Missouri Life August/September 2013

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KING OF CASHEW CHICKEN

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THE SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY

Sheryl

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HEAR-ME S TATE

SARA EVANS, DAV ID NAI L, CHUCK BERRY,

and

UP-AND-COMERS

Plus, Our Legends River Rats

DIVE INTO CULTURE ON THE MISSISSIPPI

Livestock & Awe

AUGUST 2013 | $4.50 (Display until Sept. 30)

CITY SLICKER HITS A COUNTRY FAIR

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Check out our new summer

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[3] August 2013

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Marshall M I S S O U R I

Photo c

Battle of Marshall

Photo courtesy of Eric Crump / MDN

History unfolds September 14-15 when our town commemorates the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Marshall. In the fall of 1863, with the tide of the war starting to turn against the south, Col. Joseph O. Shelby launched a daring cavalry raid into Missouri in the hope of disrupting Union operations and drawing attention and troops away from the big battles along the Mississippi River. For three weeks, his Iron Brigade succeeded. But the forces under the command of General Egbert Brown caught up with Shelby on the east edge of Marshall. There, they had him trapped, but just for a day.

The shrewd Confederate officer managed to escape, but the raid was finished.

Saturday’s events begin with a confrontation at the Courthouse in downtown Marshall, followed by a parade to Indian Foothills Park. Afternoon activities include a lecture, battle re-enactment, music, storytelling, camp tours, demonstrations and period cooking and clothing demonstrations. The day will end with dinner, dancing and a night firing. On Sunday morning there will be a church service, local stories, lecture and battle re-enactment. Cavalry, artillery, infantry and medical units from the Missouri Civil War Re-Enactors Association will execute the two battles.

The Battle of Marshall 150th Anniversary Commemoration has been a year-long series of events developed to keep alive the story of Shelby’s raid and its fateful turning point at Marshall.

Come relive this key moment in Missouri’s Civil War history with us. Visit www. battleofmarshall.org, or https://www. facebookcom/BattleOfMarshall or call 660-815-0258 for more details.

Country Patchwork Quilt Guild is proud to host its 26th annual Quilt Show, featuring Bettina Havig, on September 28 and 29th at Martin Community Center. There will be nearly one hundred quilts of various sizes, textures, and techniques on display. You will see all types of quilts – hand pieced, machine pieced, appliqued, crazy, embroidered, embellished, and much more. As you stroll through the show, you will want to bid at the silent auction and buy chances for the Fat Quarter Raffle and the “Winds of War” Opportunity Quilt. Don’t miss this one!

Admission is $5. Visit www.countrypatchworkquilters.com or call [4] MissouriLife 660-886-3324.

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Photos courtesy Country Patchwork Quilt Guild

7/3/13 9:07 AM

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Photo courtesy of Marshall Democrat News

Come learn about the craft of corn husking at this year’s Missouri State Corn Husking Championship.

Marshall is proud to host this annual event September 27-28 at the Saline County Fairgrounds.The weekend begins downtown with a parade on Friday afternoon. Come early on Saturday to the Saline County Fairground where all the events take place.

Start with a hearty biscuit and gravy breakfast.

Then watch the husking competition. Men, women, and youth with compete in different age divisions.

Other activities include a craft show, antique machinery show, homemade pie contest, petting zoo, corn toss contest and a corn pile money hunt for the kids. Plan to join us! Visit www.marshallmochamber.com or call 660-886-3324 to learn more.

Santa Fe Trails Days is an annual commemoration of the 19th century trail that ran through the county. This year’s event on September 13-15 is being held in conjunction with the 150th anniversary of the Battle of Marshall. You will want to spend the entire weekend taking in all the events, beginning Friday night at 5:00 with a Chuckwagon Dinner and entertainment on the Downtown Square.

On Saturday enjoy music, children’s activities, races, vendors, heritage crafters and so much more at Indian Foothills Park. On Sunday, crafters and food vendors will be in attendance as the celebration continues.

Come join us as Marshall shares its proud heritage. To learn more, visit www.marshallmochamber.com or call 660-886-3324.

Upcoming Events Saturdays -- Marshall Market on the Square – Downtown – 8:00 a.m.-12:00 p.m. www.marshallfarmersmarket.org or call 660-886-3324 August 3 – “Common Life of a Civil War Sol Soldier & His Wife” Lecture – Arrow Rock State Historic Site Visitor Center – 10:00 a.m. www.arrowrock.org or call 660-837-3231 August 4 – Friends of Pennytown Homecoming – Pennytown Freewill Baptist Church, Marshall 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. www.pennytownchurch.com or call 660-886-2234 August 4 – Marshall Bowhunters Budweiser Shoot – Indian Foothills Park, Marshall www.marshallbowhunters.org or call 660-886-2714 August 31 – Ice Cream Freeze Off – Arrow Rock Boardwalk – 3:00 p.m. www.arrowrock.org or call 660-837-3231 September 3 – Doggie Plunge – Marshall Aquatic Center, Indian Foothills Park 5:00-7:00 p.m. www.marshallmoparks.net or call 660-886-7128 September 19-21 – Fall Festival – Main Street, Slater www.cityofslater.com or call 660-529-2271

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Photo courtesy of Missouri Valley College

Be a part of the excitement of the Viking Stampede Rodeo September 26-28 at the Saline County Fairgrounds. This rodeo, hosted by the Missouri Valley College Rodeo Team, will include nearly 20 colleges from around the Ozarks Region competing in a variety of events.

Bring your lawn chair, a blanket, or sit in the bleachers while you enjoy talented athletes compete in barrel racing, roping, bareback riding, steer wrestling, bull riding and more, all beginning at 7:00 each evening. Admission is $10 for adults and $5 for children. Visit www.moval. edu or call 660-831-4230 for more information.

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Photo courtesy of Jill Murray

Scan this QR code to visit our website!

www.visitmarshallmo.com

[5] August 2013

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Upcoming Events August 24: Brick City Cruise Night HARDIN PARK 573-581-2765 | www.mexico-chamber.org August 23 & 24: Mexico Soybean Festival ON THE SQUARE 573-721-4269 | www.mexicosoybean.org September 28: Brick City Cruise Night HARDIN PARK 573-581-2765 | www.mexico-chamber.org September 27-29: Walk Back In Time AUDRAIN COUNTY HISTORICAL COMPLEX 573-581-3910 | www.audrain.org November 3: 6th Annual Photography Gallery PRESSER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 573-581-5592 | www.presserpac.com December 5-8: “Oliver” PRESSER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER 573-581-5592 | www.presserpac.com

Mexico is a perfect combination of small town charm and urban style. Artsy boutiques, jewelry, quilt shops, scrapbooking, antiques and cultural offerings give Mexico a sophisticated air, but with a family-friendly attitude.

Come visit us today!

PRESSER PERFORMING ARTS CENTER With a 920-seat auditorium, Presser Performing Arts Center has many arts education programs for the public, such as Dance, Piano, Voice, Film, Writing, Photography, and of course Theatre. The calendar fills up fast year after year with concerts, ballets, plays, musicals, lectures, gallery shows, special events, and classes. Our 6th Annual Photography Competition Gallery Show will be held Saturday, November 3 from 2:00 p.m. to 4:00 p.m.

The holidays will be here before you know it and our annual Christmas Production of “Oliver” will run December 5-8. We strive to offer the best professional, highly qualified instructors in Missouri. Presser Performing Arts Center is centrally located in Missouri, serving mid-America with quality cultural performing arts. www.presserpac.com | 573-581-5592

MEXICO AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE We work hard as a Chamber of Commerce to be the pulse of the community, assisting all to provide services that will nurture and encourage our businesses and strengthen our community. www.mexico-chamber.org | 573-581-2765

[6] MissouriLife

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Contents AUGUST 2013

featured >

[82] SHOW-ME FLAVOR The Leong Dynasty: David Leong, the king of cashew chicken, has made Springfield his royal culinary court, and now it’s a family affair. Plus, try three amazing recipes from Leong’s Asian Diner.

[94] SHOW-ME HOMES

[42] FARM FAIR A city slicker trades in subways and skyscrapers for farming fun and funnel cakes.

It was one man’s destiny to restore this historic home and convert it into a bed-and-breakfast. Now dubbed White Cliff Manor, the former residence was founded on the love of one couple more than a hundred years ago.

[100] PRESERVING MISSOURI Look inside the Belvoir Winery, located at the historic former Odd Fellows’ Home in Liberty.

special features >

[103] MUSINGS ON MISSOURI

[40] THE YEAR IT ALL BEGAN

The Ozarks are both private and neighborly.

In 1973, scandal was king, innovation blasted off, and Missouri Life took its first steps. Relive the year that made history and made us.

[49] THE HEAR-ME STATE Sheryl Crow, Sara Evans, David Nail, and Chuck Berry stay true to their home state, plus up-and-coming and legendary musicians that are just as great!

[66] BECOMING KENNETT

[15] AUGUSTA

today’s best country stars. But it’s much more than the hometown of big names.

Uncover the secrets of Augusta Wine Country. It might just top the world-renowned Napa Valley.

[70] RIVER RATS

[28] BRANSON

Discover the under-currents of Mississippi River life, and find out why river rat is not an insult but a point of pride for this unique breed of Missourians.

Before watching Branson’s breathtaking entertainment, take an outdoor adventure with this guide.

[76] SLAM! A FINE ARTS FACE-LIFT

[88] BACK-TO-SCHOOL BEEF

St. Louis Art Museum opens a new wing to make room for its ever-expanding

Try out some tasty, easy dinner and snack recipes for those busy weekdays.

The Little River Drainage Project created Kennett, and Kennett created some of

NOTLEY HAWKINS

special sections >

collection. With stunning contemporary architecture, it might be a grand SLAM!

[7] August 2013

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Contents

CONTENT BY LOCATION

AU G US T 2 0 1 3

19

departments >

100 26 42

[11] MISSOURI MEMO

[22] SHOW-ME BOOKS

The serendipitous situations of the

Winston Churchill had quite the belly,

magazine world, plus an ode to a guitar

and a new book, Dinner with Churchill,

behind a storefront window.

dishes out the mealtime encounters of

26, 92

54

70 92 26, 58, 76 99

82 19

92

19

the famed British prime minister.

50, 56, 66

[12] LETTERS Reflecting upon starting out in journal-

[26] MADE IN MISSOURI

ism at Missouri Life, and back to the

State-of-the-art fashion boots in Colum-

Moon Café in Union has a sizeable

battle: the great state pronunciation

bia, custom kitchenware in Richmond

salad selection and more.

debate.

Heights, plus funky, eco-friendly prod-

[105] CALENDAR

ucts from Kansas City.

[19] MO MIX

Still having fun in the sun: 112 fun events to go to before the chilly fall.

in Titanic when the band goes down

[92] DINING WORTH THE DRIVE

with the ship? See the real-life band

Café Poland in Columbia is an excellent

[122] MISSOURIANA

leader’s violin, and more.

Eastern European eatery, Dhafer’s in

Connections with Kennettt, country

Dexter has big-city fine dining chops

music, Missouri’s own country fair.

Remember the heart-wrenching scene

in a charming small town, and Junie

– THIS ISSUE –

On the Web

MO. MUSIC, MORE CONTENT

A FAIR TO REMEMBER

ARE YOU RIVER RAT ENOUGH?

Listen and watch the bands featured in the

Our Senior Nocturnal Photographer Notley

Find out where Missouri’s river rat strongholds

Hear-Me State with songs and videos on our

Hawkins captured the State Fair from more

are, and see if you can become one yourself at

website, plus exclusive editorial content.

than angle. Check out more exclusive photos

one of our river rat hot spots.

from the State Fair online.

Back To School Clothes

A Missouri Life T-shirt is the easiest way to make your child or grandchild the most popular kid in class this year. Order yours at www.MissouriLife.com.

on the cover > SHERYL CROW Before Sheryl Crow was soaking up the sun in the Los Angeles music business, she was a down-home Kennett girl.

Now, she’s living in Nashville and reflecting on her roots.

WARNER MUSIC GROUP; BLOODSHOT RECORDS; NOTLEY HAWKINS; KEVIN MANNING

Sign up for Missouri Lifelines, our free e-newsletter, and follow us on Facebook at www.facebook.com/MissouriLife or on Twitter @MissouriLife.

[8] MissouriLife

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! y a w a t e G r u o Y Pl a n L e ba n o n!

So m u ch t o s e e a n d d o in

Route 66 Museum and Research Center

915 South Jefferson www.lebanon-laclede.lib.mo.us 417-532-2148

Lebanon is known by its motto,

“Friendly people.

Friendly place.�

These events are only part of the fun we have to offer.

www.lebanonmo.org | 1-866-LEBANON

Step back to a time when you visit the Route 66 Museu m. View one-of-a-kind artifacts and photographs revealing how the mother road looked and thrived in the Lebanon area.

Case Knives XIX Celebration September 7 Shepherd Hills Factory Outlet on Route 66 www.caseXX.com 417-532-7000

Route 66 Cruise In September 20 Route 66 Museum Parking lot 417-532-2148 [9] August 2013

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John Knox Village East

THE SPIR IT OF DISCOV ERY 501 High Street, Ste. A, Boonville, MO 65233 660-882-9898 | Info@MissouriLife.com

People love living here.

Publisher Greg Wood Editor in Chief Danita Allen Wood EDITORIAL & ART Creative Director Andrew Barton Art Director Sarah Herrera Associate Editor David Cawthon Associate Editor Jonas Weir Associate Art Director Thomas Sullivan Graphic Designer Taylor Blair Calendar Editor Amy Stapleton Editorial Assistants Katie Bell, Bethany Christo, Winn Duvall Contributing Writers Emily Adams, Sarah Alban, Briana Altergott, Alan Brouilette, Tina Casagrand, Joan Conklin, Tricia DesPres, Kelly Moffitt, Porsche Moran, Sheree K. Nielsen, Barbara Ostmann, Sarah Koci Scheilz, Madeline Schroeder, Joel Vance, Jim Winnerman, Danny Wood, Ashton Zimmerman Columnist Ron W. Marr

Ask us about this surprisingly affordable retirement option.

660-584-4416 • www.johnknoxvillageeast.com • Higginsville, MO

Contributing Photographers Sarah Alban, Notley Hawkins, Cara Hill, Kevin Manning, Barbara Ostmann, Sheree K. Nielsen, Danny Wood

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5/30/13 1:31 PM

MARKETING •800-492-2593 Sales Manager Mike Kellner, Central and Northeast Senior Account Executive Dale Monteer, St. Louis, South Central and Southeast Sales Account Executive Paula Renfrow, Inside Sales Advertising & Marketing Consultant Brent Toellner, Kansas City and Western Advertising Coordinator Jenny Johnson Circulation Manager Amy Stapleton DIGITAL MEDIA MissouriLife.com, Missouri Lifelines, Missouri eLife, Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest Diector: Sarah Herrera Editors: Taylor Blair, David Cawthon, Jonas Weir TO SUBSCRIBE OR GIVE A GIFT AND MORE Use your credit card and visit www.MissouriLife.com or call 800-492-2593, ext. 101 or mail a check for $19.99 (for 6 issues) to: Missouri Life, 501 High Street, Ste. A, Boonville, MO 65233-1211.

Change address: Visit www.MissouriLife.com OTHER INFORMATION Custom Publishing: For your special publications, call 800-492-2593, ext. 106 or email Greg.Wood@MissouriLife.com.

Back Issues: Order from website, call, or send check for $7.50.

[10] MissouriLife

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MISSOURI

emo SERENDIPITY

FINGER PICKIN’ GOOD I GREW UP in rural farm country in northwest Missouri, and that meant I listened to a lot of country music—and I liked it a lot.

I remember the sounds of Dave Dudley and “Six Days on the Road” coming from the kitchen transistor radio on a cold winter morning as I sat in front of the Warm Morning stove.

My dad had a great collection of albums, including Eddy Arnold, The Sons of the Pioneers, and Jim Reeves; he would play them often, especially on Sunday afternoons. Songs like the Statler Brothers’ “Countin’ Flowers on the Wall,” Glen Campbell’s “Gentle on My Mind” written by Missourian Johnny Hartford, and “Sunday Morning Coming Down” were hauntingly beautiful and made me think of lives lived far away from my mostly innocent farm boy upbringing.

GREG WOOD, PUBLISHER All of this great music I was hearing made me want something so bad that I couldn’t stop thinking about it. Every time I got the chance to go into town, I’d head to the Western Auto Store on the Albany square. Because of all things, hanging in the big window was one lonely but country-stargorgeous six-string guitar.

The price was twenty-five dollars; I knew I would never see that kind of money ever in my life, but it didn’t matter. I was going to find some way to earn it. Soon enough, the answer to my dreams appeared in the form of a magazine ad that asked kids like me to sell seeds for the Earl May Seed company out of Shenandoah, Iowa. The deal seemed too good to be true. They would send a box of seeds, which I would sell, keep my portion and return the rest to them. I didn’t even need to find captial to get started!

So one day the box of seeds came, and now I just had to find someone who would buy them. It was the middle of February with snow on the ground, but I saddled up my horse and rode about two miles to the little town of Gentry, population ninety-eight—including the dogs.

And there I began my first business venture.

I never made enough money selling seeds to buy that guitar. But I kept checking at the Western Auto anyway, and sure enough, one day, the guitar was gone. It seemed like my best friend had just got up and walked away forever. But I wasn’t giving up yet. I had caught guitar fever in a bad way.

About two years later, after making some money working on a hay crew, I ordered a fourteen dollar Silvertone guitar from Sears. You had to have fingers like vise-grips to play it because the action was so high, but I didn’t care. I finally had a guitar. Even though I now play a Martin D-35 that I bought new in 1978, I’ll never forget the country music stars that made me want one so bad I’d do anything to get one.

I’VE BEEN FORTUNATE

all my life. Serendipity has played a major role in that and has always been one of my favorite words, both to say and to write. So let’s see what I can do with it here.

The magazine is growing, so we created a new editorial position. During that search, our valued editor of the past three years, Lauren Licklider, let us know she was moving to Virginia with her husband, Jim, who had taken a position there. She was a key person, and we knew we would miss her. But it helped that we already had many applicants in hand when she told us of her departure. Serendipity.

And that’s a nice way to introduce both David Cawthon and Jonas Weir, who will be working on Missouri Life, Missouri Business, and special projects. I’m already seeing exciting creative energy; look for good things to come.

DANITA ALLEN WOOD, EDITOR Next, this issue with so many country music stars, past and present, reminded me of a serendipitous time in my past. I worked for a large magazine company and created an initial prototype and the supporting research for a country lifestyle magazine. (They actually publish this little magazine idea today.) But at the time, my idea was rejected in favor of another large magazine idea (Midwest Living) that is very successful. Then, about a year after I’d pitched the idea, the president of the company came to me and said, “Well, how about if you added country music to your little country lifestyle magazine idea?” It turned out TNN (formerly known as the Nashville Network) had approached the company wanting a country magazine. Serendipity!

After I’d revised the magazine prototype to include country music, the company and TNN pursued a partnership, and the televsion folks took me out to dinner. During the meal, someone at the table asked me, “Do you know that song? The one playing on the juke box?” The third time they asked, I realized they were evaluating my knowledge of country music. Strong journalism and magazine skills aside, they wanted to know if I knew the music. Serendipity strikes again, because when I was a teenager, my dairy-farmer parents would tune the radio in the kitchen and the milk barn to country music, away from that rock “noise” we kids liked. So I knew about three-quarters of the songs at that dinner—enough to pass, apparently. I was later hired as the founding editor for Country America.

We were the first to put Garth Brooks on a cover. Several of us on staff had seen him when he came as a substitute for Ricky Van Shelton to the Iowa State Fair, when Ricky got a sore throat. When the entire audience was on their feet for the entire concert, we knew he would be big. Serendipity.

So, I urge you to really look at Missouri’s up-and-coming musical talent on page 62. Who knows where serendipity will take them—or us, or me, or you—next?

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AUGUST

LETTERS from all over You write them. We print them.

A VOICE FROM THE PAST

YOU DON’T SAY?

As you may know, serendipity is defined as “the

After receiving my June issue of your wonder-

aptitude for making fortunate discoveries ac-

ful magazine, I was puzzled at the continuous

cidentally.” I certainly experienced that during

debate about the correct pronunciation of the

a getaway at the Hotel Frederick in Boonville

name of our great state, Missouri.

months ago. I love the charm and history of old

If I can still count correctly, there are twen-

hotels. The Frederick was a complete delight,

ty states in the United States that end in the

and I had no idea that Missouri Life had its of-

letter A: Iowa, Louisiana, Georgia, Alabama,

fices there now!

Nevada, California, Montana, Oklahoma,

You see, Missouri Life and I go way back. In

North Dakota, South Dakota, North Carolina,

the ’70s, when the magazine was in Jefferson

South Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Alas-

City, Missouri Life gave me my start, both writ-

ka, Florida, Indiana, Nebraska, Pennsylvania,

ing and illustrating articles. The most memora-

and Minnesota. All of them are pronounced

ble to me was “The Last Sheep Shearing” in the

uh. (I bet any of these twenty states would be

July/August 1975 issue—my maiden voyage.

insulted if you pronounced their state name

I was invited to go along with a group of farm-

with an ee sound.)

er friends one year to record a traditional sheep

There are three states (Mississippi, Missouri,

shearing. They were gracious, welcoming, and

and Hawaii) that end in the letter I. All three of

interesting old-school gentlemen, full of humor

these states carry the distinction of being pro-

and country wisdom, and I made lifelong friends

nounced with an ee sound.

that day.

There seems to be no question with Missis-

W.R. Nunn, the then-editor of the maga-

sippi and Hawaii, so why would there be any

zine, not only bought that story, but several

controversy over Missouri?

subsequent ones on sorghum-making and wild

Although colloquialisms, which are mispro-

foods; it was the beginning of a beautiful re-

nunciations or, at best, distortions of words, have

lationship, and I was lost when the magazine

Cathy Johnson interviewed and painted five Missourians’ final sheep shearing.

The story and artwork appeared in Missouri Life’s July/August 1975 issue.

folded for a time.

been adopted for generations, it fails to change the true pronunciation because people choose to

Because of your early encouragement and

continue to say it incorrectly.

support, I widened my horizons and looked for free-

So imagine my delight to discover you in that won-

So, I suggest we let all those twenty A states con-

lance work farther afield. Eventually I became a con-

derful old hotel overlooking the Missouri River and

tinue to enjoy their uhs, and let us three I states have

tributing editor and staff naturalist to Country Living

to meet current editor Danita Allen Wood. It was fun

the honored distinction of our ees.

magazine for eleven years and a contributing editor

seeing the wonderful gallery of covers displayed in

to both The Artist’s Magazine and Watercolor Magic,

the magazine’s halls.

as well as freelancing for a variety of other magazines, such as Harrowsmith Country Life, Sierra, and Sports Afield.

I do love my home state, and you do it proud.

With great respect for your magazine and its fine articles, humor, and history, I remain.

—Loura Cook, Cameron

Thank you so much. I felt as if I were coming home!

P.S. A bit more serendipity, thanks to Facebook. I

Please visit www.MissouriLife.com and search for our

Branching out again, I began writing and illustrat-

recently reconnected with the young man who had

piece on this debate, titled Mizuree or Mizuruh; you

ing books. I now have thirty-four under my belt, most

grown up with the elderly sheep shearers and who

might enjoy the historical explanations of how the

on art and natural history, notably for North Light

now lives on the old farm after he retired from the

latter likely propagated. According to researchers, the

Books and Sierra Club—and it’s all because you gave

Marines. It is a small world.

use of the pronunciation “uh” is declining, but even

a young, inexperienced artist/writer a start.

—Cathy Johnson, Excelsior Springs

we at the magazine are divided.—Editors

[12] MissouriLife

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Defining Excellence Garth S. Russell, MD Ronald D. Carter, MD William G. Quinn, MD Dennis L. Abernathie, MD Peter K. Buchert, MD Patrick A. Smith, MD Thomas R. Highland, MD James F. Eckenrode, MD Randal R. Trecha, MD Mark A. Adams, MD Jennifer L.K. Clark, MD Benjamin T. Holt, MD John D. Miles, MD Robert W. Gaines, MD B. Bus Tarbox, MD

www.columbiaorthogroup.com | 573-443-2402 1 South Keene Street | Columbia, MO

David E. Hockman, MD Matt E. Thornburg, MD John Havey, MD Jeffrey W. Parker, MD Todd M. Oliver, MD S. Craig Meyer, MD B.J. Schultz, MD Christopher D. Farmer, MD Brian D. Kleiber, MD Kurt T. Bormann, MD Jason T. Koreckij, MD Alan G. Anz, MD Tim Crislip, DPM J. Camp Newton, MD

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[13] August 2013

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AUGUST EXPLORING THE UNFAMILIAR

mouth about the good things of Missouri.

I thoroughly enjoy reading your magazine. We moved

Got my Savor Missouri book, which I’ve

to Missouri thirty years ago, and we have enjoyed ex-

started to cruise through.

ploring the areas closest to us. Now that I am retired, I

I recall you held this festival last year

hope to expand my horizons and find out more about

in your neck of the woods. Will this be

this very historically important and beautiful state.

a “traveling” festival around Missouri?

—Katie Indermuehle, Carthage

Thanks, thanks, and one more heartfelt thanks. Lots of work went into this. For

We would love to hear about your Missouri discoveries.

all those hours, days, weeks, months, and

Please let us know about your Show-Me State adventures

probably a year, I thank you.

via Facebook, Twitter, email, or snail mail.—Editors

—Gwyn Hunley, Kansas City

MO MEMPHIS

Have suggestions for next year's festival?

The June/July issue of Missouri Life included an ar-

Let us know. In the meantime, check out Sa-

ticle about Memphis, Missouri, written by Hannah

vor Missouri author Nina Furstenau’s food

Kiddoo, and my cousin living in St. Louis thoughtfully

blog on MissouriLife.com, or order the book

sent it to me. As a native Missourian, I was delighted

there.—Editors

to see an article that highlighted many of the features of that small Scotland County community.

I continue to be amazed at the number of amenities that are offered in such a small town and by the warmth and friendliness of its residents. Han-

MPIX PHOTO CONTEST Just wondering when you were going to an-

CORRECTION

nounce the winners of the photo contest?

In “Bluegrass Way of Life,” we incorrectly stated that

—Emily Blakney Rantz-Chase, Reeds Spring

nah splendidly captured the flavor of Memphis,

the town of Conway in Missouri inspired Conway Twitty’s first name. In fact, Conway, Arkansas, has

and I very much appreciate her efforts for writing

The winners will be published in our October issue.

that honor. Although he drew inspiration for his first

and yours for publishing the piece. Many thanks.

Snag a copy to see the winning photographs.—Editors

name from our neighboring state to the south, musi-

—Colleen Shelley, Falls Church, Virginia

cian Twitty did have a few Missouri connections, most

MO BLUEGRASS VIA FACEBOOK

notably his 1993 passing in Springfield, Missouri, after

Thank you so much for publishing the great article

he collapsed on his tour bus on his return home to

We are always on the lookout for interesting Mis-

(June/July 2013 issue) written by Danny Phillips on

Tennessee from a Branson performance.

souri communities to feature in our magazine.

our bluegrass band, Missouri Boatride. We truly en-

Think yours is special? Tell us why, and we might

joy keeping the bluegrass music tradition alive and

feature your town in a future issue.—Editors

well in the Branson area. Thanks again for all the

SEND US A LETTER

wonderful coverage of events held here in Missouri!

A LOTTA LOVE FOR MO LIFE FESTIVAL

—Larry Sifford, Missouri Boatride

Whoo-dang! Had a MO Proud time at the 2013

Bluegrass Band

Missouri Life Festival. For the next festival, several of us are going to need bigger bags or carts

Fax:

GOOD VIBES, GOOD EATS

for our sweets and treats. Everywhere we went,

The magazine arrived! It is gorgeous! What-

there were smiles, hellos, friendly faces, good in-

ever winds you up during the day, this beautiful

formation, and lots of samples.

magazine puts me in another world! I love the

I’ve bragged and bragged about the MO Life Festival on my Facebook. I’m such a blabber-

Email:

recipes and can’t wait to try them on guests.

—Carol House, Ballwin

Facebook: Address: ANDREW BARTON

Memphis, Missouri native

[14] MissouriLife

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PROMOTION

from

Defiance to Augusta

e Country Historic Missouri Win

by Sarah Alban

[15] August 2013

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PROMOTION

in the rolling, fertile hills of the Missouri River Valley, a critical mass of soil, sun, and science has bequeathed unto Missourians and out-of-state adventurers a corridor of internationally acclaimed wine.

City gives way to country, and just fifteen minutes outside the St. Louis suburbs you can be totally out in the country—Historic Missouri Wine Country, to be exact.

If you haven’t visited Defiance and Augusta, you’re missing one of the state’s most historic and viticulturally unique regions. For Montelle winery, awards pile up in glass jars, a small percentage of the hundreds hibernating humbly in a box out of sight. The region’s newest winery, Noboleis, won seventy-five awards in its first four years of fermenting.

And Chris Lorch studied under Napa Valley vintners before masterminding his own brand of reds and whites at his parents’ vineyard, Sugar Creek.

This region became the first federally approved American Viticultural Area (AVA), a winemaking region prized for unique soil, microclimate, and history. This was eight months before Napa Valley became the second AVA. Wine country begins in Defiance, about forty miles west of downtown St. Louis. Most of the ten wineries and wine gardens between Defiance and its westward sister city, Augusta, sit just off of Highway 94, a rollicking road shaped like a spiral staircase that’s been

Wine Country Gardens

nudged out of shape. Your car might huff as it climbs the hills to winery parking lots. But at the hilltop, bucolic Mount Pleasant Tasting Room scenery awaits.

In Defiance, the first hint of a wine escape lies at Wine Country Gardens.

Nestled at the end of a long, landscaped road, where black-locust and willow trees once ruled the wild, Wine Country Gardens is a wine garden among wineries, a place to eat before embarking on a tour of wine country.

Established in 1998, Wine Country Gardens was originally a gardening nursery specializing in rare flowers unavailable at large retailers. Owners Bill and Chris Schaul explain they were “filling in the Today Wine Country Gardens fills in anblanks” for gardeners but had few options for other blank: It is a gorgeously landscaped feeding hungry customers. On weekends, they restaurant, patio, pavilion, and, yes, tiny nursery. hired a caterer who sold out frequently. The Complimentary wine tastings are offered, Schauls finally got a liquor license and a tent, but don’t look for Missouri wine. Use this stop which they set up on a gravel lot. When maga- instead to sip Europe’s and California’s finest. zines such as Better Homes & Gardens featured This will be the last time you can taste internaChris’s heavily ornamented landscaping proj- tional wines before treating your taste buds to ects, he bought a bigger tent, Bill says.

