APRIL FOOLS!
O z a r k E x p l o r e r : H e n r y R o w e S c h o o l c r a ft
L O U I S
A R C H
THE SPIRIT OF DISCOVERY
10 U N D E R
S T .
1,000 M
A ZI AG
N E OF T H E Y
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EA
R
M C D O N A L D ' S
B U Y S
INT E R NAT I ONAL R EG I ONAL M AG AZ I NE AS S OC I AT I ON
Farm Fresh Finds: From Market to Make-It
22 State Park
Surprises
Missouri's Biggest Liars
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Contents APRIL 2016
[105] MARKETPLACE From small town to big city, farmers’ markets offer Missourians a way to truly eat fresh.
featured >
[22] SHOW-ME BOOKS Explore the diverse communities of the Gateway City in Ethnic St. Louis, and check out six more fascinating reads from Missouri authors.
[26] MISSOURI MUSIC Cape Girardeau blues guitarist Ivas John is trying his hand at something new: acoustic folk music.
[30] MISSOURI ARTIST Liberty artist Carlyle Raine paints Missouri River impressions from the window of a train car.
special features >
[34] PRETTIEST SMALL TOWNS
[103] MUSINGS ON MISSOURI Ron Marr makes a rare trip out to the movie theater.
From historic German settlements to charming Ozarks villages, we traveled across the state to find en beautiful towns with populations of less than a thousand.
[44] DISAPPEARING ACT For the fi st time since 1950, populations in nonmetropolitan America are actually shrinking, and small towns like Downing, Schell City, and Montgomery City find themselves at a crossroads, having to ask the tough questions. Why are small towns disappearing and what can they do about it?
[52] STATE PARK SURPRISES Do you know where Missouri’s Little Grand Canyon is? How many covered COURTESY OF COLUMBIA FARMERS MARKET
bridges does Missouri have? Find the answers to these questions and more
special section > [64] BIG BAM Mark your calendars for June 11 to 17 for the second annual Big BAM (Bicycle Across Missouri). This year, the music and cycling festival is going from St. Joseph to Hannibal for six days of fun.
with twenty-two surprising facts about Missouri’s state parks and historic sites.
[99] OVER THE LINE
[58] SCHOOLCRAFT’S MISSOURI
The Midwest is the bread basket of America, and these farmers’ markets across state lines offer plenty to feed the hungriest of visitors.
In 1818, explorer Henry Rowe Schoolcraft blazed a trail across southern Missouri. Follow his path, and learn how the landscape has changed.
[94] LIAR, LIAR Missourians have always had a reason to spin a yarn. Now, they have one more: to be crowned grand champion of the Missouri State Liars Contest.
[118] FINANCIAL LIFE MO money, MO problems. If you find yourself su denly wealthy, you might be thanking your lucky stars, but you also might need some financial help
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Contents
CONTENT BY LOCATION 44 54
APRIL 2016
19, 55 108 108 38 57 57 30 34, 38, 55 38 19, 22, 55 20 17, 19, 36 94, 44 107, 116 108, 100 56, 53 116, 94 54 37 56 40 44 56 55 53 57 41 112 52 54 57 20, 58, 53 56 41 26, 113 111
departments > [12] MEMO
And a new park in Hannibal is a
Editor in Chief Danita Allen Wood
nature preserve for endangered bats.
shares her tips for relocating to small town Missouri, and Publisher Greg
[20] MADE IN MISSOURI
Wood gets excited for a summer of
Moon City Goods makes acoustic iPod
biking in scenic northern Missouri.
docks. National Audio Company is the
43
54 60
56
57
last major cassette manufacturer in the
[14] LETTERS
United States. And the Wyatt Violin
A devoted reader final y tried all eight
Shop is perfecting making fiddl s.
[121] ALL AROUND MISSOURI
pies featured in our October 2012 issue,
There are only thirty days in the month
and we share some more letters from
[114] RECIPES
of April, but we have more than 130
readers like you.
Try three fabulous, farm-fresh recipes.
events for you to attend.
[17] MO MIX
[116] DINING WORTH THE DRIVE
[138] MISSOURIANA
Von Holten Ranch is an equestrian destination. Two new museum exhibits
Relax at the Doughnut Lounge. Get a steak
tion anniversary, find out xactly how
examine our not-so-distant past. The
at Gamlin Whiskey House. And try some of
many farmers’ markets Missouri has, and
Ambassador Hotel has some nice digs.
the best tacos on Cherokee Street.
discover a few more top-notch tidbits.
Celebrate Harry S. Truman’s inaugura-
– THIS ISSUE –
On the Web
Sign up for Missouri Lifelines, our free e-newsletter; like us on Facebook at facebook.com/MissouriLife; and follow us on Twitter and Instagram at @MissouriLife.
WHAT DID YOU THINK OF OUR LIST?
WHERE ARE THESE PARKS?
Instagram! We’re final y on it. Follow us
In this issue, we showed you some beautiful
If you liked our story on state park surprises,
@MissouriLife for exclusive content and more
small towns. Now, it’s your chance to let us know
you’ll love this interactive map that shows you
photos from around the Show-Me State.
what you thought by voting for your favorites.
where the parks in our story are.
Read Books and Chil
Searching for an alternative to Netfli ? Visit our online book store at ShopMissouriLife.com/books to fin scores of fascinating Missouri reads.
on the cover> JUST ONE PRETTY TOWN Diane Dunn of the Rocheport Merchants’ Association took this photograph of a private residence during the full bloom of spring. Diane says this house has received a lot of attention since it has been lovingly restored by the owners, the Pecoraks.
COURTESY OF TRAVIS JOYAL; DAONALD HABERMAN
HOW DO YOU WEIGH A HIPSTER?
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IT’S EASY TO START ENJOYING
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National water heater standards have changed: is it time to pull the plug on your old water heater? Find out! Take our quiz and watch a short video at KnowYourWaterHeater.com.
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www.visitmarshallmo.com
Bob James Jazz Festival The 6th annual Bob James Jazz Festival and Clinic will take place on May 7. This year’s headliner is Kansas City’s Everette Devan
Photo: Poole Communications
Trio. Other performers will be the Wild Women of KC Jazz
Marshall Welcome Center
The Marshall Welcome Center and Jim the Wonder Dog Museum at 101 N. Lafayette is open for the season on April 1! Stop by during your visit to Marshall to find out what to see and do while you are here. Before you head out to explore, take a look around the museum featuring Jim the Wonder Dog artifacts and a video telling the story of Jim and the attractions in the area. Open Tuesday through Saturday 9:00 a.m. 5:00 p.m. and Sundays 12:00 p.m. 5:00 p.m., we can help you plan your time in Marshall and the surrounding area. www.jimthewonderdog.org or call 660-886-8300
and the J Love Band, also from Kansas City. The performance begins at 6:00 p.m. in the Bueker Middle School Harold L. Lickey Auditorium. Admission is $25 and tickets are available on Eventbrite. Plan now to attend this extraordinary evening of musical entertainment. To find out about more, visit www.bobjamesjazzfest.org or call 660-229-4845. Photo: Everette Devan
Spring Fling
Photo: Stan Moore
Marshall will welcome warm weather on May 14 at Spring Fling. From 9:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. there will be vendors on the Courthouse lawn tempting you with everything you need to brighten your home for spring. Arrive early and you can watch or take part in the Rotary Club Basketball Shootout at 8:00 a.m. Later, stay around to see the entertaining Shriners’ Parade at 11:00 a.m. Jim the Wonder Dog Day activities will begin at 11:00 a.m. on the northwest corner of the Square, featuring a dog show, hot dog eating contest, and much more. To find out more, visit www.marshallmochamber.com or call 660-886-3324. [8] MissouriLife
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Plan to stay with us in Marshall: Comfort Inn - Marshall Station 1356 W. College Ave., Marshall 660-886-8080 www.comfortinn.com Super 8 of Marshall 1355 W. College Ave., Marshall 660-886-3359 www.super8.com Marshall Lodge 1333 W. Vest St., Marshall 660-886-2326 www.marshall-lodge.com
Photo: Christina Morrow
Kitty’s Corner Guest Houses 228 E. North St., Marshall 660-886-8445 Courthouse Lofts 23 N. Lafayette St., Marshall 660-229-5644 Claudia’s B & B 3000 W. Arrow St., Marshall 660-886-5285 Photo: Missouri Valley College
Nicholas Beazley Aviation Museum
When you visit Marshall, plan to tour the Nicholas Beazley Aviation Museum. The museum, conveniently located at 1985 S. Odell, adjacent to the Martin Community Center, will interest the entire family. There is a children’s area, military glider, models, flight simulator, and much more. Individuals and groups are welcome and school field trips are encouraged. Hours are Tuesday-Saturday from 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. or by special appointment. Visit www.nicholasbeazley.org or call 660-886-2630 for more information.
Martin Community Center
Marshall boasts the perfect venue for meetings, parties, receptions and trade shows. The Martin Community Center is easily accessible at 1985 S. O’Dell. Moveable interior walls allow you to select just the size area to suit your needs for groups of 50 to 500. Our staff is pleased to help you with planning. Let us help you create your perfect special occasion. Visit www.nicholasbeazley.org or call 660-886-2630 to learn more.
Upcoming Events
Be sure to visit the Marshall Welcome Center on the northwest corner of the Square!
April 3 - Marshall Bowhunters 3-D Shoot Indian Foothills Park 8:00 a.m. www.marshallbowhunters.org or 660-886-2714 April 10 - Marshall Community Chorus presents America Proud! – Covenant Presbyterian Church 3:00 p.m. www.marshallcommunitychorus.org April 17 - Marshall Philharmonic Concert featuring Ryan Layton, Bass-Baritone – Bueker Middle School’s Harold L. Lickey Auditorium 2:30 p.m. www.marshallphilharmonic.org or 660-886-5853
April 30 - Masquerade Murder Mystery Dinner – Saline County Fairgrounds 5:30 p.m. www.marshallmochamber.com or 660-886-3324 May-September - Marshall Market on the Square – East side of the Square 8:00 a.m. - Noon Saturdays - Marshall Market on the Square on Facebook or 660-886-3324 May 7 - Garden Market and Vintage Bazaar – Old Schoolhouse, Arrow Rock 10:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m. www.arrowrock.org or 660-837-3231
Photo: Phyllis Moore
March 27 - Easter Parade and Egg Hunt Main Street, Arrow Rock 2:00 p. m. www.arrowrock.org or 660-837-3231
Scan this QR code to visit our website!
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THE SPIR IT OF DISCOV ERY 501 High Street, Ste. A, Boonville, MO 65233 660-882-9898 | Info@MissouriLife.com
Publisher Greg Wood Editor in Chief Danita Allen Wood EDITORIAL & ART Managing Editor Jonas Weir Creative Director Andrew Barton Art Director Sarah Herrera Contributing Editor Martin W. Schwartz Associate Art Director Thomas Sullivan Graphic Designer and Staff Photographer Harry Katz Calendar Editor Amy Stapleton Editorial Assistant Kelsey Wailing Contributing Writers Amy Burger, Anthony Clark, Trevor Harris, Debra Pamplin, Shawn Shinneman, Alex Stewart, Elisha Wells Columnist Ron W. Marr Contributing Photographers Renee Bronaugh, Peter Ciro, Chris Crabtree, Glenn Curcio, Meagan Duffee, Zachary Gillihan, Donald Haberman, Trevor Harris, Notley Hawkins, Paul Jackson, Matthe Kantola, Ken McCarty, Ben Nickelson, B.H. Rucker, Paul Sableman, Oliver Schushard, Mark Schuver, Shawn Shinneman, Eric Spradling, Allison Vaughn, Elisha Wells MARKETING • 800-492-2593 Eastern District Sales & Marketing Director Scott Eivins, 660-882-9898, ext. 102 Western District Sales & Marketing Director Joe Schmitter 660-882-9898, ext. 104 Sales & Marketing Associate, New York Mike Edison, 646-588-5057 Sales & Marketing Associate Jim Negen, 855-484-7200 Advertising Coordinator Sue Burns Book Keeping Jennifer Johnson Circulation Manager Amy Stapleton DIGITAL MEDIA MissouriLife.com, Missouri eLife, Facebook, Twitter Director Jonas Weir Editor Sarah Herrera Missouri Lifelines Harry Katz TO SUBSCRIBE OR GIVE A GIFT AND MORE Use your credit card and visit MissouriLife.com or call 800-492-2593, ext. 101 or mail a check for $19.99 (for 7 issues) to: Missouri Life, 501 High Street, Ste. A, Boonville, MO 65233-1211 Change address Visit 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 $10.50. Subject to availability.
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MISSOURI
DEAR AUDREY
LAST YEAR, we worked with communities and sponsors to create Missouri’s first cross-state bicycle ride—not race. Big BAM (Bicycle Across Missouri) is all about having fun and enjoying pastoral scenery, small-town quaintness, live music, good food, and cold beverages. Almost every surrounding state has a cross-state ride with Iowa’s RAGBRAI being the mother of all rides; I can attest to that after riding a few days of it along with fifteen thousand other bicyclists last summer. RAGBRAI is over forty years old and is in a league of its own. But we thought, “Hey, if they can do it in Iowa, then Missouri needs a cross-state ride, too.” So we partnered with Mike Denehy’s Off Track Events and got the wheels turning. Last year, we rode across northern Missouri, beginning in Rock Port and ending in Canton. We had nearly a thousand participants on the hilly, three-hundred mile ride. It was a difficult inaugural year. We had to deal with a flood and the wettest June on record. We’re hoping that was just a fluke Presented by Goose Island IPA, Big BAM 2016 kicks off on June 11 in St. Joseph, where we’ll all gather and have a pre-ride party with a full concert lineup. The actual ride begins on June 12 and goes for six days with an average of about fifty miles per day. We’ll be traveling through many small towns during the day and staying overnight in Hamilton, Chillicothe, Brookfield Macon, Shelbina, and downtown Hannibal on June 17 for the grand finale I’m looking forward to hearing the Nashville- and Los Angeles-based Cory B. Clay and the Twains headlining the concert in Hannibal and sharing the stage with Missouri’s own Bel Airs. In fact, each night we’re going to have a great concert, delicious food, and tasty drinks. I’m particularly looking forward to all the riding on scenic roads. It’s very peaceful bicycling in the open Missouri countryside. What could be more fun in June in the Show-Me State? Even if you don’t ride a bike, come and check out Big BAM this year. There’s going to be fun for everyone. You’ll find a full section on the festival on page 64. You can find out more and register for the ride at bigbamride.com. If you have any more questions, give us a call at 660-882-9898. GREG WOOD, PUBLISHER
I RECEIVED a Facebook message the other day from a former student who wanted to introduce me to a former student of his, Audrey, who is leaving Seattle for a small town in northern Missouri: “I am a bit anxious. I think a lot of that comes from not really knowing what to expect and losing a lot of what larger towns offer. I worry about the opportunities I will find out the e for my girls. Do you have any advice?” First, I need to disclose my bias. I grew up on a farm. Yes, I’ve lived in cities. I know my way around New York City pretty well, from going there frequently for my former career, and I still enjoy visiting Manhattan, Chicago, and Los Angeles. But I’ve always been a country gal at heart. Here are some things I think you’ll like: a peaceful and quiet community, no waiting in lines, friendly faces who will help you watch out for your children, and neighbors you will get to know. With small schools and class sizes, your kids will get to do any and every activity they choose to participate in without getting cut at tryouts: sports, theater, choir, art, and more. That’s a plus, in my opinion. When you’re ready for a change of pace, you’re fairly close to Kansas City, where you can find Broadway-caliber theater or other big city excitement. If you choose, you can even arrange special events to introduce your children to activities that might not be offered in your small town. While it’s always been a fact of life that any kind of danger can exist in any comDANITA ALLEN WOOD, munity, your children are likely to experiEDITOR ence a greater degree of freedom in small towns. You will probably feel safer letting them ride bicycles together or with friends all over town. (It’s also my opinion that it’s good to let children have lots of free unscheduled time to be children.) Also, you asked for advice. Once you move, immediately volunteer with the school, especially, but with any group really: church, food pantry, or any of the open clubs. It’s the best way to get to know a lot of people fast. If you can, move before the end of the school year, so your kids can start at their new school in May. That way they already have some friends and know what summer activities they can sign up for. It can shorten the time that they’re the new kid. Oh, and learn to make pizza. Your days of delivery are probably over. Readers, I invite you to help us welcome Audrey. What advice would you give her? Email me at Danita@missourilife.com. And, just to be fair, I’ve invited our managing editor Jonas Weir, who grew up near Chicago and lives in Columbia, to write a column online on what he’d miss about a city.
HARRY KATZ
BIG BAM, ONCE AGAIN
emo
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APRIL
LETTERS from all over You write them. We print them.
PIE LOVER In the October 2012 issue, you had an article called “Eight Great Pies.” Being a lover of pie in any size, shape, or fl vor, I read the article with great interest and set the magazine aside. As the months passed, an idea slowly began to take shape. Why don’t I find a way to visit all of these places and try the eight pies mentioned? This could be a bucket list item. Earlier this month, I ate the last pie on the list, and now I’m wondering if you could write about the great pies in the northern part of the state. I’m sure there are so many more pies I haven’t eaten yet. I really enjoy your magazine. I have found numerous ideas for day or weekend trips within its pages. Keep up the great work. —Cindy Stephens, Jefferson Cit
to try more of the great restaurants we feature in every issue. —Editors
WAITING ROOM READS While sitting in the waiting room of my eye doctor, I found your magazines and began reading. I was not happy when called in for the eye dilatation of my exam because I knew I had only minutes to read before my eyes would begin to blur when sent back out to the waiting room. Upon returning home, I immediately sent in one of your subscription cards. I now have my own magazines coming to the house to enjoy. You offer so many beautiful photographs, great articles, and information about our great state. Now, I just have to get out and explore some of these areas I did not even realize we had available to us. Thanks for a great magazine.
PRESIDENTIAL MEMORIES I remember so vividly the day Truman was sworn in as president, and I have a friend who would open the gates for Truman when he was in the area. She said, “He always gave me a quarter!” —Mary Brandt, Green Ridge
Corrections: Now, we’re blushing with embarrassment. Last issue, we wrote the wrong email address for Sandy Vivian. Email at sandy@aftertheharvestkc.org if you’d like to volunteer for After the Harvest. We also gave the
YOU’RE MAKING US BLUSH Congratulations! It is not hard to understand how this magazine received the awards. I enjoy every part of it and look forward to each issue. The photography is so compelling!
wrong dates for Missouri Life’s Costa Rica trip. The correct dates are January 14 to 22, 2017. We also apologize for overlooking a photo that contained an offensive gesture.
SEND US A LETTER
—Gary Glahn, Marceline
Thank you! Leaving your magazine in waiting rooms and
Congratulations! You and your staff are to be commended for your excellent work in producing such an outstanding magazine. We, your subscribers, are proud of the achievement of being selected as the Magazine of the Year from the International Regional Magazine Association.
other public spaces is a great way to recycle. We appreciate it.
—Wesley Gingrich and Andy Melendez, Boonville
—Ramona Allen, Sedalia
The blackberry pie at Cooky’s Cafe in Golden City was one of eight pies we featured in the October 2012 issue.
—Editors
Email: Fax: Facebook: Address:
DAN ROCKAFELLOW
Thank you! Feel free to send us your ideas. Also, don’t forget
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Kansas City’s Northland
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Mo MIX Kansas City
Paper Dolls THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF TOYS AND MINIATURES at 5235 Oak Street might not be the obvious place to host an exhibit about historic representations and stereotypes of African Americans, but the topic of black paper dolls provides the perfect intersection for the toy museum to start a conversation about race. Stereotypes to Civil Rights: Black Paper Dolls in America displays the private collection of author Arabella Grayson, which features the first commercially produced black paper doll, an 1863 representation of Topsey from Harriet Beecher Stowe’s Uncle Tom’s Cabin. Looking at dolls over the course of two hundred years, the exhibit’s earliest artifacts play off of the worst black stereotypes,
Mora
and the newer additions—such as a paper doll of 2015 World Series winner and Kansas City Royal Jarod D y-
COURTESY OF VON HOLTEN RANCH AND NATIONAL TOY AND MINIATURE MUSEUM
Equestrian Destination
son—are more realistic. The exhibit runs until August 21 and looks at the
DAVID VON HOLTEN has always wanted to own his family farm. The century farm has been in his family
complicated subject in depth. Those who want more
for four generations, and he wanted to keep tradition alive, so he continually asked his father to buy the farm for the past
guidance can attend hour-long lectures with Arabella
twenty years. In November 2013, his dad finally said es.
Grayson on April 7 and 8 at the museum. On April 9, the
“Thirty days later, we owned the family farm,” says Brandy Von Holten, David’s wife, “which meant all sorts of stuff.
museum will be
What it meant to the Von Holtens was a big life change. The couple had to resign from their jobs, sell their home in
hosting an inter-
Higginsville, and move more than sixty miles southeast to Mora. The couple then focused all of their efforts into getting
active tour where
the ranch up and running. Von Holten Ranch opened in its current form in September 2014.
visitors
Traditionally a cattle ranch, Von Holten Ranch is now a destination for equestrians. The ranch offers twenty-fi e
will
be
asked to create
miles of riding trails and a one hundred by two hundred foot arena. Additionally, Brandy gives riding lessons and offer
their own paper
up one of her horses for rental on guided rides. The ranch also organizes clinics and has more than forty riding events
dolls
on the books.
history,
“We host everything,” Brandy says. “We have barrel racing. We have horse shows. We have trail riding competitions. You name it; we do it here.”
based
on
current
events, or famous personalities. Ad-
To that end, Von Holten Ranch is not just for equestrian enthusiasts. The sprawling farm is also an RV park and a
mission is $5 for
camping destination with forty electric sites, a shower on site, and three cabins available to rent. Earlier this year, the Von
ages fi e and up
Holtens unveiled their wedding and event barn, which is available to rent.
and $10 to attend
Although the ranch has been completely transformed from what it was less than three years ago, the Von Holtens are
the lectures.
ambitious as ever. Last year, Brandy brought the American Horseman Challenge Association to Missouri and created the
For more infor-
Missouri state championship. This year, the couple plans to enclose the arena and begin adding on to it in hopes of being
mation, visit the
a nationally recognized equestrian resort.
museum’s
“We’re centrally located in the United States, and we’re forty-fi e minutes from I-70,” Brandy says. “We’d like to be a one-stop destination.”
web-
site, stop by the museum, or call
For more information on the Von Holten Ranch at 30455 Pacific School Road near Mora, visit vonholtenranch.com or call 660-668-0880.—Jonas Weir
816-235-8000. —Jonas Weir
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! y a w a t e G r u o Y n Pl a to se e a n d d o in L e ba n on! So m u ch
Alex Meixner Band
Lebanon is known by its motto,
“Frien dly people. Frien dly pla ce.”
May 17, 2016 Cowan Civic Center Theater 417-532-2990
6th Annual Wagons for Warriors
May 28, 2016 Laclede County Fair Grounds www.wagonsforwarriors.com
Lebanon Mega-Con
These events are only part of the fun we have to offer.
April 30 - May 1, 2016 Cowan Civic Center www.lebanonmegacon.com
www.lebanonmo.org | 1-866-LEBANON
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Mo MIX Hannibal
The Bat Cave SODALIS NATURE PRESERVE is a two-for-one special. In addition to providing approximately six miles of paved hiking and biking trails and scenic picnic spots for the residents of Mark Twain’s hometown, the new forested nature preserve is also going to serve as a protected area for tens of thousands of endangered bats. About 168,000 endangered Indiana bats hibernate in a former limestone mine and nearby caves. The caves and shuttered mine are closed to visitors in order to better protect the bats. The National Fish and Wildlife Service is taking steps to manage and monitor the population of the endangered bats, and the Heritage Foundation will maintain a conservation easement that ensures mine gates remain in place for the bats’ protection. “I think people will come from throughout the region,” says Andy Dorian, Hannibal’s Parks and Recreation director. “Not everybody has something like this in their backyard.” An unofficial opening day of the park is scheduled for April , National Bat Appreciation Day.— Debra Pamplin
St. Louis
Spy Versus Spy TRAVELING AROUND THE UNITED STATES since 2005, the world-renowned Spies, Traitors, Saboteurs: Free and Freedom in America exhibit is finally making a pit stop in St. Louis. The exhibit—on loan to the Missouri History Museum from the International Spy Museum in Washington, DC, until May 8—will take you back to nine different moments in US history, such as World War II, and analyze acts of espionage within them. It’s a glimpse at the secret history of American spies. “I think people are really interested in spies and espionage because people are inCOURTESY OF US FISH AND WILDLIFE SERVICES, MISSOURI HISTORY MUSEUM, AND AMBASSADOR HOTEL
trigued by secrets,” says Adam Kloppe, public historian at the Missouri History Museum. “There is a general want to know what drives people to these particular acts of terror.” At the end of every section of visual and interactive displays, a poll asks museum visitors if they agree or disagree with a statement by giving a rating of one to fi e. After answering, you can see what others answered and how people’s opinions have changed over the years. It’s a great way to gauge trends in public opinion. “We’re really proud to have this exhibit,” Adam says. “Everyone can get something out of it and can learn what parts of our past reflect in our present.”
Kelsey Wailing
Kansas City
Opulent Accommodations THE AMBASSADOR HOTEL in Kansas City’s Financial District is designed to house gold. It was originally built as a bank in the 1920s, and today, the luxury hotel benefits from eighteen-foot ceilings, marble columns, and intricate moldings “Like so many of the beautiful buildings in Kansas City, we embrace the history, and our guests enjoy hearing the story of the building’s life,” says Michael Hammontree, general manager of the hotel. One of six AAA Four Diamond hotels in Kansas City, the Ambassador came in at number twenty on TripAdvisor Traveler’s Choice Awards for the top hotels in the United States. The only hotel in Missouri on the list, the Ambassador joins the ranks with such distinguished hotels as The Sherry-Netherland Hotel in New York City. “We are honored and thrilled to receive this award,” Michael says. “It is very rewarding to know that our guests have enjoyed their time with us.” The hotel not only features luxury guest suites, one of which includes a historic fireplace, but it’s also home to the highly rated Reserve restaurant, just off the lobby. For more information about the Ambassador, visit AmbassadorHotelCollection.com /KansasCity, call 816-298-7700, or stop by at 1111 Grand Boulevard.—Jonas Weir
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Made IN MISSOURI Springfie d
Cassette Comeback NATIONAL AUDIO COMPANY
has been in the news more
than ever. As the country’s last major audiocassette manufacturer, it has been the go-to source for writers doing pieces on the cassette’s resurgence. Over the past two years, cassette sales have grown in a climate where most audio sales are shrinking. National Audio Company is benefiting from the small, yet growing trend, and the company’s president, Steven Sapp, says his company ships out thousand of cassettes each week. Founded in 1969, National Audio Company has grown by more than 20 percent each year since 2006. Although the company offers other services, such as CD manufacturing, the bulk of the business comes from tapes. Last year, the company’s biggest seller was the Guardians of the Galaxy soundtrack, though the majority of the company’s business comes from doing limited run releases for independent record labels. The last of a dying breed, Steven Sapp is fielding questions from national media outlets that want to know why cassettes are coming back. Some people point to hipsters. Steve says it’s the aesthetic people like. Either way, nobody at National Audio Company is complaining. To learn more, visit NationalAudioCompany.com or call 417-8631925.—Jonas Weir
Springfie d
Timbre! Independence
MOON CITY GOODS has made it possible to listen like a lumberjack. The brainchild of Springfield interior designer-turned-woodsmith Rob Hoerr, Moon
The Violin Maker
Rob now creates everything from large desks to small candleholders as his full-time job
loves music. Family members have played the
fiddle since the 1880s, and they e entually turned that love into a business.
and takes advantage of a wide variety of materials and styles. Some of his more intriguing products are his rustic acoustic iPod speakers. Made from
Since 2003, the Wyatt Violin Shop has been selling stringed instruments from all over
rough cuts of lumber, the speakers look like logs but sound like gold—or at least pretty
the world, teaching students in various instruments, restoring and renting instruments,
good for a small speaker. However, those speakers are not the only cool product Rob
and practicing the meticulous art of violin-making.
makes; they’re not even the only iPod speaker he makes.
