getting religion,’” Goodrich said. “I suspect that he would have said, ‘They do a damned good job.’ I would have heartily agreed with him. You really do a damn good job.”

Dedicated FAR members honored during the 30th anniversary celebration included, from left to right, Bill Miller, Jinx Bell, Louise Hall Bagby, Jean Hamilton, Cora Lee Miller and John Lawrence.

Bill and Cora Lee Miller willed their home, the old Bradford House, to the Friends of Arrow Rock.

Never A Boring Day ...

Describe your background prior to taking the position of Friends of Arrow Rock’s executive director.

I grew up on a farm about 10 miles from Arrow Rock. My first memory of Arrow Rock was when I was 9 years old and I attended a cousin’s wedding reception at the Old Tavern. In high school I attended the Lyceum Theatre, and during my college years I came to Arrow Rock with my mom who was a member of the Craft Club.

I graduated as a deaconess from Valparaiso University and the Lutheran Deaconess Association with a Bachelor of Arts degree, majoring in theology and minoring in sociology. Upon graduation, I served 10 years as a parish deaconess in a congregation in Southern California working in areas of Christian education and youth ministry.

In 1982, a series of events brought me back to Missouri, specifically to Arrow Rock. I was seeking a change, the bed-and-breakfast idea was emerging around the country, and my father had just died after a long illness. I often say I had the idea of opening a bed-and-breakfast in Arrow Rock, but my mom had all the skills! Thus began a partnership that continued 22 years until her death in 2004.

I knew operating a B&B in a seasonal community would not be a full-time job, but I thought it would be a good transition and I would find another part-time job and go from there. I inquired about being a summer tour guide for the Friends of Arrow Rock, and luckily they were in the market for one. I also picked up a part-time job as a teacher’s aide for a kindergarten class in nearby Blackwater. And thus began my life in Arrow Rock.

Why did you pursue the position of executive director of FAR? The Friends of Arrow Rock was at a transition point. The original founders of 1959 were getting older, a new generation of trustees was coming on board and the organization was growing. It had been run totally by volunteers, much of it from Cora Lee Miller’s dining room table. Day Kerr was elected president. She and her husband, Whitney, were restoring a home near Arrow Rock, but they lived in Kansas City. Day said she couldn’t run the organization from her dining room table in Kansas City; it was

Kathy Borgman tells why she still loves her job after 30 years as Friends of Arrow Rock’s executive director. time to set up an office and hire a permanent part-time employee.

As is often the case in Arrow Rock, when you’re the “new kid on the block,” opportunities come your way. I was asked if I would consider the job. It allowed me the flexibility to run the bed and breakfast and work part-time as a teacher’s aide, so I said I would give it a try. And thus, in one fell swoop, I moved from a tour guide to an executive director!

What did you find most challenging about the position during your first year or so on the job? What is most challenging about it now?

I don’t remember the challenges of the early years nearly as much as I experience the challenges of the job today. Mostly we’ve been growing together. One thing I can assure you is that I have never spent one boring day on the job. My “to do” list is always longer than my “accomplished” list. When you are a one-woman shop, you start out by doing most things yourself. Learning management of others has been one of my personal challenges.

An organization can’t be frozen in time. It’s a living, breathing thing. So it can be perceived as vital and growing, or stagnating and declining. Striking that balance of how to keep growing without “biting off more than you can chew” is a challenge.

What are some of the most rewarding experiences you’ve enjoyed during your tenure?

When I first started work, I interviewed three women who had been involved with the Friends for at least 25 years: Jean Hamilton, Cora Lee Miller and Jinx Bell. I asked them what had kept them involved with FAR for that many years. I expected them to talk about their research or the accomplishments of restoring and opening our first buildings. But somewhat to my surprise, they each first mentioned the people they worked with, the friends they had made by serving on the board. I now echo that 100 percent. My greatest reward has been the many people I have met and who have become my friends.

I can also give you examples of some specific things I’ve found rewarding: Giving a tour to school kids and seeing that sparkle in their eyes; being in the thick of the crowd of kids for Children’s Craft Festival, watching them arrive and leave like a swarm of happy locusts; celebrating our successful $1 million dollar capital campaign; enjoying an elegant black tie dinner at Prairie Park; or just having a good ol’ down-to-earth conversation with a visitor.

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“No one just “happens” to live here. Arrow Rock seems to “call” people and what a wonderfully diverse and talented group of people they are.”

What are the most significant changes you’ve seen to your position as executive director and to the FAR organization?

The most significant change I’ve seen is a steady growth in every aspect of the job and organization: the number of properties restored, the increase of number and types of education programs offered, added staff, contracting with professional consultants, the use of new technology, increased fundraising events and new publications, all with accompanying growth of professionalism.

Our 50th Anniversary had a significant effect on the growth of the FAR. Conducting our first ever integrated capital campaign allowed us to make significant improvements to our properties and, most importantly, secure the services of professional consultants in the area of property management, curation, development and communications. We have definitely moved to the next level.

The FAR has been fortunate to have visionary leaders, and this is certainly the case with our current president, Tom Hall. He has ably led the charge. I can’t say enough about the dedicated and talented board members and staff I’ve worked with. They’re the best!

You can also see our growth reflected in the financial statements.

When I began in 1984, our budget was $31,000. Now it’s $250,000 with an endowment that is nearing $1 million, and we are currently in a campaign to raise $690,000 for major work on four of our properties.

How has what has happened in the world been reflected in what has happened in Arrow Rock?

In the 1980s and ‘90s, there was a general feeling that “every day, in every way things are getting better and better.” And they were. It was such a prosperous economic time, and it played out in Arrow Rock with a number of significant new projects. A state bond issue and a soil and parks tax restored the Old Tavern and brought the Arrow Rock State Park a fabulous first-class museum. The Lyceum Theatre built a new, expanded 408-seat theatre connected to the historic Baptist Church, and they were filling it on a regular basis. The Friends purchased the post office building and turned it into a new office with an exhibit area and museum shop.

The big concerns in the village were such things as how to handle parking on full theatre days and how to make sure something like the “Branson Boom” didn’t happen to us. Then came 9/11 and the economic recessions. Added to that, we began to lose, through death, the generation of people who were the “movers and shakers” in the 1990s. It began to dawn on us that life isn’t always experienced as a line ever going gradually up and up, but that at some time that line begins to curve back down and around, and we remember the cyclical nature of life.

Two comments from one of our major donors described this time period. When Gladys Thomas first approached us early in 1999 about funding the restoration of her grandparent’s home at the edge of Arrow Rock, she said, “I have all this money piling up around me.” When she wrote one of her last checks for the project in 2005, she said, “I’m glad I did this when I did. I don’t know if I would have had enough nerve to do it now.”

The paradox of the late 2000s for the Friends was that even while the nation was experiencing an economic downturn, we successfully exceeded a $1 million capital campaign goal for our 50th anniversary.

What a tribute to our many “Friends” of Arrow Rock.

What are the most significant changes you’ve seen to the village of Arrow Rock?

In the 32 years I’ve lived in Arrow Rock the number of people has stayed roughly the same, around 80, but what has changed is that now about half of this number are people who have second homes in Arrow Rock versus being full-time residents. What hasn’t changed is people’s commitment to the village. No one just “happens” to live here. Arrow Rock seems to “call” people and what a wonderfully diverse and talented group of people they are. I can’t think of any other place I would rather live.

What would you like to see the organization accomplish in the next 30 years?

I would like to see the Friends of Arrow Rock be an energizer for the community. Arrow Rock is truly unique in its ability to teach multiple facets of both American history and the history of the preservation movement. It is critical for us to increase our endowment substantially to provide for more professional staff that can help us reach our potential. All we need is time, money and a few good people! Arrow Rock has been blessed with such to this point in time, and I trust the same for the future.

54 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

The 1990s

The State of Missouri made a big investment in Arrow Rock in the 1990s, with the completion of a stateof-the-art visitor center and museum. With the opening of this new attraction, Friends of Arrow Rock did its part to make the village an attractive and interesting place for visitors by acquiring new properties, investing in preservation projects, and putting an emphasis on its tours and educational programs.

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19 9 0 ● Technology took a giant leap forward for FAR that year with the arrival of an IBM PS2 Model 30 computer. The computer was a gift from IBM in memory of IBM employee and FAR member Anne Hamilton Slifer. Anne had been instrumental in securing several IBM grants for Friends of Arrow Rock over the years. ● A rainy spring created a challenge for the Children’s Education Programs.

The weather forced a handful of cancellations but most of the groups carried on despite the soggy weather.

The programs served 1,691 students from 29 mid-Missouri schools.

● Gifts and grants helped the organization move forward on several important projects. Sallie Hailey, former FAR secretary and trustee, donated a small piece of land next door to the Sites Gun Shop. That donation allowed the organization to drain an abandoned cistern and trim a tree that was hanging over the gun shop; both measures helped FAR in its efforts to reduce excess moisture in the building. ● In late 1989, FAR received news that it had been approved by the Neighborhood Assistance Program of the State of Missouri to offer tax credits on donations to purchase the post office building on Main Street and the vacant

56 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

lot behind it. The tax credits proved to be an effective tool for fundraising and attracted numerous gifts, including $5,000 from the Lester T. Sunderland Foundation and $2,000 from Kansas City Power & Light Co. Those gifts, combined with others, allowed the organization to reach its $40,000 goal

by Dec. 31.

With the purchase of the post office building secured, the organization owned three storefronts on Main Street: its Information Center, the former Loom House and the post office. In 1991, the group would immerse itself in making plans for those highly visible properties. ●

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n the heels of its successful fundraising campaign, fueled

by Neighborhood Assistance Program tax credits, Friends of Arrow Rock began to make plans for the use of its most recent purchase: the post office building on Main Street. The board was adamant that it wanted to keep the post office in Arrow Rock, but it began to consider if that facility needed to stay where it was or move to one of the other FAR buildings on the boardwalk. For the second year in a row, FAR was approved for NAP funding, so the organization went to work raising another $40,000 to restore the post office building — a fundraising goal the organization accomplished by the end of 1991.

The care of the FAR collections was also on the mind of FAR’s leaders. After the installation of an HVAC system in the Sites Gun Shop and the return of the valuable artifacts to that building, the board explored the option of installing heating and air conditioning in the Sites House. Ultimately, the estimated cost for that project — $25,000 to $30,000 — proved prohibitive.

Following the recommendations of Sue Stubbs and Ibby Kruse, who did an extensive study on the Sites House, the board chose to go ahead with new interior paint and wallpaper for that property. Sue and Ibby infused the project with their insights and energy and by September, the

main level of the Sites House was ready to welcome visitors.

A rededication of the Sites Gun Shop took place on Sept. 27. With the historic building and its contents now protected by temperature and humidity controls, plus a security system, it was time to celebrate the completion of the six-year, $45,000 restoration effort. The ceremony also gave FAR the opportunity to dedicate the Christopher Collection of Early Missouri Firearms, which was donated by Byron Christopher Shutz. Byron presented the guns to FAR in memory of his grandparents, Max A. and Sue Hargis Christopher. That collection was and continues to be on prominent display at the FAR office.

Sept. 27 was a big day in Arrow Rock and the Sites Gun Shop rededication was just a part of it. That morning, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources dedicated

its brand new visitor center. Both events took place during the national meeting of the Santa Fe Trail Association, which was held Sept. 26-30 in Arrow Rock.

Just one week earlier, representatives of the Missouri Press Association gathered in Arrow Rock for the association’s 125th anniversary celebration and to bury a time capsule that contained current issues of newspapers from throughout the state. The time capsule was placed deep underground, next to the Odd Fellows Lodge Hall, which houses the Missouri Press Association’s print shop museum. Twenty years later, in an age of smart phones and digital media, there would be somber pronouncements that “print is dead,” but the time capsule — made from a repurposed coffin — was not meant to predict the demise of newspapers.

Today, the time capsule, the Missouri Press Association, and the association’s display of

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 57

antique printing equipment remain in place as tributes to the ongoing importance of newspapers in the lives of Missourians.

The education programs in spring 1991 welcomed the most participants to date — 2,815 students from 47 mid-Missouri schools. A dozen FAR staff members and volunteers, plus the staff of the Arrow Rock State Historic Site, worked together to create a memorable experience for those students.

In 1989, two of FAR’s founding families, the Millers and the Lawrences, had announced plans to bequeath their homes to the organization. The magnitude of those gifts led the board to make a careful analysis of what was feasible for the organization to maintain. Although the board initially voted to accept both gifts, it could not come to terms with the Lawrence family, who withdrew land and furnishings from their original offer and added deed restrictions that would have prohibited FAR from selling the property in the future. Although FAR did not end up as owner of the Lawrence’s Prairie Park estate, the organization was more than pleased when preservationminded FAR President Day Kerr and her husband, Whitney, purchased the historic plantation with its grand home.