Missouri’s earthiest reds, sweetest whites, and “And more wine,” Chris adds. richest ports. Pick up a hosta on the way out.

[16] MissouriLife

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PROMOTION

Noboleis Vineyards

Mount Pleasant Patio The first glass of Missouri wine isn’t far away. A mile down Highway 94, Yellow Farmhouse Vineyard and Winery turns some of the region’s superstar grapes, including Norton, Chambourcin, and Vignoles, into a glass you can enjoy with a group. Yellow Farmhouse’s tasting room is open Friday through Sunday, which is great for weekend staycationers or daytrippers who don’t want to venture far from the city.

A treat awaits you north of Yellow Farmhouse. Chandler Hill Vineyards started in 1880 when the Fleusmeier family deeded forty acres of land to freed slave Joseph Chandler. The land sat on a hill overlooking the valley where a modern Chandler Hill pavilion sprawls today. Stones in the parking lot were taken from the foundation of Joseph’s home, and the wines preserve local history in their names: Lake Hawk, Lone Oak, and Savage, named for a 1901 Savage Arms Company rifle hanging inside. Buy a bottle and venture to the back patio for a private vista of vineyards and the old gray Fleusmeier house below.

For a real escape to the country, head back to Route 94 and continue west to Sugar Creek Vineyards and Winery. Ken and Becky Miller run this quaint twelve-thousand-gallon-a-year operation.

Like Wine Country Gardens, Sugar Creek has become an out-of-control retirement project. “I happily tell people we got into mid-life madness,” Ken says.

The Millers’ son, Chris Lorch, transforms five types of grapes into wines. If you catch him outside of school, Chris’s eleven-yearold, Casey, can give you a tour of the machines that transform the vineyards in view into the wine in your glass.

“Sometimes you go to wineries, and you don’t even know who lives there,” Ken says.

Not so at Sugar Creek. Look for the Marilyn Merlot bottle collection and the 160-year-old building, or ask Becky to point them out.

You’re hardly done. After Sugar Creek, get back on 94. If you pass up Montelle Winery, you’ll kick yourself and so will your friends.

Run by fifth-generation Armenian grapegrower Tony Kooyumjian, Montelle has so many awards that each wine has at least one.

“If you want people to take your wine home and put it in their cellar, you’ve got to come up with a good reason why they should,” Tony says, adding that Missouri’s terroir, or unique climate and geography, helps create wines unlike anywhere else. Indeed, Missouri’s Norton is a rarity among North American grapes, a maverick able to produce good dry reds. By some accounts, the Missouri Norton holds twice as much resveratrol (a chemical that can protect the body from disease) than other reds.

The best way to experience the soaring bouquets of Tony’s mineral-rich reds and zesty, fruity whites (a bottle of the bestseller, Himmelswein is easily drinkable) is at a sunset dinner. Tickets always sell out. Try to grab some because little else compares to eating off fine China and sipping wine five-hundred feet above the valley. Your day job, stresses, and smartphone won’t matter. Dessert is timed to coincide with dusk, and you’ll have a

Augusta Winery 5601 High St., Augusta 636-228-4301 Balducci Vineyards 6601 Hwy. 94 South, Augusta 636-482-8466 Chandler Hills Vineyards 596 Defiance Rd., Defiance 636-798-2675 Montelle Winery 201 Montelle Dr., Augusta 636-228-4464 Mount Pleasant Winery 5634 High St., Augusta 636-482-9463 Noboleis Vineyards 100 Hemsath Rd., Augusta 636-482-4500 Sugar Creek Winery & Vineyards 125 Boone Country Ln., Defiance 636-987-2400 Wine Country Gardens 2711 Hwy. 94 South, Defiance 636-798-2288 Yellow Farmhouse Winery 100 Defiance Rd., Defiance 314-409-6139

[17] August 2013

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PROMOTION

When friends come over for dinner, uncork a Norton wine from the cellar and treat your guests to a little Missouri Wine Country.

Wine Country Gardens

better view of the Missouri sunset than some of the turkey buzzards and red-tailed hawks soaring through the sky.

The city of Augusta, population three hundred, sits just west of Montelle. Here, Augusta Winery, the first winery Tony opened, offers eighteen wines not found at Montelle.

Experience these in the complimentary tasting room. The balanced wines keep well in a cellar without losing their complexities and contrast with the bolder, fruitier wines found at Montelle. You’ll just have to try both.

Luckily, Augusta is replete with mom-andpop bed-and-breakfasts, so you can spend the night in wine country. Stay in a luxurious accommodation like the Conservatory Guest Cottage where Randal and Marj Oaks make you feel like one of the family by sharing the stories behind their innovative landscaping and architectural projects before pampering you like royalty in a custom cottage with a fireplace, regal wooden design, and one of those bottles of Himmelswein in the fridge.

Stroll the hilly Augusta streets, about a mile from the Missouri River, and pass the town’s historic buildings. Tour the limestone cellar

at Augusta’s oldest winery, Mount Pleasant, founded in 1859.

Just outside Augusta is the region’s newest winery, Noboleis, Montelle Winery a name compounded from three family surnames: Nolan, Newbold, and Geis. Choose a wine and grab a lawnchair beside the property’s with a flavorful Italian meal.

Most establishments are open all winter. “Peotrademark seventy-year-old mulberry bush.

“Bush” is a little misleading. The leviathan ple seem to think wineries close in October,” tree is printed on nearly all the bottles and corks Ken Miller says, amused. But in Augusta, you at Noboleis. Here, you can let the kids roam can’t stop the wineries from serving good wine free. In an impossibly cherubic scene, they can any more than you can straighten Highway 94.

Spring through fall, the wineries come alive chase kites and giant neon soccer balls through the vineyards. As far as keeping the kids from with musicians. Consider bringing a bike for trampling over the grapes, the staff is uncon- a Katy Trail wine weekend, hiding away for a cozy bed-and-breakfast weekend, or taking cerned.

Try the four Noboleis wine-and-food pairings the terrace for yourself on a weekday. that Kitchen Manager Rose Miller creates weekly.

Before heading home, make one more stop: For more information, visit the Louis P. Balducci Vineyards and Winwww.historicstcharles.com ery. Louis’s staff prides itself on welcoming or call toll-free 800-366-2427. you like famiglia. Try the complimentary wine tastings of old-family recipes. Or grab one of your favorite beers. Let the last taste of wine PHOTO CREDITS: CURT DENNISON, NINA FURTSENAU, country linger a little before replacing them COURTESY OF MOUNT PLEASANT [18] MissouriLife

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Mo MIX Kimberling City

Five Star Houseboat Vacations LOOKING TO SQUEEZE the last bit of

the Ozark Mountains. Cruisers are encouraged to

summer fun out of the season? Why not plan a weekend

bring fishing poles to hook bass, catfish, and crappie.

getaway on a houseboat?

Vacationers should also bring their water mats for

Five Star Houseboat Vacations owns and rents

lake lounging and take advantage of the water slides

seven different boats vacationers can cruise on Table

on every houseboat. Watersports enthusiasts can use

Rock Lake. The houseboats offer one to seven bed-

ski boats and jet skis. Bring a camera and snap a few

Hannibal

rooms for a romantic weekend for two or a floating

photos of the sunrises and sunsets.

Cruising through History

family excursion.

The lake stretches for more than eight hundred miles and is surrounded by the beautiful scenery of

Book a boat for three, four, or seven nights. Rental prices depend on the house boat.—Briana Altergott www.tablerockhouseboatrentals.com • 417-988-1387

BOAT RIDES ABOUND at many locations along the Mississippi River’s thousands of miles, but only one, the Mark Twain, shares Samuel Clemen’s pen name and boyhood town.

The modern, diesel-fueled riverboat is safer than the ticking time bombs of yesteryear that could explode.

However, a faint tinge of fumes replaces the sweet smell of wood smoke. Captain and owner Steve Terry has logged more than thirty-six years as a licensed pilot on major Midwestern rivers. He is armed with detailed

COURTESY FIVE STAR HOUSEBOATS, KAREN MARTINO PHOTOGRAPHY©, TITANTIC MUSEUM ATTRACTION

navigation charts and all the tools of modern riverboating on the Mississippi.

Branson

Spectacular sunsets over the river bluffs lure

The Titanic’s Ghost Violin

passengers outside to the three decks. You might

AN ICONIC four-stringed treasure that sank with the RMS Titanic is

big steering wheel. Sometimes, he lets passengers

resurfacing in Missouri. The violin that belonged to Wallace Hartley, the bandleader

steer the boat while he chats (and keeps a careful

on the ship’s ill-fated maiden voyage, will be in Branson during the first two weeks

eye on the course).

in August before its auction in the United Kingdom.

see Steve glancing through the wheelhouse window as he makes a slight adjustment to the

The Mark Twain has been family-owned since 1997.

Supposedly, Hartley and his fellow musicians serenaded the sinking Titanic to

Onboard the ship, the youngest daughter, Jenna, a

calm panicked passengers. During the early hours of April 15, 1912, the instrument

local pageant winner, entertains as Princess Penny

and its owner succumbed to the icy seas. Hartley’s body was found ten days later,

Cash, the prettiest pirate on the Mississippi. The family

but the violin was absent from the list of recovered items. However, another story

operates the riverboat and gift shop, a tuxedo-rental

reports that the violin was returned to his fiancée, according to an entry in her

business, a custom photo-processing venture, and a

diary. The instrument was allegedly lost during numerous exchanges until it was

catering business.

discovered in a British attic in 2006. For seven years the authenticity debate raged.

Skeptics disavowed the violin’s authenticity, citing that ten days in the frigid North

Hour-long sightseeing cruises start at 1:30 PM in May and 11 AM, 1:30 PM, and 4 PM daily from

Atlantic would have stained the finish or destroyed the violin. However, during a

Memorial Day to Labor Day before the 6:30 PM

forensics analysis, experts discovered saltwater deposits; the instrument’s animal glue

two-hour dinner cruise. Except when floods make

was thought to withstand submersion in icy water. Those and other findings led experts

the riverboat inaccessible, the Mark Twain cruises

to validate its authenticity. The violin will be on display August 1 to 15 at Titanic Museum

daily from May through October and sometimes

Attraction in Branson. Reservations required. —David Cawthon

into November. —Joel Vance

www.titanicattraction.com. • 800-381-7670

www.marktwainriverboat.com • 573-221-3222

[19] August 2013

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Musical Schedule For The Wildwood Springs Lodge 2013 Concert Lineup

SEPTEMBER 14: BREWER AND SHIPLEY AND BOB WALKENHORST SEPTEMBER 21: PURE PRAIRIE LEAGUE WITH CRAIG FULLER

Los Lobos

AUGUST 10: MOON SHINE IN THE OZARKS WITH THE HILLBENDERS AND SELDOM SCENE

PHOTO BY DREW REYNOLDS

COME FOR THE

SEPTEMBER 28: LOS LOBOS

Music

OCTOBER 4-5: THREE DOG NIGHT OCTOBER 11-12: THE MARSHALL TUCKER BAND OCTOBER 18-19: POCO OCTOBER 25-26: AMERICA

FOR INFORMATION ON VARYING TICKET PACKAGE OFFERS VISIT WILDWOODSPRINGSLODGE.COM

The Marshall Tucker band

hillbenders Earl Thomas Conley

NOVEMBER 1-2: OZARK MOUNTAIN DAREDEVILS

SEE THE STARS PERFORM MORE THAN 75 TOP HIT SINGLES IN STEELVILLE, MO!

Visit many of our local shops in downtown Steelville!

poco

Historic Wildwood Springs Lodge Dining Room

LeFevre Quartet

ExploreSteelville.com [20] MissouriLife

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Fun!

Camping

STAY FOR THE

ExploreSteelville.com

swinging

Canoeing

Meramec Music Theatre 2013 Show Schedule AUGUST 3, 8 PM: FIREFALL AUGUST 10, 7 PM: THE HOPPERS GOSPEL SEPTEMBER 7, 7 PM: LEFEVRE QUARTET GOSPEL SEPTEMBER 21, 8 PM: EARL THOMAS CONLEY SEPTEMBER 29, 3 PM: RICKY SKAGGS AND KENTUCKY THUNDER WITH THE LONESOME HILL GANG OCTOBER 13, 2 PM: OAK RIDGE BOYS OCTOBER 26, 7 PM: THE ISAACS GOSPEL OCTOBER 27, 3 PM: DAILEY AND VINCENT NOVEMBER 2, 2 PM & 7 PM: PATRIOTIC SHOW NOVEMBER 9, 8 PM: CLINT BLACK NOVEMBER 16, 7 PM: TRIUMPHANT QUARTET CHRISTMAS/GOSPEL NOVEMBER 29, 7 PM & NOVEMBER 30, 2 PM: MICHAEL MARTIN MURPHY COWBOY CHRISTMAS DECEMBER 7, 2 PM & 7 PM: SUZY BOGGUS CHRISTMAS SHOW FOR TICKETING INFORMATION VISIT MERAMECMUSICTHEATRE.COM

Horseback Riding

Check out the Fountain in Steelville!

m

Swimming

Rafting

Kayaking

Stone Cottage Westoverfarms in Steelville

[21] August 2013 OUTDOOR ADVENTURE PHOTOGRAPHY BY JAMES A. LEICK

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SHOW-ME

Books

THE DINNER TABLE DIPLOMAT How Winston Churchill served his wine-and-dine diplomacy.

BY TINA CASAGRAND

IT’S LUNCHTIME, and Britain’s prime minister is hungry. What

Dinner with Churchill: Policy-Making at the Dinner Table Pegasus Books, written by Cita Stelzer 336 pages, nonfiction, hardcover, $26.95 makers, and with old friends. Through diary entries and personal letters, we learn the depths of people’s regard for Churchill, including Truman’s opinion that he “gave me a lot of hooey about how great my country is.”

You see, the man sometimes called “The British Bulldog” didn’t always get his way; Stelzer notes these moments with equal regard. For instance, after Churchill spoke in Fulton, Truman distanced himself from the prime minister’s idea of a new Western alliance. But the Callaway ham? Total success. Churchill raved, “This pig has reached the highest state of evolution.” Apparently, mid-Missouri hogs can be diplomats, too.

ANDREW BARTON

would you serve?

Choose carefully. The people of Fulton and Westminster College answered with a country-style lunch. D-Day marshals picnicked on the beaches of Normandy. Factory workers enjoyed tea and cake. No matter the menu, good meals were the hallmark of Winston Churchill’s best talks with world leaders.

Dinner with Churchill: Policy-Making at the Dinner Table, a new book

by Cita Stelzer, recounts lunches and dinners at which Churchill tried to tweak history. People have written more robust biographies of the prime minister, but few get as intimate as these social and gastronomic details.

In one story, he liberates a tank of turtles slated for the evening soup.

You can see him moving silverware around like toy soldiers with Franklin D. Roosevelt, and an adorable photo captures Harry S. Truman grinning, arms crossed at the wrist to simultaneously shake hands with Churchill and Joseph Stalin. These candid stories are complemented by new photographs. Stelzer also reveals some secrets to Churchill’s success: mid-day naps beget late-night parties, and he wasn’t nearly as drunk as Hitler made him out to be.

The psychology of leadership is fascinating. Empowered in part by his mother’s socialite skills, Churchill took charge of dinner details—a tall order for one hosting multiple gatherings each week. He employed “mealtimes as political weapons.”

Away from official records and media attention, his guests could speak freely, and he won their trust with storytelling and earnest humility. The leader ate caviar and plover eggs, sure, but he was also happy to settle in for a more modest shepherd’s pie. When Churchill gave his famous Iron Curtain speech in Missouri, the chef of the Fulton country club prepared the “not-yet-world-famous Callaway ham” (named after the Missouri county, it remains an obscure dish), fried chicken, buttered corn, rolls, and angel food cake with strawberry topping. The meal’s legacy lived on, having been served at Margaret Thatcher’s visit in 1996 and other Westminster events.

Studying Churchill’s “dinner diplomacy” might cause you to consider who you invite to supper, where you eat, and how you serve it. The man was generous with his alcohol and cigars, and guests regarded his actions as warm, sincere, and without airs. He acted this way with people who shared his views and with those who didn’t, with powerful decision-

[22] MissouriLife

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There’s More To Do Here. Naturally.

Salem offers spectacular autumn foliage as you enjoy our area’s natural springs, forests, and riverways!

www.salemmo.com

PHOTO COURTESY OF BETH WATSON

'SQI NSMR YW SR SYV HE]

Sept. 26 - Oct. 6 2013 National WW I Museum Wings Over the Rockies Air Museum Coors Golden Brewery Tour Only $1970 Per Person... Maximum 18 People Rocky Mountain National Park Price Includes: Custom Motorcoach - Shuttle - Lodging Arches National Park Hotel Breakfasts - Home Cooked Lunches - All Venues Shown Four Corners National Monument Pick up in most cities in Missouri then return directly to your home.

Glen Canyon Dam Tour Antelope Canyon Tour Come join us on our custom-built luxury motorcoach, fully equipped with reclining seats, bathroom, card tables, video systems and a lounge area with couches. It also has a Zion National Park kitchen where lunches are cooked for you by your hostess.

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Canyonlands National Park This is not an ordinary bus trip Durango Silverton Railroad Train Ride USA Tours, Inc.

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www.usatoursmo.com

[23] August 2013

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SHOW-ME

Books

MORE GOOD READS

BY WINN DUVALL AND MADELINE SCHROEDER

By Bob Dotson, 256 pages, Viking Adult, hardcover, nonfiction, $26.95 Bob Dotson of NBC’s Today has been telling the stories of everyday Americans throughout his forty-year career. To him, the inspirational people in his segments have more to share than a five-minute television piece allows, so he adapted their tales into this book. Bud Kolbrener in St. Louis is featured for opening a store and creating jobs for former employees, despite having retired.

The Bedside Book of Bad Girls: Outlaw Women of the Midwest

By Chris Enss, 160 pages, Farcountry Press, softcover, nonfiction, $14.95 Outlaws continue to fascinate readers long after they’ve been locked up or gunned down. This book by Chris Enss is a little more Bonnie than Clyde and focuses on female criminals throughout the Midwest. Missouri towns from Blue Springs to St. Louis are mentioned as she tells the tales of eleven deadly women.

Finally, A Locally Produced Guidebook to St. Louis by and for St. Louisans, Neighborhood by Neighborhood

By Amanda E. Doyle with Kerri Bonasch, 218 pages, Reedy Press, softcover, travel book, $18 This guidebook is the first of its kind—an insider’s scoop on St. Louis, including the best dining, bars, parks, shopping, and more, but with an unusual twist. Authors Amanda Doyle and Kerri Bonasch take readers to the quirky hidden parts of St. Louis. Looking to celebrate a Polish festival? This book knows when.

Want to try a burger with bizarre toppings like eel or a fried egg? This book knows where. Really want to put on skates and hit the roller rink? This book can help with that, too. Many travel requests or desires, no matter how odd, are covered in this guidebook.

Show Me the Murder

By Carolyn Mulford, 328 pages, Five Star, a part of Gale, Cengage Learning, softcover, fiction, $25.95 This first novel by Missouri native Carolyn Mulford marks the beginning of her Show Me mystery series. It tells the story of former spy Phoenix Smith and her return to her rural Missouri hometown to relax and catch up with old friends. She instead finds action and intrigue and seeks the truth about the death of a town leader.

The Summer of Beer and Whiskey: How Brewers, Barkeeps, Rowdies, Immigrants, and a Wild Pennant Fight Made Baseball America’s Game

By Edward Achorn, 292 pages, PublicAffairs, softcover, nonfiction, $26.99 This book follows the more unusual side of baseball history, one that involves games, booze, and often, drunk players. Pulitzer Prize finalist, editor, and author Edward Achorn retells the beginning of the St. Louis Cardinals when Von der Ahe bought the team and incorporated his love for home brewing into the sport. Edward tracks the struggles and revitalization during the sport’s early days. What’s a better summer read than a beer and baseball book?

To the Top! A Gateway Arch Story

By Amanda E. Doyle, illustrated by Tony Waters, 32 pages, Reedy Press, hardcover, children’s nonfiction, $16 Amanda E. Doyle didn’t grow up in Missouri, but now that she lives in St. Louis, she is as enamored with the city as any native. Her new children’s book explores the city’s greatest landmark, the Gateway Arch, through the eyes of two young children and their grandfather. The book’s mix of history and illustration is sure to intrigue young readers, St. Louisans or not.

ANDREW BARTON

American Story: A Lifetime Search for Ordinary People Doing Extraordinary Things

[24] MissouriLife

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Plan today for peace of mind tomorrow. “ I wanted to be able to be the one making plans so my family didn’t have to do it for me. They make it so easy ... you feel like you belong.” – LSS Resident With locations in Columbia, Jefferson City, and throughout St. Louis.

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[25] August 2013

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Made IN MISSOURI Richmond Heights

Hand Carved, Hand Crafted NEWBERRY FURNITURE makes more than the name suggests.

Columbia

A Boot Above the Rest ON MANY LEVELS, Brynne and

For those looking for something bigger, the couple

Along with tables, chairs, and Adirondack furni-

uses their talents to build homes that are sustainable

ture, husband and wife team Julie and Bill Newberry

and environmentally friendly, just like the rest of New-

create and sell pizza paddles, cutting boards, beer-

berry Furniture’s smaller products. —Briana Altergott

tasting caddies, sushi boards, and other unique

www.etsy.com/shop/newberry

products.

314-647-6090

Customers can choose from a variety of items for sale on Etsy and can even place specialty orders.

“We have a custom-driven business,” Julie says. “Customers often have something in mind, but they can’t find it, and they want something special.”

The Newberrys prefer to use reclaimed lumber,

Bailye Stansberry of Columbia are unlike most

especially cypress, and will seize any opportunity

twenty-two year olds. The twin sisters enjoy

they can to work with wood from old barns, pickle

working together so much that they co-own their

barrels, and other unusual sources.

business and spend weekends managing their

into a place for dinner and walk out with an order.”

As avid foodies, Bill and Julie also enjoy making

venture. They have also enjoyed success at a

products for the kitchen. “We work with restau-

young age.

rants and breweries a lot,” Julie says. “We often go

Brynne and Bailye created TwoAlity, an idea that ent boot design that features colorful interchangeable

Kansas City

inserts. TwoAlity offers seven color options of microfi-

Time Gets a Wild Design

ber liners: mellow yellow, periwinkle blue, berry, Kelly green, violet, orange, and black.

As juniors in high school, they joined the Distributive

AFTER MAIKO Kuzunishi worked for ad agencies, design firms, and a motion graphics company in Kansas

Education Clubs of America and won the marketing

City, she decided it was about time she worked for herself. She took her love for design, and in 2006 turned it into a

club competition for their boot design. They received

successful clock-making business, Decoylab Design Studio. Maiko’s most popular products, her bamboo clocks, begin as

their patent at age nineteen and launched their busi-

doodles on paper. She then creates a computer image and sends it to a laser

ness in mid-May. Together, they experimented with

cutter. Once she receives the laser-cut parts, Maiko crafts them in her studio

taking apart and sewing together children’s rain boots

in Kansas City’s Crossroads district. After some sanding, oiling, assembling,

until they formulated the ideal design.

and packaging, Maiko’s products are ready to be shipped. In a few short

But these boots aren’t just for looks. TwoAlity

years, Maiko’s hard work has paid off. Her products are featured in

boots are water-resistant, thermal, and durable.

magazines such as Country Living, Parents, and Lucky and in numerous

“We’re farm girls at heart, so we had to make sure

blogs. Her made-to-order designs are available for purchase through

the boots can get muddy,” Bynne says. They dream

Decoylab’s website and Etsy.com. Customer favorites include owl,

of using their boots to form a brand that creates

hedgehog, and fawn clocks. Because Maiko is environmentally con-

scarves, children’s boots, purses, or other items to

scious, Decoylab only makes products on an on-demand basis. The

go with Boots by TwoAlity.

company’s manufacturing and packaging processes are also designed

For now, TwoAlity boots are available online at

to minimize waste as much as possible. In addition to clocks, Decoylab

www.thetwoalitystore.com. Boots are $69.99 and a pair

offers brooches, necklaces, coasters, and clipboards that are all made

of liners are $29.99. Check out their Facebook page and

using the laser-cut technique. Maiko also makes tea towels, prints, and

website for more information. —Madeline Schroeder

calendars. —Briana Altergott

www.thetwoalitystore.com

www.decoylab.com

COURTESY TWOALITY, NEWBERRY FURNITURE, DECOYLAB

budded at seventeen, to sell their patented transpar-

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RIVER BEND CAFE Start your day with a hearty breakfast from Riverbend Cafe. 615 First St., 660-338-2450 Recommendation: Try a stack of pancakes!

THE ROLLING PIN Take in lunch at the Rolling Pin Bakery. 104 Market St., 660-338-0800

Recommendation: Don’t forget to order dessert!

BUSHWHACKER BEND WINERY Have a glass of wine before dinner at Bushwacker Bend Winery. 515 First St., 660-338-2100 Recommendation: Enjoy your wine on the river view deck!

Historic past

38th Annual

exciting present

BECKETT’S End the day with dinner at Beckett’s. 510 First St., 660-338-9978

Recommendation: A perfectly marbled steak and fried green beans!

Glasgow, MO www.glasgowmo.com

August 21st - 24th, 2013 Historic Thespian Hall, Boonville, Missouri Sponsored by the Friends of Historic Boonville

All performances begin at 7:30 p.m.

Reserved seats $25 18 and under $10 Group and Series Discounts Available

Featuring David Halen, Concertmaster of the Saint Louis Symphony And friends, including Chee Yun, violin, Mary Jane Lee, soprano, Ward Stare, guest conductor ...and many Festival favorites And the visual art of Linda Hoffman Tickets on sale July 15, 2013 Patron Seating available

Tickets online: www.friendsofhistoricboonville.org Phone: 1-660-882-7977 or 1-888-588-1477 Funding assistance provided by Missouri Arts Council, a state agency, Isle of Capri Casino and Hotel, INSIDE COLUMBIA Magazine, the Columbia Daily TRIBUNE and the Boonville Tourism Commission.

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V

Take a ride on the wild side at Dogwood Canyon Nature Park

by Bethany Christo

Dogwood Canyon in 1996 after buying the original two thousand acres in 1990. “Mr. Morris loves the Ozarks. That was the whole idea, to preserve a chunk of the Ozarks for people to enjoy. He had no idea he was going to find history like this,” says manager Chad Phillips.

Another way to experience history is through the daily cattle drive. Families or groups of at least four people take a three-hour taste of the cowboy lifestyle while riding horseback and herding thirty longhorns across the back of the park. After a proper rancher lunch out of a chuck wagon, groups learn to rope steers and share folklore around a campfire.

Dogwood Canyon also hosts retreats and outdoor obstacles for group outings such as corporate meetings, family reunions, or church events. The most rugged group outing, however, belongs to the men and women who compete in Field and Stream’s Total Outdoorsman Challenge. The finals are filmed at the park every August and broadcast on the Outdoor Channel in November or December. The twoweek, Survivor-esque challenges eliminate the nation’s best fishers, hunters, park rangers, and others who love the outdoors through tests in

archery, skeet shooting, fly and bass fishing, ATVs, and an endurance challenge for surviving the wilderness. The winner gets twenty-five thousand dollars, an ATV, and Bass Pro Shop merchandise.

Marda Neufeld, who visited from Silver Lake, Kansas, in April with her husband, David, says, “I took hundreds of pictures,” she says.

“It was one of those experiences where you feel like you have to take it all in with a camera becaus e there’s just no way to describe it.”

ART MELIPOR

ten-thousand-acre breath of fresh air, with winding walking and biking trails, troutfilled creeks, wooded waterfalls, and open-sky pastures and bluffs, is only thirty minutes away from the shows, glitz, and shopping in Branson.

At Dogwood Canyon Nature Park in Lampe, you can literally take a ride on the wild side with the popular open-air tram tour. Like the popular poem, the Midwestern safari goes over the river (and Glory Hole natural pool), through the woods (and rock caves and custom bridges), and to Arkansas instead of grandmother’s house. Once there, the tram weaves amongst herds of elk, bison, white tail deer, and Texas longhorn cattle on the rolling hills and rugged pastures.

Dogwood Canyon occupies an old logging site from the late-1800s. Pillars mark the entrance to the old zinc and lead mine, and caves shelter the remnants of the oldest human remains found in Missouri, which date back to 6,000 B.C. Radiocarbon dating proves the arrowheads, grinding stones, pottery fragments, jewelry, and multiple skulls and bones found there are more than one thousand years old.

Bass Pro Shop owner Johnny Morris created

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Visit

explorebranson.com for more adventure ideas.

Branson: Festivals Aug. 2-4

25th Annual Downtown Fiddle Fest For those who love the fiddle and love to fiddle, it doesn’t get much sweeter than the Branson Fiddle Fest. More than $6,500 in cash prizes will be given away during the three-day event, which draws fiddlers from far and wide. Friday jumpstarts the event with a jam session. Wandering entertainers, workshops, and a Saturday-night square dance (with lessons for beginners) are must-see and must-do. Tickets: daily $3; ages 4-12, $1.50; under 3, free. 417-334-1548

Sept. 12- Oct. 26 Silver Dollar City’s National Harvest Festival Yeehaw! Branson’s Silver Dollar City goes West in September. More than 125 nationally touring craftsmen display their work in one of the nation’s largest events of its kind. Catch the New Texas Trick Riders and the Western Stunt Show, too.

Venues throughout the park will feature authentic cowboy music, Western swing, and authentic chuckwagon cookin’ for a rootin’ tootin’ good time. www.silverdollarcity.com

COURTESY OF BRANSON CVB AND SILVER DOLLAR CITY

Aug. 8-10 Shepherd of the Hills Summer Car Cruise Start your engines. More than five hundred street rods, hot rods, and classic cars will descend upon Branson in early August. Get under the hoods of these legendary automobiles and catch the Midnight Cruise on Saturday night to hear the engines purr. Enjoy the food booths, and catch the Best in Show Awards 4 pm. Saturday. Admission: $10 Thursday; $13 Friday; $15 Saturday.

Sept.