Owner Allen Wyatt designs the violins. A self-taught craftsman, he made his first vio-
For many of his designs, Rob
lin at home in the early 1990s. When he opened the shop with his son Matt, he moved
uses reclaimed wood to create
his operation to the shop’s basement. Since then, they’ve expanded the store, and Allen
one-off, environmentally friendly
now has a large workshop full of spruce, maple, glue, molds, and other materials used for
pieces of furniture. For other
restoring old violins and making new ones. He spends countless hours perfecting his craft.
products, he’ll use high qual-
“My favorite is the tenth fiddle I made, which I gave to my dad, Bud Wyatt,” Allen says.
ity walnut and cubist design aes-
“He plays on it regularly, and I like it best, so far.”
thetics. All have one thing in com-
Creating a new violin is a time-intensive process that starts with a mold and ends with varnishing the instrument. Allen says it takes at least a month if he’s working long days, but it can take longer to create an instrument with great sound quality. Naturally, there’s
mon, though: they’re personally made by Rob. For more information, fin
a waiting list for his violins. Visit Wyatt Violin Shop at 2418 East R.D. Mize Road or online at
Moon City Goods on Etsy and
wyattviolinshop.com.— Elisha Wells
Facebook.—Jonas Weir
COURTESY OF MOON CITY GOODS AND NATIONAL AUDIO COMPANY; ELISHA WELLS
THE WYATT FAMILY
City Goods got its start in a dirt floor garage in Springfield’s Moon City district last year.
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“Dad, that was cool!”
... come see us.
Columbia orthopaediC Group 1 South Keene Street Columbia, MO 65201 573-443-2402
So, when dad breaks his leg showing you how to use a pogo stick...
Garth S. Russell, 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
David E. Hockman, MD Matt E. Thornburg, MD Jeffery 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. Korecki, MD Alan G. Anz, MD Matt L. Jones, MD Tameem Yehyawi, MD J. Camp Newton, MD
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SHOW-ME
Books
DIVERSE CITY Ethnic St. Loui highlights the rich mosaic that comprises the Gateway City. BY JONAS WEIR
AMERICA IS A MELTING POT. At least, that’s how the saying goes. E pluribus unum translates to “from many, one.” And in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Mark Twain wrote, “People are different. And it is the best way.” So it may be a trope, but what makes America great is its people and their differences. In Ethnic St. Louis, authors Elizabeth Terry, John Wright, and Patrick McCarthy are celebrating those differences in the Gateway City. Going back more than two hundred years ago, the authors start by looking at the city’s origins as a French-Osage fur trading post and, in the first twenty-four-page section, they look at five foundational ethnic groups: Native American, French, Spanish, Swiss, and African American. This is perhaps where the most difficult stories a e told. “African Americans comprise the only ethnic group that has lived in St. Louis from the first Creoles until today,” the book reads. “The journey of these African Americans is a complex dichotomy of pain and healing, defeat and triumph, and ultimately, strength.” This book is not about telling stories of pain, though it does not shy away from those stories either. It’s primarily about recognizing the achievements among the city’s various ethnic groups, sometimes pointing to specific people and organizations and other times just highlighting cultural traditions that have been woven into the fabric of St. Louis. By 1860, St. Louis was the most foreign-born city in the nation, and the next section, “Growth as a Multiethnic City: 1800s,” looks at those nineteenth century newcomers. Although it primarily highlights European immigrants, it also covers Chinese, Lebanese, and Syrian populations. The book doesn’t stop there, though. Ethnic St. Louis continues well into the twentieth and twenty-first centuries and breaks out the remaining chapters by global regions: Asia, Southeast Asia, Middle East and North Africa, Europe, Central America and the Caribbean, South American, African, and Hispanic communities. Although some of the stories in these final sections don’t date back as far in history, they are, nonetheless, fascinating. For example, people from Bosnia and Herzegovina did not start immigrating to Missouri in large numbers until the mid-1990s when their homeland was in the midst of a civil war. Since then, the Bosnian community has remained one of the city’s most tight knit, and each year, it remembers the civil war on July 11. Throughout its 168 pages, Ethnic St. Louis tells the stories of millions of people through brief overviews, historic photographs, and new
Ethnic St. Louis Elizabeth Terry, John Wright, and Patrick McCarthy 168 pages, hardcover, nonfiction, Reedy P ess, $35 color photos—all in one, substantial coffee-table book. It’s a nice overview for those who want to learn more about what a diverse place St. Louis is. Here, you’ll find plenty of ideas on how to explore Missouri’s first big city: Have you seen the Osage monument Sugarloaf Mound on Ohio Street? Have you ever attended the Annual African Film Festival at Washington University? Have you tried the Nicaraguan food at Fritanga on Jefferson Avenue? Above all, the book serves as a basis for understanding the complexity of St. Louis—a launching point to get acquainted with your neighbors. The writer of the book’s introduction and president and CEO of the International Institute of St. Louis, Annie E. Croslin, says it best: “To appreciate today’s ethnic St. Louis and anticipate the future, one must understand the region’s immigrant past.”
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On Saturday, April 23, the first annual
UNBOUND i
BOOK FESTIVAL will bring world-class authors to Columbia, Missouri, to talk about their books, their work, and their lives. The entire festival is free and open to the public!
To view the schedule, reserve (free) tickets to the Friday night event with Michael Ondaatje at the Missouri Theatre, learn more about participating authors, visit unboundbookfestival.com/
J
oin Unbound Book Festival and the University of Missouri Press for a panel discussion moderated by Gary Kremer of the State Historical Society with co-authors James Endersby and William Horner, and University of Missouri leaders Michael Middleton and Chuck Henson. In 1936, Lloyd Gaines’s application to the University of Missouri law school was denied based on his race. Gaines and the NAACP challenged the university’s decision. Missouri ex rel. Gaines v. Canada (1938) was the first in a long line of decisions by the U.S. Supreme Court regarding race, higher education, and equal opportunity. The court case drew national headlines, and the NAACP moved Gaines to Chicago after he received death threats. Before he could attend law school, he vanished.
Visit our new blog: missouribooks.wordpress.com/
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SHOW-ME
Books
MORE GOOD READS Stan Musial: Baseball Hero
Mr. Green Jeans
James N. Giglio, 48 pages, hardcover, nonfi tion, $32 As a part of Truman State University Press’s Notable Missourians book series, Stan Musial: Baseball Hero is like the other books in the series: it’s a short, digestible biography for young readers. Author and Missouri State University Professor Emeritus of History James N. Giglio does a great job of breaking down the life of this legendary St. Louis Cardinals player to the most important parts and including useful tools, such as a timeline and a further reading page for youngsters who want to learn more about Stan the Man. Perhaps one day they can read James’s biography for adults, Musial: From Stash to Stan the Man, which comes in at 368 pages compared to the 48 here.
Chris McGee, 278 pages, fiction, paperback, $22.95 Columbia native and Mizzou alumnus Chris McGee’s debut book, Mr. Green Jeans, is a selfdescribed “cli-fi” novel, which is short for climate fiction. No, this book is not claiming climate change is fiction. Rather, it’s the opposite. Mr. Green Jeans follows central Missourian Jack Creek as he vandalizes billboards along I-70 to raise awareness about the planet’s destruction. Soon, his wife, Lake, joins him in his environmentalist plight that shifts toward more peaceful means and gains national attention. Perhaps this novel is a personal fantasy, as Chris is outspoken about environmentalism himself. On the other hand, it’s just a fun read that doubles as a tool to spur activism..
Fractured Fiction and Other Far-Fetched Fables
Sisters Get Their Kicks on Route 66
Connie Koch, 148 pages, children’s/activities, paperback, $9.99 Elementary school students across the state know Sedalia native, author, and outdoor educator Connie Kay Koch as the “Snake Lady.” She often shares her love of reptiles with young students and brings her big ball python, J.J. Buddy, with her. In her first book, Connie packs 148 pages full of fun poetry, jokes, and funny stories that touch on all the major holidays, the outdoors, farming, growing up in Missouri, and, of course, snakes. She even leaves a few pages in the back for young readers to include their own notes, experiences, poetry, inspirations, and more.
Karen West and Susan Ford-West, 138 pages, softcover, nonfiction, $29.9 Kansas City photographer Karen West and her life partner Susan Ford-West joined three hundred members of Sisters on Fly—the country’s largest women’s outdoor group with nearly seven thousand members—for a twenty-five day trip across Route 66, from Chicago to Santa Monica, California. The result is 144 pages, more than five hundred gorgeous photographs from Karen, words from Susan, and input from other sisters. See the sights with the sisters, including all the Route 66 stops from St. Louis to Kansas.
The History of Tree Roots
Fatal Impulse
Phillip Howerton, 90 pages, paperback, poetry, $16 Phillip Howerton is a sixth-generation Ozarker. Growing up on a small dairy farm in southern Missouri and going on to study at Drury University and to teach English at Missouri State University in West Plains, Phillip has spent nearly his entire life in the Ozarks, and the book of poetry is a product of that time. His poems touch on everything from his ancestors, such as “Family, Circa 1919,” to life on the farm. In the end, what The History of Tree Roots does is emit a sense of place.
Lori. L. Robinett, 334 pages, fiction, paperback, $12.49 The first in the series of Widow’s Web novels, Fatal Impulse is action-packed from the start. Protagonist Andi gets into a fight with her abusive husband, Chad, and when they pull to the side of the road to fix a spare tire, Andi accidently knocks him off of a cliff where he surely falls to his death. And that’s just the first chapter. The plot thickens when Andi is threatened by a blackmailer who wants to expose her as a murderer. Throughout the book, Fatal Impulse is, if nothing else, a page-turner and a strong debut from Missouri author Lori L. Robinett.
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NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER “A HAUNTING, “A STORY YOU HARROWING WON’T SOON TESTAMENT TO FORGET” SURVIVAL” —PEOPLE MAGAZINE
—GOOD HOUSEKEEPING
“HEARTSTOPPING... WRENCHING AND MOVING” —ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY
PEOPLE Book of the Week ENTERTAINMENT WEEKLY One of the best books to read this month NEW YORK MAGAZINE Book to Read this Month ELLE February Readers’ Prize PUBLISHERS WEEKLY Starred Review COSTCO Pennie’s Pick INDIENEXT selection AMAZON.COM One of the best memoirs and biographies of the month APPLE iBookstore Best of the Month GOODREADS Best Book of the Month and Best Nonfiction of the Month
THE RIVETING, TRUE STORY OF ONE GIRL’S COMING-OF-AGE IN A POLYGAMIST FAMILY
ruthwariner.com
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MISSOURI
RETURNING TO THE FOLD Cape Girardeau blues guitarist Ivas John puts craftsmanship on display in his songwriting BY JONAS WEIR
“LISTENING TO A WELL-WRITTEN SONG should
Blues guitarist and songwriter Ivas John helped start the annual Cross Rivers Blues Festival in Cape Girardeau, which is held each February. He has released fi e full-length albums since 2007.
electric blues music with the Ivas John Band: 2007’s Street Music, 2009’s Live in St. Louis, and 2010’s Look Who’s Crying Now. In 2011, though, he relocated to Cape Girardeau. “It was a great formative period for me,” he says, “but I was ready for a change, so I moved to this side of the river.” In Cape, he released one more album of electric blues with the Ivas John Band, Doin What’s Natural in 2012, before releasing last year’s prophetically titled folk album Good Days A Comin. With nine of twelve songs penned by Ivas, Good Days A Comin is the firs album to feature all acoustic instruments and a folksier sound, and it works well with Ivas’s unique voice. The album is striking a new chord with audiences and garnering Ivas more critical acclaim. Good Days A Comin made several St. Louis radio DJs year-end lists and was featured in Flatpicking Guitar Magazine and Billboard. He’s also had the opportunity to play bigger venues and contributed music to HGTV’s House Hunters. “Every year, there seem be new, bigger things happening,” Ivas says. “I'm feeling very grateful and excited about the future.” The funny thing is that, after years of perfecting his blues guitar technique and trying to channel the spirit of Chicago blues greats like Howlin’ Wolf, he sounds more like himself than ever.
COURTESY OF IVAS JOHN
be as satisfying as a tall glass of ice water when you’re thirsty and dry.” Cape Girardeau blues musician Ivas John proudly has these words— attributed to his father and sometimes writing partner, Ed John— scrawled across his website, IvasJohn.com. Songwriting is important to Ivas. Although he’s a blues guitar virtuoso, he doesn’t rely solely on his technical talent as an artist. He thinks that, while it’s common in the world of American roots music to only play traditional tunes, he needs to write and record original music. “I’ve always just felt original music has a lot more value,” Ivas says. “You can be a great interpreter of other people’s music, but to me, playing original music has always been a big part of what I do. You’re going to be more authentic singing songs you wrote.” Many of Ivas’s feelings towards music come from his father. Ed John immigrated from Lithuania as a young man and came of age during the height of the 1960s in Chicago. “He was around a lot of folk musicians, and so he was exposed to a lot of that mentality about music and about writing songs, crafting different song ideas, and presenting them to audiences that are sitting there and really paying attention to the words,” Ivas says. “That’s how he’s conceptualized songwriting, and that’s been passed down to me.” Even before he began writing songs, Ivas was interested in music from an early age. His dad has a cassette of a five-yea -old Ivas singing Doc Watson’s “Sittin’ On Top of The World.” However, he really got his start when he tried the guitar at age seventeen. Once he learned a few things on the guitar, he started listening to his dad’s collection of music and trying to emulate what he heard. “From there, the trajectory just took off like a rocket ship in the direction of electric blues music,” Ivas says. “I was listening to anything I could get my hands on that had electric blues guitar. I wanted to learn everything about all the different styles. I got obsessed with blues music.” He was enthralled with all the legendary blue artists: Muddy Waters, Little Walter, Howlin’ Wolf, Fenton Robinson. When he moved from his home in the suburbs of Chicago to Carbondale, Illinois, about a year later to attend college, he began to sharpen his skills and perform live. In 2005, he formed the Ivas John Band with a keyboard player, bassist, and drummer and began looking at music as career more than hobby. He spent nearly twelve years in Carbondale and released three albums of
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Morels & Microbrews Festival
Beks, in historic downtown Fulton, features local seasonal fair for lunch or dinner, an extensive beer selection and hand-selected wine list.
Live Music Local Beer
511 Court Street, Fulton 573-592-7117 beksshop.com
fried morels April 23rd, 2016 Downtown Fulton 1pm to 5pm www.thebrickdistrict.com
Upcoming Events April 21-24: “Steel Magnolias” Presser Performing Arts Center 573-581-5592 | www.presserpac.com May 7: Bluegrass Jam Presser Performing Arts Center 573-581-2100 | www.mexicomissouri.net May 13: Public Safety Awards Presser Performing Arts Center 573-581-2100 | www.mexicomissouri.net
The Miss Missouri Scholarship Pageant and the Miss Missouri Outstanding Teen will be held in Mexico, Missouri at the Missouri Military Academy June 15-18, 2016. 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 with a family-friendly attitude. Come visit us today! 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. 573-581-2765 | www.mexico-chamber.org
May 14: Big Top Brew Fest Knights of Columbus Grounds 573-581-2765 | www.mexicokc.org May 14: Voice Recital Presser Performing Arts Center 573-581-5592 | www.presserpac.com May 15: Piano Recital Presser Performing Arts Center 573-581-5592 | www.presserpac.com May 21: Brick City Bad Boy Cruise Night Mexico Downtown Square 573-581-2765 | www.mexico-chamber.org
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Greetings from
Callaway County, Missouri Backer’s Auto World ce lebrates America’s love for auto mobiles. Nearly 80 rare and vin tage cars are displayed in his toric venues.Crane’s Country Store and Museum highligh ts life from the late 1800’s to early 1900’s, including a replica ga s station.
m, rchill Museu National Chu ry r a 16th centu s housed unde te ra o m rch, comme English chu 6 4 rchill’s 19 Winston Chu the ” speech, at in a rt u C n ro “I r. A the Cold Wa beginning of Wall, in om the Berl sculpture fr . nd of the era marks the e
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Calendar of Events
4th Annual Morels and Microbrews Festival
April 23 12 pm to 5 pm Fulton Brick District Live music, kids mushroom hunt on the courthouse lawn, sale of fresh morels and art activities. Prizes for largest morel and best homebrew. Enjoy fried morels and other food offerings. A $20 commemorative glass allows guests to sample homebrews and microbrews.
Callaway Plein Air
t the crafty side a r o c ti is rt a r uilt Express you ster Creek Q o o R , n o ti ta ab S a yarn from Art House, F nts, or spin e m ti n e S l u Co. and So uxvasse. Alpacas d’A
May 26 to 29 Artists from across the U.S. fan out throughout the countryside to capture Callaway County in oil, acrylic, watercolor, pastels, ink, charcoal, pencil or mixed media. The resulting artwork exhibit opens with the Wet Paint reception and awards ceremony. Exhibit runs through June 30.
Fulton Annual Street Fair
June 17-18 Fulton Brick District Fair kicks off with an old fashioned ice cream social on Friday afternoon at 3:30 pm and continues through 11:00 pm, Saturday. Enjoy a farmers market, live music, beer garden, food, carnival rides, performers, demonstrations, competitions, a 5K and Kids Mile run/walk, car show, Miss Callaway Pageant and more.
Independence Day Parade
July 4 Fulton Brick District Independence Day parade through Fulton’s historic Brick District with fireworks display to be held at the Fulton Country Club. Fireworks display also held at Greenway Park in Holts Summit.
wineries, a craft Savor the heartland at -the-drive rural butcher shop and worth Brick District restaurants. Fulton’s soda fountain offers an old-fashioned urants, coffee and locally-owned resta and bake shops.
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 573-642-7692.
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MISSOURI
PERCEPTION AND REALITY The world looks different through the artistic lens of Liberty artist Carlyle R
BY JONAS WEIR
About five years ago, the seventy-eight-year-old Liberty resident started her Missouri River Impressions series. The mainspring for her artistic endeavor was an Amtrak trip from Jefferson City to St. Louis. A couple of times each year, Carlyle takes the train to visit her son, Joseph Raine, and his family in St. Louis. On the train, she sketches what she’s seen on small five-inch by six-and-a-half-inch pieces of paper using oil pastels—a soft crayon of sorts and a good alternative to oil paints. “It’s like drawing with butter,” Carlyle says. “You couldn’t pull out paints on a train. You don’t have much room to maneuver.” The results are rough, yet beautiful, textured works of art no bigger than standard notebook paper. Her art is primitive, yet refined in a way: bold strokes of color effortlessly spill across the page. You could say the series of paintings is an abstract representation of the pulsing vein that bisects our great state. However, that’s not how Carlyle sees her work. “Did you find it abstract?” Carlyle says. “That’s interesting. I’ve had people say that to me before. I think it’s kind of impressionistic. It’s not really very defined as far as outlines and stuff. It’s more quick sketches.” Carlyle’s current work takes a different approach to impressionism than Claude Monet, Édouard Manet, and the other classic French impressionists. Instead of softening features to mimic natural light at different times of day, Carlyle places an importance on texture and feeling. It’s a deliberate style that recalls the boundary-pushing works of great American painters, such as Childe Hassam and James McNeill Whistler, credited as the founder of tonalism. Although the majority of her work is in collections and galleries in Missouri and other parts of the Midwest, Carlyle has pieces in public and private collections as far away as London, England, and Gabrovo, Bulgaria. She has been published in American Art Collector—a magazine written for collectors and galleries of traditional American art—and she has exhibited at scores of galleries and museums across the United States. She has won awards, scholarship, and grants for her art, and she has done all of this after, admittedly, getting a late start to her career.
“I probably didn’t start until my forties,” Carlyle says. “I was always kind of interested and started taking classes and have enjoyed it.” Carlyle moved with her husband to Liberty in 1977, and she began taking classes at Metropolitan Community College Maple Woods campus in Kansas City. Eventually, she started to work toward a degree at William Jewell College in Liberty, and in 1984, she earned her bachelor’s in art with an emphasis in painting. Although she didn’t start her art career until mid-life, she had an interest in art from an early age. In fact one of her earliest encounters with art comes from a visit to her aunt’s house. “From my earliest recollection, I remember going to her studio in her house,” Carlyle says. “She had her studio up on the second floo , and you go up this winding stairway to get there. That’s one of my earliest recollections of being in a studio and seeing someone actually creating art.” Carlyle’s aunt was no ordinary artist, though. Born in 1905, Paulina Jones Everitt was a prolific painter who studied under Thomas Hart Benton and exhibited her watercolors and represented art from the Midwest at the New York World’s Fair in 1939. In the 1940s, Paulina began
COURTESY OF CARLYLE RAINE
CARLYLE RAINE does not see the world the same as everyone else.
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COURTESY OF CARLYLE RAINE
Left: Missouri River Impressions is an ongoing series by Liberty artist Carlyle Raine. Each painting is done during a train ride from Jefferson City to St. Louis. Above: This oil painting of the Country Club Plaza in Kansas City was done by Carlyle’s aunt Paulina Jones Everitt, a prominent artist in her time. Top right: Another piece from Carlyle’s Missouri River Impressions series shows the Missouri River on a calm day. Bottom right: Carlyle works on small paintings outdoors.
sculpting, and some of her sculptures are now a part of the permanent collection at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art. You could say the art gene runs in Carlyle’s family. Carlyle’s daughter, Catherine, has even picked up art. Based in Toronto, Canada, Catherine is a prolific collage artist. Although genetics might have something to do with it, Catherine’s artistic drive also probably came from her childhood. “She told me that I encouraged creativity,” Carlyle says, “so hopefully I was a positive influence. Carlyle has also helped others find their creative potential. From 1983 to 1985, she was coordinator of the Young Achievers program at the Creative Arts Center at William Jewell College, and after that she went on to teach painting as an adjunct professor at the college until
she retired in 2006. During her time as an adjunct professor, she taught evening classes, which were primarily full of adults with full-time jobs. “I was always telling them there is something inside of you that brought you to this point,” Carlyle says, “and you have to follow that impulse.” No matter what her students’ attitudes were or what mediums they were most interested in, she could recognize their creativity. “It’s inside of everybody,” Carlyle says, “and it needs to be cultivated and drawn forth.” Not everybody sees the world that way. Not everybody can look at the Missouri River and churn out an oil pastel that has thick textures and vibrant colors. Not everybody can recognize the inherent creativity in all people. Not everybody is Carlyle Raine. For more information, visit carlyleraine.com.
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GREAT MISSOURI ART PROMOTION
Artisans
The
Bent Tree Gallery
NOW OPEN IN OUR NEW LOCATION
ASL Pewter
Rustic Furniture and Accents, Leather Bags, Baskets & Fiber Art
ASL Pewter Foundry produces high-quality, lead-free pewter products that are not only functional, but are also works of art. Open Daily. 9:30 ˜° to 5 ˛° 183 S. Third St. St Genevieve, MO 63670 573-883-2095
www.aslpewter.com
Saleigh Mountain
10-5 Mon-Sat & by appointment
27619 E 340th St. Bethany, MO • 917-573-0471 • www.thebenttree.com
A small, family-owned business in Hermann, that specializes in quality handcrafted leatherworks and shoe repair. Open Tues.-Sat. 9 ˜° to 5 ˛° 124 E Fourth St. Hermann, MO 65041 573-486-2992
www.saleighmountain.com
Crow Steals Fire
JUST RIGHT FOR YOUR COFFEE BREAK!
Personalized and artisan jewelry handmade in Missouri. Give unique jewelry with special meaning and a story to tell.
Bookmark features original, hand-etched scrimshaw on a recycled antique ivory piano key with genuine leather and handmade paper accents. $22, plus $5 shipping/handling
www.crowstealsfire.com
Check/Money Order/Visa/MasterCard 31 High Trail, Eureka, MO 63025 • www.stonehollowstudio.com
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National Exhibition
March 5 – May 1 Presented by
Freeman Health System
1
New Regionalism: The Art of Bryan Haynes Rediscover our landscape! Explore the sweeping views inhabited by historical figures, native Americans, and local characters with stunning colors and eye-popping clarity created by Missouri artist Bryan Haynes. Hardcover, 180 pages, $49.99
222 WEST 3RD STREET 222 WEST 3RD STREET JOPLIN, MISSOURI 64801 JOPLIN, MISSOURI 64801 417.623.0183 417.623.0183
Tues–Sat: 10am–5pm, Sun: 1–5pm
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November 2-4, Hermann $325, sign up now, space is limited! Register now at missourilife.com/pauljackson [33] April 2016
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Missouri’s Prettiest
small Towns Explore ten tiny towns that are among the state’s most beautiful.
NOTLEY HAWKINS
By Jonas Weir
Residential homes are interspersed among restaurants and bed-and-breakfasts in Rocheport’s small business district— less than twenty miles from Columbia.
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MISSOURI IS DEFINED by its small towns as much as anything else. Between our state’s two great metropolises lies our state’s heart—where tiny towns populate great plains and small communities dot the rugged landscape of the Ozark hollows. Some sit high above the Missouri on great river bluffs; some are tucked away in the woods. From border to border, we looked for the most quaint, charming, and frankly, prettiest small towns. Although there is no official definition of a small town, we decided to look only at villages and towns with populations under one thousand. Yes, places like Jefferson City have been nationally recognized among the beautiful small towns in the country, but places that large are not nearly as tiny as the towns on this list. Jefferson City’s population is more than forty thousand, and a few of the towns here have populations of less than a hundred. Here, the beauty comes from many things. Some places have quaint downtowns with thriving business districts; others are defined by historic buildings and sublime natural landscapes. Regardless, each of these ten towns is worth the trip and represents one of the best ways to get a slice of small town America.
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COURTESY OF MISSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM
The Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre is one of many benefits in this town with a population under fift . With a season that runs from March until December each year, the Arrow Rock Lyceum draws in visitors from all over the country.
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Aside from drawing in tourists to try the town’s two destination bakeries, Kimmswick brings the biker crowd to town with the C&S Cycle Harley-Davidson dealer.
COURTESY OF KIMMSWICK
ARROW ROCK No place in the state is quite like Arrow Rock. Sitting on bluffs above the Missouri River, Arrow Rock has been a place of significance since well before the firs Europeans visited. Archaeological evidence shows people have been here for more than ten thousand years. In the early nineteenth century, Arrow Rock became a frontier village along the Sante Fe Trail. After that, prominent Missourians, such as artist George Caleb Bingham and Dr. John Sappington, called Arrow Rock home. Before the Civil War, it reached its peak population of about a thousand. Arrow Rock’s rich history, however, is only part of the equation that has made it one of the prettiest towns in Missouri. The town’s distinct look does come from the 1829 city plan, but it also would not be the same without the dedicated merchants, Friends of Arrow Rock nonprofit, and Missouri State Parks, who have lovingly preserved the
historic buildings, including George Caleb Bingham’s 1837 home. Today, the town has fewer than fifty full-time residents but has the amenities of a much larger city. Visitors from all over come to Arrow Rock to patronize the Arrow Rock Lyceum Theatre, two museums, a state historic site, seven antique and specialty gift shops, three restaurants, and five bed-and-b eakfasts. In the tiny village of Arrow Rock, history not only lives, but it also thrives. Arrow Rock sees the future in its past.
KIMMSWICK Kimmswick is an unlikely hotbed for tourism. In 2010, the US Census recorded the population at a mere 157. However, there is plenty to do in this quaint village twenty-five miles south of St. Louis. You could spend a day—or two—here. The annual Strawberry Festival in June and the Apple Butter Festival in October are the town’s two biggest attractions, drawing thousands of visi-
tors that come to indulge in the fruits of the season. The Strawberry Festival overlaps with the town’s bluegrass festival, so visitors can enjoy music and fresh berries at the same time. Although those two weekends are the highlights, the town hosts events throughout the year, including Halloween festivities in the fall and Christmas celebrations during the winter. Kimmswick is worth the trip any time of the year, though. Founded more than 150 years ago, the historic downtown is now home to many homegrown boutiques, art galleries, gift shops, and antique stores. The town is also a destination for those with a sweet tooth. The town’s two bakeries—the Dough Depot and the Blue Owl —are both required visits. Our recommendation is getting lunch at the Dough Depot and dessert at the Blue Owl, or vice-versa. Or better yet, get a full meal and dessert at one bakery on Saturday, and try the next on Sunday.
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CLARKSVILLE Seventy-five miles northwest of St. Louis, Clarksville has become a day-trip destination for residents of the Gateway City. The town is no more than eight blocks long, but its business district is thriving with antique shops, artisan shops, speciality stores, and restaurants. Founded on the banks of the Mississippi River in 1819, Clarksville was named after Corps of Discovery explorer and governor of the Missouri territory William Clark. In 1880, the population hit its peak at 1,600. With a current population of about a third of that, it’s not the population center it once was, but that adds to the small town charm. Clarksville’s quaint storefronts, restaurants, and bed-and-breakfasts aren’t the only things that attract visitors. In the winter, Clarksville is one of the best places in the state to see bald eagles. Riv-
er Front Park is only one of the places to spot the majestic birds. Just outside of town, Overlook Farm restaurant and resort is the place to take in the beautiful northern Missouri countryside.
ROCHEPORT Not quite twenty miles from Columbia, Rocheport, population 239, is the town that proves that Mid-Missouri is just as beautiful as any other part of the state. Taking its name from the French words for rocky and port, Rocheport sits on the jagged bluffs of the Missouri. The town was established as a trading post in the early nineteenth century and became a full-fledged town in 1825. Today, the town still offers the same vistas that Lewis and Clark saw when they traveled through the area more than two hundred years ago, though I-70 pierces through the landscape to the southeast.