Representatives of the Missouri Press Association gathered in Arrow Rock for the association’s 125th anniversary celebration and to bury a time capsule that contained current issues of newspapers from throughout the state. The time capsule was placed deep underground, next to the Odd Fellows Lodge Hall.

About The Christopher Collection Of Early Missouri Firearms

By Thomas B. Hall III, President, Friends of Arrow Rock The Christopher Collection consists of 30 historic firearms, which were acquired by Max A. Christopher of Kansas City, Mo., in 1939. At that time, he gave the collection to his grandson, Byron Christopher Shutz, who as a boy, cleaned, oiled and cared for these weapons, and learned about their history.

Byron Shutz gave the entire collection to Friends of Arrow Rock in 1990, along with funds for its display and care and for the accompanying brochure on the John P. Sites Jr. Pioneer Gun Shop, as well as funds for the completion of the restoration of the Sites Gun Shop. All of these generous gifts were in memory of Byron Shutz’s grandparents, Max A. Christopher and Susan Bruton Hargis Christopher, both descendants of pioneer Missouri families The weapons in the Christopher Collection are on display at the Friends of Arrow Rock Office.

58 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

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A 1990 s Time Capsule

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he members of Friends of Arrow Rock always knew their organization was something special, but in 1992, they received a nice bit of affirmation from the American Association for State and Local History who presented FAR with the Albert B. Corey Award. Among the projects cited in the award nomination were the renovations to the John P. Sites Gun Shop and home, and the reprinting of W.B. Napton Jr.’s On The Santa Fe Trail.

Susan Miner, regional chair of the AASLH, said, “The Corey Award is the highest possible award given to a small, largely volunteer historical organization. It is not given every year, only when an outstanding small organization is deemed an appropriate winner, so it is truly a high honor for your group.”

After successfully raising $80,000 to purchase and restore the old post office building on Main Street, FAR negotiated with the United States Postal Service to relocate the post office to the small building formerly occupied by the Loom House. The post office move opened up a larger building for use as FAR’s office, museum and meeting room. Work on the building that would house the po st office was started and completed in 1992.

Major capital expenses in 1991 put a strain on FAR’s operating budget, but fundraisers in 1992 helped restore the budget to health. Some of FAR’s most popular events were reprised that year, including a benefit coffee especially for the ladies.

This one was held at the Sedalia home of Ginger Swearingen.

In September, a two-day homes tour introduced visitors to a group of area homes so eclectic that FAR board member Mary Burge suggested it was “like a potpourri.” Homes on the tour that year included Day and Whitney Kerr’s Prairie Park estate, Bill and Mary Lovin’s new home on Morgan Street, Don Huff ’s Bingham House replica, Nadine Ozias’s small cottage on the edge of town, and the recently refurbished Sites House. The two events combined brought in nearly $7,000.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 59

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new year dawned with the appearance of angels in Arrow Rock: specifically, Hal and Wilda Sandy who donated $2,500 to seed an HVAC fund for the Sites House. The need for temperature moderation was never clearer than over the New Year’s weekend, when wildly fluctuating temperatures unleashed plenty of moisture in that house. Staff and volunteers spent the holiday drying off walls and furnishings.

At the 34th Annual Meeting of the Friends of Arrow Rock, two retiring board members were honored for their service: Kitty Smith, who served 20 years as secretary, and Dorothy Kruger, who served on the board for 10 years and had the distinction of being present at the June 14, 1959 meeting of the Daughters of the American Revolution Tavern Board when the Friends of Arrow Rock was formed.

Two other dedicated FAR volunteers, Roy and Sue Stubbs, were honored in October with the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation’s Rozier Award for a lifetime of leadership in the field of historic preservation.

FAR hosted its first ever Antiques Forum in 1993, and attracted a full house of 80 participants who came to hear featured speakers discuss topics ranging from 19th-century architecture to “Made in Missouri” silver.

A benefit coffee in June at the Slater home of Winnie and Allen B. Soper, and an end-of-the-year rummage sale, added to a $9,645 fundraising tally for the year.

The year 1993 will go down in Arrow Rock history, and indeed Missouri history, because of that year’s Great Flood. Although Arrow Rock’s buildings were spared, the town’s water supply was contaminated. It was Anheuser-Busch Inc. that came to the aid of the thirsty town with canned drinking water. Arrow Rock’s town board chairman Bruce McGlaughlin wrote in his thank-you note to the beer-maker, “…Trucks began delivering something that most of us had never seen before: canned drinking water. The novelty of this beverage in this container gave many of us a smile.

The expression, ‘I think I’ll pick up a couple of six-packs’ took on a whole new meaning.”

60 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

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t was a year of special anniversaries as 1994 marked 35 years since the founding of Friends of Arrow Rock, 150 years since the publication of Dr. John Sappington’s life-saving book, The Theory and Treatment of Fevers, 160 years since the establishment of the Old Tavern, and 175 years since Dr. Sappington and his family arrived in Saline County. That convergence of significant dates called for some special events, and who better to handle the planning than Donna Huston and her fundraising events committee?

One event wouldn’t be enough to commemorate all those special occasions, so the fundraising events committee came up with a weekend of festivities on Sept. 17 and 18, starting with an open house and luncheon at the home of Marge Fletcher in Marshall. The day’s menu was made up entirely of dishes from the Arrow Rock Cook Book. An evening reception at Day and Whitney’s Kerr’s historic Prairie Park home made

for an elegant conclusion to that special Saturday.

On Sunday, Old Tavern proprietors Clay Marsh and Chet Breitwieser invited the public to come in for complimentary birthday cake and entertainment provided by local residents.

FAR’s anniversary weekend events drew 350 people and raised $4,000 for the organization.

In 1994, FAR was also making way for new beginnings. The organization set out to make a great first impression on visitors with the transformation of the old post office space into an office, museum and meeting room. The FAR headquarters project was designed by Stuart Hutchison Architects, in part as a donation. Kevin Haulotte of KH Designs in Sedalia acted as the general contractor.

The Christopher Collection of Early Missouri Firearms, a gift from Byron and Marilyn Shutz, was put in place and the staff moved in to the beautifully appointed space in September.

In 1989, Bill and Cora Lee Miller announced that they were deeding their home and antiques business to Friends of Arrow Rock, reserving a life estate for themselves until their passing. It was a gift that was generous beyond anything the organization had ever received, but none of the Millers’ many friends and admirers in Arrow Rock were anxious to see that gift come to fruition. In 1994, it did. Cora Lee Miller passed away on May 25, three months after the passing of her husband of 69 years, Bill.

The terms of the Millers’ gift established a Board of Governors of the Miller Gift to administer the property. The original board was comprised of Chairman Don Huff, Barbara Quinn, Sue Stubbs, Ibby Kruse, and FAR President Day Kerr.

The Millers hoped that the property would continue to be used as an antique shop, and by the end of 1994, the Miller Board had entered into an agreement with Karen Murray, who began operating Arrow Rock Antiques out of the Miller-Bradford House the following year.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 61

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ith the acquisition of the extensive inventory from Miller Antiques, the Friends of Arrow Rock decided to carry on a tradition begun by Cora Lee Miller in the 1960s.

The organization held a two-day antiques auction on April 8 and 13, featuring the collection that Bill and Cora Lee Miller left to FAR to sell. (The Millers designated another, smaller collection of antique furniture to furnish two rooms of the MillerBradford House as a house museum.) More than 300 buyers filled the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre on the first day of the sale.

When the gavel fell on the final item, the gross proceeds came to $145,000.

The antiques theme continued in May with the second Antiques Forum. Sixty-nine people attended the forum, which included presentations about American antique furniture, heritage quilts, and George Caleb Bingham portraits.

In June, in conjunction with FAR’s 36th Annual Meeting, the board and FAR members dedicated the new office space. Dr. Thomas B. Hall III, a FAR trustee, conducted the dedication ceremony, acknowledged Byron and Marilyn Shutz, who gave the Christopher Collection of Early Missouri Firearms, and thanked project architect Stuart Hutchison and the FAR building committee — Pam Stouffer, Barbara Quinn, Day Kerr and Bill Lovin.

One person who fit right in to that office was FAR’s newly appointed, parttime education director Pam Parsons. Pam had worked with the organization as a tour guide since 1993, but in her new role, she was responsible for creating learning opportunities for both children and adults.

In the fall, the Friends of Arrow Rock found itself the recipient of two more extraordinary gifts: Brown’s Chapel and the Black Lodge. Ted and Virginia Fisher gave the properties to FAR with the expectation that the buildings and their history would be protected.

“We perceived our ownership as a holding action, which would protect them (the buildings) from inappropriate modification or destruction,” Ted Fisher said. “We also realized that the task of restoration and preservation for historical purposes (as contrasted to residential or commercial) is beyond the resources of most individuals.

We want to propose to the Friends of Arrow Rock that the organization accept these historic properties as a gift from us to be eventually restored and preserved and to serve as a core for future development of the black history in Arrow Rock.”

At the annual meeting, FAR president Day Kerr stepped down after 13 years as leader of the organization. Incoming president Barbara Quinn pointed out the long list of projects that had been completed during Day’s tenure, and went on to say, “Everything she has done has been done with the true mark of graciousness. Day, we sincerely offer you our thanks.”

Among Day’s many accomplishments was a significant increase in FAR’s membership numbers.

As she departed the presidency, FAR celebrated a new record of 820 members who gave a combined total of nearly $25,000 in membership gifts that year.

62 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

19 9 6 Pat Berlin and Jean Klein co-chaired FAR’s sixth Homes Tour in September.

Homes on the tour included Day and Whitney Kerr’s Prairie Park, the new “old” log home of Karen Murray and Shelby Gregory, Janet and Phil Reeter’s “Aderton House,” Ernest and Judy’s Smith’s Main Street home, plus Don Huff ’s new home and Mitch McCuan’s cottage, which were located across from each other on Morgan Street. Attendance at the two-day event exceeded 1,500 and raised a FAR Homes Tour record of $13,500. ●

● FAR’s preservation efforts in 1996 included continued work on the Sites House, including the installation of a heating and air conditioning system, plus a new wood shingle roof and new wallpaper in the upstairs bedrooms. The original restoration of the home in 19721973 cost the organization $9,000. In

1996, the new roof alone cost $8,000, and the addition of a heat pump added another $11,600.

The Board of Governors of the Miller Gift made its first substantial investment in the upkeep of the newly acquired Miller-Bradford House: a new foundation. After the discovery that the building’s front sills had rotted away, leaving the home with virtually no front foundation, the board gave immediate approval for the extensive work required to shore up this precious FAR property.

“Sometimes when people visit Arrow Rock and comment on how well cared for everything looks, you can see they think something special, something ‘out of the blue’ happened to make it work,” said FAR Executive Director Kathy Borgman. “There’s no simple, magic formula except that of caring and being generous with time, money and effort.” ●

In late September, yellow school buses lined the streets and 1,753 children descended on the village for the biennial Children’s Craft Festival. Sixty-one volunteers, plus FAR and Arrow Rock State Historic Site staff teamed up to demonstrate 36 crafts and activities during the one-day event.

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t the beginning of 1996, Friends of Arrow Rock President Barbara Quinn proclaimed there would be a revival in Arrow Rock. Specifically, it was a revival of the popular Country Auction. The Country Auction was FAR’s first fundraiser, pulling in the cash needed in 1960 to fund the organization’s restoration work on the Old Courthouse. The 1996 auction, held on April 27, at the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, proved that, just like the antiques being sold that day, some things get better with age. That event netted $15,600 for FAR, and was the most successful Country Auction to date.

Although the Country Auction was a big event for the organization in 1996, it wasn’t the only fundraiser. A special Juneteenth program, celebrating Emancipation Day, raised $1,600 toward the restoration of Brown’s Chapel Freewill Baptist Church. The Juneteenth celebration was organized by local resident Sue Hall and Arrow Rock native Teresa Habernal. More than 250 people came to town on June 15 for an ice-cream social and gospel singing. By the end of the year, FAR would secure Neighborhood Assistance Program approval to provide tax credits as a fundraising incentive for the $50,000 restoration of Brown’s Chapel.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 63

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n the 1990s, Friends of Arrow Rock began to recognize the importance of black history to the overall story of the village, and in 1997, the organization dedicated several events to telling that story. It began in February with a presentation by Dr. Gary Kremer, FAR’s Scholar-In-Residence, on African-American education in Arrow Rock. Other lectures followed throughout the year, including discussions about religion, family and social life, and the Black lodges in Arrow Rock’s African-American community. A grant from the Missouri Humanities Council funded the lecture series.

The organization also hosted its second Juneteenth Celebration to help raise funds for the Brown’s Chapel restoration.

Arrow Rock resident and gifted artist Sue

Hall created the day’s most sought-after raffle item: a picnic basket decorated with painted scenes of the Black Lodge and Brown’s Chapel. The event raised more than $3,000.