19-21

40th Annual Autumn Daze Arts, Crafts, and Music Festival Downtown Branson comes alive with homemade crafts, a ton of food, and entertainment during this three-day festival. Score some wood crafts, quilts, clothing, crocheted items, hats, purses, toys, ironworks, and other hand-crafted treasures. Some vendors might even show you how they make their wares. Check out the celebrity autograph booth and sidewalk sale after you chow down at the Food Court. 417-334-1548

During the Day

Drury-Mincy Conservation Area 30 minutes southwest of Downtown Branson This 5,599-acre natural area was the Missouri Department of Conservation’s first deer refuge. In the mid- 1900s, the area was a source of deer and turkey repopulation efforts. Archery deer hunting is popular as well as turkey hunting. Three creeks weave through the landscape to Bull Shoals Lake. 417-256-7161 Bull Shoals Lake 45 mintues southwest of Downtown Branson Located in the scenic Ozark Mountains, forty-five thousand-acre Bull Shoals Lake offers visitors water sports, hiking, canoeing, equestrian sports, golf, historic sites, hunting, and opportunities to capture stunning photographs. Several cabins, lodges, and resorts dot the lake in surrounding towns as do various restaurants and eateries. Get out the fishing pole and catch white bass, largemouth bass, walleye, catfish, and crappie. Healthy populations of deer, turkey, quail, and waterfowl also abound. 417-273-4020 Table Rock State Park 14 minutes southeast of Downtown Branson For a quick excursion between the food, entertainment, and shopping in Branson, jet out to Table Rock State Park, one of the state’s most popular natural destinations. The public marina will help eager boaters get out on the water. Rent WaveRunners, ski boats, pontoon boats, and fishing boats, and stock up on all the necessary supplies. Scuba diving and parasailing are other popular activities for water enthusiasts. Planning to stay longer? Settle down in one of two shoreline camping areas, and go for a swim. Easy hikes and challenging mountain biking trails offer a bit of adventure for everyone. 417-334-4704 Branson Zipline Canopy Tours 18 minutes north of Downtown Branson If the sky, not the water, is more to your taste, take an eco-friendly zipline ride above the trees at Branson Zipline Canopy Tours at Wolfe Creek Preserve. You can see deer, hawks, bobcats, snakes, and other wildlife as you zoom across the wilderness. A few zipline packages are offered—one begins twenty-five feet above Wolfe Mountain and ends with a one hundred-foot free-fall. 800-712-4654

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YOU WILL NEVER RUN OUT OF THINGS TO DO IN

BRANSON FEATURING OVER 100 LIVE SHOWS • SILVER DOLLAR CITY • TITANIC MUSEUM THREE PRISTINE LAKES • BRANSON LANDING • FISHING • BOATING • MUSEUMS • SPAS • GOLF ZIP LINES • OUTLET SHOPPING • DINING • RESORTS • HISTORIC DOWNTOWN

877-BRANSON - ExploreBranson.com [30] MissouriLife

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WHAT’S NEW IN BRANSON! OSMONDS, LENNONS, O’DONNELL AND MORE AT MOON RIVER THEATRE The legacy of Andy Williams continues as the Moon River Theatre brings in more great entertainers in September and October with Randy Travis, Clint Black, Lee Greenwood, Rich Little and others. And in the tradition of “Mr. Christmas” himself, in November and December the Andy Williams Christmas Show stars entertainment legends The Osmonds and The Lennon Sisters, joining a cast of dancers, singers and the Moon River Orchestra in a spectacular celebration of traditional family Christmas; Irish singing sensation Daniel O’Donnell headlines

his own matinee production during Ozark Mountain Christmas.

OAK RIDGE BOYS THEATRE The Oak Ridge Boys kick off their 40th anniversary tour and will return to their Branson, MO theatre in fall 2013. Also Sawyer Brown performs on September 21, October 19 and November 23.

Kenny Rogers comes in on October 11 and November 10. Country star Neal McCoy will perform 12 dates starting in October and don’t miss The Charlie Daniels Band on November 8. No one does comedy like Bill Cosby and he performs on October 12. The smooth sounds of Johnny Mathis and the

unique style of comedy and music by Gary Mule Deer will be November 1516. The season is complete with the Southern Gospel sounds of Larry Gatlin and the Gatlin Brothers who perform 25 dates starting in September.

STARLITE THEATRE Larry Black, host of “Larry’s Country Diner” is appearing onstage at The Starlite Theatre with a series of musical guests in 2013: Gary Morris: August 23-24-25; Jimmy Fortune: August 30Sept 1; Rhonda Vincent: Sept 10-12; Ronnie Robbins: Sept 13-15; Gene Watson Sept 24-26 and Dailey and Vincent: Oct 1-3

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Soak Up the SUn at Big Cedar Lodge * $216 starting at

One Night Lodging in Your Choice of Accommodations Two Hour Pontoon Boat Rental (excludes gas, oil and insurance) One Breakfast Buffet for Two Adults at Devil’s Pool Restaurant

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*Holidays and weekends excluded. Limited availability and cannot be combined with any other offer or existing reservations. Not valid on groups of 10 or more rooms. ML0813 [32] MissouriLife

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World Class Entertainment Close to Home!

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Big Screens!

6 stories tall and 83 feet wide with 22,000 watts of sound! A different film every hour on the hour!

Ride the original 1885 Wilderness Route of the Canadian Pacific Railway! Be propelled on a steam train journey through the breathtaking vistas of the Canadian Rockies and take part in the adventure of building a nearly impossible transcontinental railway in a remarkable true story from the age of steam!

EXPERIENCE THE ComPlETE BRaNSoN BuTTERfly ESCaPE!

&

Big Shopping & food!

An indoor mall with nearly 20 specialty shops! Quilts, leather goods, clocks, jewelry, souvenirs and more.

Full-service dining at McFarlain’s Family Restaurant featuring legendary ozarks cuisine and hospitality!

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When you plan to stay in Branson, plan to stay with Hilton. With world-class accommodations, the Hiltons of Branson are steps from the finest in shopping, entertainment, dining and more.

Hilton Promenade at Branson Landing Reservations: 417.336.5500 Hilton Branson Convention Center Hotel Reservations: 417.336.5400 Or visit Hilton.com for details and availability.

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Summer Cruises NOW Boarding!

Take a beautiful two-hour cruise filled with fun on Table Rock Lake! You’ll be entertained by star-spangled performances during Made In The USA and enjoy an all-American three-course meal.

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Make Reservations Today  800.775.BOAT (2628) showboatbransonbelle.com

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MILLIONS OF REASONS

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800-505-9355 WelkBranson.com [39] August 2013

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REMEMBER WHEN…?

Explore Missouri Life’s inaugural year, 1973

BY SARAH KOCI SCHEILZ

Space station Skylab launched into orbit May 1973 from Cape Kennedy, Florida. It was destroyed returning to Earth six years later.

MISSOURI LIFE magazine arrived on newsstands in 1973, an important year in the annals of history. While major historical events transformed the national landscape, Missouri Life examined threads of Show-Me State culture that persist today: obsessed Blues fans, hardy Joplin natives, murals at the state capitol, St. Louis architectural feats, and the bucolic majesty of Big Sugar Creek County, to name a few.

Times have changed, but the people and places that imbue this state with its distinct and enduring character remain. Rediscover the magazine’s inaugural year and the national and statewide events in 1973 that rippled through history in Missouri and beyond.

Top: South Vietnamese tanks roll past a group of villagers on their way back to the base. The United States would end its operations in the war on March 29, 1973. Bottom: President Richard Nixon and Vice President Spiro Agnew work the crowd at a 1972 Republican National Convention. The Watergate scandal erupted in 1973 and would eventually cause them to vacate their positions.

SCANDAL dominated the headlines in 1973. The year began with President Richard Nixon’s inauguration for a second term, but the path diverted toward his 1974 resignation. The Watergate scandal resulted from the June 17, 1972, break-in at the Watergate complex in Washington, D.C., and the Nixon administration’s attempted cover-up of its involvement. Criminal charges of tax evasion spurred the resignation of then-Vice President Spiro Agnew, in 1973.

At home in Missouri, Governor Christopher “Kit” Bond took office January 8, 1973. At thirty-three years old, he was the youngest governor in the state’s history and would later serve in the United States Senate.

Also in 1973, the United States ended its involvement in the Vietnam War when the Paris Peace Accords were signed. Under the terms, the United States agreed to immediately halt military activities and withdraw military personnel within sixty days.

AP

Politics

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Headlines Across Missouri

DANGEROUS amounts of rain fell across the Mississippi River and the basins that feed into it during October 1972. The resulting floodwaters inundated bank-side communities along the Mississippi in a flood that would last seventy-two days and come to be known as the worst flood in the past two hundred years. March 31, 1973 marked peak flood levels in the river, which claimed six million acres south of St. Louis in early April.

In the St. Louis suburb of Overland, the National Personnel Records Center fire occurred on July 12, 1973. About 18 million official military personnel records were lost as a result of the fire.

The year 1973 also saw the beginnings of a successful entrepreneurial effort. At a rate of $10.88 per night, Lambert Drury and his family opened the first Drury Inn, located in Sikeston, Missouri. Today, the hotel system operates 130 hotels in twenty states.

Sports and Athletics

THE KANSAS CITY ROYALS opened their new home sta-

This April 1973 aerial photo shows south St. Louis homes submerged by River Des Peres overflow from the flooded Missouri River, the worst Missouri flood in more than two hundred years.

dium in 1973. Then known as Royals Stadium, it was built specifically for baseball during an era known for multi-sport, cookie-cutter stadiums.

On July 2, 1993, the stadium was renamed Kauffman Stadium in honor of Ewing Kauffman, the Royals’ founding owner.

In college sports, MU celebrated one of its biggest wins ever at home on October 13. The then twelfth-ranked Tigers defeated number two Nebraska 13-12 when MU’s Tony Gillick intercepted a Husker’s last-minute two-point conversion pass. At the time, this was the highest-ranked opponent any Missouri team has ever beaten. The Tigers would go on to topple future Southeastern Conference foe Auburn in the Sun Bowl 34-17.

Attractions

KANSAS CITY’S Worlds of Fun amusement park opened on May 26, 1973, and cost ten million dollars to construct. Located on the bluffs above the Missouri River in Clay County, Worlds of Fun was built at the edge of an industrial complex developed by Lamar Hunt. In Hunt’s initial plan, Worlds of Fun was a mere sidebar attraction to a hotel and entertainment corridor, but a slowing economy scaled back his plans.

Another well-known mid-Missouri location opened its doors in 1973.

Named one of the best college hangouts in the nation, Shakespeare’s Pizza still feeds hungry MU students at Ninth and Elm in downtown Columbia.

Royals Stadium opened April 10, 1973. The Royals trumped Texas twelve to one in front of more than thirty-nine thousand fans. The stadium would host the fortieth annual All-Star game that year.

The Arts

AP

PROMINENT MISSOURI

artist Fred Conway (1900-1972) and wordsmith John Neihardt (1881-1973) graced the pages of the May/ June 1973 issue of Missouri Life.

St. Louis native Fred Conway was a painter, print-maker, educator, and lecturer. He studied at the St. Louis School of Fine Arts. Conway painted murals of the Federal Building in Kansas City, Brown Shoe Company Headquarters, and Peabody Coal Company Headquarters in St. Louis.

John Neihardt was an American author of poetry and prose, a historian, ethnographer, and philosopher. Neihardt traveled the Missouri River, absorbed the pulse of life along the way, and recorded its magnificence with the written word, penning that the river “is the symbol of my own soul.”

This illustration from a 1973 issue of Missouri Life shows Worlds of Fun as it appeared during its maiden year. The park opened on May 26, 1973, two years after construction began.

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This year’s State Fair is being held August 8-18 at the fairground in Sedalia.

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A N UR BAN NAT I V E E X PLOR E S A RU R A L T R A D I T I O N. B Y A L A N B RO U I L E T T E | P H O T O S B Y N O T L E Y H AW K I N S

“ I C E C R E A M ! H o rs es ! G i a n t s l i d e ! R o l l e r coas t e r ! H A M B U R G E RS ! ” love that sound, so I went to investigate and found Hedrick’s Pig Races. The Hands down, the best way to see the Missouri State Fair is from the top of pigs in question were piglets the size of Rottweiler puppies. The announcer the Ferris wheel with an ebullient five-year-old. My fellow passenger, Liv, introduced the four contestants: Lady Hogga, Christina Hoguilera, Hammy was shouting out the names of everything she saw.

Faye Bacon, and Miss Piggy. Lady Hogga won by a snout. There was some There is a lot to see. bumping in the stretch turn but not enough to warrant disqualification.

I drove to Sedalia for the Fair. I hadn’t realized what a big deal the State The petting zoo stood behind the pig races and was also run by Hedrick’s.

Fair is, having been raised in Chicago, but I began to have some idea when I The petting zoo was the busiest attraction I visited at the Fair. I was bestarted seeing “GET STATE FAIR TIX HERE” on store marquees in Columfriended by a nanny goat, though from her eagerness to taste my notebook bia, more than sixty miles from the fairgrounds. paper, I suspected I was being used.

I parked and walked to the Fair. My first sight drew a Looney Tunes-style Wandering down State Fair Boulevard gives one the sense that little has double-take: Two girls, both about seven, walking a cow. On a leash. changed in the past hundred years, save for the clothes. The local car dealer The cow must have been three times the size of the two girls combined. and regional radio stations both occupy prime space on the main drag. The I would have offered to help, but they clearly knew what they were doing. I Missouri Democratic Party and the Missouri Refollowed them to an arena full of children and cows publican Party both had booths, separated by the and wound up talking with Holly Meyer, whose tent of a non-political vendor. Fairgoers evinced five-year-old daughter Hadley was bossing a cow little interest in either. around like a drill sergeant. I expressed to Holly The food vendors are heavily concentrated along my admiration for Hadley’s lack of fear, confessing one drag. Ice cream, hot dogs, beer, barbecue. Little I was a little afraid of cows. Did I mention I grew is unique about fair food from state to state; but up in Chicago? Holly disagreed with my commenthen, what is a state fair without funnel cake? I dation of Hadley’s bravery, saying, “The problem stopped to talk to one of the vendors, the propriis that they grow up around the cows. She,” Holly etor of Good Time Charlie’s, a barbecue and beer said, nodding at Hadley, “actually needs to be a joint and concert stage at the Fair’s crossroads. little more afraid.”

Charlie is a focused entrepreneur; while I was I could see that. The children were treating these sitting with him, he took a call on his cell phone: cows like untrained, willful puppies. You probably “How much is it? Is it the good kind? I’ll take thirty need a healthy respect for something with a mind cases.” He sat in a barbecue tent in a black T-shirt of its own and a weight more than ten times yours.

While leaving the arena, I heard “First Call,” the Carnivals aren’t just about the rides; the games such as this and jeans, talking about corn for his roast-corn bugled tune that heralds the start of a horse race. I basketball shooting game and food provide just as much fun. concession, but for all the world, he sounded like

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The State Fair has its own volunteer fire department, which has served for fifty-one years. Stop by the fire department to see antique fire engines like this.

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More than twenty-eight thousand entries compete at the Fair each year in categories that range from tractor pulls to livestock.

Youth are encouraged to participate.

Some cages had a piece of box cardboard hastily wedged in between. The a commodities trader shouting in the pit at the New York Stock Exchange. cardboard served the same purpose with the chickens as did the exhibitor’s Charlie had been a full-time farmer but bought into the Fair years ago and tent between political tents outside: It minimized squawking. now controls a good chunk of the food concessions.

The west wing of the barn was dedicated to turkeys and waterfowl. One I walked through the Home Economics building. This was more time row was reminiscent of the illusion created by two mirrors facing each travel; I could have been in any year since 1901, the first year of the Fair. other, a row of perfect white ducks. The barn housed the grand champion I admired displays of quilts, baby clothes, crafts, fudge, preserves, and turkey, a Narragansett. I attempted to alert pickled vegetables. The next building housed him to the ephemerality of fame, particularly a display of county champion 4-H and FFA with the proximity of Thanksgiving, but he craft projects. There seemed to be a lot of ribignored me, simply preferring to pace and bons, but since 4-H and FFA are focused on examine his “Grand Champion” banner. Succhildren, what’s wrong with a lot of winners? cess changes turkeys too, it seems.

(Note for urban dwellers: FFA once stood I asked Tony Perryman, the “Poultry Sufor “Future Farmers of America” and the 4 H’s perintendent,” what made a bird a champion. stand for “Head, Heart, Hands, and Health.” I “There is a standard of perfection for each didn’t know either.) breed and variety set by the American Poultry I left the craft exhibits and found myself Association,” he said. outside the Poultry Building. I braved the treAfter surveying some literature, this is how mendous noise and entered.

I understood the competition: Entrants are I had no idea there were so many kinds of Ducks can be entered into the 4-H Club and FFA livestock competitions chickens. just like other poultry such as chickens and turkeys, but ducks are judged judged against one standard. The champion of each variety competes for best of breed.

The birds are divided by type. The varietals during the waterfowl competition with other birds such as geese.

This means the best Plymouth Rock Silver have excellent names: Plymouth Rock Silver Penciled chicken competes against other award-winning chickens to be Penciled, Old English Millefleur, Non-Bearded Splash Silkie. Had I been named best chicken overall. The best chicken is the best of its breed and told the names rather than read them for myself, I wouldn’t have believed will compete against the best duck and best turkey for “Best of Class.” The they were real. The plumages were astonishing colors with patterns and “Best of Class” is eligible to be named “Best in Show,” presumably after poofs that looked like something out of a Dr. Seuss book. defeating the best sheep, best pig, and so on.

The chicken cages were arranged in long double rows, cage-to-cage.

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The Fair’s original function was a tradeshow, but the carnival has become a mainstay.

Newspaper editorial cartoonist Jim Dyke is based in Jefferson City and is a Fair regular.

Invented in 1887, cotton candy first succeed at the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis; it sold for a quarter per box. Today, it’s a little pricier but a solid State Fair treat.

Jackie Carter runs a skee ball game at the Fair every year.

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When the first State Fair was held, two thirds of the population were rural. Today, a majority of Missourians live in urban areas.

In reality, my understanding was far from correct, and I blame my urban upbringing. It turns out chickens only compete against other chickens for the title of “Grand Champion,” and the title “Best in Show” is reserved for competitive entry departments like fine arts or home economics. Either way, competition is fierce, and with good cause: The champion lamb of 2012 sold for fourteen thousand dollars.

If you look at the Fair properly, you can see that it is really two fairs, one built atop the other: The upper layer is the carnival, the one with the neon t-shirts, Ferris wheel, concerts, and funnel cake. The lower layer, the foundation, is the important, long-standing statewide agricultural trade show.

That lower layer firmly in mind, I went off to the Farm Bureau building. I slipped into a talk on farm safety just as the speaker, a man missing his right arm just below the elbow, said, “Yes it was an accident, but yes it was avoidable. If I’d just shut off the power to the corn picker I’d still have my hand.”

Brian Fleischmann is a Jefferson City farmer who lost his arm to a corn picker in October 1996 and now works with the Department of Agriculture speaking on farm safety. The stump tucked against his right side gives his words an authority no amount of shrill hectoring can ever match.

I was beginning to realize that the Fair is as much a trade show as a carnival, especially the equipment exhibition. There is a lot filled with tractors, on which children climb and play and pretend while their fathers examine the new tractors and discuss specs and costs with salesmen. It’s like the Detroit Auto Show, but with more green and yellow and stranger vehicles.

(Well, to me, at least. I boggled for ten minutes at a display of commercialgrade riding lawnmowers so complexly futuristic that I had to ask a pass-

erby what they were.) There was also a display of fencing, which made navigating the area between the carnival and some of the livestock complicated.

I wondered aloud to the photographer with me if the display fence was electrified, and a passing cowboy jocularly told me, “The only way to know for sure is to touch it and find out!” I think he was kidding.

I was passing through this display-lot DMZ on my way out to the swine barn, located quite some distance west of the main fairground, which makes a lot of sense. I was walking out there and debating between ice cream and a piece of cheesecake on a stick when I was startled by a horrific screaming.

I prepared to run to the screamer’s aid, but no one else seemed concerned. I nervously tracked down the source of the screeching and learned an angry pig sounds almost human. Several members of the Vernon City 4-H Club were washing pigs in advance of their turn in the show ring, and the water was cold. The pig was vocally unhappy with the temperature.

I asked one woman watching the pig prep if this was a business or a hobby. She told me it was “a hobby, but a very expensive hobby.”

I heard this repeated when I stopped to talk to a family in the sheep pavilion. Nicki Herndon’s daughters brought eleven sheep to the Fair this year, entering ten of them. (Ten is the limit for entry, but they brought a spare.) I asked if this was a vacation or work. “This is our fourth year. School starts next week, so it’s kind of the end-of-summer trip,” Nicki told me.

It seems that for attendees, the Fair is often part-vacation, part-hobby, and part-work. It’s the very essence of the Fair; the trade-show-carnival duality gives rise to a world where you walk away with some new agricultural knowledge in your mind and funnel cake crumbs on your shirt.

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S H E RY L CROW

DAV I D NAI L

SAR A E VANS

C H UC K BE R RY

When listeners switched on their radios to hear Sheryl Crow’s top-ten hit “All I Wanna Do” in 1994, they would have never suspected the Los Angeles songstress was actually a bootheel-born Missourian. It shouldn’t be a surprise, though. Cities such as Nashville, Detroit, Los Angeles, and New York might be synonymous with “music scene,” but St. Louis birthed rock ’n’ roll, Sedalia nurtured ragtime in its infancy, and Kansas City raised the greatest jazz saxophonist of all time, not to mention all the small towns that are home to big names.

Country stars Sara Evans and David Nail now live outside the state, but the two haven’t forgotten their Missouri upbringings.

The same goes for ’90s superstar and current country-crossover Sheryl Crow, whose present Nashville home sits a lot closer to Kennett than her former California one. But even if the biggest Show-Me music stars shine in the country world right now, the state is always contributing to American music’s past, present, and future, whether that means rap, country, folk, pop, or rock.

The state instrument is the fiddle, but Missouri musicians aren’t fiddling around. Just call it the Hear-Me State.

Pa i n t i n g s b y A n dr e w B a r t on

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Sheryl Crow’s a little more country than rock ’n’ roll nowadays.

All she wanted

to do besides have some fun was look like Stevie Nicks, sing like Linda Ronstadt, and spend her time staring into a mirror, singing into her curling iron. When she did, the little girl from Kennett transformed into a superstar.

These days, no mirrors or curling irons are needed.

With hits “All I Wanna Do,” “If It Makes You Happy,” and “Soak Up the Sun,” Sheryl Crow has cemented her place in the music industry and become one of the most iconic female vocalists today. And these days, the nine-time Grammy winner finds herself preparing to show just how genre-proof she is.

Releasing her highly anticipated country album, Feels Like Home, on September 10, the strong mother of two is out to show the world there is nothing this former tomboy from Missouri can’t do.

“It’s really funny because I was probably the least likely to get as far as I have gotten,” she says, laughing, at her home outside of Nashville, Tennessee, where she moved in 2008. “I never made a school play, and I was kind of a jock to tell you the truth. Sure, I was a choir girl and played piano, but I was always kind of a side person, you know? I just knew I wanted to be a really good songwriter someday.”

Getting Started Growing up with a mix of Carole King and Elton John playing at home, Sheryl was surrounded by music from a very early age. “I grew up playing the piano, and we always played those artists that were playing easy-

going pop music,” says Sheryl, who attended high school with hammered dulcimer player Dan Landrum. “We were exposed to every type of music, from country music to jazz.”

Although her songwriting aspirations weren’t fully realized until later in life, Sheryl says she did gather up the courage to enter a songwriting contest at the age of thirteen, which she lost. Yet, music took more of a hold following high school when Sheryl pursued a music education degree at MU and worked as a music teacher for a short time. “My family was the first to say that I should get my degree, so I had something to fall back on, and it would be the same thing I would tell my kids today,” says Sheryl, one of four children. “Going to school definitely prepared me emotionally for what lay ahead.”

Sheryl could have never envisioned what lay ahead, but she caught a glimpse while playing in various cover bands in St. Louis.

“Playing in a bunch of cover bands is where I learned how to mimic other singers,” she says.

“I started noticing the true timbre of my voice and what I was best at singing. It proved to be a huge training ground for me and is really where I truly learned to sing.”

Moving Beyond Missouri Emulating eighties hit-makers such as Pat Benatar and Quarterflash kept Sheryl busy, but it wasn’t until she was approached with an opportunity to audition for Michael Jackson that she and her family realized the success that lay ahead for the talented beauty from Kennett.

“I remember my parents sitting there watch-

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ing,” says Sheryl, who sang on Jackson’s Bad tour in the late eighties. “What a monumental place to see your kid, there in an huge arena singing backup for probably one of the most major stars to ever live. I don’t know if they looked at it as a point where they necessarily knew I was definitely going to ‘make it,’ but it was a great place to start.”

After officially making the move to Los Angeles and picking up various back-up singing gigs, Sheryl began playing with the band The Tuesday Music Club and, in 1993, released the multi-platinum album Tuesday Night Music Club, which included the smash hit “All I Wanna Do.” In 1995, she won three Grammys for Best New Artist, Record of the Year, and Best Female Pop Vocal Performance. The Kennett girl was well on her way.

The years that followed provided Sheryl with both personal and professional highlights, ranging from awards to television appearances to sold-out tours. Although stardom overwhelms so many people, Sheryl says it was her Midwestern values that kept her grounded through it all.

“I knew who I was, and I knew the things that I valued as important and the things that I didn’t,” Sheryl says, who has sold more than thirty-five million records worldwide throughout her nineteenyear career. “I mean, I feel like I already knew how to conduct myself at the time and what it meant to be compassionate and community oriented. It was just the way I was raised and who I was in my community.”

“I knew who I was, and I knew the things that I valued as important and the things that I didn't.”

Staying Connected Moreover, the limelight often pulls celebrities further away from the communities in which they were raised, but Sheryl made it a priority to remain active in Kennett. From benefit concerts to funding scholarships to seeing her name on the Sheryl Crow Aquatics Center in town, Sheryl has always been conscious of her roots in Missouri.

However, good deeds mixed with superstar status couldn’t protect Sheryl from life’s cruel realities. She went through failed relationships in the public eye, and a diagnosis of breast cancer in 2006 rocked her to her core.

“When I was diagnosed with breast cancer, I really came to a point where I felt the need to reevaluate and redirect my life,” Sheryl says.

Consequently, she redirected her life by moving to her self-described heaven on earth.

“Moving to Nashville was one of the best decisions I ever made,” she says. “To me, it was the closest thing to how I grew up. It’s a very community and family oriented place, and musically, there is nothing like being surrounded by great songwriters in healthy competition to write great songs. The music that is made here comes so much more naturally to me than being in the pop world. Plus, it’s a great place to raise kids.”

Kids were on her mind. Shortly after moving to Nashville, Sheryl adopted the brightest lights in her life—her sons Wyatt in 2007 and Levi in 2010. “When I adopted the kids, I knew that I had my family’s full support,” she recalls. “I knew that I could not do this by myself. When my son was baptized, my whole family stood with me and has remained there to help me guide them through this life. We are all very much vested in one another.”

Now living just a few short hours from Kennett, Sheryl says she not only loves being able to hop in the car to visit home any time she wants but also finds herself constantly checking in on her family online and on the phone.

“We are a very close family, so yes, Facetime is our friend,” she says, laughing. “My mom was the last person to get technologically involved, but she got an iPhone for her birthday and just now started texting for the first time ever.”

Sheryl remains vested in her hometown, often donating her time and talents to local charities such as the Delta Children’s Home and the Kennett Educational Foundation. “I attribute a lot of my success and happiness in having been raised in a place that surrounded me and all the children in a way that made us feel we could accomplish anything we could put our mind to,” she says. “Not only have I always had

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family and friends back home that have rooted for me through it all, but it’s just strange to me, too, that so many amazing musicians and artists have come from Missouri. I mean, my high school band director was in fact David Nail’s father. Then you have people like Trent Tomlinson and David Sanborn, and the list can go on and on. It’s a great place to be from.”

It’s no surprise, then, the title of her new album is Feels Like Home.

“I would say every single song has a little bit of Missouri in it,” says Sheryl, whose mom, Bernice, still teaches piano in Kennett. “Having grown up there and raised the way I was raised, I pull lots of inspiration from there.”

Going Country It’s that inspiration that has pushed Sheryl into some uncharted territory within her own music. “I had a ton of people asking when I

was going to make a country record, but I did have my trepidations,” she says. “I’ve seen other artists try to make that switch over, and it didn’t seem very authentic. So I didn’t want people to think I was coming over to country to capitalize on that fan base. I try not to think of making a record as making a record because it can feel like pressure, but now that’s it done, I can definitely say that it is some of the best writing and recording I have ever done. I’m really, really proud of it. I hope it does well so people can hear the whole thing, because I think some of the songs that aren’t going to be hits are the ones I love the most.”

Featuring the single “Easy,” Feels Like Home allowed Sheryl to co-write each song with other songwriters and country artists. “I have songs on the album that talk about being a single mom and child rearing and what an

influence my parents have been to me,” says Sheryl, who joined Grammy-winning country singer Brad Paisley in the studio for a song on the new album. “I can’t sing some of these lyrics without thinking about my mom and dad and just how amazing they have always been.”

Sheryl admits to never looking too far ahead into the future, and she says she feels she’s in a wonderful place in her life right now.

“It’s easy to think a singing career is going to look like a magazine picture you saw in Rolling Stone or something when you were growing up, but nothing ever feels the way something looks in your head,” she says quietly.

“Every single day, I can’t believe how blessed I am. I mean, the first people I see every day are these two boys who look at me and call me mommy. That makes my day. Add the fact that I get to make music that people might hear?

Well, that’s just icing on the cake.”

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HER first new single in more than a year might be titled “Slow Me Down,” but don’t take the title literally. It looks as if the Missouri songstress has no intention of slowing down.

“I know the fans have been getting a little antsy, and so have I,” Sara says of her new music. “I’m very excited about the great songs we have been able to assemble, and I can’t wait to reveal a couple of surprises.”

Even if it has been a while since Sara has released an album, it doesn’t mean she hasn’t been working hard. After all, she’s used to it.

“My family and I have always been hard workers,” says Sara of her New Franklin upbringing. “We grew up working on the farm as kids, and it instilled a good work ethic in me and all of my siblings. We lived in a tiny farmhouse, and my two sisters and I all shared one bed through high school. We did not have a lot of money to put it mildly, so we had no choice but to work hard.”