The best place to catch a glimpse of Mother Earth’s majesty might be Les Bourgeois Vineyards. Not far from the KATY Trail, the winery has indoor and outdoor spaces that look out onto the Big Muddy. On the other hand, Les Bourgeois is not the only attraction in town. The small downtown area has shops, galleries, and even a museum. No trip to this river town would be complete without stopping by the Rocheport General Store. The store has a variety of dry goods and offers breakfast, lunch, and dinner. Additionally, it often becomes the town’s music venue, playing host to an eclectic variety of music acts, from bluegrass to classic rock, on weekends.
PERRY This year, Perry, in rural Ralls County, is celebrating its sesquicentennial—or 150th birthday.
COURTESY OF MISSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM
Specialty shops line First Street in downtown Clarksville, including Great River Road Pottery, Simpatico art gallery, Miss Tiffie’ Candy, and Tubby’s Grub & Pub at the River.
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COURTESY OF MISSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM AND THE CITY OF PERRY
Les Bourgeois Vineyard is the largest tourist attraction in Rocheport. The vineyard offers outstanding views of the Missouri River and easy access to the KATY Trail.
Downtown Perry is home to a thriving business district. A number of antique and gift shops line Main Street, along with a medical clinic, a bank, and more.
In July 1866, a year after the Civil War had ended, the town of Perry was platted and named after Perry Crosthwaite, who owned a nearby mill. In the early days of Perry, the Crosthwaite family owned the hotel, dry goods store, market, drug stores, hardware store, lumberyard, mills, livery stables, wagon and blacksmith shop, and opera house. Since then, the town has grown, but not too much. The population currently hovers around 700—compared to the 147 recorded in the 1880 Census. Today, Perry touts itself as the southern gateway to Mark Twain Lake, and its residents preach that it’s small town living at its best. The charming, historic downtown evokes Main Street USA, and the nearby waters at Mark Twain Lake are perfect for Andy Griffiths favorite pastime—fishing.
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NOTLEY HAWKINS
Open seasonally, Jolly Cone in Van Buren is a great summer hangout spot. Find the burger joint at 203 James Street, where it has stood since 1953.
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COURTESY OF MISSOURI DIVISION OF TOURISM
Westphalia’s city hall now occupies this historic bank building on Main Street. The bank failed as the stock market crashed in 1929. It sits across the street from the St. Joseph Catholic Church.
WESTPHALIA
VAN BUREN
WEINGARTEN
Less than twenty miles south of Jefferson City, the topography starts to develop into the rolling hills and jagged plateaus distinct to the Ozarks. Tucked away into the side of these hills is the tiny community of Westphalia. With a population of less than four hundred, Westphalia is marked by a short drag of quaint, historic buildings along main street. Despite such a small population, the town has a museum dedicated to preserving and celebrating the area’s rich German heritage, a restaurant in an old inn, and Westphalia Vineyards. Built in 1848, the St. Joseph Catholic Church is one of the oldest buildings in the area. Today, it still shines like a white, stone beacon and attracts passersby to this tiny community.
Van Buren sits on the banks of one of the most gorgeous bodies of water in the country—the Current River. The tiny town spills right into the crystal blue waters of the Current and is, for many, the gateway to Ozark National Scenic Riverways. Founded in 1833 and named after statesman Martin Van Buren, this small community has been the county seat for Carter County for not-quite two hundred years. The town did not receive electricity until 1927, and it still serves as a destination for those who want to unplug. Today, the town is home to a little more than eight hundred residents and sports an adorable, historic business district, along with many places to camp, hike, float, hunt, and do about anything else outdoorsy. Home to many swimming holes, summer is the best time of the year to visit Van Buren.
Weingarten’s name sums up what the town is all about. The German settlement in Ste. Genevieve County takes its name from the German word for vineyard, and the rich landscape surrounding the tiny village is Missouri wine country at its best. Thirteen miles from Ste. Genevieve, Weingarten was founded in 1837 by Jacob Wolf. Today, the oldest building in town is Our Lady, Help of Christians. Built in 1872, it still serves a large parish. Although Weingarten is technically unincorporated and was absorbed into the total Ste. Genevieve County for the 2010 Census, the population hangs around one hundred. The biggest attraction in town is Weingarten Vineyard, which might sound silly when translated to German but is seriously worth visiting. Dinner at the Garten Haus restaurant is the perfect way to end a day visiting southeast Missouri.
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NOTLEY HAWKINS
Our Lady, Help of Christians was founded in April 1872 in Weingarten. Today, it still serves as a Catholic parish for the residents of rural Ste. Genevieve County.
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Although on private property, you can see this beautiful historic mill from Route 21 in Centerville, just a half mile west of Pine Street. Reeds Spring Mill dates back to 1881.
CENTERVILLE As a part of the Arcadia Valley region, Centerville sits on the west fork of the Black River and is a historic mining town. The Black River and surrounding St. Francis Mountains mark this region with natural beauty, and Centerville adds to the charm by sporting several historic buildings that deliver the nostalgic feel of yesteryear. Reeds Spring Mill and the old Reynolds County courthouse are just a few. With a population of about two hundred, Centerville is among the smallest towns in the state, but it also stands out as one of the prettiest.
MARK SCHUVER AND DONALD HABERMAN
REEDS SPRING A cozy village on Table Rock Lake, Reeds Spring is more than a vacation destination. Although Table Rock Lake sports a number of resorts and summer homes, Reeds Spring is year-round hometown for about nine hundred proud residents. For more than a hundred years, this small town has stood the test of time, surviving fi es, Bonnie and Clyde, and more.
MeMe’s Antiques and Country Cafe sit along Spring Street in downtown Reeds Spring. It’s one of four restaurants and fi e retail shops in the town of less than one thousand.
The charming business district and 1936 stone Works Progress Administration building add to the town’s charm, but what really makes it beautiful is the abundance of natural beauty in the bordering lake and surrounding Ozarks. Currently, the city is looking forward by remodeling the WPA building, making it ADA accessible, adding a library, and turning it into a new community center.
PRETTIEST SMALL TOWNS 2017 What did you think of our list? Next year, we’re expanding the list to include towns under 2,500, and we want your input. Tell us what towns should be on the list, and you’ll get to vote for the winner. Visit missourilife .com/prettiest-small-towns to learn more.
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ACT
Disappearing
Many of Missouri’s smallest towns are struggling. Downing, Schell City, and Montgomery City share some of the challenges they face. BY
S H AW N
S H I N N E M A N
The calls rang out in the middle of the night, waking a crew of volunteer firefighters. Up jumped John Cook, out came Richard Gallagher, and there went Harold “H” Middleton. H’s son, Dick Middleton, was left peering out a bedroom window at the glow in the distance— flames shooting up above the trees, beyond the hills. It was early on the morning of December 10, Downing, like so many Missouri towns, had become a bustling center in the northeast corner of Missouri in the 1940s and 1950s. Back then, a town of about five hundred could attract visitors. Farm families would drive in on Saturday nights and line the main strip. They would do their trading and shopping at one of five grocery stores, and they’d eat and drink well at a local diner. Maybe, they’d
SHAWN SHINNEMAN
1965, and Downing High School was burning. Ruth Enterprise is a successful lawn mower store in Downing—a town of about 331 in Schuyler County. It’s one of the last thriving businesses in the rural community.
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SHAWN SHINNEMAN
By the 1960s, there was talk of consolidating the Schuyler County schools. There were no real reasons not to. A county of five thousand people had three high schools. Just about everyone owned a car now, so it was becoming easier to drive the fifteen to twenty minutes to the next town. Downing, which had graduating classes of about twenty, felt the pressure to consolidate, but it pushed back. Then the calls rang out. A few years prior, as John Cook remembers, the school had decided to clear out some space in the old gym and create a garage to house the drivers’ education car. The school administration cut a garage door into the concrete wall and parked the car on the old stage. It seemed like a good enough idea. However, day after day, that car rolled over electrical wires, and eventually: spark, flame, fi e. A neighbor smelled the smoke from his house at 4:20 am. Fire crews struggled against the inferno. John Cook was blown back when he opened a back door to the school. Downing had just one fi e truck, so crews from nearby Lancaster and Memphis, Missouri, came with backups. Without a town water system, fi efighters had to connect to wells near the school, but they couldn’t access the one in the schoolyard because of its proximity to the fi e. Lena Gallagher, Richard’s wife, watched from her kitchen window, a block from the school. Their daughter was supposed to start first grade next year at the building next to the high school. By the time the blaze was under control at about 7:30 am, the high school was reduced to roofless brick walls with blown-out windows. A few desks were salvaged from the adjacent elementary school, but the building itself was unusable. The new gym was all that survived. “It just made you sick,” Lena says. “I thought, they’ll never build it back.”
Although the fi e was a turning point for Downing, its struggles are far from unique. Across the state, small towns face serious challenges. The story of rural America’s decline is told by many little factors: big box agri-suppliers; a young generation’s discontent with few job opportunities or entertainment options; a lack of sound internet access; blacktop roads; shopping malls; Wal-Mart. It’s a story of crumbling storefronts and closed kitchens. Sometimes, statistics tell the story. One number in particular has restarted the conversation: The populations of nonmetropolitan counties in America shrank between 2010 and 2014, for the first time since 1950. According to the US Department of Agriculture’s Economic Research Service, nonmetro counties neither contain metropolitan areas of at least 50,000 people nor are they economically tied to metropolitan areas by a commuting labor force; many small towns fall into this category.
Individually, the stories of these towns are complex. Downing, Schell City, and Montgomery City are all fighting trends of a changing world and are all in nonmetro counties. Each one can tell a part of the overarching tale but also has its differences. Downing, population 331, is home to a successful lawn mower shop, a historic railroad depot, and not much else. Schell City is home to 249 people, a local cafe, and a decrepit business district. With a population of 2,834, Montgomery City represents a larger class of small town that is still targeting growth but struggling to maintain a vibrant business district. A new manufacturer is on the way, and an economic development team is anxious to attract more. Doing so, though, may be a challenge. Trends toward suburbanization and exurbanization—where people move from urban to rural or suburban areas but maintain their city jobs—have slowed in the last five years, according to John Cromartie, a geographer at the US Department of Agriculture. “Is that going to come back, or is part of this a change in preference? ” John
The Downing Depot Museum sports artifacts from and displays about the town’s golden years. Here, models of the town’s historic buildings have been made with cardboard.
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takes more land to make a living. Farmers with top-of-the-line equipment and control over more land are thriving. “[Agriculture] is a victim of its own success,” John says. Still, he says, reversing the trends of the industry isn’t a viable solution. “Farming is not the problem,” John says. “It’s the inability to find alternatives for farming once labor changed.”
Downing residents Don and Carol Scurlock remember simpler farming.
Montgomery City is currently trying to market its industrial park to manufacturers. The park offers rail service an highway access among other amenities.
When Don started farming, his firs big equipment purchase was a grain combine for $2,800. He worked his modest fields alongside a half dozen similar farms. Don estimates that now only two or three people own or rent the farmland in the same area, and John Deere starts its baseline 2016 combine at $365,000. Today, Don and Carol help run the Downing Depot Museum in a long, maroon shed down a winding gravel road. Open by appointment only, the dimly lit museum is a mishmash of old photos, war memorabilia, and a collection of medical supplies the town doctor used. On a crisp, sunny morning, Don sports Liberty overalls and a worn baseball hat. He and Carol married when he was nineteen and she was seventeen. While their great-granddaughters giggle outside on a nearby playground, Don and Carol talk about Downing’s golden years. Saturday night was an event for the couple, as it was for many locals. For Don and Carol, an evening out would entail dinner and movie. “Pop was cheap, and I always liked to eat,” Don says. However, Don and Carol have another message—one that is as simple and earnest as it is sad. They say they are watching the only town they really know die. Through the years, more and more of the conveniences it once afforded them have disappeared. “When the school left, things went down fast,” Don says. Today, Downing has just one restaurant and small general store. Still, the town comes alive during its annual Appreciation Days each fall. The celebration gathers residents past and present for beef sandwiches and a tractor pull at the city’s park. This past year, the weekend marked a bittersweet anniversary— fifty years since the last class graduated from Downing High School.
Schell City, almost a hundred miles south of Kansas City, endured a fi e of its own on August 21, 1954—Dorothy Palmer’s birthday. Her grandparents
COURTESY OF MONTGOMERY CITY
asks. “Are people more likely to stay in cities now?” Migration toward metropolitan areas by young people is pairing with an aging rural population, and John says the result has been unkind to small towns. Complicating things is the fact that so many Missouri towns were built as vibrant farming communities. In the mid-twentieth century, farms were smaller, yet required more labor to tend. Through the years, though, farm sizes have grown, the price of equipment has skyrocketed, and margins have fallen. It
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Despite its struggles, Schell City remains a tight-knit community. Mail carrier Terry Schiereck knows all the children by name and brings treats for the local dogs. A few years back, after the tornado on June 2, 2008, residents didn’t wait for the government to help. They got up and started working themselves. It wasn’t fifteen minutes after John Hoagland’s windows blew out that people were checking on him and patching up the holes. The school, too, is a testament to the town’s personality. It remains intact in large part because of the elbow grease of locals.
SHAWN SHINNEMAN
owned the grocery store that burned that day. Her cake didn’t survive, but the bike she’d gotten a day earlier as a present was already home safe. In total, three businesses burned. However, Schell City’s fi e was more a bump in the road than the end of it. The town even got its grocery store back, for a time. Dorothy tells her story along with seven others around plain tables topped with stainless steel napkin dispensers inside the Schell City Cafe. A waitress refills their mugs with coffee, and as the memories come out, a picture of Schell City in Vernon County starts to unfold. In the early 1950s, if you didn’t get to town by dark on Saturday, you’d have to walk from at least two blocks away. The place was packed. The business district consisted of a grocery store, feed store, two hardware stores, a drug store, and a post office. The grocery store stayed open on weekends until every customer had finished shopping However, much like the residents of Downing, the patrons of Schell City Cafe speak bluntly about the town’s future: “The cemetery is going to grow.” “It’ll be some change here. I can’t say growth, but there’ll be some change.” “It’s not going to grow. It’s going to decrease as the older people die, and there’s just not many new ones coming in.” What began to hurt Schell City were paved roads, the end of a local train, and the growing ease of transportation. Still, it didn’t lose its high school until 1996, and, even today, it has a grade school.
James and Gina Ensor actually moved back not too long ago when they decided to start a family. At the time, they were living in Branson, and Gina told James she wanted a quiet, safe place to raise their children—their Mayberry, where kids could be kids. “I said, ‘Welp, I might know a place like that,” James says. The couple moved back to Schell City, where they live on property passed down from James’s parents and grandparents and where James opened a welding business. If you come back to Schell City, says James, there are a few perks: your kids can have a hundred grandmas throughout town; your neighbors will patch up your window in a pinch; and you can attend the fifth Sunday, a Schell City musical tradition that brings together the town’s three church congregations. “I’ve traveled all over,” James says, sporting a baseball hat and a closecropped, red and gray beard. “I didn’t realize how good I had it until I left.” Still, in a 24/7 world, even residents like James and Gina are worried that the priorities of the younger generation won’t lead them back home.
The Schell City Cafe opened on April Fool’s Day in 2013. “That way if it didn’t go well, I could say I was joking,” says owner Linda Brower.
Clockwise from left, Flora B. McKinney, Norma Jean Thomas, Gina Ensor, James Ensor, Edith McCoy, Dorothy Palmer, Larry Dade, and John R. Hoagland gather at the Schell City Cafe.
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While Downing’s residents point toward the fi e as the turning point in their history, the people of Schell City bring up the Missouri Department of Conservation’s decision to start encroaching on local farmland in the late 1950s. Just ask Terry Schiereck. During the late 1950s, the Barbours, Terry’s maiden name, lived happily on a two-thousand-acre farm just east of Schell City. Her grandparents and her aunt and uncle each had a home. Terry lived with her mother, father, and three siblings. On Sundays, the whole family congregated at Terry’s grandparents’ house for what they called dinner, the second meal of the day. Afterward, some family members got out instruments and played bluegrass. In 1960, the Department of Conservation moved in, using eminent domain
to acquire land for what would become the Schell-Osage Conservation Area, a lush expanse ripe for fishing and hunting. The Department started the task three years earlier by purchasing acreage for wetland units and lakes. In the spring of 1960, Karen Barbour, Terry’s sister, says their family got word that they’d be kicked off their property. They fought it. See Conservation Commission of the State of Missouri v. Leonard Cleo Barbour. Leonard was Karen and Terry’s father. The two say losing the legal battle crushed his spirits. “That was one of the only times I’ve ever seen my father cry,” Terry says. He was the last family member to leave the home, hiding out in his room until there was no time left. The family moved to Johnson City and took out a loan to buy new farmland. “It just devastated him,” Karen says. “It was just like he died.” Karen says Leonard turned to alcohol and died unhappy at age fifty-seven. Tim Ripperger, the deputy director at the Missouri Department of Conservation, who retired in fall 2015, says eminent domain was used sparingly: “Even then, it was done amicably.” The three Barbour families were paid a collective $136,000 for their
SHAWN SHINNEMAN
Irley Gale Ruth, better known as I.G., popped out from around a corner of his lawn mower shop, Ruth Enterprise at 209 W. Prime Street in Downing, wearing a short-sleeve blue plaid shirt tucked into beat up jeans. I.G. served as Downing’s mayor for twenty years, off and on, and he’s in charge of a family business that’s been around for generations. I.G.’s father started the family’s firs business in 1917. He bought fur from hunters and trappers. In 1932, he began buying wool, an abundant product in the county at the time. I.G.’s siblings “In order to survive in these all left the business to work as farmers, small towns, you’ve got to be for General Motors, or, in the case of his ready to make the transition youngest sister, for from one business to another.” the state of Alaska. I.G. stuck with it, though, seeing the business through more dynamic changes. In 1949, they started buying and selling produce and selling feed. After two Army tours in Korea, I.G shaped the company toward TV repair. The family also ran a movie theater for years, starting in the late 1940s. It was in 1977 that I.G, intrigued by zero-turn lawn mowers, pivoted his business once more. Nearly forty years later, it’s still known in the surrounding counties despite almost no internet presence. “In order to survive in these small towns, you’ve got to be ready to make the transition from one business to another,” I.G, age eighty-three, says. “You do need to look down the road and see what’s coming on.” Many have been unwilling or unable to see the writing on the wall. In early 2015, Downing finally scraped together the money needed to knock down fiv Northeast Vernon County vacant buildings. John Cook’s men’s Elementary in Schell City clothing store used to occupy one, behas classes from preschool through sixth grade. After fore he moved it to Memphis, Missouri. that, students move to the By the time the school caught on fi e, junior high and high school in nearby Walker. things had already been changing, and
they continued. The town’s population peaked at 566 people in 1920. By 2010, the number was down to 335. Downing’s decline was slow and, for many, painful. This past fall, as part of another demolition, another building near I.G.’s shop was knocked down, leaving Ruth Enterprise as the last building standing on the block.
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SHAWN SHINNEMAN
The former B&L Grocery store sits empty in Downing just two blocks east of Ruth Enterprise and serves a reminder of days past.
land. The Department of Conservation stopped the use of eminent domain in the 1970s. Some Schell City residents, though, still condemn the state for uprooting local farmers. And James Ensor says the tourism locals were promised never materialized and a lot of land came off the tax rolls. Tim will counter that outdoor recreation and forest products have a $12-billion annual impact on Missouri’s economy, statewide. “Our area next to Schell City has brought a lot of hunters and a lot of people into the Schell City area who’ve spent money on food and gas,” he says. Typically, the Department of Conservation makes payments in lieu of taxes to counties in which they’ve purchased land. But for purchases made before the late 1970s, the payments aren’t required. In short, Vernon County receives no payments for the Schell-Osage Conservation Area. The Schell-Osage Conservation Area offered hunting grounds for waterfowl by 1964. The area contains two larger lakes: Atkinson Lake, which spans 461 acres, and Schell Lake, which spans 355 acres. There’s also a C-shaped body of water called Barber Lake.
“Based on what I know about the department and the situation, I’m guessing that lake was named after the family,” he says. The spelling could have been lost in translation. That’s a thought that has crossed Karen Barbour’s mind, but she’s never received word. “It’s like they didn’t acknowledge us at all,” she says.
While Schell City and Downing’s populations have shrunk, Montgomery City in Montgomery County has grown, but building a downtown community of viable businesses has remained a challenge. From I-70, Route 161 is a roaming tour of woodsy hills, and then there’s a patch of new-looking homes speckling a winding country road before you reach a business district like any other in smalltown Missouri: beat-up sidewalks, faded paint, lots of brick, For Sale signs. Across the street from an old, vacant thrift store, the Montgomery Standard sits next to a barbershop. John Fisher’s office, down a short hall from the paper’s front desk, is a museum of old desktop Macs and pinned-up black and white prints. John sports flu fy gray hair pushed backward off his forehead, a
short gray beard, and a black and white flannel over a green, collared shirt. He’s seventy-three years old and has been at the paper for forty-eight years. “Small communities are not, in my opinion, what they were when I grew up in New London,” John says. “You used to have a complete business district in every town.” Then came the car and improved roads. Transportation got easier, and people sought bigger, better stores. He says Walmart didn’t help. Montgomery City doesn’t have one, but many residents travel the twenty to thirty miles to Warrenton or Mexico, or stop by after a night out in Columbia or St. Charles. “If we could have had higher gasoline prices,” John says, “I think the small town might have survived better.” Montgomery City, though, isn’t dying. The city notched a little more than 2,834 people at the 2010 Census, up from 2,442 in 2000. Last year, the county school district passed a $15-million referendum to add on to and renovate all of its schools. Uncle Ray’s Potato Chips is moving materials into an old Tyson plant, which sat vacant for half a decade. The new potato chip factory, set to open later this year, will bring between 110 and 160 jobs, according to city clerk
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Oliver’s on Sturgeon is an American restaurant at 300 North Sturgeon Street. The restaurant is one of the few options for a night out on the town in Montgomery City.
Steve Deves. The city landed the plant in large part because of the relatively cheap, vacant building, but management of the Detroit-based company also liked the town’s central location and proximity to both I-70 and the St. Louis market. Aggressive marketing tactics explain their growing population. In the late 1980s, six economically engaged locals put together what is now called the Greater Montgomery County Economic Development Council. Jim Krattli, the council’s secretary and treasurer, says it has been key in fighting the slow migration toward metros. However, you have to have something to market. From Jim’s perspective, Montgomery City does: it’s just fiv miles off I-70 and about an hour from
both St. Louis and Columbia. “We track the reasons why the companies are interested in the area,” says Josh Beck, who previously worked for the private economic development firm Community EDGE, which is contracted by Montgomery City, “and one of the top ones always is access to markets.” Montgomery City also has relatively flat land and sufficient water and sewer capacity. Their municipal ducks are in a marketable row. “We’re competing with the big boys,” Jim says. “And sometimes we’re not big enough to have the amenities that a lot of the people want.” For the slow and steady growth Montgomery City is after, that’s okay. So why does the business district con-
At the end of the day, the two main contributors to the fluctuation of rural populations are still natural increase—births minus deaths—and net migration. The fact that rural areas are now decreasing in population means we’ve reached a point where natural increases are no longer outpacing out-migrations, says John Cromartie of the USDA. “The general trend shows that natural increases will not bounce back,” he says. “I don’t really see a return to having big families these days.” That leaves small towns the daunting task of attracting new residents. To choose rural areas, residents will need reasons: jobs, entertainment, or an intrinsic pull to live the simple life James Ensor describes. “The availability of jobs is still at the top of the list as far as where people choose to live,” Josh Beck says. Outside of job growth, towns are trying other things to fight the decline Local arts councils have started springing up in rural areas, sometimes built by outsiders with a passion for their new towns, and are increasingly supported by their local governments. The Montgomery County Arts Council lives rent-free in Montgomery City’s old city hall. Michael Gaines, executive director of the Missouri Association of Community Arts Agencies, says such moves show growing recognition that a presence of the arts is something that
COURTESY OF MONTGOMERY CITY
tinue to struggle? Downtown, a For Sale sign priced a vacant 10,000 square feet building at $39,000. The other stores were full, but with a caveat. “They oddly enough are filled up with—I don’t know how to phrase it— junk stores, antique stores, that sort of thing,” John says. Every business seems to want to provide more than one service. The hair salon offers tanning. The flooring store sells furniture. The flea market buys gold, and the florist ents tuxedos. “Here,” John Fisher says, “our businesses didn’t go out of business.” They just changed.
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SHAWN SHINNEMAN
can help keep a community alive and growing. Onésimo Sandoval, an associate professor at St. Louis University’s department of sociology and anthropology, says there’s another factor that will attract growth. “The counties that are experiencing increases in population are the counties that are becoming more population diverse,” Onésimo says. Onésimo points to places like Texas County, where black and Latino people represented less than 1 percent of the population in 1990 but rose to about 5.3 percent in 2010. The total population grew by 13.1 percent. State Senator Brian Munzlinger has as much stake in the future of rural Missouri as anyone. His district covers fourteen counties in rural Northeast Missouri and includes Downing and Williamstown, where he was raised on a farm. A lifelong farmer, Brian got into politics later in life to be a voice for the agricultural community, and he speaks in a relaxed tone. “Really, there is nothing left anymore,” Brian says of his hometown. “It’s just a few houses.” No businesses. No schools. Even the churches have closed. “It just took more acres to make a living for a family,” Brian says. “We went through some tough times that caused people to move off the farm.” Last year, Brian introduced legislation he hoped would bring young people back to farming. The Missouri New Farmers Act would have incentivized those selling farmland to target new farmers purchasing their first acres. However, Brian’s chief of staff Pat Thomas says that after concerns were raised about why the measure targeted farming over other industries, the bill died. The question of where policy fits into a conversation about the future viability of small-town business districts gives Brian pause. “That’s a tough question,” he says. “I wish we could save all of them because they’re all a piece of history. But, in the horse and buggy days, we used to have
as many as two, maybe three courts in each county. Now, with the ease of travel, we’ve a lot of times consolidated even our courts system. I don’t know what you would do or if you’d actually be doing an injustice. I hate to say that, but sometimes you’re just prolonging what’s going to happen anyway.”
Like his father and grandpa before him, James Ensor traveled north working oil pipelines. He was a welder, and he worked in some of the hottest deserts and at some of the coldest places on the continent. Management had a habit of sending him north during the winter and south during the summer. The money was good; the hours were long, sometimes 120 in a week. James says he worked “can’t-see to can’t-see” every day. His first wife liked the money a little more than she liked him. When he married Gina, the two decided they wanted a different life. In Schell City, he opened a welding and fabrication company called Bent & Broke. His business card reads, “Hillbilly Molecular Surgeon.” He says he wants to build the business by doing things the
right way—not taking advantage of the stranded farmer in the field by charging colossal prices to repair equipment. On the company’s Facebook page, fans are asked to use their imaginations—and Pinterest—to dream up projects they’d like James to carry through. One early success has been a cowboy wok—a gasfueled wok built for the outdoors. A sign of its steady expansion, Bent & Broke has reached the point where James has had to hire help. Gina is all in. Her feeling is that the young, family-aged parents around town were willing to stick around and start something in Shell City. “I am an eternal optimist, and I see a generation willing to put in the work,” she says. “I see a community that does have a future.” The Ensors are not alone. There are young, enthusiastic families across the state who have grown tired of a fastpaced world and, in their new rural lifestyles, have found something they treasure. The questions, which might determine the future of these places, is whether they can be innovative in overcoming these obstacles and, ultimately, how far their enthusiasm will spread.
The Schell City T&T— which stands for truck and tractor—is one of the few businesses in the shrinking town. Here, you can get small repairs done and buy supplies.
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State Parks
surprises
Explore some fun and lesser known facts about Missouri’s State Parks and Historic Sites
SCOTT MYERS
By Danita Allen Wood
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Left: Some state park staff argued the Nathan Boone Homestead State Historic Site, created in 1991 and featuring the home built in 1837, should have been named for his wife Olive. During Nathan’s extended absences, she looked after her aged mother, who lived to 104, the fourteen children, numerous grandchildren, other relatives, and fi e to fifteen sl ves, as well as livestock and crops.
At Missouri Life, we have learned a lot about
our state parks and historic sites. For the past three years, we have been working with the Missouri Parks Association to publish the book Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites, Exploring Our Legacy. Some of the state’s top park experts and scores of photographers contributed to this beautiful, four hundred-page book, which tells the stories of each of Missouri’s eighty-eight state parks and historic sites. Gorgeous photography takes you there, and exploratory essays detail the natural and cultural assets of each park. The book opens with a historical look at our state park system, one of the best in the country, and has photos that date to 1909. Here, we share some of the fun and surprising things we learned along the way. Please visit MissouriLife.com for a map to see park locations.