That windfall, plus the $50,000 raised thanks to the tax credits available through the Neighborhood Assistance Program, put the Brown’s Chapel restoration project on the fast track.

The spring education programs continued to be a popular draw for midMissouri students. In 1997, FAR volunteers and staff taught the lessons of pioneer life to 2,111 students from 41 schools.

The students at the Arrow Rock Archaeological Field School, held from July 14 through Aug. 8, were a bit older but no less curious about the history they were discovering. Among the significant finds

during the field school dig, sponsored by the Missouri Archaeological Society, were salt-glazed brick and shards of pottery manufactured on the site just behind the Black Lodge, and a chandelier crystal that Archaeologist Tim Baumann said was likely worn by a slave or freed black person to ward off evil.

In the mid-1990s, many of the historic sites in and around Arrow Rock went unnoticed by visitors because of a lack of signage. Whitney Kerr purchased and erected a historic marker sign at his Prairie Park home and suggested FAR anticipate the inception of the Missouri Highway Department’s Scenic Byways program and mark other important sites. The FAR board agreed and voted to purchase similar signs to mark other sites in the region. Whitney agreed to lead the effort.

FAR wrapped up its fundraising efforts for 1997 in style with an elegant country buffet at Oak Grove plantation, hosted by owner Blaine Murrell McBurney, a fifth generation family member of original owner George A. Murrell. Despite a chilly fall evening, 114 FAR members attended the event and 30 others made contributions, netting the organization $4,300. In December, FAR divested itself of one of its properties when Blaine purchased the building that had served as FAR’s Information Center prior to the 1994 move to its newly renovated office and museum space.

From left: Alfred Hupp, John Huston and Elmer Horman 64 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

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n 1998, Arrow Rock reached out beyond its borders to tell its story all over the state, starting at the Missouri State Capitol in Jefferson City.

A traveling exhibit honoring Arrow Rock’s black history was unveiled on Feb. 17, at a ribbon-cutting ceremony in the Capitol Rotunda that was attended by nearly 150 people. The exhibit, titled Giving Voice to an Unheard Past,” curated by Gary Kremer, paid tribute to the black men and women who were so integral to life in Arrow Rock in the 19th and early 20th centuries.

Friends of Arrow Rock celebrated the town’s most famous son on May 2, with the George Caleb Bingham Symposium. The symposium, attended by 87 Bingham enthusiasts, featured two lectures on the work of Bingham and a luncheon at the Old Tavern. The day also marked the opening of an exhibit of Bingham portraits, lithographs and engravings at the Arrow Rock State Historic Site Visitor Center.

The artistry of historic preservation was on display at the historic Freewill Baptist church, Brown’s Chapel, which had been the spiritual home for many of Arrow Rock’s black residents. The Juneteenth celebration in 1998 raised an additional $3,100 for the project — enough to pay for the interior painting.

In total, the Brown’s Chapel restoration project cost $65,000, and was paid for through a combination of monies raised via Neighborhood Assistance Program tax credits and the Juneteenth fundraisers. In September, a standing-room-only crowd gathered at the chapel for a day of joyful celebration that included a morning worship service, a basket dinner and a time of remembrance for beloved church and community members.

The hardworking Friends of Arrow Rock didn’t slow down to bask in the satisfaction of a job well done, though. The organization was already hard at work stabilizing the Black Lodge, officially known as Brown Lodge No. 22 A.F. & A.M. When FAR received the gift of Brown’s Chapel and the lodge from Ted and Virginia Fisher, both buildings were in need of repair, but the lodge was in dire condition and many wondered aloud if the dilapidated building could be saved at all.

It was FAR board member and property committee chairman John Irvin who proved to be that building’s salvation. John, a child of the Great Depression, recalled his first job was repairing neglected farm buildings, and he knew from his many years of experience as a highly respected builder and owner of Irvinbilt Construction, a Chillicothe, Mo.-based general contracting firm, that the lodge building wasn’t too far gone.

“He climbed all through it and declared it was possible,” said FAR Executive Director Kathy Borgman. “So trusted was John with his lifetime of experience as the owner of Irvinbilt that it was settled. No more questions about whether it could be done. Just roll up your sleeves and do it.”

After shoring up the building’s foundation, sills and roof, FAR began the work of fundraising for the project, helped again by NAP tax credits.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 65

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orty years and going strong! In its 40th anniversary year, the Friends of Arrow Rock could take pride in its thriving education programs, first-class restoration efforts and popular events. It had grown into a robust, multidimensional organization from the seed planted during a 1959 Daughters of the American Revolution meeting.

The important occasion called for some grand events, including FAR’s popular two-day Homes Tour. That year’s tour featured the Arrow Rock boardwalk home of Bill and Bobbie True, the High Street residence of Clay Marsh and Chet Breitwieser, Jim and Marcia Atkinson’s River Hills Llama Farm, Blaine Murrell McBurney’s Oak Grove plantation, and the Prairie Park estate owned by Day and Whitney Kerr. The event attracted 1,000 guests and raised $13,390.

Missouri State Parks Director Doug Eiken was tapped as the keynote speaker for FAR’s 40th Anniversary Annual Meeting in May. The meeting took place at the Old Tavern, a fitting location since that’s where the organization was formed.

An elegant, $250 per plate dinner at Prairie Park in October bolstered FAR’s endowment by $9,355. With the addition of those funds, the endowment stood at $190,000 at the end of the year.

It was at that dinner that Gladys Moehle Thomas, a descendant of families whose names are well known to Arrow Rock history — Moehle and Lawless — announced her intention to give $100,000 to pay for the restoration and seed an endowment for the Dee Lawless home, situated on the southern edge of Arrow Rock. With her gift in hand, FAR was able to negotiate a 20-year lease on the property from the owner, the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, Arrow Rock State Historic Site.

With fundraising efforts going well, a new project on the horizon with the restoration of the Lawless farmstead, and work underway at the Black Lodge, the new millennium was looking bright for FAR.

66 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

The 2000s

Missouri Valley College student Brian Simpson portraying Johnny Sites

The new millennium brought a new infusion of energy to Friends of Arrow Rock. The organization continued its important preservation work on the Black Lodge and Lawless Farmstead properties, published the definitive history of the village, was a driving force behind the institution of architectural guidelines to protect the integrity of the National Historic Landmark community, and played host to Hollywood celebrities when it welcomed back the stars of the “Tom Sawyer” musical film. The organization reached for and achieved new levels of prominence and success, capped off by an ambitious capital campaign to celebrate FAR’s 50th anniversary.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 67

2000

Chris Scherer

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hile the world was waiting for the Y2K computer virus to wipe out its communications, Friends of Arrow Rock was having conversations with the past. A $10,000 “Millennial Visions” grant from the National Endowment of the Humanities through the Missouri Humanities Council funded the creation of a new tour highlighting the lives of Gunsmith John Sites and his wife, Nannie. The project was a collaboration between FAR and students from Missouri Valley College in Marshall, who researched the life and times of the notable Arrow Rock couple and created a script. The resulting reenactment tour was presented on weekends in June and July, and allowed visitors to interact with John and Nannie, and their servant Virginia.

To showcase the work accomplished using the grant funding, FAR created a new event — Gunstocks and Bustles: A 19th Century Weekend. The event was a two-day celebration of life as it would have been lived in Arrow Rock in the 1800s. Nearly 1,200 visitors attended all or part of the event, including a lecture

by Colonial Williamsburg gunsmith Wallace Gusler, who spoke to a standing-room-only crowd at the Arrow Rock State Historic Site Visitor Center. The event also included guided tours of the Sites Gun Shop and House, worship services at the 1872 Christian Church and the recently restored Brown’s Chapel Freewill Baptist Church, and mule-drawn wagon rides.

Other events in 2000, including the Juneteenth celebration and the biennial Children’s Craft Festival, kept FAR volunteers busy, but the organization also found a new way to reach out to the public that year. With the help of member Chris Scherer, the organization launched its first website and staked out its place on the World Wide Web.

Mary Borgman (as Virginia, the servant), Brian Simpson (as Johnny) and Ruth Dickey (as Nannie) brought the Sites household to life for summertime visitors in 2000.

Missouri Valley College student Christy Cunningham (on left) with volunteers Margaret Lyddon, Mary Dixon and Rebekah Weber prepare for guided tours of the Sites House.

Despite all the excitement surrounding events and new technology, FAR didn’t lose sight of its responsibility to its buildings. The Nuts and Bolts campaign brought in $12,370 to fund sewer hook-ups at five FAR properties and a new roof for the Christian Church. The Board of Governors of the Miller Gift authorized the installation of a high-efficiency furnace and air conditioner in the Miller-Bradford House and, as part of that project, specified the installation of an underground propane tank: the first of its kind in Arrow Rock.

68 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

2001

A gathering of FAR presidents, including (l to r) Day Kerr, Sue Stubbs, Barbara Quinn and Paul Ratcliffe

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n February, the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation gave a thumbsup to Friends of Arrow Rock by honoring FAR with the McReynolds Award. The award was established to acknowledge individuals or groups who had made significant achievements in the field of preservation. FAR was nominated in recognition of the many preservation projects it had undertaken in 40-plus years.

At the organization’s 42nd Annual Meeting in May, FAR President Barbara Quinn handed over the reins of the organization to incoming president Sue Stubbs. During the meeting, members recalled Barbara’s many accomplishments during her six-year presidency, including the acquisition of Brown’s Chapel and Black Lodge through a generous gift from Ted and Virginia Fisher, a $100,000 gift from Gladys Thomas for the restoration of the Lawless Farmstead, and the ongoing archaeological field schools that had been conducted in Arrow Rock for the past six years.

In 2001, FAR received a second $10,000 Millennial Vision Grant from the National Endowment for the Humanities. This one, in partnership with the Black World History Museum in St. Louis, sponsored an exchange between the museum’s student intern program and FAR’s volunteer committee that was initiating plans for an Arrow Rock African-American exhibit.

On Sept. 11, the world changed in a dramatic way when terrorists attacked the World Trade Center and the Pentagon.

Arrow Rock remained a peaceful haven, but for two FAR leaders, Executive Director Kathy Borgman and Education Director Pam Parsons, the events of that day were frighteningly close. The two were in Washington D.C., along with Black World History Museum Executive Director Lois Conley, following a meeting with other National Endowment for the Humanities grant recipients. They were firsthand witnesses to the chaos of that horrible day, and had to overcome the challenge of finding a way home when all flights were canceled. The trio finally located a rental car and made their way back to Missouri.

“On the drive back, it was quite moving to see numerous flags on semi-trucks and cars, on mailboxes, and as we went under one overpass, there stood a man and a woman holding a flag,” Kathy recalled.

FAR President Sue Stubbs, in a heartfelt letter to the membership, described the significance of Arrow Rock in light of the Sept. 11 tragedy. “What the Friends are doing is important,” she said. “We have a National Historic Landmark village we treasure and are striving to preserve. But it is just as important that we continue to use this unique setting to help our visitors and especially our children learn how the experiences of yesteryears helped shape the American character.”

In the spring, just months before her passing, Arrow Rock resident and retired schoolteacher Corinne Jackson signed a gift annuity agreement for $100,000 to support FAR’s children’s education initiatives through the Corinne Jackson Education Program. Corinne and her sister, Buena Stolberg, who passed away a year earlier, are still remembered for their cando attitudes and powers of persuasion. Among the duo’s many accomplishments was the founding of the Arrow Rock Heritage Craft Festival, which, nearly 50 years later, continues to be the village’s most popular event. As a tribute to the sisters, the Old Schoolhouse on Arrow Rock’s west end bears the name of Stolberg-Jackson Community Center.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 69

2002

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he 43rd Annual Meeting, held on Sunday, May 5, featured archaeologist Timothy Baumann as the keynote speaker. Tim’s leadership during the annual Arrow Rock Archaeological Field School, which was on the cusp of its seventh season, led to many intriguing discoveries and continues to help the Friends of Arrow Rock interpret many of its buildings.

During his speech, Tim said, “Arrow Rock is the beginning point of not only historic preservation, but some of the very first historic archaeology done in the state: a 19th century school, an industrial pottery site, and an extensive AfricanAmerican community. Prior to the 1960s, I can only think of one minor historic archaeology project that was done in Missouri. So really, Arrow Rock is the beginning point of historic archaeology statewide.”

Strengthened by the $100,000 gift annuity from Corinne Jackson, FAR was able to introduce some new educational offerings in 2002, including a summer school program that focused on the Lewis and Clark expedition, and a teacher’s workshop that featured tours of significant Arrow Rock buildings and a lecture by Arrow Rock State Historic Site Administrator Mike Dickey.