Raised in an environment where hard work was expected and trust was earned, Sara grew up around music, spending her hours singing along with her dad to country groups.“My parents started my brothers on guitar lessons when I was four, and that’s when I started singing with them,” Sara says. “Here I was, five or six years old, working as the lead singer of a band. We started performing all over Missouri, and it was kind of hilarious because the first song I remember singing for my mom was Charlie Rich’s ‘Behind Closed Doors.’ I used to sing all these songs about cheating and hookers and whorehouses. If there were songs that were popular on the radio, we were going to learn and cover them.”

Although Sara admits her early memories of music established the foundation for a sixteenyear career, there were rough patches. “There were times and phases that I went through

when I absolutely despised doing the music,” she recalls. “Weekends were always about performing, so Mondays and Tuesdays were the only days that we had off. So yes, there were times I hated it, especially when I had to miss a slumber party or a school dance because I would have to go to the Eagle’s Lodge to perform a show from nine at night until one in the morning. Yet, at the same time, it trained and prepared me for what I do now.”

With money tight and the country music stars of Nashville feeling very far away, attending a concert in those days was a rare treat for the Evans family. But when they had a chance

“We grew up working on the farm as kids, and it instilled a good work ethic in me.” to see Amy Grant, things looked brighter for a moment. “I remember that I was able to get an Amy Grant poster that I planned to bring home and hang on the wall of our very crowded room,” she says, laughing. “Unfortunately, my sister threw up all over my poster on the way home from the concert. It was classic, and I still remind her of it to this day.”

That kind of lightheartedness helped Sara through an unconventional childhood and made her the figure fans follow today. “My mom and grandma have always been extreme-

BY T R IC I A DE SPR E S

ly funny women,” says Sara, whose Simply Sara webisodes have become a viral hit. “They had this natural country, old-fashioned humor that I was raised on. It definitely helped mask things that were serious. Humor always helped, whether while growing up or while using it as part of my shows to this day. If you can have that natural ability to make people laugh and be witty on the spot, I think it’s a great way to get through life.”

In the nineties, Sara waved goodbye to Missouri, married, and headed to Nashville to pursue a music career. In 1997, she released her debut album, Three Chords and the Truth, to little fanfare, but the album led her in the right direction. The next few years brought her accolades, including the Academy of Country Music’s 2006 Top Female Vocalist Award.

These days, with millions of records sold and chart-topping singles such as “Suds In The Bucket” receiving continual airplay, the forty-one-year-old singer says she is just starting to embark on the life and career she once dreamed about. Plus, Sara is embarking on that career with family by her side; her brother Matt Evans is her band leader on the road and producer in the studio.

However, long after the studio doors close and tour buses pull away, Sara is embarking on the personal life she dreamt of with her husband and children. Celebrating her five years of marriage to former University of Alabama quarterback Jay Barker, Sara is in a great place. Add the couple’s blended family of seven children to the mix, and life on the road can start looking easy in comparison to home.

“It can definitely get stressful keeping everyone’s schedules straight,” she admits.

“When I am at home, it can be hard to spend much time songwriting because all of us are so very busy. I guess my job as mom and

PAINTINGS BY DREW BARTON

Sara Evans puts family before success but has both.

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SONY MUSIC NASHVILLE

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singer is something like a switch I can turn on and off. I can go in my writing room for a while and then go back to being a mom again.”

Sara takes devoting time to her children seriously. “I really talk to my children and encourage them to tell me their feelings, so we can always talk through them,” Sara says. “We have a lot of family meetings with all seven kids, just to see where their hearts are. They have all been through a lot, and we want to make sure that we are a soft place to land for them. Jay and I are always open to hearing whatever they have to say.”

Currently living in Birmingham, Alabama, Sara often compares Missouri with her current home. “I would say people in Alabama and Missouri are fairly similar,” Sara explains. “Alabama is filled with people who are very polite and really focus on etiquette and friendliness. I have found the Midwest friendly and nice and all, but they are definitely a bit more reserved and keep to themselves a bit more. In Alabama, it’s all about yes ma’am and no ma’am.”

Indeed, the backbone of her Missouri family remains important both on the stage and off. “I usually get home two to three times a year,” Sara says. “I’d like to spend more time there, but with living in Alabama and touring, it gets hard. My parents still live in the same house though, so when we go home, we go right back to all the memories. It’s like nothing changes.”

Especially her mom’s cooking.

“When we are home, we basically sit at mom’s and cook around the clock,” she says, laughing. “My absolute favorite is her fried chicken and biscuits and mashed potatoes. It’s so amazing and so fattening. The limit is three days with my mom’s food, and then we’ve got to go.”

And when it comes to takeout?

“We always order Casey’s Pizza,” she says.

“It’s absolutely the best pizza in the world.”

David Nail has people rethinking where music stars are born.

It’s early Monday morning, and life is good for David Nail.

After filming a video in downtown Nashville, David is going to his home outside of Nashville to enjoy some downtime and get used to the fact that he might be on the verge of releasing the best material of his career.

Despite the success, the thirty-four-yearold singer from Kennett can’t get past what just happened.

“I absolutely cannot believe I left my box from Causbie’s Bakery in the fridge back at the hotel,” he gripes while driving home. “It was my birthday this past weekend, and my parents always bring me some treats from home, and I absolutely love Causbie’s Bakery.

I have been starving myself for this video, so I was really looking forward to sitting down and devouring it all. I wonder if I can check back in to get it.”

Although David is now a rising country star, it only takes some goodies from home to remind him how much he misses Missouri.

Growing up in the same town as Sheryl Crow, David was raised around music and even took voice lessons from Sheryl’s mom.

Yet, the choice of pursuing music or going to college was challenging as he not only had a number of baseball scholarship offers, but also encouragement from his music teacher.

“He felt music was what I should be doing,” David recalls, who made a compromise by attending Aquinas College in countrycentric Nashville on a short-lived baseball scholarship. “It was a rough time because I was being tossed between listening to the advice of my music director and listening to all of my friends who were going off to college.

I finally decided that after high school graduation, I would head straight to Nashville to pursue some sort of music career. It quickly didn’t feel right, though. It wasn’t long before

I started missing things like my mom making me breakfast. I knew in my heart that I needed to come back home for a bit longer.”

Accordingly, he left Nashville and went back to Kennett. Two years later, he enrolled in Arkansas State University, but it wasn’t long before Nashville began calling his name again. “I think it just took me a while to get comfortable with who I was and what I wanted to do with my life,” David says. “There was always a little bit of me wondering if I was making the right decision and if this was what the good Lord wanted me to do. Maybe I was a bit more mature the second time around because I just knew that this time it was going to be different.”

And it was. In 2009, David’s debut album spawned Grammy-nominated song “Turning Home,” and his follow-up gave him a number one song on the Hot Country Songs charts. Now, he’s ready to release new music.

“I’m definitely excited for the new record to come out, but I would be lying if I said I wasn’t worried a little bit,” he admits. “Luckily so far, the reaction people are having to the new material is the same reaction I have had. I think all of my records in the past have been a reflection of where I was in life, and this one is going to be no different.”

David’s friends and family in Missouri are joining his excitement for the new material.

“Obviously my family and closest friends are probably a little biased, but my oldest friends in the world who have heard the new stuff seem overly excited about it,” he says, chuckling. “This is my third record and the sixth single I have released, but everyone seems to just have a feeling about this one. I feel very blessed to be surrounded by people who are very close to me and who know firsthand the transformation I have been through the last twelve months.”

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“I think all of my records in the past have been a reflection of where I was in life.”

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The Original Guitar Hero

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Chuck Berry still riffs at eighty-six.

T h e Duc k Ro om, a basement converted into a music club with exposed pipes and red brick walls, is plastered with rustic wooden duck figurines and framed Donald Duck comics. The decorator’s very literal interpretation of the name might seem tacky, but it’s nothing compared to the outfit Chuck Berry shuffles out on stage in—a glimmering blue-sequined shirt, a pair of slacks, and a captain’s hat. But who’s going to tell the eighty-six-year-old father of rock ’n’ roll his clothes look ridiculous? He invented a genre that birthed David Bowie, Björk, and hair metal; he certainly doesn’t care what people think.

“I’m not ashamed; I’ll show you,” Chuck says, gesturing toward his ear after jamming a few slow-walking blues tunes for the 350-person crowd. “I was going to show you my hearing aid,” he says, laughing. It’s understandable a lifetime of rock deteriorated his hearing, but it’s amazing eight decades of life didn’t destroy his wit, sense of humor, or mobility, too.

Time has slowed things down for Chuck Berry, though. The band plays each song a little slower. Each chord change seems like a lifetime. And his picking isn’t what it used to be, exposing influences like T-Bone Walker and Muddy Waters. However, guitar might not have been the iconic instrument of rock if he hadn’t sped it up in the first place.

In the 1950s, most of Chuck’s contemporaries were piano players: Jerry Lee Lewis, Little Richard, and Fats Waller. Even those who played guitar didn’t play it quite like Chuck.

He was the first musician to shred, playing a notch below the Ramones.

Even if his music is now lackadaisical, the fans’ excitement is palpable. When asking for a song suggestion, the crowd immediately erupts, shouting a potpourri of titles from “Roll Over Beethoven” to “School Days.”

Among all the clamoring, the legend’s hearing aid picked up one of the best—his first single, “Maybelline,” released in 1955.

Although born in St. Louis, shows like this have made Chuck Berry a St. Louis institution over the past seventeen years. Ironically, however, he’s taken his residency in the basement of a restaurant named after a ’50s hit that he never recorded, Blueberry Hill.

Longtime friend and Blueberry Hill owner Joe Edwards says the legendary musician decided to start playing there monthly because he wanted to play shows somewhere similar in size to the venues he originally played. Today, the intimate concerts draw people from around the world; Joe says people come from as far as Japan to see Chuck.

“I don’t think Missourians realize how greatly revered Chuck Berry still is around the world,” Joe says.

Even greats like the Beatles recognize Chuck’s legacy. The music press is no exception; Rolling Stone has ranked him among the greatest guitarists, greatest singers, and greatest artists of all time. Although he’s most recognized for guitar work, many see Chuck as more than just a great guitar player. John Lennon said in a 1971 interview with Rolling Stone, “Chuck Berry is one of the all-time great poets, a rock poet you could call him.”

Missourians have a chance to see a legend, and some St. Louis residents aren’t letting it pass by. Thirty-three-year-old teacher Erik Harshman has been attending the Blueberry Hill performances monthly for the past twelve years. He credits Chuck with inventing rock.

A fan of death-metal bands like Six Feet Under and Misery Index, it might be a surprise he is so devoted, but he knows his history.

“They grew up with the result of Chuck Berry,” Erik says of metal bands today.

BY

JONA S

At this point, there’s no telling how long Chuck will keep at it. He turns to his band and asks how much time is left. Forty minutes. He turns back and playfully says, “Forty minutes feels like four days to me.” Then, he immediately plays the song that changed it all: “Johnny B. Goode.” When NASA launched “Johnny B. Goode” into space on the Voyager in 1977, Saturday Night Live joked aliens would say, “Send more Chuck Berry.”

Nearing the end of his set, Chuck invites people on stage. While the stage is congested

“Chuck Berry is one of the alltime great poets, a rock poet you could call him.” with fans, he slowly backs out, continuing playing, leaving the stage through a back door.

No good-bye. No “thanks for coming.” He just leaves without a word.

While classic rock bands he inspired are playing sold-out stadium shows with expensive tickets, Chuck Berry plays small, intimate shows at moderate prices in his hometown.

The Rolling Stones have been playing farewell tours since 1982, but Chuck won’t play a farewell tour at enormous amphitheaters across the world. He won’t make a big deal of his departure. He’ll just quietly exit the way he came in—playing his guitar in St. Louis.

W E I R

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Over the course of its almost two-hundred-year history as a state, Missouri has been a cornerstone of culture, whether people recognize it or not. The Show-Me State has been home to innovators in jazz, country, ragtime, and rock ’n’ roll. From the man who took Hollywood in the name of country to arguably the greatest jazz saxophonist to walk the earth, musicians from this great state have made their mark on history. Here’s a roundup of some of the most influential musical Missourians of all time. –By Jonas Weir

BL I N D BOON E

Born in the twilight of the Civil War, John W. “Blind” Boone had many homes in Missouri including Miami, Columbia, and Warrensburg.

Boone’s nickname was not some sort of clever moniker; he was indeed blind. However, Boone overcame his disability and the racism of the time, and, under the management of John Lange, he became one of the most famous ragtime pianists of his time, touring the country and entertaining crowds with his musical prowess. In the waning

days of ragtime’s popularity and the rise of jazz, Boone gave generously to churches and schools in Columbia, his final home. In 1927 on a trip to visit his brother in Warrensburg, Boone died of a heart attack. The fortune he had made had dwindled to almost nothing, and he was buried in the black section of Columbia’s cemetery in an unmarked grave. Today, Columbia residents are restoring his historic home at 10 North Fourth Street, and Columbia hosts the Blind Boone Ragtime Festival.

Scott Joplin (1867-1917)

S CO T T JOPL IN

Scott Joplin wasn’t born in Missouri, nor did he make it his permanent residency. He did, however, compose some the most influential music ever while living in the state. Although he spent his teens in Sedalia attending Lincoln High School in the 1880s, it was the period when Joplin took music classes at George R. Smith College that he changed the music world, com-

posing and publishing some of his most famous rags. He spent much of his life traveling, but Sedalia will forever be the birthplace of ragtime, a music genre that at its time was considered taboo but was a precursor to jazz and rhythm and blues. Now, Sedalia is home to the Scott Joplin Ragtime Festival and the Scott Joplin International Ragtime Foundation.

Count Basie (1904-1984) No, he didn’t start his career in Kansas City by choice. A touring group stranded the pianist William “Count” Basie there in 1927. He stayed in Kansas City, however, playing in silent-movie theaters and eventually in the Blue Devils and then Bennie Moten’s Kansas City Orchestra. He became the king of swing during his time in Show-Me State. His real rise

CO U N T BA SIE

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to fame came with Moten’s death in 1935; it was then he formed his own group. From the 1940s on to his death in 1984, Basie remained a prominent jazz figure, recording with Frank Sinatra, Ella Fitzgerald, and Sammy Davis Jr. At the very first Grammy Awards ceremony in 1958, Count Basie won Best Jazz Performance.

He was internationally recognized in his time.

MISSOURI STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY; SCOTT JOPLIN INTERNATIONAL RAGTIME FOUNDATION; WILLIAM P. GOTTLIEB

Blind Boone (1864-1927)

[60] MissouriLife

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Seven musical Missourians made their mark on history.

CHARLIE PARKER

Charlie Parker (1920-1955) Nobody ever played the saxophone like the Bird. Charlie Parker pushed the limits of jazz toward the avant-garde in the 1940s. Along with Bud Powell and Dizzy Gillespie, he founded the bebop movement in New York City. Although Charlie Parker rose to prominence in New York and was born on the wrong side of State Line Road, he grew up in Kansas

City and cut his teeth playing in blues and jazz bands in the late 1930s. A heroin addiction cut his life short in 1955, at age 34, but he will forever be remembered as one of the greatest musicians of all time, regardless of genre. A ten-foot bronze bust of Charlie Parker stands at a plaza in the 18th and Vine District of Kansas City that reads “BIRD LIVES.”

Ferlin Husky (1925-2011) Starring in movies such as Country Music Holiday, The Las Vegas Hillbillies, and Hillbillies in a Haunted House, Ferlin Husky might seem like a product of Hollywood, but no doubt, he was a real, songwriting, crooning country man. Born in Cantwell, Ferlin started his career playing honkey-tonks in St. Louis but eventually made his way to

California, where Capitol Records gave him his big break. Husky made his name acting, performing, and penning truck-driving hits such as “Phantom 309,” “Freightliner Fever,” and more. Following his death in 2011, Leadwood, close to where he grew up, memorialized the country star by naming a stretch of Route 8 the Ferlin Husky Highway.

F E R LIN H US K Y

WILLIAM P. GOTTLIEB; CAPITOL RECORDS; LARRY D. MOORE; LEROY VAN DYKE

Porter Wagoner (1927-2007) “Rhinestone Cowboy” may be a Glen Campbell song, but the title might be more appropriate for Porter Wagoner, whose taste for bejeweled, flashy suits was a Southern man’s take on Liberace. Born in West Plains, Wagoner first fell in love with country in the Show-Me State, listening to radio and teaching himself guitar. In 1951, he made his real dive into the music industry by

hosting his own radio show in Springfield. Later that decade, Wagoner soared in popularity when he moved to Nashville and joined the Grand Ole Opry. During his eighty-year life, Porter Wagoner recorded more than twenty-nine top-ten country albums and hosted his own television show. Although he died in Nashville in 2007, Porter Wagoner’s roots were always in the Ozarks.

PORTER WAONER

Leroy Van Dyke (1929- ) Even the most die-hard Leroy Van Dyke fans couldn’t recite the opening lyrics of “The Auctioneer,” and nobody could sing it quite like he could. Born in rural Pettis County, Van Dyke attended MU and graduated with a degree in agriculture. Afterward, he served in the Army during

the Korean War. Upon returning to the United States, Van Dyke worked in Chicago, where he won a talent contest on WGN-TV to get his break.

After being in Nashville for years and joining the Grand Ole Opry, Van Dyke and his wife eventually moved back to Pettis County. He still tours today.

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LEROY VAN DYKE

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The Lou Lifer

A musician’s second, maybe third, act gets better with Bob Reuter’s Alley Ghost.

In 2008, Bob Reuter’s career and life almost ended before his best work. While recovering from quadruple bypass surgery, Mat Wilson, a fan of Bob’s decade-running radio show, Bob’s Scratchy Records, on KDHX in St. Louis, visited the hospital with an offer to record Bob with a cast of talented St. Louis twenty-somethings backing him. It turns out: his taste in gritty, soulful music would change his life.

Since then, Bob Reuter’s Alley Ghost has released two albums, and a musician whose been playing since age thirteen is touring for the first time.

“Most people my age are in bed, watching TV, living their retirement,” Bob declares. “I am so glad I’m not one of them. I love being on the road with these crazy boys.”

Granted, Bob isn’t a musician typically on rising stars lists. He has the talent to write gritty rock ’n’ roll but might have too much experience to be considered an up-and-comer.

The sixty-one-year-old frontman first discovered rock ’n’ roll at age six when Jerry Lee Lewis performed on The Dick Clark Show in 1958.

“He looked insane,” Bob says. “I just thought, ‘He kind of scares me, but, wow, that’s really cool.’

To me, that’s what rock ’n’ roll is all about.”

From then, he was more or less destined to walk the rock ’n’ roll path. In the late 1970s, he fronted an early St. Louis punk band, The Dinosaurs, and eventually settled into writing alternative-country music.

Although Bob now leaves St. Louis regularly to tour, he has only lived outside the city twice, and he’s not ashamed of that.

“I tend to cling to what feels the truest—I guess that’s why I’m still in St. Louis,” Bob wails on “Saint Louis” off Born There. Altogether, it seems there’s nothing wrong with just standing in the Gateway to The West.

PAINTINGS BY ANDREW BARTON; BOB REUTER

Keep your ear to the ground and listen to these three bands.

With two big cities, a handful of college towns, and downhome music in every town across the state, Missouri is rife with aspiring musicians and talented bands. Although these groups aren’t brand new to music, in a few years you’ll be able to say, “I saw them back in 2013.”–By Jonas Weir

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Four Guys from the Ozarks Ha Ha Tonka isn’ t just a state park.

PAINTINGS BY ANDREW BARTON; BLOODSHOT RECORDS; ANDY REHM

The men of Ha Ha Tonka are inherently Southern Missouri. It’s in their music and their name.

“We try to label ourselves as just a rock ’n’ roll band,” lead singer and guitarist Brian Roberts says, “but because we’re from the Ozarks, I think it comes out with tinges of bluegrass or Americana, maybe a little Southern rock.”

Named after the state park on the Lake of the Ozarks, Ha Ha Tonka thought up a name to keep the members’ Missouri roots.

“We called the state park and got permission to use the name, and they were very sweet about it,” Brian says. “Our original intent was whenever we were touring, around the country or around the world, we could always talk about a place located in the Ozarks.”

Before they borrowed their band name, Brian and members Lucas Long and Lennon Bone were childhood friends in West Plains. During high school, the trio decided they wanted to play music. It wasn’t until their college years in Springfield that they met Brett Anderson.

Starting in 2004, the group toured on its own, doing their own booking. That all changed in 2007 when they signed to Bloodshot Records, and their parents started taking their sons’ music career seriously. So did the band, releasing three albums on Bloodshot.

Today, the band has moved beyond Springfield. Brian lives in Santa Barbara, California, and the others are in Kansas City, so the band is based out of Kansas City; most tours start and end there.

With growing success, world tours, and the September release of their most ambitious work yet, Lessons, Ha Ha Tonka remains humble.

“My first dream was to play center for the St. Louis Cardinals,” Brian says, “but when I was thirteen, people started throwing curveballs, and I realized that dream was never going to happen. This dream was number two, and we all feel fortunate to be able to do this.”

Missouri Pride, Nationwide

Columbia’s Hooten Hallers play their version of the blues across the country.

“Ain’t never gonna lose that Missouri pride,” sings guitarist John Randall of the Hooten Hallers in a raspy yet booming voice on “Missouri Boy,” off Greetings from Welp City!

It’s a good thing, too, that the band doesn’t lose sight of its origins because the Hooten Hallers seem to be an unstoppable force on a trajectory for success.

The duo, made up of John and drummer Andy Rehm, play loud, raucous blues-rock that rings true to the original delta sound, only electrified and soaked in bourbon. Originally from the St. Louis suburbs, the two met attending MU. Around 2006, they bonded over music and started playing open mic nights and house parties. Today, however, the two tour nationwide but still call Columbia home.

“It’s a good place to be, right in the middle of the state, a good amount of natural surroundings,” Andy says.

Despite the rigorous touring, which means most of the year on the road, the group might enjoy performing as much as people enjoy watching them. For the Hooten Hallers, each show is an adventure.

“You don’t know whether some guy’s going to throw a beer at you or people are going to love it,” Andy says with a giggle. “Luckily, not many people throw beers at us.”

With plans to try and tour overseas, the downhome blues rockers are writing new music and having more fun than ever playing. They have not only garnered a local following but have also gained national recognition, so there’s no telling what the Hooten Hallers are capable of.

“We’re going to keep going until the wheels fall off,” Andy exclaims.

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ADVERTISEMENT

AWAKEN to Fulton’s rich history with exciting sights and sounds all wrapped up in the warmth of small-town charm, with brick streets, elegant architecture, and 67 buildings on the historic register.

UNWIND at a Missouri top 10-Inn, the historic Loganberry Inn where Margaret Thatcher and other famous guests have stayed.

CONNECT to our history at the newly renovated National Churchill Museum.

This four-million-dollar museum inside a priceless piece of architecture will give you a look back at living history.

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CAPTURE a sense of local history at the Historical Society Museum, or pay your respects at the Missouri Firefighters Memorial.

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Callaway County Fair brings fun with rides, music, food, and events.

SMILE at the offbeat collection at Crane’s Museum in Williamsburg, and before you head out, stop by Marlene’s Restaurant. A pulled-pork sandwich and warm slice of pie will leave you grinning.

REVISIT the 1930s by sharing a shake made with locally made premium ice cream at Sault’s authentic soda fountain.

Backer Auto World Museum displays an impressive collection of 84 historic automobiles in Hollywood-style sets.

[12] MissouriLife MissouriLife [64]

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7/5/13 11:47 AM

ADVERTISEMENT Wonderful breakfasts and romantic accommodations await you at Loganberry Inn B&B.

Calendar of Events Callaway County Fair

July 30 to August 3 Callaway County Fair Grounds, Route C fair events, tractor pull, demolition derby, and livestock events 573-220-2752 callawaycountyfair.com

Bluegrass & BBQ

September 8, Noon - 6  600 East Fifth Street Five groups performing and great food $5 per person 16 and under free with adults 573-642-7523 Check us out on facebook!

35th Annual Hatton Craft Festival October 5, 9  - 4  Throughout Hatton 175+ exhibitors with handmade items for sale including dolls, hand-painted china, paintings, pillows, wooden toys, florals, seasonal items, and more.

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Crane’s 4,000-square-foot museum is a one-of-akind viewing experience featuring rural Missouri history dating back to the 1800s.

Enjoy outstanding food and wine in historic Fulton.

Come tour our seven historic Civil War sites on the Gray Ghosts Trail!

www.callawaycivilwar.org www.mocivilwar.org

Savor a Brown Cow at Sault’s authentic soda fountain.

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For your next getaway or family vacation, visit Fulton and Callaway County.

For more information and calendar of events, visit www.visitfulton.com or call 573-642-3055.

7/3/13 10:19 AM

Kenn—eTT BE TRUE? Follow the footprints of a Missouri bootheel town's transformation.

TWO CENTURIES AGO,

you wouldn’t recognize Kennett, Missouri. But things changed, threading the theme that would eventually dominate Kennett’s history. The southeast Missouri farming city should not be what it is today—which is precisely where the city draws its charm.

First, Kennett wasn’t called “Kennett.” Named Chilletecaux in the 1840s to honor a hospitable local Delaware chief, the name proved too difficult to pronounce. Linguists at the Delaware Tribe in Bartlesville, Oklahoma, suggest the name might have originally been spelled Shìlëtihka and pronounced “shee-lah-TI-kah.”

People who could not pronounce Chilletecaux renamed the place Butler. “Butler” slipped easily off the tongue because Butler County already existed. The county intercepted the city’s mail, and vice versa. So Butler reincarnated once more, becoming Kennett in 1851 to honor St. Louis Mayor Luther M. Kennett. Thrice christened, Kennett had achieved its second reinvention. The first had come decades earlier.

In 1818, Missouri Territory petitioned for statehood. Prominent Arkansas Territory landowners below the southeast border were concerned that they might sever strong social and financial ties to their Missouri neighbors. The landowners, including Col. John Hardiman Walker, beseeched powerful Washington friends to amend the statehood bill to include their land. Missouri’s slavery debate stalled the bill and gave friends time to curry favor and turn the landowners’ tracts into today’s fashionable heel shape.

But Kennett’s next physical change involved water. Well, a lot less water.

At the time of statehood, Kennett belonged to “Swamp-east” Missouri, a region of barely farmable marshland Etch-A-Sketched by the hazardous New Madrid quakes of 1811 and 1812. Mary F. Smyth-Davis explains in History of Dunklin County, Mo., 1845-1895: “Streams were turned from their channels or dried up; hills, forests, and plains disappeared; and lakes, one of which, Reelfoot Lake, sixty or seventy miles in length, and from three to twenty in breadth, were formed.” Mary estimates the county sank fifteen to twenty feet.

BY SARAH ALBAN

Kennett was steeped in water for more than a century. Farmers who drained their land saw the water return. Then in 1914, construction began on the nation’s largest drainage district. Workers dug nearly one thousand miles of ditches and built more than three hundred miles of levees. The country’s top engineers, including one who had worked on the Panama Canal, reviewed the Bootheel drainage plans—a smart move considering the construction would displace more earth than had been moved for the Panama Canal.

For eleven-million dollars, the bootheel saw return on the investment.

Between 1910 and 1950, total crop value in Dunklin County shot up by 465 percent, based on census estimates. In the same span, more than a hundred Missouri counties registered negative total crop-value growth. Today, Dunklin County reigns as the state’s top producer of cotton, watermelon, and cantaloupes.

But in Kennett, Dunklin County’s seat, there’s one crop unmatched elsewhere in the county—raw talent.

NATIONAL FAME, HOME-GROWN TALENT

Kennett’s rich farmland might make the area flatter than other parts of Missouri, but its talent is anything but. Just ask veteran vocal instructor Viretta Sexton about the town’s unusually ripe crop of musicians and artists.

“Kennett has always had, or at least as far back as the fifties, has had this incredible support of the arts.” Viretta’s voice has found a crescendo.

“I don’t know how that happened. It just happened.”

One hundred miles north of Memphis, Tennessee, Kennett has produced what some call the “Big Three”: Billboard charters Sheryl Crow, David Nail, and Trent Tomlinson.

Then, there are the success stories you haven’t heard of (yet): Doug Howard, a music-industry leader who discovered Rascal Flatts shortly after he was named among Nashville Business Journal’s “Forty Under Forty” in 1996; Limmie Pulliam, an international touring opera singer and top winner in the 2012 National Opera Association vocal competition; and Joshua Pemberton, a New England stage actor and 2010 nomi-

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANDREW BARTON [66] MissouriLife

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The Dunklin County Museum details Kennett's tumultuous but resilient history.

At Kennett Memorial Airport,

volunteers secure low fuel prices from refineries for anyone who might land in town.

When the Kennett Palace cinema closed three years

A shoe model and his wife,

ago, two locals revived the

both little people, claim two of

town's only theater.

the tallest tombstones in the

SARAH ALBAN

Hornersville Cemetery.

Causbie's Bakery has quite the reputation in and out of state. The homemade strawberry cakes and glazed donuts are stand-outs.

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Young Kennett writers reflect on 9/11.

DARLENE ROBERTSON’S first-graders

In fall of 2002, September 12th: We

had warmed to her by January 2002.

Knew Everything Would Be All Right

That was enough time to develop a

was published, and Darlene’s class

love for stories and Mrs. Robertson's

won the Scholastic Kids Are Authors

game: After reading a book, the eigh-

contest. “They said it was the only one

teen students would devise how the

out of thousands of entries that cen-

writer could have made the story more

tered on something positive,” Darlene

exciting. When story time concluded,

says. “We’ve been told it’s a children’s

the budding writers shouted the op-

book with an adult meaning.”

posite of what most other first-grade classes might say: “NOT the end.”

After September 11, 2001, the students, armed with crayon, illustrated and wrote a book. Darlene was so proud, she sent it to Scholastic.

Letter from the President

The students received letters from around the world, including two on White House stationery from George and Laura Bush.

The last page, of course, reads, “NOT the end.”

LITTLE PEOPLE, TALLEST GRAVES

Nothing—the favorite, sometimes mirthfully delivered response of a resident whom you ask, “Anything I shouldn’t miss?”

You might be challenged to eke out a response that doesn’t send you outside the city or state. Residents could send you to Hornersville, about a mile down a gravel road, to see the towering tombstone of little person William “Major” Ray, the Buster Brown shoe model. He and his wife, also a little person, have two of the tallest graves in the yard.

Residents could also send you to Paragould, Arkansas, for the movie theater. The shuttered Kennett Palace cinema closed three years ago, though it’s being renovated by Jill Mobley and Glenda Jain—not because they know anything about theaters, but because three years ago, Jill’s son exclaimed, “Oh no! There’s nothing to do in Kennett!” after reading about the cinema closing in the newspaper. Jill says, “He let out this anguished cry.”