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1. CURRENT RIVER STATE PARK One of our newest parks, Current River, created in 2007, helps preserve a large number of terrestrial and aquatic species found nowhere else in the world. The Ozarks are a globally significant center of biodiversity. The Current River Hills—viewed here from a fi e tower on a ridge overlooking the park and the river—are rugged and remarkably untouched.
KEN MCCARTY, OLIVER SCHUCHARD, AND PAUL JACKSON
2. DILLARD MILL STATE HISTORIC SITE In the Ozarks near Viburnum, Dillard Mill is the only mill in the Missouri Ozarks with original machinery intact and in operating condition. You can go see functioning roller machines on the main floor and see grain ground to the desired consistency. The mill sits on a dolomite outcrop that separates the upper and lower millponds, with its millrace cutting through bedrock.
3. EDWARD “TED” AND PAT JONES –CONFLUENCE POINT STATE PARK
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The Mississippi River is on the right, and the Missouri is on the left, as the waters of America’s two great rivers begin to mingle at Confluence Point State Park, dedicated in 2004. Here, you can walk out and put one foot in each river.
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We love this park. It has a short, flat walking trail to see the big rocks, and with tables among the massive rocks, it’s a beautiful place for a picnic. The Ozark plateau beyond looks rather flat. These ancient mountains were leveled over eons to a plain, then gradually warped upward into a gigantic dome that was persistently eroded, leaving a deceptively flat horizon in a land of rugged hollows
5. ILINIWEK VILLAGE STATE HISTORIC SITE Posts mark the sides and center supports of a longhouse on a sand terrace at Iliniwek Village. In the seventeenth century, when France had an empire in the interior of North America, a large region in the center of the continent was known to the French as Le pays des Illinois, or The Illinois Country. A dozen or so American Indian tribes of the Illinois Confederation occupied a vast region that extended from present-day Iowa to Arkansas, including eastern Missouri. Today we know the Algonquin-related word Iliniwek is a more nearly correct spelling to refer to these allied tribes. Here, a rare natural sand prairie and sand-adapted species still survive. The site also hosts several species of native bees whose only known occurrence in the state is here.
7. 6. GRAND GULF STATE PARK After a heavy rain, runoff from a large area pours into Grand Gulf, known as Missouri’s Little Grand Canyon. Then the water drains into subterranean caverns and reappears nine miles south at Mammoth Spring in Arkansas.
7. JEFFERSON LANDING STATE HISTORIC SITE Together, the red brick Union Hotel and the Lohman Building next to it comprise Missouri’s oldest intact commercial river landing district. The hotel now serves as an Amtrak station with a gallery of Missouri arts and culture on the second floo , and the Lohman Building also has displays.
SCOTT MYERS, 5 AND 7: MISSOURI STATE PARKS, AND MATTHEW KANTOLA
4. ELEPHANT ROCKS STATE PARK
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8. JEWELL CEMETERY STATE HISTORIC SITE Charles Hardin, a Missouri governor and nephew of William Jewell, is buried in the nineteenth-century Jewell family cemetery in Columbia. All the grave sites of former governors within the state not already in perpetual-care cemeteries have been declared historic sites and are maintained by the state.
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9. KATY TRAIL STATE PARK At 100 feet wide and 240 miles long, the KATY Trail is our longest, skinniest state park. You can stroll to the trail’s only tunnel easily from Rocheport.
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8 AND 11: OLIVER SCHUCHARD, SCOTT MYERS, KYLE SPRADLEY, AND B.H. RUCKER
10. LOCUST CREEK COVERED BRIDGE HISTORIC SITE Missouri is one of the few state park systems that include important historic sites, and we have four covered bridges left, all state historic sites. Now high and dry, this is the longest one in the state. Like Locust Creek, Union Covered Bridge is also in our northern glaciated plains. The others are the Sandy Creek Covered Bridge and the Bollinger Covered Bridge, both in the Ozarks.
11. MARK TWAIN BIRTHPLACE STATE HISTORIC SITE Samuel Clemens was born in this two-room cabin with clapboard siding—now safe from the elements within a shrine at this historic site. Upon seeing a picture of the cabin years later, he wrote, “Heretofore, I have always stated that it was a palace, but I shall be more guarded now.”
12. MASTODON STATE HISTORIC SITE
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A full-size replica of a mastodon skeleton looms over smaller exhibits in the museum. Mastodon bones and spear points found at the site yielded the first undisputed evidence that humans were here in North America at the same time as the mastodons. Bones from other extinct species also have been found here. Leading Missouri archaeologists kept telling a group of St. Louis women this was not an important site and not worthy of becoming a park, but the women wouldn’t give up. Eventually, some Illinois archaeologists were hired, and they made the discovery that would become famous, a spear point with mastodon bones.
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13. MORRIS STATE PARK American beech trees typical of the Appalachians grow in the rare sand woodlands here and elsewhere on Crowley’s Ridge, a thin strip of land between two alluvial valleys. The park is an island of plant communities more common in Missouri several thousand years ago.
14. ONONDAGA CAVE STATE PARK
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Missouri has about 256 caves in state parks, and this is the showiest. Stairs allow visitors to get close to the Queen’s Canopy, a massive forty-foot-tall flowstone, which formed as water flowed down the wall
15. PRAIRIE STATE PARK Native bison were eliminated from Missouri in the nineteenth century, along with virtually all of the tallgrass prairie that once covered most of the Osage Plains, but they are back in a world of their own at Prairie State Park.
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ALLISON VAUGHN, ERIC SPRADLING, MEAGAN DUFFEE, ZACHARY GILLIHAN, AND PETER CIRO PHOTOGRAPHY
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16. ROCK ISLAND TRAIL STATE PARK The nearly mile-long and hundred-foot-high Rock Island trestle spans the Gasconade River and its entire valley. When complete, the Rock Island will connect with the 240 miles of the Katy, and together, they will form a 400-mile biking and hiking loop.
17. SCOTT JOPLIN STATE HISTORIC SITE At the turn of the twentieth century, the King of Ragtime Scott Joplin and his wife moved into the second floor flat of this brick building at 2658 Delmar in St. Louis. As the last surviving structure known to have been associated with Joplin, it was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1976.
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19. 18. TAUM SAUK STATE PARK Taum Sauk is the highest point in the state, and Mina Sauk Falls is our tallest waterfall, on a three-mile loop trail from a trailhead there.
19. TOWOSAHGY STATE HISTORIC SITE The ancient Mississippian people knew what they were doing when they built their mounds on this ridge, out of reach of most floods from the Mississippi. When the Army Corps of Engineers dynamited a levee to activate the New Madrid Floodway in May 2011, forty-three deer, four turkeys, and two coyotes shared the shrinking top of the tallest mound during the height of the flood
GLENN CURCIO, CHRIS CRABTREE, MISSOURI STATE PARKS, RENEE BRONAUGH, AND BEN NICKELSON
20. VAN METER STATE PARK This park is the home of Missouri’s American Indian Cultural Center. Park officials secured Lewis and Clark bicentennial funding through the National Park Service to enlarge the visitor center, so it could explain the cultural history of each of the tribes in Missouri in the early nineteenth century: the Osage, Shawnee, Delaware, Ioway, Ilini-Peoria, Kanza, Kickapoo, Sac, Fox, and the Otoe-Missouria.
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21. WASHINGTON STATE PARK This park along the Big River contains almost two-thirds of all the petroglyphs discovered in Missouri so far. American Indians of the Mississippian cultural tradition carved hundreds of symbols, including thunderbirds, snakes, animal tracks, and more in the ancient limestone bedrock here.
22. WATKINS WOOLEN MILL STATE HISTORIC SITE AND PARK Watkins Woolen Mill, constructed in 1860 on the eve of the Civil War, is the best-preserved nineteenth-century textile factory in the country. It has four floors of original machinery and is now a National Historic Landmark. The Watkins home is intriguing, too. For more information or to order the book, visit MissouriLife.com.
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An etching from Henry Rowe Schoolcraft shows the mining town of Potosi, where Schoolcraft started his ninety-day, ninehundred-mile trek across the Ozarks in November of 1818.
The Landscapes of
EXPLORE HOW MISSOURI HAS CHANGED OVER THE PAST TWO CENTURIES. By Trevor Harris
COURTESY OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft
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THE BEST WAY TO KNOW the landscape is to walk it, to feel it directly. Get out, and hike a trail that peels off down a hill. Let it be your guide to the other side. Getting out of the car and putting feet on the Earth helps you to see and understand the natural world. The next best thing to walking and experiencing a landscape in person is to look at a representation of it. A study of old maps can unearth unfamiliar place names, topographic patterns, and meandering rivers all worthy of exploration. Maps are fodder for future explorations. Another way to know a landscape is to read a historic account of that place. Henry Rowe Schoolcraft explored the Ozarks by hiking and horseback riding nine hundred miles in ninety days in late 1818 and early 1819. He published Journal of a Tour Into the Interior of Missouri and Arkansas in 1821, the same year Missouri became a state. Schoolcraft’s journal offers a treasure trove of landscape descriptions from his early exploration of the Ozarks in an era when the Osage mingled with American traders at outposts on the Arkansas, Osage, and Missouri Rivers. Missouri’s cities were mere frontier outposts, and the interior belonged to Native Americans and a few hardy French and American settlers. Springfield geography professor Milton Rafferty republished Schoolcraft’s original journal and additional material in 1996 in Rude Pursuits and Rugged Peaks: Henry Rowe Schoolcraft’s Ozark Journal.
“I begin my tour where other travelers have ended theirs, on the confines of the wilderness, and at the last village of white inhabitants, between the Mississippi River and the Pacific Ocean. I have passed down the valley of the Ohio, and across the state of Illinois in silence!” Thus began Schoolcraft’s journal as he set out from Potosi across the interior of the Ozarks. He was twenty-five when he began his walk in search of adventure that he wasn’t getting working in his father’s Hudson River glass factory back East. Schoolcraft imagined that by promoting the potential for mining in Missouri’s Ozarks he would surely gain a role in the territory’s government. He even had a specific job in mind: Superintendant of Mines. Although that appointment never materialized, Schoolcraft’s Ozark journal did leave a detailed account of early nineteenthcentury Ozark landscapes in the St. Francis, White, and James River watersheds. He wrote of a massive prairie where modern-day Springfield sits. He detailed open, barren spaces where groves of Eastern Red Cedar now grow. Changes since then interested Milton Rafferty, who first discovered Schoolcraft’s Missouri journal as he was finishing up his doctoral work at the University of Nebraska. “I had just gotten a job at Missouri State University, then Southwest Missouri State,” Milton says. “I was trying to find things to read about this area. I ran across the Schoolcraft journal and was just fascinated. When I got down here, I started using it to teach my classes. I like to take examples of local geography and show them how much things change over time.”
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COURTESY OF THE STATE HISTORICAL SOCIETY OF MISSOURI
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Commercial logging has had a major impact on Missouri’s natural landscapes. Here is an image of the timber boom of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Harvested timber floats down the Current River to the Grandin sawmill.
As an example of how Missouri’s landscapes changed between Schoolcraft’s walk and today, Milton points to a journal entry for January 4, 1818, which he often reads to his students. On that fifty-ninth day of his trip, Schoolcraft and travel companion Levi Pettibone arrived at Kickapoo Prairie. As he neared the then-mile-wide Kickapoo Prairie, Schoolcraft wrote: “The prairies are the most extensive, rich, beautiful, of any which I have ever seen west of the Mississippi River. They are covered by a coarse wild grass, which attains so great a height that it completely hides a man on horseback in riding through it.” Today, that’s Springfield. “That immediate area became a farm, then a subdivision, and is now a university,” Milton says. The French and Americans had already altered the Ozark landscape when Schoolcraft visited in 1818. As he began his travels, Schoolcraft was wary of the risks from mining activities that had been ongoing for 120 years near Potosi. He noted, “Scarcely ground enough has been left undisturbed for the safe passage of the traveler, who is constantly kept in peril by unseen excavations and falling in pits.” Schoolcraft took good notes along the way. To this day, conservationists, archaeologists, and cartographers still use his journal as one way to know what a pre-Euro-American Missouri landscape looked like. Americans settled in southern Missouri in growing numbers after statehood. They farmed, mined, and cut timber. Through these activities and the absence of fire started by Native Americans, landscapes—while often pleasing to the eye—look vastly different from those that Schoolcraft saw almost two hundred years ago.
R E T R E AT OF T H E NAT I V E P E O P L E When Schoolcraft came through, the Osage and other tribes still occupied lands south of the Missouri River where they gardened, fished, and hunted. In his journal, Schoolcraft noted a pair of abandoned Shawnee and Delaware hunting camps. On January 14, 1819, Schoolcraft wrote that he found “an excellent kind of flint, and some antique bones and arrow-heads,
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from beneath a heavy bed of alluvium covered by trees.” He suspected these artifacts were from Indians who had abandoned summer hunting camps to return to more permanent winter encampments elsewhere. The Osage had tolerated and traded with small French settlements along the Missouri Territory’s largest rivers, occasionally harassing offending settlers or traders, but they became dependent on trade for European- and Americanmanufactured trade goods and weapons. After the United States bought the Louisiana territoAlong with exploring the Ozarks of Missouri and Arkansas in 1818 and 1819, Henry Rowe Schoolcraft took an ry in 1803, the American setexpedition in 1832 to the source of the Mississippi River. tlers doomed the Osage way of life. With a series of treaties starting in 1808, the Osage began retreating from eastern Missouri. The American settler population of the Missouri Territory increased from an estimated 25,000 in 1814 to 65,000 in 1820, and the last Osage tribe withdrew from western Missouri into Kansas in 1823, though they returned for hunts as late as 1837. Other Missouri tribes similarly were removed from their lands. Once Missouri became a state in 1821, the population grew even more, and the increased demand for food led to a growth in farms that dramatically altered the state’s flora and fauna. Before the settlers, the prairie landscapes dominated by various grasses once covered 30 percent of Missouri. According to Paul Nelson’s Terrestrial Natural Communities of Missouri, less than 0.2 percent of native prairies remain in the state. Many of these native grasslands were plowed under for crops or grazed by livestock.
Y E A R S OF L O G G I NG The American settlers also built homes, barns, and stores, so they harvested timber for building material. And as the troves of potential lumber were discovered by railroad investors in the post-Civil War years, the Ozarks timber boom was on. The oak-pine forest that Schoolcraft noted throughout his journal covered much of what is today Shannon and Oregon Counties and was felled for railroad ties to meet Missouri’s post-Civil War demand for new railroads. Many late nineteenth- and early twentieth-century settlers to the Ozarks found work in Missouri’s growing timber economy.
With enormous sawmills came loggers and their families. The southern Missouri towns of Winona and Doniphan owe their origins to a booming timber economy. Timber harvest and processing peaked in 1899 when sawmills in Missouri turned out 724 million board feet of lumber. The operations required to maintain the timber boom were massive, including twin sawmills at Grandin. Located southwest of Van Buren, Grandin was established in 1887 by the Missouri Lumber and Mining Company as a location for a sawmill that could— at its peak in 1894—process seventy-five acres of timber per day from Missouri forests. The timber boom ended with the Great Depression of the 1930s. What this boom meant for the Ozarks landscape was a great decline in pine forests and oak woodlands. Had he returned one century later, Schoolcraft would probably not have recognized the wooded hillsides of the central and eastern Ozarks that he had traversed.
T H E ROL E OF W I L D F I R E While timber harvest significantly altered the Ozark’s landscape, the absence of wildfires had a comparable major impact. When lightning would strike pre-Euro-American Missouri’s forests and grasslands, fires would burn until they ran out of fuel or until they reached a steep bluff or impassable stream. The Osage saw the value of these burns. Fire consumed brush and, in its wake, left lands ripe for new grass that would attract grazing bison. For thousands of years, naturally occurring and perhaps fires set purposely by Native Americans maintained the species mix in Missouri’s natural communities. Some white farmers in pioneer-era Missouri continued setting fires as a means to remove woody plants from fields and to stimulate grass production for livestock production. Over time, however, as more settlers arrived, wildfires and burning were actively discouraged to protect houses and other structures. This widespread suppression of fire as a landscape management tool had unintended results. Without being checked occasionally by fire, new and different species began to dominate. Cedars grew in fallow fields, and native plants that thrived when wildfires burned their habitat, such as shooting star, began to suffer. Underbrush built up in wooded areas.
R E ST OR AT I ON OF T H E L A N D S C A P E Farmer and rancher Colin Collins grew up near West Plains. He went away for school and work but returned to his family farm in the 1970s. “The plants have changed and the animals have changed dramatically,” Colin says. “When I grew up in the ’50s and ’60s, if we saw a deer, that was something to talk about. We never hunted them because there were none to hunt. Now, they are a
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COURTESY OF MILTON RAFFERTY
Missouri’s natural communities look much di˜ erent than when Henry Rowe Schoolcraft explored the state. Left: River cane was mentioned in Schooclraft’s journal as thickly growing along rivers. Today, river cane is a much less common sight along Missouri streams. Below: Farming has dramatically changed the landscape from Schoolcraft’s time.
pest for us. We have controlled hunts on our property. When I was first told there were wild turkeys in the Ozarks, I thought they were lying. Now, they are everywhere. On the other side, one of the other things that we enjoyed doing as kids was quail hunting. Now, we might see a quail once in a while. They’re just gone, and I really don’t know why. Foxes were very prevalent when I was growing up. Now, we see very few foxes, and I see coyotes. We didn’t have them back in the ’50s.” In 2016, an increasing number of public land managers and private residents are working to restore their properties to what they might have looked like during the state’s preEuro-American era. One example is Prairie State Park near Mindenmines. Although the four-thousand-acre park has several tracts of prairie that were never plowed, others have been restored by brush clearing and controlled burning. Some of the best wildflower shows in the state can be found here. “When we come across a piece of ground, we should ask ourselves ‘What was this? What was here? Pine, oak, native grass?’ ” says Hank Dorst, a West Plains resident and forest advocate. “Once we come up with an idea of what we think was here, we need to ask ourselves, ‘Can we work with that? Can it be restored?’ ” He says in some cases, the costs and time of restoration will not produce anything that’s a value to society in the short term. In other cases, woodland restoration or a controlled burning regime might be appropriate: “People are more aware now about what used to be on that site and how that may influence what they can grow there now.”
S C H O OL C R A F T T ODAY The West Plains-based environmental non-profit Trillium Trust is using technology to connect Missourians with their history. Visit UnlocktheOzarks.org for detailed plans on a tour where travelers can experience sites mentioned in Schoolcraft’s journal. A Springfield-based group is already planning events to celebrate the bicentennial of Schoolcraft’s historic fieldwork. For more information about their planned activities, contact Tom Peters at Missouri State University Library at 417-836-4700.
EVENTS A series of public events this spring will kick off a celebration of Henry Rowe Schoolcraft. There, you can see the fullsize map in this article, which was created by Geographer Jim Harlan of the route Schoolcraft is believed to have taken. Also at these events, the author of this article, Trevor Harris of KBIA in Columbia, will be speaking about a radio series created in conjunction with this article. The events will be: • April 7 at 7 PM at the Springfield Conservation Center • April 9 at 7 PM at the Yellow House in West Plains • June 18 at the Moses Austin Festival in Potosi This article and map are made possible through a partnership between Columbia’s KBIA 91.3 FM and Missouri Life in partnership with the Missouri Humanities Council and with support from the National Endowment for the Humanities.
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THE RIDE Get ready for the ride of your life. The 2015 Big BAM (Bicycle Across Missouri) was an epic adventure, and we’re kicking things up a bit for the 2016 Ride with six days of riding instead of five. The 2016 Big BAM route will take you above, below, and along the historic route 36 from St. Joseph to Hannibal. You’ll cover 298 miles crisscrossing the “Route of Geniuses” with an average of 50 miles per day. Along the ride, you’ll pass through the boyhood homes of Walt Disney, J.C. Penney, General John J. Pershing and Samuel Langhorn Clemens (better known as Mark Twain). You’ll also spend the night in Chillicothe, the town that gave the world sliced bread. The 2016 Big BAM starts on Sunday June 11 in St. Joseph and rolls through Hamilton, Chillicothe, Brookfield, Macon, Shelbina, and ends with a blowout party in Hannibal on Friday June 17. You’ll experience the friendliness and personality of some of the best small towns in Missouri, as well as some of the most beautiful scenery the state has to offer along the way. We are bringing the flavor and fun of Bonnaroo and Wakarusa to the Big Bam with live music at each town along the way and a full concert every night. Add some great wine and beer and fantastic food, and you’ve got a party as wide as the Show-Me State for adventurous cyclists in search of the ride of their lives. In the pages that follow, you’ll learn a little more about our seven towns that represent your daily destination goals. We’ve tried to hit the highlights for you, but you should feel free to explore them further both before and during your trip. Need more tickets? No problem. Visit bigbamride.com for schedules, route information, and to order tickets and merchandise from the online store.
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YOUR BIG BAM TICKET INCLUDES • • • •
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Gear Transport Free admission to all seven nights of concerts and events Camping area Free Big BAM SWAG Bag (includes a 2016 Big BAM cycling cap, patch, koozie, water bottle, and other surprises) SAG support along the route Portapotties at all stops
• • • • • •
Unlimited hot, private shower in an airconditioned trailer at all overnight stops Private dressing area, soap and shampoo dispensers Fresh towel daily Phone-charging trailer with locking compartments Free coffee ach morning Social zone with shade canopies and chairs
USE CODE MISSOURILIFE TO GET $20 OFF YOUR TICKETS [64] MissouriLife
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JUNE 11-17
The Headliners Kris Lager Band, Old Salt Union, Final Mix, William Elliot Whitmore, David Wax Museum, The Black Lillies, Cory B. Clay & The Twains
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Get ready to follow in the path of greatness. This year’s Big BAM follows The Way of American Genius—so named because it runs through the hometowns and birthplaces of some of the greatest American innovators and inventions, including the Pony Express, JC Penney, General John J. “Black Jack” Pershing, Walt Disney, sliced bread, and Mark Twain. If experience is the best teacher, be prepared to become a “Road’s Scholar!” [65] April 2016
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While in St.Joseph visit the
Remington Nature Center of St. Joseph Educational programming available for all ages Conference room rental space available Field trips available year-round Birthday party packages
Water’s Journey display Journey Through Time Exhibit Replica size Woolly Mammoth Aviary and Observation Beehive
Where history & nature collide!
1502 MacArthur Drive
St. Joseph, MO 64505
(located across from St. Joseph Frontier Casino on 229, Exit 7)
www.stjoenaturecenter.info 816.271.5499
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THE HEADLINER Kris Lager Band
Pre-Party: St. Joseph June 11
St. Joseph has earned a reputation as a historic departure point. On the night of April 3, 1860, the first Pony Express rider left St. Jo on the first leg of a lonely two thousand mile horseback ride to Sacramento, California. Unlike that rider, you’ll be traveling three hundred miles by bicycle across the state in the opposite direction. And the entire St. Jo community has come together to ensure that you won’t be lonely, creating a weekend haven that includes pre-event bike rides, jazz entertainment, and a downtown buzzing with artistic expression. If you come in early, you can transport the gang back to the days of the Wild West at the Pony Express National Museum, Jesse James Home Museum, the American Indian Gallery (St Joseph Museums) and the Patee House Museum. Add in one terrific art museum (Albrecht Kemper Museum of Art), and one of the most unusual museums in the country (Glore Psychiatric Museum), and your group will be pumped for the week ahead. But St. Jo is so much more than its past. It’s also the summer home of the Kansas City Chiefs Training Camp, located at Missouri Western State University. For last minute supplies, take a shopping excursion to the East Hills Shopping Center at 3702 Frederick Avenue. The downtown is thriving with unique shopping venues, such as A-Z Freshair Fare Natural Market, where you can stock up on herbs, vitamins, and super snack foods to fuel your long ride. While you’re downtown, keep an eye out for the Tobiason Stained Glass Studio. Snap a selfie in front of the Pony Express Statue at the corner of Frederick and Tenth. Post it with #GoStJoMo on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. Then let your own historic cross-country ride begin! For more information on St. Joseph, go to StJoMo.com/BigBam.
2016 BIG BAM PRE PARTY The 2016 Big BAM will kick off t the St. Joseph Heritage Park at 2202 Waterworks road on Sunday afternoon.
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Stay
Shakespeare Chateau Built in 1885 on a high bluff overlooking the city, the mansion boasts 47 stained glass windows, antique furniture, and four luxury suites. 809 Hall Street · 816.232.2667 shakespearechateau.com
Eat
Bad Art Bistro • Looking for gourmet food in a quirky atmosphere? Come on downtown, next to the historic Missouri Theatre. Bad Art Bistro offers contemporary seasonal fare with an everchanging menu. 707 Edmond Street· 816-749-4433 · badartbistro.com Boudreaux’s Louisiana Seafood and Steaks Specializing in authentic cajun cuisine and St. Jo favorites. 224 North Fourth Street 816-387-9911 · boudreauxstjoe.com
Drink
First Ward House • First Ward House is the “oldest saloon west of the Mississippi.” Established in 1878, the historic bar serves up burgers, sandwiches, appetizers, beverages, and entertainment in historic surroundings. 2101 St. Joseph Avenue · 816-259-5141 1stwardhouse.com The Tiger’s Den • A unique bookstore that offers a wide variety of used books, as well as craft beers, fine wines, and classic cocktails 519 Felix Street · 816-617-2108
For more information visit
bigbamride.com ALSO IN ST. JOSEPH Tour the Jesse James Home Museum, where he was shot and killed. • Take a self-guided tour of St. Jo’s Civil War action, which includes a stop at Fort Smith Park, on the banks of the Missouri River. [69] April 2016
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The Best of the
Wurst Located in historic downtown Hermann, Hermann Wurst Haus sells meats produced in house by two-time Hall of Fame Wurstmeister Mike Sloan.
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Hundreds of Germanic/European flavored wurst, wine, bacon, beer and brats
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Indoor and outside deli seating
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In-house craft beer and wurst sodas
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German food and Amish-made food gifts
234 East First Street, Hermann, MO 573-486-2266 • www.hermannwursthaus.com
Download the Wurst Haus mobile app in the Apple store and receive 10% off in-store purchase [70] MissouriLife
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THE HEADLINER Old Salt Union
Day 1: To Hamilton When you come to the Hamilton city limits, fight the urge to raise your hands high in the air as if taking the checkered flag Hamilton’s winning nature is infectious, earning it the nickname of “Titletown” among the locals. The city’s high school football team has gone to the class 1A state championship four times in the last six years. James Cash Penney, the man responsible for creating the JCPenney chain of department stores, was born in the heart of town. And The Missouri Star Quilt Company, headquartered in Hamilton, was named the US Small Business Administration’s business of the year in 2015. It was the Missouri Star Quilt Company that earned Hamilton its other nickname: “Disneyland of Quilting.” Half of the buildings on Main Street are dedicated to quilting, with more promised in the near future. Hungry? Hamilton’s eight restaurants will satisfy the pickiest of eaters. Cuisine ranges from authentic Mexican at Mi Mexico, the best BBQ in the Northland at Hank and Tank’s, awesome burgers at J’s Burger Dive, sweets and coffee at Momma Hawk’s Kitchen, feel-good food from Kathy’s Kitchen (mobile eatery), to fabulous five star dining at the Blue Sage. There’s also Casey’s pizza and Subway sandwiches. Hamilton is also one of the few towns in northwest Missouri to boast a microbrewery. You can grab a pint of hand-crafted beer in the quiet laidback environment of Ninja Moose Brewery’s taproom. With twelve beers and ciders on tap, if you can’t find something to quench your thirst, maybe you’re not really thirsty. The town also has several locally owned shops with unique gifts, flowers, décor and candles. Twigs, Rust and Dust, on Main Street for 25 years, provides a shopper with unique items handmade by the owner. In fact, 90% of the inventory is unique to this shop! Farmhouse Collectibles and Tammy’s Flowers round out the shopping on Main Street with their own supply of fresh, fun items, and floral designs Come back to town as summer fades into fall to enjoy Penney Days, a two-day event that takes place on the last weekend of September. Three other events are worthy of marking on your calendar: The annual Steam Engine Show is the third weekend in August, Tractor Pull in June, and the Mud Run in July.