Dr. Timothy Baumann

◆ The popular Arrow Rock Homes Tour returned for two days in September and showcased two new homes — Herschel and Marilyn Roth’s home on the west edge of town, and Lloyd Parker and Leo Andrade’s country cottage, which had recently graced the pages of a Kansas City design magazine. Other homes on the tour included FAR President Sue Stubbs’ secluded log home, the superbly decorated home of Page Williams, and the Latch House, which many believe is Arrow Rock’s oldest home. ◆ Thanks to a generous gift from Gladys Moehle Thomas, and a long-term lease granted by the State of Missouri, FAR was able to undertake a top-to-bottom restoration of the historic Lawless Farmstead property. By 2002, the exterior was restored and painted, and work was progressing on the interior. Gifts of furnishings and home décor came flooding in when FAR President Stubbs put out a wish list of items for the home.

Lloyd Parker, Donna Huston and Leo Andrade at the 2002 Homes Tour

◆ Three new grants had FAR poised to begin new projects: a $3,500 grant from the Brownlee Fund, which enabled FAR to commission the writing of an Arrow Rock history; a National Historic Landmark Cost Share Grant from the National Parks Service that allowed FAR, in cooperation with other local organizations, to begin work on formalized architectural design guidelines; and a $5,000 matching grant for Arrow Rock’s Cooperative Marketing Group to advertise on National Public Radio in Kansas City, and in Springfield, Mo., and to create a media kit. ◆ By the end of the year, FAR had received more good news. The National Endowment for the Humanities awarded FAR a $100,000 challenge grant. The grant, when matched dollar-for-dollar, would infuse the organization’s endowment fund with $200,000, and help support new education programs.

Wood & Huston Bank was among the first to answer the challenge with a $15,000 gift. (Pictured: Sue Stubbs with John Huston) 70 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

Thanks to the work of FAR member Charles Adams and State Representative Jim Seigfried, Arrow Rock fans were able to display their passion on their bumpers with specialty license plates for the Friends of Arrow Rock. The plates feature a sketch of the John Sites Gun Shop.

2003

Lawless House Dedication

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he 2003 annual meeting of the Friends of Arrow Rock was highlighted by a keynote address from Ellen Beasley, a preservation consultant who was working with FAR and other community groups to establish formalized design guidelines for the village. Her work was partially funded by a cost share grant from the U.S. National Park Service.

In her speech, Beasley pointed out the assets that make Arrow Rock a unique place. “You have a wonderful collection of buildings that are original to your town and that reflect the evolution of Arrow Rock from the 19th into the 20th century,” she said. “You have a strong historical identity tied to major events and personalities, and you are in a beautiful rural setting.”

She went on to emphasize the importance of establishing guidelines to protect the integrity of the village and its standing as a

Ellen Beasley

National Historic Landmark. “The reason for the guidelines project is to define what is special about Arrow Rock and to give guidance to maintaining those qualities, while at the same time allowing for change in what is an active, living community. Maintaining that balance is not easy, but I think you have done a remarkable job thus far.”

FAR President Sue Stubbs reinforced that message in a letter to the membership.

“We have an authentic town, not a created one,” she said.

The organization celebrated a piece of that authenticity on Sept. 21, when nearly 100 members and special guests gathered on a rainy Sunday afternoon to dedicate the restored Lawless House. The restoration project was made possible by a generous donation from Gladys Moehle Thomas, a descendant of two early Arrow Rock families — the Lawlesses and the Moehles.

Gladys received an enthusiastic welcome at the dedication event; President Stubbs presented her with a symbolic key to the house and a commemorative plaque.

Celebration mixed with sadness as the year came to a close. In the midst of a campaign to raise $100,000 to meet a National Endowment of the Humanities challenge grant, FAR President Sue Stubbs was diagnosed with lung cancer. In a show of support for Sue, gifts came pouring in and the $100,000 goal was met and exceeded before Christmas.

Another gift that year, a pair of rare daguerrotypes, honored one of Arrow Rock’s founding families. The early photographs featured Dr. and Mrs. John Sappington and were still protected by their original cases. The images, donated by Eleanor Price Ledogar of New York City, are the only known photographs of the “Quinine Doctor” and his wife, and date to the mid to late 1840s.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 71

2004 In early January, just one week before she succumbed to lung cancer, Friends of Arrow Rock President Sue Stubbs wrote a final letter to the membership to thank them for supporting the $100,000 National Endowment of the Humanities challenge grant. “I am overwhelmed at the generosity of personal friends, as well as the generosity of the larger Friends of Arrow Rock group, many of whom are the same. …

Many people through the years have commented that the nicest thing about Arrow Rock is the quality of people it attracts. I say amen to that, and thank you many times over.”

At the February meeting of the FAR board of trustees, Second Vice President Dr. Thomas B. Hall III, assumed the presidency of the organization.

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Tom Hall and Sue Stubbs

A highlight of the year was FAR’s n March 3, during a special publication of Arrow Rock State Historic Site ceremony in the Missouri Administrator Michael Dickey’s book, Arrow Capitol rotunda, FAR Rock: Crossroads of the Missouri Frontier. This Executive Director Kathy comprehensive volume traced the history Borgman received the 2004 Rozier Award of the region from 1700 until 1900, with a from the Missouri Alliance for Historic concluding chapter on the preservation efforts Preservation. The Rozier Award is given of the 20th century that were spearheaded by annually to an individual who has made the Daughters of the American Revolution, the “significant achievements in the field of State of Missouri, private property owners and historic preservation in Missouri.”

Friends of Arrow Rock.

In her speech at the ceremony, Kathy In 2004, FAR introduced a new thanked the friends, family and colleagues fundraiser called “Stroll and Sample,” soon who traveled to share the special occasion to become known as “Sip and Stroll.” Wine with her, and she reiterated the importance provided by Ron Newman, hors d’oeuvres of historic preservation and education. “A and hospitality were available at Linda study of history helps us reflect on what we Hoffman’s Miss Nelle’s Bed & Breakfast, have done well, what we have done poorly, and the homes of John Boedeker and Ann and it can inspire us to do better,” she said.

Green, Ernest and Judy Smith, and Janet One of Sue Stubbs’ legacies was the and Phil Reeter. Following the stroll, the 95 Lewis and Clark Symposium, an event she participants enjoyed dessert and coffee at began planning more than a year before the the Old Schoolhouse as they bid on silent 45 attendees arrived in Arrow Rock for the auction items. The event netted $6,348. symposium on May 1. The day included The year concluded with another firstpresentations by William Foley, professor time event: the Yesteryear Christmas emeritus of history at Central Missouri Homes Tour. More than 200 guests visited State University, who spoke about the life Arrow Rock homes that had been decorated of William Clark; and Jim Duncan, former exquisitely for the holiday season. The event, director of the Missouri State Museum and planned by a committee that included Pat an Osage Indian descendant, who shared the Bunny Thomas and Yvonne Rennolds Cooper, Nancy Finke, Lloyd Parker and Indian perspective on the famous expedition.

Pam Parsons, featured two FAR properties FAR’s education programs for children, — the Sites House and Lawless House — along with five rooms which were launched in 1984, continued to flourish 20 years later. in Bunny’s Bed & Breakfast, the private homes of Jan and Dale In 2004, 1,934 students took part in the springtime education Hinnah, and Lloyd Parker and Leo Andrade, and a display of more programs, and more than 1,900 children participated in the than 600 Santa figures at the Old Schoolhouse. biennial Children’s Craft Festival.

72 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

2005

Janet and Linda Reeter

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he Lewis and Clark Expedition had passed by Arrow Rock 200 years earlier, and Friends of Arrow Rock did its part to commemorate that important event by participating in a series of programs sponsored by the Missouri Humanities Council and the National Endowment for the Humanities. During the summer of 2005, the village hosted a presentation by Osage Nation member Edward Red Eagle Jr. titled “The Osage Indians and Lewis and Clark,” and a picnic and music event featuring “Fiddle & Dance Music of the Lewis & Clark Era,” performed by Howard Marshall.

Although the Lawless House restoration was completed in 2004, there was still work to be done on the farmstead property. In 2005, the outbuildings received some much-needed attention. Volunteers Phil Reeter and Keith DeVries worked together to put new roofs on the chicken house and smokehouse. Both buildings were stabilized and reinforced with

Lawless Farmstead outbuildings

Virgie and John Irvin with Santa Claus

Pat Cooper and Jan Hinnah with Santa

new concrete floors. The construction of a circle drive made it possible to accommodate buses for school tours. The historic marker installed near the entrance of the home put a finishing touch on the project.

The organization added to its property holdings that year with the acquisition of lots on block 32. The lots to the west and behind the home known as Miss Nelle’s House (currently Arrow Rock Bed & Breakfast) contribute to Arrow Rock’s parklike character and FAR felt it was important to maintain that green space since no homes ever had existed on those lots.

“Sometimes it appears to people that the Friends want to own everything in Arrow Rock,” said Executive Director Kathy Borgman. “I assure you that is not the case.”

FAR was pleased to accept two significant collections in 2005. Jean Hyde of Kansas City donated her collection of primitive tools, farm implements and household and kitchen items, plus a set of equipment and furnishings for a 19th century country store. Many of the pieces were put on display at the Lawless Farmstead. Jean Gaddy Wilson gave FAR a collection of more than 300 gun parts, gunsmithing tools and other items that had belonged to her father, Herschel Gaddy.

The items were a welcome addition to the interpretive display at the Sites Gun Shop.

Arrow Rock moved to the head of the class in the summer of 2005,

when it hosted 77 teachers from across the United States for the Landmarks of American History Teachers Workshop. The three-day workshop was a cooperative effort of FAR and the Department of History and Anthropology at Central Missouri State University, and made possible through a $155,000 National Endowment for the Humanities grant to CMSU. The event included presentations on frontier Missouri, African-American culture, famous Arrow Rock residents Dr. John Sappington and George Caleb Bingham, and traditional Missouri music.

The organization hosted a “Sip and Stroll” fundraiser in September. Guests enjoyed a variety of beverages, a beer and brats picnic, a silent auction, and tours of Arrow Rock homes, including the residences of Chet Breitwieser and Clay Marsh, Don Huff, and Clayton Stubbs and Maryruth Peck. The event raised more than $6,000 for FAR and entertained 115 guests.

Bolstered by the success of 2004’s Christmas of Yesteryear Homes Tour and Santa Fest, FAR reprised the event on Nov. 26, and featured the historic Aderton House, the Sites House, the home of Lou and Judi Hodges, Miss Nelle’s Bed and Breakfast, and the Arrow Rock Christian Church. More than 240 people got into the Christmas spirit at the event, which netted FAR $2,250.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 73

2006

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ove over Meryl Streep. In 2006, it was Arrow Rock’s turn to win the big awards! The year began with one piece of good news after another about honors for the village and FAR’s efforts to preserve it.

The first came from the National Trust for Historic Preservation, which named Arrow Rock one of its Dozen Distinctive Destinations for 2006. Arrow Rock, nominated by preservation consultant Ellen Beasley, made the cut out of 93 communities in 39 states that were nominated for the honor, making it the first Missouri destination to make the annual list, and the smallest community ever chosen.

In March, the village received the Osmund Overby Award from the Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation in recognition for the outstanding work done on the Arrow Rock Design Guidelines.

At the 2006 Conference on Historical and Underwater Archaeology, the Society for Historical Archaeology bestowed its John L. Cotter Award in Historical Archaeology to Dr. Timothy Baumann. The award was established to recognize exceptional achievement by archaeologists at the outset of their professional lives. Baumann, who had led archaeological field schools every summer in Arrow Rock for 10 years, also received word that funding had been approved for a new archaeological survey in Arrow Rock.

FAR racked up another honor, this time from the American Association for State and Local History, for its publication of Michael Dickey’s book, Arrow Rock: Crossroads of the Missouri Frontier. The AASLH Leadership < Michael Dickey

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riends of Arrow Rock had spread the word about this wonderful village far and wide, but it still came as a surprise to Executive Director Kathy Borgman when she received an invitation to visit Taiwan and talk about Arrow Rock. “Off I went to get a passport, debit card, and learn how to do a PowerPoint presentation so I could show photos and tell about Arrow Rock,” she said.

The invitation came about from an earlier visit with Chao-Hsing Huang. As a student in community development at the University of Missouri, Chao-Hsing visited Arrow

Kathy Digges, Grayson Kabler and Sarah Riddick

in History Award recognized significant achievement in the preservation and interpretation of state and local history.

With all those awards coming FAR’s way, why not dress up and celebrate? FAR members did just that at a Black Tie dinner on June 16, hosted at Blaine and Stephanie McBurney’s 1854 Oak Grove estate, and Day and Whitney Kerr’s 1849 Prairie Park home.

The elegant event drew 60 guests and raised $9,450 for FAR’s preservation and interpretation programs.

The annual Sip & Stroll event in September featured Dale and Lola Spradley’s restored foursquare on Main Street, Dan Auman and Kirby McCullough’s new home on High Street, and Marty and Sandy Selby’s small, historic cottage on Van Buren Street. The beautiful fall evening brought out more than 150 attendees, who contributed to an $8,700 influx for the organization.