His cry betrayed how unfamiliar he was with Kennett’s history and the past misfortunes that could have tainted the town today.

In fact, the city boasts plenty of diversions. The sprawling greens of a brand-new, semi-private eighteen-hole golf course are off Route 412.

Country Club Board President Jonathan Mays recommends golfers come on a weekday to avoid crowds.

Each spring, Kennett hosts the Show-Me State Championship BBQ Cookoff, too. “We’re kind of barbecue snobs,” Meg says.

Kennett’s barbecue comes dry-rubbed and packed with tastebud pleasers such as vinegar. When asked to name the one place he has to visit while back home, David Nail writes, “Bill’s BBQ, Strawberry’s BBQ, and Chubby’s BBQ.” Obviously, David likes barbecue. Only one of those, Bill’s,

SARAH ALBAN

NOT THE END

nee of the Independent Reviewers of New England award.

Viretta is the person to whom Bernice Crow, Sheryl’s mom, will direct you if asked, “Whom shall I see about music in Kennett?” Viretta and Bernice, both private music instructors, credit the city’s uncanny cultivation of talent to a density of youth programs, private instructors, festival performances, classical training in voice mechanics, and prolific encouragement for young people to perform. But neither woman can tell you how to make a rock icon.

“That’s really foreign to me,” Bernice says, laughing, “although you might think it wouldn’t be.”

Meg Benson says the musical training comes from Kennett’s mentors—but the talent comes from within. “We’ve thought about running an ad here,” Meg says. “ ‘There’s Something In The Water.’ ” Kennett’s musicians come back to stoke the musical embers that ignited their careers. It seems like every December 23, Sheryl is with her sisters, opera singer Limmie Pulliam, and about three hundred other singers and non singers working through Handel’s “Hallelujah Chorus” on the courthouse steps.

Viretta orchestrated the first courthouse chorus three years ago after seeing flash mobs on YouTube. “And all of these people for the past three years have been there,” she says.

Singing starts at 5:30 PM. If you arrive early, don’t ask around for diversions. People in Kennett might tell you there’s ... nothing.

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is actually in Kennett, and a basic sandwich there is $2.75 with tax.

And then, there’s dessert.

Jean Causbie’s husband started Causbie’s Bakery sixty-three years ago.

He retired, but Jean continues his recipes. She’d get complaints if she didn’t. Online reviewers from nine states rave about the icebox cookies, glazed and filled donuts, and, most of all, strawberry cake. The unlabeled round of dense pink cake packaged in clear wrap beckoning from behind a glass case? Fifteen dollars and some change. If you’re alone, a K-shaped cookie will cost under a buck.

Plane fuel comes cheap, too. Pilots arrive from coast to coast to fuel up at the Kennett Memorial Airport, where a seven-member volunteer board of pilots calls refineries nonstop to ensure the city’s sixteen-thousand-gallon inventory stays stocked at low prices, which they pass on to plane owners.

Whether by plane, train, or automobile, visit during a festival. The real draws are the Delta Fair in late September and RiverFest in April.

For hunters, waterfowl season lasts from Thanksgiving to mid-January. You might see seas of geese and ducks, mid-migration, feasting on the flooded rice fields north of town. “You look out on the fields, and they look like snow,” says Sue New, with the Chamber of Commerce.

Fishers can catch bass, bluegill, catfish, and crappie at Jerry P. Combs Lake, a couple miles east of town by the golf course.

If you want to enjoy nature without putting it on your plate, try the Ben Cash Memorial Conservation Area, which perches on the shoulders of Arkansas several miles southwest of town, and sample the pockets of hardwood swamps.

Visit the Dunklin County Museum, a former 1903 courthouse on the National Historic Register, for more history. Before the museum moved in, the building needed some sprucing up, and rennovations have beautified the already top-notch museum.

Hours are Wednesday from 1 to 5 PM. But if you want to pop in another time, call the museum’s curator Sandy Brown at home, and she’ll open up shop. You need not be a group.

The

Delta Fair

FESTIVITIES April: Show-Me State Championship BBQ Cookoff May: 100-mile Yard Sale September: Fall into Arts Festival and Chili Cook-off December: Adelphian Christmas Bazaar and Christmas Parade

MUSIC IN KENNETT Delta Fair: The last weekend of September RiverFest: April “Hallelujah Chorus”: December 23, 5:30 p.m.

SARAH ALBAN

FAITHFUL PEOPLE, ENDURING HOPE

Music on the Square: Summer

In Kennett, strangers are fussed over. Everyone matters. The attempt to bring others comfort goes unquestioned. When two Quebec pilots landed at the airport, Meg and Sue brought over some donuts.

Three years ago, Sheryl Crow donated an aquatic center to the city.

“She didn’t cut any corners,” says Metz Skelton, a seventy-seven-yearold city engineer.

Metz says the city leveraged her five-hundred-thousand-dollar donation to apply for more funding through grants, and today, Kennett is renovating its downtown by adding new sidewalks and updating buildings.

“I talk about Kennett; I gush about it; I’d do anything in the world to help Kennett,” Metz says. “I’ll give my time and my men or whatever.”

But Metz fears for Kennett’s future. The empty storefronts bother him.

He hopes they draw businesses. “I really don’t know if they’re going to come there or not,” he says. “I always feel that they won’t. But I hope I’m wrong. You know? I really hope I’m wrong.”

KENNETT CUISINE Alford’s BBQ: 1009 St. Francis St. (open seasonally) Bill’s BBQ: 700 St. Francis St. Causbie’s Bakery: 212 Kennett St. The Grecian: 1108 South Bypass Chubby’s BBQ: located in Hayti, eighteen miles east Strawberry’s BBQ: located in Holcomb, thirteen miles north

SERVICE INFORMATION Sandy Brown, Dunklin County Museum: 573-888-3659

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MI S S IS S IPPI

River Rats

Meet the people who form the currents of Missouri’s flourishing river culture.

– BY KELLY MOFFITT – – PHOTOS BY KEVIN MANNING – [70] MissouriLife

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The Clark Bridge, named after explorer William Clark, traverses the Mississippi between West Alton, Missouri, and Alton, Illinois.

A dredging project here created beaches and attracted visitors.

A CERTAIN type of raw, pragmatic charm makes someone a through-andthrough Mississippi river rat. There’s a certain amount of muddy river-water running through their veins, too. Tightknit, in some cases close-lipped, and rooted in a connection to the swiftly moving waters of the third biggest river in the world, true river rats take pride in their moniker.

They’re scattered around Missouri; you just don’t know it yet because

they’re not the kind to tell you about it.

A Mississippi river rat can be someone skiing on the surf, someone sunning on the beaches, someone fishing on the banks, someone young, or someone old.

There are many kinds of river rats, and indeed, the habits of each change depending on the geography and location.

Deep respect for the river, however, is paramount across all strains of those who make the river their parttime home.

“I know to respect the river,” says Denise Knight, secretary, daughter of coowner, and sometimes-deckhand of the Golden Eagle Ferry. “It can be dangerous. You know to respect it ...

“The Mighty Mississippi, what else can I say? Long as you’re careful and understand that things change every day.

Some days you have flooding and high water, and you’ve always got to be careful on the river. She’ll treat you good if you respect her.”

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A NAT O M Y O F T HE R I V ER The area of the Mississippi known colloquially as the “high-lines” is named for the large electrical lines that run high above the river from St. Charles County in Missouri to the very long peninsula of Calhoun County in Illinois.

Bounded by Lock and Dam No. 25 to the north at mile marker 241.4 at Winfield, Missouri, and Lock and Dam No. 26 at mile marker 202.5 at Alton, Illinois, this area is also known as Pool 26 to those who navigate the waters, be it by ferry, barge, fishing boat, kayak, or speed boat. It is a relatively small subsection of the Upper Mississippi River (the river north of its confluence with the Missouri River near St. Louis), which is about half of the 2,320-mile river.

The scenery ranges from white limestone bluffs to rolling farms to dense hardwood forest. Islands break up the main channel into shaded sloughs and swimming holes. Brown, coarse sand lines the banks, in some places more heavily than others, places where the Army Corps of Engineers has dredged the river channel for commercial use, incidentally creating beaches where the river community can gather on land.

The river itself is wide, almost a mile across in some places, and muddy—not muddy as in environmentally dirty, but rather imbued with natural clutter—twigs, logs, leaves. To the attuned nose, the water smells of an earthy sweetness. Depending on the day, you could jump into strong, cold currents or buttery-smooth waters.

“It has gotten better with time,” says Erin Hilligoss-Volkmann, park ranger, natural resource specialist, and environmental educator with the Army Corps of Engineers. “I wonder if we take the river for granted because it is right here in our backyard. Kids don’t even go out on it because their parents tell them it’s muddy or dirty or unsafe.”

Although this may have been the case in the early days of recreational speedboating, laws such as the Clean Water Act of 1972 protect the river. The U.S. Coast Guard and other regulatory bodies patrol to keep the waters safe. With proper precaution (always wearing a life jacket, avoiding barge traffic, and taking classes on how to navigate the river) the Mississippi could be seen as just as safe as many of the area lakes.

THE GOLDEN EAGLE FERRY

You don’t need a boat to be a part of the high-lines ON THE GOLDEN EAGLE FERRY,

all do maintenance; it’s family

For eight dollars one way or

work on the river is inseparable

business at its best,” Denise says.

fifteen dollars both ways, you

from family fun on the river. “We

Denise’s father and uncle

can ride the ferry across the wa-

started working on the ferries

started the Winfield Ferry in

ter out to the scenic rolling hills

when were very young” says

1973 and didn’t buy the Golden

of Calhoun County. The ferry op-

Denise Knight, secretary to the

Eagle Ferry until 1997. At that

erates all year.

ferry. “We didn’t see it as a job;

point, the ferry was still a slow,

we saw it as fun.” She is also the

old

which

end of Golden Eagle Ferry Road

daughter of Stephen Baalman

made ferry commutes to Mis-

to the right off of Route B in St.

and niece to Vincent Baalman,

souri difficult, especially those

Charles. The hours of operation

co-owners of the Calhoun Ferry

in winter, for the citizens on the

are: Monday through Thursday 5

Company. Her brothers and

peninsula of Calhoun County,

am to 9 pm, Friday through Sat-

cousins are pilots on the ferry,

Illinois. In 1998, the family pur-

urday 5 am to 2 am, and Sunday

but that doesn’t mean that no

chased and converted the boat,

8 am to 9 pm. For more informa-

one does the dirty work.

ditching the paddle wheel for

tion call 618-535-5759 or visit

more power.

calhounferrycompany.com.

“We’re all deckhands, and we

paddle-wheeler,

WAT ER CULT UR E The Mississippi is beautiful in her sheer power—the river’s average flow rate is five-hundred-thousand cubic feet per second. To many, trying to tame her waters seems foolhardy. This is hardly the case.

People who chart her waters have a deference to them, deference with a touch of defiance. People have enjoyed the Mississippi’s bounties for more than a thousand years.

In fact, people of the middle Mississippian era (1200-1400 AD), the same people who

You can find the ferry at the

created Cahokia Mounds, called the highlines area home.

From canoes to Mark Twain-era steamboats, people have fished and traveled her waters. It wasn’t until the early 1940s that recreation as it is known today emerged on the Mississippi.

In a sense, the locks and dams that were constructed after 1939 tamed the river’s natural, wild course, making it more navigable for barges, and later, as the invention of the consumer motorboat advanced, for recreationists to enjoy the river.

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A 1951 flood threatened Portage Des Sioux, Missouri. The local parish prayed to the Virgin Mary for protection from the rising waters. The town was mostly spared, and the Our Lady of the Rivers Shrine was dedicated in 1957.

T H E F IR S T WAV E Jack Backowski can’t put a finger on when his family discovered the river; it seemed to him like he always knew the river was there for the taking. As a boy growing up in St. Louis’s University City, Jack and his father would drive up to the banks of the upper Mississippi and wade along the shore.

“When my parents were married, it was hard times; they didn’t have no boats,” he says. “In fact, I remember my dad had but one old car. When I was little, my dad and I would get in the car and go fishing up on the river.”

By the 1960s, times had changed. Jack estimates that seven other families in his Florissant neighborhood had recreational boats on the Mississippi. His first boating experience out on the river was a little bumpier than most: “Where I first started learning to ski on two skis, a guy just took me up to the river, and he pulled me around and about killed me,” he says. “ ‘I’m gonna teach you how to ski!’ I never did get up with him. He drug me and drug me and drug me, and I never got up. After that, we got the boat, had to. Learned to ski then.”

Jack ended up skiing into his eighties after buying his first boat for about one thousand dollars. He now owns three boats: a twentyfoot Glaspar, a sailboat, and fishing boat.

Back then, boating was a neighborhood affair. Families that didn’t mingle on the block found friendship on the neighborhood sandbar where Jack, his wife, Lorraine, and their seven children would go every weekend.

Mom would pack picnic lunches and get the kids into the car. Dad was the captain of his ship. And the kids? They were a onefamily ski team. Jack recalls them all skiing slalom at once—doing tricks under the ropes, jumping over the wakes, and splashing each other.

It wasn’t uncommon to see other families out there doing the same thing, trying to outdo one another. The show was especially impressive at skier’s slough, a narrow strip of water right next to the high-lines where slalom skiers could ski through narrow waterways with an astute speedboat driver at the wheel. Jack recalls that two of his daughters could ski for eighteen miles straight.

Jack’s fondest memories, however, are of romantic nights spent camping with his wife

For many, a love of boating and water sports is passed from generation to generation. Jack Backowski is no exception. He shared his love of the river with his late wife and children.

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Friendship swells on the river, especially for Sharon Kastan (left) and Kate Quaka (right).

while anchored to a sandbar, watching the stars. “We would count the days until we could go back,” Jack says.

Lorraine died in 2004, and Jack still captains his boat on the Mississippi.

“I miss those days, being out on the river,” Jack says. “The river is just a friendlier place to be.”

T HE T R ANS I T IO N Events like the annual Blessing of the Fleet in Portage des Sioux, Missouri, where boats are baptized for the boating season, and institutions such as Kinder’s Restaurant and the Golden Eagle Ferry tie generations of boaters together in the high-lines area of the Mississippi. Area marinas—Woodlake, Lake Center, Surfside—are also among those institutions.

Andrew (Andy) Alexander is the manager of the Yacht Club of St. Louis, one of the marinas on the Dardenne Slough, a narrower backwater bend of the Mississippi.

His family has seen some of the ups and downs of the river since they bought the Andrew Alexander, a St. Louis yacht club manager, has been on the river since his family bought a marina in 1982.

The river is popular among water skiers and boaters. Competitive teams offer an outlet for those looking to test their skills.

clubhouse and marina in 1982 from the Busch and Schnuck families.

They survived the great flood of ’93 (another great link of all river rats) when the water rose to the roof of their current clubhouse, and they thrived even as times have changed.

More youth frequent the river, and smaller boats populate the riverway.

“I think that boating, though, as a whole, the love of boating gets passed on from generation to generation,” Andy says.

Andy explains that there aren’t many differences between generations of boaters, but there are different kinds of boaters. For instance, he differentiates between weekend boaters, who like to party on the sandbars, and boat-lovers who venture out on the weekdays, rarely stopping on sandbars. His advice for new boaters is this: “If you don’t know what to do at a certain area of the river, wait for someone to go before you and follow his or her moves.”

One of his favorite places to boat is an area known as Tube Ranch, which has a sand bottom and is only three to four feet deep in most places. That means you can anchor your boat and walk around. “It’s like having the tropics in your backyard,” Andy says.

“A lot of people don’t know that about the river—it’s a good family thing to do,” Andy says. “There are beaches out there that people don’t know about.

“I think the whole boating lifestyle is a good family-oriented fit. You have to have a passion for it, though, because there will be ups and downs.”

T HE NE W B R E E D Sarah Pierce is an example of a newer Mississippi river rat who is still getting her bearings in the Big Muddy. She’s a member of the reinvigorated Alton Ski Club, which has been around for decades but was only recently reinstated as a competitive club.

She has been waterskiing since she was five, though not in the Mississippi for most of that time.

A member of the Holiday Shore Ski Club in Illinois, she was lured into the Mississippi’s waters when several of the team members decided they wanted more competition. That’s when the Alton Ski Club came in, a growing competitive force with thirty-odd members, several of whom are her family members.

Her mom is a spotter for team formations, her dad drives the competition boat, and her sister competes alongside her.

Sarah is the assistant show director and is in charge of the choreography for tournaments. The team’s newcomer status with many emerging talent levels can make competition difficult, but she has seen improvement during the year.

Sarah hasn’t learned all the ins-and-outs of the river yet, but she’s on her way to becoming a river rat. After all, she came out victorious after a traditional river battle.

“You do have to watch for logs,” she says. “I fell after running over one; that was a scary part.”

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In addition to the many diverse bird species, the upper Mississippi is host to more than fifty mammal species and at least 145 species of amphibians and reptiles.

KINDER’S RESTAURANT

Get a slice of river life

E V ERYONE TO GET HER One of the great things about the high-lines area of the Mississippi is that differences in age, interests, and skill level can all be swept away as quickly as a sandbar can be dredged up. The most indicative place this river culture custom occurs is where Jack Backowski and his family frequented in the 1970s: the sandbar. And people say the Midwest doesn’t have beaches.

The Kastans, the Kachs, and a few acquaintances who have come along for the sit-back-and-relax atmosphere of the sandbar are unlikely friends. They have little in common outside of the river, but on the sandbar, they have a running narrative. They share easy jokes about bruises obtained from an unsuccessful fight with a rock hidden in the sandbar’s muddy banks and the time when they forgot the sunscreen but remembered the booze. They’re the happiest kind of sun-fried, Budweisers in hand.

They’re either friends with or friendly to everyone on the beach—even intruders and curious strangers—and are ready to share the day’s vittles and tall tales.

“I’m a Pisces; I’m a water baby,” says Kevin Kastan, who has had a boat out on the river for the past three years. “It’s beautiful out here, a great party. There are beaches everywhere, it is like your own private island with really neat people. You don’t step on my boat without asking, though.”

“We call it the Riviera out here,” says Kate Quaka, a friend of Kevin’s wife, Sharon. She’s been out to the river three or four times but

FOR THE AREA’S most popular wa-

Named after Oliver Kinder, the

they didn’t like the schnapps.”

tering hole, “On and sometimes in

bar’s second owner, Kinder’s was

You can still find peppermint

the Mississippi” is the tagline and

once known as the “bar next to the

schnapps on Kinder’s menu and

the short version of a story that

Cottonwood tree” on the Illinois

get a taste of the river lifestyle.

echoes across this part of the river.

banks of the Mississippi. One of

Boaters dock their boats and come

Kinder’s is a landmark institu-

Carol’s most poignant memories

in from a day on the water, ready to

tion because it survived floods and

of the restaurant is of her late

eat, share stories, and commiserate

droughts and serves some of the

father who would clean Kinder’s

about their experiences during the

most delicious homemade pies and

on Sunday mornings. “He would

flood of 1993. Their stories can’t re-

catfish fritters for hungry boaters.

come in, clean for awhile, and

ally top Kinder’s, though, because

For Carol Rose, one of the current

then pour himself a pepper-

the room in which they tell those

owners, making those pies is her

mint schnapps on the rocks,”

tales used to be half-filled with

favorite part of the job because

Carol says. “Then he’d pour a

river water.

she’s carrying on a tradition that

few more and take them in to

Kinder’s Restaurant is open

her mother and grandma cultivat-

the ladies in the kitchen. They

daily, except duirng the icy winter

ed. The bar-turned-restaurant has

looked forward to that every

months. For more information,

been family-owned for decades.

Sunday morning even though

visit www.kindersrestaurant.net.

can’t believe that other St. Louisans know nothing about it.

“Everyone helps everyone,” Kevin says.

“On busy weekends, everyone’s out here. It’ll get so crowded you can’t drive a boat. But people, they’ll see you’re stuck and want to get out, and they’ll walk you out by hand.”

One of those people is lifelong river rat, Sharon Kach, a river friend of the Kastans.

She’s the one to meet, according to general consensus, and proves herself a true river rat when, after introductions go by, she says, “Now you aren’t planning to tell anyone about this little piece of paradise, now are you? I don’t want my paradise to get ruined!”

Sharon’s been coming out here since she was thirteen—when her parents had a thirty-foot cruis-

er named Happy Hour. She and her husband now own their own boat, aptly named Our Time.

“We’re die-hard boaters; nothing will stop us,” Sharon says. “We come out here starting on Easter and stay out until November. When boating season comes around, whatever hasn’t gotten done isn’t going to get done. Not spring cleaning. Nothing.”

Sharon loves both the uncrowded way the river used to be and also the fun inter-generational atmosphere it now boasts.

Her family had pig roasts on the beach in August. “A gazillion people would come and help bury the pig in the sand,” Sharon says.

She says you can’t really help but to meet people when you’re on the sandbar. “When you grow up here; you have a good childhood here,” she says. “You want to pass it along.”

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By Sarah Alban

a SLAM dunk TWO YEARS AGO,

the St. Louis Art Museum (SLAM) faced a tight dilemma: A nearly

An Invisible Building

eleven-foot crate holding a limestone crocodile, part of a traveling Mayan exhibition, had to make its

Award-winning British architect David Chipperfield designed the East Building to mesh with Cass Gilbert’s 1904 structure. David was chosen unanimously by the museum board from a list of 120 architects. He provided nine different expansion options—before he was hired.

David’s East Building does not compete with Gilbert’s iconic Main Building, memorable to many as a focal point of the 1904 World’s Fair.

But they complement each other: the old icon of the twentieth centu-

way inside the museum. Staff had to shut down Fine Arts Drive and, somehow, squeeze the stone beast through the narrow front doors. And that was only part of the croc, says Amy Clark, research assistant.

Before the expansion, everything from art to artichokes had to pass through those doors. Museum director Brent Benjamin says the museum had an obligation to enrich visitors’ experiences and remove the eyesores that past moves often created. He wanted to keep the behind-the-scenes equipment behind the scenes. “They’re not here to see the two-by-fours,” he says.

They no longer do. The $130-million expansion, called the East Building, adds an art dock, an underground parking lot, and about 30 percent more space to SLAM. Yet the building is so innovatively designed and organically connected to the old 1904 Main Building that most visitors might not notice the brilliance of its blueprints (which, incidentally, span three volumes, several inches thick).

COURTESY ST. LOUIS ART MUSEUM

St. Louis Art Museum scores a sleek modern expansion

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Ten-foot tall limestone arches fill the courtyard near the underground garage. Here, Andy Goldsworthy works on one of the sculpture’s twenty-five arches.

COURTESY ST. LOUIS ART MUSEUM

Designed by architect David Chipperfield, the new East Building was built to be unobtrusive and mesh with the original building, giving it an almost invisible presence.

ry and its new, unobtrusive sidekick from the twenty-first century.

LEED-certified (meaning the U.S. government considers the building innovatively green), the East Building champions sustainability through such features as smart drapes, ample landscaping, retention ponds, and ventilation efficiency.

Yet David’s building is something of an anti-building. It comes as close to being invisible as any structure might. Its strong black concrete panels, which mix in Missouri River aggregates for a refined gleam, contrast darkly

with the lighter, more ornate Gilbert facades, based on the Roman Baths of Caracalla. The East Building is short compared to the Main Building.

Inside, David’s structure tiptoes around its visitors like a butler, catering to their needs and the needs of the artwork without soliciting appreciation.

“It’s not easy to make something so simple,” says Roger McFarland of St. Louis-based HOK, the architecture firm that helped design the East Building.

Its shades creep up and down, thanks to a computer system

that reads sunlight and automatically pulls or releases translucent and solid shades, rendering light perfect for the preservation of art and visitors alike. Walls running north-south are fixed, but those running east-west can

move to accommodate a variety of exhibition sizes. Steel vents running parallel to white-oak floor panels draw low-velocity cool air into the galleries, creating a natural flow without disturbing artwork.

Unlike Cass Gilbert’s ornate facades on the Main Building, the addition was designed to be unseen.

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The Belly of SLAM The garage delivers visitors to a lower level lined on the left with heavy objects taken from demolished Louis Sullivan, Frank Lloyd Wright, and George Grant Elmslie buildings. A cast-iron parking ventilation grate hangs upright, repurposed as a rose window.

On the right side, windows offer a view into a courtyard. This gravel-ground courtyard holds Stone Sea, a commissioned, permanent sculpture comprised of twenty-five limestone arches, each ten feet tall.

Sculptor Andy Goldsworthy oversaw the quarrying of 325 tons of limestone from Earthworks Quarry in Perryville before building the structures. With a crew of a halfdozen, Andy installed the arches in three two-week blocks.

“It was a living installation,” says Assistant Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Tricia Paik. Visitors often returned to watch Andy work. One Memphis boy visited so often that Andy befriended him.

The archetypal shapes serve as the first clue to the East Building’s union of old and new. The arches

The north side of the new East Building created homes for exhibits that had not been displayed for decades.

sit between David’s and Gilbert’s buildings, undulating until they disappear into the walls of the old and new facades. The beached limestone represents, ostensibly, the 1960s gateway construction, but more quietly, the stones recall the waves of an ancient sea that once covered the Midwest and the ancient limestone bed on which St. Louis sits.

The arches have three vantage points: beside, under, and above.

Take the garage walkway for the side view, but also get on a courtyard tour to see them up close. Tour slots are limited for safety reasons (there’s just one courtyard door, which creates a fire hazard), but inside, you can let the curators worry about safety while releasing your inner-childishness and exploring the sparkling, rough limestone.

On this level, too, the cuisinecurious can eat at a new sixty-seat café while the culture-curious can explore an exhibition of Islamic art.

“Even ones in the British Museum are not this fine,” Associate Curator of Asian Art Philip Hu says of a gold and silver washing basin

from the Egyptian Mamluck period (about mid-fourteenth century).

Like most of the metal, textile, and other Islamic artworks here, the basin was actually once used in daily life. Among the world’s finest, this one serves as a focal point for the Islamic exhibition.

The East Building’s Jack Hall holds the bulk of new galleries, displaying mostly modern and contemporary pieces. Check your coat or umbrella here, dine at the 2,500-square-foot Panorama, and begin touring some twenty-one new galleries.

“There are many paths our visitors can take,” Tricia says. Most paths tell the tales of modern history through clever displays of postwar art.

Telling Stories For years, curators at SLAM have been devouring a database of thirty-three thousand artworks and stealing away to the museum’s storage area to recollect the meaning of the SLAM collection and to rethink the presentation of the pieces.

“This [expansion] really allowed us to consider the strength of our collection in new ways,” Tricia says.

Each gallery in the East Building tells a story.

The expansion allows for the museum’s inaugural display of an unmatched, world-class collection of German postwar art. Due to stigma following World War II, many art collectors steered clear of German art, which sometimes featured Nazi helmets and other sensitive subjects. Meanwhile, SLAM did the opposite, throwing funds into collecting paintings steeped in modern historic meaning.

Spurred by a large donation of German postwar paintings in the 1980s, the museum now holds one of the finest collections of such art. Originally, the works were confined to the crammed quarters of the main building.

After the completion of the addition, never has so much of the collection been on display at once.

If you move from each exhibit in the nearby minimalist gallery,

COURTESY ST. LOUIS ART MUSEUM

The best way to experience these additions, according to Roger, is to start in the underground garage. Parking costs fifteen dollars for nonmembers and five dollars for members, and electrical outlets are available for hybrids.

Two park-owned lots still flank the front façade and remain free. Park anywhere, and head inside.

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Top: The East Building created room for seven new galleries.

Bottom: The modern design of the museum addition houses work by Gerhard Richter and other German artists.

Here, past and future—twentieth and twenty-first centuries—meet.

COURTESY ST. LOUIS ART MUSEUM

Room to Grow

paintings progress from painted objects to objects alone, including an—ahem—minimal horizontal light sculpture.

Most exhibitions in the East Building contain a variety of media. Paintings, wall sculptures, and small encased pieces hug gallery perimeters, which opens the floor spaces for large sculptures such as an orange rubber relief of a corrugated garage, a seventon circle of limestone rocks, and dispersed gold body-fragment sculptures.

“We hope people don’t take the rocks,” Tricia says of Richard Long’s limestone circle. “But we can get more from the river.”

Giant windows throughout the East Building open to a sculpture garden landscaped by French landscape architect Michel Desvigne. In a narrow breakaway room

off the main gallery, a couch, reading material, and views of Michel’s design invite foot-sore visitors.

Near the windows, Michel’s trees stand in strict rows and columns, representing the twenty-first-century grid. Farther away, the trees become sporadic, representing movement away from the grid.

The sculpture garden will go through two more phases before completion, contingent upon more funding. The Main Building’s south entrance provides a view of the sculpture garden where you can see Andy’s Stone Sea from above.

Benjamin and Curator of Modern and Contemporary Art Simon Kelly agree this is the best view of Stone Sea. The undulating arches resemble ocean waves pouring into the East and Main buildings.

Three physical needs drove the expansion: the need for space, amenities, and infrastructure.

The museum owns more than thirty-three thousand artifacts spanning five thousand years, and expanding let SLAM pull hundreds of pieces from storage, many of which had not been on display for more than twenty years.

Along with the work of artists such as Andy Warhol, Frank Stella, and Gerhard Richter, these modern pieces are on display in the East Building’s seven new special-exhibition galleries. You can see them until 2014 when another exhibition will replace them.

Moving special exhibitions to the East Building liberated the Main Building’s east and west galleries, previously closed more days than not. Pieces that haven’t been on display for decades and some that have merely lacked the right environment for visitors to appreciate them have been reinstalled and re-envisioned, one could say “Renaissanced,”in the Main Building. Pre-Columbian and Mississippi works, like a giant red Teotihuacán wall painting once in fragments, hang regally with plenty of space for visitors to take in their stories. Pieces excavated from Cahokia, once the world’s fourth-largest city, speak to local history.

When you’ve had your fill of art, park yourself in Panorama, a new one-hundred-seat restaurant near the new special exhibitions.

Panorama’s ceiling-high windows take in an enviable vista of Forest Park. The view is so exquisite that the food doesn’t have to be.

But it is. Panorama is run by the award-winning Bon Appétit Management Company.

Around a few corners, a quote

by German artist Joseph Beuys is painted on a wall in the East Building: “Because different people are always coming in, museums will continue to treat their objects in different ways. Museums ultimately exist in a state of transition.”

Tricia says it’s one of her favorite quotes.

“I love that an artist who was as revolutionary and as utopian as Joseph Beuys—who redefined art-making in many ways—still always believed in the objects as well as the museum,” she says, “and was greatly interested in how to display objects and stayed true to the goals of the museums.”