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Stay
Home Inn Hamilton Bed & Breakfast It offers rooms or the entire property in two different houses on 15 acres with two ponds. One house has three queens and four twins, and the other has six queens and one double. 4011 Northwest State Route P · 435-849-2564 homeinnhamilton.com
Eat
Blue Sage • Contemporary American Cuisine. Menu includes steak, salads, panini grilled sandwiches, charcuterie and bottled beverages. 100 North Davis Street · 816-583-1161 Hank and Tank’s BBQ • Carry-out and patio dining only. Choose from smoked pork loin, pulled pork, and rib dinners with sides of baked beans and coleslaw. 408 North Davis Street 816-649-8474 · www.hankandtanksbbq.com Momma Hawk’s Kitchen • This bakery/coffee shop specializes in homemade baked goods, specialty coffees, and light fare lunches, including soups, salads, and panini. 118 North Davis Street · 484-888-8436
Drink
Ninja Moose Brewery • Twelve taps of brew, including Imperial Stout, Deacon’s Oatmeal Cream Stout, and Dunkelweizen. 105 West Bird Street · 816-668-9421· ninjamoosebrewery.com
For more information visit
bigbamride.com ALSO IN HAMILTON J.C. Penney Museum and Library on the north end of town · J.C Penney boyhood home in downtown center · Go for a swim: City pool hours: 1-5 and 6-8. Pool Rentals from 8-10 pm · Play nine holes of golf at the Lakeview Golf Course. The City of Hamilton hopes you enjoy your visit and come back soon. [73] April 2016
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ILT SHOPS THA U Q E R N MO
ANY TOWN IN
THE WORLD! HAMILTON MISSOURI
All shops open Monday-Saturday 9-5, closed Sunday.
Start at 114 Davis St.
WELCOME TO
HAMILTON Attend an event:
BIG BAM RIDERS! Go for a swim:
August 19-21 Northwest Missouri Steam & Gas Engine Show September 24 JC Penney Days Celebration and Craft Show November 26 Small Business Saturday Christmas Expo November 26 Christmas Tree Lighting
Visit local businesses:
City pool hours: 1-5 and 6-8. Pool Rentals from 8-10 pm. We hope you enjoy your visit and will come back soon! THE CITY OF HAMILTON 100 Memorial Dr. 816.583.7550
108 N. Davis St. 816.583.4045 105 W. Bird St. 816.668.9421
201 S. Davis St. 816.583.2154
111 N. Davis St. 816.583.2143
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Chillicothe is proud to be part of The Greatest Ride Since Sliced Bread. Big BAM rolls into Chillicothe on June 13-14.
WWW.VISITCHILLICOTHE.COM • 1-877-224-4554
GEAR UP FOR THE
WITH THIS COUPON FROM YOUR FRIENDS AND OFFICIAL BAM BIKE SHOP THE TREK BICYCLE STORE
20
% OFF
ANY REGULAR PRICED HELMET, GLOVES OR SHOES Offer valid in-store or online. Limit one per customer. Some restrictions may apply, see store for details.
Promocode: BAM202016 Expires May 15, 2016
trekbicyclestores.com [75] April 2016
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THE HEADLINER Final Mix Band
Day 2: To Chillicothe June 13
As you ride into Chillicothe, you might feel like making a toast. Or making toast, anyway. This north central Missouri community is known as “the greatest thing since sliced bread” for good reason. Chillicothe, which translates to “Our Big Town” has an innovative and entrepreneurial spirit. In July, 1928, the Chillicothe Baking Company produced the very first loaves of commercially made, presliced bread. The machine that ensured the town a place in bread-making history is on loan from the Smithsonian and currently on display at the Grand River Historical Society Museum at 1401 Forest Drive. From the museum, head south to the picturesque Historic Downtown Square, featuring more than twenty larger-than-life murals. Downtown is a popular destination for unique shopping and delicious dining as well as an eclectic offering of events. If you want to “Chill out in Chillicothe,” there are several options for cool fun. Chilli Bay Water Park offers visitors a tropical paradise to relax and unwind with water slides, a lazy river, private cabanas, climbing wall, high dive, and more. Ask any local where the best place to dine is and you will get a variety of answers. Favorites include: Jersey’s Sports Grill, Washington Street Food and Drink Co, Nico’z, Essential Kneads Café, The Boji Stone Café, Wabash BBQ, and PC’s Elkhorn Steakhouse. If you need to recharge your carbs, check out Francine’s Pastry Parlor and Chilli Café & Yogurt. Chillicothe was recently named 2016’s Creative Community of Missouri for its excellent arts reputation. Come back for one of the many cultural arts performances and signature festivals, including The Sliced Bread Jam Bluegrass Festival in June (this year, June 18. You could ride back!) Sliced Bread Saturday in August, and Chautauqua in the Park in September. No matter how you slice it, Chillicothe has what you knead.
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Stay
Comfort Inn & Suites Just off Highway 36, our newest hotel offers great accommodations, delicious free breakfast, guest laundry as well as microwaves and refrigerators in each room. 250 Business 36 · 660-646-9900
Eat
Hick’s Hometown Drive-in • Enjoy homestyle food and ice cream in a classic Drive-In atmosphere. 1311 Washington Street · 660-646-1008 Nico’z Catering & Eatery • Reservations are recommended, but not required, at this haven of “healthier dining.” You won’t find fried food or ranch dressing, but you will find soups, salads, sandwiches, specialty pizzas, and seasonal specials. Indoor and patio dining available. 612 Second Street · 660-707-0868 nicozcatering.com
Drink
Jerseys Sports Grill • The perfect place for sports, food, and fun. Located adjacent to the Fast Lane Bowling Alley. 2870 Grand Drive 660-646-8535 Washington Street Food and Drink Co. Choose from “below the border” specialties to fresh seafood. 1100 North Washington Street · 660-646-4058
For more information visit
bigbamride.com ALSO IN CHILLICOTHE Stretch those leg muscles on a Downtown Mural Walking Tour to see twenty original, hand-painted murals, including one representing railroad history because the Burlington, Wabash, and Milwaukee all converged here. For more murals, check out the Grand River Museum on Forest Drive. The museum proudly displays many exhibits that span hundreds of years and celebrates Chillicothe’s cultural history and heritage. [77] April 2016
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THE HEADLINER William Elliot Whitmore
Day 3: To Brookfi ld June 14
When you reach the city limits of Brookfield, elax! You’re halfway to Hannibal. It’s fitting that Brookfield lies at the balance point on the BigBAM trail. The town is situated between Marceline, the boyhood home of Walt Disney, and Laclede, the birthplace of General John J Pershing. Between the dreamer and the defender, you’ll find the heart of small town America. On your way to the starting point of Big BAM, visit the Twin Parks Summer Festival June 10 and 11. On the 10th, you can enjoy a wine and brew stroll, and on the 11th, an open Bicycle Parade for any kids on bikes and a decorating contest. A Concert on Main Street on the 11th features Nashville sensations Kelleigh Bannen, Logan Mize, and Dylan Scott. A car show by the Backroad Cruizers will display both days. Brookfield and Linn County offer some of the best fishing and hunting spots in Missouri. Bring along that lightweight collapsible pole. If you’ll be camping or bringing a support vehicle, Shady Rest Park has RV hookups, as does Pershing State Park in Laclede, just five miles down the road. You’ll also find RV hookups in Brookfield South City Park. The charming Locust Creek Covered Bridge State Historic Site within Pershing State Park is one of only four of these relics remaining in the state. The rolling green hills entice you to stay, relax, enjoy. We think you’ll love Linn County so much that you’ll want to come back for our Great Pershing Balloon Derby on Labor Day weekend. Area residents, visitors, and balloon enthusiasts have enjoyed this event for 40 years. In fact, it has the distinction of being the longest running ballooning event that is sanctioned by the Balloon Federation of America. Come see magnificently colored balloons fill the skies in and around Brookfield and Laclede. The sight is breathtaking.
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Stay
Brookfield Inn, 715 West Helm Street 660.268.6515 Best Western, 28622 Highway 11 660.258.4900 Martin House Motel, 731 South Main Street 660.258.7257 The Lamplighter, 101 West Ira Street, Marceline, 660.376.3517 Circle O Lodge and Tipi, 29783 Morton Road 972.523.9908
Eat
The Brickhouse Bar and Grill • Food and beverage in a family-friendly atmosphere. Try the daily specials. 620 West Lockling Street 660-258-7300 Tequila Jalisco Mexican Restaurant Food and Beverage. 517 South Main Street 660.258.2226
Drink
Helm Street Inn • You can’t leave Brookfield without visiting this iconic bar and grill. 107 West Helm Street · 660.258.9832 Pig Skin Bar • Kick back and cool off with a cold beverage downtown. 119 East Brooks Street · 666.258.2600
For more information visit
bigbamride.com ALSO IN NEARBY MARCELINE ON DAY 4’S RIDE Hop off our bikes in magical Marceline, famous as the boyhood hometown of Walt Disney. Stroll the original Main Street USA. Visit the quaint shops and cafes that define he town. This small town jewel was a recurring source of inspiration throughout his life and is now the home of a museum that bears his name. [79] April 2016
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THE HEADLINER David Wax Museum
Day 4: To Macon June 15
Whether you love hunting and fishing, antiques, live theatre performances, exotic animals, wine, crafting, beautiful park trails, unique shopping, and camping or are just interested in some good eats, you’ll be happy you rode into Macon, The City of Maples. Check out Macon’s historic downtown where you can catch a professional show at Maples Repertory Theatre. Ring of Fire opens the night you are here. Professional actors, designers, and technicians make Macon their summer home to bring exceptional performances to the legendary theatre that opened in 1889 as the Jobson Opera House, While downtown, visit destination shops such as Ben Franklin, grab some delicious ice cream at Miller Rexall, or stop at West Winery for a taste of some of the best Missouri wine made right in their downtown building. Macon is truly a downtown working to rejuvenate, renovate, and preserve its history. If you’re the outdoor type, head over to Long Branch Lake at Long Branch State Park where you’ll find fishing, boating, walking trails, camp sites, and a beautiful beach complete with a volleyball net. There is a changing facility located near the lake at the campground. Macon also has a smaller city lake, appropriately called Macon Lake, which offers great fishing. Hunters will want to come back to Macon County, too. The area is a hunting paradise with record-setting deer yields for bow and fi earm experts. Annual wildlife banquets are always in season from National Wild Turkey Federation, Whitetails Unlimited, Young Guns Chapter of Quail Forever, and Delta Waterfowl events. The Macon Historical Society is home to some amazing treasures in its three-story museum, which is located on Highway 63 on the city’s south side. A driving tour of the area’s Civil War sites is also offered through the Historical Society. You won’t be able to experience all that Macon has to offer just by “Brakin’ in Macon.” You’ll want to come back.
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Stay
Comfort Inn Macon All rooms and suites feature free WiFi, minifridges, microvaves, and a continental breakfast. Other amenities include a heated indoor pool, laundromat, and business center. 1821 North Missouri Street · 660-395-8000
Eat
Raspberry’s Bar-BQ • Specialties include The Razz—Smoked Pulled Pork on Texas Toast; The Big Moo—two-thirds pound hamburger; and Snicker Pie. 2013 North Missouri Street · 660.385.1436
Drink
Ole Beaumont • A local landmark, this downtown establishment offers food and spirits with daily specials. 203 North Rollins Street · 660-395-0278 · olebeaumont.com
For more information visit
bigbamride.com
ALSO IN MACON Every July, the Macon County Fairgrounds Park hosts the Old Time Flywheel & Collectibles Annual Reunion, where you can watch antique machinery thresh, bale, and more. • See surviving Romanesque Revival buildings of the Blees Academy, on the National Register of Historic Places. [81] April 2016
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RV PARK
Your Full Sales & Service RV Park 955 N MACON ST. BEVIER, MO 63532 Ph. 660-773-5313 * WWW.SHOEMAKERSRV.COM “Where family fun is what we are all about” Rest Your Rear & And Have a Beer In BEVIER! Places to Eat and Drink • UGO’s Pizzaland • Luv’s Truck Stop Subway • Coal Miner’s Daughter • Matt’s Market & Deli • Shoemaker’s RV Park Lakeside Patio BAM Riders Lunch Stop in Bevier Play Picture Poker for a Chance to Win $100.00
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THE HEADLINER The Black Lillies
Day 5: To Shelbina June 16
Be prepared for a unique experience. Shelbina—said to have been formed by combining the name of the county (Shelby) with the name of an early town minister’s daughter (Vina)—is the only community in the world with that name. The uniqueness of the community extends beyond its name. The rich prairie soil quickly led to an agriculture-based economy. Broadacres Farm, just south of Shelbina, became nationally famous for its beautiful American Saddle Horses. The first commercial corn planter, patented by J. Vandiver, was invented and manufactured in Shelbina. Other businesses over the years have included an ax handle factory, a brick and tile plant, a cigar factory, a hatchery, a poultry processing plant, and a broom factory. A Shelbina potter is also responsible for creating the first six-gallon porcelain toilet. Shelbina is also known as the boyhood home of Walmart founder Sam Walton; the home still stands on West Spruce Street. Another former Shelbina resident is Randy “Duke” Cunningham, who served as a Navy fighter pilot during the Vietnam War and was the inspiration for the motion picture Top Gun, starring Tom Cruise. This might explain why, as you approach Shelbina, you’ll “feel the need—the need for speed!” Cyclists have been a part of Shelbina’s history since the late 1800s, when the Shelbina Cyclists Club was created. Shelbina Lake was built in 1936 as a WPA project, to serve as the city’s water reservoir and continues to be maintained by the city for camping, picnicking, fishing, boating, or just relaxing. You can’t swim in the lake but the Shelbina Aquatic Center at 614 East College Street is open to the public. Daily admission is $4 for adults, $3 for children, and $10 for a family pass. The Shelbina Lakeside Golf Course is a nine-hole golf course located on Highway 15 at the Shelbina City Lake. The lake will also be home to a BBQ Dinner for Big BAM by the City of Shelbina and 49ers Club on Thursday, June 16.
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Stay
Americas Best Value Inn Motel offering 20 rooms with AARP discounts and continental breakfast. 711 North Center Street · 573.260.4340
`
Eat
Martha’s Family Restaurant • The epitome of the small town restaurant, Martha’s Family Restaurant provides traditional fare in a friendly environment. 119 South Center Street 573-588-7890 Shelbina Family Restaurant • Located smack dab in the middle of town, SFR will serve up one of the best tenderloin sandwiches you can find. 302 North Center Street · 573.588.7778 Dobyns’ Market • Known as “Shelbina’s Original Convenience Store,” Dobyns’ Market features a full deli with burgers, subs, pizza, and daily dinner and lunch specials. 108 West Maple Street · 573.588.4413.
Drink
Loose Brick Bar • Located in the heart of downtown Shelbina, the Loose Brick is the official sponsor of the Big BAM Block Party on West Chestnut Street. 111 West Chestnut Street · 573.588.0182
For more information visit
bigbamride.com ALSO IN SHELBINA On your way to the lake, treat yourself to the special Big BAM Block Party downtown on West Chestnut Street. Enjoy food, music, and much more fun from 1 to 6 pm. Shelbina will also be booming with business specials and fundraisers throughout the town (at the Christian Church, Senior Center, Father Buhman Center, and American Legion, just to name a few). If you would like a little history, visit the historic Shelbina Mansion (also known as the Benjamin House) at 322 Shelby Street, or stop by the Shelby County Historical Society Museum at 107 South Center Street in downtown Shelbina. [85] April 2016
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THE HEADLINER Cory B. Clay and the Twains
Day 6: To Hannibal June 17
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Palmyra
Emden
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“Hannibal has had a hard time of it ever since I can recollect, and I was ‘raised’ there,” said the city’s most famous resident in a letter dated April 16, 1867. “First, it had me for a citizen, but I was too young then to really hurt the place.” As you roll into Mark Twain’s boyhood home at the end of your Big BAM adventure, take in some of the town’s history before heading to the biggest party you’ve attended all week. Nestled on the west bank of the Mississippi River, Hannibal, Missouri, is known around the world for being the boyhood home of arguably America’s greatest author—Samuel Langhorne Clemens, aka Mark Twain— who based at least two of his many books on the childhood he spent in the Missouri river town. Visitors to Hannibal can walk in Twain’s footsteps and see the actual places that inspired The Adventures of Tom Sawyer and Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. You can explore the roots of Twain’s genius at the Mark Twain Boyhood Home & Museum. In addition to Twain’s boyhood home, the museum also includes the home of Laura Hawkins, the little girl who inspired the character of Becky Thatcher, Twain’s father’s Justice of the Peace Office, and buildings featuring hands-on exhibits detailing Twain’s life and his impact on the world. Visitors can have plenty of adventure at Missouri’s oldest show cave, Mark Twain Cave; the cave that young Mark Twain himself played in. The one-hour guided tour offers a fascinating mix of history and cave knowledge. For a natural cave experience, Missouri’s newest show cave, Cameron Cave, is open for tours. This natural cave requires tour goers to carry a lantern or flashlight as your guide takes you through the labyrinth of passageways. For those wanting to experience the Mighty Mississippi, Hannibal offers sightseeing cruises with live narration and dinner cruises on the Mark Twain Riverboat. Visitors can also enjoy strolling down Hannibal’s Historic Main Street, which is full of specialty shops, art galleries, and restaurants. With so many locally owned restaurants to choose from, you are sure to find one to enjoy. Hannibal also features a microbrewery and a winery with varieties to suit every palate. Don’t even think about leaving Friday! Hannibal has a great lineup of activities on Saturday, June 18th. Enjoy Fiesta Del Sol, a craft beer and music festival, located in Central Park. If you didn’t get enough miles, bicycle enthusiasts are planning a fun bike ride to Louisiana, MO. But if you had too many, you might be ready for the motorcycle show lining the streets in historic downtown.
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Stay
The Belvedere Inn Hannibal’s newest Bed and Breakfast is housed in one of the city’s most famous mansions. Mark Twain is said to have played billiards there. 521 Bird Street · 217.799.6086 BelvedereInnHannibal.com Rockcliffe Mansion This mansion sits on a limestone bluff with spectacular views of Hannibal and the Mississippi River. 1000 Bird Street · 573.221.4140 rockcliffemansion.com
Eat
LaBinnah Bistro • An homage to the “Gentlemen’s Club,” established by many of the city’s leading citizens. It’s Hannibal spelled backwards. 207 North Fifth Street · 573.221.8207 labinnahbistro.com Mark Twain Dinette • Remodeled several times since it opened in 1942, the Mark Twain Dinette still remains at its original location near the Mark Twain Boyhood Home. 400 North Third Street · 573.221.5511 · marktwaindinette.com
Drink
Mark Twain Brewery • Located across the street from the boyhood home of Mark Twain, this brewery produces 12 beers and has 17 on tap, including Huck Finn’s Habanero Wheat and Clemens Kölsch. 422 North Main Street 573.406.1300 · marktwainbrewery.com
For more information visit
bigbamride.com ALSO IN HANNIBAL Finish your ride off ith a skydive at Barron Aviation. • If you want to “set a spell,” try Richard Garey’s Mark Twain Himself Live Show. • Or take the Hannibal Trolley sightseeing tour. • Visit the cabin where Samuel Clemens was born at the Mark Twain Birthplace State Historic Site. [87] April 2016
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THE END OF THE RIDE IS THE BEGINNING OF THE
FUN
You aren’t going to want to miss these great activities happening Saturday June 18th! • Free Fun Ride along the Mississippi • Fiesta Del Sol on Saturday, featuring live music, craft beer and home brews • Lone Wolf No Club Motorcycle Show • Tons of shopping in historic downtown • Mark Twain history at the Boyhood Home and Cave • Mississippi River adventure on the Mark Twain Riverboat • Haunted Ghost Tours • Great local wine and beer tasting
Explore VisitHannibal.com or request a free visitors guide by calling 573.221.2477.
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Last Dinner on The itanic ~ Apr 11 • Great Girlfriend Getaway ~ Apr 22 - 24 • Splash of Color Quilt Show ~ Apr 1- 2 21st Annual Loafers Car Club Show ~ May 7 • Down by The iver Music ~ May 13 & June 10 • Second Saturday Gallery Walk ~ May 14 & June 11 • Twain on Main Festival ~ May 21-22 • Music Under The tars ~ June 2, 9 & 16 Bluff ity Th ater “You Caught Me Dancing” ~ June 3 - 18 • Big BAM ~ June 17 • Fiesta Del Sol ~ June 18 Historic_Historic_Hannibal_ML_0416.indd 1
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Color in Motion ~ June 18 • Lone Wolf No-Club Bike Show ~ June 18 • Music Under the Stars ~ June 23 & 30 Bluff ity Th ater “Alice in Wonderland (The usical) ~ June 24 - July 30 • National Tom Sawyer Days ~ July 1 - 4 Music Under the Stars ~ July 7,14,21 & 28 • Down By the River Music ~ July 8 Second Saturday Gallery Walk ~ July 9 & Aug 13th • Bluff ity Th ater presents “Best of Enemies” ~ July 13 - 29 Historic_Historic_Hannibal_ML_0416.indd 2
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Riverboat Dockings ~ American Queen and Queen of the Mississippi ~ July 17, 26, 28 & 31 August 1 & 2 Annual Bear Creek Rendezvous ~ Aug 1 - 2 • Music Under the Stars ~ Aug 4,11,18 & 25 Big River Steampunk Festival ~ Sept 3 - 5 • Second Saturday Gallery Walk ~ Sept 10 & Oct 8 40th Annual Historic Folklife Festival ~ Oct 15 - 16 • Old Fashioned Victorian Christmas ~ Nov 26 - Dec 24 091 ML0416.indd 3
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Telling Whoppers WELCOME TO THE
M I S S O U R I S TAT E L I A R S C O N T E S T By Anthony Clark
Last year, MO-TELL (Missouri Storytellers) held the first annual Missouri State Liars Contest in Kansas City. Ten finalists were, from left, Ken Wolfe, Michael Bennett, Linda Kuntz, Jeff Miller, Gary Kuntz, Joyce Slater, Larry Brown, Carole Shelton, John Zerr, and Carol Watkins.
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Since the development of spoken language, people have had a variety of motivations for telling lies. Now, there is at least one more: to win prize money and official bragging rights.
COURTESY OF MO˜TELL
Last year marked the beginning of a new tradition in the Show-Me State: the Missouri State Liars Contest, where ten finalists face off for a top prize of $250. “We thought it was finally time for Missouri to have its own liars contest,” says Sarah Howard, a board member of MO-TELL, the nonprofit organization that sponsors the contest. “We view the contest as a way to get more people involved in the art of storytelling.” MO-TELL is short for Missouri Storytelling, and that’s all the group is focused on. MO-TELL is not alone, though. Groups across the country, such as the national organization The Moth, host storytelling events and contests. Their mission is simple: to keep the oral tradition alive. “It’s the oldest form of storytelling and, in many ways, the most personal,” says Sue Hinkel, another MO-TELL board member. “There’s nothing quite as impactful as a good story told well.”
For the 2015 Missouri State Liars Contest, MO-TELL issued a call through various media for entrants: The contest was open to any resident of the state, with one exception. “We do not allow professional politicians into the liars contest,” Sue says. “We thought they would have an unfair advantage against our less experienced contestants.” Sue, who teaches storytelling classes at St. Charles Community College, says that, though the rule is in place for comedic purposes, it would be enforced if any elected officials attempted to enter the contest. Aside from that, the rules are pretty relaxed. “The contestants are allowed to tell any kind of story, as long as it is at least partially untrue,” says Joyce Slater, a MO-TELL board member and organizer of the annual Kansas City Storytelling Celebration. The stories told range in topics, from less-than-perfect vacations to run-ins with neighbors and home repairs gone wrong. Joyce says contestants could use original material or material from the public domain. “That’s what most of us storytellers do anyway,” Joyce says. “We tell old traditional tales, adding our own twists, or we talk about events that actually happened to us. Of
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Jeff Miller
Linda Kuntz
course, when we do the latter, we sometimes stretch things a little—or a lot.” Last year, Carol Watkins of St. Peters put her own spin on an old Ozarks tale. As a retired schoolteacher, Carol joined a storytelling group to hear other members telling stories fifteen years ago and has been involved ever since. She’s a natural. “I come from a long line of liars,” Carol says. “My Uncle Homer was the best liar in our family. He was a sewing machine salesman. He told customers that his daughter paid her entire way through college by making dresses, skirts, blouses, and gowns for her sorority sisters on one of my uncle’s sewing machines. The only problem was that he and his wife never had any children, but he did sell hundreds of sewing machines.” Michael Bennett, a financial analyst from St. Charles, honed his skills as a Boy Scout camp staffer who became known for telling ghost stories around the campfire. Since learning his craft, Michael has used storytelling as a family activity with his wife and daughter. All three joined a storytelling group together, but that’s not the only reason he entered the contest. “I thought ‘Missouri Liars Contest Finalist’ would look fantastic on my LinkedIn profile,” Michael says. “After all, with twelve years experience working as a financial analyst for a mortgage bank, this would be like adding a CPA license to my resume.” Last year, Ken Wolfe of Glendale took home the grand prize. As seventh grade English and language arts teacher at Nipher Middle School in Kirkwood, he was a natural fit for the contest. “Liars contests always call to my mind images of snakeoil salesmen and hucksters, W.C. Fields and Will Rogers, brown derbies and bamboo canes,” Ken says. Gearing up for the event, Ken wrote a tale called “Mice Aren’t Funny” especially for the contest. Although he’s
proud of the story, he’ll readily admit that it’s a completely fabricated yarn. “I wish I could tell you there was some deep, philosophical, or real heart-touching event that lent itself to this story, but it’s really just an over-the-top tall tale that came from my fevered brain,” Ken says. Contestants range in age and experience. St. Louisan Jeff Miller is one of the more experienced storytellers. He teaches communication classes at St. Louis Community College’s Forest Park campus, and he had some prior experience with liars contests, including one in New Harmony, Indiana. “It was and is small-town Americana at its best,” Jeff says. “Most years were sellouts.” Jeff is overjoyed to see the birth of a liars contest for Missourians. Like many practitioners of the art, he sees storytelling as an important and sometimes forgotten part of American culture. “Storytelling carries the culture,” Jeff says. “Much of our society, through so-called social media, has become self-involved, inner-directed, and ignorant or unaware of much of what gives life its richness and meaning. Storytellers and their audiences interact. Together, they examine the human condition in all its facets and—despite the many foibles, failures, and faux pas—discover the good and vital inner core of our human selves.” As a public school teacher with much experience, champion liar Ken seconds Jeff’s sentiments. “What’s really pertinent is the strength that storytelling lends to the listener’s ability to visualize,” Ken says.
COURTESY OF MO˜TELL
Ken Wolfe
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“Visualization strength is like a muscle. We exercise it; it grows. Generationally, we’ve been asking less and less of our minds as our visual entertainment has grown more sophisticated and ubiquitous. Thanks to the CGI effects in today’s movies, some of the young people I teach have a tough time coming up with images of their own when they’re reading a story. If I didn’t see the story as I read, I wouldn’t choose to read, either.” Many individuals and a growing number of organizations share Ken’s enthusiasm for oral storytelling. In addition to the statewide organization MO-TELL, Missouri is home to three active storytelling clubs: the Gateway Storytellers in St. Louis, the River and Prairie Storyweavers in Kansas City, and Storytellers of the Ozarks in Springfield. All three are open to anyone and host workshops, performances, and other storytelling events. A number of public libraries in the state have also gotten involved in promoting oral storytelling. Mid-Continent Public Library, the host of the first Missouri State Liars Contest, recently established a story center. “Libraries have always been about sharing stories through material checkouts and story-times, but our new story center initiative allows us to not only help people experience stories but also help them create, develop, and finalize their own story—be it oral, written, or digital,” says Kimberly Howard, Mid-Continent Public Library’s community programming assistant manager. “We work with partners like MO-TELL to bring experts to showcase regional talent and encourage the next generation of storytellers.” The Mid-Continent Public Library was honored to host the first Missouri State Liars Contest because it fit in perfectly with the story center’s mission. However, this year, the contest is moving to the Daniel Boone Regional Library in Columbia, fitting in with the Mid-Missouri library’s own storytelling initiatives. No matter the change of location, the competition for the second annual contest will likely be fierce, and last year’s champion liar has some advice. “Tell the story aloud and often to anyone who will listen,” Ken says. “Aloud is important because one’s mind will always lie. If I just rehearse in my head, I may believe that I know my story, but it’s likely I actually won’t. If I can’t say it aloud or write it by hand, then I don’t know it. To anyone is crucial because the feedback one gets from listeners can transform a just okay story into legend. If one can get up the gumption to tell aloud and often, honing the tale each time, success will follow. And I wouldn’t lie to you about something as serious as that.”
Contest Rules
The Missouri State Liars Contest is open to Missouri residents and MO-TELL members of all ages. Prizes are as follows: • $250 for the first place winner • $100 for second place • $50 for third place Eligible entries include any story that’s not completely true. Entries may be original compositions or they may be based partially or wholly on folklore or other material from the public domain. Copyrighted stories are not allowed in the contest, unless the contest entrant is the copyright holder. Stories must be ten minutes or less. Stories must also be appropriate for an all-ages audience.