That same month, an army of volunteers demonstrating 55 different crafts and activities brought frontier days to life for the 1,900 children who attended the biennial Children’s Craft Festival.

At the end of the day, “everyone’s exhausted,” said FAR Executive Director Kathy Borgman. “But I think volunteers feel it’s really worth it. You have to experience it to believe it!”

Thanks to gifts from The Bank of America as trustee of the W.J. Brace Charitable Trust, and the Sunderland Family Fund, FAR was able to purchase two additional pieces of property: the vacant lot adjacent to the Black Lodge, and the lot on the highly visible corner of Van Buren and Highway 41.

Rock as part of a class assignment to learn about community organizations. In Taiwan, he became a professional community development specialist and used Arrow Rock as an example of how a small community could organize itself to get things done.

Kathy spent 10 days in October touring Taiwan and speaking with eight different groups about heritage tourism in rural areas. “I was much refreshed and encouraged by this trip,” she said.

“It gave me the opportunity to step back and look at Arrow Rock in a new light. When you are in the

74 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

Clay Marsh with Patty and John Morris

Kathy Borgman with Chao-Hsing Huang

middle of projects and issues, it can often seem like nothing is being accomplished. Seeing Arrow Rock from another person’s point of view helped me appreciate the strides that have been made as the result of many small steps.”

2007

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here’s nothing quite like the Fourth of July in Arrow Rock, with its charming Impromptu Parade featuring fire trucks, tractors, bikes, horses and the ought-tobe-famous kazoo band. But there was an enhanced level of excitement on July 4, 2007, when Hollywood returned to town.

FAR and other local organizations got together to welcome members of the cast of “Tom Sawyer,” the musical that was filmed in Arrow Rock in 1972. Oscarwinner Celeste Holm (Aunt Polly), along with Johnny Whitaker (Tom Sawyer) and Jeff East (Huck Finn) took part in the festivities, which included the annual parade down Main Street, the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre production of “Tom Sawyer,” and a picnic buffet at “Becky Thatcher’s House.”

Locations featured in the film, including the Odd Fellows Lodge Hall and the 1872 Christian Church, were open for tours.

More than 600 people lined the parade route for a chance to see the stars. Donna Huston, who appeared as an extra in the film (look for the lady in the plaid dress!), organized the reunion and was assisted by dozens of volunteers and local businesses who made the special event possible.

They weren’t movie stars, but the attendees at the second Black Tie Dinner certainly looked the part. The June event returned to the Oak Grove and Prairie

Left: Donna Huston and Celeste Holm (Aunt Polly) Right: Johnny Whitaker (Tom Sawyer) and Jeff East (Huck Finn)

Park estates and raised $8,790. That year’s Sip & Stroll, on Sept. 22, featured Tom and Margaret Hall’s “Fox Hall,” along with Chet Breitwieser 1830s house, Pat and Charlie Cooper’s repurposed schoolhouse home, and the National Historic Landmark George Caleb Bingham home. The 2007 Sip & Stroll set a new fundraising record for the event: $9,700.

In September, FAR made a major property acquisition when it purchased the historic Arrow Rock Masonic Lodge #55.

The building, which was constructed in the same year, 1868, and is in many ways a mirror image of the Odd Fellows Hall across the street, became available when the Masons moved to a more accessible building in town. The FAR board met in

special session to approve the $85,000 purchase.

In 2007, FAR participated in a Museum Assessment Program for the second time.

Funded by the Institute of Museum and Library Services and the American Association of Museums, the program provided a three-day visit by professional museum consultant Molly Lowell of Doylestown, Penn.

The year ended with the Friends receiving a $69,000 bequest from the Robert K. and Ruth E. Griffin Trust, and another surprise gift: two John P. Sites rifles owned by Warren Kiso of Slater, Mo. Kiso had purchased the rifles 50 years earlier and promised that he would eventually give them to the Friends of Arrow Rock.

Clearly, he was a man of his word.

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hose looking to ride through Arrow Rock in style and comfort were in luck in 2007. FAR purchased an eight-passenger golf cart tram for use on its tours of the village. That year’s tram tours were offered four times daily, Monday through Saturday, from Memorial Day through Labor Day. The tram tours were an instant hit and increased tour participation by 30 percent over the previous year.

The idea of a golf-car tour actually was born in 2003, when FAR board member John Irvin donated his old golf cart for staff use. Unfortunately, the used vehicle had faulty brakes. Rather than risk an extra dose of on-the-job excitement for staff members, FAR retired the donated golf cart before it ever went into service. < Kathy Borgman with Mary and Bill Lovin

Donna Huston with “Tom Sawyer” actor Johnny Whitaker

The Life Of The Party When the Friends of Arrow Rock wants to raise money, it turns to First Vice President Donna Huston, a woman who knows how to throw a grand party. Here she talks about some of her most memorable successes, and one unforgettable flub.

In your history with FAR, you’ve helped organize many events. Is there one particular event that stands out for you among all the others?

The fundraising dinner at Prairie Park in 1984 was one of them. What made the event stand out in my memory was, of course, the beautiful setting of the Sappington mansion surrounded by the scenic farm land. We dined on a sevencourse dinner throughout the entire first floor. The tables were covered with linen tablecloths and adorned with gorgeous rose centerpieces.

After courses of soup, salad, entrée, dessert, coffee, assorted cheeses, and truffles, which had been prepared

by Bryan Berlin, who had been taught by a chocolatier in Switzerland, we gave out roses and cigars as favors for the evening.

A special memory: As I was being served this fabulous dinner, I looked out the window and saw the caterers preparing this meal in the backyard, which I would call a difficult feat. Yes, their catering kitchen was indeed the lawn. What a sight to see!

Secondly, I have to mention celebrating the 35th anniversary of the “Tom Sawyer” filming in Arrow Rock was indeed special. I had been an extra for several months, so I was very interested in reliving with others in the Arrow Rock vicinity the making of the movie. I will never forget 76 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

when the director, Don Taylor, stepped out of his car and said, “We do not have to build scenery; this village is going to be ideal.”

Lo and behold, we were able to invite Celeste Holm (Aunt Polly), Johnny Whitaker (Tom Sawyer), and Jeff East (Huck Finn), and they accepted. So July 4, 1997, hundreds came for the reunion at the Christian Church (scene of the funeral in the movie) to talk to the stars. The day was eventful. It started with a question-and-answer session with Celeste Holm at the Arrow Rock State Historic Site Visitor Center, followed by the largest Arrow Rock parade ever held. People opened their homes for housing and feeding our guests stars. Of course, the “Tom Sawyer” movie was shown and many DVDs were sold.

Have there been any occasions where things didn’t go exactly as planned?

The annual house tours were very successful fundraisers, but one year we did have a problem. It was in the McDaniel House (Shelby Gregory’s house today). At that time, we hadn’t had trouble with hardwood floors, but this one year we wanted to protect Mrs. McDaniel’s pinewood floors in her kitchen, knowing that pine is a little softer wood. We bought plastic covering and thought we were pretty clever.

Oops! After many, many people walked on the plastic, the floor was indeed scratched very badly. You know on the back of that plastic is a rough surface to keep it from sliding. From that year on we didn’t try to protect floors but we had a rule: No high heels. And later we purchased the hospital boots.

2008

“Friends on the Go” in New Orleans

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he Friends of Arrow Rock board knew that its newest property, the historic Masonic Lodge Hall, would need some immediate and expensive attention.

Fortunately, a $25,000 gift from the Taylor S. & Patti H. Abernathy Charitable Trust, Bank of America, Trustee, made it possible for the organization to move forward on the installation of a new metal, standingseam roof, along with new gutters.

In 2008, 20 Friends of Arrow Rock members decided to get out of town, and the “Friends on the Go” took a trip to New Orleans. The sightseeing trip, which doubled as a fundraiser for FAR, gave 20 adventureseekers a unique look at the Big Easy, thanks to some well-connected friends — New Orleans property owner Blaine McBurney, and Blackwater, Mo. business owner Bobby Danner. The trip was such a smashing success that organizer Donna Huston immediately went to work planning a 2009 “Friends on the Go” trip to Santa Fe, N.M. Devoted, hard-working FAR members Day and Whitney Kerr received statewide recognition for their preservation work when they were honored with the Rozier Award. The Rozier Award, presented

by Missouri Preservation, recognizes outstanding individual achievement in preservation. The Kerrs were lauded for their restoration of five homes, including the 1849 Prairie Park mansion and the

1860 Townsend House, just west of Prairie Park, and for their volunteer efforts with preservation organizations including Jackson County Historical Society, Historic Kansas City Foundation, and, of course, Friends of Arrow Rock.

A new series of lectures, suggested by Dr. Timothy Baumann and dubbed First Saturday Lectures, debuted in 2008. The lecture series was funded by income from FAR’s own Humanities Endowment Fund, established by the National Endowment for the Humanities $100,000 Challenge Grant.

The inaugural year’s lectures included Dr. Baumann’s presentation on “Soul Food,” James Denny and Michael Dickey’s presentation on “The Civil War in Saline County,” an insight into Lakota culture and traditions by Dorothy Eiken, and a showing of the Emmy Award-winning documentary on the years leading up to the Civil War, “Bad Blood.” Arrow Rock resident Clayton Stubbs won two Emmys for his audio and music production work on the film.

The lecture series proved so popular, a fifth lecture was added — “Boonslick’s Confederate Hero and Neglected Artist: William B. Cox,” presented by Dr. Bartlett C. Jones.

Just because there were new educational offerings for adults didn’t mean FAR was neglecting the kids. In 2008, 1,000 students from 25 area schools learned about “Family Life and School Days in the 1840s” and “Arrow Rock: A Changing Community of

As FAR grew and its collections increased, it became apparent that the organization needed professional advice on how best to care for and preserve its treasures.

Enter Consulting Curator Cindee Herrick, who began a multiyear project to help FAR catalog and protect its collections. FAR was able to secure her services thanks to a gift from Dr. Tom and Margaret Hall, who pledged a five-year gift to fund her work in honor of FAR’s upcoming 50th anniversary.

the 1800s” during the Spring Education Program. FAR also addressed the increasing popularity of home schooling with a new program designed especially for homeschoolers. On April 23, and May 21, 150 home-schooled students and their parents learned about frontier life in Arrow Rock.

The popular Sip & Stroll event continued in 2008, featuring the homes of Bill and Bobbie True, Lou and Judi Hodges, Yvonne Rennolds, and Rich and Debbie Lawson. It was another Sip & Stroll record-breaker, netting $11,700.

FAR reached out to nearby Columbia, Mo. with its Champagne & Roses event, featuring the Columbia homes of Grayson and Kary Kabler, and Sarah and John Riddick. The homes were decorated with more than 30 dozen roses, donated by Jay Kelly of Florist Distributing Inc. The event raised $4,700 for FAR.

The $20,000 gift from the Halls and the $25,000 from the Abernathy Charitable Trust represented just a portion of the generosity FAR received in 2008. Other major gifts included $62,000 from the Buckner Foundation that aided FAR’s purchase of the Masonic Lodge Hall, $50,000 from Wood & Huston Bank for the FAR Endowment Fund, and $25,000 from John and Virgie Irvin to support the salary of the executive director. Those gifts set the stage for the most ambitious fundraising project the Friends of Arrow Rock had ever undertaken: its 50th Anniversary Campaign.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 77

2009

I

t had been 50 years since the Friends of Arrow Rock came to life during a meeting of the Daughters of the American Revolution, and those 50 years had yielded ambitious preservation projects, exciting and entertaining fundraisers, impressive increases in membership and budgets, and an increasingly professional presence through the hiring of staff and specialized consultants. The time was right to take FAR to the next level and that would take a bold effort.

With the help and encouragement of new board member Davoren Tempel, FAR embarked on a $1 million 50th Anniversary Campaign. The effort actually began in 2008, with a quiet campaign that raised more than $600,000, primarily from the FAR board of trustees. In 2009, the campaign expanded to include members, foundations and the general public.

FAR is an organization that loves a good celebration, and for an occasion as big as a 50th anniversary, it stood to reason the celebrations should be big, too. In May, Stephanie and Blaine McBurney, and Day and Whitney Kerr hosted a 50th Anniversary Progressive Cocktail Party at their restored plantation homes.

The $100-per-person fundraiser brought in funds to support FAR’s preservation and education programs. Eighty-three people attended the event and had the opportunity to meet special guest U.S. Representative Ike Skelton.

The First Saturday Lecture Series returned for a second year with topics that included Harry Truman, school desegregation, the Saline County landscape of the 1800s, and the once-lucrative Santa Fe trade.

Twenty intrepid explorers headed to Santa Fe, N.M. for the “Friends on the Go” trip in August. September’s Sip & Stroll broke with tradition and featured homes in nearby Marshall, Mo. Homeowners Scott and Melissa Hartwig, George and Jane Huff, Steve and Elaine Olson, Rob and Jan Ravenhill, and Donna and John Huston opened their residences to 135 Sip & Stroll guests. Combined, the 50th Anniversary Progressive Cocktail Party, “Friends on the Go” trip and Sip & Stroll netted more than $25,000 for FAR in 2009.