SLAM will continue pursuing its goals of inspiring and educating.

Admission is free, as it has been since 1909 when St. Louis voters taxed themselves to make it such.

As Cass Gilbert’s building states— right above Andy’s Stone Sea—in Roman-style letters: “Art Still Has Truth, Take Refuge There.”

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SHOW-ME

Flavor

KING

OF CASHEW CHICKEN David Leong and his family are keeping his recipe alive. BY BRIANA ALTERGOTT

Wing Wahng Leong playfully tries to coax a smile out of his father with the Chinese word for “laugh” as they pose for a photo together in front of their restaurant, Leong’s Asian Diner.

“Xiao, Dad! Smile!”

A small grin crawls across David Leong’s face as the flash goes off. Although his expression is worn after ninety-three years, David’s happy smile shines through his soft wrinkles as he proudly stands next to three of his sons.

Now known as the king of cashew chicken in Springfield, he certainly has a lot to smile about with a story that started long before Leong’s Asian Diner was around.

HUMBLE BEGINNINGS David was born and raised in Guangdong, China. His childhood was surrounded by food that inspired him later in life.

“His father was a butcher, and his mother was a really good cook,” Wing Wahng says after leaning in toward his father to hear his answer. “That’s where he learned to make a lot of the food.”

In 1940, David immigrated to the United States from China and served in World War II. After the war, cooking became his focus.

“I got out of the service, and I cooked in New

York and then Pensacola, Florida,” David says about moving to and from various restaurants.

Then, David came across something that would change the course of his life.

“In 1955, he read an article in the Chinese

“That void when we were gone for thirteen years, I felt like things were out of balance. This was our legacy, and everyone else was trying to claim it.” newspaper where Dr. John Tsang was looking for a Chinese cook to move to Springfield, Missouri,” says Wing Wahng. “He said if he would move to Springfield, he would help him start a restaurant.”

Within the year, David opened the Lotus Garden with his brother Gee Leong. After three years, the brothers closed their restaurant because a supper club called the Grove of-

fered David and Gee positions as chefs. David and Gee went on to work there for six years.

CREATING CASHEW CHICKEN By 1962, David had saved enough money to open his own restaurant. Leong’s Tea House, a 350-seat fine dining restaurant, served its first customers in fall 1963. The menu included Chinese fare, as well as steak and seafood.

“He knew that most people were not familiar with Chinese food at this time,” says Wing Wahng, “so he came up with an invention of cashew chicken. He knew most people in the Midwest loved fried chicken, so he decided to take out the bone, bread it, fry it, and put a sauce over it.”

The allure of the dish is unmistakable. The chicken itself is delicious, but the sauce is what makes it special. The hint of oyster nestled inside the thick, creamy sauce makes it stand out from other recipes.

“It was the first of its kind,” adds Wing Yee Leong, another of David’s sons. “He adapted the taste to the Ozark’s taste. He was a pioneer in that.”

However, the restaurant’s first month proved difficult. Highway construction next to Leong’s deterred a lot of potential customers.

Moreover, Springfield residents seemed reluc-

CHRIS ROCKAFELLOW

“XIAO!”

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tant to try unfamiliar Chinese dishes.

“He had a following from his years at the Grove,” Wing Wahng says. “Most people were familiar with his steaks and seafood, but when he added on the Chinese part, he wanted to transition them.”

“The people who tried it were adventurous,” Wing Yee says.

The adventurous ones must have spread the word because the dish grew in popularity, and chefs in the area started trying to imitate David’s recipe. Today, most of the Chinese restaurants in Springfield offer cashew chicken, and Springfield has a lot of Chinese restaurants.

CHRIS ROCKAFELLOW

TRANSITIONS During the 1970s, Gee parted ways with David to open his own establishment, Gee’s East Wind, and David’s oldest son, Wing Cheong Leong, opened and closed a number of restaurants in the area. Meanwhile, the Asian population in Springfield was growing, and cashew chicken, created to merge Chinese and American cultures, became a staple in Springfield.

After David’s wife, Wong Shau Ngor, passed away in 1997, he closed Leong’s Tea House, and Gee closed his restaurant in 2000, shortly before he died.

Years passed before cooking crossed David’s mind again. During a trip to China in 2009, he decided to stay longer than the rest of his family. David fell ill, and the relatives in China called Wing Wahng three days later with upsetting news.

“They said, ‘Your dad is in a coma, you need to come get him,’” Wing Wahng says. “When I brought him back to the United States, he woke up and said, ‘You know what? I think I need to do something to keep me active again, so let’s go ahead and do a restaurant.’”

Suddenly, the eighty-nine-year-old cashew chicken king was at it again. Wing Yee and David proudly opened Leong’s Asian Diner on December 6, 2010, in a barn-like building converted from a Mexican restaurant called Tortillas.

“We had to get a restaurant going again and make it ours,” Wing Yee says, reminiscing.

Although his father invented cashew chicken, Wing Yee Long has become the executive chef at Leong’s Asian Diner because of his kitchen experience at restaurants such as Mikayla’s at Millwood Golf and Racquet Club in Springfield.

“We still had such a huge following, and we felt like the time was right.”

FAMILY MATTERS “I think the reason why my dad had so many kids is so that he could put us all to work,” Wing Yee chuckles.

“When I was younger, I used to think my parents never slept,” remembers Wing Wahng.

“They would stay up late at night and get up early in the morning. They were always doing something.”

Each of David’s seven children was involved with their father’s cooking from the time they were young.

“When we were young, we played there,” Wing Yee says. “We were the restaurant kids.

But they put us to work, too. We did things like folding wontons and picking snow peas and things like that.”

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Flavor

“We all grew up in the restaurant business,” adds the second-oldest brother, Wing Ling.

“And after a while, we all grew tired of it. We thought, ‘Isn’t there something else we can do?’”

The Leong family has drifted apart at different times, but three brothers ended up together again, united by their father’s passion for cooking.

Wing Ling, sixty-one, has worked for Sysco food service in Springfield for the past thirteen years and now helps out with the work at Leong’s Asian Diner.

Wing Yee left Springfield in 1980 and moved to Santa Barbara, California. “I got my culinary education out there and worked with world-famous chefs for fifteen years,” says the fifty-six-year-old. After returning to Spring-

Leong’s isn’t restricted to cashew chicken. Some of the specialties include Beef Lo Mein (top) and Shrimp and Scallops with Asparagus in Black Bean Sauce (bottom).

David has seven children, including two daughters. However, three of his sons, Wing Wahng Leong, Wing Ling Leong, and Wing Yee Leong have come together to open a restaurant in Springfield with him , thirteen years after David closed his last restaurant.

field, Wing Yee worked as a chef at various restaurants, including Cartoon’s Oyster Bar and Fire and Ice, before becoming the executive chef of Leong’s Asian Diner.

Wing Wahng, fifty-three, left Springfield for about twenty years to work as an insurance agent in Colorado, but he is still involved with the restaurant as general manager.

Since David, Wing Wahng, Wing Yee, and Wing Ling have come together to start a new restaurant, they have seen success and growth in popularity.

“With all of us working together now, we’re able to do things we couldn’t do before, things we never would have been able to do on our own,” Wing Ling says, full of family pride.

“We all have the restaurant blood in us.”

LEONG’S LEGACY David’s delicious legacy doesn’t end with just cashew chicken. Leong’s Asian Diner is also known for its handmade eggrolls, a crunchy treat with a twist of peanut butter rolled with fresh vegetables, shrimp, and roast pork.

Leong’s Asian Diner isn’t the only place to taste the family’s signature flavor, though. After years of experimenting, the restaurant now offers several types of sauces, including plum,

mustard, and sweet and sour, in grocery stores around Springfield. Of course, the cashew chicken sauce is among the choices.

Among the ups and downs, the Leong family is proud of everything their father David has accomplished in his lifetime.

“It’s pretty amazing,” Wing Wahng says.

“Some people say my dad is one of the most prominent people in Missouri. You have Brad Pitt, you have Johnny Morris who created Bass Pro Shop, but the one who has the most influence in Springfield is my father because he has the unofficial dish of this town.”

And the town treats him well. The mayor of Springfield honored David on April 3, 2013, with his own day, “David Leong Day.” And the week before, the House of Representatives honored him with a proclamation for his service and what he’s done for Missouri. The plaque now hangs in the restaurant for all to see.

“That void when we were gone for thirteen years, I felt like things were out of balance,” Wing Yee says. “This was our legacy, and everyone else was trying to claim it.”

“And now I feel like the rightful king is back,” he says, laughing.

Indeed he is.

CHRIS ROCKAFELLOW

SHOW-ME

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SHOW-ME

Flavor —MissouriLife —

SHRIMP, SCALLOPS, AND ASPARAGUS STIR-FRY in Schezwan Black Bean Sauce

Ingredients >

8 asparagus spears 2 ounces oil 6 to 10 scallops 6 jumbo shrimp 1 teaspoon garlic 1 teaspoon Asian salted black beans ½ teaspoon red chili paste Assorted vegetables (however many you prefer) Cremini or shitake mushrooms Carrots Onions

Bell peppers Michu cooking wine 1 tablespoon soy sauce 1 tablespoon oyster sauce 1 teaspoon black vinegar ½ cup chicken stock ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon sugar ¼ teaspoon sesame oil Ground white pepper Cornstarch slurry ¼ cup water 1 tablespoon cornstarch

Directions >

ANDREW BARTON

1. Cut asparagus into 1-inch links and blanche them for one minute in hot water.

2. Heat up a wok and add the oil.

3. Sear the scallops until golden brown, add the shrimp, and sauté at medium-high heat.

4. Add garlic, Asian salted black beans, and red chili paste.

5. Add the vegetables and stir-fry, then deglaze with Michu cooking wine in the wok.

6. Add soy sauce, oyster sauce, black vinegar, chicken stock, salt, sugar, sesame oil, and a pinch of ground white pepper.

7. Add the cornstarch slurry to get the sauce to your desired thickness (you may not need all of it). Serve immediately. Serves 2 to 4.

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—MissouriLife —

BANANA, WALNUT, AND CHOCOLATE SPRING ROLL

with Coconut Cream Sauce and Chocolate Ganache Ingredients >

2 whole bananas 1 spring roll skin package ½ cup cinnamon sugar ¼ cup raspberry melba ½ cup chopped walnuts sauce ½ cup chocolate chips 1 egg

Directions >

1. Split bananas in half lengthwise and cut into 3-inch chunks.

2. Place cut bananas in center of spring roll skin facing down.

3. Top banana with cinnamon sugar, walnuts, chocolate chips, and a teaspoon of melba sauce.

4. Whip egg in small bowl, and use egg to moisten edges of spring roll.

5. Tuck right and left corners and roll into a cylinder.

6. Deep fry at 350 degrees for 2 to 3 minutes until golden brown.

7. Remove spring roll and dust with cinnamon sugar.

8. Drizzle with coconut cream sauce and chocolate ganache. Serves 4 to 6.

COCONUT CREAM SAUCE RECIPE Ingredients >

½ cup whole milk ½ cup unsweetened coconut milk

4 egg yolks ½ cup sugar

Directions >

1. Bring coconut milk and whole milk to boil in a small saucepan.

2. Remove from heat and set aside.

3. Beat the egg yolks and sugar together in a medium bowl until pale yellow and smooth.

4. Stirring constantly, gradually pour half of the hot milk into the egg yolk mix.

5. Stir the yolk mix into the remaining milk.

6. Return saucepan to medium heat and cook, stirring constantly until the sauce thins, about 2 minutes.

7. Strain the sauce and chill until cold.

Recipes by Wing Yee Leong Executive Chef at Leong’s Asian Diner, 417-818-7655

BEEF WITH LAP CHEONG STIR-FRY (not shown)

Ingredients >

8 ounces egg noodles, linguine, or angel hair 4 ounces beef tenderloin, skirt steak, or any type of stir-fry beef 2 ounces Lap Cheong (Chinese sausage) 3 ounces oil Assortment of vegetables: Snow peas Broccoli

CHOCOLATE GANACHE RECIPE Ingredients >

1 ½ cups heavy whipping 1 tablespoon unsalted cream butter 2 tablespoons sugar ½ pound bittersweet chocolate

Carrots Onions Red bell peppers 1 ½ ounces soy sauce 1 ½ ounces oyster sauce ¼ teaspoon salt ¼ teaspoon sugar Ground white pepper 1 ounce sesame oil 1 ounce black vinegar 3 ounces chicken stock

Directions >

1. Prepare the noodles as instructed on the package.

2. Stir-fry the beef and Lap Cheong in a hot wok with oil for about 30 seconds on medium-high heat.

3. Add in vegetables, soy sauce, oyster sauce, salt, sugar, a pinch of ground white pepper, sesame oil, black vinegar, and chicken stock, and continue frying for 30 seconds.

4. Add noodles, and stir-fry it all together for 2 to 3 minutes, or until they start absorbing the liquid. Leave on longer for dry noodles. Serve immediately.

Serves 2 to 4.

Directions > ANDREW BARTON

—MissouriLife —

1. In a medium saucepan, combine the cream and sugar over medium heat until hot.

2. In a medium bowl, combine the butter and chocolate.

3. Add the cream to the chocolate and butter.

4. Whisk until smooth.

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PROMOTION

Back to School August in America: Families are trading in

leisure gear for school calendars, and grills are giving way to stove tops. Within a month, the air will cool down, and clanging chili ladles will toll the summer’s end.

Welcome back to school.

When Malou Perez-Nievera’s three children would open the front door on weekday afternoons, savory smells would wash over them like an ocean wave. “Preparing good food is always at the center of a close-knit family, at the dining table where the food is shared and stories are heard,” Malou says. She shares recipes and reflections on her family-centered blog, Skip to Malou (www.skiptomalou.net), and teaches the Modern Asian Cooking Series in the St. Louis area.

“I would think that in the age of frozen dinners and takeout, it’s still important to have some kind of sense of cooking good food—food that comes from the heart,” she says. Malou’s meals are robust and creative: grilled lemongrass beef, oxtail and tripe stew in peanut sauce, and corned beef sinigang. New twists on solid staples spell adventure for her family, and she hopes to ignite that fire in others.

“Whether it’s trying out a new recipe with your little helpers, or fixing them their favorite dinners after a great achievement like straight A’s, getting into college, getting a promotion, a good home-cooked meal enhances the memorability of a moment.” When children leave the nest, she

Beef

says, “Food will always be the bridge that takes them home.”

Malou’s two daughters and son chose colleges on the coasts, yet they return every break. “My daughter said it will make them so uncool,” Malou says, laughing. “But that’s the truth, they love coming home.”

In the Philippines, where Malou grew up, she joined her mother at the market to pick fresh ingredients. Her family had helpers to cook the food, but her mother styled the dishes before they hit the table. When Malou moved to the United States, she had no choice but to cook. She loved it. And, surprisingly, it wasn’t difficult to shop for her recipes, even in the Midwest. Beef is abundant, and most of her other ingredients are available at grocery stores, so they’re an easy feat to tackle.

When dinner is covered, though, lunch is still another hurdle to jump. While school lunches have become healthier, packed lunches may look more like vending machine fare, every serving doled out in a shiny package. The healthiest food is made fresh. Parents with a bit of time in the morning can repackage dinnertime favorites to keep lunches balanced. For her children’s lunches, Malou prepared what her kids called, “Mommy’s leftover surprise wrap,” the previous night’s meat jazzed up with greens or rice. If that’s still too much work, no worries, school cafeterias are better than most remember.

Carmen Fisher is president of the Missouri

By Tina Casagrand Photos by Bob Holt

rtant to have “... it’s still impo of cooking se some kind of sen that comes od fo good food — from the heart.”

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lt

PROMOTION

School Nutrition Association, and in her school district, even elementary students have seven or eight choices for an entrée. School lunches provide variety, which many parents do not have time for.

And protein is a key component of school lunch.

“Beef is a great source of iron,” Fisher says. The school offers beef every week to maintain variety and enhance nutrition. French dips are served at Rockwood Elementary, but ground beef usually reigns in school kitchens, which is all the more reason to get creative at home.

That’s exactly what Amber Potter does. Amber is another food blogger, photographer, and mother of a first-grader. Her blog, Sprinkled With Flour (www. sprinklewithflour.com), features gorgeous dishes, many fast and easy.

Especially now, busy with a son, Amber recognizes beauty in simplicity. Her Steak & Cheddar Nachos (recipe at right) are a perfect example of a fast, healthy, low-work snack or dinner. Now with more than two thousand Facebook fans and nearly as many Pinterest followers, she provides ideas to fit the trend of easy, yet wholesome food. And at the start of the school year, that’s exactly what parents need.

al enhances “... a good home-cooked me nt.” mo the memorability of a me

Steak & Cheddar Nachos

From Amber Potter, Sprinkled with Flour Ingredients: 2 . In a measuring cup, add the milk, beaten eggs, salt, and pepper. Over medium tortilla chips heat, pour the mixture into a medium 6 ounces milk sized saucepan and add the shredded 2 eggs, beaten cheese. Cook and stir until the cheese 1 teaspoon salt is melted. Add the cumin and kidney ¼ teaspoon pepper beans, stir to combine. Cook until the 10 ounces shredded cheddar cheese cheese sauce is hot all the way through.

1/8 teaspoon cumin 1 can kidney beans, drained 3 . Remove the chips from the oven, and 2 steak fillets, 4 ounces, grilled or pan pour some of the cheese sauce over the seared and sliced tortilla chips. Don’t pour too much, or 6 cherry tomatoes, sliced the chips will get soggy. Layer the sliced lettuce, shredded steak over the cheese sauce. Sprinkle sour cream to taste shredded lettuce and tomatoes over the steak. Drizzle some sour cream over the 1 . Heat oven to 350°F. Place tortilla chips top of everything. Serve immediately on a baking sheet, and put in the oven and enjoy! to warm up.

Visit www.mobeef.org for more fast, easy recipes that fit in with busy school children.

Malou Pirez-Nievera Serves burger-sliders with cucumber for a fast, healthy meal. Her Filipino spaghetti, with beef and hot dogs, was also a fast family favorite.

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PROMOTION

Quick Beef and Rice Stuffed Red Bell Peppers From G & B Creative Recipes Prep time: 5 minutes Cook time: 25 minutes Serves 4 - 6 Ingredients: 1 ½ pound ground chuck, 80–85% lean 2 teaspoons cooking oil 1 medium onion chopped 3 cloves garlic, minced 4 red bell peppers, cut in half and seeded 1 ½ cup quick cooking brown rice 1 28-ounce can stewed tomatoes 4 tablespoons tomato paste 1 10 ½-ounce can chicken stock 1 teaspoon Aleppo Pepper Flakes 2 cups frozen peas 2 cups Monterey Jack Cheese, shredded Salt and pepper to taste

1 . 1.

22..

In a 10-inch non-stick skillet or 3 quart sauté pan with a lid, heat over medium heat 2 teaspoons of oil. Add ground beef and sauté until nicely brown, breaking up the meat as it cooks. When the beef is brown, remove from the pan and set aside. Add the chopped onion to the pan, and sauté until translucent, about 4-5 minutes. Increase the heat to medium high, add the garlic and sauté for about 30 seconds. Add rice and sauté for a minute or two. Add the beef back to the pan and add the stewed tomatoes, chicken stock, tomato paste, Aleppo pepper and stir to combine. Reduce the heat to low, cover and cook for 10-15 minutes.

While the beef and rice are cooking, put the bell peppers in a saucepan, cover with water, and over high heat, bring to a boil. Once the water starts to boil, add ½ teaspoon of salt to the water, cover and cook for 4-5 minutes, or until fork tender. Remove from the boiling water and put into a bowl of ice to halt cooking.

For more information on Missouri beef, nutrition, recipes, and health, visit mobeef.org.

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PROMOTION

33..

When the rice has been absorbed, stir the beef/rice mixture, and adjust the seasoning. Add the peas, and stir. With a flat bottomed spatula, scrape the rice from the side of the pan to the middle, and put a pepper in its place. Fill with the rice mixture and repeat until all the peppers are in the pan and filled with rice. Add Âź cup of water to the pan, sprinkle the cheese over the top, and cover. Place over low heat for an additional 5-6 minutes until the water has been absorbed and the cheese is melted. Serve immediately.

Tip: While you are cooking, add a two-finger pinch of salt to each main ingredient added to the pan. Then at the end of the cooking, you will not need to add more, and each ingredient will shine with its own addition of salt.

Ranch Trail Mix

From G & B Creative Recipes

0.1389 in

Ingredients: 9 ounces Beef jerky (Sweet Baby Ray’s Original), rough chopped to bite-size pieces 10 ounces blend of Almond, Raisin, Cranberry, Pistachio, and Cherry Mix 12 ounces Cheddar Cheese pretzel pieces, rough chopped to bite size pieces 5 ounces Crispy Apple Chips, rough chopped to bite size pieces 3 ounces Yogurt covered Goji berries.

1 .1.

Mix all ingredients well, and store in an airtight container to enjoy all the way to the bottom.

22.. Do not refrigerate.

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Flavor

Missouri Life tastes menus worth the drive.

Columbia

Pirogi Paradise A HANDFUL of tables, a hand-written menu, and music playing from a turntable make dining at Café Poland an experience. Serving up authentic Polish food, mother and son Iwona and Robert Burlinski opened the café in a cozy downtown Columbia building. With modest prices and endearing owners, it’s quaint at the very least, and the food speaks for itself. Polish food is ready-made for an adventurous Midwestern palate—meat and potato fare, with a little more cabbage, beets, and dill than a traditional Missouri diet. The mustorder pirogies are potato dumplings served with sour cream and sautéed onions and filled with ingredients including meat, mushrooms, sauerkraut, cheese, and potato. The menu isn’t limited to pirogies, however. There’s stuffed cabbage, garlic-stuffed pork chops, and pork goulash, too. Aside from entrées, the Eastern European eatery offers borscht from fall through spring, served in a seemingly silly, yet practical way—in a to-go coffee cup. Prank a friend and show up with borscht instead of coffee next Monday morning; it might be a pleasant and delicious surprise. To help digest it all, there’s coffee and

Union

espresso made with Columbia’s own Lakota Cof-

Culinary Cornucopia

fee beans. —Joan Conklin Facebook: Café Poland

HMM,

807 Locust Street • 573-874-8929

what to order? It’s always a dilemma at Junie Moon Café in

Union. Should you go with one of their two best salads—the Tip Top with house-made blue cheese dressing or the Almond Spinach with raspberry

Dexter

vinaigrette? Maybe you should opt for a tasty sandwich such as the Egg

A Rural Rarity

Salad BLT, or choose a comforting bowl of French onion soup. How about

DEXTER, with a population of less

restaurant with hand-cut steaks plus sea-

thing to try each and every visit.

than eight thousand, does not seem like

food, pork, chicken, and pasta. The crab

If you’re looking for crisp and refreshing, Junie Moon is the place.

the place to find fine dining, but Dhafer’s

cakes and the tangy, sautéed mushrooms

Opened in 2005, Junie Moon first made its name with an extensive salad

Mediterranean Steakhouse offers just

are a great way to start. The steaks are fla-

menu, sixteen distinct choices currently, plus the size and freshness of

that. Owner and executive chef Dhafer

vored simply with a port wine reduction to

the offerings. A combination of grilled chicken, mixed greens, manda-

Al-Makuter brings several years of kitchen

showcase the quality of the meat. Although

rin oranges, apples, grapes, dried cranberries, pecans, and mozzarella

experience at high-end establishments in

steak is his specialty, Dhafer says his grilled

cheese, the eponymous Junie Moon Salad is a best seller. All the salads

St. Louis and Kansas City to his small town

pork chop topped with apple chutney is the

are served with freshly baked French or honey wheat bread, too.

one of the daily specials or the dozens of other items on the menu? One

best you’ll ever eat. The fish options are

Aside from salads, there is more to love. A big menu of appetizers,

equally satisfying. Prepared in garlic and

wraps, sandwiches, soups, specialties, and desserts keeps customers re-

lemon-butter sauce, the pan-seared mahi-

turning. In fact, after seven years in a small spot, the cafe moved to a

mahi is fresh and flavorful and pairs well

larger venue.

with roasted red potatoes and green beans.

Each entrée comes with a salad, which isn't filler but a mix of lettuce, tomatoes, mandarin oranges, and feta drizzled with orange-honey vinaigrette. —Porcshe Moran

The American Grill sandwich, the pepper pot soup, and the housemade potato chips are among the most popular items.

“We slice and cook close to five hundred pounds of potatoes a week for chips,” says Steve Hipes, co-owner with his wife, Chris.

Generous portions fill you up, but offerings such as chocolate caramel

www.dhafers.com

crunch cake make dessert hard to deny. —Barbara Ostmann

117 South Locust Street • 573-614-5100

www.juniemooncafe.com • 340 West Highway 50 • 636-584-0180

KATIE BELL; CARA HILL; BARBARA OSTMANN

thing’s for sure: there’s no shortage of things on the menu. There’s some-

[92] MissouriLife

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STONE HILL WINERY in historic Hermann, Missouri

Visit us today and enjoy all we have to offer!

- tour -

- taste -

- shop -

Purchase our award-winning wines at your local retail outlet.

1110 Stone Hill Hwy. • Hemann, MO 800-909-9463 • www.stonehillwinery.com

- dine UPCOMING EVENTS

August 17: Grapes to Glass August 24: Big Band Dance September 7: Grapes to Glass October, first four weekends: Octoberfest

The Official BraTwursT Of The sainT charles OkTOBerfesT

september 27-29, 2013

us on

Swing by and try our free samples if you are headed to Oktobertfest in Hermann, MO

October 5-6, 12-13, 19-20 & 26-27

swissmeats.com • 2056 s. hwy 19, hermann, MO 65041 • 1-800-793-swiss [93] August 2013

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Brian Helms toiled for more than five years restoring White Cliff Manor. Today, it reflects the aesthetics of the original home, inside and out.

WHITE CLIFF MANOR

A Missouri Relic’s Foreign Past

A restoration revives a European-inspired home in the Mississippi River Valley. BY SHEREE K. NIELSEN

During the five-year restoration, Brian worked as the general contractor and completed all the handiwork. He revived the spirit hundreds of times before. Somehow, today was different; Brian Helms would of the home’s six-foot windows by meticulously removing, cleanview Highway 61, the scenic and historic river road, in a different light. ing, sanding, and refinishing the frames and sills.

Driving along the bluffs, Brian noticed a “For Sale by Owner” sign. He Upon completion, he realized what must have been the home’s original steered his vehicle up the winding path, past dogwood and redbud trees, opulence and brilliance. During the project, he learned about the family until the aging Schaaf Hill mansion came into view. The weathered strucwho lived there long ago and about the building’s architecture from Schaaf ture was in dire need of TLC. family descendants and local historians. He even “She must have been one heck of a beauty when considered selling but took the house off the marshe was young,” he says, recounting the story. ket. Too emotionally attached to the home, he just As he rounded the crest of the hill, Brian found couldn’t let it go. real-estate flyers nailed to a tree and dialed the “Keeping alive the lineage of the Schaaf family number on the ad. After a tour of the bare-bones and history of the Mississippi River Valley was interior and a three-hour conversation with the my destiny,” Brian says. owner, Brian drove to Kaskaskia Island for anThe manor was renamed White Cliff Manor other view of the bluff home. Unable to shake Bed and Breakfast and Gardens for the estate’s the striking image from his mind, Brian made an offer that evening. He entered the mansion as Schaaf’s Hill was built in 1879 by Louis Schaaf, founder of color, grounds, and commanding size and view.

St. Mary’s Mill Company, a major wheat flour producer.

Brian hopes visitors walk away with a better owner in November 2002.

SHEREE K. NIELSEN

HE’D DRIVEN the familiar route from Festus to his farm in Bollinger

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COURTESY OF WHITE CLIFF MANOR

White Cliff Manor Bed and Breakfast and Gardens treats visitors to its historically opulent rooms and panoramic views of Kaskaskia Island and the Mississippi River Valley.

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SHOW-ME

understanding of the vanished Provence de la Nouvelle France, the Creole-Colonial District established by France in North America.

“I’ve tried to create an old-world charm with an aura of elegance, a sort of put-your-drink-down, put-your-feet-up ambience for the guests,” Brian says.

Today, Brian treats visitors to a historical narrative of the home and a captivating look at the couple that settled Schaaf Hill—Louis Schaaf and Harriet Brown.

Louis Schaaf’s parents, John Frederick and Caroline Bauer Schaaf, traveled from Prussia in 1837 and settled in Jerseyville, Illinois. In 1856, they moved to St. Mary’s. Louis became a miller at sixteen and managed St. Mary’s Mill, which his uncle August Schaaf owned.

One of the largest wheat-milling operations in the state, St. Mary’s Mill produced eight hundred barrels of pure winter wheat flour daily.

Steamboats from St. Mary’s Landing shipped flour grown by German farmers in one of the most fertile valleys in the nation down the Mississippi River. St. Mary’s finest flour reached consumers on Eastern and Southern seaports and two continents. The mill’s products wereBefore the French and Indian War ended, the Schaafs were among the Mississippi River Valley’s elite.

Louis Schaaf treated his wife, Harriet, to riches and luxury. Guests can get a glimpse of this style in the drawing room, the dining room, and other areas of the Manor.

critical to the survival of New Orleans’ French community.

Louis supplied the market with winter wheat and was instrumental in helping the settlements of the mid-Mississippi River Valley bring commerce and industry to local farmers.

Louis’s love interest would be the genesis of many things to come.

Both sixteen years old, Louis and Harriet met at the Kaskaskia church picnic in 1856. Smitten with the young woman’s natural good looks, petite frame, and long dark hair, Louis courted Harriet and later married her in Perryville on April 16, 1863.

Harriet was a part of the third generation of French colonists born in the Mississippi River Valley. In the 1730s, her ancestors traveled from Quebec by flatboat in search of new land. The eldest daughter of local builder Walter L. Brown, Harriet was educated in French history, tradition, and culture. Her family was among the oldest and most respected early settlers in the mid-Mississippi River Valley.

In 1872, Louis purchased acreage for a home site and gained an interest in St. Mary’s Mill. Eventually he became the sole owner of the mill.

During the Mississippi Steamboat era, few homes of stature in St. Mary’s were situated on large parcels of land, making Schaaf Hill a rarity in the area.

Located on the Mississippi River’s romantic bluffs, Louis built Schaaf Hill—Harriet’s dream home. Shaded by ancient oak, maple, ash, and walnut trees, the grandiose twenty-acre estate sat high on a hill, perfect for natural breezes. The porch and lawn commanded magnificent vistas of the river valley and historic Kaskaskia Island below.