Judging Criteria
Stories will be judged based on three criteria: 1. Originality of material 2. Performance quality 3. Overall entertainment value
How To Enter
To enter, complete the following two steps by midnight May 20, 2016: 1. Fill out the contest registration form—available at mo-tell .org or by emailing moliarscontest@gmail.com—and send it in with a $20 entry fee to Anthony Clark – MO Liars Contest Director P.O. Box 153, St. Charles, MO 63302. 2. Record your story on video or audio and send the file or a link to moliarscontest@gmail.com. Ten finalists will be chosen to compete in a live event at Columbia Public Library in Columbia on Saturday July 16, 2016. The first, second, and third place winners will be chosen at the live event, which will be free and open to the public to attend.
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Over
the
LINE
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Spe cia l Promot ion
The Year-Round Market
Oklahoma City, Oklahoma
THE OKC FARMERS PUBLIC MARKET at 311 S. Klein Avenue is a tourist attraction just as much as anything else in the Big Friendly. Founded in 1928, the Farmers Public Market has always been a centralized location for Sooner State farmers. The 34,000-square-foot Farmers Public Market building facilitates the market’s year-round schedule, and open-air vendors surround the building when it’s warmer. The Farmers Public Market is to Oklahoma City what the Ferry Building Marketplace is to San Francisco or what Reading Terminal Market is to Philadelphia: a large indoor market that features permanent and rotat-
COURTESY OF ALAN LIGHT AND SARAH KORF
Over
the
ing vendors and doubles as one of the city’s best shopping districts and tourist attractions. Although the officia farmers’ market only takes place on Saturdays on the first floo , the area features many great shopping destinations. One go-to spot is the Anthem Brewing Company at 908 SW Fourth Street. Tours are available and the taproom is open, Monday through Saturday. Visit anthembrewing.com to learn more. To learn more about the historic OKC Farmers Public Market and surrounding district, visit okcfarmersmarket.com or call 405-232-6506.
LINE
College Town Excursion
Capitol City Crops
HOME OF THE University of Iowa and the state’s beloved Hawkeyes, Iowa City hosts its farmers’ market thrice weekly. May through October, the Wednesday and Saturday markets take place at Chauncey Swan Ramp at the 400 block of Washington Street, and the Tuesday markets are at Mercer Park at 1317 Dover Street. The market’s mission is to foster social gathering, provide fresh and healthy produce, and increase the quality of life for residents, but that doesn’t mean visitors can’t enjoy the market, too. From 7:30 am to noon, the Saturday market is a great morning expedition during a weekend trip to Iowa City. Here, you can get breakfast from a local food truck, peruse a variety of fresh produce, or try premade goods from the myriad vendors. Visit icgov.org /farmersmarket or call 319-356-5210 Iowa City, Iowa for more information.
THE HISTORIC HAYMARKET DISTRICT in Lincoln, Nebraska is worth visiting any time, all year. The area is filled with restaurants, shops, art galleries, and more. However, visiting during the farmers’ market will make the trip all the more worth it. Lincoln, Nebraska On Saturday mornings, May through October, from 8 am until noon, more than one hundred vendors take a few blocks of the Haymarket to sell goods of all sorts. Here, you can find everything from locally sourced jam and preserves to craft vendors hawking handmade jewelry. In addition to the market vendors, each Saturday features a different music act performing This farmers’ market is as much for visitors as it is for local Lincoln residents. An ideal day at the Haymarket Farmers’ Market is sunshine, good music, great shopping, and a tasty meal from one of the many prepared food vendors. For more information, visit lincolnhaymarket.org or call 402-435-7496.
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Over LINE GET YOUR LAWN CHAIRS, CUT-OFF SHORTS, and Friends together for the WORLD'S largest and only handfishing tournament! the
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followed by
BC and The Big RIG
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Great hospitality on the horizon
Located conveniently off of I-40, Shawnee has something for everyone. Explore our past through the Potawatomi Cultural Heritage Center, check out some of the unique shops in downtown, grab a bite to eat at one of our charming local restaurants or check out one of our fun festivals. Shawnee always has something on the horizon!
231 N. Bell • Shawnee, OK 74801 (405) 275-9780 • (888) 404-9633
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• Tortuguero National Park: take a guided cruise through the canals to view wildlife and a guided walk through the rainforest. • Arenal: tour a pineapple plantation; sightsee in La Fortuna; visit Natura Park, Tabacón Hot Springs, and the Arenal volcano. • Sarchi Village: see artists in their workshops making the famous oxcarts in the center of Costa Rican handcrafts. • Monteverde: visit the Sky Walk hanging bridges, the Santa Elena Cloud Forest, Trapiche family-owned farm and enjoy a homemade lunch and farewell dinner.
For more information visit missourilife.com/travel/travel-with-fellow-missourians or travelerslane.com • 314-223-1224 • travelerslane@hotmail.com [101] April 2016
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Over
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Musings ON MISSOURI
ROCKY, DIRTY HARRY, AND ME BY RON MARR
HARRY KATZ
I WENT to an actual movie theater a few months back. In most cases, this statement wouldn’t jiggle the needle on the importance meter. It’s about as earth-shattering as selfevident proclamations in the vein of “I ate lunch today” or “Bacon is a fruit.” However, since I hadn’t visited a theater in nearly a decade, the event struck me as a bigger-than-normal deal. My friend Lori—knowing I’m a huge fan of the Rocky franchise— informed me that I absolutely had to see Creed. She further emphasized that I should catch it on the silver screen. Watching it via Amazon in the comfort of my own home, she explained, would rob the flick of its magic Lori was right. The film was nothing short of wonderful and gutwrenching. Still, after returning home, I began to think about why I so rarely attend events and destinations that are generally considered routine. In the case of the movies, there are a few valid reasons. The closest theater to my present locale is a seventy-mile round trip. Also, I’ve a financial and philosophical aversion to over-priced snacks. I’ve never been fond of literally rubbing elbows with the multitudes and have zero patience for people whispering or yakking into their cell phones. Finally, there’s the inevitable array of coughs, sneezes, and other less-than-palatable human noises prevalent in a packed house during the cold and flu season. It doesn’t take a whole lot of snorting and sniffling before I feel like I’ve paid for orchestra-level seating in a petri dish. The chair is cushy and the temperature perfect, but just one row ahead of me is a growing family of hostile bacteria and a boisterous group of insouciant viruses. However, there was a darker aspect to my picture-show excursion. We live in odd and harrowing times where crazy folk more and more frequently inflict deadly insanity upon others. Each time I heard the theater
door open, or whenever someone arose from his or her seat, I wondered if a deranged shooter was about to cut loose on the crowd. Call me paranoid, but at that moment, I wished I was packing something other than a Payday bar and a can of Coke. Lots of people argue over the pros and cons of a populace armed for purposes of self-defense, but I’ve no desire to continue that argument here. Circumstances dictated that I carry a concealed weapon during various phases of my life, but doing so necessitated attaining a certain knowledge and proficienc . I’m not positive most people would bother to achieve those key elements, and thus I’ll leave it to others to stir this particular pot. My point is this. I enjoyed sitting in a theater and seeing a movie. But, the fact that violent mayhem has infiltrated the most innocent parts of our collective reality bugs me more than a little. There’s something sick and broken within our culture, something that has nothing to do with superficial politics, ideological di ferences, or opportunistic cries for gun control. There’s much good in the world—of that I have no doubt—but over the past couple of decades a whole lot of evil seems to have bubbled to the surface. Not so many years ago, when I lived deep in the Ozark woods, friends and strangers repeatedly asked if I was ever scared by my semi-isolation from the “protections” of civilization. My reply was always the same. “What’s there to be scared of? All I’ve got here are cottonmouths, copperheads, wild pigs, and the occasional rabid skunk.” I guess they didn’t understand what to me was obvious: all the really vicious animals lived in town. RON MARR Ron Marr can be reached directly at ronmarr.com.
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Announcing the Inaugural
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SHOW-ME
Flavor
FRESH From the FARM A guide to some of the best farmers’ markets around the sta
. BY AMY BURGER
HARRY KATZ
ALONG WITH sunnier skies and warmer temperatures, one of the best things about the return of spring is the reopening of farmers’ markets. In a region rich with farmland, Missourians have so many opportunities to get fresh, locally grown and produced food in every corner of the state, from small, roadside stands to large city farmers’ markets. In fact, the US Department of Agriculture’s National Farmers’ Market Directory lists 310 farmers’ markets in Missouri, putting the state among the top ten states in number of farmers’ markets, and since 2008, farmers’ market establishments in Missouri have grown by 74 percent. Agriculture is also the state’s largest industry, employing nearly 300,000 people. According to the 2012 Census of Agriculture data, Missouri is the second largest state in terms of number of farms and ranks twelfth in terms of most farmland. Better still, 97 percent of Missouri’s farms are family farms, according to the Missouri Department of Agriculture. “Farming has always been a part of Missouri’s rich history and economic makeup,” says Mike Downing, director of the Missouri Department of Economic Development. “Farmers’ markets provide an excellent way for customers to connect with local producers and learn about the food grown in their communities. By shopping at a farmers’ market, we are supporting our communities and exposed to healthier food choices.” AgriMissouri, a program within the Missouri Department of Agriculture, provides access to Missourigrown and Missouri-made food and farm products as well as agri-tourism destinations and experiences. Visit AgriMissouri.com for a comprehensive list of Missouri farmers’ markets. Here is a closer look at a few of the top markets and vendors from various regions of the state.
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COURTESY OF FARMERS' MARKET OF THE OZARKS
Flavor
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX XXXX
SHOW-ME
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St. Louis Tower Grove Farmers’ Market
COURTESY OF TOWER GROVE FARMERS’ MARKET
tgmarket.org • 4256 Magnolia Avenue Celebrating its eleventh season in 2016, Tower Grove Farmers’ Market in historic Tower Grove Park in south St. Louis has become a favorite of locals and tourists alike. The market is one of the region’s only independent farmers’ markets. In fact, the nonprofit organization relies on private donations for more than 30 percent of its operating budget, and its mission, in part, is to promote the sale of Missouri- and Illinoisgrown farm products; to improve the variety, freshness, taste, and nutritional value of produce available in the St. Louis area; and to make healthy, regionally produced foods accessible to lower-income residents. At the Farmers’ Market of the Ozarks in Springfield, vendors sell a variety of heirloom tomatoes.
All vendors and products come from within 150 miles of St. Louis. In addition to plenty of fresh produce, meats, cheese, and prepared foods, the market offers fresh flo ers, crafts, and even locally made dog food. New vendors joining the market this season include an alpaca meat and fiber vendor, a seasonal baby food maker, and La Vista CSA (Community-Supported Agriculture) Farm. Visitors to the market can also listen to live music weekly and participate in free yoga and Qigong classes each Saturday morning on the lawn next to the market. Other seasonal events planned for 2016 include a chef series of cooking demonstrations and a family day that will feature children’s activities. The Tower Grove Farmers’ Market is open Saturday mornings from 8 am until noon from Mid-April through November.
Kimker Hill Farm travels more than fifty miles from St. Clair to the Tower Grove Farmers’ Market to sell a variety of fresh goods, including pickles, salsa, baked goods, and more.
Must-Try Vendor: Baetje Farms Baetje Farms is an award-winning, Frenchinspired artisan goat cheese dairy and creamery based in Bloomsdale that has been featured in The New York Times. The farm produces cheeses year-round and sells its products at retail shops, farmers’ markets, and through distributors across the United States. Owners, cheese makers, and dairy farmers Steve and Veronica Baetje—both natives of St. Louis— got started while living in a rural Mennonite community farming and raising goats. Veronica began making goat cheese on a small scale in her kitchen and fell in love with the entire process. After leaving the Mennonite community, the couple bought their current property, complete
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with an old farmhouse, moved in, and bought a herd of goats to make cheese on a larger scale. They extended the existing barn and turned it into a cheese manufacturing plant. They love French-style cheeses in particular— inspired in part by the nearby Ste. Genevieve community, which has a rich French history and continuing French culture. With milk from their herd of about fifty goats, the Baetjes produce a wide variety of cheeses from fresh Coeur de la Crème chévre to aged varieties like Bloomsdale—their award-winning flagship cheese—and marinated feta, among others.
************************** Chillicothe Farmers’ Market
Facebook: Chilcothe Farmers Market Courthouse Square bakes fresh pies including strawberry rhubarb, pecan, apple, peach, gooseberry, and blackberry. Growing up in the country, this mother of three young children has been gardening for Tonja quit her job to raise her kids and manage
Hannibal Central Park Farmers’ Market
their large garden on nearly an acre of land. It’s a
hcpfm.com • Fifth and Broadway
family affai , and her two oldest kids—ages three
This producer-only market offers a nice variety of 100 percent local vendors. Hannibal has enjoyed a farmers’ market for many years, but its current incarnation, Hannibal Central Park Farmers’ Market, began in 2015. Located in Central Park with its lush grass and shady trees, the market’s open, airy feel has attracted both new and old vendors, as well as loyal customers. Around a dozen local vendors gather each week through the season, offering everything from the usual produce to handmade crafts, eggs, and fresh dairy. Throughout the season, the market hosts a weekly giveaway via its Facebook page, selecting a random customer name on Friday mornings. The weekly winner gets a special market tour on that Saturday morning in which they meet the vendors and are given a free item from each one to take home and enjoy. The market runs from 8 am to noon each Saturday and 4 to 7 pm each Tuesday.
much of her life. After her second child was born,
and fi e—are already helping out. “They help work the ground a little bit and really enjoy washing everything up,” Tonja says. She also takes the kids to the market with her on Saturdays in season, where they enjoy helping customers.
Must-Try Vendor: Tonja Tiemeyer Since 2013, Tonja Tiemeyer has grown and sold a wide variety of spring vegetables at the Chillicothe Farmers’ Market including green onions, lettuce, radishes, green beans, asparagus, rhubarb, and red and white potatoes. Tonja also sells farm-raised pork and beef by the package, whole chickens, and farm fresh eggs. With fruit from trees growing on their land, she
The farms that sell produce at the Chillicothe Farmers’ Market range in size. Many, however, are small vendors who sell from a single table or small stand.
Fall is gourd season at the Hannibal Central Park Farmers’ Market. Starting in the late summer, you’ll find a variety of squashes and pumpkins at the producer-only market.
COURTESY OF HANNIBAL AND CHILLICOTHE FARMERS’ MARKETS
The Chillicothe Farmers’ Market on the Chillicothe Courthouse Square will be celebrating its thirtieth anniversary this year and will be kicking off the season on May 7 with its traditional ringing of the opening bell. The long-running market is open to growers and craftspeople from the surrounding Livingston and Green Hills Counties. Around a dozen producers and vendors sell at the market each Saturday, with as many as eighteen during the peak produce months. Loyal customers can regularly buy fresh, local seasonal produce, baked goods, frozen meats, honey, jams, and plants as well as handcrafted items such as birdhouses. The market also hosts a Canner Testing in early June each year and a market basket giveaway on the last Saturday of every month. The market is open on Saturdays from 8 am to noon, May through October.
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Based in Odessa, the farmers at Red Ridge Farms have a variety of goods, including bouquets of cut fl wers, for sale at the Brookside Farmers’ Market in Kansas City.
Kansas City Brookside Farmers’ Market brooksidefarmersmarket.com Sxity-Third Street & Wornall Open since 2003, Brookside Farmers’ Market is one of the oldest organic markets in the Kansas City area. At this producer-only market, all producers use organic, sustainable, and cruelty-free practices and travel less than one hundred miles to market to sell to consumers directly. Much of the produce even comes from Kansas City’s urban farms. Even non-food vendors and artisans adhere to these standards and use at least 51 percent organic or reclaimed materials to produce their goods. The market’s offerings include farm-fresh vegetables, herbs, fresh flowers, meat, freerange eggs, handmade home and body products, freshly prepared breads and baked goods, and ice cream. A typical day at the market also includes live music, children’s activities, educational exhibits, and cooking demonstrations. Good news for pet lovers: the market is dog friendly, so feel free to bring your fourlegged friends. The Brookside Farmers’ Market is open Saturdays from 8 am to 1 pm, April 23 to October 22.
Must-Try Vendor: Red Ridge Farms Family farmers Ami and Jim Zumalt and their children Anna and Andrew have been growing since 2009 and started coming to the Brookside Farm-
COURTESY OF BROOKSIDE FARMERS’ MARKET
Must-Try Vendor: Hope Farms
“I was raised on a farm, so it’s in my blood,”
ers’ Market the same year. At their certified organic
Center-based Hope Farms is a family business run
Steve says. “My grandparents were farmers and
farm in Odessa, they plant and harvest more than
by Steve Huse. The farm offers all types of chemical-
I inherited a piece of their land. I’m farming the
four hundred varieties of fruits and vegetables. In
free produce including tomatoes, lettuce, cabbage,
same ground my parents farmed. My grandson
addition to weekly market sales, they also offer CSA
onions, potatoes, apples, peaches, strawberries, and
will eventually inherit it.”
(Community Supported Agriculture) subscriptions
more. In addition to using all-natural growing meth-
Hope Farms is entering its fifth season selling at
ods, the farm uses other green practices—such as
the Hannibal Central Park Farmer’s Market. Steve
composting and recycling—as much as possible. To
looks forward to market weekends as a social time.
“The surprise of having children with food
that end, the chickens Steve raises provide him with fertilizer, and he composts all produce waste. Hope Farms operates in part on twenty-two acres that have been in the Huse family since 1934.
and offer a great percentage off market prices with their debit style CSA program at Brookside.
“Farming is hard work, especially the way we
allergies prompted us to explore organic food
do it,” he says. “We work our butts off all week,
production eight years ago,” Ami says. “We both
so it’s nice to get to show people what you work
grew up on farms with extensive gardens, so re-
so hard for.”
turning to farming was a no-brainer.”
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Columbia Farmers Market.
Must-Try Vendor: Stanton Brothers Eggs:
columbiafarmersmarket.org • 1701 West Ash
Centralia-based brothers D ustin and Austin
Recognized by Clean Eating magazine as one of the top fifty farmers’ markets in the country, this producer-only market started in 1980 with a small group of farmers selling out of the back of their trucks. They worked with the local chamber of commerce, Boone County Extension, and others to officially organize a market, which has grown to now include more than seventy vendors and around four thousand weekly customers during its peak season. All vendors reside within a twenty-five-mile radius of the market, making it extremely local. The market regularly inspects all of its vendor farms to ensure that they are providing safe, local, and reliable products. The vendors offer everything from fresh produce, meat, and eggs to cheeses, honey, cut flowers, plants, and various artisan items. Shoppers can also enjoy live music. The market is open at 1701 West Ash Street on Saturdays from 8 am until noon, April through October, and 9 am until noon November through March inside the Parkade Center.
Stanton started selling their eggs at the Colum-
Each Saturday at the Farmers’ Market of the Ozarks, there are a variety of demonstrations and events. On April 3, the market will be having its big annual Spring Gardening Kickoff
bia Farmers’ Market in 2007 as an FFA project sell to over forty outlets in central Missouri, though they still come to the Columbia Farmers’ Market every weekend. “We just love it,” D ustin says. “It’s so great meeting all of the customers and talking to them.” Many customers have literally watched Dustin and Austin grow up over summers at the market. On a typical Saturday morning, they sell between four and fi e hundred dozen eggs. They also sell potatoes, which Austin started Based in Boone County, Stanton Brothers Eggs has become Mid-Missouri’s largest local egg vendors. The brothers got their start at the Columbia Farmers’ Market.
growing, and homemade honey ice cream in their booth. Dustin graduated from Mizzou last year with a degree in agriculture business, and Austin started there last fall studying agriculture systems man-
while still in high school at the encouragement
agement. The brothers come from a traditional
of a neighbor. Fast-forward to 2016, and the
farm family that raised crops and cattle.
Stanton brothers now operate the largest free-
“Eggs have been a way for us to grow an agri-
range egg operation in the country. With more
business while still being involved with the family
than twenty thousand hens laying eggs, they
farm,” Dustin says.
COURTESY OF FARMERS’ MARKET OF THE OZARKS; HARRY KATZ
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Springfie d Farmers’ Market of the Ozarks
COURTESY OF FARMERS’ MARKET OF THE OZARKS AND PULASKI COUNTY FARMERS’ MARKET
loveyourfarmer.com • 2144 E. Republic Road This year-round market features vendors from a 150-mile radius of Springfield and has been operating since 2012. Ranked by The Daily Meal as one of the top farmers’ markets across the country, Farmers’ Market of the Ozarks boasts more than 110 vendors in its membership, and even about forty in the dead of winter. Market Executive Director Lane McConnell previously worked for the Missouri Department of Agriculture, helping others set up markets across the state. When she moved back to her home area of Springfield to help her parents, she decided to open a market there, too. Through a thorough inspection program, the market does farm inspections with all vendors to ensure the trust and integrity of the products sold. The majority of vendors are area farmers, with a few small retailers as well. The nonprofit market holds two farm-to-table fundraiser dinners in the summer and fall.
Proceeds from that dinner go back to its education fund to help send farmers to classes and are also used for offering culinary classes and consumer education in the market.
Children usually have no shortage of things to do at the Farmers’ Market of the Ozarks in Springfield, whether that means enjoying an interactive display or trying a tasty treat.
The market is open on Saturdays all year from 8 am to 1 pm.
Must-Try Vendor: Ozarks Natural Foods Ozarks Natural Foods offers fresh, local meat and is a joint effort between the Scarrow and Walker family farms. These aren’t your average farmers. Although he grew up on a farm, Alan Scarrow is a brain surgeon and president of Mercy Health System in Springfield. His wife, Meera, is an obstetrician. Beth Walker is an associate professor of agriculture at Missouri State University and has a PhD in physiology. Her husband, Weston, manages their farm full-time, where they raise cattle, lambs, and hogs. The Scarrows also raise cattle on their farm, and the business operations are centered there. These heirloom bell peppers are one of the many unique vegetables that you can find at the Pulaski County Farmers’ Market at Fort Leonard Wood.
Both couples share a similar philosophy on grass-fed, no-grain beef as well as the humane management of animals.
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Fresh-cut fl wers are found at the Pulaski County Farmers’ Market at Fort Leonard Wood among the score of vendors who sell everything from produce to locally made rugs.
“Fort Leonard Wood has a lot of great sustainability goals and initiatives, and increasing access to local foods for our service members was one of those goals,” Samantha says. The producer-only market is open to the public and supports more than 750 acres of farmland within a forty-five-mile radius of Fort Leonard Wood. It currently has fifteen vendors that sell everything from grass-fed beef, lamb, rabbit, pasture-raised pork, artisan goat cheeses, and grass-fed bison to produce of all kinds, honey, breads, pies, cakes, and other goods.
Must-Try Vendor: Lightning M Ranch Operated by farmer John Myers—a major in the Army National Guard with a degree in agricultural economics from Truman State University— Lightning M Ranch in Richland raises and sells hormone-free grass-fed beef. It only sells what is raised on the farm. “We grow our own hay, so we know what the cattle are eating,” John says. “We also don’t use pesticides to get rid of flies. Instead, we use tiny wasps that are fly predators. Many people are unaware that pesticides are often used to keep flie off cows; it’s poured on their skin and sinks into their flesh, affecting the meat.
e don’t do that.”
John’s dad owned cattle, so he had exposure at a young age, and then pursued an agriculture degree. When the time was right, he purchased the farm. It didn’t have much existing infrastructure for cattle, so John was able to design it the way he wanted. He set it up to be easy for
relation between the health of the animal and health of people who eat the animal.” The couples also love selling their meat at the Farmers’ Market of the Ozarks, where the Scarrows’ eight-year-old son, Harrison, will often run the stand. “Taking our children to the market is a great thing,” Meera says. “We love that they set up the market to not only focus on farmers but consumers and consumer education.”
Farmers’ Market at Fort Leonard Wood pcswfarmersmarket.com 604 Constitution Avenue Unique from the other farmers’ markets on this list, The Farmers’ Market at Fort Leonard Wood is located on an active military base. A fourth of its vendors are active duty or retired military personnel, and the market’s manager, Samantha Kramer, is working hard to grow that number by engaging local veterans with farmers and veteran agriculture groups.
his wife, Sara, to take care of and run when he’s away on military duty. The Myers family enjoys selling at the farmers’ market and offering customers fresh steaks, ground beef, and ribs, as well as nuts and other wild edibles like native berries and sassafras root. They also grow and sell fruit including apples and grapes. They enjoy meeting and sharing what they do with other military families. “I like eating clean and passing that on,” John says. “I try to sell at grocery store prices so regular people can afford to eat ell.”
COURTESY OF PULASKI COUNTY FARMERS’ MARKET
“When I eat meat, I like my animals to be wellraised,” Meera says. “I think there’s a strong cor-
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Cape Riverfront Market
COURTESY OF CAPE RIVERFRONT MARKET
caperiverfrontmarket.com 35 S. Spanish Street Now in its fifth year, the Cape Riverfront Market takes over a large public parking lot in downtown Cape Girardeau each Saturday where vendors from a hundred-mile radius set up tents to sell goods that range from produce to meat, flowers, prepared foods, and even arts and crafts. The market has grown steadily with more than twenty-five vendors each week and around one thousand visitors on its busiest days. The Cape Riverfront Market also offers a free kids’ Marketeers Club from May through August. In this club, kids ages five to twelve learn about nutrition, science, and growing food through fun, hands-on activities. Demonstrations of various types also take place every week between 9 and 11 am. Typically, the demonstrations come from vendors and area craftspeople who want to share skills. Sometimes, local chefs do food demonstrations.
The market is a true gathering place for the community with live music each week and a shady sitting area with tables and chairs for people to relax, eat, and listen. Most vendors are cash only, so come prepared.
The Cape Riverfront Market features more than seventy-fi e vendors each Saturday. This year, the market kicks off on the first Saturday in May and runs through Octobe .
and began keeping bees as a hobby. He got sidetracked attending seminary school in California,
Must-Try Vendor: Gillard Family Honey
where he met wife Nancy. After completing their
Jackson-based beekeepers Grant and Nancy Gillard
ministerial degrees, the couple returned to the
manage around two hundred hives and produce lo-
Midwest, and Grant rekindled his interest in bee
cal raw honey and varietal honeys that reflect the
keeping, eventually getting Nancy into it as well.
fl wers in the area or the various crops their bees
The leap from hobby to honey business came
are pollinating. Although his full-time job is pastor
slowly and organically. Today, the couple keeps
of Jackson’s First Presbyterian Church, where he’s
bees in three different counties in Southeast Mis-
served for more than twenty years, Grant got the
souri and sells at multiple markets, including Cape
beekeeping bug early as a student at Iowa State
Riverfront Market, where they’ve been vending
University. Looking for an easy A class, he stumbled
since its opening. He loves educating folks at the
upon a beekeeping course and signed up. There, he
market who think honey is just honey. The Gillards
learned about the remarkable world of bees.
offer samples of their different arieties.
“It’s a real sociological order and a biological
“Some of our bees are pollinating nectar on straw-
system,” Grant says. “It’s truly amazing how they
berries, and the nectar is so unique that the honey
work—all doing their jobs.”
actually has a hint of a berry taste to it,” Grant says.
After graduating with an agriculture degree, he returned to his family’s farm in Minnesota
“Others are pollinating watermelons, and that honey also has a light fl vor; I call it wildfl wer honey.”
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FARMERS’ MARKET QUICHE Ingredients
Courtesy of Farmers Market of the Ozarks
9-inch pre-baked pie crust 1 to 2 cups meat of choice, ground, chopped or diced ˜⁄˛ cup diced onion
Pie Crust Ingredients 1 ¼˝cups all-purpose flour ¼ teaspoon salt
1 to 2 cups fresh vegetables of choice 1 cup of grated cheddar cheese 3 eggs 1 ½ cups milk ½ cup cold butter, diced ¼ cup ice water
Directions: To Make Crust:
1. In a large bowl, combine flour and salt. 2. Cut in the diced butter until the mixture resembles course crumbs. 3. Add ice water a tablespoon at a time, mixing until dough clings together. For best results, wrap in plastic and chill before rolling on a floured surface. 4. Once rolled, pre-bake at 450 degrees for 10 minutes. 5. Cook meat in a skillet until done. 1. Sauté onions in about 3 tablespoons of reserved meat drippings or butter or oil if you are omitting the meat. 2. Place meat, onion, and vegetables in pie crust. 3. Top with grated cheese. 4. Mix eggs and milk well and pour into the pie crust. 5. Bake at 400 degrees for 40 minutes or until a fork comes out clean. Serves 6.