Despite all the celebrations, the work of the organization went on. With funds from the 50th Anniversary Campaign, plus money from the Neighborhood Assistance Program and a Certified Local Government cost share grant from the Missouri Department of Natural Resources, State Historic Preservation

“Friends on the Go” in Santa Fe, N.M.

At the 2009 Sip & Stroll, from left: Don Huff, Margaret and Tom Hall, and George and Jane Huff

office, FAR was able to begin work on major preservation projects.

The projects, which were expected to total $364,000 on work scheduled over a four-year period, included tuck pointing on the Odd Fellows and Masonic Lodge Halls, new roofs on several buildings, and the hiring of Arrow Rock resident Marty Selby to oversee all preservation projects and building maintenance as FAR’s properties manager. FAR hired Vicky Steding to clean its properties using techniques and products that were proven safe for historic buildings.

A great year ended with news of a generous gift from Ann and Lanny Patten, a Pennsylvania couple with familial ties to Saline County and Friends of Arrow Rock: Ann is the daughter of FAR past-president Louise Hall Bagby. The couple pledged $50,000 to the 50th Anniversary Campaign, accompanied by an initial gift of $10,000. With the Patten’s gift, the Anniversary Campaign reached the $700,000 mark, and was well on its way to meeting its $1 million goal.

78 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

A 2000s Time Capsule

What We Were Wearing

At the 2009 Annual Meeting, FAR bestowed its first-ever Distinguished Service Award on Day and Whitney Kerr.

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n June 14, the gavel fell to open the 50th annual meeting of Friends of Arrow Rock. The J. Huston Tavern was filled to capacity with FAR members who were there to celebrate the special day. Each guest received a leather bookmark souvenir and an anniversary booklet that listed the organization’s many accomplishments during the past half-century. Dr. Gary Kremer, executive director of the State Historical Society of Missouri, gave the keynote address. He praised the organization’s ongoing efforts to preserve and share Arrow Rock’s history.

“Your efforts have allowed all of us to experience Arrow Rock and its rich history, not just with our eyes and our ears and the rest of our physical senses,” Kremer said.

“You have allowed us to experience Arrow Rock with our hearts and minds and souls.”

At a reception following the August board of trustees meeting, Executive Director Kathy Borgman was honored for 25 years of service to the organization. The board gave her a framed print by Missouri artist Catherine Mahoney that included a plaque noting her “selfless, inspiring and dedicated service and leadership.” Day Kerr, who was FAR president when Kathy was hired, said, “We hit the jackpot. She’s a great ambassador for Arrow Rock.”

Skinny jeans Leggings

What We Were Watching

LIVESTRONG bracelets

“Lost” • “American Idol” • “NCIS” “How I Met Your Mother” • “The Sopranos”

Ugg boots Trucker hats

What We Were Listening To “Smooth” by Santana, featuring Rob Thomas “Amazed” by Lonestar “A Moment Like This” by Kelly Clarkson “Single Ladies” by Beyonce “Poker Face” by Lady Gaga

What Was Making Headlines Terrorists Attack America On Sept. 11 U.S. Declares War On Terrorism In Afghanistan And Iraq Indian Ocean Tsunami Kills More Than 227,000 Hurricane Katrina Devastates New Orleans King Of Pop Michael Jackson Dies

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 79

friends of arrow rock photo gallery

FAR Trustee and Arrow Rock Town Board Chairman Sallie Hailey receives the village’s National Historic Landmark designation in 1964.

Legacy Society members enjoy an elegant basket luncheon on the grounds of Oak Grove plantation in 2003.

Jim Smith and Day Kerr welcome guests to the historic Christian Church during FAR’s 30th anniversary celebration in 1989.

Dr. Tom Hall and Herschel Gaddy discuss the tools of the gunsmith’s trade in 1987.

Dorothy Kruger, Mary Burge and Kitty Smith show off the 1987 “Sketches of George Caleb Bingham Calendar,” which was a successful fundraiser for FAR.

Bill and Cora Lee Miller are putting on the ritz for FAR’s Grand Gala in 1984.

80 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

The Homecoming celebration at the restored Brown’s Chapel on Aug. 24, 2003, was a reunion of former church members.

FAR Board Member Anna Mae Hodge displays pieces of flint she collected from the “Rock of Arrows” bluff, gifts for FAR’s Legacy Society members in 2002.

As a volunteer for FAR’s Spring Education Programs and Children’s Craft Festivals, FAR Trustee Bill Lovin plays the role of shopkeeper in the Old Tavern Mercantile.

FAR Interpreter Elaine Breshears fields questions from eager young students during a Spring Education Program.

FAR Trustees Bill True and Blaine McBurney discuss one of the many treasures at the Oak Grove plantation, during the 2001 Antiques Forum.

In 1996, a hardworking committee made up of Barbara Quinn, Theresa Van Buren Habernal, Bill Lovin, Kathy Borgman and Sue Hall discuss plans for FAR’s Black History project.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 81

photo gallery

FAR Interpreter Chuck Petty talks about the practice of medicine during pioneer days at a 2013 Spring Education Program.

Longtime volunteer and FAR Trustee Mary Burge greets students at the log schoolhouse during a spring program in 1997.

FAR First Vice President Donna Huston and the evening’s “guest of honor” are both outfitted in style for a 1995 barbecue fundraiser.

Volunteer Roy Stubbs hosts young visitors at the Old Courthouse during a Children’s Craft Festival.

Sue Hall and Theresa Van Buren Habernal enjoy the entertainment during the 1997 Juneteenth celebration.

82 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

Interpretation consultant Alisha Cole shares her insights about the fraternal lodges of Arrow Rock during a 2013 First Saturday Lecture.

Members of the Board of Governors of the Miller Gift meet to discuss plans for the 1995 auction of Bill and Cora Lee Miller’s extensive antiques collection.

Bruce Satterlee and FAR Education Director Mandy Dorrance welcome guests to their home during the 2013 Sip & Stroll.

Future FAR Board Member Tempe McGlaughlin entertains guests at a 1997 country buffet at Oak Grove Plantation.

Kathy Borgman presents FAR Trustee Emeritus John Irvin with a cake in honor of his 100th birthday in 2011.

FAR Trustees Chet Breitwieser and Davoren Temple, and Bill Temple enjoy a reception on the grounds of the historic Lo Mismo country estate in 2010.

Jim Duncan and Ken Porter greet visitors to the Sites Gun Shop during the 2009 Arrow Rock Heritage Craft Festival.

A couple of the farm’s finest eavesdrop on Pam Parsons, Mary Lovin and Chet Breitwieser during a 2001 fundraiser at Atkinson’s River Hills Llama Farm.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 83

Property RESTORATIONS

Before & After

Black Lodge Built: 1881 Restored by FAR: 2000

➽ christian church Built: 1872 Restored by FAR: 1981

84 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

Brown’s Chapel Built: 1871 Restored by FAR: 1997

Property RESTORATIONS

Before & After

Courthouse Built: 1839 Restored by FAR: 1962

››› Lawless House Built: 1903 Restored by FAR: 2003

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 85

Property RESTORATIONS

Before & After › Shelby Cabin Built: 1830s Restored by FAR: 1976

Sites Gun Shop

Built: 1868 Restored by FAR: 1967 and 1991

86 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

Sites House

Built: 1830s (expanded in 1870s) Restored by FAR: 1973

The 2010s Kathy Borgman

A new decade dawned with Friends of Arrow Rock in the midst of a $1 million capital campaign, its most ambitious fundraising challenge to date. Although much energy and focus went into that important project, the organization didn’t neglect its education and preservation missions. The popular springtime education programs and biennial Children’s Craft Festival continued to thrive, the First Saturday Lecture series grew in popularity, and special events led hundreds of newcomers to discover Arrow Rock. FAR board members were true believers in the importance of maintenance for the organization’s 13 properties, and by 2012, FAR had embarked on a bold new initiative to fund major preservation and restoration work on four of its most historically significant holdings.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 87

2010

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olstered by two years of great successes, Friends of Arrow Rock continued its First Saturday Lecture Series, which was made possible by income from its Humanities Endowment Fund established by the National Endowment for the Humanities Challenge Grant. Despite the occasionally inhospitable winter weather, the free lectures continued to fill the Arrow Rock State Historic Site auditorium in 2010.

The year’s lecture topics included new insights into the culture of the Missouria Indians from Arrow Rock State Historic Site Administrator Michael Dickey; a discussion about the legal representation of slaves by Dr. Debra Miles; a view of the local landscape in the early 19th century

by Dr. James Harlan; and an analysis of the tallgrass prairie by native plant enthusiast Mark Bellwood.

Maintenance and preservation projects didn’t slow down during the winter,

either. Newly contracted Properties Manager Marty Selby used those typically quiet months to do a thorough conditions assessment on every FAR property and set priorities for repair projects. An energy audit of the Miller House revealed a major breach in the ductwork that wasn’t just keeping the building cold in the winter, but was costing the organization hundreds of dollars in wasted propane expenses.

Another consultant, Steven J. Byers, was guiding the organization in the development of a strategic plan and offering professional development assistance with the 50th Anniversary Capital Campaign. The campaign momentum continued and by the end of the year, the organization was more than 90 percent of the way to its $1 million goal.

FAR’s education programs continued to thrive under the expert guidance of Education Director Pam Parsons, who was honored for 15 years of service at

a reception at the J. Huston Tavern following the August board meeting.

Key volunteers were also moving the organization forward. Emily Bird faithfully recorded temperature and humidity readings in each of FAR’s 13 buildings to build a database of that information. Those details allowed consulting curator Cindee Herrick to make recommendations for the care and preservation of FAR’s collections.

Board member Jan Hinnah shared her bookkeeping expertise, spending a half day each week keeping the organization’s financial records in tiptop shape.

In the fall, FAR debuted a new look for its quarterly newsletter. The graphic design work for the polished, professional publication was donated by FAR member and Arrow Rock resident Dan Auman and his Overland Park, Kan. design firm.

The events committee continued its masterful work, organizing a successful Spring Celebration at two glorious 1800s homes: Lo Mismo, the restored 1843 home that was built by John Locke Hardeman and currently owned by Alex and Donna McBurney, and Oak Grove, the 1854 home currently owned by Blaine and Stephanie McBurney. The event brought in more than $3,500 for FAR. The “Friends on the Go” group traveled to Newport, R.I. on its annual fundraising trip. In September, the annual Sip & Stroll invited attendees to tour the rustic log cottage owned by David and Laura Jackson; the 1970s ranch home of Ernest and Judy Smith; the 1860 Main Street home of Marty and Sandy Selby; and the Townsend House, a small Greek Revival home restored by Day & Whitney Kerr.

Ticket sales and auction proceeds netted $14,700 for FAR.

2010 Homes Tour, Marty and Sandy Selby 88 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

* children’s craft festival *

The biennial Children’s Craft Festival relies on dozens of volunteers to keep the kids educated and entertained. Tempe McGlaughlin (top left) collects the handaddressed postcards the children have prepared; Rich Lawson (top right) explains how wagon wheels were made; and Jim Bird tells about the gunsmith’s art.

The organization received a great piece of news when it got word that the Jeffris Heartland Fund, administered by the Midwest Office of the National Trust for Historic Preservation, had awarded FAR a $25,000 grant to prepare historic structure reports for five properties: The Miller-Bradford House, The Odd Fellows and Masonic Lodge Halls, and the Sites House and Gun Shop. The Jeffris grant was matched dollar-for-dollar with a gift from the William T. Kemper Foundation, Commerce Bank, Trustee.

Eventually the Jeffris Heartland Fund grant was matched three-toone, thanks to additional donations, which allowed FAR to fund fully the $100,000 needed for the preparation of the in-

FAR President Tom Hall stressed the significance of historic

depth historic structure reports — nearly 500

structure reports when announcing the grant to the membership.

pages of assessments and

“These detailed reports will be some of the most important documents

recommendations from

in the 51-year history of the Friends of Arrow Rock,” Hall said.

and preservation

engineers, architects professionals.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 89

2011

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s 2011 was beginning to unfold, Friends of Arrow Rock had its mind on an event that happened 200 years earlier: the birth of artist and influential Arrow Rock resident George Caleb Bingham.

FAR wanted to celebrate this milestone birthday in a big way, and succeeded with a one-day symposium on the artist and his work along with the publication of a book of Bingham’s letters.

The book, “But I Forget that I am a Painter and Not a Politician”: The Letters of George Caleb Bingham, was co-published by the State Historical Society of Missouri and the Friends of Arrow Rock, with support from the Harriet Pillsbury Foundation of Frontenac, Mo. The impressive volume made its debut at the April 2 “Bingham in the Boonslick” Symposium, which featured a full day of speakers, including Dr. Margaret C. Conrads of the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art in Kansas City, Dr. Joan Stack from The State Historical Society of Missouri in Columbia, Mo., and Roger Robinson of The State Historical Society of Missouri. More than 150 attendees gathered at the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre for the symposium.