A faded note from the family Bible written by Harriet states, “Moved to our new house, Tuesday, October 21, 1879.”

COURTESY OF WHITE CLIFF MANOR

“I’ve tried to create an oldworld charm with an aura of elegance, a sort of put-yourdrink-down, put-your-feet-up ambience for the guests.”

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those in the New Orleans Garden District. The Schaaf home also used oil-lamps as light sources and coal for energy.

Schaaf Hill’s exterior bore a balanced, symmetrical façade with columns balanced on either side of the windows, a gabled roof, balconies, and balustrade porches. Wooden double doors on each level showcased carved curvilinear and circular panels with twin-paned transoms. At the time the house was built, men and women were social at the dinner table but afterward, withdrew into separate rooms. At the manor, they would venture into the split-parlor.

During the home tour, Brian directs visitors’ attention to the interior’s high ceilings, tall windows, parquet hardwood floors, and moldings.

Custom highlights include original cast-iron fireplace mantelpieces, cast-bronze ornamental doorknobs, and keyholes fashioned in England.

Since White Cliff’s reawakening in 2007, Schaaf descendants have visited and shared colorful stories key to the family’s genealogy, donations of photos, an original dining room chair, and the couple’s Bible.

Owning the bed and breakfast affords Brian a good lifestyle: horses, acreage, and his faithful dog, Lola. “And, I get to live in an old mansion on the bluffs—my manifest destiny.”

200 2nd Street, St. Mary's, Missouri 888-388-5445 · whitecliffmanorbedandbreakfast.com

COURTESY OF WHITE CLIFF MANOR

Top: Rooms on the property are named after its historic owners. Harriet’s room has an updated version of the French-Creole style. Right: This room, named after Harriet’s daughter, Caroline, has a French-Creole twist, even though the architecture is Italianate.

Harriet and Louis raised six children there. The mansion’s lush grounds provided the backdrop for the weddings of their three daughters.

Louis provided Harriet with anything her heart desired and surrounded her with luxury. Her decorative style blended old-world charm with French-Creole accents evidenced by her furnishings and way of life.

The Schaaf Hill home reflected the influence of Anglo-Saxons in French-speaking villages and the way people were transitioning from French-Creole architecture to the style of the Renaissance Revival and Italianate architecture.

During the First Renaissance Revival (from about 1840 to 1885), the style was evident in public and commercial buildings and homes for the wealthy.

The Schaaf home was no exception. Its original Revival characteristics included an L-shaped interior floor plan. The main part of the house consisted of three floors and a basement. The first two floors contained central hallways with staircases. Near the home’s entrance, a library sat directly left of the hall. A drawing room and formal dining room, divided by nine-panel faux-mahogany parlor doors, sat to the hall’s right.

The staircase to the second floor allowed access to three bedrooms and servant quarters (leading back to the kitchen via private stairwell).

Homeowners in mid-nineteenth-century America commonly copied floor plans of old manor houses in Italy. The unique Schaaf Hill home is reminiscent of an Italianate manor home with porches resembling

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presents

Missouri Life’s

PHOTO CONTEST

PEOPLE’S CHOICE VOTING CONTINUES THROUGH AUGUST 30 www.missourilife.com/photovoting

SEE THE WINNERS IN THE OCTOBER ISSUE Your Life. Your Photos. Endless Possibilities.

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FREE Prescription Discount Card

Provided by the Missouri Chamber of Commerce & Industry

HOW TO USE THIS CARD: If You DO NOT Have Insurance:

• Simply take this card with you next time you fill a prescription and present it to your pharmacist.

There is no cost for this card. The card can be used to get discounts of up to 75% on most brand and generic medications with average savings around 35%!!

If You DO Have Insurance:

The Missouri Drug Card cannot be used in conjunction with insurance; however there are a few ways it still may be able to save you money.

• If you have a high deductible health plan or an HSA, this card can be used to help reduce your out-of-pocket prescription costs.

• If you have a prescription that is not covered under your plan, you can use the Missouri Drug Card.

• This card can also be used to cover prescription costs while in the Medicare donut hole.

• This program uses a lowest-price-logic which means that your pharmacist will compare the cost of your prescription utilizing your medical insurance and compare it to the cost with Missouri Drug Card.

About the Missouri Drug Card:

• This program is COMPLETELY FREE and does not require you to fill out any forms or qualify in any way.

• All cards come pre-activated and ready to use.

• There are no age or income requirements.

• Since the program began in July 2008, it has helped Missouri residents save over $31,000,000 on prescription medications!!!

• On average this card saves 8-14% more than competing cards.

Take your card to the pharmacy.

Give your card to the pharmacist.

Save up to 75% on this prescription and future ones!

To Print A Card, Visit www.MoChamber.com and click the Missouri Drug Card Link.

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Preserving MISSOURI

FROM GHOSTS TO GRAPES The supposedly haunted Odd Fellows Home in Liberty has become more than a winery.

BY DANNY WOOD

A MILE FROM Liberty’s old town square,

Belvoir is French for beautiful view. The name not only suits the winery because of the historic buildings on site, but also because of the property on which the grapes are harvested.

previous year. “We provided a new structure between the basement and the first floor and then between the first floor and the second floor,” Jesse Leimkuehler, property manager, explains the restoration of the floors. “We re-supported those with structural steel—hundreds of tons!”

The first floor was completely rehabilitated, and materials and objects rescued from other local buildings were incorporated into the interior design. There are candelabras from a Benedictine monastery, and the bar contains a wooden and stained-glass wall from a demolished Kansas City mansion.

The Odd Fellows’ Home reopened as Belvoir Winery in 2010. Wine and weddings are now the main business, but local artists and school

children display art, charities use meeting rooms for free on weekdays, and paranormal investigators stage regular ghost hunts. The communityfocused redevelopment won the City of Liberty’s 2011 Historic Preservation Project of the Year Award.

The orphanage has been saved, but the other buildings, including the former hospital and nursing home, still need some repair. For two years running, 2006 and 2007, four of the buildings were on Missouri Alliance for Historic Preservation’s list of most endangered historic places.

However, Jesse is optimistic about the future, and though some buildings are rumored to be haunted, many of the former Odd Fellows’ Home’s problems have already been exorcised.

DANNY WOOD

four imposing buildings overlook Missouri Route 291. In daylight, the view across landscaped lawns evokes a French château. In darkness, these ominous shadows resemble a vast Gothic mansion.

Three of the structures consist of red brick with sandstone-framed windows and steep, gabled roofs topped by parapets and pommel decorations. These buildings exemplify Jacobean Revival architecture, a hybrid style that used design motifs from the Elizabethan and Jacobean eras and Gothic elements reminiscent of medieval cathedrals.

Bill Hart, field representative for Missouri Preservation, says the oldest structure, a former orphanage and school, is one of the best works of this important late-nineteenth and early-twentieth century style, designed by nationally recognized architect William Butts Ittner.

“Ittner is famous for his revolutionizing approaches to the design of school buildings,” Hart says. “His style of buildings lent itself well to institutional architecture that didn’t have the rigid classicism of the architecture before.”

The buildings were constructed between 1900 and 1955 for the Independent Order of Odd Fellows, a fraternal society with a dedication to charity and education. For a century, the Odd Fellows delivered social services from the property, caring for orphans, the elderly, the sick, and the poor.

In the early 1990s, the last residents left the nursing home. Enter local Dr. John Bean and his wife, Marsha. The family purchased the 170-acre property, taking on four buildings in need of renovation plus ruined outside buildings, a cemetery, and a World War II memorial.

John financed major restorative work on the orphanage in 2009, following Marsha’s death the

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cultivation and fermentation. more than just good beer.

Downtown and downstairs at 816 East Broadway.

In the heart of downtown Columbia.

573-443-5054 | www.broadwaybrewery.com

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Nestled in the mountains of the Ozark’s wilderness is a bed and breakfast and cabin rental with a rustic charm and natural atmosphere that is unmatched.

Award-winning handcrafted wines in small batches 100 E Pope Lane, Smithville, MO 816-866-4077 · www.ladogaridgewinery.com

Inn at Harbour rIdge

The Lake’s Most Inviting Bed & Breakfast

6334 Red Barn Road • Osage Beach, MO 877-744-6020 • www.HarbourRidgeInn.com

The property features cozy cabins and suites, along with wooded trails, water gardens, a Missouri wine cellar, a chapel in the woods, a charming reception and special events conservatory and lots of back-country appeal.

For reservations call 417-443-0036 or visit us on the web at www.bearcreekbedandbreakfast.com

V I N E YA R D S

AND

WINERY

Stone Haus Bed & Breakfast 107 Bayer Rd., Hermann, MO 573-486-9169 www.stonehausbandb.com

The only place where you’ll find over 100 Inspected and Approved member Inns at Locations statewide.

Relax, you’re here.

BBIM Gift Certificates Are Available 705 Third Street Rocheport, MO 573-698-2028 www.amberhousebb.com

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Musings ON MISSOURI

THE OZARKS THE LAST BASTION OF CIVILIZATION

ILLUSTRATION BY ANDREW BARTON

BY RON MARR

THE NEED TO control, codify, and stipulate what folks do, think, say, or feel, leaves me baffled. I’ve no need to be made privy to the inner workings, outer actions, or belief systems of others unless such information is voluntarily offered. I cannot imagine the desire to impose my will on strangers or friends, mostly because I have a rather strong reaction when people attempt to impose their will on me. I may be an odd hermit, spending inordinate amounts of time with dogs, trees, shotguns, catfish, and guitars ... but a hypocrite I ain’t.

This modus operandi puts me at odds with a modern society that stigmatizes privacy. We live in an era where all reflections are supposed to be public, all conduct monitored, and all ideologies sanitized for your protection. The urge to convert the predilections of individuals and the masses, to insist they toe the line of conventional wisdom and collective reasoning, renders original cognition and strong opinions moot and mute.

Has the concept of “live and let live” become anachronistic? Are we all voyeurs and members of the Orwellian thought police? When did the concept of tolerance overstep its bounds and morph into arbitrary dogmatism?

When did the desire for confidentiality become the bailiwick of the paranoid and dangerous?

These questions do not arise from revelations of prejudiced snooping on the part of governmental agencies. I’ve my own opinions on that topic, but not for here and not for now. I’m referring to society in general, to the adaptive behaviors that are integral character traits of the population at large.

It could well be that this instinct to boss people around has existed since time immemorial. It probably has. Upon reflection, an overbearing and imperious comportment is the stuff of stories, books, jokes, theater, and history.

Husbands and wives, siblings, friends, and infamous despots—the tales of bossy and tyrannical mien are legion. One personality type feels the need to control. Another is content to submit and follow. To mix a metaphor, wolves and sheep do not change their stripes.

I might be out of the loop. Again, my hours are spent with dogs, trees, shotguns, catfish, and guitars. The social contracts and proprieties most take for granted frequently strike me as odd and odious. Such epiphanies strengthen

my resolve to distance myself from the huddled masses yearning to be free of personal responsibility.

I don’t dislike people. I dislike like the pushy, brutish, boorish, and rude.

I’ve a notoriously low tolerance for loutish vulgarians. They cause me to behave in an uncouth and moderately untethered manner, which raises my blood pressure and makes the dogs nervous. That won’t do. I absolutely refuse to put my puppies on Xanax.

Of all the places I’ve lived, only two held a citizenry that valued privacy and individuality as supreme attributes. One was Montana, although I hear it has changed for the worse since I split there a decade back. Big Sky locals attribute this decline to a locust-like influx of southern Californians.

The other is the Missouri Ozarks. I’m sure that gossip and snooping were prevalent in parts of those midnight-green hills and hollers, but I never knew it to be of the “in-your-face” variety. It’s funny to me that media types who rarely leave the elitist, pseudo-intellectual confines of Los Angeles or New York salons portray the Ozarks as a bastion of uneducated, unwashed, toothless hill folk. I found it, firsthand, to be the most civilized place in the United States. The locals were polite, friendly, and had more common sense in their work-scarred pinkies than could be found amongst the entire staff of a dozen bi-coastal think-tanks. I’m always gonna love that place. Few things are truly unique, but the Ozarks is one of them.

A preponderance of Ozarkers still place individuality, independence, privacy, and hospitality above all else. They don’t suffer fools lightly ... but they will help you change a tire or drop by your house with a sack of tomatoes just to be neighborly.

If society implodes under the weight of its own selfimposed idiocy, I hope I find myself in the Ozarks. It may not be the center of high culture, but it is the hub of courtesy, privacy, and manners. Better yet, there’s an abundance of dogs, trees, shotguns, catfish, and guitars.

If those aren’t the signs of an advanced civilization, RON MARR I don’t know what is.

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Hunting for fun next to nature?

We are Clinton, Missouri; where small town life is still alive and well. We invite you to cruise the shoreline of Truman Lake or pedal your way down the Katy Trail. This Golden Valley in which we live offers a multitude of opportunities to shop, bike, hunt, fish or just relax. We invite you to come share all the things we love: our events, our square, our nature, and our people. We are Clinton, and we are great people, by nature.

For more information on Clinton, MO, go to www.clintonmo.com

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ALL AROUND

Missouri AUGUST/SEPTEMBER 2013

CENTRAL BRUMLEY GOSPEL SING July 31-Aug. 3, Lebanon > Southern gospel, bluegrass music, and comedy. Cowan Civic Center. $5$85. 7 PM Wed.-Fri.; 1 PM Thurs.-Fri.; 1 PM and 6 PM Sat. 800-435-3725, www.brumleymusic.com

SUMMER CONCERT AND ART WALK Aug. 2, Warrensburg > Visit galleries and artists, and bring a lawn chair or blanket for an outdoor concert. Downtown. 5-9 PM. Free. 660-429-3988, www.warrensburgmainstreet.com

FESTIVAL OF BUTTERFLIES Aug. 2-4 and 9-11, Kingsville > Indoor exhibit with hundreds of free-flying butterflies, outdoor butterfly breezeways, children’s activities, and a butterfly plant sale. Powell Gardens. 9 AM-6 PM. $5-$12. 816697-2600, www.powellgardens.org

FESTIVAL OF THE ARTS Aug. 3, Fayette > Music, entertainment, art show, guided historic tour, car show, cake baking contest, children’s art activities, craft demonstrations, quilt show, and vendors. Courthouse Square and Sanctuary of Linn Memorial Methodist Church. 9 AM-4:30 PM. Free. 660-248-3864, www.fayettefestival.org

MISSOURI STATE FAIR Aug. 8-18, Sedalia > Missouri’s largest agricultural expo with main stage concerts, rodeo, carnival, exhibits, livestock and horse shows, Missouri’s First Lady pie contest, fiddling contest, tractor and equipment show, and a wide variety of vendors and food. Missouri State Fairgrounds. 7:30 AM-10 PM. $6$8. 800-422-3247, www.mostatefair.com

featured event > COURTESY OF DIANE EULINGER

OZARK HAM AND TURKEY FEST Sept. 21, California > Turkey drumsticks and ham sandwiches are centerpieces at this event, which features a parade, antique and classic car show, crafts, 5K run/walk, Tuff Truck/Figure 8 competition, and a huge turkey sub sandwich. Downtown. 6:45 AM11 PM. Free (except special events). 573-796-3040, www.calmo.com

CRESCENTS, CRATERS, AND RINGS Aug. 10, Knob Noster > Look through telescopes, take a laser sky tour, and learn about the night sky with an astronomy lesson. Knob Noster State Park.

8:30-10:30 PM. Free. 660-563-2463, www.mostateparks.com/park/knob-noster-state-park These listings are chosen by our editors and are not paid for by sponsors.

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WINE AND BREW FEST

COMMUNITY AIR SHOW

DEAD IN DIXON

Aug. 10, Lake Ozark > Missouri wineries and breweries provide samples, vendors, and live entertainment. Country Club Hotel and Spa. 2-6 pm. $20.

573-964-1008, www.lakeareachamber.com

Sept. 7, Warrensburg > Vintage military aircraft, airplane and helicopter rides, aerial acrobatic performances, vendors, and educational flight displays. Sky Haven Airport. 9 am-4 pm. Free. 660543-4921, www.skyhavenmac.com

Sept. 27-29, Dixon > Indie horror film festival with camping, live bands, and a chance to be in a horror film produced at the festival. Missouri Festival and RV Park. 5 pm-midnight Fri.; noon-midnight Sat.; 2-6 pm Sun. $20-$50 (camping extra). 573-7592378, www.missourifestivalandrvpark.com

CRUISE NIGHTS Aug. 10 and Sept. 14, Clinton > Car show, DJ music, and auction. Downtown Square. 5-8 pm.

Free. 660-885-8166, www.clintonmo.com

MURDEROUS AT THE MUSEUM Aug. 30, Linn Creek > Murder mystery theater.

Camden County Museum. 6 pm. Reservations. $15.

573-873-5101, www.camdencountymuseum.com

RAILROAD DAYS Aug. 31, Crocker > Parade, car show, entertainment, street dance, vendors, watermelon-eating and frozen T-shirt contests. Downtown. 9 am11 pm. Free. 573-528-0940, www.cityofcrocker.net

EPIC MUD RUN Aug. 31-Sept. 1, Midway > Traveling Through Time theme. After Dark Run on Sat. and Mud Run for adults and children on Sun. Midway Expo Center. 8:3011 pm Sat.; 9 am-5 pm Sun. Free for spectators. 573777-2257, www.epicmudrun.com

BLUEGRASS AND BBQ Sept. 8, Fulton > Come out for a fundraiser featuring bluegrass bands, raffles, BBQ meals, and kettle corn. Fulton State Hospital front lawn. Noon-6 pm. $5 (food extra). 573-642-7523, www.dmh.mo.gov/ fulton/TheFoundation.htm

BURG FEST

BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL

OKTOBERFEST

Sept. 19-21, Conway > Performance by some of the top names in bluegrass. Camping available.

Starvy Creek Park. 6:30-10:30 pm Thurs.; noon10:30 pm Fri.; noon-11 pm Sun. $15-$45. 417-5892013, www.starvycreek.com

Sept. 28, Jefferson City > Dachshund races, beer garden, grape stomping, German food and music, and Kid’s Korner. German South Side. 10 am-6 pm.

Free. 573-645-1956, www.oldmunichburg.com

Sept. 27-29, Warrensburg > Concerts, BBQ contest, classic car show, and crafts. Downtown. 5 pmmidnight Fri.; 10 am-midnight Sat.; 11 am-5 pm Sun. Free. 660-429-3988, www.theburgfest.org

QUEEN OF THE PRAIRIE FESTIVAL

ROOTS N BLUES N BBQ Sept. 20-22, Columbia > More than 30 blues artists perform including the Black Crowes, Blues Traveler, and Johnny Winter, a variety of BBQ foods, and gospel performances on Sun. Stephens Lake Park.

5-11 pm Fri.; noon-11 pm Sun.; noon-8 pm Sun. $40$250. 573-442-5862, www.rootsnbluesnbbq.com

Sept. 28, Sedalia> Fly-in featuring a WWI replica airplane show and Young Eagle airplane rides, fine arts and crafts, ventriloquist, Kid’s Alley, and Western Swing Barn Dance. Regional Airport, downtown, and Ag Building at the Missouri State Fairgrounds. 8 am-midnight. Free (except special events). 660-826-7080, www.lcaasedalia.com

Experiencetness Swee See why our Farmers’ Market was recently voted “America’s Favorite.”

Savor locally grown produce and take in the aroma of hundreds of fresh flowers.

Engage all of your senses in one place.

Cafe • Tours • Motel • Canoes • Zipline Camping • Gift Shop • Riverboat Stanton, MO • 573-468-3166 • www. AmericasCave.com

experiencefayetteville.com 800-766-4626

Save $3.00

Present this ad to receive $3.00 off adult cave admission, not valid with other ads or discounts.

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SOUTHWEST WATERCOLOR USA

COURTESY OF WILDCAT GLADES CONSERVATION AND AUDUBON SOCIETY

Aug. 1-Sept. 1, Springfield > Nationally known juried exhibition. Springfield Art Museum. 9 AM-5 PM Tues.-Sat.; 1-5 PM Sun. Donations accepted. 417837-5700, www.springfieldmo.gov/art/index.html

FIDDLE FESTIVAL Aug. 2-4, Branson> Jam sessions, workshops, and Mid-American Fiddlers Championship. Awberry parking lot in historic downtown. 6-8:30 PM Fri.; 10 AM-6 PM Sat.; noon-5 PM Sun. $1.50-$3. 417-3341548, www.downtownbranson.org

ART WALK Aug. 2 and Sept. 6, Springfield > Visit 25 venues for art, music, and food. Downtown. 6-10 PM. Free.

417-831-6200, www.itsalldowntown.com

BIRTHPLACE OF ROUTE 66 Aug. 10, Springfield > Festival celebrates Route 66 with a classic car show, food vendors, and kid’s area. Park Central Square. 10 AM-5 PM. Free. 417864-8004, www.springfieldmo.org

up a creek in a cardboard boat!

SHOAL CREEK WATER FESTIVAL Aug. 10, Joplin > Make a cardboard boat, see a puppet theater, water activity booths, duck race, World Bird Sanctuary exhibit, and Kid’s Shoebox Boat Race. Wildcat Glades Conservation and Audubon Center. 10 AM-3 PM. Free. 417-782-6287, www.wildcatglades.audubon.org

Duck into Kennett www.thebenttree.com www.stacyleigh.etsy.com

We give workshops! Call for information: 573-242-3200

Bent Tree Gallery The

W H E R E T H E L I V I N G www.kennettmo.com A Growing Destination for Waterfowl Enthusiasts

I S E A S Y

HISTORIC CLARKSVILLE MISSOURI

Rustic Furniture, Handcrafted Handbags, Fiber Art & Baskets 573-242-3200

Manitou Studio A gallery of fine crafts in clay and fiber.

NATURAL ANTLER-HANDLED LETTER OPENER

features original, hand-etched scrimshaw.

Choose a cardinal, hummingbird, dogwood, or rose. $25, plus $3 shipping/handling Check/Money Order/Visa/MasterCard

302 Columbia Street, Rocheport, MO 573-698-4011 ∙ www.preusceramics.com

31 High Trail, Eureka, MO www.stonehollowstudio.com • 636-938-9570

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BISON HIKE

FALL FESTIVAL

Aug. 10 and Sept. 21, Mindenmines > Guided hike to see bison and learn about their history and how the Native Americans used bison in their daily lives.

Prairie State Park. 10 AM-noon. Free. 417-843-6711, www.mostateparks.com/park/prairie-state-park

Sept. 20-22, Humansville > Exhibits, music, parade, games, and rides. Downtown. 10 AM-10 PM. Free. 417-298-6003, www.humansville.net

MOVIES ON THE GREEN

CIDER DAYS

Aug. 17 and Sept. 14, Reeds Spring > Classic outdoor movies like Oklahoma! Lawn behind City Hall.

8 PM. Free. 417-272-3309, www.reedsspring.org

Sept. 21-22, Springfield > More than 100 juried artists and crafters, hands-on children’s area, and scarecrow village. Historic Walnut Street. 10 AM5 PM. $4. 417-831-6200, www.itsalldowntown.com

AUTUMN DAZE Sept. 19-21, Branson > Arts, crafts, music, and sidewalk sales. Local celebrities give autographs. Historic Downtown. 9 AM-6 PM Thurs.-Fri.; 9 AM-4 PM Sat. Free. 417-334-1548, www.downtownbranson.org

August 10-17

CRUISE NIGHTS Aug. 30, Sept. 27, and Oct. 25, Butler > Car, bike, and truck show and cruise with featured specials each month. Sonic Drive-In. 5-8 PM. Free. 660-6790009, www.butlermochamber.org

100 MILE GARAGE SALE Aug. 31, Ash Grove to Branson West > 100 miles of sales with a variety of items. Follow highways 160, 39, H, 96, 60, and 265 to find the sales. There is a the map on the website. 7 AM until sold out. 417466-7654, www.mtvernonchamber.com

August 24 - September 1

HARLEM AMBASSADORS Sept. 22, Monett > Comedy, basketball, and tricks as the Monett Area All-Stars take on the Harlem Ambassadors. Monett High School. 3 PM. $4-$10.

417-235-7919, www.monett-mo.com

COVEFEST Sept. 27-28, Kimberling City > Bands, vendors, crafts, rides, and silent auction. Our Lady of the Cove church grounds. 4-11 PM Fri.; 11 AM-11 PM Sat. Free. 417-739-4700, www.ourladyofthecove.org

September 7-15

COURTESY OF DOWNTOWN BRANSON BETTERMENT ASSOCIATION

Aug. 16, Lampe > Performance by the legendary band Journey. Black Oak Amphitheater. 7 PM. $35$129. 417-779-1222, www.blackoakamp.com

Sept. 21, Shell Knob > Food and vendor booths, beer garden, children’s rides and games, music, ugly dog contest, pie eating contest, skits, races, raffles, and car show. Chamber Events Park.

10 AM-8 PM. $1. 417-858-3300, www.shellknob.com

JOURNEY CONCERT

dazed and amused...

SHAKIN’ IN THE SHELL

September 21-28

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HERITAGE REUNION Sept. 28-29, Fair Grove > Arts, crafts, parade, country music, threshing, dancing, horse and mule obstacle course, period demonstrations with a turnof-the-century theme, and antique tractor show.

Wommack Mill, Square, and District Park. 8 AM6 PM Sat.; 8 AM-4 PM Sun. Free (fee for parking).

417-833-3467, www.fghps.org

NORTHEAST ST. LOUIS ART OF FALCONRY Aug. 3, Kirksville > Program with a Missouri falconer, plus Meagan Duffee and her birds on the sport and art of falconry. Thousand Hills State Park.

7-8 PM. Free. 660-665-6995, www.mostateparks. com/park/thousand-hills-state-park

COURTESY OF CHRIS SWIFT

SOYBEAN FESTIVAL Aug. 23-24, Mexico > Celebrate the area’s agricultural heritage with a parade, BBQ cook-off, children’s activities, car and bike show, 10K and 5K run/walk, beer and wine garden, and performances by two homegrown bands, Legacy and The Havana Honeys. Historic Village Square. 10 AM-10 PM. Free. 573-581-2765, www.mexicosoybean.org

weiner takes all!

OKTOBERFEST Sept. 27-29, St. Charles > Celebrate with a parade, children’s area, vintage car show, Dachshund races, a fashion show, and German music, food, and traditional dancing. Frontier Park. 4-11 PM Fri.; 10 AM-11 PM Sat.; 10 AM-5 PM. Sun. Free. 636-262-2110, www.saintcharlesoktoberfest.com

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WABASH DAYS FESTIVAL Aug. 23-25, Wentzville > Parade, motorcycle and car show, street performances, arts, crafts, reenactments of the Battle of Wentzille, Victorian ball with live music, cannon fire, and Union and Confederate Civil War soldier camps. Downtown. 5-11 PM Fri.; noon-11 PM Sat.; noon-6 PM Sun. Free. 636-3275101, www.wentzvillemo.org

RACE FOR THE RIVERS Aug. 24, St. Charles > Watch canoe, kayak, and bike racers come in, take a ride on the Junebug, a voyager class canoe. Also, entertainment, sun painting, Stream Trash Art, and vendors. Bikers and racers visit the website for information on participating. Frontier Park. 11 AM-5 PM. Free. 636-4980772, www.racefortherivers.org

Aug. 24 and Sept. 28, Mexico > Car, truck, and bike show, drawings, DJ music, and Cattlemen’s BBQ. Hardin Park. 5-9 PM. Free. 573-581-2765, www. mexicomissouri.net

ART FAIR AT QUEENY PARK Aug. 30-Sept. 1, Ballwin > Arts and crafts, music, and wine tasting. Greensfelder Recreation Complex. 6-9 PM Fri.; 10 AM-6 PM Sat.; 11 AM-4 PM Sun. $5. 314-997-1181, www.artfairatqueenypark.com

eyes to the skies!

AIR FESTIVAL Sept. 8, Kirksville > See exhibits, aerial performances, airplane and helicopter rides, and kid’s zone. Regional Airport. Noon-4 PM. Free (except rides). 660-665-3766, www.kvairfest.com

COURTESY OF VISIT KIRKSVILLE

BRICK CITY CRUISE NIGHTS

missouri state fair celebrates

FREE Gate Admission For All Women Any Age Thursday, August 15 regular price admission for men $8 adult / $6 senior / $2 age 6-12 / age 5 & under free

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Sign up for Fall Classes at www.vesta-usa.org or Call 417-837-2515 Classes offered: Intro to Enology

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Latino Americans Actor Benjamin Bratt narrates a new series that chronicles the rich and varied history of Latinos, who have helped shape the United States today. Stories from this 500-plus year history are told through historical recreations and interviews with Latinos from the worlds of politics, business and pop culture.

Begins September 17

The KMOS-TV schedule and program highlights are available at

www.kmos.org

KMOS-TV broadcasts in HD on channel 6.1, and is carried on many cable systems on channel 6.

You can also see broadcasts of lifestyle/how-to shows on 6.2 and international programs on 6.3.

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MARK TWAIN FESTIVAL

MOSAICS FESTIVAL FOR THE ARTS

MAIN STREET ST. CLAIR

Aug. 31, Florida > Memorbilia displays, vendors, crafters, and music. Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site. 10 am-4 pm. Free. 573-565-3440, www.mostateparks.com/park/mark-twainbirthplace-state-historic-site

Sept. 13-15, St. Charles > Music, more than 100 artists, and children’s art area. Historic North Main Street. 4-9 pm Fri.; 11 am-9 pm Sat.; 11 am-5 pm Sun. Free. 314-482-5476, www.stcharlesmosaics.org

Sept. 21, St. Clair > Separate child and adult areas with craft vendors, live music, kids games, bounce houses, food vendors, and beer and margarita garden. Main Street. 2-11 pm. Free. 636-629-6000, www.stclairmo.com

BIG MUDDY BLUES FESTIVAL Aug. 31-Sept. 1, St. Louis > More than 30 local acts, national headliners, and a Grammy winner all perform blues, rock, soul, rockabilly, and country music. Laclede’s Landing. 1-11 pm. $13-$45. 314-2415875, www.bigmuddybluesfestival.com

EUREKA DAYS Sept. 5-7, Eureka > Concerts, carnival, Kids Corner, circus, vendors, and fireworks. Lions Park. 5-9 pm Thurs. (carnival rides only $1); 5-10 pm Fri.; 10 am-10 pm Sat. Free. 636-938-6775, www.eurekadays.com

FALL RV SHOW

QUILT, SEW, AND FIBER EXPO Sept. 20-21, St. Charles > Special traveling quilt display, quilt contest, vendors, demonstrations, and classes. Convention Center. 10 am-5 pm Fri.; 10 am4 pm Sat. (classes begin at 9 am). $8 registration.