HARRY KATZ
To Make Quiche:
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MARKET MEATLOAF
Courtesy of Farmers Market of the Ozarks Ingredients:
2 tablespoons unsalted butter 1 cup chopped red onion 1 local minced carrot 1 local minced celery rib 1 tablespoon minced garlic 1/2 cup minced local green onion, including tops 2 teaspoons of salt 1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 cup ketchup 1/2 teaspoons thyme 1/2 teaspoon liquid smoke 2 teaspoons Worcestershire sauce 1 pound of local ground chuck 1 pound of local Italian ground pork sausage 2 large beaten eggs 1 cup fresh bread crumbs 1/2 cup minced fresh parsley leaves
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 350ﾂｰ F. 2. In a large skillet melt butter and add onion, carrot, celery, garlic, and green onions. Stir and cook for 6 minutes. Stir again, and cook until the veggies are tender. Add salt, pepper, 2/3-cup ketchup, thyme, liquid smoke, and Worcestershire sauce. Cook for another minute, and remove from heat. 3. In a separate bowl, combine ground chuck, Italian pork sausage, eggs, fresh bread crumbs, and cooked veggies. Mix with your hands, and combine well. Add fresh parsley and toss. 4. Coat a loaf pan with a little butter, and press mixture into the pan. Cover the top with about 1/3 cup of ketchup. 5. Bake for 55 minutes. 6. Remove and let cool for about 30 minutes. Serves 5.
RASPBERRY JALAPEﾃ前 JELLY Courtesy of Farmers Market of the Ozarks
Ingredients:
6 cups whole raspberries 1/2 cup minced fresh jalapeﾃｱo pepper, more for stronger heat 1 1/4 cups sugar
1 cup water 1 box SURE-JELL fruit pectin 8 glass, half-pint jars
Directions:
HARRY KATZ
1. In a food processor, add the berries. Pulse the processor a few times to crush the berries. 2. Add jalapeﾃｱos and sugar, and pulse about 10 times. Pour this mixture into a large bowl, and let stand 10 minutes, stirring every so often. 3. Bring water and pectin to a boil over high heat in a small saucepan. Boil for about 1 minute. 4. Pour the pectin mix over the berry mixture and stir constantly for 3 minutes. 5. Fill the jars with the mixture, leaving about 1/2 inch at the top of each container. Clean off the edges of the jars to rem ve any spilled mixture. Cover with lids, and let stand at room temperature for 24 hours. Store in refrigerator or freezer. Makes 4 pints.
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Dining worth the drive. Kansas City
Doughnut Destination HAVE YOU EVER TRIED a carrot cake doughnut? How about a classic glazed that’s smothered in sausage gravy? The Doughnut Lounge in the heart of Westport is not your typical doughnut shop. The restaurant serves all sorts of creations, from a standard old-fashioned to the Avocado Risoughnut—a unique dinner creation that features corn cake croutons, avocado risotto, pico de gallo, balsamic glaze, and pecorino romano. While the fl vors range from sweet to savory, most everything hits the spot any time of day. The Doughnut Lounge is open from 6:30 am to 10 pm, Sunday through Tuesday, and 6:30 am to 1 am, Thursday through Saturday. Accordingly, it serves a dual function. It’s a great a place to stop by for a snack and coffee before work, and it’s a hip spot to swing by for drinks and doughnuts after a day at the office Head there for dessert, and try the strawberry mascarpone doughnut with a glass of Prosecco. You won’t regret it.—Jonas Weir doughnutlounge.com • 4117 Pennsylvania Avenue • 816-659-3688
St. Louis
Mexican Food Mecca CHEROKEE STREET is known for Mexican food, and among the handful of south-of-the-border diners that dot the neighborhood, La Vallesana stands out for its ultra-casual atmosphere, street food-focused menu, and large back patio. On nice days, the back patio at La Vallesana is great place to drink margaritas and share chips and salsa with friends, and no matter what the weather is like, the food will hit the spot. The menu is somewhat unique from other area Mexican restaurants because of its authenticity. Among the different meat options are beef tongue, cow’s head, corn-tortilla tacos, massive burritos, cheesy quesadillas, on pita bread, or on a torta—a
St. Louis
Mexican sandwich on French bread. During the dog days of summer, La Vallesana is where the locals come for paletas—
A Cut Above
Mexican popsicles—and ice-cold bottles of Jarritos Mexican soda. —Jonas Weir Facebook: La Vallesana • 2801 Cherokee Street • 314-776-4223
WHISKEY AND STEAK are the way to a man’s heart, and there’s no better place to go for the robust pairing than Gamlin Whiskey House in the Central West End. Even Ron Swanson of sitcom Parks and Recreation couldn’t help from smiling here. From rare Kentucky bourbon to high-end Scotch, Gamlin Whiskey House serves more than two hundred different whiskeys and a variety of hand-cut steaks to satisfy any appetite. The sixteen-ounce filet is certainly the most extravagant, but Zagat highlighted the eight-ounce Téte de Filet in its “50 States, 50 Steaks” guide. Truth be told, you can’t go wrong with any of these Midwest-raised, corn-fed cuts of beef. On the other hand, those who refrain from red meat and libations will also find something to love at Gamlin. The restaurant’s Caesar salad is among the best, and the vegetable couscous and pan-seared scallops are both great entrée choices. The lunch and brunch menus also offer an affordable route to trying this high-end spot
Jonas Weir
gamlinwhiskeyhouse.com • 236 N. Euclid Avenue • 314-875-9500
COURTESY OF THE DOUGHNUT LOUNGE, PAUL SABLEMAN, AND GAMLIN WHISKEY HOUSE
and pastor—seasoned pork with a hint of pineapple. You can order all those and more in
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Sp e cial Pro mot io n
Life
Financial
The Ups and Downs of Sudden Wealth It’s human nature to think winning the lottery or inheriting a fortune would solve all of your problems. After all, many people dream of not having to worry about paying a mortgage, financi g a child’s college education, funding long-term care for elderly parents, saving for retirement, or dealing with an endless array of other financial obligations. I have yet to win the lottery (ap-
BY MICHAEL J. FOSTER
parently you have to play to win), and I love my family, so hopefully any inheritance is many years away.
EXECUTIVE VICE PRESIDENT &
There is a good chance, however, someone you know—perhaps even you—will find sudden
ealth.
Newfound wealth is a highly emotional phenomenon, and studies have shown that people are more
RELATIONSHIP MANAGER CENTRAL TRUST COMPANY, ST. LOUIS
likely to make poor decisions when their emotions run high. Before making any major, life-altering financial decisions, those who have unexpectedly acquired wealth would be well-advised to step back, take an honest look at the life they have, and think long and hard about how they want their new life to look. Sudden wealth has the potential to foster tension, anxiety, and uncertainty, and it’s natural to want to find a way to alleviate those helpless feelings. The list below identifi s several types of reactions to sudden wealth that have the potential to cause financial and em tional issues: • Retiring early: Sudden wealth recipients have been known to quit their jobs without considering the consequences, both financial and emotional. Working gives many people an identity and purpose. Once your reason for getting out of bed every morning is gone, a void is created, and it must be filled
ith something.
• Adopting a nonchalant attitude towards wealth: If you have inlikely to be very careful managing that nest egg. On the other hand, if you didn’t earn it, you are more likely to spend irrationally. • Thinking you have more money than you do: $1 million is a tremendous amount of money, to be sure, but there are over 10.1 million households in the United States with $1 million or more in investable assets, excluding the value of their primary residence. Being a member of the millionaire club is not nearly as exclusive as it once was. Individuals who suddenly acquire a signifi ant amount of money should have a wealth advisor run projections that will determine how long their money will last under various spending patterns. • Being inundated with loan requests, business propositions, and charitable requests: A constant barrage of requests from relatives, friends, and associates can be overwhelming. The suddenly wealthy need to determine a process to gently but fi mly address the requests. So, given the myriad of obstacles, what are the newly wealthy to do? At Central Trust Company, we believe the best place for these individuals to start is to determine their essential, fundamental life goals, which may include spending more quality time with their family, feeling more secure or more in control of their financial lives, helping those less fortunate, etc. To that end, an in-depth discussion regarding goals and aspirations is one of the fi st steps in Central Trust’s comprehensive financial planning process. Once life goals are established, Central Trust’s relationship managers work very closely with each of their clients to help them understand how their wealth can be best utilized to achieve their goals.
“Newfound wealth is a highly emotional phenomenon, and studies have shown that people are more likely to make poor decisions when their emotions run high.”
DOLLAR PHOTO CLUB
vested your time and effo t into acquiring a nest egg, you are more
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Life
Financial
MAKING RETIREMENT
THE BEST TIME OF YOUR LIFE.
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C E N T R A L T R U S T. N E T WEALTH & RETIREMENT PLANNING | INVESTMENT MANAGEMENT | TRUST & ESTATE SERVICES ST. LOUIS | KANSAS CITY | SPRINGFIELD | COLUMBIA JEFFERSON CITY | LAKE [119] April 2016 OZARK
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ALL AROUND
Missour APRIL 2016
MOUNTAIN MAN RENDEZVOUS
KICKAPOO TRACE MUZZLELOADERS
April 30, Dixon > Vendors sell crafts, and reenactors demonstrate tomahawk throwing, Dutch oven cooking, and more. The free event is held at Kickapoo Muzzleloaders Club from 10 am to 4 pm. Call 636-734-2693, or visit pulaskicountyusa.com.
SPORTSMAN’S GUN SHOW
GOSPEL SING
SOUTH CENTRAL
April 15-16, Dixon > Vendors host booths for outdoor enthusiasts. The Barn. Noon-6 pm Fri.; 7:30 am-5 pmSat. $3. 573-433-9370, thebakerband.com
ADAM TRENT MAGIC
SPRING WILDFLOWER HUNT
April 22-23, West Plains > The Howell Family and Singing Disciples perform on Friday, and Bruce Punches Family and Final Authority perform on Saturday. Civic Center Theatre. 7 pm Fri.; 6 pm Sat. D onations accepted. 811-256-6034, civiccenter.net/theater.php
April 8, Rolla > The future of magic is here with Adam Trent’s unique blend of classic magic, original pop songs, dancing, comedy, and futuristic technology. Leach Theater. 7 pm. $15. 573-347-4219, leachtheatre.mst.edu
April 16, Salem > Hike to find local wildfl wers, and learn about the many varieties in the park. Montauk State Park. 9-11:30 am. Free. 573-548-2225. mostateparks.com/montauk
CHITTY CHITTY BANG BANG
April 22-23, Salem > Help clean the river, trails, and day use area. The event will conclude on Saturday evening with a dinner, live music, and giveaways. Meet at three locations: Watercress in Van Buren, and Alley Spring and Round Spring river landings. 9 am-4 pm. Free. 573-729-6900, nps.gov.ozar
April 14-23, Rolla > Everyone’s favorite flying car comes to life in this musical adaptation of the beloved family film. Cedar Street Playhouse. Tues. and Thurs.-Fri. 7 pm; Sat. 2 and 7 pm. $4-$15. 800-8061915, finelinendrama.co
OZARK SPRING CLEAN UP
BIRD HIKE April 23, Salem > Learn about the diversity of birds in the park. Montauk State Park. 8 am-noon. Free. 573-548-2225, mostateparks.com/montauk
BUSINESS EXPO April 23, Salem > Visit with more than forty vendors, and hear about their products and services. Community Center at the Armory. 9 am-noon. Free. 573-729-6900, salemmo.com These listings are chosen by our editors and are not paid for by sponsors.
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SPRING CRAFT SHOW
MELODRAMA AND SPAGHETTI
April 2, Linn Creek > Explore booths filled with a variety of crafts. Lunch will be available for a donation. Camden County Museum. 9 am-4 pm. Free. 573-346-7191, camdencountymusuem.com
April 15-16, Linn Creek > Enjoy a spaghetti buffe supper and a performance of No Mother to Guide Her. Camden County Museum. 5 pm. $15. Reservations. 573-346-7191, camdencountymuseum.com
WAR OF 1812 IN THE WEST
PRIDE AND PREJUDICE
April 2-3, Arrow Rock > Noted local historians cover military and social conditions of the war and the western territories during that period. Arrow Rock State Historic Site. 9 am-5 pmSat.; 9 am-noon Sun. Free. 660-837-3330, mostateparks.com/park /arrow-rock-state-historic-site
April 15-23, Jefferson City > See a performance presented by JCHE Teen Club. Pawley Theatre, Lincoln University. 7 pm Fri.; 2 and 7 pm Sat. $6. 573301-4908, visitjeffersoncity.com
EARTH DAY
Celebrate Earth Day on April 24 in Columbia. Visit the street fair, play at the kids’ park, enjoy a wide variety of musical and performance art acts, and learn how to aid in the greening of your lifestyle at Eco Village. The event is free and held downtown and at Peace Park from noon to 7 pm. Call 573-875-0539 or visit columbiaearthday.org for more information.
April 2, 9, 16, and 30, Jefferson City > A different program each week introduces children ages three to six to Missouri’s history and nature through stories and hands-on activities. Missouri State Museum. 11 am-noon. Free. 573-522-6949, mostateparks.com/park/missouri-state-museum
ARCHERY TOURNAMENT April 3, Marshall > Bowhunters compete in a target archery tournament. Indian Foothills Park. 8-11 am Free. 660-886-2714, marshallbowhunters.org
ACROSS THE WIDE MISSOURI
SUPERHERO FUN RUN April 23, West Plains > Bring out your inner superhero and participate in a 5K, 10K, and 1.5 mile racing event to raise money for the Cancer Treatment Center. Bring your dog along for the show and costume contest. Shaw Medical Building. 8 am-noon. $15-$35 to race and $5 for the dog contests. 417257-6737, ozarksmedicalcenter.com
DISCOVER NATURE April 30, Winona > Learn about water quality. Twin Pines Conservation Education Center. 10 am-3 pm. Free. 573-325-1381, nature.mdc.mo.gov
CENTRAL
April 6, Jefferson City > Join Jim Two Crows Wallen as he tells tales of the settling of the Missouri wilderness, and tour the museum’s galleries. Missouri State Museum. 5-9 pm (program at 7 pm). Free. 573-522-6949, mostateparks.com/park /missouri-state-museum
AUGUST OSAGE COUNTY April 8-17, Jefferson City > D inner theater performance of the Pulitzer Prize-winning dramatic comedy that portrays a dysfunctional family that reunites when the father disappears. Shikles Auditorium. 6 pm Thurs.-Sat.; noon Sun. $35. 573-6819012, capitalcityplayers.com
CRUISE-IN ON THE CAPITOL April 9, Jefferson City > See displays of classic and antique cars. Downtown. 5 pm. Free. 573-291-3524, downtownjeffersoncity.com
MATT’S FAMILY JAM CONCERT BIG MUDDY FOLK FESTIVAL April 1-2, Boonville > Main stage nightly performances, workshops, demonstrations, contra dancing, and barbecue. Thespian Hall. Performances 7 pm Fri.-Sat.; workshops 10 am-3 pm Sat. $5-$45. 888-588-1477, friendsofhistoricboo ville.org
KITE FLYING DAY April 2, Columbia > Bring your kite, and enter to win largest, smallest, and highest flying kite. There will be kites provided for children that do not have them. D ouglass Park. Noon-2 pm. Free. 573-8747460, gocolumbiamo.com
April 9, Versailles > This family band performs rock ’n’ roll, jazz, swing, country, and gospel tunes with great harmonies and showmanship. The Royal Theatre. 7 pm. $5-$10. 573-378-6226, theroyaltheatre.com
DON’T KICK THE TURKEYS April 14-23, Jefferson City > Enjoy this comedy filled with calamity and humor as the main character, Rev. Thompson, faces hilarious antics on his third day as pastor. Stained Glass Theatre of MidMissouri. Thurs.-Fri. 7:30 pm; 2 and 7:30 pm Sat. $9 ($7 opening night). 573-634-5313, sgtmidmo.org
April 16, Arrow Rock > Each class teaches a diffe ent basket weaving. Arrow Rock State Historic Site. 9 am-1 pmand 1:30-5:30 pm. $40 each (materials are supplied). Reservations. 660-837-3330, mostateparks .com/park/arrow-rock-state-historic-site
MISSOURI RACE SERIES April 16, Jefferson City > There are four races— each with a 5K, 10K and 10-mile option—in different cities throughout the state. This route goes through the streets of the city, through the Missouri State Penitentiary, across the Missouri River, and past the Governor’s Mansion and the Capitol. Race starts at Lafayette St. 8-11 am.$25-$45 to race. 573-632-2820, missouriraceseries.com
SERENADE FUNDRAISER April 17, Columbia > This Missouri Symphony Conservatory fundraiser features hors d’oeuvres, desserts, wine, live and silent auctions, and a serenade by the talented youth of the Conservatory. University Club of Missouri at the Reynolds Alumni Center. 5-8 pm. $50 per person. 573-875-0600, mosymphonysociety.org
STEEL MAGNOLIAS April 21-24, Mexico > This play tells the story of the bond a group of very different women from a small southern community share as they cope with the death of one of their own. Presser Performing Arts Center. 7 pm Thurs.-Sat.; 2 pm Sun. $10-$12. 573-581-5592, presserpac.com
OPEN HOUSE AND PLANT SALE April 22-24, Rocheport > Check out the merchants’ new spring merchandise, enjoy refreshments, and enter drawings and giveaways. Stop by the Community Hall to purchase bedding plants and herbs. Throughout town. 10 am-5 pm Fri.-Sat.; 11 am-5 pm Sun. Free. 573-698-4580, rocheport-mo.com
UNBOUND BOOK FESTIVAL April 23, Columbia > Nationally renowned fictio and nonfiction authors and poets from across the country will talk about their lives and their work. Join them for discussions, readings, signings, performances, panels, and children’s programs. Stephens College campus. 10 am-6 pm. Free. 573-2393734, unboundbookfestival.com
COURTESY OF SCOTT PETERSON
STORYTIME SATURDAYS
BASKET WEAVING
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LOOKING FOR A GREAT GIFT? CHECK OUT THESE FASCINATING READS FROM Missouri Life! Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites AVAILABLE NOW! Newly updated from the original 1992 edition, this 400+ page book is illustrated with over 500 full-color, large-format photographs. Through its detailed essays, it will o’ er an irresistible invitation to discover Missouri’s remarkably diverse natural and cultural heritage. These narratives go much deeper than the oÿ cial brochures, telling the story of each park in a way that will enhance the understanding and appreciation of its distinctive features. With a focus on the special places Missourians have elected to preserve to represent their history and culture, the book will open the door to a lifetime of exploration and will influence generations to come. Hardcover, 416 pgs, $49.99
The History of Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri provides detailed information on the formation of the base in 1940 (and why it was named for General Leonard Wood), then follows base training, objectives and growth during World War II, the Korean War, the Vietnam War, and the Cold War, plus the War on Terrorism beginning in the 1990s through today. Hardcover, 224 pgs, $26.95
Hermann, Missouri is a town not only rich in heritage and culture, but also in beauty. In Hermann, Missouri, One of the Prettiest Towns in America, local photographers William Fields and Tony Carosella take you on a tour of Hermann, spotlighting her breathtaking landscapes, her majestic river, her architectural beauty and, of course, her people. Hardcover, 144 pgs, $29.95
West of the Gateway Arch, just miles from Downtown St. Louis, another world exists. This book is your guide to that world, taking you along 100 miles of the Missouri River to discover attractions new and old. More than 60 contributing writers have made Missouri River Country possible, including Gov. Jay Nixon, Sen. Claire McCaskill, Sen. Roy Blunt, William Least Heat-Moon, Sen. Kit Bond, and a host of others. Hardcover, 192 pages, $39.95
VISIT MISSOURILIFE.COM/STORE OR CALL 800-492-2593 EXT. 101 TO ORDER MORE BOOKS, APPAREL, AND GREAT MISSOURI GIFTS AVAILABLE IN OUR STORE! (Tax and Shipping and handling not included.) [139] April 2016
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MORELS AND MICROBREWS April 23, Fulton > Celebrate mushroom season with live music, a kids mushroom hunt, live auctions, and the sale of fresh morels. Taste homebrews, microbrews, and fried morels. Historic Brick District. Noon-5 pm. Free ($20 beer samples). 573642-7692, thebrickdistrict.com
SPRING ICE RECITAL April 23, Jefferson City > Watch the talents of skaters from all levels and ages as they perform the end of the season exhibition. Washington Park Ice Arena. 6 pm. $1 donation. 573-634-6580, jeffersoncitymo.gov/parkindex
TONS OF TRUCKS April 27, Columbia > Trucks and other vehicles of all shapes and sizes will be on display for climbing on, sitting in, touching, and learning about. Columbia Mall Target wing parking lot. 4-7 pm. Free. 573-8747460, gocolumbiamo.com
INTERNATIONAL JAZZ DAY April 30, Columbia > Celebrate all things jazz with live music, refreshments, and the announcing of the Great Education Raffle “We Always Swing” Jazz Series office. Noon-6 pm. Free. 573-449-3009, wealwaysswing.org
SIPPIN’ AND SAWIN’ CHAINSAW CARVING FESTIVAL
Chainsaw carving artists demonstrate their craft. Their carvings will be auctioned with proceeds going to the Wolcheck Foundation to support local charities. This event will be held at 7Cs Winery and Vineyard in Walnut Grove on April 9 and 10. It is free and open from 9 am to 5 pmeach day. Please bring a canned good donation for the Ash Grove Food Pantry. Call 417-788-2263 or visit 7cswinery.com for more information.
CRUISIN’ AT THE CAPITAL MALL
STEVE MCQUEEN DAYS
7:30 pmThurs.-Sat.; 2:30 pmSun. $16-$18. 417-8364646, calendar.missouristate.edu
GOURD ART FESTIVAL
April 30, Slater > Celebrate home town hero Steve McQueen with a car show featuring antique and modern cars. Downtown. 9 am-3 pm. $20 to register a car. 660-529-2271, cityofslater.com
April 9-10, Springfield > Enjoy workshops, a nationally recognized gourd artist show, live auction, vendors, competition classes, awards, raffles and a kid’s corner. Ozark Empire Fairgrounds. 9 am5:30 pm Sat.; 10 am-3 pm Sun. $5. 573-489-1054, showmegourdsociety.com
SOUTHWEST
JIVE ACES CONCERT
BISON HIKE April 2, Mindemines > Bring binoculars to view bison in their natural habitat on this guided, two-mile hike. Prairie State Park. 10 am-noon. Free. 417-8436711, mostateparks.com/park/prairie-state-park
CHERRY BLOSSOM KITE FEST April 2, Springfield > Enjoy kite making and fl ing, and learn to make origami and other crafts. Botanical Center at Nathanael Greene/Close Memorial Park. 11 am-3 pm. Free. 417-891-1515, peacethroughpeople.org
HAIR April 7-10, Springfield > This musical captures the hippie ethos of the late 1960s and reflects the social change movements. Craig Hall Coger Theatre.
April 11, Lebanon > This British swing band featuring six dynamic players who mix swing, jive, and R&B classic to create a new sound. Cowan Civic Center. 7 pm. $20 and up. 417-532-2990, lebanonmoconcertassociation.com
THE PIRATES OF PENZANCE April 12, Springfield > This musical features the New York Gilbert and Sullivan Players. Juanita K. Hammons Hall for the Performing Arts. 7:30 pm. $25. 417-836-6767, hammonshall.com
DRAW PIERCE CITY April 12-May 3, Pierce City > Explore this exhibit of winning student and adult entries from the D raw Pierce City 2016 art show. Artists reception 4-7 pm April 12. Pierce City Branch Library. 9 am-6 pm Tues.-Fri.; 9 am-1 pm Sun. Free. 417-489-3041. piercecityartsfestival.webs.com
HISTORY OF CORAL COURT April 22, Lebanon > Watch a special presentation of a movie highlighting the Coral Court Motel in St. Louis. Lebanon-Laclede County Library. 7 pm. Free. 417-532-2148, lebanon-laclede.lib.mo.us
ROCK’N RIBS BBQ FESTIVAL April 22-23, Springfield > Enjoy live music and barbecue with a competition featuring seventy-fi e teams. Ozark Empire Fairground and Event Center. 5-11 pmFri. (ages 21 and older only); 10 am-11 pmSat. $10. 417-833-2660, rocknribs.com
EARTH DAY STREET FAIR April 23, Lebanon > Help clean up trash and recycle, and enjoy a street fair with vendors, children’s activities, and a prescription drug take-back. Commercial Street. 10 am-4 pm. Free. 417-532-2156, lebanonmissouri.org
C-STREET LOFTWALK April 23, Springfield > Take a self-guided walking tour of six lofts and several other architectural sights. Historic Commercial Street. Noon-4 pm. $5$12. 417-839-0119, historiccstreet.com
MEGA CON April 30-May 1, Lebanon > This convention features a costume contest, retro video game tournament, expo, and more. Cowan Civic Center. All day. $5-$15. 417-588-3256, lebanoncomiccon.com
COURTESY OF 7CS WINERY
April 30, Jefferson City > Listen to music and check out the cars at the largest car show in Jefferson City. Capital Mall parking lot. 4-8 pm. Free. 573-680-7155, visitjeffersoncity.com
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2016 Notable Missourians Coming this Spring! William Clark: Explorer and Diplomat libr $27.00 • 9781612481784
Buck O’Neil: Baseball’s Ambassador libr $27.00 • 9781612481760
Ella Ewing: Missouri Giantess libr $27.00 • 9781612481722
A. T. Still: Father of Osteopathic Medicine libr $27.00 • 9781612481746
Truman State University Press 100 E. Normal Ave., Kirksville, MO 63501 tsup.truman.edu | 660-785-7336 |
Centrally located just 30 miles North of Columbia at the junction of Highways 63 & 24
VISIT US ONLINE AT MOBERLY.COM. [125] April 2016
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DA VINCI THE EXHIBIT April 1-May 1, Kansas City > This exhibit features life-size inventions, more than twenty fine art studies, and dozens of displays. Union Station. 10 am5 pm Tues.-Thurs.; 10 am-6 pm Fri.-Sat.; noon-5 pm Sun. $10.95-$14.95. 816-460-2020, unionstation.org
HOLLADAY TOURS April 1-May 1 Weston > This tour of a National Historic Landmark will walk you through 160 years of distilling history, from the beginning with founder Ben Holladay to today’s large-scale and state-ofthe-art bottling line. McCormick D istillery. Call for tour times. Ages 21 and over only for the tasting portion. $10. 816-640-3056, mccormickdistilling.com
BIG GIGANTIC April 2, Kansas City > This band’s blend of mindbending beats, thunderous bass, and frenetic melodies creates an outstanding performance. Arvest Bank Theatre at the Midland. 8:30 pm. $25-$30. 816471-9703, midlandkc.com
HOW TO GROW ASPARAGUS April 3, Kingsville > Learn everything you need to know to grow asparagus at home, and take home six asparagus crowns to get started. Powell Gardens. 10 am-noon. $25-$35. 816-697-2600, ext. 209, powellgardens.org
ANIMAL FARM April 8-10, Lee’s Summit > This dramatic play is based on George Orwell’s novel. North High School Performing Arts Center. 7 pm Fri.-Sat.; 2 pm Sun. $5. 816-986-3031, lsntheatre.net
PARTY FOR THE PLANET April 9, Kansas City > Celebrate Earth Day by learning about conservation and watching local artists painting live. Kansas City Zoo. 10 am-3 pm. $11.50$14.50. 816-595-1234, kansascityzoo.org
KANSAS CITY FILMFEST April 13-17, Kansas City > This festival includes juried films, seminars, panels, receptions, and parties. Cinemark Palace at the Plaza. Call for times and ticket costs. 816-286-4777, kcfilm est.org
SECOND CITY’S IMPROV April 14, Sedalia > Comedy from the people who brought you many of today’s comedy stars. Liberty Center Association for the Arts. 7:30 pm. $30. 660827-3228, lcaasedalia.com
GODSPELL April 14-17 and 20-23, Sedalia > See this classic musical. Thompson O’Sullivan Studio Theatre. 7:30 pm
PIXAR IN CONCERT April 15-17, Kansas City > This Kansas City Symphony performance features visually stunning clips and scores from Pixar movies. Kauffman Center for the Performing Arts. 8 pm Fri.-Sat.; 2 pm Sun. $40-$85. 816-471-0400, kcsymphony.org
FLIGHTS OF FANCY April 16, Lee’s Summit > This kite festival includes fifty-foot kites, giant spiky kites, and displays by the Kansas City Kite Club. MCC Longview Campus. 10 am-5 pm. Free. 816-604-2640, kitefest.mcckc.edu
CROWNS AND CRAYONS April 17, Weston > Bring your own coloring book and pencils for an adult coloring event. Weston Wine Company. Noon-5 pm. Free. 816-386-2345, westonwinecompany.com
COLLEGE ART SHOW April 18-May 8, Sedalia > See artwork from more than fifty students. D aum Museum. 11 am-5 pm Tues.-Fri.; 1-5 pm Sat.-Sun. Free. 660-530-5888, daummuseum.org
PEDAL TO THE METAL
From the Garton Kiddilac to the Oscar Mayer Wienermobile, see four-wheeled vehicles, and learn about the history, design, and production of pedaled playthings at the National Museum of Toys and Miniatures In Kansas City. The exhibit is open from April 1 to August 28 and costs $5. Call 816-235-8000 or visit toyandminiaturemuseum.org to learn more.