An exhibition of Bingham paintings at the Arrow Rock State Historic Site Visitor

Robert Gibby Brand as George Caleb Bingham

Center accompanied the symposium, and was enhanced by a full-color catalog written by Dr. Maryellen McVicker. Later that summer, the exhibition moved to the Ashby-Hodge Gallery of American Art on the campus of Central Methodist University in Fayette, Mo. The exhibition was curated

by Dr. Joe Geist, founding curator of the Ashby-Hodge Gallery.

President Tom Hall and Development Consultant Steve Byers laid the groundwork and were instrumental to the organization and success of the “Bingham in the Boonslick” Symposium.

Other Bingham-centered events in 2011 included January’s First Saturday lecture by Arrow Rock State Historic Site Administrator Michael Dickey entitled “Bingham and the Civil War,” and a Bingham portrayal by Kansas City actor Robert Gibby Brand. Spring education programs, attended by more than 740 midMissouri children, focused on “Bingham in Arrow Rock.” Visitors to the village also got to know more about Bingham when, in 2011, FAR introduced themed tours.

That year’s theme was “Seeing Arrow Rock through the Eyes of Bingham.”

The 2011 annual meeting was a celebration of many accomplishments, including the appointment of architect Marion Smith and her team from Engine House No. 1, St. Louis, to prepare historic structure reports on five FAR properties, the 100th birthday of longtime FAR trustee and supporter John Irvin, and the successful completion of the $1 million 50th Anniversary Capital Campaign. In fact, the organization blew right past its ambitious $1 million goal and brought in $1,135,000 in gifts and pledges. At the meeting, FAR President Tom Hall expressed special appreciation for the campaign leaders, including Davoren Tempel, Donna Huston, Day Kerr, Kathy Borgman, Pat Cooper, Nancy Finke, Rich Lawson, Paul Ratcliffe, Bill True, and development consultant Steve Byers. “With their help and the support of more than 200 donors, we were able to reach our goal against the backdrop of a challenging economy,” Hall said.

50th Anniversary Capital Campaign leaders included (l to r) Tom Hall, Day Kerr, Davoren Temple, Donna Huston and Steve Byers.

90 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

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here was more than just Bingham keeping FAR occupied in 2011.

A new event, Fillies and Lilies, invited guests to the rural Columbia home of John Wright for a Kentucky Derby-inspired celebration, complete with fabulous hats. The event raised $4,250 for FAR. The weather was lovely for the annual Sip & Stroll, which featured the homes of Leo Andrade and Lloyd Parker, Tom and Mary Beamer, and Shelby Gregory, and brought in $12,300.

The weather wasn’t quite as lovely for the “Friends on the Go” trip to Philadelphia, as Hurricane Irene came bearing down on the City of Brotherly Love. Fortunately, the worst of the storm bypassed the city and the group enjoyed plenty of sightseeing and camaraderie while also raising $5,700 for FAR.

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Kathy Borgman, Keith Anderson and Kirby McCullough at the 2011 Sip & Stroll

a 2010 s time capsule W h at W e W e r e l i s t e n i n g to “Need You Now”

by Lady Antebellum “I Like It”

by Enrique Iglesias “Haven’t Met You Yet”

by Michael Buble “Firework”

by Katy Perry “Call Me Maybe”

by Carly Rae Jepsen

What Was making headl ines Major Earthquake Strikes Haiti Deepwater Horizon Oil Spill Spreads Across Gulf Coast Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak Resigns Superstorm Sandy Ravages East Coast Shooter Kills 26 In Connecticut Elementary School

What We Were Wearing W h at W e W e r e W at c h i n g “Downton Abbey” • “Glee” • “Breaking Bad” “Parks and Recreation” • “The Big Bang Theory”

Vintage fashion • Hoodies Yoga pants • Slim-fit suits Retro eyeglasses

2012

The team from Engine House No. 1 who prepared the Historic Structure Reports: Marion Smith, Karen Bode Baxter and Susan Danna

A

small committee of Friends of Arrow Rock volunteers began 2012 by studying hundreds of pages of information provided by architect Marion Smith and her Engine House No. 1 firm.

The historic structure reports Smith and her team of experts created helped FAR devise a roadmap for repairing, preserving and maintaining five of its properties, including the Miller-Bradford House, The Sites House and Gun Shop, and the Odd Fellows and Masonic Lodge Halls. The committee, comprised of trustees Keith Anderson, Pat Cooper, Lucy Fletcher, Richard Hodge, Donna Huston, Day Kerr, Sandy Selby and Judy Smith, worked with Properties Manager Marty Selby to analyze the reports and make recommendations on project priorities.

In June, representatives from the Jeffris Family Foundation, which had provided support for the historic structure reports, visited Arrow Rock. The foundation offered an additional gift, in the form of a $230,000 challenge grant to FAR, contingent on the organization raising a local match of $460,000 over the next three years to conduct work on four properties (The Sites House and Gun Shop, and the two historic lodge buildings).

Even as FAR was studying the needs for the Jeffrisfunded property projects, important preservation and maintenance work was underway on all 13 FAR properties. Among the accomplishments in 2012 were new exterior paint and drainage work on the MillerBradford House, and new plaster for the interior of the Shelby Log Cabin. An Adopt-A-Building program, led by Marty and Sandy Selby, made it possible for individuals to designate gifts for projects on particular properties.

92 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

African-American History Museum Curators Nancy Finke and Pam Parsons On June 2, FAR celebrated the opening of its new African-American Museum located in the restored Black Masonic Lodge. Curators Nancy Finke and Pam Parsons worked for three years, assisted

by Michael Heusler and Nancy Gerkin of Design & Production Resources, and curatorial consultant Cindee Herrick, to create the exhibit “Reflections of African-American Arrow Rock: 1865-1960.”

Many fundraising events over the years, plus a special gift by Dr. Robert and Anna Mae Hodge, brought the exhibit to fruition. The exhibit allows visitors to make a self-guided exploration of this important yet often overlooked facet of American history.

During the Jeffris Family Foundation visit, from left: FAR Properties Committee Member Bruce Satterlee, Jeffris Family Foundation Director Roman Vetter, FAR Trustee Davoren Temple, Jeffris Family Foundation Director Royce Yeater, FAR President Tom Hall, FAR Properties Manager Marty Selby, and Development Consultant Steve Byers

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he Sappington Museum reopened with brand new, professionally designed exhibits by Rebecca Young, a former designer with Kansas City’s Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. The Sappington Museum is devoted to frontier medicine and the life of noted “Quinine Doctor” and Arrow Rock founding father John Sappington, whose development of quinine as a treatment for malaria saved countless lives. The second restoration was funded by Dr. & Mrs. Thomas B. Hall III. After four successful years of First Saturday Lectures during the winter months, FAR, in partnership with other community organizations, expanded the First Saturday program and planned something special for nearly every month of the year.

In addition to lectures on Civil War imagery by Dr. Joan Stack, “The Civil War in Arrow Rock” by Michael Dickey, Civil War music by Cathy Barton and Dave Para, and “The Battle of Glasgow” by Jim Denny, the year’s offerings included a textile tour, a watercolor exhibit, a morning of period music, merchant open houses, and guided hikes on local trails.

A grant from the Missouri Humanities Council allowed FAR to benefit from the services of Alisha Cole, an interpretation and museum consultant with Arcadia Consulting, Kansas City. Alisha spent hundreds of hours in Arrow Rock in 2012, helping develop a master interpretive plan, training spring education program volunteers, and developing ideas for new tours and attractions.

She worked closely with FAR tour guides Chuck Petty and Elaine Breshears to enhance the organization’s popular tram tours. The year’s tour theme was “Arrow Rock in the Civil War Era.” Some unexpected but thoroughly appreciated gifts helped push the organization forward in 2012. Joe D. Crumpacker of Nashville, Tenn., gave FAR $50,000 in memory of his wife, establishing the Janette Louise Bohlken Crumpacker Memorial Fund to support the annual history education and interpretation theme program. A grant from the Dess Caylor Trust allowed FAR to hire Sandy Selby, a local resident and professional writer and editor, as its communications director. Among Sandy’s first tasks were a revision of the Friends of Arrow Rock website (friendsofarrowrock.org) to make it accessible on all devices, and enhancements to the FAR e-newsletter and Facebook page.

The town once again filled with visitors as FAR hosted its 15th Biennial Children’s Craft Festival. The event entertained and educated 950 schoolchildren and 255 adults. It was one of the first events handled by new FAR Education Director Mandy Dorrance. Mandy took over for Pam Parsons, who retired after 19 years of loyal service.

Kevin Riggs, who had been keeping FAR’s books up to par for 24 years as treasurer, stepped down from the office, but remained active as a board member. He was honored at a reception after the August board meeting.

First-time visitors could be forgiven for thinking they’d accidentally time-traveled to the 1860s when they arrived in Arrow Rock on Sept. 22. Civil War reenactors set up camp for a weekend to depict Arrow Rock as it would have been while under martial law. Those caught without their “tax receipts” distributed at the FAR office were at risk for a bit of trouble from Union officers patrolling the town. This event was presented in partnership with the Arrow Rock State Historic Site.

September’s Sip & Stroll was another rousing success, raising $12,000 from ticket sales and auction proceeds. The 2012 event featured the homes of James DeFrancesco and Cher Jarosz, and Dan Auman and Kirby McCullough, plus the new Chez Trappeur restaurant owned by Diane Benedetti. Properties Manager Marty Selby showed off the work that had been accomplished that year at the Miller-Bradford House.

The year ended with a visit from Santa Claus at the Christmas with Friends party on Dec. 2. Bill True and Jennifer Richardson opened their home on the boardwalk for a social hour, followed by hors d’oeuvres and a silent auction at the J. Huston Tavern. All the “kids” in attendance had a chance to get pictures taken with jolly ol’ Saint Nick.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 93

2013

I

n its 29th year of offering springtime educational programs to Missouri schoolchildren, Friends of Arrow Rock once again proved how valuable and successful the program could be. In 2013, 1,025 youngsters and accompanying adults came to Arrow Rock to experience life in a frontier town.

The program continued to benefit from the generous endowment gift left to the organization by former resident and retired schoolteacher Corinne Jackson, and from the gift of time from volunteers and staff members.

FAR’s restored Brown Masonic Lodge No. 22, which is more commonly referred to as the Black Lodge, received an extraordinary donation of historic African-American Masonic Lodge furniture from the Rising Sun Prince Hall Masonic Lodge No. 164 in Columbia Mo. The furnishings were used to decorate the upstairs room of Arrow Rock’s lodge so visitors could have a true feel of what the space might have looked like when it was an active Masonic lodge for Arrow Rock’s African-American residents.

In August, Arrow Rock delved a little further into its history when it welcomed members of the Osage Indian tribe for a First Saturday presentation that included a discussion about the tribe’s culture, past and present, and a demonstration of traditional dance. The occasion marked the first time Osage drums had sounded in Arrow Rock since members of the tribe visited George Sibley’s trading post 199 years earlier. The event was sponsored jointly by Friends of Arrow Rock and the Arrow Rock State Historic Site. More than 170 people attended the two events.

Other First Saturday offerings for the year included programs by Arrow Rock State Historic Site Administrator Michael Dickey on the War of 1812, Dr. Joan Stack on Bingham’s “Order No. 11,” Dana Ripper and Ethan Duke of the Missouri River Bird Observatory on the history of Missouri birds, Jeff Reynolds on historic textiles, and Dr. Herschel and Jacque Stroud on the life of a Civil War soldier and his wife.

In May, FAR celebrated Preservation Month with guided tours of some of its

94 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

Program presenters in 2013 included, on left, Missouri Humanities Council Executive Director Geoff Giglierano portraying gunsmith Johnny Sites; top right,Norris Bighorse, Mason Bighorse and Everett Waller from the Osage Nation; bottom right, Dr. Herschel and Jacqueline Stroud portraying a Civil War soldier and his wife.

properties, led by Properties Manager Marty Selby, along with Sandy Selby and FAR President Dr. Tom Hall. The tram tour theme was “Frontier Medicine.”

Although FAR, like all local organizations, had always helped out with Arrow Rock’s annual Heritage Craft Festival, it played a greater role in the planning and programs for the 2013 festival. FAR sponsored several speakers and programs, including a display of Civil War medical equipment with Herschel and Jacque Stroud, an herbal medicine exhibit hosted by Ken Porter, demonstrations at the Sites Gun Shop by master gunsmith Jim Duncan and Missouri Humanities Council Executive Director Geoff Giglierano, and tours of FAR properties including the Sites House and the print shop museum on the lower level of the Odd Fellows Lodge Hall.