800-473-9464, www.roundbobbin.com

CHICAGO Sept. 20-22, St. Louis > Broadway musical.

Fabulous Fox Theatre. 8 pm Fri.; 2 and 8 pm Sat.; 1 and 6:30 pm Sun. Ticket prices vary. 314-534-1678, www.fabulousfox.com

COMMUNITY DAYS

Sept. 6-8, Hazelwood > Display of 300 RVs. St. Louis Mills shopping center. 10 am-8 pm Fri.-Sat.; 11 am-5 pm Sun. Free. 618-288-9952, www.stlrv.com

Sept. 21, Affton > Elvis impersonator, parade, beer tent, mechanical bull, and a concert by SMASH. St. Dominic Savio Parish grounds. 10 am-9 pm. Free.

314-631-3100, www.afftonchamber.com

CABARET

ARTS AND CRAFTS FESTIVAL

Sept. 11-Oct. 6, St. Louis > Award-winning classic musical. Repertory Theatre of St. Louis. Showtimes vary. $16.50-$76. 314-968-4925, www.repstl.org

Sept. 21, Kirksville> Arts, crafts, food, and music.

Downtown. 8 am-4:30 pm. Free (except food). 660665-0500, www.kirksvillearts.com

ELEPHANT�ROCK

S

DANCING IN THE STREETS Sept. 21, St. Louis > Outdoor show with more than 900 dancers performing a variety of dances including flamenco, folk, tap, and salsa. Also Project Bandaloop, which is a blend of dance, sport, and ritual.

Grand Center District. 1-8 pm. Free. 314-289-1500, www.grandcenter.org

GOLF CLASSIC Sept. 21, St. Louis > The Hispanic Chamber of Commerce Foundation hosts a golf game with lunch, reception, and dinner to raise money for scholarship programs. Norman K. Probstein Community Golf Course. 11:30 am-6 pm. $95-$380 ($35 for dinner guest). 314-644-4432, www.hccstl.com

JAZZ AND BLUES FESTIVAL Sept. 21, Webster Groves > Two stages of live jazz and blues music and family-friendly activities including street entertainers, jugglers, and balloon artists. Old Webster. Noon-11 pm. Free. 314-9624142, www.oldwebsterjazzfestival.com

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Family

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University Concert Series Highlights 2013-14

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PIONEER DAYS

WALK BACK IN TIME

COURTESY OF LIBERTY AREA CHAMBER OF COMMERCE

Sept. 27-29, Mexico > Visit historical camps that follow a timeline from 1770s Colonial to 1860s Civil War to 1940s World War ll, enjoy a fish fry, and take a candlelight tour. Audrain Historical Museum Complex. 4-7 PM Fri.; 10 AM-8:30 PM Sat.; 10 AM4 PM Sun. Free. 573-581-3910, www.audrain.org

TASTE OF ST. LOUIS Sept. 27-29, St. Louis > Celebrity chefs, Chef Battle Royale Culinary Competition, more than 50 restaurants on Restaurant Row, concerts, art and wine walk, and Kids’ Kitchen. Soldier’s Memorial. 4-11 PM Fri.; 11 AM-11 PM Sat.; 11 AM-9 PM Sun. Free. 314-5342100, www.tastestl.com

NORTHWEST KANSAS CITY TISKET, TASKET, LUNCH BASKET Aug. 1-31, Independence > Collection of lunch boxes on display. Bingham-Waggoner Estate.

10 AM-4 PM Mon.-Sat.; 1-4 PM Sun. $3-$6. 816-4613491, www.bwestate.org

BENTON AND TRUMAN Aug. 1-Oct. 14, Independence > Exhibit focusing on Thomas Hart Benton and Harry S. Truman who collaborated on Benton’s mural, “Independence and the Opening of the West,” featuring a number of Benton’s paintings and drawings, as well as memorabilia linked to former President Truman’s interest in the trails and the American West. Harry S. Truman Library. 9 AM-5 PM Mon.-Sat.; noon-5 PM Sun. $3-$8. 800-833-1225, www.trumanlibrary.org

PENNYTOWN CHURCH REUNION

BACON FEST Sept. 28, Kirksville > Beauty contest, bacon recipe contest, free BLT sandwiches, and entertainment.

Downtown. 10:30 AM-2:30 PM. Free. 660-665-3766, www.kirksvillechamber.com

Aug. 4, Marshall > Prayer service at Pennytown Church followed by reunion, prizes, and a fried chicken and side dishes meal. Knights of Columbus Hall. 10 AM-4 PM. $5 donation. 660-886-8414, www.pennytownchurch.com

fall back into fun!

FALL FESTIVAL Sept. 27-29, Liberty > Family-friendly festival features a parade, carnival, 175 booths with handmade arts and crafts, stick horse rodeo, pedal car races, and live music.

Historic Downtown. 11 AM-9 PM Fri.; 9 AM-9 PM Sat.; 11 AM-4 PM Sun. Free. 816-781-5200, www.libertyfallfest.com

The Jimmy Dean Show Country Classics August 3 at 7:30 p.m.

Relive the early appearances of country stars Chet Atkins, George Jones, Buck Owens, Johnny Cash, Minnie Pearl, Dottie West and many others when they appeared on Jimmy Dean’s national television variety series. This special, hosted by entertainer, actor and musician Roy Clark (below), features episodes that have not been seen in nearly 50 years.

Dean hosted the first TV appearance of the piano-playing Muppet, Rowlf the Dog.

Dean Photo: Courtesy of Museum of the Llano Estacado, Plainview, Texas / Clark Photo: Courtesy of Roy Clark Productions, Inc.

Sept. 21-22, Defiance > Historic trade and skill demonstrations, pioneer games, music, dance, cannon and blackpowder shoots, historic reenactors, and entertainment. Daniel Boone Home and Heritage Center. 9 AM-5 PM. $6-$12. 636-798-2005, www.danielboonehome.com

The KMOS-TV schedule and program highlights are available at

www.kmos.org

KMOS-TV broadcasts in HD on channel 6.1, and is carried on many cable systems on channel 6.

You can also see broadcasts of lifestyle/how-to shows on 6.2 and international programs on 6.3.

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Muse um s ~

River Glenn House ~ Fort D & Other Civil War Sites ~ Mississippi

Bollinger Mill & Covered B ridge Tales Mural ~

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ETHNIC ENRICHMENT FESTIVAL

JOESTOCK MUSIC FESTIVAL

Aug. 16-18, Kansas City > Experience the heritage and traditions of more than 50 countries with traditional food, crafts, and dancing. Swope Park.

6-10 pm Fri.; noon-10 pm Sat.; noon-6 pm Sun. $3.

816-842-7530, www.eeckc.org

Aug. 30-Sept. 1, St. Joseph > Bring a lawn chair for three days of music with more than 26 international, national, regional, and local musicians performing rock, blues, country, and alternative music with camping available for $25. Phil Welch Stadium. 410 pm Fri.; 11 am-10 pm Sat.; 1-10 pm Sun. Free. 816676-1112, www.stjosephmusicfoundation.org

TRAILS WEST FESTIVAL Aug. 16-18, St. Joseph > Fine and folk art, dramatic performances, art competitions, music, and children’s activities including the Percussion Playground. Civic Center Park. 5-11 pm Fri.; 10 am-11 pm Sat.; noon-10 pm Sun. $10 for all three days. 816233-0231, www.trailswest.org

STARGAZING Aug. 24, Lexington > Kansas City Astronomical Association gives presentation, sets up telescopes, and helps identify stars and planets. Battle of Lexington State Historic Site. 7:30-10 pm. Free. 660259-4654, www.mostateparks.com/park/battlelexington-state-historic-site

KANSAS CITY IRISH FEST Aug. 30-Sept. 1, Kansas City > Traditional music and dancing, exhibits, Irish comics, and Celtic rock bands. Crown Center Square and Off Center Theatre. 5-11 pm Fri.; 11 am-11 pm Sat.-Sun. $5-$25. 816561-7555, www.kcirishfest.com

PERSHING BALLOON DERBY Aug. 30-Sept. 2, Brookfield > Night launches, balloon flights, arts, crafts, dance, sidewalk sales, fly-in, and balloonist parade. Throughout town (launches at Peacher Memorial Launch Site).

9 am-9 pm Fri.; 7 am-9 pm Sat.; 7:15 am-8 pm Sun. 7:15 am Mon. (final flight). Free ($2-$15 for launch site).

660-247-1027, www.pershingballoonderby.com

cooking equipment, and sample the prepared food.

Arrow Rock State Historic Site. 9 am-1 pm. Free. Preregistration. 660-837-3330, www.mostateparks. com/park/arrow-rock-state-historic-site

ART WESTPORT Sept. 6-8, Kansas City > More than 120 local artists exhibit and sell original art, jewelry, and crafts. Historic Westport. 5-9 pm Fri.; 10 am-9 pm Sat.; noon-5 pm Sun. Free. 816-531-4370, www.artwestport.net

CHALK AND WALK FESTIVAL Sept. 7-8, Kansas City > Watch artists transform squares of asphalt into pieces of artwork. Crown Center Square. 11 am-8 pm Sat.; 11 am-5 pm Sun. Free. 816-274-8444, www.kcchalkandwalk.org

INDEPENDENCE UNCORKED

SANTA-CALI-GON DAYS Aug. 30-Sept. 2, Independence > More than 300 crafters and vendors, more than 100 food booths, three stages of music, carnival, and watermelon seed-spitting contest. Independence Square.

Noon-11 pm Fri.; 10 am-11 pm Sat.-Sun.; 10 am-5 pm Mon. 816-252-4745, www.santacaligon.com

CAMPFIRE COOKING Aug. 31, Arrow Rock > Learn how to cook using a camp oven, smokers, and an open fire, care for

Sept. 14, Independence > Missouri wine samples, art, music, food, and a souvenir wine glass. Bingham-Waggoner Estate. 1-6 pm. $20-$25. 816-4613491, www.independenceuncorked.com

MUSIC FEST BACK PORCH JAM Sept. 14, Lawson > Concert of original songs and folk music. Bring your instrument for a jam session.

Watkins Woolen Mill State Historic Site. Noon-5 pm. Free. 816-580-3387, www.mostateparks.com/ park/missouri-mines-state-historic-site

Emigrants on the Overland Trail The Wagon Trains of 1848

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August Events

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Aug. 2-Outlaw Truck & Tractor Pull Aug. 3-Paranormal Investigations of the Historic Talbot House Aug. 17-MPRA Run For The Fallen Aug. 24/25-Kiwanis Gun, Knife & Archery Show Aug. 31- Railroad Days

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OUTDOOR DISCOVER DAY Sept. 14, Trenton > Demonstrations, face painting, Dutch oven cooking, archery, trivia contest, crafts, and stop by at 2 PM for birthday cake to celebrate the park’s 75th year. Crowder State Park. Noon4 PM. Free. 660-359-6473, www.mostateparks. com/park/crowder-state-park

BATTLE OF MARSHALL Sept. 14-15, Waverly > Reenactment of the battle between Colonel Joseph Shelby and General Egbert Brown, Sunday church service, night parade, cooking and clothing demonstrations, lectures, night firing, and camp tours. Throughout town.

9 AM-9 PM Sat.; 9 AM-noon Sun. Free. 660-8150258, www.battleofmarshall.org

FALL FESTIVAL

celebrate and commemorate!

FALL FESTIVAL AND VIETNAM TRAVELING MEMORIAL Sept. 4-8, Concordia > The traveling wall is three-fifths the size of the Vietnam Memorial Wall in Washington, DC, and will be on display 24 hours a day during the festival. The Fall Festival features three parades, craft exhibits, livestock shows, a carnival, antique cars, and an authentic German Biergarten. Ball Complex and downtown. 7 PM Tues. (Queen contest); 5-10 PM Wed.-Thurs.; 5-11 PM Fri.; 7 AM-11 PM Sat. Free. 660-463-2454, www.concordiafallfestival.com

COUNTRY FAIR Sept. 21, Higginsville > Crafts, art, ice cream social, produce, art, photo and quilt shows, youth activities, two parades, plant show, chalk drawing contest, and displays. Main Street and Fairground Park. 8 AM-5 PM. Free. 660-909-1894, www.higginsvillecountryfair.com

COURTESY OF MAUREEN WELSH

Sept. 19-21, Slater > Carnival, talent contest, baby show, vendors, and parade. Downtown. 8 AM-5 PM. Free. 660-529-2271, www.cityofslater.com

Experience the Difference A welcoming, fun environment offering great wine without intimidation. Come learn more about Missouri wine and find your favorite.

Open Mon.-Sat. 11AM-6 PM and Sun. 1-6 PM. 27150 Hwy. 24, Waverly, MO www.baltimorebend.com ∙ 660-493-0258

Food, fun, music, shopping, games, and so much more!

September 7&8

Experience Our Greatest Things.

877-224-4554 | www.chillicothemo.com

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WALDO’S FALL FESTIVAL Sept. 21, Kansas City > Opening ceremony announcing the Honorary Mayor of Waldo, exhibits by local businesses, children’s rides, and entertainment. Waldo Area. 10 AM-5 PM. Free. 816-523-5553, www.waldokc.org

JOUR DE FETE

SOUTHEAST PHELPS COUNTY FAIR

Sept. 21, Richmond > Professional reenactment of the 1867 bank robbery, chili cook-off, kiddie parade, live music, beer garden, vendors, and children’s activities. Richmond Square. 9 AM-11 PM. Free. 816-776-6916, www.richmondchamber.org

July 31-Aug. 3, Rolla > Carnival rides, bull riding, mud run, truck and tractor pull, music, vendors, demolition derby, petting zoo, frozen T-shirt contest, livestock shows, and 4-H and agricultural exhibits.

Phelps County Fairgrounds. 3 PM-midnight Wed.-Fri.; 8 AM-midnight Sat. $8-$25. 573-364-6364, www. phelpscountyfair.com

OLD TIME HARVEST DAYS

HOT NIGHTS—COOL CAVE

Sept. 27-29, Chillicothe > Country music show and dance, tractor rodeo, parade of power, pedal tractor pull, quilt show, old-time demonstrations, classic cars, antique machinery and tractors, and arts and crafts. Livingston County Fairgrounds. 7 AM10 PM Fri.-Sat.; 7 AM-3 PM Sun. $5 for all days. 660646-3794, www.livcosteamandgas.com

Aug. 3, Leasburg > Concert by the Flea Bitten Dogs in the big room of the cave with refreshments served. Onondaga Cave State Park. 6-10 PM. $25.

Reservations required, and seating is limited. 573245-6576, www.onondagafriends.org

OUTLAW DAYS

QUILT SHOW Sept. 28-29, Marshall > One hundred quilts of various styles on display, silent auction, and breakfast and lunch available. Martin Community Center.

9 AM-5 PM. Sat.; 10 AM-5 PM Sun. $5. 660-886-3324, www.countrypatchworkquilters.com

HUMMINGBIRD BANDING Aug. 3, Sept. 7, and 14, Leasburg > Join researcher Lanny Chambers as he captures and bands the ruby-throated hummingbird. Get a close-up look and learn the history of Missouri’s smallest flying machine. Onondaga Cave State Park. 11 AM3 PM. Free. 573-245-6576, www.mostateparks. com/park/onondaga-cave-state-park

l a o r h i S a Biguntry F Co

7, ber m e Sept

Aug. 10-11, Ste. Genevieve > More than 100 art and craft booths, Lion’s Club fundraiser featuring, 5K and 1-mile fun runs, entertainment on the porch, fried chicken dinner, and an all gas-powered cruise. Historic Downtown. 10 AM6 PM Sat.; 9 AM-4 PM Sun. Free. 800-373-7007, www.saintegenevievejourdefete.com

GRAPE JAM BLUEGRASS Aug. 16-17, St. James > Four bluegrass bands perform, fiddle contest, jam sessions, crafts, and children’s rides and games. Downtown. 5 PM-midnight Fri.; noon-midnight Sat. Free. 573-265-6649, www.stjameschamber.net

200TH CELEBRATION DAY Aug. 17, Old Mines > Celebrate the anniversary with an old-fashioned French heritage day featuring live music, games, and authentic French food.

Throughout town. 10 AM-4 PM. Free. 314-374-8399, www.celebrate2013.com

POWERFEST Aug. 17, West Plains > Family event features motorcycle rally, car show, Flo with H2O 5K run, concessions, and Crossfit. Heart of the Ozarks Fairgrounds. 9 AM-6 PM. Free. 417-522-9891, www. waywardsonproductions.com

2013

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Directory of our Advertisers Connect with us online! www.MissouriLife.com www.facebook.com/MissouriLife • Twitter: @MissouriLife

Amber House Bed and Breakfast, p. 102 Amish Made, p. 110 Argosy Riverside Casino, p. 123 Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, p. 108 Baltimore Bend Vineyard, p. 118 Bear Creek Lodge, p. 102 Bed and Breakfast Inns of Missouri, p. 102 Bent Tree Gallery, p. 107 Big Cedar Lodge, p. 33 Blumenhof Vineyards and Winery, p. 102 Boonville Tourism, p. 27 Bradford’s Antiques, p. 119 Branson Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, p. 30-31 Branson IMAX Entertainment Complex, p. 34 Branson Visitor TV, p. 38 Broadway Brewery, p. 101 Caldarello Italian Sausage, p. 111 Callaway County Tourism,

p. 64-65 Cape Girardeau Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, p. 116 Chillicothe, p. 118 Clinton, p. 104 Columbia Orthopaedic Group, p. 13 Cooper’s Oak Winery, p. 85 Dragon-Fly-In B&B, p. 112 Evening Shade Farms, p. 112 Family Shoe Store, p. 113 Fayetteville, AR, p. 106 Gladstone, p. 119 Glasgow, p. 27 Hermann Chamber of Commerce, p. 85 Hermannhof Winery, p. 85 Hiltons of Branson, p. 35 Inn at Harbour Ridge, p. 102 Isle of Capri Casino Hotel, p. 3 James Country Mercantile, p. 109 John Knox Village East, p. 10 Kennett, p. 107 KMOS-TV, p. 111 & 115

Ladoga Ridge Winery, p. 102 Lambert’s Café, p. 113 Lebanon Tourism, p. 9 Lodge of Four Seasons, p. 2 Louisiana, MO, p. 111 Lutheran Senior Services, p. 25 Main Street Goods and Goodies, p. 119 Manitou Studio, p. 107 Marshall Tourism, p. 4-5 Maryland Heights Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, p. 25 Meramec Caverns, p. 106 Mexico, MO Tourism, p. 6 Missouri Beef Council, p. 88-91 Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, p. 99 Missouri Life Books, p. 80 Missouri Life Photo Contest, p. 98 Missouri Life Subscriptions, p. 101 Missouri Life Travel, p. 81 Missouri Pork Association, p. 124 Missouri State Fair, p. 110 Moberly Area Chamber of Commerce, p. 116 Mpix, p. 98 New Madrid, MO p. 113 Oak Ridge Boys Theatre, p. 33 Old Trails Region, p. 118 Pointe Royale Golf Course, p. 39 Presley’s Country Jubilee, p. 37 Pulaski County USA, p. 117 Queen of the Prairies Festival of the Arts, p. 116 Railyard Steakhouse, p. 101 River Valley Region Association, p. 112 Rolla Area Chamber of Commerce, p. 10 Rost Landscaping, p. 113 Salem Area Chamber of Commerce, p. 23 Silver Dollar City, p. 36 Socket, p. 48 St. Charles Convention and Visitor’s Bureau, p. 15-18 St. Joseph, p. 104 Steeleville, p. 20-21 Stone Haus Bed and Breakfast, p. 102 Stone Hill Winery, p. 93

Stone Hollow Scrimshaw Studio, p. 107 Swiss Meats and Sausage Co., p. 93 Trailside Café and Bike Shop, p. 113 Traveler’s Lane Travel Agency, p. 109 Traver Home Winery, p. 85 Truman State University Press, p. 117 Union Station, Kansas City, p. 13 University Concert Series, p. 114 USA Tours, p. 23 VESTA, p. 111 Waverly House, p. 85 Welk Resort Branson, p. 39 Westphalia Inn, p. 85 The White House Theatre, p. 36 FALL FIELD GUIDE: Alps Brands, p. 15 Arrow Rock, p. 7 Audrain County Historical Society Museum and Mexico, MO, p. 14 Benton County Tourism Commission, p. 11 Boonslick Area Tourism Council, p. 13 Bucksnort Trading Company, p. 7 Cameron’s Crag Bed and Breakfast, p. 12 Columbia Star Dinner Train, p. 13 Graf and Sons, Inc., p. 12 Gunflint Wood Shop, p. 11 Hermann Wurst Haus, p. 12 Honda Generators, p. 16 Katy Bike Rental, p. 13 Lexington Tourism, p. 12 Marshall and Son Custom Ammunition, p. 11 Missouri Life Subscriptions, p. 13 Missouri Tourism, p. 8-9 Missouri State Parks, p. 10 Poplar Bluff Tourism, p. 12 Shady Lane Cabins, p. 12 Ste. Genevieve Tourism, p. 13 The Studio Inn at St. Albans, p. 11 Sullivan Area Chamber of Commerce, p. 13

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CAR AND TRUCK SHOW Sept. 21, Cuba > Car entries include stock, street rods, hot-rods, Mustangs, street machines, ratrods, and vintage and custom bikes. Uptown Main Street. 8 AM-6 PM. Free to spectators. 573-2594313, www.cubamochamber.com

FALL BLUEGRASS FESTIVAL Sept. 26-28, West Plains > Gospel night, bean supper, and a variety of bluegrass bands perform.

Camping available. HOBA Bluegrass Park. 7-11 PM Thurs.-Fri.; 2-4 and 7-11 PM Sat. $5-$25. 888-2568835, www.wix.com/hobabluegrass/home

PIONEER DAYS Sept. 27-28, Mountain View > Ham and bean supper, old-time music, antique car show, crafts, pioneer demonstrations, cross-cut wood demonstrations, Tee Pee Village, parachute flights, and parade. Downtown. 5-10 PM Fri.; 8 AM-6 PM Sat. Free. 877-266-8706, www.mountainviewmo.com

it'll be a hoot!

TOUR DE CAPE

HOOTIN AN HOLLARIN Sept. 19-21, Gainesville > Held since 1961, this event has a Queen pageant, crafts, quilt show, bed races, outhouse races, square dancing, games, contests, and music. Downtown Square.

5-10 PM Thurs.; 9 AM-10 PM Fri.-Sat. Free. 888-256-8835, www.hootinanhollarin.com

FLY-IN Aug. 17, Sullivan > Airplane rides for kids, car show, vendors, and B-25 Mitchell “Show Me” World War II bomber. Regional Airport. 8 AM-2 PM. Free. 573468-3314, www.sullivan.mo.us

GAZEBO CONCERT Aug. 25, Perryville > Performance by George Portz and Friends of Bluegrass. Downtown gazebo. 57 PM. Free. 573-547-6062, www.perryvillemo.com

SALUTE TO TIMBER PARADE Sept. 2, Salem > Parade, children’s games, shingle splitting, crosscut sawing, free hotdogs, brats, and hamburgers, and exhibits. The Commons. 10:30 AM5:30 PM. Free. 573-729-1452, www.salemmo.com

COURTESY OF OZARK COUNTY CHAMBER

GRAPE AND FALL FESTIVAL Sept. 4-7, St. James > Queen pageant, parade, crafts, county fair, demolition derby, bingo, dog show, and grape stomp. Nelson Hart Park. Times vary. Free (except special events and parking). 573265-6649, www.stjameschamber.net

CITY WIDE YARD SALE Sept. 6-7, New Madrid > Bargain hunters will delight in all the sales. Throughout town. Times vary.

Free. 573-748-5300, www.new-madrid.mo.us

FALL INTO ARTS Sept. 6-8, Kennett > Visual arts and crafts, live music and theatre, balloon man, magic show, and

art cars. Downtown Courthouse Square. 7 PM Fri.; 11 AM-7 PM Sat.; noon-5 PM Sun. Free. 573-3444223, www.kafta.org

SEMO DISTRICT FAIR Sept. 7-14, Cape Girardeau > Rides, exhibits, truck and tractor pull, , Heartland Idol, and performances

by Three Dog Night, the Mavericks, and Lee Brice.

Arena Park. 11 AM-10:30 PM Sat.-Sun.; 1-10:30 PM Mon.-Fri.; 9 AM-10:30 PM Sat. $4-$25 (special events extra). 573-334-9250, www.semofair.com

CHURCH PICNIC Sept. 8, Ste. Genevieve > Kettle beef, fried chicken, children’s games, music, washer tournament, and bake sale. K of C grounds. 11 AM-6 PM. Free (except food). 573-883-2731, www.valleschools.org

OLD MINE OPEN HOUSE Sept. 14, Park Hills > Tour the mining/mineral museum, and special guests present a program on historic lead-mining practices and life in the Old Lead belt. Missouri Mines State Historic Site. 9 AM4 PM. Free. 573-431-6226, www.mostateparks. com/park/missouri-mines-state-historic-site

Sept. 28, Cape Girardeau > Charity bicycle ride features 15, 30, 65, and 100-mile rides. Proceeds benefit children with disabilities. Starts at Boardman Pavilion. 8 AM-3 PM. Free for spectators. 573587-0315, www.tourdecape.com

GREEN LIVING FAIR Sept. 28, Leasburg > Exhibits on recycling, organic and sustainable farming, renewable fibers, alternative energy companies, green housing, solar cooking, arts, and crafts. Onondaga Cave State Park. 10 AM-5 PM. Free. 573-245-6576, www.mostateparks. com/park/onondaga-cave-state-park

CELEBRATION OF NATIONS Sept. 28, Rolla > Celebrate the area’s vibrant cultural diversity with live music and dancing, ethnic foods, arts, crafts, displays, parade, and children’s activities. Downtown. 11 AM-4 PM. Free. 573-3416237, www.nations.mst.edu

FREE LISTING & MORE EVENTS At www.MissouriLife.com PLEASE NOTE: TO SUBMIT AN EVENT:

PATRIOT DAY RALLY Sept. 14, Rolla > Veterans, first responders, and law enforcement receive a free picnic meal, horse and wagon rides, Lewis and Clark Fife and Drum Corps, and fireworks display. Lions Club Park. 5:30-9 PM. Free. 573-364-6555, www.patriotdayrally.com

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Missouriana

Connections with country music, Kennett, and the State Fair Fair.

BY BRIANA ALTERGOTT AND TINA CASAGRAND

During the 1952 state fair, a TORNADO raged through the fairgrounds at 1:20 a.m. on August 21. The storm DESTROYED three-fourths of the midway, ripped the roof off the bandstand, flooded the racetrack, and killed one WORKER. Remarkably, the fair reopened that same evening.

Before CMT ...

Dunklin County, home of KENNETT, was organized February 14, 1845, from Stoddard County and is named for Daniel DUNKLIN, the fifth governor of Missouri.

Did you know this?

THE LITTLE RIVER DRAINAGE PROJECT, WHICH HELPED CREATE KENNETT, WAS THE WORLD’S LARGEST DRAINAGE PROJECT AND MOVED MORE EARTH THAN THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE PANAMA CANAL.

ILLUSTRATIONS BY ANDREW BARTON

From 1955-1961, Springfield was home to some of the first national country music programs on television, including Ozark Jubilee.

The Dillards, a BLUEGRASS band from Salem, Missouri, became famous after REGULAR appearances on The Andy Griffith Show. Rodney Dillard still PERFORMS Griffith favorites.

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You’ve Truly Arrived Your 4-Diamond getaway is closer than you ever imagined. It’s incredible dining, an opulent hotel, and the hottest gaming action in Kansas City! For all the latest, check us out in the Kansas City Restaurant Guide or online at kcrestaurantguide.com.

Enjoy outrageously delicious handmade pizzas, original sandwiches, juicy burgers and other entrée options while watching your favorite team on big-screen TVs over one of our signature cocktails.

Indulge in a mouth-watering menu complete with imaginative appetizers, fresh fish, lobster, pastas, desserts and certified Angus Beef® steaks, expertly grilled to perfection over mesquite-wood fires!

Spoil yourself seven days a week with an amazing array of freshly prepared entrées, desserts, sushi, pastas, pizza and so much more! There’s sure to be something for every appetite!

777 N .W. Ar gosy Casino Par kwa y • River side, MO • Ar gosyKansasCity.com • 816-746-3100 Gambling Pr oblem? Call 1.888.BET S.OFF or V isit 888betsof f.or g

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Salad that

sizzles!

Join the conversation at PorkBeInspired.com/PorkSocial

Cuban Pork Adobo Salad 4 New York (top loin) pork chops, 3/4-inch thick 2/3 cup lime juice* 3 cloves garlic, minced 1 tsp. cumin 1/2 to 1 tsp. salt 1/4 tsp. black pepper 3 tbsp. olive oil, (plus oil for the grill grate) 1 tsp. honey 4 1/2-oz slices fresh pineapple, cored 1 14 1/2-oz can black beans, drained and rinsed 5 oz. arugula, watercress, or assorted baby greens 1/2 small red onion, cut into thin slivers

SERVES 4

For the dressing-marinade mixture, in a small bowl whisk together lime juice, garlic, cumin, salt, and pepper.

Reserve 1/4 cup of the mixture for the dressing in the refrigerator. For the marinade, transfer remaining mixture to a self-sealing plastic bag. Add chops; seal bag and refrigerate for 2-4 hours.

Prepare a medium-hot fire with charcoal or preheat gas to medium high. Lightly oil grill grate.

Remove chops from marinade (do not pat dry), discarding marinade from the bag. Grill chops and pineapple directly over heat, turning once, until internal temperature of pork on a thermometer reads between 145° F. (medium rare) and 160° F. (medium), followed by a 3-minute rest , about 8-11 minutes.

Plate greens on 4 dinner dishes. Divide pineapple, black beans, and onion onto plates. Top with pork chops. For the dressing, whisk the 3 tbsp. of oil and honey into the reserved dressing mixture; drizzle atop salads. *Cuban cooking often calls for sour orange juice, which is less sweet and more acidic that common orange juice. If you can find sour oranges, such as Seville or Bergamont, substitute this juice for the lime juice. You can also use half lime juice and half orange juice. ©2013 National Pork Board, Des Moines, IA USA. This message funded by America’s Pork Producers and the Pork Checkoff.

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