GATSBY DAYS April 22-23. Excelsior Springs > Relive the 1920s at this festival based on the F. Scott Fitzgerald classic novel The Great Gatsby. There will be music, art, dancing, a fashion show, and educational programs. D owntown. Times vary. Most events are free. 816637-2811, visitexcelsior.com
TODDLER TUESDAYS
BRITISH GALA
GODSPELL
April 23, Kansas City > Shop for British items; learn about British businesses, social groups, services, and entertainment; see a car and motorcycle display; and enjoy a variety of original British foods. Grace and Holy Trinity Cathedral. 10 am-4 pm. $4. 816-6007276, britishgalakc.com
RAILROAD DAYS April 29-May 1, Pleasant Hill > Celebrate the area’s railroad history with old-fashioned games, model trains from across Missouri, crafts, and entertainment by Big Creek Country Show. D owntown. 3-8 pmFri.; 10 am-8 pmSat.; 10 am-4 pmSun. Free. 816405-7704, phillrailroaddays.com
NORTHWEST APRIL FOOLS MURDER MYSTERY April 1, St. Joseph > This murder mystery dinner theater will keep you guessing which guest is the murderer. Robidoux Landing Playhouse. 7:30 pm. $28. 816-232-1778. rrtstjoe.org
April 5, 12, 19, and 26, Trenton > Each week focuses on a different subject and will feature a craft, activity, and a story. Crowder State Park. 9:30-11 am. Free. 660-359-6473, mostateparks.com/park/ crowder-state-park
April 14-16, St. Joseph > The story of Jesus’s life dances across the stage in this musical blend of styles from pop to vaudeville. MWSU’s Potter Theatre. 7:30 pm Fri.-Sat.; 2 pm Sun. $8-$14. 816-2714452, mwsutix.com
NEXT TO NORMAL April 22-24, St. Joseph > Tony Award-winning play explores how one suburban household copes with crisis and mental illness with love, sympathy, and heart. Missouri Theatre. 7:30 pmFri.-Sat.; 2 pmSun. $10-$30. 816-232-1778, rrtstjoe.org
ST. MARKS (SQUARED 2) April 24, Chillicothe > This concert features a professional string quartet from Springfield, where each member is a permanent member of the Symphony Orchestra. Gary D ickinson Performing Arts Center. 3 pm. $7-$15. 660-646-1173, chillicotharts.com
HEROES AND VILLIANS April 30, St. Joseph > Symphony concert features the Community Chorus. Missouri Theatre. 7:30 pm. $5-$43. 816-233-7701, saintjosephsymphony.org
THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF TOYS AND MINIATURES
KANSAS CITY
(April 16th 6:30 pm is a dinner theater performance and 17th is at 2 pm). Ticket prices vary. 660-596-7387, sfccmo.edu/thearts
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Events Adam Trent - The Futurist
Apr. 8
Chitty Chitty Bang Bang
Apr. 14-24
Ryan & Ryan Music by Mavericks
May 6
Color Me Cancer Free 5K Run
May 14
Route 66 Summerfest
June 3 & 4
For more information on these and other events visit
www.VisitRolla.com
Rolla Area Chamber of Commerce & Visitor Center
Rolla Area Chamber of Commerce • 1311 Kingshighway Rolla, MO 65401 • 573-364-3577 or 888-809-3817
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NORTHEAST SPLASH OF COLOR QUILT SHOW April 1-2, Hannibal > Enjoy vendors, quilt appraisals, door prizes, and more. Admiral Coontz Recreation Center. 11 am-7 pm Fri.; 9 am-4 pm Sat. 573221-1504, hannibalpiecemakers.weebly.com
SPAGHETTI DINNER April 2, Moberly > The Masonic Lodge serves up homemade spaghetti. Masonic Lodge. 11 am-2 pm. $8. 660-676-1722, moberlychamber.com
GALLERY WALK April 9, Hannibal > Wander from gallery to gallery to meet guest artists, enjoy food, and entertainment. D owntown. 5-8 pm. Free. 573-241-2477, visithannibal.com
PRIMROSE GALA April 21, Moberly > This fundraiser features live and silent auctions and a catered meal by Chef Jeff Municipal Auditorium. 6 pm. $25, 573-641-5047, everyeventgives.com
AMERICAN GENIUS HIGHWAY QUILT TRAIL
Starting on April 1, quilt shops across north Missouri participate in this ultimate quilting experience. The trail combines an appreciation for the area’s agricultural heritage, artistic talent, and regional history. Passports and quilt blocks can be picked up at quilt shops in St. Joseph and other towns on Highway 36. Call 816-233-6688 or visit americangeniushighway.com for more information.
ROUND BARN BLUES
ST. LOUIS ART FAIR April 1-3, Ballwin > Explore this national exhibit and fine arts and crafts sale with more than 135 booths. Greenfelder Recreation Center at Queeny Park. 5-9 pm Fri.; 10 am-6 pm Sat.; 11 am-4 pm Sun. $5. 314-997-1181, artfairatqueenypark.com
SWAN LAKE April 1-3, St. Louis > St. Louis Ballet performs this classic ballet. Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center. 8 pmFri.-Sat.; 2:30 pmSat.-Sun. Call for tickets prices. 866-516-4949, touhill.org
WIZARD WORLD COMIC CON April 1-3, St. Louis > Celebrate the best in pop culture with movies, comics, toys, video gaming, graphic novels, wrestling, original art, and anime. America’s Center. 3-8 pm Fri.; 10 am-7 pm Sat.; 10 am-4 pm Sun. $39.95-$79.95, 314-421-1023, wizardworld.ticketleap.com/stlouis
TWILIGHT TREK AND TASTE April 2, D e Soto > Naturalist guided, lantern-led hike on 1,000 Step Trail is followed by samples of hors d’oeuvres and wine tastings from local winer-
ies. Washington State Park. 7-10 pm. Free. Reservations and ages 21 and over only. 636-586-5768, mostateparks.com/park/washington-state-park
NEW YEAR’S EVE 2.0
WACK-A-DOO April 5-6. St. Louis > This group performs a blend of toe-tapping vintage swing and folksy Americana music. Sheldon Concert Hall. 10 am. $12-$15. 314533-9900, thesheldon.org
April 2, Eureka > Enjoy the grand reopening of downtown and a New Year’s Eve celebration, which was cancelled due to the floods, that will include live music, a ribbon cuttings, and a ball drop. Central Ave. Downtown. 4-10 pm. Donations accepted. 636-938-6062, eurekachamber.org
April 8, St. Louis > Art day camp for kids will track down art in it’s natural habitat and make an art project. Artscope. 9 am-3 pm. $165. 314-865-0060, artscopestl.org
BASKET CLASS
MISSOURI TARTAN DAY
April 2, St. Charles > Learn how to make a garden basket to take home. All materials will be supplied. First Missouri Capitol State Historic Site. $40. 10 am-3 pm. 636-940-3322, mostateparks.com/park /first-mi souri-state-capitol-state-historic-site
April 8-10, Washington > This family-friendly Scottish-American cultural celebration features traditional music, food, dance, and storytelling. Washington Fairgrounds. 5-10 pm Fri.; 10 am10 pm Sat.; 10 am-5 pm Sun. Free. 636-239-2715, motartanday.com
LITTLE BLACK DRESS April 2-Sept. 5, St. Louis > This exhibit features more than sixty dresses and explores the subject of mourning, as well as the transition of black as a symbol of grief to a symbol of high fashion. The Missouri History Museum. 10 am-5 pm (10 am-8 pm Tues.). Free. 314-746-4599, mohistory.org
SPRING CONCERT April 3, St. Charles > The Municipal and Jazz Band performs. Lindenwood University Cultural Center. 2 pm.Free. 636-946-7776, stcharlesband.com
ART SAFARI
SPRING THAW FEST April 9, Augusta > Check out the chili cook-off, live music, and beer festival. MO Brewery. Noon-3 pm. Free. 636-946-7776, augusta-chamber.org
TOUR OF HERMANN April 9-10, Hermann > This cycling event features fi e unique routes that total more than two hundred miles on gravel roads. Begins and ends at Hermann City Park. 8 am-6 pm. Call for costs. Free for spectators. 573-569-5003, tourofhermann.com
COURTESY OF MO HIGHWAY 36 QUILT TRAIL
April 30, Kirksville > A variety of blues bands perform. Food and drink will be available. Round Barn. 3 pm. $20. 660-665-2760, roundbarnblues.com
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Read what you missed!
Discover a Hidden History.
Waynesville’s lush Laughlin Park, along the banks of the Roubidoux
Purchase back issues of Missouri Life!
Explore Laughlin Park to discover numerous opportunities for recreation path that commemorates the nearby
Take a look online, or order a FREE printed Visitors Guide.
$4.50 + tax, s/h
Visit MissouriLife.com or call 1-800-492-2593
Waynesville Police Dept. is required.)
Fishing in Roubidoux Creek can yield both brown and rainbow trout, stocked by MDC. (MO ďŹ shing license is required.)
573.336.6355 877.858.8687
PulaskiCountyUSA.com
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April 9, St. Louis > Shop for antiques, collectibles, coins, household items, and kid’s toys. Affton Community Center. 8:30 am-2 pm. Free. 314-615-8822, stlouisco.com/parks
BBQ AND BLUESFEST April 15-17, Washington > Enjoy live blues music, a food court, barbecue tasting and competition, and the vintage market. Main Street. 4-10 pm Fri.; 10 am-6 pmSat.; 11 am-4 pmSun. Free. 636-239-1743, downtownwashington.org
MISSOURI RIVER CLEAN-UP April 16, New Haven > Join Missouri River Relief, and help clean trash from the banks of the Missouri River. New Haven Boat Ramp. 9 am-noon. Free. 573443-0292, riverrelief.com
CYCLING CRITERIUM April 17, St. Charles > Exciting bicycle racing through the streets. North Main Street. 8 am-1 pm. Call for costs to enter. Free to spectators. 636-9467776, mwccc.org
RAGTIME April 18-19, St. Louis > Stories of an upper-class wife, a Jewish immigrant, and a young Harlem
musician unfold in this compelling play. Peabody Opera House. 8 pm. $30-$82. 800-745-3000, peabodyoperahouse.com
JUSTIN BIEBER April 19, St. Louis > See Justin Bieber on the Purpose World Tour. Scottrade Center. 7:30 pm. $47.50$113. 800-745-3000, scottradecenter.com
TWISTED MELODIES April 20-May 1, St. Louis > Go on a fictionali ed journey through the mind of a musical genius dealing with schizophrenia. Edison Theatre at Washington University. Call for show times. $15-$30. 314534-3807, theblackrep.org
PLEIN AIR ART FESTIVAL April 21-May 1, Augusta > Watch artists painting area landscapes. There will be a variety of workshops offered. Throughout area. Painters will be out during the day. Free for spectators. Call for costs to paint. 636-946-7776, augustapleinair.com
JAZZ FESTIVAL April 22-23, St. Louis > Celebrate the music of jazz great Maynard Ferguson with concerts. Blanche M. Touhill Performing Arts Center. 8 pm. $35. 866-5164949, touhill.org
CHASE ANDERSON MDA RODEO
The proceeds of this classic rodeo will benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association. Held on April 15 and 16 at the Rockin-A-Arena in Palmyra, tickets are $12 in advance and $15 at the gate. The gates open at 6 pm, and the event starts at 7:30 pm.Call 573-629-1972 or visit rockinaarena for more information.
COURTESY OF SANDY TRUDELL
FLEA MARKET
@MissouriLife
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Get down to business. Subscribe today to receive the statewide business magazine— magazine—Missouri Missouri Business Business.. • In-depth industry profiles • Business news • Fascinating profiles • Tips for tech, HR, and legal issues
Honored nationally for excellence by the Association of Chamber of Commerce Executives.
THE MAGAZINE OF THE MISSOURI CHAMBER OF COMMERCE AND INDUSTRY
Visit MoBizMagazine.com to subscribe for free, compliments of the Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry. [131] April 2016
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WORLD WAR II WEEKEND
WEDDING TRAIL
April 22-24, Lemay > Stroll through the living history military camps; visit with reenactors representing the troops of the US, British, Canadian, Soviet, and German armies of World War II; and watch battle reenactments. Jefferson Barracks Historic Site. 9 am-5 pmwith battles twice on Sat. and once on Sun. Free. 314-615-8800, stlouisco.com
April 24, Hermann > Learn what the Wine Country has to offer for your wedding. Taste and tour at venues, meet with vendors, and explore lodging. Throughout the area. 11 am-3:30 pm. Call for costs. 800-932-8687, hermannweddings.com
April 23, Defiance > Living history event takes you back in time to learn firsthand what it took to prepare for the journey West. Daniel Boone Home and Heritage Center. Call for times and costs. 636-7982005, danielboonehome.com
WORLD WAR II CANTEEN DANCE April 23, Lemay > D ance to Big Band music from the World War II era, and enjoy a catered meal. Jefferson Barracks Park pavilion. 6-10:30 pm. $17.50$25 (meal $9-$12). Reservations accepted. 314-3974693, friendsofjeffersonbarracks.com
CRAFTERS BOUTIQUE SHOW April 23, St. Louis > Show features knitting, photography, soaps, repurposed fabrics, jewelry, bird feeders, and glass. Affton Community Center. 9 am-4 pm. Free. 314-615-8822,stlouisco.com/parks
April 24, St. Louis > Learn about sustainable products and services offered by local businesses and organizations; meet area non-profits involved in recycling; enjoy local musical acts and performance art; try diverse cuisines; take a yoga class; and participate in the Metro Bus mural painting. The Muny Grounds in Forest Park. 10 am-6 pm. Free. 314-2827533, stlouisearthday.org
SUNSET ON THE RIVERFRONT April 28, Washington > Watch the sunset from the river banks, and listen to live music by local bands. Local restaurants will provide food and drinks at this family-friendly event. Rennick Riverfront Park. 5-8 pm. Free. 636-239-1743, downtownwashmo.org
RIVER AND LIGHTS April 29, Hermann > Listen to music, and buy food and drink. Riverfront Park. 5-9 pm. Free. 800-9328687, visithermann.com
NEW ARCHITECTURAL WALKING TOUR
Guided tour along Washington Avenue in St. Louis begins on April 2 and runs every Saturday through October 29 and presents a look at one of the nation’s most intact streetscapes. Tickets are $10. The tour lasts from from 10 am until noon. Call 314-690-3140 or visit rvstl.org /walking-tour for more information.
LANDMARKS ASSOCIATION OF ST. LOUIS
JOURNEY TO THE WEST
EARTH DAY FESTIVAL
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FROM KEN BURNS
What about ___________? A new film — directed by Ken Burns, Sarah Burns and David McMahon — chronicles the life and times of Jackie Robinson, his breaking of baseball’s color barrier and lifelong fight for equality on and off the field. Featuring extensive interviews with Robinson’s widow, Rachel, whose recollections open up a window into Jackie’s private life.
TWO NIGHT EVENT
MONDAY, APRIL 11 & TUESDAY, APRIL 12 8pm | encore at 10pm kcpt.org/curiouskc
pbs.org/jackierobinson #JackieRobinsonPBS
Got a question about Kansas City, the region or the people who live here? Anything you’ve always wondered about, found peculiar or downright confusing? Share your questions with KCPT’s curiousKC.
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TEA WITH NANCY
REGIONAL HIGH SCHOOL ART
April 30, Chesterfield > Join a reenactor of Nancy Bates, the second governor of Missouri’s wife, for tea served by period reenactors. Thornhill at Faust Park. 10 am-noon and 2-4 pm. $30, Advanced reservations only. 314-615-8336, stlouisco.com
April 2-24, Poplar Bluff > This juried art show features works from students from southeast Missouri high schools. Margaret Harwell Art Museum. Noon-4 pm Tues.-Fri.; 1-4 pm Sat.-Sun. Free. 573686-8002, mham.org
PHOTOGRAPHY WORKSHOP
SPEAKER SERIES
April 30, Troy > A local photographer and park naturalist teaches a digital photography workshop. Cuivre River State Park. 10:30 am-2:30 pm. Free, Reservations required. 636-528-7247, mostateparks.com/park/cuivre-river-state-park
April 4, Cape Girardeau > Spend the evening hearing the inspirational story of Bethany Hamilton, an up-and-coming surfer who at age thirteen lost her arm to a shark attack. One month later, she returned to competition to continue her goal of becoming a professional surfer. Show Me Center. 7:30 pm. $10. 573-651-2297, visitcape.com
CITY WIDE YARD SALE April 1-2, New Madrid > Yard sales sell a variety of items. Throughout town. Most sales begin at 7 am. Free. 573-748-5300, new-madrid.mo.us
REGIONAL WOMEN’S SHOW April 2, Sikeston > Explore displays by a variety of vendors, women’s health information, and a spring fashion show. Miner Convention Center. 10 am4 pm. $2. 573-472-2222, visitsikeston.com
WILLIE NELSON AND FAMILY April 7, Cape Girardaeu > The legendary Willie Nelson performs with country music great Merle Haggard. Show Me Center. 7-10 pm. $49.75-$69.75. 573-651-2297, visitcape.com
FIRE TOWER HIKE April 9, Patterson > Take this park naturalist-guided four-mile hike to the top of Mudlick Mountain. The fire tower is not accessible. Sam A. Baker State Park. 9 am-noon. Free. 573-856-4514, mostateparks.com /park/sam-baker-state-park
UNION SPRING DRILL
The Battle of Pilot Knob State Historic Site in Pilot Knob will be the site of an exciting Civil War battle reenactment on April 9. The Turner Brigade of St. Louis will be on hand doing infantry and cavalry drills from 9 am to 5 pm,and the event is free. Call 573-546-3454 of visit mostateparks.com/park/battle-pilot-knobstate-historic-site for more information.
COURTESY OF ANITA QUICK
SOUTHEAST
A Service of the University of Central Missouri
April 25-30
Photo: Craig Mellish
In HD on channel 6.1 Check local listings
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You gotta have native plants! 3 To see native birds nesting and rearing young at your place 3 To raise butterflies, particularly monarchs at your place 3 To stem the decline of native pollinators
Enjoy guest suites that blend early America with modern day five star amenities. Private dinners, packages and personally tailored services await you at Boone’s Colonial Inn; circa 1837. Selected by BuzzFeed Travel as one of 13 most amazing Inns in the world.
Missouri Wildflowers Nursery
Reservations 636-493-1077 or by booking online innkeeper@boonescolonialinn.com • www.boonescolonialinn.com
322 South Main Street, Saint Charles, Missouri 63301
mowldflrs@ ocket.net www.mowildflowers.net 9814 Pleasant Hill Rd, Jefferson City MO 65109 573-496-3492, fax: 573-496-3003 You need our excellent catalog - by mail or online.
THIS YEAR GIVE YOUR MOM A GIFT THAT LASTS LONGER THAN FLOWERS
Gift subscription!
7 issues
19.99
$
Or check out our Missouri Life Gift Baskets Visit MissouriLife.com/giftbaskets (You will be redirected and charged by Olde Towne Spice Shoppe. Shipping and handling not included.)
Visit missourilife.com or call 800-492-2593, ext. 101 [135] April 2016
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merchants association
MARKETPLACE 7C’s Winery 502 E 560th Rd Walnut Grove MO 65770
417-788-2263
10am - 6pm www.7cswinery.com facebook.com/7cswinery Escape and Unwind
Special: Reserve two nights and take twenty dollars off! 816-640-9916 • www.westonbedbreakfast@kc.rr.com 908 Washington St, Weston Mo, 64098
Main Street Bar & Grill fayette , s new home for top notch dining, microbrews, and live music!
110 s. main street fayette, mo 660.728.5077
Welcome to historic Rocheport, Missouri; rated one of the best Midwest small-town getaways in 2013 by Midwest Living magazine. Rocheport stands out because it has managed to keep the same calm, peaceful presence and small town charm since its founding in 1825.
Join us April 21-22-23 for the Merchant’s Spring Open House and 40 year anniversary kickoff celebration of Richard Saunders & Stockton Mercantile shops!
www.Rocheport-mo.com
Directory of our Advertisers 7Cs Winery, p. 136 Art in the Park, p. 32 ASL Pewter, p. 32 Beks Restaurant, p. 27 Bent Tree Gallery, p. 32 Boone’s Colonial Inn, p. 135 Boonville Tourism, p. 21 Branson Visitor’s TV, p. 139 Callaway County, pgs. 28 & 29 Cape Girardeau CVB, p. 104 Central Trust Company, p. 119 City of Pauls Valley, OK CVB, p. 100 Clay County Tourism, p. 15 Clinton Area Chamber of Commerce, p. 129 Columbia Orthopeadic Group, p. 21 Crow Steals Fire, p. 32 The Gathering Place, p. 117 Guthrie OK, Central OK Frontier Country, p. 98 Holladay Distillery, p.13 Hermann Tourism, p. 117 Hermann Hill Vineyard & Inn, p. 140 Isle of Capri, p. 3 James Country Mercantile, p. 117 Jefferson City CVB, p. 18 John Edward Media, p. 132
KCPT, p. 133 KMOS, pgs. 134 & 137 Lebanon, MO, p. 18 Lexington, MO Tourism, p 125 Lincoln, NE CVB, p. 102 Main Street Bar & Grill, p. 136 Maples Repertory Theatre, p. 125 Marshall Tourism, pgs. 8 & 9 Maryland Heights CVB, p. 104 Mexico, MO Tourism, p. 27 Missouri Chamber of Commerce and Industry, p. 131 Missouri Division of Tourism, pgs. 11 & 120 Missouri Life Back Issues, p. 129 Missouri Life Books, p. 123 Missouri Life Instagram, p. 130 Missouri Life Mother’s Day Gift Baskets & Subscriptions, p. 135 Missouri Life Travel, p. 101 Missouri Propane, p. 7 Missouri Wildflowers Nursery, p. 135 Moberly Chamber of Commerce, p. 125 Morels & Microbrews Festival, p. 27 New Regionalism: the Art of Bryan Haynes, p. 33 Oak Grove Tourism Commission,
p. 100 Oklahoma Tourism, p. 98 Old Trails Region, p. 130 Ozark Gateway Region, AR, p. 102 Paul Jackson Workshop, p. 33 Pulaski County Tourism, p. 129 The Railyard Steakhouse, p. 117 The Raphael Hotel, p. 127 Rocheport Merchant’s Association, p. 136 Rolla Area Chamber of Commerce, p. 127 Saleigh Mountain, p. 32 Sikeston CVB, p. 10 The Sound of Gravel, p. 25 Spiva Center for the Arts, p. 33 Ste. Genevieve, MO, p. 130 St. Joseph CVB, p. 127 Stone Hill Winery, p. 16 Stone Hollow Studio, p. 32 Table Rock Lake Chamber of Commerce, p. 2 Titanic Museum Attraction, p. 4 Truman State University Press, p. 125 Union Station Kansas City, p. 16 University of Missouri Press, p. 23 Vintage Hill Farm, p. 127
Visit Shawnee, OK, p. 101 Visit Stillwater, OK, p. 101 Weston Bed & Breakfast, p. 136 Weston, MO, p. 10 Big BAM Guide AB/In Bev, Presiding Sponsor, p. 67 Coolbykes, p. 83 East Hills Shopping Center, p. 66 Greater Chillicothe Visitors Region, p. 75 Hamilton Bank, p. 74 Hannibal, p. 88 Hermann Wurst Haus, p. 70 Historic Hannibal, pgs. 89-91 Golden Eagle, p. 83 O’Malley Beverage, p. 66 Missouri Beef Council, p. 71 Pedaler’s Jamboree, p. 92 Perfect Signs, p. 92 Retro Image Apparel, p. 93 Remington Nature Center, p. 66 Sedalia CVB, p. 92 Shoemaker RV, p. 82 St. Charles CVB, p. 66 Tour De Corn, p. 75 Trek, p. 75 Velofix, p. 8
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KELLY MILLER CIRCUS
CINDERALLA, THE BALLET
April 13, New Madrid > Big-top tents bring you elephants, fire breathers, acrobats, and clowns. Parking lot behind the Dollar General. 4:30 and 7:30 pm. $6-$12. 573-748-5300, kellymillercircus.com
April 22, Cape Girardeau > Stunningly beautiful ballet blends storytelling, humor, and splendid scenery and costumes. Bedell Performance Hall. 7:30 pm. $34-$40. rivercampusevents.com
DOGWOOD AZALEA FESTIVAL
ART WALK
April 14-17, Charleston > Enjoy home tours, carriage rides, an arts and crafts bazaar, a candlelight tour, a carnival, a dog show, and a dogwood-azalea parade. Take time to walk the trails, and see the dogwoods and azaleas in bloom. Throughout town. Event times vary and most events are free. 573683-6509, charlestonmo.org
April 22, Ste. Genevieve > Pick up a map, and follow it to view works by local and regional artists in a variety of mediums. Historic Downtown. 6-9 pm. Free. 800-373-7007, visitstegen.com
CAPE COMIC CON
CELEBRATE EARTH DAY April 23, Poplar Bluff > Enjoy hands-on activities in the sculpture garden. Margaret Harwell Art Museum. 10 am-2 pm. Free. 573-686-8002, mham.org
April 15-17, Cape Girardeau > Come in costume and meet professional comic book artists and publishers. There will be more than a hundred tables of comics, toys, and collectibles as well as gaming tournaments. Osage Centre. 4-10 pmeach day. $35. 800-777-0068, cape-con.com
April 23, Sikeston > Feast on fresh Louisiana crawfish, and enjoy live music and family activities. Sikeston Rodeo Grounds. 3 pm-midnight. Costs vary. 888-309-6591, visitsikeston.com
JOUR DE LA TERRE
ECOLE DU SOLDAT
April 16-17, Ste. Genevieve > Taste seasonal cuisine prepared with fresh spring herbs paired with signature wines. Route du Vin. 11 am-5 pm. $25. 800373-7007, rdvwinetrail.com
April 23-24, Ste. Genevieve > Learn about the School of the Soldier and participate in a public heritage auction at this family-friendly living history event. Jour de Fete grounds and Creole House
CRAWFISH BOIL AND MUSIC
properties. 9 am-5 pm Sat.; 9 am-noon Sun. Free. 800-373-7007, visitstegen.com
RALLY AT THE MINES April 29-30, Park Hills > Learn about utility terrain, all-terrain, and other off-road vehicles and the park while enjoying a variety of activities. St. Joe State Park. 7 am-8 pm. Free. 573-431-1069, midwestsportscenter.com
FREE LISTING & MORE EVENTS At MissouriLife.com PLEASE NOTE: TO SUBMIT AN EVENT:
A Service of the University of Central Missouri
If you only know the legend, you don’t know the man.
Photo: Courtesy of Hulton Archive Getty Images
JACKIE ROBINSON
Ken Burns reveals the legend's life on and off the field.
April 11 & 12
In HD on channel 6.1 Check local listings
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Missourian
Celebrate Truman’s presidential anniversary, and let Mark Twain tell you about small towns.
Twain loved small towns.
Goss, oMnO0 populati
BY JONAS WEIR
With a population that recently went from one to zero, Goss is the SMALLEST TOWN in the state. With a population of five, Cave is a close second
AGRIMISSOURI LISTS 315 FARMERS’ MARKETS IN THE STATE. THERE ARE ELEVEN IN THE CITY OF ST. LOUIS ALONE.
“Human nature cannot be studied in cities except at a disadvantage—a village is the place. There you can know your man inside and out—in a city you but know his crust; and his crust is usually a lie.
Schoolcraft thought the Ozarks were beautiful “The arable lands of the Ozark summit-level constitute one of the RICHEST AND MOST BEAUTIFUL districts in the territory. The high grass and flowers which cover the prairie lands impart the most sylvan aspect to the scene. Springs of the purest water abound.”—Explorer Henry Rowe Schoolcraft, 1853
ON APRIL 12, 1945, IN THE MIDST OF WORLD WAR II, VICE PRESIDENT HARRY S. TRUMAN—MISSOURI'S ONLY PRESIDENT—ASSUMED THE ROLE OF PRESIDENT FOLLOWING THE DEATH OF FRANKLIN DELANO ROOSEVELT.
—Mark Twain
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Hermann Hill Classic Wine Country Weddings
Please join us at the
Hermann Wedding Trail [140] MissouriLife HermannMoWeddings.com • 314.800.3295
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Sunday, April 24 2/24/16 3:53 PM