Other special guest presenters included Angela da Silva, who shared the story of “Lila: the Life of a Slave Woman,” Joe Louis Mattox, who portrayed an AfricanAmerican Civil War soldier, and Brother John Anderson who mesmerized the crowd with his stories.

The events committee (chaired by Donna Huston, with members Leslie Anderson, Leo Andrade, Toni Blackwood, Pat Cooper, Kathy Digges, Lucy Fletcher, Jan Hinnah, Grayson Kabler, Sarah Riddick, Kevin Riggs and Susan Smith) put together another year of successful events for FAR. The year’s fundraisers included a “Friends on the Go” trip to Sedona, Ariz.; the Sip & Stroll featuring the homes of Mandy Dorrance and Bruce Satterlee, Gary and Susan Smith, and Judy Coble and Joe and Lisa Turley; and the St. Nicholas Mustache Bash, the second annual Christmas fundraiser. The three events combined to raise $25,570 for FAR’s operating fund.

FAR’s museum shop expanded its offerings, thanks to ongoing efforts by trustee Judy Smith, and new T-shirt, cap and cup designs created by trustee Dan Auman and the Auman Mack design firm. It was in all ways a successful year, but the organization didn’t slow down when the weather turned cold. Volunteers and development consultant Steve Byers continued to raise funds toward the $460,000 needed to secure a challenge grant from the Jeffris Family Foundation.

At the end of the year, FAR had raised $264,000 toward that goal.

In 1959, a small group of dedicated volunteers had a dream. Through hard work, generous gifts and incredible vision, a first-class, nationally recognized organization has emerged. As it turned the calendar to its 55th anniversary year, FAR had much to celebrate but much work ahead to maintain the high standards of preservation and education that are central to its mission.

* design excellence *

At the Philly Awards (l to r): Kathy Borgman, Tom Hall, Kathryn McDaniel, Steve Byers, Sandy Selby and Dan Auman Thanks to Dan Auman’s volunteer design work, FAR was honored at the Philly Awards, sponsored by Kansas City’s Nonprofit Connect, in October. Both the quarterly newsletter and the 2012 Christmas party invitation took home Philly Awards. Dan’s design also won the newsletter award for FAR in 2011. In addition, Dan led FAR through the design and production of attractive new signs that were installed at six of the organization’s buildings in 2013.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 95

2014

A

s the sun rose on FAR’s 55th year, the days were bright indeed.

FAR’s fundraising committee continued to make progress on its goal of raising $460,000 to match the $230,000 challenge from the Jeffris Family Foundation. At the same time, Marion Smith of Engine House No. 1 in St. Louis began drawing up blueprints for the restoration and adaptation work planned for the four Jeffris-supported properties: the Odd Fellows and Masonic Lodge Halls, and the Sites House and Gun Shop.

The organization’s education programs for both children and adults were as successful as ever. The year began with First Saturday presentations including a Winter Bird Workshop led by Dana Ripper and Ethan Duke of the Missouri River Bird Observatory; “Blacks in Blue,” a lecture about African-American soldiers during the Civil War presented by Joe Louis Mattox; and Aaron Barnhart’s travelogue inspired by his book with Diane Eckhoff, The Big Divide: A Travel Guide to Historic and Civil War Sites in the Missouri-Kansas Border Region.

A full-day African-American Symposium in April featured regionally and nationally recognized speakers on

FAR Executive Director and Exemplary Community Achievement Award recipient Kathy Borgman (center) surrounded by admirers from FAR and the Missouri Humanities Council

topics that included the day-to-day lives of slaves, Prince Hall Masonry, and music in the African-American culture. Attendees concluded the day with tours of some of Arrow Rock’s most significant AfricanAmerican sites, including Brown’s Chapel, the African-American exhibit at Brown Lodge No. 22, the slave quarters at the Prairie Park plantation, and the Sappington Negro Cemetery. More than 100 guests learned about the important role AfricanAmericans played in Arrow Rock’s history.

The kids were digging history, literally, with a new spring education program. In addition to its popular programs on 19thcentury family life and frontier medicine, FAR launched a new program for third and fourth graders that introduced them to Arrow Rock’s African-American history through archaeology.

At FAR’s May 4 board meeting, Executive Director Kathy Borgman

Left: Storyteller Gladys Cogswell; Right: Alton G. Roundtree (center), an authority on Prince Hall Masonry, at Brown Lodge No. 22 with FAR President Tom Hall and Properties Manager Marty Selby 96 — Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years

announced that she would retire the following January, after more than 30 years of devoted service to FAR. In her announcement to the board, Kathy said, “I can’t tell you how fortunate I feel having spent these 30 years with the Friends. Each day has been filled with new experiences and challenges as the organization has continued a steady growth. There has never been a boring work day, and I couldn’t ask for a more talented group of wonderful people to work with.”

Just a few days after announcing her retirement, Kathy was honored with the Exemplary Community Achievement Award from the Missouri Humanities Council. During the awards ceremony in St. Louis, special guest presenter President Thomas Jefferson (or at least an actor who ably played the role), said of Kathy: “She has turned the small town where she lives — Arrow Rock, Mo. — into a leading living-history museum.”

Kathy’s departure presents a challenge for the organization that has come to rely on her knowledge of the village and the organization, and on her exceptional people skills. But FAR has proven its resilience over and over, through changes of leadership and circumstances that have tested the organization’s mettle.

One longtime and still-missed member, Cora Lee Miller, put it best during a 1989 interview. “I feel so secure in the thought that the Friends of Arrow Rock will carry forth,” she said. “I would like if I could come back to find it just like it is now — still painted and propped up.”

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Destined To Lead

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FAR President Dr. Thomas Hall III Shares His Thoughts On The Past And His Vision For The Future When did you first become involved with Friends of Arrow Rock, and why?

Even though I was only 16 at the time, I was very aware that the FAR had been founded, because my parents (Dr. and Mrs. Thomas B. Hall, Jr. — Tom and Virginia) had joined very shortly after it was founded in 1959. I think at first they were not really members, just donors. Then as now, a self-perpetuating board of trustees ran the organization.

I first became involved in the summer of 1961, just after graduating from high school, when I helped a little with the fundraising auction, which became an annual event.

I had grown up interested in history. My parents grew up in Marshall and just outside of Napton, and three of my four grandparents lived in, or just outside of Arrow Rock, as did six of my great-grandparents and seven of my great-great-grandparents.

My father was especially steeped in the history of Arrow Rock and Saline County. Events that had occurred before the Civil War were still almost contemporary, as far as he was concerned.

Saline County history and family history were daily subjects of conversation, even though I actually grew up in Kansas City (specifically, Johnson County, Kan.: Horrors!) We visited Arrow Rock several times every year, especially after my parents acquired a house in Arrow Rock in 1955. Before that we stayed and had meals at the Tavern, where Bill True’s mother, Mary Lou Pearson, was the manager and hostess. My becoming involved with the FAR was natural, inevitable, and the logical outcome of one of my hobbies, which is reading about and visiting restored historic sites and villages throughout the U.S.

What do you consider the greatest accomplishment(s) of the organization during your tenure as president?

Hiring outstanding professional staff. The all-volunteer tradition of the FAR is wonderful and admirable, but it is not possible to achieve the goals that the board itself has set out in our mission and vision statements with volunteers only. Volunteers are commendable and desirable, but they can’t do it all, or even most of it. Furthermore, the FAR has had professional staff for more than half of its existence: Kathy Borgman as executive director since 1984, and an education director starting with Pam Parsons in 1993.

Highly specialized professionals are needed to carry out the work of an organization with as broad a mission as the FAR. We owe it to our generous donors and past leaders and members to carry out their wishes in the most effective way. An all-volunteer (unpaid) board is an essential requirement in the current fundraising environment, and volunteer members can carry out many

important jobs. However, as examples of outstanding historic sites — Mount Vernon, Monticello and Colonial Williamsburg — while they are governed by volunteer boards, have reached their level of excellence by hiring the best possible professional staff in a wide variety of specialized professions.

What would you like to see FAR accomplish in the next five years? 10? 25?

In three to five years, complete the Jeffris challenge and restoration and adaptation of the four Jeffris buildings: Masonic Lodge Hall, Odd Fellows Lodge Hall, Sites House and Sites Gun Shop.

In 10 years, I hope to see the FAR complete a full restoration and adaptation of the Miller-Bradford House; run a full year-round program of education events for students of all ages and abilities; operate distance-learning events such as electronic field trips and virtual classrooms; and promote programs, seminars, and special events year-round using the modern meeting room at the Masonic Lodge and other locations, thus helping to keep Arrow Rock’s restaurants, shops, and B&B’s running full year-round.

In 25 years, I envision that Arrow Rock will be one of the premier historic sites and historic destinations in the nation, and historic tourism will be a major factor in the economy of Saline County and mid-Missouri.

Why is it important for FAR to exist?

History has much to teach and it is essential to learn its lessons.

Not only for the sake of our politics and our government, but also for our general culture and for the future of our nation and its citizens, we need to have an idea of what has succeeded and what mistakes have been made in the past. Arrow Rock is an ideal place to study a large number of historic, social, and environmental themes in a very small and well-controlled setting.

Just being in Arrow Rock is conducive to thinking about the past.

It is a living museum, but it is also a real town in an unspoiled historic and scenic setting. That combination is increasingly rare and must be preserved. State government and the state historic site and private citizens are important in this effort, but having an organization here specifically devoted to historic preservation and history education is the reason that Arrow Rock has survived and thrived, and not dwindled and disappeared as have so many other small Midwestern towns. We have avoided “Demolition by neglect.”

The FAR has many friends, nationwide, who want us to continue this work, and who are willing to give generously to help us to do so. We owe it to them and to both past and future generations to continue this important work.

Friends Of Arrow Rock: The First 55 Years — 97

In honor of Donna Huston, trustee.

Donna’s enthusiasm for the Friends has been amazing! I appreciate her fervor and love for all things Arrow Rock. this tribute given

by Kathy Digges

In memory of J. Logan Buntin. Napton, Mo., Logan’s hometown, is near Arrow Rock, and even smaller. In his 80s, Logan restored the Sites House, moved the Shelby Log Cabin, and built the Sappington Memorial Building. this tribute given by Tom and Margaret hall

In honor of Dr. Richard Forry and Michael Dickey, administrators of the Arrow Rock State Historic Site and ideal coworkers in the FAR’s cordial public-private working partnership with Missouri’s DNR. this tribute given by Tom and Margaret hall

In honor of Chet Breitwieser, trustee.

Thanks to Chet for being a wonderful friend to my mother and to me, and for being a great citizen of Arrow Rock. this tribute given

by Kathy Digges

In honor of Pam Parsons and Mandy Dorrance, FAR’s education directors, who have dedicated their efforts to nurturing future generations of Friends of Arrow Rock. this tribute given by Marty and Sandy Selby

In honor of Kathy Borgman, executive director. Kathy’s leadership of the Friends has been exceptional and I’m honored to count her as a friend. Thanks, Kathy! this tribute given

by Kathy Digges

In memory of Charles Madison Buckner Jr., a son of Daisy Potter of Arrow Rock, and Mary Margaret Gordon Buckner.

They were early supporters of the FAR; his bequest strengthened the endowment. this tribute given by Tom and Margaret hall

In memory of Jean and Henry Hamilton, leaders in the early years of the FAR. Jean wrote the history of Arrow Rock and reprinted its early histories, raised funds, and led the restoration of the Sites House and other buildings. Henry’s archaeological research helped to establish the prehistory of the Arrow Rock area. this tribute given by Tom and Margaret hall

In honor of Sandy and Marty Selby for overseeing the communications and properties for the Friends. You two are truly special Friends and I appreciate all you do. this tribute given

by Kathy Digges

In memory of Louise Peery Eads, founding president of the FAR. A gracious and effective leader, her vision and her friendly nature helped to save and restore Arrow Rock. this tribute given by Tom and Margaret hall

In honor of Tom Hall, president of Friends of Arrow Rock. Tom is an extraordinary president and I really appreciate his care, concern and love for this special place. this tribute given

by Kathy Digges

About The Author Sandy Selby is the communications director for Friends of Arrow Rock and helps guide the organization in its efforts to share the story of Arrow Rock with the world. Her first book about Arrow Rock, Images of America: Arrow Rock, was published in 2012. She is a past-president of the Historic Arrow Rock Council and an elected member of the Village of Arrow Rock Board of Trustees, where she currently serves as vice chairman.

Selby is the founding editor of Inside Columbia magazine in Columbia, Mo., and now serves as associate publisher and executive editor for that family of publications. She and her husband, FAR Properties Manager Marty Selby, have been Arrow Rock residents since 2005.

Learn more about how to become a member of the Friends of Arrow Rock: Friends of Arrow Rock Inc. P.O. Box 124 Arrow Rock, Missouri 65320 660-837-3231

www.FriendsofArrowRock.org office@FriendsofArrowRock.org